Embrace My Heart(50)
“You ask that girl to marry you.”
“You’re forgetting my possessiveness issues.”
“I don’t buy it.” Robb waved off the reminder. “Looks like you’re makin’ progress to me. Four guys have touched her since we’ve been standing here.”
“They shook her hand,” Qasim clarified.
“What about the one who kissed her cheek?”
“Ah, yeah.” Qasim rubbed his jaw. “I forgot about him. We’ll chat later,” he said, joining in when the other man laughed.
“Proud of you, man.” Robb clapped Qasim’s shoulder.
“And you haven’t even heard my news.” Qasim let the suspense hang for a few quiet seconds. “I apologized to Lew for threatening him when he was going to ask Vectra out.”
Robb’s brows lifted in a clear sign of how impressed he was. “What brought that on?”
Qasim shrugged, watching Vectra as she moved around the room, charming her guests with little more than a brilliant smile or wink from her smoky-brown eyes.
He loved her.
“I don’t want to be that kind of man,” he told Robb. “She deserves better than that.’
Robb patted his old friend’s back. “Like I said, I’m proud of you, man.”
Qasim pushed Robb off and grinned. His eyes returned to Vectra talking with the featured artist near one of the gigantic canvases that decorated the gallery.
He loved her.
Robb patted his back, and Qasim realized he’d forgotten the man had even been there.
Robb groaned. “Like I said, a month.”
“Can you come home with me?”
Vectra smiled, melting instantly into Qasim when he eased his arms about her waist later that evening.
She wanted nothing more.
Unfortunately, her conversations with Minka throughout the evening were all but crushing her romantic desires.
This was so not her business and yet Minka was practically begging her to intervene on her behalf. She’d do it. Of course she would, whether it was her business or not. She could see the other woman’s fear. Minka never told her the specifics of Will Lloyd’s comments to her about his possible impropriety with foundation funds, but her fear was all too easy to read.
“Hey.” Qasim turned her in his arms.
Vectra focused her stare as though mentally snapping herself back into the situation. “I won’t get done here till late,” she explained.
“You think I mind?” His words were a gruff purr as he proceeded to drop kisses along her neck.
It occurred to Vectra that they were standing virtually in sight of everyone left in the gallery. The event had been a rousing success. Yancey Croachman had sold every canvas, with offers for more pieces and showings following her next appearance at Vectra’s Gallery V–Miami in less than three weeks.
Just then, however, the success of the event wasn’t Vectra’s top thought. Instead, it was what Qasim’s mouth was doing to her earlobe that had her full attention.
“Do you know where we’re standing?” she asked softly.
“Hadn’t thought about it,” he murmured, obviously more focused on what his mouth was doing, as well.
“We’re standing in the middle of the second-floor balcony.” The area in question overlooked the first floor and was visible to everyone in the gallery.
Qasim’s hand firmed on her hip, keeping her in place. “There a reason I need to know that?”
Vectra jerked in response. His free hand was suddenly occupied by what it found inside the bodice of her dress. “I thought you’d want to know everyone can see us from here.” Her words were a lazy drawl.
“So?” Her gasp drew his pitch-black stare to her face. “That a problem for you?”
“No, I just—”
“Just?”
“I said—”
“Said what?”
She slapped his shoulder. “Stop it.”
“Stop what? This?” He resumed the deft feasting upon her earlobe.
“Sim...wait...”
He smiled, perfect teeth latching to her diamond-studded lobe. Eventually, he took pity. “What are you trying to tell me, V?”
Vectra took a second or three to steady her breathing. “I said I was all right with just sex, but if we keep this up, people will think we’re in some kind of relationship.”
“And that would be a bad thing?”
“No, I—”
“What? What are you saying?”
She stilled, dropping her stare to the banded collar of the white shirt beneath his dark suit jacket.
“Do you want to discuss this here?” he asked.
“Um, no. I—no.” She collected herself, remembering the business at hand. “We’ve got a little thing after the showing with the artist and her people. It’s our usual wrap-up.”