“Welcome to the exhibition. Come in, please.”
Raising my eyebrows, I stepped inside and roved my eyes around the room.
Fancy.
Judging from the outward appearance, I never would have guessed such lavish décor adorned the insides. The smiling lady closed the door and gestured towards the first painting to my right.
I gave it a casual glance, now wondering if I’d entered the wrong room.
Surely Jack had told me he was attending a friend’s art exhibition, but he never led me to believe it was such a closeted affair. I’d been expecting to see some cameras, at least. Besides, I hadn’t even seen the man himself.
Turning around, I ran my eyes over the many pieces hanging on the walls, the well-dressed people engaged in hushed conversations, the glamorous ladies, the waiters dressed in black and white walking around the—
My thoughts stopped, heart screeching to a halt.
Are my eyes deceiving me?
Blinking, I swallowed as I looked harder, pinning my gaze on the golden hair which flashed again as the owner threw her head back in tinkling laughter.
Her voice floated all the way across the room, hitting me like a punch to the chest. And even from afar, there was no mistaking who she was.
Rachel Ivy.
Chapter Four
Rachel
Last night was awesome. Great. Splendid. Fabulous.
But today… today has been… inexplicable.
I wrinkled my eyebrows as I looked at the laughing face of the dark-haired man who’d given me pleasures I only ever dared to imagine. How exactly could I describe this? I wondered.
Many words came to mind, but they all seemed too shallow, too bleak to correctly express the depth of what I now recognized as very deep, very dangerous feelings.
Is this normal? I just met him last night for goodness sakes.
I’d been shocked beyond words when, without warning, he’d materialized by my side this morning while I was at the exhibition. Needless to say, the well-crafted assessment I’d been giving my professor hung in my throat as his heavenly face came into view. I couldn’t even breathe, coughing as my cheeks caught fire, my mind suddenly assailed by the images of what we’d done the night before.
I was pretty sure Professor Martin, the dear man, wouldn’t want such an image of me.
My shock quickly turned into fear, but Richard had been perfectly professional. In fact, I stood there, stunned, as he introduced himself as ‘a friend’ and charmed the socks off my professor and everyone else who came our way. He laughed at the right times, chipped in a word or two when the occasion called for it, even when the conversation turned towards one of the art pieces on the wall.
He never missed a beat. And then, at some point, when the whole gathering was being addressed and no one was looking, he conspicuously snaked his strong right arm around my waist and placed it right on the small on my back.
“What are you doing?” I’d whispered furiously, placing my left hand on his with the intention of taking it off. But that only served to initiate a skin-to-skin contact between us, making my breath hitch.
“I miss you.” He said in a low voice, bending so he could speak directly into my ear. The warm feeling of his breath fanning over my neck made goosebumps pop all over my skin.
I swallowed, my heart beating fast, “B-but we’re…”
“I know.” He said, brushing a kiss on my neck as my mouth opened up in shock, my pupils dilating, “Want to get out of here?”
I couldn’t even form a reasonable excuse not to leave with him because he’d been with me all along, discussing with my professor, and he knew that my assessment was over.
With a shaky breath, I raised my head to look into his eyes, licking my lips and gave a quick, small nod.
That was enough for him. And within minutes, after some maneuvering, we were outside, racing down the street towards his car, a giddiness coming over me as he held my hand tight in his, feeling like a teenager skipping class to go out with her bad boy first crush.
And Richard, as I came to discover, was the very definition of a bad boy.
How could he make my heart stop with just a smile of his? I couldn’t understand.
Granted, all through high school, college and even up till now, I’d been somewhat a nerd, caring only about my academics. But I had met men before and even got close to them, yet no one ever made me feel as… happy as he did. No one made my body fizzle with a touch. No one had me hanging on his every word.
Certainly, no one was crazy enough to suggest that we travel miles to visit an amusement park despite the fact that we were both dressed formally.
“Come on, now. Don’t just stand there.” He shouted, waving at me as he hurried off from the car, towards the entrance to the park.
Has he never been to one before?
“Slow down,” I called out as I went after him, wondering if this story would end with me going home in a ripped skirt. Pausing, I noticed he was pointing towards something far away, something which, even from where I stood, could be fully interpreted as a dangerous ride I would never ever take. “You want me to go on that with you?” I asked, furrowing my eyebrows as I gave a pointed look to my straight skirt and office jacket.
His lips stretched into one of those mischievous, heart-stopping smiles again, “Are you scared, my Lady?”
“Scared?” I said, cocking my eyebrows. I knew he was baiting me. On the ride here, I told him a brief story of the one time the ten-year-old me went to the amusement park with my family, but refused to go on any rides because she felt like they were too high.
Now, like the very devil, he was taunting me to do what I didn’t do twelve years ago. Damn
