Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 95883 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95883 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Royce frowned. That could explain a lot of her attitude issues.
Q: I’m going to keep digging…What’s it like being around Marc all the time?
He followed that question with a small graphic of a man fanning himself.
R: You think he’s hot?
Q: Yeah. Don’t tell me you don’t because it felt like I was balancing on the tension wire between you.
R: Tension wire? WTF?
Q: Shut up. I’m no writer. But something was up. You definitely think he’s hot.
Royce didn’t answer right away because he didn’t know what to say. Quinn was probably the closest thing he had to a best friend, but he hadn’t let himself get close enough to actually share personal feelings or information.
Q: Royce?
R: He’s fucking stunning and he’s driving me crazy.
His fingers froze in shock.
Quinn sent a dancing man emoji.
R: It’s not funny.
Q: Ward’s Dating Service is back in full effect, I see.
R: We’re not dating.
He had no intention of admitting to anything else they’d been doing, and he needed to get the conversation back on the job.
R: Can you look into whether any of them have worked on cars or studied them?
Q: All they’d have to do is Google. I repaired an Xbox by watching a video on YouTube when I was a teenager.
R: Freak
Q: Spoiled freak. I miss my coffee in the mornings.
He grinned. Most mornings, he swung by a coffee shop near the office and grabbed Quinn his double chocolate mint mocha with extra espresso. Crazy kid had a crazy sweet tooth in the morning.
R: Awwww, you missing me?
Q: Yeah, you’re the only one who can make Dominic behave, and he’s been whining about some guy who won’t give him the time of day. It’s pathetic.
R: Really? Dom is hooked on ONE guy?
Quinn sent a little shrugging man. He’d actually somehow either made or found these little dudes that looked like him. Tall, skinny, with black glasses. Royce kind of wanted a little bearded, tattooed man for himself. He rolled his eyes. He’d obviously been spending too much time with the computer geek.
Q: I gotta go. The noises coming from down the hall aren’t exactly business-like. I think Rowe and Noah don’t realize anyone is still here.
R: TTYL
He was laughing as he shut down the program and went back to watching the camera footage. He could only imagine what those two were doing in what they thought was an empty office.
Blue.
It helped.
The massive painting was spiraling swirls of blues with little hints of white and a tease of pale green. But for the most part, it was blue. Deep, beautiful blue. And it gave Marc peace. A sense of calm on the outside, that with enough time, he could drag into his body, and make his own.
Marc needed it following the gallery showing, the false fire alarm, the showdown with his siblings, sex with Royce…and his inevitable disappearance.
Insanely, with all the chaos threatening to sink his life, it was the fact that Royce had walked away after sex that he was struggling the most to deal with.
After a painfully silent and awkward morning at home, they arrived at the gallery to find that Toni had come up with the brilliant idea to call the fire alarm a “performance piece” geared to awaken the art world to the atrocities suffered by women and give a sneak preview of the next artist he was planning to promote. Luckily, he’d had two of her newest pieces on hand in his office.
The gallery patrons had nodded, murmured their support, and resumed the party—with most claiming exclusive spots at the next showing—while Darla dealt with questions from both the police and fire department. Fines were being levied, but more paintings were sold than he’d expected. And considering the waiting list that was already developing for the next show, it had a high likelihood of being a massive success.
The buzz about the show had spread as well. Darla had a stack of messages waiting for him from his regular clients, demanding a time for a private viewing as well as promising not to miss the next show.
So, despite the chaos of the fire alarm, the show was a huge success. When he finally closed out the current one, he would have to give Darla and Toni raises. They’d definitely earned them. He was even considering asking if they’d travel to his Hong Kong gallery for a year. Sales there had slowed, and he was becoming worried that he wasn’t keeping up with trends as much as he should. Darla and Toni’s creativity and brilliance could give it new life.
After a morning of returning calls and checking the books, he should have been elated. But he was restless and anxious. He couldn’t meet Royce’s eyes. Didn’t want to think about the man. It was just easier that way. To not think about how good it had felt to touch him, kiss him, to have his weight on top of him, pressing him into the mattress. Stretching…