Page 1 of Power Play

Chapter One

Regina Davis smiled at the man in a suit, standing by the door of the art gallery as her turn in line arrived.

“Invitation, please,” the man said.

She handed him the little white card. He looked at it and handed it back to her. “Enjoy your evening.”

Interesting to have such security. Regina didn’t mind since this was for Anthony. It was the first showing of his art. It was also the grand opening of The Morgan Gallery. She was thrilled Anthony had found a gallery that would display his art. He was a masterful artist, and she’d been lucky enough to see some of his sketches.

She smoothed her hands down her black cocktail dress. Walking farther into the gallery, Regina noted the high polished floors and the way others were dressed. Thank goodness she’d had time to shower and change into her dress before coming to the gallery. Hospital scrubs wouldn’t have gone over well with this crowd.

Everyone was dressed for an evening out with the men in suits and the women either in cocktail dresses or fancy evening dresses. This was not Regina’s typical crowd. No, she was more of the jeans-and-let’s-relax-at-the-local-bar kind of person.

“Drink, ma’am?” a waiter asked.

She wanted to take one of the flutes of champagne, but she did have to work tomorrow. “Do you have anything nonalcoholic?”

“Of course.” He waved another waiter over and plucked a glass from his tray and handed it to Regina. “Sparkling cider. Please enjoy.”

Regina took the flute, and the waiter walked away. She spied Anthony across the room with a group of people. It would be better to walk around for a few minutes and then see if he was free. She didn’t want to interrupt him. This was Anthony’s night.

Walking through the gallery, she enjoyed seeing his work on display. Many of his drawings were exotic. The women were in the style of old pin up girls but with his own flair. Admittedly, the woman had big breasts, but they were displayed tastefully. Anthony was an equal opportunity artist. He drew men as well. Regina couldn’t suppress her grin at the exaggerated size of the man’s penis in the drawing she was currently studying.

If a woman saw that in real life, she’d run screaming. Regina rounded the corner to see two women standing in front of another painting. Oh my, Anthony had caught the flavor of the club on bondage night. The eroticism in the painting had Regina holding her breath.

She shivered as if the Dom’s fingers trailing down the sub’s arms were againstherskin, the sub’s little breaths of anticipation, and the overall sensuality and love in the drawing.

“Why are we here, Frances?” a white-haired woman asked.

“Now, Ellen, you know I support the arts.” Frances patted her coiffed hair.

“This isn’t art.” The woman called Ellen shifted on her feet. “It’s porn.” She spoke softly, but Regina still heard her.

Regina’s back stiffened. How many times had she been told she was reading porn because she liked extra spicy romance novels? The judgment in the woman’s voice put Regina’s hackles up.

“Excuse me,” she said. “But how is this different from some Greek statues? Or drawings of pin up girls?”

Ellen turned around and glared at Regina. “Really? That’s art.”

Regina lifted her head. “That’s what this is. Art. Beautiful art depicting two people who care about each other and enjoy being sexy together.”

“This isn’t art; it’s trash.”

“Enough, Ellen,” Frances said.

Regina barely held on to her temper. Intolerant people were a hot button for her. No surprise since her family had kicked her out because she wanted to be a nurse. How could anyone object to a desire to go into nursing? Intolerance was her family’s middle name, and these women acted just like them. “Maybe you shouldn’t be here since you view it as trash. I’m sure you can find better things to do with your time.”

Ellen huffed out a breath and marched away. Frances gave Regina a sad smile before following. Regina stared at the painting. She didn’t see anything wrong with it, and it sure as heck wasn’t trash.

“You just scared two potential customers away,” a husky male voice commented.

Regina spun around, almost tripping herself.

Masculine hands gripped her shoulders until she was steady, then let go.

She stared at the man in the dark suit; he filled it out so well, her breath caught. Her skin tingled from the brief contact of his hands on her bare shoulders. Who was he? There was something familiar about him.

“I’m not going to apologize. I doubt they’d have bought anything.” She was done being sorry for what she thought and what she felt. She’d done too much apologizing to her family, and nothing ever changed.

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