The Arrogant Artist
Book 2 International Bad Boys
JA Low
JALowBooks
International Bad Boy Set
Copyright @ 2020 JA Low
All rights reserved. No part of this eBook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. JA Low is in no way affiliated with any brands, songs, musicians, or artists mentioned in this book.
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Thank you for respecting the author’s work.
Cover Design @ Outlined with Love
Editor @ Swish Design & Editing
www.swishgrafix.com.au
Created with Vellum
Contents
Note from author
1. Emily
2. Emily
3. Louis
4. Emily
5. Emily
6. Louis
7. Emily
8. Emily
9. Louis
10. Emily
11. Louis
12. Emily
13. Emily
14. Emily
15. Louis
16. Emily
17. Emily
18. Louis
19. Emily
20. Louis
21. Emily
22. Louis
23. Emily
24. Louis
25. Emily
26. Louis
27. Emily
28. Louis
29. Emily
30. Emily
31. Louis
32. Louis
33. Emily
34. Louis
35. Emily
36. Louis
37. Emily
38. Emily
39. Louis
40. Emily
41. Louis
Breaking News
42. Emily
New York
43. Emily
44. Louis
Two months later
45. Louis
Six months later
Acknowledgments
About the Author
About the Author
Also by JA Low
Also by JA Low
Also by JA Low
Interconnecting Series
Also by JA Low
Also by JA Low
Interconnecting Series
Note from author
This was previously released as Love in Color.
1
Emily
“You look beautiful tonight.” Toby gives me a heartwarming smile as he takes my hand, helping me out of the taxi. He’s looking rather handsome too, dressed in a navy suit, his blond hair slicked back. Toby and I have been dating for five years. We met the last year of university. He was doing an international business degree, and I was finishing an art history degree. Toby’s now a business analyst for an international finance company. He’s been putting in long hours at the office as well as traveling a lot to New York. I’m so proud of him.
I wish I were doing something with my degree like he is. Instead, it’s sitting at home gathering dust. I thought at this point in my life I’d be working at the Tate Modern, or one of the Serpentine Galleries, or maybe even in my wildest dreams, the Louvre in Paris. Instead, I’m working in the gift shop at Madame Tussauds selling tourist crap. I haven’t had the best of luck with jobs. I’ve bounced around from one horrendous position to another.
Who knew there would be so many people with art degrees trying to get a job? I can’t even get unpaid work in a gallery, and I can assure you I have tried everything.
Luckily, I have Toby because he encourages me every day never to give up on my dreams, and that one day, I too will be living mine, just like he is.
Toby places a hand at the small of my back as we enter the restaurant. It’s some fancy restaurant in the city that he likes to go to for client lunches. I know I can’t afford anything on the menu. The restaurant is opulent as we take the first steps inside, where we’re greeted by a gorgeous blonde maître d who could be on the cover of Vogue.
“Table for two, please,” Toby asks the woman.
“Certainly, sir. Follow me.” She smiles at him, and we follow the supermodel through the luxurious restaurant. I watch as her high ponytail swings from side to side in a mesmerizing fashion as we make our way through the dimly lit restaurant.
“Table for two.” The woman gestures to a small black wooden table with a small votive candle in the middle giving off the smallest amount of light. Toby pulls my chair out for me, always the gentleman, and I take my seat. “Here are your menus. I’ll send your server out to you in a moment. Please, take your time.” Then she twists on her heels, and she’s gone.
“This is gorgeous,” I say while looking around the stunning restaurant with its mirrored ceilings and silver chainmail chandeliers which are more like sculptures than the need for light. The dark gray walls look almost like silk with what looks like hand-painted silver flecks through the wallpaper.
“A bottle of champagne, please,” Toby orders when he catches the attention of a waitress as she rushes past. The waitress nods and walks away while my heart starts to quicken.
Fancy restaurant. Check.
Champagne. Check.
Five years of dating. Check.
Four years of living together. Check.
This is it!
Tonight is the night!
The night that Toby pops the question.
“Are we celebrating something?” I smile at him.
He seems nervous, jumpy even. A tiny bead of sweat settles across his upper lip. I take another look around the restaurant. Although beautiful, it’s not exactly where I imagined being proposed to. I was hoping for something more like on the steps of the Met in New York or outside the Venus de Milo in the Louvre. I’ve been leaving hints for Toby about engagement rings for the past year, and by now I hope he knows that I’d love an antique ring, one that has a beautiful story attached to it, or even more so I’d love one of his family’s heirlooms. I don’t need a new ring, and it doesn’t even have to be a plain white diamond—I’ll take a pink or a canary or even a sapphire—because I’m not traditional in that sense.
“Actually, yes, we’re celebrating something.” Toby can’t look at me. He
