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My painter steps into the main gallery as he leaves. Robert has to pull hard on the door and it closes with a bang. “Hello.” A few more steps. Quick. Light. Not particularly timid, but not rushing, either. “I’m Daphne, and I—”
I can’t wait any longer to turn.
Daphne is caught, half bathed by the yellow tint of one of the picture lights and half in the silk shadow of the rest of the gallery. Surprise chases across her eyes. The gold flecks stand out like embers floating up from a fire. A moment of denial. It can’t be. A half-step closer to confirm. I’m not wearing a wetsuit this time. Her eyebrows draw together in dismay. She tracks something behind me—Robert, crossing in front of the gallery. I can tell when he’s gone, because her eyes come back to mine with a shadow of fear.
I’ve never seen anything this beautiful. The best work of the old masters never hurt like this. My lungs burn, holding a breath that isn’t there. My heart flattens itself along the back wall of my body, palms against wood, beating hard. Too valuable to be out here like this. She’s too priceless. Too vulnerable.
And she’s in here with me.
Daphne Morelli is a thousand delicate details. I thought the impression might have less impact here in the gallery. I was fucking wrong. It’s all there, in her eyes, on her face. She’s afraid. Out of her depth in a way she didn’t expect. Quick breaths. Shallow. Every movement changes the pattern of shadows over her dress.
I wrestle my own responses aside. Shove them away. Try the door.
There. Locked away. I can breathe.
My painter steels herself with one last breath. Perfect lips turn down at the corners.
“You.” A one-word accusation. “You lied to me.” She’s flushed with anger and surprise, a soft pink high on her cheekbones. This is a taste of what I could get from her. This is the surface, and there is so much more below. The most important thing is to keep her here. Daphne’s weight is on the balls of her feet, like a bird waiting to take flight. And yet—she is still leaning toward me, more than she is leaning away.
“I didn’t lie.”
“You lied by omission. You didn’t tell me who you were.”
She didn’t ask. We talked about surfing. We talked about paintings.
“No. I didn’t.”
Daphne blinks. Not expecting honesty, then. “Would you have told me if I asked?”
This is the crucial moment, the crucial answer. The scent of her is so light. So pure.
“Yes. But it would have been a mistake.”
Her fear edges toward curiosity. “How so?”
“You didn’t want names, otherwise you would have given me yours. Beyond that, it would have influenced the work. Boxed you in. I wanted you to have artistic freedom.”
There—the magic word. Daphne’s chin lifts. She steps further into the light. Her eyes are so dark, but so alive—they remind me of the way she paints the deep ocean. A sense of movement. A dark intelligence. Secrets, secrets—
I keep my hands in my pockets. “Show me around.”
“I should text Robert and tell him we’re done here.”
I should.
The way Daphne said it was very nearly a question. She managed to keep it from becoming one at the last moment, but it was enough. There is usually someone in Daphne’s life who tells her what to do. Who has, no doubt, told her what to do in situations like this one. At the very least they’ve warned her away.
Except she can’t bring herself to leave.I shouldleaves space for possibility. It begs for an answer. A proposition more compelling than a tour of the gallery. This place didn’t earn a mention in our conversation at the beach. With her, I’ll need to be much more specific. Adrenaline drips into my consciousness. Understanding a person involves trial and error, and in Daphne’s case, extreme care.
She’s given me enough to go on.
“Show me your art.” This tone, a confident demand, has an effect on Daphne. A glimmer catches the gold in her eyes. She won’t be able to resist my authority. She wants me to see. “Show me what you painted for me.”
Chapter Six
Daphne
Ishould neverhave fallen for him at the beach. Obviously. I’ve never felt so foolish in my life. I wanted him to ask for my number. I hoped for that. I was prepared to give it to him, and now look.
