Scandalous

When the movement of his shadow caught my eye, I scrambled back and screamed. Jack laughed as I fell on my butt, clutching my heart. “Damn, Jack! Don’t sneak up on me like that!” I wasn’t sure if I felt most stupid for falling over or for his catching me singing. I threw the damp sponge at his head.

Grinning he caught it between his hands. “Get up, Abby. The cleaning staff does this crap, not you.”

“I didn’t know what to do. Everyone left, and it was a mess...” I was rambling. He cut me off.

Reaching for my hand, he said, “Come on. Let’s get out of here for a while.” The rage in his eyes had died down to embers. His hand was extended toward me, waiting for me to grab it.

He’s just a friend. Nothing more. I reached out and took his palm. When it slid against mine, my heart lurched. I was such a mess. Was Kate right? Was this incredibly stupid? Jack was a friend—he’d been a good friend until I messed it up.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Without a word, Jack pulled me outside and down to the beach. We walked along the shore for a while in silence. The moon was huge, even though it was waning. The breeze lifted my hair off my neck. It felt good. It felt good to be home again. It felt good to be near Jack again. The artist stopped walking and sat down, patting the sand next to him for me to follow. We were away from the studio now. The only light that illuminated the sand was from the moon. Lowering myself, I sat next to him and tucked my legs close to my body.

“Abby, I’m sorry about that. That kind of thing doesn’t normally happen around here.” He shook his head, dark hair falling into his eyes. “That woman has made my life a living Hell.”

Carefully, I asked, “Who is she?” I gazed at the waves, watching Jack out of the corner of my eye.

“She was a patron, back before I was successful.” Working his jaw, Jack chose his words carefully. “We were a couple for a while, but it didn’t work out. She was pissed that I wouldn’t paint her, and then doubly pissed when the news hit the papers. It didn’t matter that I didn’t leak the story, she was still angry.” He paused for a moment and glanced at me. The expression on his face made me want to wrap my arms around him and hug him. Knowing that would be stupid, I wrapped my arms around my knees, tightly gripping my legs until my hands turned white.

Jack’s expression softened. He looked back at the water as he relived a piece of his past that he clearly wished hadn’t happened. “Back then, I did things the way most painters did—the model was the patron. And, well—you know—fine art has nudes. But people said stuff, Abby, and I didn’t like what they were saying. She was the first patron I turned down. It turned out that it was better to separate things.”

When he didn’t continue I asked, “What do you mean?”

“Just that—it’s better to keep stuff separate. It seems kind of obvious now. You know, not dating the patrons, not screwing the models—stuff that has the potential to mess with you later—setting up boundaries to keep your personal and professional lives apart.” He glanced at me without turning his head. “They failed to teach me that in college. That fucking mistake still haunts me.”

Without meaning to, I was staring at him. As he spoke his voice seemed so strained. Turning back to the sea, I said, “Yeah, college kind of sucks like that. They give you book smarts, but completely lack the ability to make you ready for life. That was $300 grand well spent.” My tone was sarcastic. School was a sore spot for me. Jack’s eyes bulged when I said it, but I continued rambling so he couldn’t ask why the hell I took out $300,000 in loans. “You know—I couldn’t believe it—when I heard what you did. That’s something they couldn’t have taught you at college either. It’s beyond incredible. You turned down millions. You gave away your first windfall. Who does that?”

“Masochistic people who are content being beggars,” he replied, grinning. His eyes were locked on my face as I spoke. There was something about talking about his work that seemed to make him squirm. His voice lightened a little. There was a moment of silence, but I could tell Jack was trying to say something. “Abby...?” I looked directly at him. My breath caught in my throat. His dark hair was tussled by the wind, his eyes endless orbs of blue. “I don’t know how to treat you.”

Surprised, I asked, “What?” Smiling at him, my stomach fluttered. “What do you mean?”

His hand was in the sand, next to mine. He pressed his fingers into the grains before looking up to me. “We’re not the same as we were, but you still feel like the same old Abby. But you’re not. You’re a nun.” I started to protest, but he waved me off, “I know what you’re gonna say, but it’s so totally the same. It means you’re off limits. And what’d I do? I took a nun down to the beach. I have a nun helping me paint nude women. It’s weird.” My heart sank, and I looked away from him. Before I knew what happened, he gently touched my chin and turned my face back toward his. His lips were parted, ready to speak, “And it’s wonderful, because it’s you. You’re still Abby Tyndale, the girl I used to know.” His touch lingered for a moment too long, his gaze remained on mine, locked, not wanting to look away.

I didn’t want to shatter the moment either. Instead of pulling away, I sat there, looking into his eyes. All the feelings that plagued me melted away as he touched me. The lightness in my head made me want to giggle. The idea of his hands on my face, and his lips brushing against mine didn’t seem so bad. As soon as the thought entered my head, I closed my eyes. The connection broke. The moment shattered. Jack lowered his hand, and stared out at the sea.

When the moment passed, I realized that I didn’t want it to. I realized the truth in Kate’s words. I still had the hots for Jack Gray.

CHAPTER TWELVE

I stood in the doorway to Kate’s room. Another week had come and gone. Belinda had disappeared again, and the model situation was smoothed over. Or so it seemed. A suitcase sat open on Kate’s bed.

Kate was standing in the closet tossing things across the room while she spoke, “I’ll be away for a few days. Use the car as much as you want. If something is majorly wrong, call me. I’ll be in Brooklyn, so it’s not like I’m a million miles away.”

My arms were folded over my chest, my shoulder leaning against the doorjamb. “Working over the weekend?”

“Yeah,” I heard as she bent over and grabbed a pair of shiny shoes that had four inch heels.

Pushing off the frame, I walked into the room and over to her. When she turned, I grinned, pulling the shoes out of her hands and putting them on the suitcase. “You really expect me to believe that you’re working? In these?” I held up a shoe on my index finger. The heel could be used as a weapon, it was so long and pointy. “I’d question your occupation and business associates if I were you. This screams of sexual harassment,” I said deadpan. Kate looked like a deer in the headlights. When I couldn’t stand it anymore, a smile cracked across my face and I laughed. “Kate! If you’re seeing someone, just tell me. Don’t pack four times as much clothes just so you can hide lingerie and your fuck-me-heels in the sleeves of your suits.” I tossed the shoe back into her pile of clothes.

A sheepish expression washed across her face, as her shoulders squished up around her neck. “I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t talk about it with you, and...”

I cut her off, “Why not? If it’s something you used to share, and wanted to tell me—tell me.”

“Abby, you’re not like me,” she said as she took a piece of lace from her closet. It was on a hanger so it must have been lingerie, but I had no idea what it’d look like on. It looked more like a napkin with parts missing.

I shrugged, “So. You’re not like me.” I sat down on the bed as Kate walked over, pulling out the stuff she didn’t want from her bag.

“You don’t talk about church crap with me, and I don’t talk about guys with you. We’re both in uncharted waters when it comes to that stuff.” She shook her head, making long dark hair fall over her shoulder as she looked into the bag, grabbing another suit jacket and hanging it back up.

“Yeah, we are. Why’d we do that?”

“You’ve got holy ears,” Kate responded, eyes on her suitcase as she repacked.

I laughed, “What? What does that mean!”

“You’re a direct line to God and you don’t screw around with stuff like that. It’s like sticking a fork into a toaster just to see what happens. I might walk around on a daily basis and not think twice about being struck by a lightning bolt, but when I’m standing next to you and doing what I usually do—let’s just say I’ll think twice about holding an umbrella.” At first I wasn’t sure if she was serious, but when I didn’t hear the laughter in her voice, I knew she meant it.

“Kate! How can you say something like that? It’s not like I call the shots. And for the record—no one has died as a result of a lightning bolt to the head while talking trash to me.”

Kate snort-laughed, and quickly covered her hand over her mouth to hide it. A grin spread across my face until I couldn’t keep my lips shut anymore. Kate sat on the bed and gave me a look. The result was instantaneous. We both broke out into a fit of giggles like we were ten-year-olds, belly-laughing so hard that we couldn’t breathe.

When it passed, Kate sat on the bed with the suitcase between us, “So, nothing’s off limits? Back to the way things were?”

I nodded, “Hell, yeah. I’m still the same person. I’m not gonna get you killed faster because I got a God badge or something.” She grinned at me, but I could still tell she was hesitant. Thinking fast, I wanted to prove it to her. The best way to prove you’d be a good secret-keeper was to offer up a secret, something hidden so deep that you’d never admit to anyone. I cleared my throat, avoiding her gaze, “Besides, talking about guys might be helpful.” I spoke the words as I held up a sheer baby doll outfit that was on top of her open bag. The light passed right through it. Kate’s eyes were burning a hole in my face. I dropped the garment back into her bag and asked, “What?”