Grounded (Up in the Air #3)(19)

I wrinkled my nose at her. “I’ll try it, though I don’t understand it.”

She just shrugged. “Jackie takes time to understand, but I guarantee she’ll grow on you.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Mr. Muse

We chatted and ate and chatted some more. We had been talking and laughing for hours when Lana looked at her phone and groaned.

“I need to get to a meeting. Thanks for doing this,” Lana said, beginning to gather up her things.

“Thanks for inviting me. It’s nice to discover that James has some female friends that aren’t complete psychopaths.”

She threw back her head and laughed. She was a sight, with her blonde mermaid hair and her twinkling eyes.

We were just standing up from the table when I spotted James striding through the door of the now crowded café. People stopped in their tracks to watch him, myself included.

He only had eyes for me as he approached.

He wrapped an arm around my waist, gripping tightly, before he turned a dazzling smile on Lana. “We’ll walk you out,” he said.

We walked her out, flanked by our security, of which Lana had said not one word, and said our goodbyes. I was surprised when James led me to the car, and then followed me into the large SUV. It was only two p.m. I hadn’t imagined he’d get off work so early.

“Are you done for the day?” I asked him as he crowded me into the middle seat.

He buckled me in like the control freak he is, before answering. “I am.” He grinned. It was the most charming, incorrigible smile, the smile of a kid ditching school and getting away with it because no one could tell him no.

I traced his lips with one finger. “That’s good news,” I said softly.

“I pawned some meetings off on my VP. Meetings that were above his pay grade, so I may need to give him a raise. I want to watch you paint. I needed to see those dreams in your eyes firsthand.”

He fingered one of my earrings, his eyes as tender as I’d ever seen them. “Thank you for that,” he whispered, a catch in his voice.

I melted.

We went straight to the apartment. We found Stephan and Javier in one of the larger entertainment areas, playing video games and eating sandwiches. They were still wearing pajamas.

I laughed when I saw them.

Stephan grinned back at me.

Javier didn’t even look up. He was too busy trying to hunt down and kill Stephan’s character in the game. He wasn’t successful.

Stephan shot Javier’s character in the head within seconds, barely even glancing at the screen. He was the worst to play against. He never lost.

Javier cursed. “I almost had you!”

“Headshot,” Stephan pointed out.

James tugged at my hand, drawing my gaze to him. He grinned at me, a twinkle in his eye. “Well, we have to play a match or two. I’m playing hooky from work. Gaming is practically a requirement.”

“I’m on Stephan’s team,” I said quickly. If I was going to play, it may as well be to win.

James pointed at me. “You’re going to pay for that.”

And I did. We ended up playing for hours, and I got camped. James killed me, again and again, with no remorse. He apparently took it personal when I picked someone else’s team. Good to know.

Marion brought us food while we played, since we were at it for so long.

We won some matches, and lost some, but it was more of a contest between James and Stephan. Javier and I were hopelessly outmatched.

I elbowed James as he shot my army guy in the head yet again.

“This game is so sexist,” I complained. “I can’t believe that there isn’t even an option for me to play as a girl.”

“Do you think that if you were playing as a busty blonde it would distract me?” James asked, amused.

“It couldn’t hurt.”

He tossed his controller on the ground. I gave a little embarrassing shriek as he tossed me over his shoulder. “We’re done, guys. Buttercup wants to distract me. Consider me distracted.”

The guys called out goodnights as James carried me away, even though it couldn’t have been even six p.m. It seemed that they understood that if we went to our bedroom, we wouldn’t be coming back out.

I was surprised when James didn’t take me to our bedroom, instead heading to the studio.

“Will you pose for the nude?” I asked breathlessly, as he jostled me on his shoulder.

“Yes. With a condition.”

“What condition?”

“I want you naked, as well, while you paint.”

It didn’t seem fair to argue with that stipulation, but I still sort of wanted to.

My breath whooshed from my lungs in a rush as James suddenly dumped me onto the cushy divan that took up a corner of the studio near the window. He didn’t pounce on me, as I’d half assumed, and wished, that he would. Instead, he began to strip.

“Take off your clothes and paint me, Love,” he said with a heart-stopping smile.

I set up my supplies first, setting everything up just so. The sun was slowly setting, and the best of the day’s light had passed, so I turned on the bright overhead lights to illuminate the most beautiful man in the world lounging on a divan, naked and at my service.

I started to paint, forgetting that I was supposed to be nude, as well.