"You don't know the first thing about art," Hazel huffed. Her friends looked back and forth between us.
"I knoweverythingabout art. My hotels are filled with art. That's one of the things Greyson Hotel Group gets high reviews for. You know Fang Fei?"
Hazel nodded uncertainly.
"I made her. I saw her work, bought up every piece of it, and spun a narrative about how she was the next big thing. Boom, all her paintings are worth millions now."
Hazel's eyes widened slightly.
"Everything I touch turns to gold, and I'm about to do it with Harrogate."
"We don't need your help," Hazel said defiantly.
"Oh, I think you do." I fussed with my collar, exposing more of the tattoos she seemed so entranced by, and watched with satisfaction as her eyes followed the gesture, went down, then flicked back up to my face.
"I can offer money and expertise, and as soon as I have the Mast Brothers' chocolate factory under option, we can have a huge fancy gala there. You have to have a fancy gala with art people. You know that. We'll even buy all of you, since you're on the committee, very nice dresses."
"Fancy ones?" Jemma asked.
"Very fancy," I assured her. "Couture."
"Jemma, have some integrity," Hazel hissed.
"Speak for yourself," her friend snorted. "Dude wants to buy me a fancy designer dress, I'm taking it. You can show up to the gala in overalls and no bra, but I won't."
"You're not wearing a bra?" I blurted before I could kill the words.
Hazel looked at me in shock.
Well, shit, there goes my conference center.
Then her eyes narrowed, and she unhooked the buckle of her overalls and pulled her shirt down to show me the lace bra she was wearing. If I didn't know any better, I thought I saw the barest pink crescent of nipple before she released the collar of the springy shirt.
Now I was the one to be awkward and tongue-tied.
"I can't believe you just flashed a strange man," Hazel's other friend shouted.
"People in the subway do it all the time, Olivia," Hazel remarked.
"No one should be flashing you in the subway," I growled.
"I don't need you to look after me," Hazel reprimanded, "and we don't need your help in Harrogate. Harrogate is already great." Hazel glared at me. "We can win the Art Zurich Expo without you."
I looked at her. I was starting to see what the deal was.
"Possibly," I said slowly. "But canyouwin without me?"
Hazel looked slightly guilty.
"I know exactly why you want Harrogate to win the biennial expo," I continued. "There's an individual grant that only five people receive, and one of them goes to an artist in the winning conference location. You want to be one of them. You don't actually care about the town winning the grant."
Hazel opened her mouth.
"Don't protest," I said, cutting her off before she could speak. "We're all here for our own self-interests. No judgement from me."
"In Hazel's defense, Olivia's pursuing it too," Jemma said.
Hazel kicked her friend and pursed her lips. "Fine, yes, I do want to win it."
