She grinned, ticked her shoulders back and forth. “What color?”
“No, I want to paint your portrait. In my studio.”
“If you want me to leave the stroll, it’ll cost you.”
“I’ll give you a thousand now, and another thousand when it’s done. It’ll take a few hours, and I’ll compensate you.”
He knew he had her by the way her eyes widened. “Let’s see the money.”
He had it ready, folded in his pocket. “If you wouldn’t mind not counting it here. You could check—discreetly—as we walk to my car.”
She ignored that, annoying him, and flipped through the bills. “Where’s the car?”
“It’s not far. A couple of blocks.”
They were standing in one spot too long, so he tried something else.
“If you don’t want to do it, I understand. I’ll find another model.”
“I didn’t say no, did I?” She tucked the bills in a little black purse chained around her waist. And began to walk. “So you’re an artist or something.”
“I’m an artist.” He kept the conversation going as they walked. “I’m working on a series of period pieces. The costume you’ll wear is lovely. It’s a re-creation of achemise en gaullefrom the eighteenth century.”
She snorted a laugh. “Listen to you! You’re hiring me to wear a costume? You’re one strange dude. Not my strangest, but up there. But you’re paying me two thousand, so be as strange as you want.”
When they reached the lot and his car, she widened her eyes again. “Woo-wee! I guess you can afford the two grand. Guess it pays to paint people.”
He relaxed when he had her in the car, and smiled.
“It can, but you have to paint for the love of it first and last. For the love, and the life. You’ll help bring this portrait to life.”
She settled back as he drove. “For two thousand, honey, I’ll give it all the life you want.”
Oh, yes, he thought. You’ll give me all the life I want.
“I’m Chablis, by the way,” she told him.
He had to bite back a laugh at that absurdity, and when a little bubbled out, he added a smile.
“As fate would have it, I have a very nice bottle of Chablis at home. You’ll have a glass, if you like, to relax you. It can be tedious to hold a pose. If you hold it well, I’ll add a five-hundred-dollar bonus.
“I’m Jonathan.”
“Well, Johnny, for five hundred extra, I’ll stand on my head.”
He laughed as if amused. And could hardly wait to kill her.
She gave him the expected reaction to his home, his studio, and with it, he caught some calculation. No doubt she’d try to squeeze more cash out of him.
He could let her believe she’d succeeded there. After all, it cost him nothing.
She complained about removing her makeup, but complied. She had more cleavage than he wanted, but he’d deal with that, he thought as he adjusted the white silk tie of the frilly white collar.
She smiled at him. “Sure you don’t want to have some fun, Johnny?”
“Art first.”
“Yeah, you’re a strange one all right.”
