One Passionate Night: Her Brooding Italian Boss / The Heiress's Secret Baby / Best Friend to Wife and Mother?

CHAPTER EIGHT

STANDING IN THE main room of the gallery, pressed in by art aficionados, Antonio glanced at his watch. His return to the world of art had been a subtle, almost disappointing, one. Olivia had other clients—working clients—she was schmoozing right now. Tucker had found two business acquaintances he was talking up. And Antonio stood by a gallery owner from Madrid who desperately wanted him to do a showing.

Half of him had gone breathless at the prospect. The other half wanted to run in terror.

The screech of a car grinding to a stop stabbed into the noise of the gallery. He looked up, past Juanita Santos to the wall of windows behind her. A red Jag had pulled up to the curb for valet parking. His eyes narrowed. That looked just like Constanzo’s car.

The driver’s door opened. A spike heel emerged, connected to one long, slim leg.

His eyebrows rose. The crowd outside the gallery turned to the newcomer. Men smiled. Women gave her the once-over.

Antonio’s mouth fell open as Laura Beth tossed the keys to the valet.

With her hair pulled up, piled high on her head, and looking luscious in the slim black dress, she walked the cobblestone path like a model working the catwalk. The dress rode her curves, accenting her womanly figure, but the black color gave her a sleek, sophisticated air. In her worn jeans and goofy librarian work clothes, she was an all-American girl. In this dress, she was a woman.

And all eyes were on her.

His heart caught and his breathing faltered, but he ignored them. He wasn’t in a position to get involved with her. Though looking at her in that dress, he was again tempted. Still, for all he knew, Constanzo had set this up. But even if he hadn’t, his reasons for staying away from Laura Beth were sound. Responsible. He feared watching her belly swell with child, but his first marriage had also made him jaded, angry. She was absolutely too nice for him. And right now she was about to be rejected at the door.

A gentleman, he couldn’t let that happen. He turned to Juanita. “If you’ll excuse me.”

“Of course.”

He headed for the door, his heart thundering in his chest with fear that she’d be embarrassingly refused entrance. Instead, the young man smiled and motioned for her to enter.

She dipped her head in thanks and glided into the crowd.

He stopped and waited for her to see him. When she did, she approached him.

“Well, look at you.”

She smiled slowly. “You’ve got to stop stealing my good lines.”

He laughed. “I’m glad you’re here, but I’m afraid I’m—”

He was about to say busy, when Olivia raced over. “Laura Beth?”

She raised her hands. “In the flesh.”

Olivia squealed with joy. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m spending a few weeks with Antonio, helping him try to clear out his office.”

One of Olivia’s eyebrows rose as she looked at Antonio, who clearly hadn’t mentioned that her best friend was living with him.

Laura Beth laughed. “Don’t worry. Constanzo hired me. Antonio didn’t. So he’s not really cooperating.”

Olivia tilted her head at him. “Pity.”

Then Laura Beth totally surprised him by squeezing Olivia’s hand and saying, “I’d love to chat. But Antonio was just telling me that he’s busy. I’m assuming you’ve got people for him to meet, so I’m going to walk around the gallery and, you know, browse.”

Olivia gave her a quick hug. “Have fun. I do have a few people I’d like Antonio to meet. But maybe we can catch up tomorrow.”

Laura Beth smiled mysteriously. “Maybe.”

Then she turned and walked away.

Antonio watched the slight sway of her hips, the long curve of her spine, as she moved away from him.

“Wow. She looked happy, huh?”

Antonio faced Olivia. “Happy?”

“Yeah. Lately she’s been a little glum.” She slid her hand into his elbow and turned him toward the crowd again. “I guessed she was a bit upset about being roommateless, but she wouldn’t talk about it. She won’t take a thing from me or Tucker. Not even a job offer. She wants to make her own way in the world.” She paused and frowned. “How’d Constanzo talk her into working for you?”

He blinked. Obviously, she didn’t know Laura Beth was pregnant. So he shrugged. “I think losing her apartment really brought home the fact that she couldn’t be choosy about who offered her a job.”

“Yeah, well, if you really don’t want her, Tucker does. He has an opening for an IT person who would work directly with him, somebody he can trust with his secrets.”

“Sounds perfect for her.”

“It is perfect for her. He was going to make the offer after the wedding, but she disappeared. Now at least we know where she went.”

“Yes, you do.” And Tucker wanting to hire Laura Beth was like a blessing from heaven. A relief.

Really.

There was no reason for the odd feeling in his stomach, the fear of losing her, the reminder of how empty his house was without her.

He peered around into the crowd but couldn’t see Laura Beth. Then he caught a fleeting glimpse of her as she moved between two conversation circles. The men in each cluster smiled at her and she innocently smiled back.

Jealousy catapulted through him.

“Ready to mingle?”

Thanking God for a reason to take his eyes and his attention off Laura Beth, he smiled at Olivia. “Desperately.”

He spent an hour with Olivia introducing him to gallery owners, art dealers and collectors. His former charm came back to him as if he hadn’t lost it. If he’d had anything new to display or sell, he would have made a killing.

But he didn’t have anything new to display or sell, and he wasn’t yet entertaining commissions, so everyone drifted away. The futility of his situation roared through him, frustrating him, making him wonder why the hell he was even here.

He faced Olivia. “I’m going to get a drink. Would you like one?”

“I think I better find Tucker.”

Perfect. He could go to the bar, drink himself stupid with scotch and be driven back to the penthouse, where he could pass out and forget he was a has-been.

Shifting to the side, he slid through the throng of happy people and to the discreet glass-and-marble bar set up in a corner.

“Scotch.” The bartender turned to go and he caught his arm. “Three of them.”

The young man nodded, apparently thinking he was getting drinks for friends, and that was just fine with Antonio. He angled himself against the marble, but when he did he saw Laura Beth, standing alone, staring at a painting.

He studied the tilt of her head, the way it clearly displayed her interest in the picture, saw the light and shadows he’d use if he painted her, so everyone would see what he saw. A newcomer falling in love.

Damn it! What was he doing imagining painting her again!

“Here you are, sir.”

The bartender set three crystal glasses of scotch on the bar. Antonio took the first one and downed it. He set the empty glass on the bar, then dug through his pockets for a good tip.

He walked away with a scotch in each hand, deliberately heading away from Laura Beth, but apparently she’d moved too, because there she stood, in front of another display. This one she seemed to like about as much as she liked the Picassos.

Watching her, he sipped the second scotch. The desire to capture her slithered through him again, just as Jason Ashbury stopped in front of him.

“I wanted to give you a card.”

Antonio set his second scotch on an available tray with a wince. “Sorry.”

Jason laughed. “Never apologize for enjoying a good scotch.” He handed the card to Antonio. “I know you’re accustomed to bigger galleries, but we’d love to have you in Arizona.”

And he’d love to be in a gallery in Arizona. He’d love to have a showing anywhere. If he could just freaking paint again.

His gaze strolled to Laura Beth.

Jason shook his hand. “Come visit us. Maybe we’ll inspire you.”

He walked away and Antonio’s eyes sought Laura Beth again. She all but shimmered in the sophisticated dress, but she couldn’t hide that innocence. And maybe that’s what drew him. She was his deceased wife’s polar opposite. And if her innocence was the medicine he needed to paint again, maybe he shouldn’t fight it.

He strolled over. “Are you okay?”

“What? You think a woman can’t be on her own in a gallery?”

“No. You’re pregnant and it’s been a long night and you still have a bit of a drive home.”

She winced. “Saw me in the car, did you?”

He took a step closer. “Saw you getting out of the car.”

This time she laughed. “That was fun.”

“You looked like you were enjoying it.”

“Oh, I was.” She took a long drink of air. “I’m going to miss this.”

“Barcelona?”

“No. The dressing up tonight and playacting.”

He raised one eyebrow in question. “Why? You’ve got a few more weeks in Italy. You can do all the dressing up and playacting you want.”

She shook her head. “No. I can’t. Walking around here tonight, I remembered something I’d thought at the wedding. I took what I believed was a real job because I’m not an executive or a trust-fund baby or even employable in New York City.” She faced him. “But you don’t want me and I don’t really belong here. It’s time for me to go home.”

Panic swirled through him. “Home New York or home Kentucky?”

“Kentucky.” She raised her gaze to meet his. “I know there’s not much work for an IT person there, but I’m going to have a baby. I need my mom for moral support.” She sucked in a breath. “But looking at one of the pictures, I also realized I had a pretty good childhood.”

He frowned. “Which picture?”

She ambled to a picture a few feet away. “This one.”

It was a painting of three dogs running through the dead brush around a pond in late fall. The colors were cool, dismal. The sky so dark it was almost charcoal gray.

“This reminds you of home?”

Gazing at the painting, she said, “Yes.”

Hoping for the best, he said, “You had a dog?”

She laughed. “No. We had ugly Novembers. The cold sets in and lingers. But some of my best life things happened in fall.”

She faced him with a light in her eyes that flicked the switch of his longing to paint. But in a different way than the day he’d found her lying on her bed wrapped in a towel, a different way even than the technical visions of dimension and light that had overtaken him various times that day. This was a serious, quiet need, something that didn’t hurt him or fill him with angry longing. This one was normal.

Breathlessly afraid to lose this feeling, he quietly said, “What sort of things?”

“Well, my birthday’s in the fall, so there’s the whole being born thing.”

He laughed.

“And every fall we returned to school.” She smiled at him but her eyes were distant, as if she were thinking back to the past. “Going to school meant seeing my friends, getting new clothes, football games, school play tryouts.”

“Sounds like fun.”

“It was.”

“And that’s why you’re going home?”

She moved her eyes up to meet his gaze. “I just keep thinking I’d like to be around my mom when I actually have the baby. But I also had a great childhood. I want my baby to have that, too.”

He whispered, “It makes sense,” not sure why the moment felt so solemn, except it meant that their time together was ending. Or maybe because he knew he needed to at least try to paint her and if he didn’t ask in the next few seconds he wouldn’t get the chance.

“I still think about painting you.”

“I know.” She stepped away. “You told me it annoys you to think about painting me.”

He laughed. “Tonight’s feelings are different.”

She faced him. “Really?”

“Yeah. Tonight it all feels real, doable.”

“Well, that’s...something.”

He breached the space between them. “Actually, it is. The uncontrollable urge might have been a first step, but just as your feelings about becoming a mom are shifting, growing, so are my feelings about painting you.”

Her breath caught. “You’re serious?”

He glanced around. “Yes. But this feeling is so new and it’s only cropped up around you.” He caught her gaze. “Can you spend the next few weeks with me? Let me see if I can paint again?”

“Only if you also let me work as your assistant.”

Her persistence made him laugh and long to kiss her. In that very second, the need was so strong he doubted his ability to resist it. Her face tipped up to him. Her earnest eyes held his. It would be so easy.

But he’d kissed her once and it had only reminded him that he couldn’t have her.

Because he couldn’t.

“I want the painting to be our focus.”

“Can I earn my keep by answering the rest of your mail?”

He laughed. “No. I want to do this right.”

She cocked her head. Understanding flitted across her face. “Okay.”

And something wonderful sprinted through his blood. Acceptance. She had needs of her own. Troubles of her own. But instead of bargaining with him, she would simply help him.

“You know, Tucker wants to hire you when you get home.”

Her eyes widened. “He does?”

“He needs someone to work directly with him.”

“Oh my God. That might mean I could work from Kentucky.”

Her eyes glittered with happiness and the lure of her lush mouth was as strong as an aphrodisiac. He wondered about his strength, his endurance, if he really could paint her without touching her.

But his fears melted away when he remembered he couldn’t watch her pregnancy. And now he knew she was going home to her mom and a job from Tucker.

She would not be around forever. His endurance didn’t have to last a lifetime. Only a few weeks. He had nothing to worry about.

CHAPTER NINE

WHEN THEY ARRIVED at Antonio’s country home the next day, everything had a different feel to it. They were no longer adversaries. They were partners in his plan to paint again. The feeling of being on even ground was heady stuff for Laura Beth. She’d always been second-best, plain Laura Beth. Today they were equals.

Standing in the foyer, she faced him with a smile. “So? Ready to go to the studio?”

“It’s Sunday.”

“I thought artists had to work while they were inspired. Do you want to lose your momentum?”

She could tell from the expression that flitted across his handsome face that he didn’t. Still, he said, “How about lunch first?”

She caught his hand and tugged him in the direction of the back door that led to his studio. “How about work first?”

He laughed. “Wow. I have never known you to turn down food.”

“I had a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich while you took that catnap on the plane.”

She turned the knob on the ratty door of the cottage and it gave easily. Surprise almost had her turning to ask why he didn’t lock the door, then she realized he was totally comfortable here in the Italian countryside. Which was probably part of why it drove him so crazy not to be able to paint. This was his sanctuary, and it was letting him down. Since his wife’s death, everybody and everything seemed to be letting him down. She would not.

Pride billowed through her. She might make nothing else of her life, but helping him to paint again would be her crowning accomplishment. Even if she never told another soul, to protect his pride, she would know simple Laura Beth Matthews had done something wonderful.

They wound their way through the maze of old paint cans, broken furniture and fabrics to the last room. His studio.

Happy, she faced him with a smile. “So where do I sit? What do I do?”

He ran his hand down his face. “We just got off a plane. Give me a minute to adjust.”

His hesitancy filled the air. He wanted this so much and he’d tried and failed before. She knew that trying again, he faced disappointment again.

She stepped back, giving him space. “Sure.”

He glanced around, then rummaged through stacks of paper in the drawer of a metal desk so old it didn’t even have accommodations for a computer. He pulled out two tablets. One was huge. The other was the size of a spiral notebook. He set the large pad of paper on the top of the desk, and opened the smaller one.

“We’ll do sketches first.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“First, I just need to warm up, get the feel of your features, the shape of your body.”

She nodded eagerly.

“So, I’ll sit here.” He leaned his hip on the corner of the desk. “And you sit there.” He pointed at a ladder-back chair about ten feet away.

She frowned. “There?”

“Yes. These are preliminaries. Warm-ups. Something to get me accustomed to your shapes.”

Her gaze involuntarily rippled to the chaise near the windows. That would have been more comfortable. She wanted to sit there.

But he pointed at the ladder-back chair again.

She smiled hesitantly. Though she understood what he was saying, something really drew her to that chaise. Still, she sat on the ladder-back chair. Antonio picked up a simple number-two pencil.

“Really? A pencil? You’re not going to use charcoal or chalk or anything cool like that?”

He sighed and dropped the tablet to his lap. “I’m warming up!”

She waved her hand. “Okay. Okay. Whatever.”

* * *

By the time Antonio had her seated on the chair, his anxiety about drawing had shimmied away. Praying that she would stop talking and especially stop second-guessing his choices, he picked up his pencil and began sketching quickly, easily, hoping to capture at least five minutes of her sitting still.

When she wrinkled her nose, as if it was itchy, he stopped and stretched. He’d drawn small sketches of her eyes, her nose, her lips, her neck, her eyebrows, the wrinkle in her forehead, the side view of her hair looping across her temple and one sketch of her entire face.

“If you need to scratch your nose, scratch.”

She pulled in a breath and rubbed her palm across her nose. “Thank God.”

“What? You were sitting for...” He glanced at his watch. “Wow. Ten minutes. I guess you do deserve a break. For someone unaccustomed to posing, ten minutes is a long time.”

She popped off the chair. Shook out all her limbs. “I know I’ve sat perfectly still for more than ten minutes at a time, but sitting still without anything to think about or do? That’s hard.”

“I’d actually hoped to break you in with five-minute increments.”

“Meaning?”

“You’d sit for five minutes a few times in our first two settings, then ten minutes in our third and fifteen in our fourth...that kind of thing.”

“So we’re skipping a step?”

“Which could be good.”

“Can I see what you’ve done?”

He handed her the tablet.

She smiled. “These are great.”

“That’s just me messing around until I get a good feel for drawing your features. Then we move on to sketches of what I think a painting of you should look like.”

She beamed at him and everything inside him lit up. He told himself he was happy that she was enjoying the process, happy that he hadn’t yet had an anxiety attack, and motioned her back to the chair.

“If you can keep doing ten-minute sessions, we’ll do two more, then break for the day.”

“You’re only working a half hour?”

He laughed. “Yes. I’m not just indoctrinating you into the process. I’m easing myself in too.”

She sat on the chair, straightened her spine and lifted her face. “Okay.”

He sketched for ten minutes, gave her a break, sketched for ten more, then they had lunch. Later, while she sat by the pool, he paid his dad a visit. He expected them to argue like two overemotional Italians about Constanzo stranding them in Barcelona. Instead, his father quietly apologized, told Antonio he was tired and retired to his room.

The next day, Laura Beth easily graduated to sitting for fifteen minutes at a time. The day after that, she had a bit of trouble with sitting for twenty minutes, but eventually got it.

He drew her face over and over and over again. He sketched her arms, her feet, the slope of her shoulder. Feeling the rhythm of those shapes in his hand as it flowed over the paper, he felt little bits of himself returning. But he didn’t push. Fearing he’d tumble into bad territory, he didn’t let himself feel. He simply put pencil to paper.

On Sunday, with Ricky and Eloise in Italy on the last leg of their honeymoon, he forced Laura Beth to take the day off to visit with them.

Monday morning, though, she arrived in his studio, bright and eager to begin.

Trembling with equal parts of anticipation and terror over the next step of the process, he busied himself with organizing his pencils as he said, “This week we’re doing potential poses for the painting.”

“So now I don’t just have to sit still? I have to sit still a certain way.”

He glanced up. Her eyes were bright. Her smile brilliant. Enthusiasm virtually vibrated from her body.

“Basically, yes.”

Knowing how uncomfortable the ladder-back chair had been, he walked her to the wall of windows in the back of the room. He posed her feet, positioned her shoulders, placed her hands together at her stomach and strode back to the old metal desk to get his pad and pencil.

He worked for twenty minutes, trying again and again to make her come to life in a sketch, but failing. He knew what he wanted. That faraway look. And though he saw snatches of it in her eyes, it didn’t stay and he couldn’t catch it when it was only a glimpse.

With a sigh, he said, “Let’s take a break.”

“Wow. Was that a half hour already?”

“Twenty minutes. I can’t seem to get what I want from this pose, so I figured we’d stop, give me a bit of rest and try again.”

After a bathroom break and a few sips of water, Laura Beth was ready to go again. Antonio picked up his pencil and tablet. She positioned herself and Antonio started drawing. After only a few seconds, he said, “The light is wrong.”

She deflated from her pose. “Bummer.”

He shook his head. “It is a bummer, but we can come back to this tomorrow morning. Right now...” He glanced around. “Let’s try one with you sitting on the chaise.”

She walked over and sat down. Without waiting for instructions, she angled herself on the chair with her back to him, then looked over her shoulder at him.

The vivid image of her lying wrapped in the towel on her bed popped into his head, quickly followed by the pose he’d so desperately wanted to paint. Her wrapped in silk, one shoulder and her entire back bare, the swell of her hip peeking out at him, her face a study of innocence.

His finger itched to capture that. But he was sure the urge was a leftover of an aberration. Watching her at the gallery, he’d envisioned several compelling poses, expressions, little bits of humanity that would result in a painting every bit as compelling. He did not need to go there.

“That’s not how I want you.”

“Okay.”

“Let’s try this.” He wasn’t entirely sure how to position her. He had facial expressions in his mind. Images of her hair falling just the right way. And he couldn’t seem to get it right as he shifted her from one side to another, one pose to another.

“Okay. How about this? Lie down and pretend you’re daydreaming.”

“Oh! I get to lie down!”

He stopped in midstep toward the metal desk and faced her. “If you’re tired or anything, I don’t want you to overdo.”