It turned out the van with the paintings was delayed. Christian had forgotten to mention that upon his arrival. With no artwork, Rafael decided there was no reason to keep Grace hanging around the cave for the rest of the day. They chatted with Christian for a while and then said their farewells. Grace was calm and kind, even though Rafael knew she probably had some choice words for Christian in her head—her criticisms of the whole endeavor, the limited audience, the exclusivity of it all. He could tell her smile was tighter than usual, her face a mask of indifference.
The drive back to the apartment was quieter than it had been on the way to the cave house, perhaps because Rafael’s head was busy analyzing every look he’d given Grace, the tone of his every phrase, the way he’d taken her hand after opening the car door for her or placed his palm on the small of her back to make sure she was safely inside. What was she thinking over there in the passenger seat as she twisted the tail of her braid around her finger?
Finally, it came to him: the logical explanation. Rafael knew what this was, and it wasn’t some weird crush or overpowering magnetism between them. Now that he realized what was going on, it all made sense.Thiswas way more in line with his personality.
Grace was forbidden. Not in theRomeo and Julietkind of way, but he couldn’t have her, not even for one night. It would make everything far too complicated. She was his sister’s best friend in the entire world, and now she was living in his home and helping him with his work, and she was in an extremely vulnerable place, and all of that added up to one thing. He could not sleep with her.
That was exactly the problem. It was in his nature to want the very thing he couldn’t have. It wasn’t like they shared some special connection or some particularly meaningful bond. She was hot. She was off limits. And therefore, the more time he spent with her, the more he wanted to put his hands on her. That was the simple truth of it. Mystery solved. If he could have just slept with her one time and gotten it all out of his system, he could have forgotten her immediately and gone on with his life, but as it was, he just needed to recognize his area of weakness, accept his ill-timed attraction, and move on with his life.
Rafael exhaled, and then he felt Grace glance over at him. He was relieved to have figured this out. He could handle it. He simply needed to name the issue and address it in his mind, and it would lose its power over him.
“I’m starving,” Grace said, and Rafael immediately conjured an image of the two of them out for a meal at his favorite restaurant. Dim lighting and her wine-stained lips. Her leg brushing his underneath the table.
Where was this coming from? They’d talked about work and Picasso. They’d barely even flirted, and yet a couple hours in a historic cave had him fighting his attraction? He almost banged his head against the steering wheel. “Me too, yes. We should eat something.”
“You’re sure everything’s alright? You’re acting kind of weird.”
“I’m not.”
“You are. You’re all jumpy and tense. Did something happen with Christian?”
He hesitated.Oh, I already see how you look at her.“No.”
“Why do I not find that convincing?”
There she was again, pestering him. He worked hard to see it in a negative light, as if she was annoying rather than endearing, as if everything else was just a silly infatuation.
Rafael adjusted his facial expression, trying to present a mask of calm. “Leave it alone, Grace,” he said, and she did.
She was craving pizza, so they stopped at a simple pizza counter in the city center with bright lights and checkered tablecloths. There was no wine and no touching, and as Rafael gnawed on the crust of his final slice, he started to feel like himself again. “What do you think of the venue?” he asked.
Grace smiled with her mouth closed, cheeks full of mozzarella. She chewed and chewed until she was finally able to swallow and answer the question. “I know you’re frustrated that he chose this place, and I can see why. It will be difficult for large paintings, but also…it’s amazing. I’ve never seen anything like that before in my life. It has so much character, and I know you said you don’t have quite the vision for what to do yet, but I am positive you’ll make something beautiful.”
Rafael’s hands fidgeted in his lap again. At least someone believed he could pull this off. “And what do you think about where to put the paintings?”
“It’s hard to know without having seen the collection yet.” She took a sip of her water. “I think there’s more wall space than you realize, though, and it’s not all curved. There are several long walls with plenty of space. I was also thinking, maybe in that large room, we could add something. Like, maybe build a free-standing wall in the center that would split the room and allow you to hang several large pieces there as a focal point?”
Rafael could see it immediately. They didn’t have enough wall space, but they had enough room to build their own wall—something large and perfectly straight that wasn’t made of rock. That seemed to unlock something in his brain. He could see the wall they would build—stark white, of course—and he could see how that would change the space. In the next room, they could have benches. The food would all be done via caterers with trays to save space, unless someone wanted to use the venue for a full dinner, but they could likely set up their guests in different areas, spread throughout the exhibit instead of at one big table. Then they’d break everything down, so the guests could mingle and look at the artwork.
“You’re brilliant,” Rafael said. “See, I knew you would have some ideas, and as you said, you haven’t even seen the paintings, yet. I can only imagine what you’ll come up with then.”
Grace stared down at her pizza. It almost looked like she was blushing, but Rafael couldn’t tell if it was the color of her cheeks or just a trick of the light.
“I don’t know if this is really good or if I was just craving it so badly that anything would hit the spot.”
Rafael grinned. “I don’t think this is really good.”
Grace frowned at him. “Well, it’s not Scarr’s, obviously, but it’s not bad. I’m not sure I trust your pizza judgment anyway.”
Rafael gave a mock-offended gasp. Inwardly, he noted that Grace remembered what he’d said about his favorite NYC pizza place. “Why wouldn’t you trust my pizza judgement? I livedin New York for years. I’ve dined at the finest Italian restaurants in Sicily, places where they practically invented pizza.”
Grace was biting back a smile. Clearly, she loved getting a rise out of him. “But how much pizza did you really eat? Have you ever even tried a Chicago deep dish? I feel like we’re only scratching the surface here.”
Rafael shrugged and watched her devour another bite. “I don’t know if I told you how grateful I am that you came today,” he said. “It was nice having you there.”
Grace narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you about to ask me for another favor?”
“Not at all.”
