His Gift 3(17)

“Mine?”

“You are Kage. You! How could you not tell me? How could you not let me know?”

“Nobody knows.”

“Nobody?”

Jake’s brows knitted together.

“Lacey, you’re the only one who’s ever even come close to guessing. Except the police commissioner, of course. He’s the one I had to bribe to get out of jail the one time I got caught.”

“How’d you get caught?” I asked.

“Oh,” Jake said, slumping his head back and smiling at the ceiling. “It’s stupid. I was so stupid.”

“Tell me. It’ll help me get over my inferiority complex.”

“If anybody shouldn’t have a complex—”

“While lying next to a handsome multitalented billionaire.”

“Multitalented?”

“Your art. And your tongue. Two excellent talents.”

“I’m glad that I have you to practice my talents on,” he said. “And I was caught in an alley behind one of my own buildings. Of course, I had to pretend that it wasn’t my building, because the cops who caught me would never have believed me. I was putting up a piece next to one of those COPS tags. Have you seen them?

“Yeah, the ones with the donut for the O? I see those everywhere.”

“And they thought I was the one who’d done it. Never mind that my painting was right there, obviously wet. So they put cuffs on me and took me in.”

“You criminal,” I teased.

“Well, I didn’t have any ID on me. I was dressed for it, you know, hoodie and ripped jeans. Nobody knew who I was at the police station. But I’d had dinner with the commissioner just the week before. Oh, man, the look on his face when he came in and saw me in a jail cell!”

“Lucky for you,” I said.

“There’s no luck to any of it,” Jake sighed, his eyes turning dark. “If I was a poor kid, I’d still be in jail. This city runs on money, as stupid as that is.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re out of jail,” I said. “Although I think I’d like to see you in cuffs sometime.”

“You’ll have to put me in them first,” he said, a smile breaking across his face.

“I’ll take that as a challenge.”

He stood up and lifted me off of the floor. His head tilted at the canvas, and when I saw what he was looking at, I could have died.

Where we had been lying down, there was a splotch of my blood. I looked down and saw a smear on the inside of my thigh.

“I didn’t even feel it,” I whispered. “I mean, I felt it, but it wasn’t… there wasn’t much pain at all.”

“Take a break from art,” he said. “Take a bath. Go read for a while. Eat something.”

“Sure,” I said. My face burned red. I turned quickly away from the canvas.

“I have some more work to do,” Jake said. “I want you dressed and ready to go out by eight tonight.”

“I’m going to need something to wear other than dresses.”

“Not tonight. Not where I’m taking you.”

I put my hands on my hip and stared after him as he strolled down the hallway.

“Oh?” I asked. Despite trying to sound vexed, I was sure he could hear the thrill of anticipation in my voice. “And where are you taking me?”

“Somewhere awesome,” he said.

“Awesome?”

“Awesome,” he repeated.

“Awesome,” I said, and sighed as he walked away from me.

***

I actually spent quite a bit of time getting ready. After my bath, I picked out a dark red dress that hung sleek and silken over my curves. The top was a bit low, but I thought it would be nice to give Jake what he wanted.

I spent a half hour in the mirror, trying on different shades of eye shadow. I settled on a smoky gray, like the kind Steph had put on me that first night.

It had been a week. The days had passed by quickly, but I felt, strangely enough, that I’d been living here forever. The rooms had become familiar. And most of my hours had been spent in total focus, painting in the studio by myself.

As I stood up and examined my dress for any lumps or bumps, I could hardly recognize myself. This wasn’t the Lacey who had strolled through here with a cake in her arms. I felt taller, more confident. I felt…

I felt beautiful.

Jake’s mouth dropped open when I walked into the living room.

“My God, Lacey,” he said, standing up to greet me. I felt so elegant as he bent his head to kiss me lightly on the lips.

“You like?”

“I—wow. Yes. Very much.” Jake was stammering, and it was cute to see him look so astonished. Maybe I would have to wear dresses more often.