The Commitment(45)

"I better get dressed. I have a meeting with the oncologist and later, one with a colleague about a paper we were collaborating on. We'll have to rebook our flights for next month at the earliest, depending on how long I take to recover and how Liam does."

I forced a smile. He went to the bedroom while I went to the kitchen to fix us breakfast.

We'd be going to Kenya, but not as soon as I anticipated.



Drake dressed and after eating a small breakfast of toast and fruit, he kissed me after he buttoned up his coat.

"How long will you be?"

Drake sighed. "I should be pretty busy all morning. What are your plans for the day?"

"I think I'm going to make a canvas for a painting I'm planning. If we're going to stay for a while until you give the donation and see how it takes, I think I'd like to work on a new piece."

"Oh? You're painting again?"

"Yes, and the painting's going to be pretty big, so I'm going to a friend's studio to start work on it."

"What painting?"

"It's a secret," I said, smiling coyly.

"I don't like secrets, Ms. Bennet. I hope you know I'll do everything in my power to find out what it is."

"It's a gift," I said and pouted. "I don't want you to know until it's done."

"Whose studio is it?" he said, his voice light.

"This young artist from Texas, who's here taking his Masters of Fine Art at Columbia. He comes from a very rich family in the oil business and so he has this great studio. I can make the canvas there using his materials, and then work on it, too, if I need space."

"You two close?"

I glanced at Drake. Nathaniel was a few years younger than me and not my type at all.

"He's a good friend from college, but he's a real artist," I said. "Unlike me, who's just a weekend variety."

"Don't put yourself down like that," Drake said, frowning. "You're talented. You've just chosen a different path. Which you could always change, if that made you happier."

I sighed. "I might deviate from that path for a while, now that I'm on leave from grad school. I want to get back into art, since I have the time."

"So, who is this rich kid from Texas and talented artist friend of yours? I need to know if I should be jealous…"

"Drake!" I said and went to him as he stood at the door, his coat and scarf on. "He's two years younger than me, is a pothead, has tattoos and piercings. The last time I saw him, he had a bright blue streak in his long blond hair. At first I thought it was paint, but no. It was blue hair color."

Drake laughed at the image I painted of Nathaniel. "Still, artists are pretty sensual people," he said, wagging his eyebrows.

I wrapped my arms around his neck. "You have no cause for jealousy. He's one of those free spirits who flits from lover to lover like a butterfly from flower to flower."

"Has he sampled any of your nectar?"

"No," I said and gave his shoulder a playful tap. I didn't tell Drake that Nathaniel had wanted to hook up back when we were in the same class. I'd turned him down, but Drake didn't need to know that. I didn't want him to have any worries or feel any jealousy, considering the drama that was going on in his life. The fact I turned Nathaniel down didn't affect our friendship and he was generous, offering me the chance to go to the studio to work any time I wanted and there was free time in one of the studio's four rooms.

I'd finally have a reason to do just that.

"Maybe I should come with you, take a look at this studio," Drake said, his voice a bit guilty sounding.

I nodded. "If you want. I'd love to show it to you, but you are not allowed to see my painting until I feel it's ready. I've just done a few sketches at this point, so it will be a while before it's finished."

"When do you want to go?"

"I thought you'd be busy all morning so I asked him if I could come by…"

"I could make some time after I speak with the oncologist."

"Call me and let me know when you're done. I'll text Nathaniel and let him know we'll be by."

"Sounds like a plan."

Drake kissed me, deeply, holding onto me a bit longer than normal, but finally, after he'd run his hands all down my body, eliciting a delicious thrill of desire through me, he let me go and left the apartment. He said nothing more about playing out our scene, so I assumed he was still too emotional because of the news about the transplant tissue match to even think of it.

That was fine with me – I could wait, but it was possible that it might be the last time in a while he'd feel up to it. I read up on stem cell transplants on the net. The meds that stimulated his bone marrow could make the donor feel under the weather.