Tempting the Artist (5 page)

The moment the men walked
past, Luke dropped his hand and moved slightly away, still keeping
in step. Christina wanted to cry. Because of her and her
stupid
secret
, she
had lost the best thing that had ever happened to her. And the
worst part, she wasn’t sure what to do to get him back. Her
grandmother often said that anything meant to be, would be.
Christina wasn’t so sure about that. From the moment she met Luke,
she had felt that he was the one for her. That they were meant to
be together. How could she have been so wrong? And what could she
do to fix it?

“
I’m right up here.” She
pointed to the next red brick building on her right. The old
warehouse had been converted into lofts twenty years
ago.

“
I know.”

She wondered what else he knew. Had he
asked Zack about her?

She took out her key card and accepted
her bag of food from him. The moment felt like the first time she
had gone out with him, and he had taken her home. Like then, she
didn’t want to say goodbye.

“
Would you like to come
in?”

“
No,” he said without
missing a beat, his gaze steady on her.

All righty
then
. She tried not to take offense, but
she would be lying if she said that that one word hadn’t cut
deep.

He stood back, his hand in his pocket
and his dark eyes boring into her.

“
Okay, well thanks again
for walking me home. I know I said this before, but I’m sorry for
the way things ended. I feel awful. I never meant to mislead you or
hurt you. Just don’t leave yet. Give me a chance to explain because
we need to talk about—”

He lifted his hand and shook his head,
stopping her words. “The last time you said that we needed to talk,
you walked out on me.”

“
Technically, you’re the
one who left me standing in the middle of your living
room.”

“
Christina,” he growled her
name. “The only thing that I’m going to say about any of this is
that I thought we were building something special, but that
night—”

“
We were.” She reached for
his hand. “We were building something special. You meant … you mean
so much to me. You and I, we fit. I screwed up something very
special.”

He slipped his hand from her grasp.
“I’m not interested in talking and I sure as hell don’t want to
rehash—”

“
Fine.” She cut him off,
wanting to throw her bag at him. He was acting like a total
jackass, and she would have told him so, but she looked into his
eyes and her heart stuttered. The pain she saw caught her off
guard. It was then she realized just how much she had hurt
him.

He broke eye contact and glanced up
the street, as if knowing what she was thinking.

“
Have a good night,
Luke.”

His gaze found hers again. “Yeah, you
too. And,” he sighed, struggling with his words. Instead of saying
anything, he pinched the bridge of his nose and shut his eyes.
Seconds passed, and Christina held her breath. She wasn’t sure what
she expected, but her stomach churned in anticipation. She needed
him to forgive her and give them another chance. He finally looked
at her. “Listen … it was good seeing you again.”

Now she was the one who wanted to say
more, but didn’t. She nodded and unlocked the door, forcing her
feet to take her inside, away from the man who tempted her to make
a complete fool of herself by asking him for another
chance.

The next day, Christina rambled around her
luxury loft near downtown Cincinnati. She stepped over boxes that
still needed to be unpacked, thinking about the brief encounter
with Luke. The chemistry sparking between them last night was as
potent as ever, even if his mouth said otherwise. She not only felt
the spark, she saw it in his eyes. A lot of good that did though.
She had no idea how to make things right. She had no idea how to
get him to listen to what she had to say. She had no idea how to
gain his forgiveness for not being completely honest.

Her grandmother’s words
floated around in her head.
Anything meant
to be will be.
This was one of those times
she needed to have faith, and trust this situation would work
itself out. In the meantime, she had to get ready for her visitors.
Her sister Peyton and their cousins, Toni, Jada, and Martina were
expected in fifteen minutes to help unpack.

Christina jumped at the sound of her
door buzzer. Hurrying to the wall near the entrance, which held a
monitor and an intercom, she saw her cousins standing in front of
the camera. She grinned when Martina Jenkins, a.k.a. MJ stuck her
tongue out at the camera. A carpenter by trade, that girl was the
silliest of them all as well as the one person who drove the entire
family nuts most days, but loyal to a fault.

Christina swung the door open just as
MJ started to knock. “Hey, you guys.”

“
All I want to know is
what’s up with that piece of crap you call an elevator?” MJ asked
the moment she stepped across the threshold. “That thing is an
accident waiting to happen.” The dilapidated freight elevator was
Christina’s favorite part of the converted warehouse, giving the
modern space a little rustic vibe. It serviced her unit only, which
happened to be on the top floor.

“
At least it had automatic
doors and we didn’t have to lift them.” Toni Jenkins-Logan kissed
Christina on the cheek and walked in. “What’s up Cuz?”

“
Not much, but couldn’t you
have left MJ wherever you found her?” Christina asked.

“
Nope. She was
driving.”

“
Hey, Sis.” Peyton Jenkins
stepped in with her hands full. She handed Christina a potted
sunflower and carried the additional bags into the loft.

“
Ahh, thanks,
PJ!”

Before Christina could admire the
plant in her hands, Jada “JJ” Jenkins-Anderson stepped into the
doorway. Christina shook her head and grinned. Despite JJ’s
frustrated pout and her hands on her hips, she looked as stylish as
usual in a white halter dress and matching four-inch sandals. Only
she would show up at a box-unpacking-party looking like she just
walked off of the cover of Vogue magazine.

“
Remind me never to ride
with them again,” she said hugging Christina.

A month of not hanging out and seeing
Jada was way too long. They had lived together for years, sharing
tubs of ice cream on bad days, and whispering about their deep,
dark secrets on other days. Christina couldn’t be happier for her
cousin and her new life with Zack, but she missed their girl
talks.

“
MJ must have been a NASCAR
driver in another life,” Jada said. “She drives like a dang
maniac.” Christina laughed, knowing that MJ broke every speed limit
to get them there, which was why Christina never rode anywhere with
her.

Christina closed the door and carried
her new plant over to a rod-iron plant stand that stood near one of
the floor to ceiling windows.

“
I assume you know the
plant is from mom. She said sunflowers are your
favorite.”

“
They are.”

Peyton frowned. “You two have to be
the strangest women I know. Most people love roses or tulips, but
no you guys have to be different. Oh, and she said that she’ll stop
by tomorrow. She has her aerial yoga class tonight or was it her
nude yoga class?” She threw her arms out, letting them fall against
the side of her thighs. “I don’t know. I can’t keep up with all of
her different activities. I don’t know how dad puts up with
her.”

Christina smiled and rearranged some
of the plants. “Dad once told me that he fell in love with mom
because of her style, uniqueness, and her inner freak. It turns him
on the way she licks—”

“
Stop! Yuck.” Peyton
covered her ears and shivered. “A visual suddenly popped into my
head, and not one I want associated with my mother. I can’t even
believe he told you that.”

Christina laughed at her sister’s
reaction. “Well, I was going to say a Popsicle. What were you
thinking?”

“
Oh. Um … never
mind.”

Their mother might not have been born
until after the hippie movement, but she loved everything about
that generation and still held on to some of the subculture. Peyton
was her opposite - prim and proper to the bone. Christina on the
other hand, knew she had inherited her mother’s free-spirited
attitude. For years, she had kept it concealed for fear of what
people would say, but while dating Luke, a little of her real self
had showed.

Toni stood in the middle of the living
room. “This place is gorgeous. I love the exposed duct work, the
floor to ceiling windows, and I can’t believe I’m going to say
this, but your vintage furniture looks perfect in here.”

Christina ran her hand along the
velvet, fuchsia sofa, a super find at her favorite consignment
shop. Her design style, a combination of eclectic with a mixture of
old and new styles, suited her personality perfect.

Her cousins, except for Jada, roamed
around the 1700 square foot loft. It was thanks to Jada and Zack
that CJ was living her dream of owning a loft. Zack had purchased
the space years ago in order to have a place close to the
stadium.

“
I see you’ve painted,”
Jada said when Christina walked up to her and draped her arm over
Jada’s shoulders. “It looks good, but I’m surprised you left the
living room white.”

“
I’m still debating the
color I want in here. I’m thinking about pulling a color from one
of the floral throw pillows. Maybe a bold gold tone. Or something
in the green family.”

“
This place
is
nice.” Peyton stood
near the large, bare windows that overlooked downtown Cincinnati,
her arms folded across her chest. The building sat on a slight
hill, allowing for a spectacular view of the city. “I just want to
know how you were able to afford something like this on your
salary,” her sister said over her shoulder.

Christina felt more than saw Jada look
at her, probably wondering if she was going to come clean about her
other life. Maybe she would one day, but today wasn’t that
day.

“
Saving,” Christina said
without elaborating. “All right, I’m thinking that we should unpack
a few of these boxes and then eat.” She had moved in almost a week
ago, but hadn’t gotten around to unpacking much. When Toni had
called to see if she was showing up for their weekly after work
drink at their favorite bar and grill, Christina suggested they all
meet at the loft.

“
You must be crazy in your
head if you think I’m going to work before I eat. What’s wrong with
you?” MJ asked from the kitchen. “Okay, plates? Where are the
plates?”

“
In that box near the
refrigerator marked,
plates
.” Christina rolled her eyes.
She already knew it was going to be a long night. “So what’s for
dinner?”

“
Hamburgers and
fries.”

“
MJ, what the heck? You
know I’m a vegetarian.”

“
Still
? I thought you would’ve given that up by now.” Everyone but
Christina laughed.

“
And why would you think
that?”

“
Oh, come on CJ, like you
don’t know.” Toni rinsed her hands in the kitchen sink and began
pulling food out of the grease stained bags. “How many times have
you started something and didn’t finish?”

“
More times than I can
count,” Peyton muttered, sitting on one of the barstools at the
kitchen counter. “Like piano lessons, sculpting class, and ice
skating to name a few.”

“
Don’t forget guitar
lessons,” MJ said pulling out several hamburgers. The divine smell
of bacon and onions made Christina’s mouth water as she breathed in
deep, tempted to fall victim to quitting yet another one of her
goals.

“
Oh, and my personal
favorite – word-a-day,” Jada said sarcastically and they all burst
out laughing.

“
Now that one, I’m glad she
quit because I was about ready to strangle her with all of her big
words.” MJ stuck a fry in her mouth and grinned. “Who walks around
using words like veneration in a simple sentence when she can use
honoring?” They all pointed at Christina.

“
You know what? Forget
every single one of you.” Christina pulled a leftover vegetable
casserole from the refrigerator. “I can’t help it if you’re
catachrestic and don’t know what sesquipedalian or prehensile
means. You’re lucky I don’t go all bellicose on you simpletons.
Maybe one of these days when you flibbertigibbets get off my back
and learn some new words, you won’t look like the illiterates that
you are.”

They all stood opened mouth staring at
her and then lost it. Pounding on the counter, Martina fell out
laughing while Peyton and Toni held their stomachs cackling just as
hard. Jada grinned trying to hold back but gave up and burst into a
fit of giggles as well. Christina couldn’t help but join in. She
had given up on learning a word a day, but now realized how much
she missed the reaction the words evoked when she used so many of
them in one conversation.