I stepped away fromher. “Oh, my gosh, you are a pervert.”
“See how the tableshave turned?” She swirled her finger back and forth between us. “Not so fun onthe other side now, is it?”
“No,” I agreed. “Imuch prefer being the depraved sidekick.”
“What are you twotalking about?” Killian asked.
“Nothing!” we saidtogether.
Ezra jerked hishead toward his super exclusive car that nobody was allowed to ride in or touchor look at. “Ready, Molly?”
“Yep.” Vera and Isaid our final goodbyes, I thanked our hosts again for a lovely dinner and gotinto Ezra’s car for the third time more conscious than ever about not messingsomething up.
When we were backon the road and headed toward my apartment building, I decided I needed toprove Vera wrong. So, ignoring the warm tipsy feeling from the wine, I reached intomy purse and pulled out my work notebook and phone.
The night waschilly, but Ezra’s car was the opposite. The heated seat warmed my back, makingme cozy and sleepy. The city zipped by us in late-night silence. Mumford andSons drifted softly from the stereo in the background.
It’s in the eyes. I can tell, you will always be danger.
I shivered at thetruth in those lyrics. Ezra noticed and reached over to adjust the heatsettings.
Feeling raw andexposed for no reason at all, I hugged my notebook to my chest and asked, “Whatdid you want to go over?”
He looked at mebriefly, his dark eyes giving nothing away. “I want to hire you.”
Cocking my head tothe side, I resisted the urge to smile. “You already hired me.”
“To paint,” heclarified. “I have an idea for Bianca that I—”
“No.” He couldn’tbe serious. “Absolutely not.”
“You haven’t evenheard my proposal.”
My expressionflattened. “This feels familiar. Are you getting déjà vu?”
“Molly, I’mserious.” His voice roughened, deepened, and became that commanding tone I wasoh, so familiar with.
“But you can’t be.You haven’t seen any of my work. You don’t even know if I’m any good or not.”
“The portrait atKillian’s was incredible. You perfectly captured them. It wasn’t just in thecolors and images, but the feel of the painting. If it had been anywhere else,it would have captured my attention without trying.”
“Uh, thank you.” Iswallowed around the fist-sized lump in my throat. “But you’re missing thepoint—”
“And if Killian iswilling to hire you and Vann wants to hire you, I know there is more to yourtalent than just that one painting.”
“Okay, but what I’msaying is that you have no idea if what I do is right for you.”
He slowed the carto a stop and turned that too-intense gaze to look at me. “You’re wrong. I knowexactly what is right for me, Molly.” The light turned green but he didn’tmove. “You. You’re right for me.”
I licked dry lipsand tried to focus on the conversation and not my wildly beating heart.
He turned back tothe road. “Five thousand dollars.”
“Wh-what?”
“Ten.” He counteredan argument I hadn’t made.
“Are you kidding?”
