will you let me paint your portrait?”
“I’d love to have anything you paint, except a painting with myself as the subject. I can’t exactly see hanging it in my house.”
“Everyone should have a portrait painted. It’s for posterity. You’ll change your mind, and when you do, remember that I’d like to paint it. You have an interesting face.”
“Another first. I’ve never heard that before either. I think you’re seeing different things in me from what everyone else sees.”
“I see good things.”
“Sophia, listen. I want to be in your life for a long time.”
“I’m all for continuing to get to know each other, Garrett,” she said carefully.
He leaned close, placing his hands on both arms of her chair. “I hope you never change your mind,” he said, startling her with his sincerity, a look of deep sorrow on his face.
“What is it, Garrett?”
He sat back and smiled at her, looking himself again. “I just hope we can keep spending time together.”
While they talked, she thought about the past twenty-four hours and was still amazed at how her life had taken an unexpected turn since meeting Garrett.
It was after ten by the time they reached her house. “If you have a moment, come in and I’ll show you the studio.”
“Sure. Why put off until tomorrow what you can do today?” he teased.
They walked through a wide entry hall that had a twelve-foot-high ceiling. A circular staircase curved to the second floor. Double doors opened to a dining area on one side of the front hall while columns separated the hall from a formal living area.
He paused to look at Louis XVI furniture on the polished oak floor and an elegant marble fireplace. “I’m surprised. I expected you to have something rustic to match your paintings.” One of her landscapes hung above the mantel. “That’s a superb painting. No wonder you kept it.”
“Thank you. I enjoy it. Mountains and a stream—I’ve been there and I like to look at the painting and remember.”
She took his arm. “Come on. I’ll show you the kitchen and my studio.”
They entered a blue-and-white kitchen with ash woodwork and a casual dining area. “Now I can picture you in your house when I talk to you on the phone,” he said.
Switching on lights, she led him into another spacious room. “Here’s where I spend most of my time.”
He stood looking at her studio with easels, drawing boards, a wide paint-spattered table. Paintings hung on the walls and stood on the floor. Empty frames of various sizes leaned against a wall. Garrett prowled the room and then paused at the large windows overlooking her patio and pool area. Crystal-blue water filled a free-form-shaped pool that had two splashing fountains.
He turned to her. “I like to see where you work. Now do I get to see the bedrooms upstairs?”
She smiled at him. “No, you don’t. It’s getting late and we’ve had a long weekend.”
“So I’m not allowed to see your bedroom.”
“You don’t need to,” she said, smiling at him as she linked her arm in his.
“I’m having the grand tour tonight but I still want to take you to dinner tomorrow.”
“I look forward to it,” she said as they walked to her front door.
Before they reached it, he stopped to face her, placing his hands on her waist. “This weekend was incredibly special,” he said in a husky voice.
“It was for me,” she said, looking up into his gray eyes that mesmerized her as always. Desire filled them and her heart drummed loudly.
“You’re special, Sophia. I mean what I say. I never expected to feel the way I do toward you. From the first moment, knowing you hasn’t been at all what I expected. So quickly, you’ve become important to me,” he added with a solemn expression.
“So you had expectations about meeting me? That’s interesting.” In some ways, she wanted to cover her ears and stop hearing his words because she was falling in love with him and it scared her. But Garrett’s words wrapped around her heart. He, too, looked as if he were wrestling with something, so their attraction was taking an emotional toll on him, too. “You’ve become important to me, too, Garrett,” she whispered. She stepped close, going on tiptoe to kiss him.
Instantly his arms banded her waist and he leaned over her, kissing her hard.
As if unable to control her own actions, she twisted free his buttons swiftly, her fingers shaking, while she still kissed him.
He tossed off clothes and peeled away hers and in seconds, he lifted her while he kissed her.
“Protection, Garrett?”
“I have it,” he said. When he picked her up again, she locked her long legs around him as he lowered her on his thick rod to make love to her.
Crying out, she climaxed, going over an edge while colors exploded behind her closed eyelids.
He shuddered with his release. “Sophia, love,” he said in a gruff, husky voice. The endearment made her heart miss a beat.
She moved with him until they both began to catch their breath. He gave her light kisses and finally set her on her feet.
“Now I do need to be directed to a bathroom somewhere in this house.”
“There’s one in the guest bedroom at the back of the hall, across from my studio. Clean towels will be out.”
He leaned down to kiss her again, then gathered his clothes. She picked up hers, pausing to watch him walk away. He was muscled and fit. He looked strong, masculine, sexy. Her gaze ran down his smooth back, over hard buttocks and then down his muscled legs. He was hard, solid and breathtaking.
She gathered her things and headed to her own bathroom off her studio.
In a short time she returned to the front hall to find him waiting by the door. When she reached him, he pulled her close to kiss her tenderly.
“I don’t suppose I’m going to be invited to stay the rest of the night.”
“As adorable as you are, no invitation is forthcoming.”
“Let me take you to breakfast again. I’ll want to see you in the morning.”
She laughed. “Garrett, that’s crazy. And I can’t go. I have appointments.”
“I want to be with you.”
“Again, Garrett, this has been a special weekend I’ll never forget.”
He kissed her again. When they moved apart, he opened the door and
