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My Dad approached. “You should be very proud of yourself, Faith. You’ve done well. Even if I didn’t get a chance to buy anything.”
“Same,” Dominic muttered.
“Don’t worry, Dad. My next painting is yours. On the house.”
I tried to smile as my dad told me about his favorite painting of mine, but my mind was elsewhere, watching Sebastian talk to Charlie and then Delilah—probably scolding her about the camera.
A phone chimed.
“That’s the car,” my brother said, heading for the back of the gallery with Daisy.
I searched the room for Delilah who stood behind the small counter in the back used for sales and appointment scheduling.
Sebastian returned to my side, falling in step with me as I crossed the room. “I just need to say goodbye to Delilah and then we can head out.”
His hand found the small of my back and he kissed the sweet spot behind my ear before leaving me to it.
The man knew exactly how much support I needed without crossing the line. Without making this about him and his needs.
I appreciated him. For not stealing my shine to make him look better but letting me bathe in my light. Someone who was not afraid of or emasculated by my success.
Nobody I’d ever dated before would behave this way. They’d get jealous, they’d get possessive, then they’d blame me.
Sebastian just wanted to protect me. Let me be me and protect me while I do it.
This felt acutely different. Acutely special.
And we still needed to have that talk.
I watched as Sebastian walked away, admiring his ass in that suit.
I wasn’t the only one.
Delilah fanned herself, blatantly checking out Sebastian as he typed away on his phone and headed toward my brother.
“That is one hunk of a man.” She turned her gaze to me, then beyond my shoulder. I turned to see who she was looking at now. Charlie. “I know your man is taken, but I have my other eye on him. What’s his deal? Is he single?”
I shrugged, amused. “You’ll have to ask him.”
“Well, I don’t see a ring on that finger, and you best believe if he were my man, I wouldn’t let him out of my sight without a permanent mark on that left hand.”
“I’ll see if I can get his number for you.”
“I’d appreciate that.” She sighed, peeling her eyes away from Charlie. “You did well tonight, just like I knew you would.”
I leaned against the marble countertop. “You were right.”
She winked. “I always am.”
Delilah searched through a few receipts on the desk and handed one over pointing to the bottom of the paper. “All your paintings sold, so congrats, and that’s how much money you made tonight,” then she pointed at another line, “and that’s our cut.”
It was more than I could have imagined.
“We went into a bidding war on a couple of them.”
“Really?” That was news to me. “Which ones?”
Delilah walked me through everything, even bringing out a clipboard that held all her notes. “I have several people waitlisted, wanting to be first in line for your next showing, so we will need to figure out a realistic timeline for that. I’m hoping we can get something done quickly so that we can ride this wave a bit.”
