"How awful of him. You poor thing. Don't worry dear, the nice thing about men is it hurts when things go bad, but there's always another one around the corner."
I sob even harder. I don't want another one. I want Lawson. At least I did. I can't imagine how another man could ever make me laugh as much as him. Or make me feel the way he made me feel.
"Your emotions are apparent in these paintings. They're actually quite powerful. I know abstract isn't normally your thing, but I bet you can sell these."
"Great, I'm like Taylor Swift."
"Who?"
"She's a singer who makes a fortune writing about all her breakups."
"Well, there you go. You can be the art world's Taylor Swift." The comment makes me laugh, and lightens my mood.
"What do I do?"
"You keep painting. I know you're heartbroken about losing that commission, but I don't think you have to worry too much. I just got back from seeing Gordon, and he said he gets at least a phone call a day asking about you. Now the Texas couple and a man from Ohio are demanding the right to outbid whoever offers to buy your next work. With a bidding war going on, who knows how much they'll go for."
My mouth drops open. I can't believe that my art really, truly, finally seems to be getting noticed. I would love to concentrate on the work I want to do instead of what Kelso wants me to do. Especially his stupid pussy painting.
In bed that night, I once again drench my pillows with tears. I can no longer resist, and turn my phone back on. It immediately dings with several missed phone calls and texts, all from Lawson.
-Phone me
-You don't need Kelso with your talent
-Why do you believe Kelso over me?
-I would never hurt you
The last text is from noon. Eleven hours ago. I can't bring myself to read all the earlier texts and switch the phone back off.
Would he hurt me? I sigh through my sobs. There's no way to know.
It doesn't matter anyway. Like Ava and my college professors and so many of my art friends insisted on a million times: the rich don't belong in our worlds, and we sure as hell don't belong in theirs.
Until I met Lawson, I'd always believed their arguments.
The connection I'd felt with Lawson made me stupid enough to believe that they were wrong; that I could be in his world, and he in mine.
I laugh through my tears, remembering our first date, and how I made him take me to the cheapest restaurant I could think of, just so I could judge how out of place he was in it. I told him it was because I wanted to go somewhere fast as an excuse to get him to go. Did he realize what my real reason was?
Lawson did okay in it, at least it seemed that way at the time. Probably my head was too clouded from the overwhelming desire to kiss him to notice any different.
As for me in his world, well, Kelso showed me what it's really like when he cornered me in his bedroom. Lawson used me to get to Kelso.
Even if he didn't know about my working for Kelso beforehand, he sure took advantage of my employment as soon as he could, when he came into Kelso's bedroom and, and …
And gave me the most mind-blowing experience of my life.
My body warms just remembering it. His touch, his voice. Everything seemed to be focused on pleasuring me. Was Lawson's real pleasure in knowing we were in Kelso's bedroom? Did he know Kelso would come home and walk in on us?
The whole idea, all the possibilities, make me so angry - so incredibly frustrated - that I can't fall asleep at all.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The Interview (Lawson)
It's six in the morning and I'm pacing my kitchen. Skye's ignored all my phone calls and texts. There's no point in going over there just to sit in her driveway and stare at a closed door again.
But there's no fucking way I'm giving up on getting her back.
Before Skye, I lived my life alone. Sure I have my sisters, but they're the only ones I could relate to.
All the other women I've dated were only interested in my money, so I used them for a good time. Not once did I ever connect with one of them. They were either shallow or vacuous or only interested in agreeing with whatever I said for fear of pissing me off.
Skye's different. She isn't afraid to challenge me, or offend me. I love how passionate she is about life, and how much she cares about other people. Skye keeps me grounded, and constantly reminds me how privileged I am. Plus she keeps my head from getting too big.
I could listen to the sound of her laugh for all eternity.
Not to mention the sounds she makes when I have her in my arms.
I'd given up on ever finding anyone. Figured it wasn't in the cards for me to ever get married. I was fine with that, until I met Skye.
Now I can't imagine my life without her in it. More than anything, I want to share my life with her, in all her crazy artistic glory.
I chew my nails down to the point of pain while I try to think of a way to fix the situation. I keep coming back to one thing: Skye thinks I've ruined her career. The best way forward is to give her career a real boost.
It's almost seven and I phone my assistant.
"Hi Lawson."
"Hey, I'm just checking on the Skye Simmons paintings, does the gallery have more in yet?"
"I asked Gordon to phone me as soon as anything comes in."
"Phone him and ask, just in case he's forgotten."
"Sure thing."
"Great, thanks. Make it a priority and let me know as soon as you talk to him."
I end the call but can't put the phone down. My housekeeper pours me another cup of coffee and I retreat to my home office.
The gallery doesn't open for at least two hours. This may well be the longest two hours of my life. I can't even think about how long the rest of the day will be. I'm almost tempted to drive over to Skye's, but come to my senses. It would only be a useless trip to sit in her driveway.
Instead, I try to distract myself with work. That lasts thirty minutes before I descend into creating a battle plan for taking Kelso down.
The gallery may not be open yet, but Julie always is.
"Ugh, isn't it too early for a phone call from you?" she says into the phone, her voice groggy.
"I needed to update you on a situation."
"Lovely. Good morning to you too."
"Good morning. From now on, my objective is to suck every penny from Kelso I can. I don't want to settle. I don't give a shit about making it neat and tidy, I want to bankrupt the asshole."
"Fucking hell Lawson, really?" she whines.
"Yes, really. Why are you complaining? You'll be able to retire from the extra legal fees."
"It's going to take years."
"No skin off my nose. I need you to set up a secondary company for me, from now on all new hotels will be run through it. As for the old stuff, I know I'm guaranteed to win, so tie this thing up and grind him down as much and for as long as you can."
"This sounds personal," she says and sighs.
"Absolutely."
"Care to fill me in on the situation? As your lawyer, I need to make sure this is in your best interest. And as your sister, I need to make sure you're okay."
I quickly fill her in, leaving out the finer details of our time in Kelso's bedroom.
"Fine. Since I think this'll blow over and you'll change your mind about it, I'll send him a letter today notifying him that the offer to settle has been rescinded."
"Perfect, I can always count on you."
"Uh huh."
We talk a little longer, mostly about Skye but also about Kelso. I even told Julie how I showed Skye my room dedicated to my charity. If she'd had any doubts about my vendetta against Kelso, they're gone now.
I hang up and check my watch. The gallery still wouldn't be open for at least an hour. I force myself to concentrate on my work.
The new luxury hotel that I just opened locally is doing far better than I'd anticipated. I was supposed to go by yesterday afternoon and meet with the manager, before the thing with Skye happened. After some deliberation, I decide to go by today as a way to distract myself from her.
"Lawson," I say answering the phone. I know it's my assistant, but it's how I always answer.
"I just spoke with Gordon Piek. He doesn't have any more of her work yet. And he's got a waiting list. Plus, two of those people have demanded rights to outbid other buyers."
"Holy shit, that's awesome."
"Awesome? It's going to cost you way more. I told him to add me to the list of people with the right to bid."
"Nevermind. Thanks for doing that. Julie will be contacting you soon about a new direction with the lawsuit."
I hang up.
The news has given me the first hope I've felt since Skye shut the door on me. Drumming my fingers, my mind starts to race on what I can do with the news. I phone back my assistant.
"Yeah?"
"Can you take me out of the bidding war? I have several by her already." The real reason is I don't want Skye to be able to say that she's only selling paintings because I'm buying them.
"Okay," she says, sounding confused.