Only His (Fool's Gold #6)(66)

Cat stood by a long table, cutting pieces of metal with wicked-looking shears. Heavy gloves protected her hands. Up against the wall was a sketch of what the piece would look like when it was done.

There were swirls and waves, intricate designs covering the feminine curves. If one could ignore the fact that it was a vagina, it was very beautiful.

Cat glanced up and saw Nevada. She smiled broadly, pulled off her gloves, then hit a button on a small remote. The music went silent.

“You came!” Cat hurried toward her and pulled her into a hug. “Don’t you love this space? It’s perfect.”

Nevada hugged her back, then carefully stepped away. “I remember where you worked in Los Angeles. I still have trouble reconciling that everything is industrial here, but beautifully ethereal when you’re finished.”

Cat’s green eyes glowed with pleasure. “It’s my personal form of magic.” She grabbed Nevada’s hand and pulled her to the sketch on the wall. “I don’t always know what I’m going to be doing. Sometimes I have to let the piece speak to me. But this time, I had a vision. It’s so clear.” She laughed. “I almost feel like I shouldn’t have to make it. I can reach out and touch what it’s going to be.”

“It’s amazing,” Nevada murmured. “You’re an inspiration, honoring the town in this way.”

Cat leaned against her. “I have to. You’re from here.”

Oh, no. Not a place she wanted to go.

“There’s just one problem.”

Cat looked at her expectantly.

“It’s the subject matter,” Nevada said cautiously. “You’re so brilliant and famous. Everyone will want to come see the piece, of course. But there’s some concern that it’s rather risqué for Fool’s Gold.”

Cat rolled her eyes. “Please. Don’t be so provincial. My work celebrates the power of women.”

Nevada supposed that a giant breast would be worse, but not by much. “Okay, but this is a family town. Parents don’t want to have to explain what it is to their children.”

“Why not? We should be proud of our bodies. There is beauty in each one of us.” She drew her eyebrows together. “Are you saying the town doesn’t want my gift?”

Her voice was low, almost neutral, but Nevada was getting a bad feeling in her gut.

“They are concerned about the vagina. If it were something else, maybe—”

“Something else?” Cat’s voice was a roar. “They are daring to tell me what to create? They are interfering in my artistic process? Do they know who I am? Governments pay me millions of dollars for my work. Do you know how much the French are giving me for a piece? Work I have put off to create this, as a way to thank your town.”

“Maybe if they’re not appropriately grateful you should rethink doing it.”

“Never.” Cat stalked away, then turned. “How dare they! I am an artist. They have no right to refuse. No right to complain. It’s a gift. You don’t get to say what the gift is going to be. My piece will put this little town on the map. They should beg me to give it to them.”

Her voice rose with each word until she was shouting. Nevada wasn’t enjoying herself, but she wasn’t actually nervous until Cat picked up the blowtorch and lit it.

“Okay, then,” she said, hurrying to the door. “You think about it and we’ll talk again later.”

She scurried outside and hunched over when Cat screamed. The sound was still echoing in Nevada’s ears as she jumped in her truck and sped away.

“LOOK AT THE BRIGHT SIDE,” Tucker told Nevada. “At least now you don’t have to worry about her wanting to date you.”

“Shut up.”

Nevada wished they were somewhere private so she could punch him really hard in the stomach. She knew how—she had brothers. But on the job site, with their crew around and the blasting team putting the final touches on their work, it didn’t seem like the right time.

The good news was that watching the explosion and the subsequent crumbling of earth would probably make her feel better.

“Want me to talk to her?” he offered.

“Cat will probably attack you with a flamethrower. Which right now doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.”

Tucker grinned at her. “Don’t be afraid. You could take her.”

“She has tools and a vicious will. You should have heard her. She thought the town was ungrateful. If only that were enough to make her change her mind.”

Nevada watched her men get into position. “I need to go.”

“You’ll feel better after the explosion.”

“I hope so.”

Blasting earth was a complex proposition. There were dozens of safeguards in place. Now she did a final check on her part of the operation, then settled in to watch the show.

“Um, boss?”

She turned and saw Jerry walking toward her, Cat by his side.

“You have a visitor,” Jerry said, stating the obvious.

Nevada held in a groan. “What are you doing here?” she asked Cat. “Never mind. We have to move back. We’re doing blasting.”

She led the other woman back toward the trailer and got her a hard hat. Once it was in place, Nevada put her hands on her hips.