Page 26 of On the Fly
“He has. He’s a top seller for me.” Josh just shook his head at Ander and left him standing there, going to Emma’s side to study the picture. “He was actually out here a few weeks ago for a small showing.”
“Really. That would have been nice to see him again. Can I take a look around?” she asked.
“Sure, let me give you a tour. If you find something you want, I’ll make money bags here a special offer,” Josh said, throwing a thumb over his shoulder toward Ander who hadn’t moved a muscle. He’d calculated poorly. He’d intended to kill some time, visit for a bit to keep him from having to shop around town—something he absolutely hated to do. Yeah, bad decision. He ran a hand through his hair and followed their progress through the gallery.
“We’ll call it an early Christmas bonus,” she said teasingly, moving to the next painting along the wall.
“I like the way you think.” For the next hour, Josh took Emma around, stopping in front of every painting as they talked design, vision, and the expertise of each artist. They were so involved in shop talk that Josh didn’t break away from Emma when other customers arrived. Instead, a woman with tag on her lapel signifying her as the curator appeared out of nowhere, handling the various visitors. Clearly, Emma knew her stuff, at least Josh seemed to think she did.
Jealousy eased into boredom. Art had never been his thing, so he shifted his attention to what interested him the most…business. The curator spoke enticingly about the art, drawing the customer in and efficiently luring them in for a sale. She was remarkable, causing Ander to take a closer look at the small business. Its location was incredible. Napa Valley drew money, but even these smaller outlying townships had witnessed a resurgence of tourist traffic over the years. He wondered what the business looked like on paper, and if they had any plans for expansion.
“He’s not listening.” Emma snapped her fingers in his face, drawing his attention to her and Josh standing together in front of him. They matched one another in their sun-kissed good looks, and the jealousy instantly returned along with his frown. “We’re going to the back. I’m going to look at his social media. You can stay out here if you want or even play the scavenger hunt the wedding party is playing.”
“Yeah, you can go,” Josh encouraged, a twinkle in his eye. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”
“I’m staying,” he said through a clamped jaw, ready to gut-punch Josh and smile while doing it. With much restraint, Ander waved a hand toward the rear of the shop. “Lead the way.”
~~~
Hours later, Emma looked up from the computer screen, her eyes straining from the brightness, her gaze landing directly on Ander. He lounged in a metal folding chair, directly across the desk from her, staring at his phone, his thumbs moving as he typed.
Of course, she had never forgotten about him sitting there. He was unforgettable, his presence taking all her mental effort to ignore. He was also beautiful. A single piece of his blond hair had fallen over his forehead, giving him a youthful look, something happy and easy-going which sure seemed to be his resting personality over the last twenty-four hours. After shedding that buttoned-up demeanor, he really could be fun…once you forgot he was also a butthead.
Lord, she was in so much trouble with him. If she let her heart win the battle over her head, it wouldn’t end well for her.
“He’s into you,” Josh typed into the post she had open on the screen, pulling her attention back to him.
She shook her head. Julia’s same observation had already done a number on her resistance to Ander, forcing her to see him as something other than the annoying man with an unknown ulterior motive who was also her boss. She certainly didn’t need Josh’s input to push her further in the direction of guaranteed heartbreak and utter embarrassment. She quickly moved the keypad back her direction and typed, “Absolutely not. You don’t know our history.”
He gave a huff and leaned over, his fingers flying over the keys. “Any man who sits in front of a woman for three hours while she works on something as awful as social media…that man’s into her.”
Her gaze lifted to Ander again as her body warmed and gave this little melting feeling—something that had happened several times since she had entered this alternate universe of Ander Jorgensen being a really good guy. Could Josh be right? She instantly rejected the idea, but her heart was much slower to agree. She couldn’t remember anyone being as kind and generous as Ander was to her. He had saved her this weekend.
Even her stepmother had taken a completely different tone with her since Ander’s arrival this morning. Her father beamed when he looked her way. And Julia, well, she and her soon-to-be husband had already invited them to dinner in Atlanta once the newlyweds returned from their honeymoon. Ander was so convincing about the legitimacy of their relationship that the lines blurred for her too. They fit in a weird way, and that comfort scared her. It couldn’t last.
The longing for the possibility had to still be in her gaze as she looked over at Josh, studying him to see if he was messing with her. She had scanned hundreds and hundreds, maybe even thousands, of pictures on his computer to find engaging photos for his social media. Two things became clear. Josh was an accomplished art connoisseur. And he was a gay man who hadn’t settled down one little bit throughout his life. He traveled, taking kissing shots with different men in front of every major tourist attraction around the world.
“I don’t think so,” she finally typed, forcing her guard back in place. At the end of this weekend, she would never see Ander again, except when it pertained to work. Why did that thought make her stomach tighten?
He couldn’t be interested in a relationship.
He was probably a one-night stand kind of guy.
She wasn’t a hundred percent certain he even had the capability to have feelings. He wore that stone-cold businessman persona like some sort of superhero cape. Swooping in and righting the course of businesses, then leaving as soon as he’d saved the day. He’d swooped in to save her, and he’d likely leave just as quickly.
Whatever Josh saw had his brow lowering as he looked over at Ander, challenge in the set of his jaw. “Where you living now, Jorgensen?”
Ander lifted his thumbs from typing and raised his eyes, but kept his head bent toward the phone. His gaze was severe. First, he looked at Emma then over to Josh. “Atlanta.”
“And you?” Josh asked.
“A suburb of Atlanta.”
“So, you’re close to each other?” Josh stated the obvious.
“Close enough,” Ander said, his tone turning menacing as he gave Josh that hard stare she had seen for the first time on the plane ride to California.
“It’s hard to believe you two were friends,” Emma said at all the posturing she was picking up and pushed the laptop back, closing the lid. She’d done everything she could to update all Josh’s social media platforms, teaching him how to schedule posts, pick better pictures to highlight his online shop, and she friended herself so he could ask questions in the future.
