“Some people.” Grant’s hands were still on her face, his gaze holding hers. “Not me.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why stay? Why defend me? This could hurt your gallery. Your reputation. Why risk it?”
He was quiet for a moment, his thumb tracing a line across her cheekbones.“Because you got knocked down and you got back up. And you’re still painting. That’s—” He shook his head. “That’s not nothing.”
“Grant—”
“And maybe because I’m a little bit in love with the way you look at the ocean when you paint. Like you’re having a conversation with it.” A small smile tugged at his mouth. “Or the way you argue with me about composition. Or how you defend Melissa when you think someone’s being dismissive of her work.”
“You can’t?—”
“Can’t what? Notice you? Care about you?” He leaned closer. “Too late.”
She should probably say something. Do something other than stare at him like she’d forgotten how words worked.
“I’m a mess,” she finally managed. “I’m still figuring out who I am after everything. I don’t know if I’m ready for?—”
“I’m not asking you to be ready. I’m just asking you to stop thinking you have to do this alone.”
She exhaled. Actually exhaled, like she’d been holding her breath for months. “I found my voice again today.”
“I heard.” Pride filled his expression. “You were magnificent.”
She looked down at their joined hands. His nails had paint under them. Cadmium yellow, maybe. She focused on that instead of looking at his face.
“Thank you,” she said quietly. “For being there. For believing me.”
“Always.” He said it like a promise.
People were starting to drift around on the street. The break was probably ending soon. Real life returning. But standing here with Grant’s hand in hers, Emily felt hope sweep through her. She felt good. Suspiciously good. The kind of good that used to scare her.
“We should go back,” she said, but she didn’t move.
“Probably.” Grant didn’t move either.
She smiled. “I have another panel in twenty minutes.”
“Then we have nineteen minutes.”
“To do what?”
He grinned. “Oh, I have plans for those nineteen minutes.”
He leaned down then and kissed her gently. When he finally pulled back, she grinned up at him. “You make the best plans.”
His lips curved into a wide smile. “I do, don’t I?”
Chapter29
Amonth later, Emily stood in Grant’s office, trying to process the words he was saying. “You want me to what?”
“Be my partner in this new venture.”
Grant leaned against the edge of the desk. “You don’t have to decide right now. I know it’s a lot to take in.”
