AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She could do this.
“Well, you don’t really know me at all, do you?” she told him, injecting a deliberate coolness into her voice instead of allowing the anger to squeeze through and alert him that he had even the slightest effect on her. “But as it happens, Snow is one of my favorite artists. Their work is just amazing.”
Jaxon gave Kris a look over the top of Holly’s head. “Well, that’s interesting, isn’t it, Kris?” There was an odd inflection in his voice that Holly couldn’t quite read.
“So, what is it you like about Snow’s work especially?” Jaxon asked, returning his attention to her. Did she imagine it, or was that somehow a leading question?
She shook the feeling off and concentrated on the art. Her perception of everything was totally skewed right now.
“I think it’s the amount of emotion in it. The raw feelings conveyed in these paintings just seem to jump off the canvas and speak to me.”
“Have you seen the sculptures?” Jaxon asked, pointing through a doorway to another room.
“There are sculptures? I never knew that!” Holly enthused. This was going to be even more of a treat than she imagined.
Jaxon led the way, and the three of them walked into the section where the sculptures were being shown.
Holly gasped. “Wow, they’re huge!”
“Yes, you’ll have to tell us what you think about the emotions in these pieces,” Kris smirked, almost sounding like he was mocking her.
Really, what was this man’s problem?
“Oh my!” The words burst out of Holly’s mouth before she could stop them when she realized all the pieces were of a somewhat risqué nature. Obviously, Kris expected her to be embarrassed by the blatantly sexual poses, but she refused to let it faze her. “I wasn’t expecting anything quite this passionate. What a treat.”
Holly walked around an almost life-sized bronze, which was more of a statue than a sculpture, and forgot all about Kris as she caught her breath at the posing of the piece. “Can I touch it?” she asked, her awed tone barely above a whisper, her fingers hovering close to the satiny surface.
“Sculptures are tactile,” Kris said shortly. “They’re made to be touched.”
Holly frowned. “Yes, but it would be incredibly rude to simply assume that,” she threw back tartly. “The artist or the management might not like it.”
“I can assure you, it’s perfectly fine,” Kris said with some authority.
Still, Holly looked to Jaxon for confirmation. She wouldn’t put it past Kris to throw her under the bus. But Jaxon nodded his agreement, and the second he did so, Holly reached out her hands to the beautiful piece. Her fingers roamed over the bronze, which was surprisingly warm to the touch, tracing the features of the characters intertwined in what could only be called passion. Each sensual detail seemed to come alive under her hands. It was like she could feel their ardor reflected in herself, and she couldn’t deny that the subject matter intrigued her. One woman and three men were entwined in a frenzied clinch that was purely erotic. It was almost enough to make her blush. “So, what do you think of this particular piece?” Kris asked, and Holly wondered if he was trying to deliberately embarrass her. Well, he could try. He’d find she didn’t break that easily. She’d dealt with more in her life than one man with an attitude problem, and her job revolved around being sweet to them. Kris was in for a shock. She’d kill him with kindness.
“It’s amazing,” she said, keeping her answer truthful. “You can just feel their passion. I’ve never experienced such an evocative piece of sculpture before. Do you think Snow creates these from experience?”
She turned wide, guileless eyes at him. Two could play at this game. Let’s see how he liked it when the tables were turned.
Kris pursed his lips and looked like he was sucking on a lemon, but Jaxon laughed out loud. “Well, I’m pretty sure this is a fantasy, but definitely one he’d like to play out.”
“He?” Holly queried, forgetting about goading Kris. “So, you think he’s a man, too? So do I; his works all seem very masculine.”
“Or maybe this is a woman’s fantasy,” Kris interjected. “After all, surely a man would have a fantasy of just himself with several women, not vice versa.”
“Hmm… you have a valid point. But I still think it’s a man, based on the graphic theme. I think a woman would sculpt something more sensual. And then there are all his squalling, tempestuous landscapes. Snow, storms, avalanches. A lot of destructive forces.”
Kris snorted and rolled his eyes. “You think a woman wouldn’t paint those things?”
“Not at all, like I said, it’s simply my opinion that Snow’s work is very masculine. I might be completely wrong, of course, and I’m sure everyone has their own theory. Don’t you?”
“Well, there’s a certain logic to what you said,” Jaxon agreed, giving Kris a wink.
Kris just made a growling noise in the back of his throat. Was the man ever cheerful?
“So, have you drawn any other conclusions about Snow from what you’ve seen here?” Jaxon asked with a lopsided grin, which Holly wasn’t sure was aimed at her or at Kris. There was definitely some undertone going on there.
“Do you think his name is really Snow? I always wonder if it’s a pseudonym, something that reflects the theme of his artwork and the fact that he chooses to have a gallery here in a Christmas village.”
