Tempting the Artist (20 page)

“
Hold up. You’re not
planning to do any more shows?”

“
If I do a show it might
only be one a year and I doubt if I’ll attend.” She placed a slice
of pizza on a paper plate and handed it to Luke before getting a
slice for herself. “I’ll be meeting with my agent in a couple of
weeks to discuss a few things, but I’m open to doing some
commissioned work and maybe just sell a few pieces
online.”

“
Okay, I’m going to say
this, but it’s not that I’m trying to control you or anything like
that. As for the commissioned projects, I’m not comfortable with
the idea of you doing nudes. Too many crazy people out here and I
don’t want you to end up in any compromising
situations.”

Christina nodded. “I agree. My
commission work will only include abstract or landscapes. As far as
the nudes, I think I might give that up. Not sure yet.”

“
Well, whatever you decide,
I’m here for you,” he said in his Barry White voice.

Christina grinned and shook her head,
hoping he wasn’t going to sing. Instead, he loaded their paper
plates with food and turned on the movie. But before she could take
a bite, the doorbell rang.

“
Are you expecting
someone?” Luke paused the movie.

“
Nope.”

Christina went to the intercom mounted
on the wall near the door. She pressed the button that would allow
her to see visitors without them being able to see her. When the
person came into view, she gasped and her hand flew to her
chest.

“
What’s he doing
here?”

Luke peered over her shoulder. “Only
one way to find out.” When Christina didn’t make a move to talk to
her grandfather through the intercom, Luke did the honors. He gave
him instructions on how to reach the top floor and then buzzed him
in.

“
He knows.” Christina paced
in front of the door. “I can’t believe he knows.”

Luke grabbed her by the shoulders,
stopping her in her tracks. “You don’t know that. Let’s find out
what’s going on before you get yourself all worked up.”

Christina appreciated Luke trying to
keep her from jumping to conclusions, but there was no other reason
her grandfather would show up especially without calling. He rarely
went anywhere at night unless he and her grandmother were attending
an event.

Christina pulled in a deep breath and
opened the door just as Steven Jenkins stepped off the
elevator.

“
Pretty fancy setup you
have here,” her grandfather said and kissed Christina on the cheek.
“But you really should get one of the guys at the shop to see about
updating that elevator. That deathtrap is an accident waiting to
happen. How are you, Luke?”

Luke smirked at Christina, no doubt
enjoying the fact that her grandfather had pretty much second what
he’d been saying all along about the elevator. He shook Steven’s
extended hand.

“
I’m doing well, sir. It’s
good to see you again.”

“
Grampa, what are you doing
here? I thought we all agreed that you shouldn’t be driving around
at night.” His eyesight wasn’t as good as it used to be and her
uncles had insisted that he get a driver or have one of them take
him where he needed to go.

“
Just because the family
thought that was a good idea doesn’t mean I agreed,” he said
gruffly, walking farther into the room.

“
Grampa.” Christina’s hands
were on her hips and she narrowed her eyes giving him a similar
look that her grandmother used on him. “You know the family is
right.”

“
Do you see what I have to
go through?” Steven asked Luke.

“
Yes. I know the
feeling.”

“
I’m sure you do.” Her
grandfather returned his attention to Christina. “If it makes you
feel any better, I have a driver who brought me over here. He’s out
in the car, but my eyesight is fine. It’s so good that I was able
to read this.” He handed Christina The Artist in Us magazine and
her heart dropped even before seeing her photo plastered on the
page.

Oh no.

She skimmed the article, which
mentioned her and her work that was on display recently in Chicago.
Interestingly enough, she realized that the picture couldn’t have
been taken that weekend. She’d had on all black both days. In this
particular photo, she had on the red sweater dress she wore in New
York.

She glanced up to find her grandfather
staring at her. “I can explain.”

“
Please do. I’m wondering
how it is that one of my granddaughters is a world famous artist
and I didn’t know about it.”

Luke stepped forward, his hand at the
small of her back. “I’ll be in the family room if you need me, but
I think it’s time you two had a talk,” he spoke the words to her,
but they were loud enough for her grandfather to hear. Kissing
Christina on the cheek, he gave her grandfather a nod and then
disappeared down the hall.

Christina already knew it was well
past time for her to tell her grandfather about her other life.
What had started as her fun little secret, a hobby that helped
relieve stress, an outlet to express herself, had turned into so
much more. Another career, but lately a thorn in her side with all
of the secrecy.

She and her grandfather sat on the
sofa and she marveled at how good he still looked. They had
recently celebrated his seventy-seventh birthday. With his imposing
size and head full of hair and no wrinkles, he could easily pass
for a man who was twenty years younger.

“
You must have gone to
great lengths to keep this a secret. Apparently, you kept it from
your cousin Jada too because she hasn’t said a word. And we both
know she can’t keep anything to herself.”

Christina burst out laughing at that.
Jada and her inability to keep a secret was one of the running
jokes in the family. Normally if anyone told her cousin something
was a secret, it didn’t take five minutes for her to find someone
to tell.

“
Believe it or not, she’s
known since the beginning and I honestly thought she would have
blabbed it by now.”

“
Miracles never cease,” her
grandfather mumbled and sat back on the sofa, his long legs
stretched out in front of him. He was one of the most patient men
she has ever known and she knew he would sit there all night if
need be for her to start talking.

“
I never intended for my
art to take off the way it has and once it did,” she shrugged, “I
wanted to keep the success to myself.”

Her grandfather’s brows drew together.
“Why? I’m sure the family would have loved to cheer you on and
support this endeavor. I know I would have, had I known. I don’t
understand why you felt you had to keep secrets.”

At this moment, her extreme actions
did seem a bit childish.

“
I had a couple of reasons.
One, I didn’t want any negative vibes interrupting my creative
flow. All it would have taken was for someone in the family to tell
me that I was wasting my time. Or if someone had criticized my
work, I might have put down my brushes. Also, doing art on the
side, when you expect me to work and support the family business,
it felt a little disloyal. I guess I didn’t want to let you or the
rest of the family down.”

“
CJ, I have always taught
you kids that family comes first, but I never meant for you to put
your dreams on hold. I don’t want you to ever feel as if you have
to pick working at the family business over pursuing your career.
Your family will always be here for you,
always
no matter what you do … or
what you paint.

Heat crept up her cheeks, and
Christina thought she would die right then and there. What if he
knew about the nude paintings? A quick glance at him, his eyebrow
raised with a knowing look in his eyes, and she was pretty sure he
knew.

That’s just
great.

She cleared her throat. “Thanks,
Grampa. I’m sorry I kept this from you, but I just didn’t want it
to be like it was for dad.”

Her grandfather tilted his head and
frowned. “How what was for your dad?”

“
I heard that when he
talked about playing the drums professionally, Uncle Carlton and
Uncle Ben told him not to quit his day job. They said he would
never be able to play the drums or the sax professionally, that he
wasn’t good enough.”

Her grandfather chuckled. “I can’t say
that I remember any of that, but it’s probably true. Honey, how
often have Peyton, Jerry or even Martina picked on you about one
thing or another?”

“
More times than I can
count.” She thought back on the night the girls helped her unpack
boxes.

“
That’s because that’s what
family does. You know that. They say things to you or about you
that others can’t get away with. It doesn’t mean they don’t love
you or aren’t willing to support and encourage you. As far as I’m
concern, it’s your family who helps give you a thick skin, able to
handle criticism from anyone who is not kin. And as for your
father, his musical skills are nothing like your abilities with
paint and a canvas.”

All Christina could do was shake her
head. All this time she fretted over nothing. Of course some of her
family would give her a hard time, but she knew that the love in
the Jenkins family ran deep. Even if she were to embarrass them
with some of her work, they wouldn’t love her any less.

“
And another thing, your
father was never as serious about music as you seem to be about
painting. Have you ever asked him about that time in his
life?”

“
It’s come up here and
there, but he never seemed to be all that interested in discussing
his music. I assumed it was a sore subject.”

“
Talk to him. I think
you’ll be surprised to know that for your dad, playing the drums or
the sax was more of a hobby than anything else.”

Hours later, Christina and Luke lay in
bed talking. “How do you feel now that your grandfather knows about
Sasha Knight?”

“
Like an anvil has been
lifted off of my chest.” She laughed. “I can’t believe I didn’t
give him or the family more credit. Granted everyone doesn’t know
yet, but I’m sure once they find out, some will be supportive while
others will tease me. MJ is going to have a field day regarding the
nudes.”

Christina wished she would have made
better decisions regarding Sasha Knight long before now. She almost
lost the only man she’d ever loved, and she kept an unnecessary
secret from the people who would always love her. She still planned
to tell everyone Sunday.

“
I’m thinking we should
celebrate this new found freedom you’re feeling now that everything
is out in the open.”

“
What do you have in
mind?”

Luke turned off the bedside table lamp
and gathered her in his arms. “I can show you better than I can
tell you.”

“
I’m telling you he’s
expecting me.”

Christina rolled her eyes, barely
keeping her temper in check. How many times did she have to keep
repeating herself? If she weren’t so hungry, she’d smash the bag of
food she was carrying with her and Luke’s lunch, into his
assistant’s face. She couldn’t. She had been looking forward to the
vegetable lasagna from her favorite Italian restaurant all day, and
there was no way she would waste it on this woman.

I should have brought in
my cell phone.

The woman stood behind her desk and
looked Christina up and down, her eyes narrowed and her ruby red
lips cocked in a frown. Just because Christina had worn her painter
whites didn’t give this woman the right to look at her as if she
smelled something bad. Her clothes were clean and didn’t have a
lick of paint on them, yet the redhead was judging her.

That Sunday in Luke’s
office, Gary was right. Robin was a looker. Long red hair,
startling green eyes, and her pouty lips probably got her plenty of
dates, if she weren’t married. Christina hoped she was
married.
Please be
married
. The thought of this woman working
so closely with Luke made her little green-eyed monster show its
wicked head. Luke had never given her a reason not to trust him,
but she wouldn’t put anything past this spitfire of a woman, who
could easily grace the cover of any fashion magazine.

“
Who did you say you were
again?” Robin asked.

“
Christina Jenkins.” Her
voice sounded calmer than she felt. With only an hour for lunch,
Christina didn’t have time for this nonsense. And where was Luke
anyway? He knew she was joining him for lunch at noon, and it was
ten after. He should have been waiting in the receptionist area for
her.

“
Hmm, you’re not on his
schedule.”

“
That doesn’t mean he’s not
expecting me. Call him.”

“
I’m sorry Ms. Jenkins, but
he’s with a client, and he has back to back meetings this
afternoon. Would you like to leave a message for him?”

“
No. I’ll wait.”

“
I don’t think that’s a
good—”

“
I’ll wait.”