Why Not Tonight (Happily Inc. #3)(61)

The butterfly wings needed to be spectacular, she thought as she crumpled up the sheet of paper on her desk and tossed it into the recycle bin and put a clean page in its place. She adjusted her headphones, searched through her iPod for the right song to inspire her, then pushed Play.

The opening notes of “Eye of the Tiger” began to play. She hummed along, moving in her seat as she quickly drew the first of three hummingbirds. Maybe the problem was the placement, she thought, drawing faster and faster. Yes, that was it. She needed to—

The music went silent. She looked up and saw Nick standing next to her.

“What?” she demanded.

“You’re half humming, half singing. It’s annoying.”

“I was not.”

She looked at Ronan, who gave her a half shrug. “You were.”

“How you betray me. All of you. Fine. If that’s how you want to be.”

She got up and walked over to the studio sound system, then set her iPod on the docking station. Seconds later, the opening notes blasted in the huge space. Mathias looked up from the piece he was polishing.

“Were you even born in the eighties?” he asked.

“I’m ignoring you,” she yelled over the music.

Ronan grinned, Nick shook his head and went back to the small piece of wood he was carving, but by the chorus, they were all singing along. After it ended, Natalie turned to pull her iPod when she saw Atsuko standing by the docking station. Her boss raised her eyebrows.

“Interesting,” she murmured, “what all of you find creative.”

“If it works,” Natalie told her. “Did you need me for something?”

“A quick chat, if you have a second.”

“Of course.”

Natalie put her iPod into her desk drawer, then followed Atsuko into the gallery. When they were seated across from each other at Atsuko’s desk, her boss smiled at her.

“The dragon piece sold yesterday.”

Natalie did her best to look calm and not start dancing in her chair. “That’s great. Thanks for letting me know.”

“You’re welcome. The clients were asking about other pieces you have available. I had to tell them there weren’t any right now.” Atsuko’s gaze intensified. “They insisted I take their phone number and let them know when you have something else to sell.”

Natalie had never had anyone ask about her work specifically. She’d always sold everything Atsuko took, but this was different. This was about her!

“I don’t know what to say,” she admitted. “That’s really exciting.”

“It is.” Her boss opened a desk drawer and pulled out one of the comic book flowers Natalie had made for the wedding. “I hope you don’t mind, but I borrowed this the other night. I’ve been thinking about it.”

She passed it over to Natalie. “Do you like making the flowers?”

“They’re fun. I enjoy trying different techniques.” She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think I’d want to do this for every wedding coming to town, but now and then, it would be interesting.”

“Have you thought of doing something like this on a grander scale?”

“I haven’t,” she said even as she began to consider the idea. “It’s possible, of course. If the flowers got much bigger, they’d need to be reinforced. Or I’d have to use a different weight of paper. I’ve been thinking it would be interesting to use pages from a fashion magazine instead of the comic book paper. All the colors and the thickness of the pages could add dimension. The stems would also have to be different. Stronger. Maybe something with bamboo. I like working with bamboo.” Her voice trailed off. “Sorry. You wanted a simple yes or no, didn’t you?”

“Not at all. I enjoy hearing about the creative process. Your work is unique. You’re starting to find your style. It’s never going to be just one thing with you. Not all artists are like that. Nick likes to do different things.” She sighed. “I blame myself, but he’s starting to talk about working with metal again.”

Natalie tried not to look guilty. The previous year Atsuko had bought some used welding equipment and had offered it to the guys to experiment with. They’d quickly realized they didn’t have the training to create anything and had nearly set the studio on fire. Twice. Everyone had been relieved when the equipment had been put in the storeroom.

“I wonder what inspired him,” she murmured, avoiding Atsuko’s knowing gaze.

“I have a suspicion that it was cutting up your car, but we’ll discuss that another time. Back to your flowers. The other day I noticed the shelf you have behind your desk. The one with your origami. There are a few glass pieces there. Ronan’s work, I presume?”

Natalie nodded.

“The paper and the glass are an unexpected combination, but they work. You are familiar with his vases of flowers.”

Not a question, but Natalie responded. “Of course. They’re beautiful.”

“I agree and they sell very well.”

Despite the mid-six-figure price tag, Natalie thought, wondering what it must be like to be so talented and successful and, well, rich.

“I’d like you to create a floral piece on the same scale.” Atsuko pointed to an empty pewter vase in the corner of her office. It had to be at least three feet high. It was slightly battered, but elegant, and had a beautiful patina.