He swallowed a flicker of unease. She could trust him now. Maybe not initially, but he’d made changes since then. “Good.”
She went to kiss him again but the phone burst into song. She kissed him, laughing at the inappropriate tune, rolled off the settee, and picked up the phone.
It gave David a few minutes to take command of his body and sit up and knock back the remainder of his cold coffee, grimacing as he did so. But he needed something to take the edge off his arousal. As he stood up and walked around the small room, he noticed Amber become increasingly quieter on the phone. It was a short call and when she finished, she didn’t turn around immediately. He came up behind her and leaned against the kitchen wall, flicking one of the colorful strands of plastic out of his face.
“Is everything okay?”
She turned around and gave a quick, uncertain smile, but her eyes looked devastated.
“What on earth is the matter, Amber?”
She blinked as if upset, but didn’t answer.
“Who was that on the phone?”
“The exhibition organizer. She wanted to brief me on how the exhibition went.” His heart sank a little. She wouldn’t have, would she?
“And?”
She shrugged. “It went well, I guess.”
He wished she’d look him in the eyes. He inclined his head to her, trying to see her expression, but her bowed head was in shadow.
He extended his finger and gently put it under her chin, lifting it so he could see her face. He almost wished he hadn’t, because that wasn’t the face of someone joyful—it was the face of someone who was hurt, and hurt by him.
She licked her lips to speak, but he knew what was coming. “And it went well because you arranged for most of the people to come.”
He shrugged. “Well, I may have put out the word, but that’s networking. That’s just what you do.”
“But they came foryou, not for me.”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes, David, it does, especially when there was only one buyer of all my work.You.”
He bit his lip as her eyes filled with tears. She gulped as she tried to hold them back. “You meant well, I know that. And it was… lovely, I guess. But I’d just hoped, you know, that more than one person had bought the pieces. That the pieces had been wanted for themselves, not because someone liked me enough to make a generous gesture.”
“I’m sorry, Amber. I didn’t mean…”
“You didn’t mean me to find out, I’m sure.”
“I bought them because I loved them. And I got in quick, if I hadn’t have bought them so soon, others would have come in and snapped them up, I’m sure.”
“Are you? Because I’m not.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so quick off the mark. I simply wanted this to go well for you.”
“You’re a nice man, David, and I appreciate it. I guess I’m just a bit disappointed with myself, with my work.” She moved away, and looked at a piece, frowning. “I’ll just have to try harder. Maybe you should leave now.”
David nodded, his heart caught at the moment he realized that, instead of bolstering her confidence, he’d done the opposite. He’d made hernotbelieve in herself.
“I’m so sorry, Amber. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“I know. It’s just that I’d rather be alone now. I feel a bit down.”
“Right.” He nodded with a sigh. “Right.” He picked up his phone and car keys, and opened the door. They exchanged ‘good nights’ politely, as if the kisses of only moments before hadn’t happened.
And, as he walked back towards his car, under a sky from which all the colors of sunset had now faded, leaving only a blackness which seeped into his soul, he thought that he didn’t know how the hell he’d ever make her believe in herself again. But he knew he wouldn’t stop until he’d accomplished exactly that.
