Page 45 of That Time in Venice
Chapter16
Who counteddown the hours until she saw a man? AnikaTaylordid.
The reception at city hall concluded earlier than expected, so she arrived half an hour early to the appointed gallery where she and Reed agreed to meet. She was nervous. Probably because with Brielle spending the night at her cousins’ house, tonight was a turning point. They teetered on the edge of a decision that would change them bothforgood.
The art stroll took place every second Friday of the month in the Castleberry Hill historic arts district. Not only did the local shops and galleries open their doors to the visitors descending on the neighborhood, artists came from out of town for the exposure. The additional foot traffic meant patrons and vendors buzzed throughout the street, and food trucks lining the avenue offered food options that could be enjoyed while strollingabout.
Scoping out the interior of the gallery, she didn’t see Reed anywhere and proceeded to check out the paintings. She’d made her way back to the front of the gallery when Reed sauntered in, his tall frame dominating as he stood on the threshold for several seconds, searching for her. Once spotting her, he came over, his eyes filled with warmth as his gaze caressedherface.
If it were possible to make someone melt simply by looking at them, Reed would leave puddles of melted females in his wake everywhere his feet tread. Taking her hand, he closed the gap between them with agentletug.
“Hi.” He lifted her hand to hismouth.
Anika’s breath caught and held before releasingagain. “Hi.”
He bit his bottom lip, eyes lowered to half-mast as he skimmed her body in the figure-hugging black dress. The neckline boldly dipped between her breasts and showed ample cleavage. She’d styled her hair in loose curls and wore more makeup than usual, which included red lips and smokyeyeshadow.
“You look incredible. How am I supposed to concentrate on the art in the galleries when I have a spectacular work of art rightbesideme?”
Anika giggled, warmth heating her cheeks. She’d taken great care with her appearance, and his reaction was exactly what she’dhopedfor.
“You keep talking like that, and you might get luckytonight.”
Reed’s eyes darkened and a predatory smile skated across his lips. “Inthatcase…”
Shoving him with a laugh, Anika shook her head. “We’re here to look at art. I let you join me, but remember I’m alsoworking.”
“Oh right, right.” Reed’s fingers brushed hers, and she leaned in, forgetting for a minute that they were in a gallery filled with patrons. He simply had that effect—he drew her in and made her forget hersurroundings.
Their fingers laced together. Her hand fit comfortably in his warm clasp—as snug and secure as lambskin gloves. Touching him, holding hands, wasn’t awkward in theleast.
They walked through the gallery handinhand.
“This is nice.” Reed pointed at a largepainting.
“The artist is from South Carolina.” Anika kept tabs on him via social media and had been anxious to see his work in person. The painting was imbued with eye-catching reds, greens, and browns. She filed away the image to retrieve at a later date for aclient.
“What do you think about this for the living room? Or something similar?” Reedasked.
Wrinkling her nose, Anika shook her head. “You need a piece that better brings together the room’s neutral colors. Something subtler. How about…oh, how about that one.” She pointed to another painting. It was of a man standing in a boat, moored next to an embankment. The artist had done such an excellent job, the blue-green water appeared to ripple on the canvas as it flowed beneath the whitebridge.
“Remind you of anything?” Reedasked.
“Yes.”
They didn’t need to say another word or add additional detail. Their thoughts were perfectlyintune.
“I’m going to get it,”Reedsaid.
“Now?”
“Yes. Before someone else does. I think it would be perfect for that empty space on the wall in the living room. It fits the decor,right?”
“Itdoes.”
“No time like thepresent.”
They tracked down a salesperson and in very short order, aSoldsticker was placed on the painting, Reed paid for it, and gave the woman his information fordelivery.
