Page 65 of Tempt

I force myself not to look away. “Yeah, probably.”

“That’s why I wanted to show you this. It’s Deke—the owner—who Alex wanted me to meet. So if you have the VIP card, you should know that you might see my work at his club. And…you might see me, there, too.”

My mouth drops open.

“That’s a secret,” she says, her voice tight. “From your brother, too.”

“Grace…”

“I’m not doing anything wrong.” She turns away. “I just didn’t want you to be surprised. That’s all.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t need to say anything. Just hear it, and then… you know, in time.”

I’m the last person to offer relationship advice or judge someone for their choices. “I’m proud of you. I know that much.”

She glances back over her shoulder. “Thanks.”

“And I’m starving. Can we eat?”

“Of course.” She pulls a canvas drop cloth off a sculpture and sets it on the ground. “Do you mind having a picnic on the floor?”

“No.” I frown at the sculpture. “Is this yours?”

Her brow pulls tight. “Yeah.”

“It’s not a woman.”

“I branch out sometimes.”

It’s a man, head ducked low. No face visible, because his heavy body is twisted away. And there’s a pair of hands on his back. Soft, small hands.

Something stops me from asking more about it, so I sit and eat with her. But the first thing I do when I get home is look up her website, where she keeps a catalogue of all of her work.

And my heart sinks.

21

Hazel

Sam doesn’t callme back for a few hours, and when he does, he sounds weary.

“Luke’s not proud of her,” he says, and my heart breaks.

“That’s awful.”

“I think she’s checked out of their relationship, which may be for the best. For her, anyway. But I think it’s going to get messy before it gets better. This is her first big public show, and one of the pieces for it is calledDeath of a Marriage.”

“Oh.” I want to throw reassurance at him, remind him that art doesn’t always reflect life, and that’s a common theme for creators to tangle with. But Sam knows this couple better than anyone. If he is worried, I’m not going to minimize that fear. “I’m sorry. For them, and you. That’s a lot of stress to carry.”

“Yeah.”

“Does it feel better to talk about it?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you want me to distract you?”

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