Page 97 of Watching Her

I said nothing as she approached, mesmerized by both her beauty and her reaction.

She suddenly stiffened. “The girl in the painting looks like me, yet you’re not angry with me. You’re angry with the thought of someone touching me.”

“How can you tell given the bold paints used?”

With a slight tip of her head, she searched my eyes. “I can tell. You’re very talented, extremely reflective.”

“Often untethered.”

A slow smile spread across her face. “That too. You should consider a career change. The hospitality industry is so… boring in comparison.” When she looked at me, the sly smile on her face was evident with the slight upturning at the corners of her upper lip.

“Is that why you left the business, because it wasn’t creative enough for you?”

“I was lucky to be involved with marketing. That wasn’t why I left.”

“Then what was? I know you mentioned downsizing, but from what I’ve heard, Covington is doing very well in the business.”

The roll of her eyes as she flashed me a look was a clear indication the subject was off limits. “I forget just how powerful and knowledgeable you are. Nothing can get past you. Let’s leave it at that I had my reasons. I will tell you I thought for certain I’d grow into an executive position in the world of hotels and restaurants.” Without touching the painting, she traced the woman’s face, taking shallow breaths as she did.

“You can have that in return.”

The pinching of her face was another indication, this time of continued fury, but not with me. With the circumstances. “The business doesn’t want me any longer.”

“An interesting way of putting it.”

“It’s what I told myself to set a fire under me for starting a business.”

“Now I need to ask why such a one-eighty. Not that being an influencer isn’t hard work, but it’s very different.”

“Not necessarily. I always loved to read, which was the only other thing that gave me joy, especially during a very difficult time in my life. However, just reading books didn’t seem to be enough to pay my bills. Believe me, I tried.” Her laugh was genuine, a beautiful clarity about why she’d become important to me.

“How did you settle on being an influencer as well as a graphic banner designer?”

“I know to a man such as yourself, it doesn’t seem thrilling, but it’s very creative. To take a piece of a writer’s imagination and bring it to life thrills me. Maybe because as a child I also dabbled at sketching. And trust me. I suck at it, which was why I turned to a computer instead.”

“I think starting any business can be thrilling. But it can also be daunting as well.”

“Trust me. I know. I need sponsors from the upper echelon of the book world and several hundred thousand more followers to make anything matter. But for now, I’m happy.”

“And no hospitality position could change your mind.” I don’t know why I felt the need to push her, but I did. Maybe I was testing her resolve.

“Perhaps a vice president position.” She winked and I hadn’t noticed, but she was swaying in time to the music.

My instinct told me she’d been forced out for an entirely different reason. I would find out.

She was almost bewitchingly beautiful tonight.

Which was why I had an idea that refused to be denied. I moved to my drink, taking a gulp while mulling over the idea. With a dark chuckle, I grabbed a fresh canvas, placing it on another easel.

“What are you doing?”

“You’ve given me an inspiration.”

“Oh, yeah?” She moved closer to the new canvas just as I grabbed a new brush, dipping it in to a solid black for an outline.

“I take them where I can get them. They don’t often surface, especially when I’m in the heat of battle.”

“Is that what you call your current operations? Battle zones?”