The Drake Unwound Complete Collection (The Drake Series Book 9)(35)

"Sounds great. When can I come by?"

"If you want, you can stay now and we can get started. I need a break. The schedule's over on the counter by the sink," he said and pointed to the kitchen. Kate smiled and went over to the schedule on the wall. I followed her, wanting to see for myself when he would be working.

Kate turned to me and smiled. "I can't wait."

I returned her smile and ran my fingers over her cheek. "I'm glad you'll be able to work on your art." I bent down and kissed her, wanting pot-head-boy to know she was mine and to lay off.

"Who are the other two guys?" I asked, when I saw names on the schedule, trying to sound nonchalant.

"I don't know—a couple of Nathaniel's friends.

"So you'll all work together here?"

"We'll each have our own rooms."

I sniffed the air. "Smells like he smokes pot here, too. Are you okay with that?"

Kate shrugged. "He's a big boy. I'm not interested in getting high on anything but human endorphins. I'll be here to paint. I might get high off the paint thinner, but that'll be accidental." She grinned up at me. "Drake Morgan, are you jealous?"

I laughed and took her by the arms. "Always. Totally. Completely. I may have to come by and see these other characters before I approve."

"Drake…" she said, frowning. "You don't get to approve."

"Just kidding," I said, although I wasn’t. "Of course, you're free to do what you want outside of our agreement. I'm just curious to know the competition."

"There's no competition so don't even go there."

"I'm a man, Kate. I go there without even thinking."

"I love you," she whispered and pulled me down for a kiss. I kissed her back, the kiss deep, my hand cupping her face.

"I love you," I whispered back, wanting her to know it without any doubt. I didn’t want to ever give her any reason to turn to another man.

"Do you have something to do for an hour? I'd like to start making a canvas while I'm here. You could pick me up at 12:15 so we can get to Katz's by 12:30."

"Sure,” I said, although I was hoping to take her home for a quickie before going to Katz’s for lunch, but I didn’t want to deny her the chance to start working on her art. “I can pop by the Foundation. I'll text you when I'm back."

She walked me to the door and kissed me once more. I held onto the door for a moment and watched her walk back to Nathaniel. She waved at me and finally I closed the door and left. It wasn’t that I thought Kate would cheat on me. She would only turn to someone else if I gave her good reason. I was determined not to do that.

I wouldn’t be my father.



I went to the Foundation and sat in my office, at a loss for something to do. My admin, Nancy, had nothing pressing on her desk for me to look over and Dave was at an outside meeting so I sat and surfed the internet on the laptop in my office.

When my hour of killing time was up, I drove back to the studio in Chelsea and sat outside in the car.

I took out my cell and texted Kate to let her know I was there.



Your carriage awaits, my Lady…



She texted me back.



I'll be right down.



I got out of the car and stood beside it, waiting for her. When she came out of the building, I bent down to kiss her before she could open the car door.

"Hey," I said. "You've got sawdust in your hair."

Kate ran her hand through her hair, shaking out the bits of wood.

"We cut wood for the frame and then we had to miter the corners and make dados."

"Sounds complicated," I said and opened the passenger door.

"No, it's pretty straight forward once you have your dimensions. My canvas is pretty big so we had to do a lot of bracing so the canvas would be strong enough. I didn't even get a chance to stretch the canvas yet. I'll do that tomorrow."

She smiled at me and got in. I closed the door and came around the other side.


"You didn’t have any time on the sheet tomorrow."

She nodded. "Nathaniel said I could come in and work in the main studio."

"How nice of him," I said, deadpan, as we drove off. I couldn’t be jealous of him, but I was. I was jealous that he was a part of Kate’s life that I could never really share.

If Kate caught the jealousy in my voice she didn’t say anything in rebuke. Finally, she reached out and took my hand.

"You know the first time we met outside of class, Nathaniel was stoned and called me 'dude.'"

I laughed at that, glancing at her. "Well, he must have been really stoned because there is no way any man in his right mind would call you dude."

"He's harmless, Drake."

I shook my head. That was incredibly na?ve of Kate but I relished it in her. "No man is harmless, unless you're going to tell me he's really gay, and even then, they've been known to change teams."

She laughed. "No, he's just a manslut. He'll gladly sleep with any pretty thing that will have him. No steady girlfriends. He's not my type in the least. You are."

"I am, Ms. Bennet," I said and touched the collar around her neck to remind her of its existence. "And you're mine."