Page 70 of Sinful as They Come
All I wanted was my money. Were all art deals this annoying?
“We, uh, we have some classes together.” I nodded, shoving my hands into my pockets. “I see her around school… A lot.”
“It was quite an interesting article, wasn’t it?”
“I wouldn’t know.” I lifted up my eyebrows. I didn’t even know what the hell Holly wrote for that thing. “I haven’t read it.”
“Oh. You know, her father is actually a good friend of mine. The Sutton family only live down the road. Her father is here right now if you wanted to say hello. Joe, Holly’s friend is here!”
Jesus, fuck. Not him again. Seeing him at work was one thing. At least then I could try to avoid him.
“I should actually be heading on home.” I coughed, pointing a thumb at the door.
But before I could leave, and more importantly, before I could get my money, Holly’s dad appeared before me. Fuckin’ Joe Sutton. He watched me closely, clearly scrutinizing me in his head before we made eye contact. That was when he gave me the most obvious look of disgust that had ever been sent my way. Well, maybe Holly’s looks of disgust were on par with his. Could have been a genetic thing. Either way, it was like he knew something I didn’t, but I had a feeling he was about to tell me.
“Joe, this is Sawyer. Sawyer, this is Joe.” Eric gestured between us. “I’m buying some art off of Sawyer here. Look at this. Isn’t it wonderful?” He held up the canvas proudly.
“It’s great.” Joe’s voice was dripping with sarcasm.
“And to think young Sawyer here is selling it to me for only six hundred dollars. Oh, and I haven’t even paid you yet. I’m sorry.” Eric shook his head apologetically. He pushed a hand into his back pocket before sighing. “My wallet must be in my office. Do you mind?”
“No.” I coughed, very much aware of Holly’s dad’s gaze on me. “Not at all.”
Eric excused himself with my art, darting up the stairs. He was a nice guy. A little too excited, but nice. But why the fuck did he have to leave me alone with Holly’s dad?
“So, Sawyer,” Joe began once we were alone. “This is what you do when you’re not working at Marve’s. Or beating people up.”
“I’m good with my hands,” I murmured.
“I didn’t know you could paint.”
“A lot of people don’t.”
“You and my daughter must have been spending some time together then. She interviewed recently, right? For her paper?”
“Yeah, she was at my place the other day,” I couldn’t help but say. I just wanted to piss him off. He didn’t approve of me. That much was clear. Maybe it would be fun to take that further. “We had a little talk and all that.”
Joe cleared his throat. “Did you now?”
I smiled at him. “Yeah. I mean we were supposed to meet up at the library, but I guess she just couldn’t resist coming over.”
“You don’t really seem like the type that Holly would normally hang out with. Even if it’s for her paper.”
“Well, she’s been in my life a lot lately. And not because I asked her to be. Feels like I can’t keep her away from me these days...”
“Well, you should be thankful then.”
“I don’t know if that’s the word I would use.” Jesus, where was Eric? I stared up at the top of the stairs, hoping he would just show up with my cash already.
“You just don’t seem to be the type she would surround herself with,” he said quickly.
My eyes narrowed. “Yeah, you already said that.”
“I’m just trying to make a point here.”
“Oh, yeah? And what’s that?”
He shrugged. “I looked you up the other day after I saw you at Marve’s. Being a lawyer gives me some pretty good connections. Sawyer Westbrook’s been in and out of juvie more times than I can count.”
