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For his part, Sefton kept his distance, and I was glad. He made no move to talk to me and avoided even commenting on my artwork for the next two weeks.
When Friday's class came around, Talia announced that this would be the last time the painting studio class would join us, and I heaved a heavy sigh of relief. Even though Sefton hadn’t pestered me since the incident in the elevator, it was still tense when he was in the classroom, as I wondered if and when he'd decide to say or do something to provoke me.
After the first break, I went to the washroom and was completely surprised when he was waiting outside the door to our classroom. I frowned and tried to walk past him, but he grabbed my arm.
"Stop," he said. "I want to apologize for what happened."
"Apology accepted," I said, wanting to get this over with so I could escape any further interaction with him. I tried to pull my arm away but he kept hold.
"No, wait," he said and stepped in front of me, preventing me from entering the class. "I want to say something."
I stopped and exhaled. He let go of my arm and stood there, slipping his hands into his pockets.
"I'm not a psycho, or anything, Kate. You have to understand that beautiful women artists who are also submissives are pretty rare."
"You already said that to me." I tried to pass him, but he stepped once more in front of me. "It makes no difference whether you're a psycho or not. There's nothing between us. Nothing more needs to be said."
"I'm trying to explain."
I stopped and looked at him, exasperated at his determination.
"Claire told me that there was trouble between you and your man. I wanted to see if I could be there in case things didn’t work out with him."
"Claire said what?"
"She said you were having problems and that you weren't certain that you’d marry him. She didn’t go into details, but that she thought you were unhappy, because your fiancé worked so much and you felt neglected. That you'd already broken up once."
"That's a lie," I said, even though I had felt neglected at times. " There are no problems between us. We're very happy. We just became engaged—"
"She said that the relationship was shaky. I wanted you to know I'd be there in case things didn’t work out. I was trying to lay a foundation between us so you wouldn’t just run back to America if you two broke up."
"When did she say this to you? At that first exhibition?"
He nodded. "Of course, when I saw you there, and realized who you were, I asked Claire about you since you came with her. She told me about you and your doctor. She made me think your relationship was soon to break up so…"
I fumed, my fists clenching. That bitch…
"She was lying," I said, barely able to keep my voice under control, I was so mad. "She didn’t want me to be with Drake. She wanted Drake to be with another doctor who was once his student, so she was probably hoping you'd flirt with me."
"Oh. Well, once I thought your relationship was on the rocks, I was determined to be there to catch you when you fell. Obviously, I didn't do a very good job reading you."
"Obviously."
"Tell me this," he said, stepping closer. When I stepped back, he sighed. "If you'd been here on your own, with no boyfriend or fiancé, would you have been interested in me? If you knew I was in the lifestyle?"
I glanced away. "I can’t say," I said, not wanting to answer. "Right now, I'm so happy with Drake that other men don't even exist. I don’t think of men that way."
He sighed. "Well, don't say I never tried. And don't forget about me, just in case things don't work out with Drake. I think I'd be good for you."
"Excuse me," I said, and finally, he let me pass. I went back to the classroom and sat down at my easel, picking up my pencils to prepare for the first long study of our model. My hands shook from the realization that Claire had been manipulating things behind the scenes, both with Sefton and Sam. She was so conniving…
I felt so bad for Drake ?
?? to know that his boss's wife was trying to break us up – that she knew about our lifestyle. It must be a big source of worry. Did Michael know? Did he feel the same as Claire?
Neither of them had said anything to Drake. I always felt such warmth from Michael when we were together, I couldn't believe for a moment he was part of Claire's schemes to get Drake with Sam.
I was glad things were resolved with Sam and Sefton, but still, there was a lingering sense of darkness inside of me that someone would interfere so much in our lives. Before we left Manhattan, Dawn had been intent on breaking us up, hurting Drake. Now, we'd run into Claire, who way overstepped her bounds with us.
