Page 33 of His Wood Her Fire

“Yeah?Like go out with friends or something?”

“Something like that,” I murmured and shifted my gaze back to the road.

It was killing me to keep this secret from her.

But all good things to those who wait.

Ninety-seven minutes later, I pulled into the parking lot next door to the gallery.

“Oh, if you tell them you’re pulling back out they shouldn’t have a problem not charging you,” Gloria said, eyeing the exorbitant one hour parking fee.

Not that I was going to be there for only an hour, but she didn’t know that.

“I’ll handle it.Don’t worry,” I said and opened the door for her.

“Okay, um,” she said, biting her lip.

“I have a place for us to stay in the city tonight.I’ll be here to take you back, okay?”I said, surprising her.

“You did?But Bo that must have been crazy expensive!”

I just shrugged, not giving away the fact I didn’t rent a hotel room.In fact, I was talking about a condo I owned not too far from the gallery.

Jenny was already on her way with her boyfriend to take the animals there so I could give Gloria her next surprise.

“Rich, remember?”

“I remember, but still.You could have told me,” she sniffed.

“I like surprising you,” I said and kissed her mouth.

“Go inside, Slick.”

“Alright.Um, I’ll text you when I can leave.”

I nodded and watched her walk away from me with my heart so goddamn full I thought it might burst.

This is the last time she walks away from me, I told myself.

It was the only way I could let her go.

I only had to wait five minutes for Jenny to show up, then I hand her the keys and tell her to meet me back here as soon as she can.

“You got it, Big Brother.I’m so happy for you,” she says with tears in her eyes.

“She hasn’t said yes yet,” I mumbled, worried for the first time.

“She will.It’s Christmas!”

Chapter Sixteen-Gloria

The gallery is beautifully decorated and packed from wall to wall.

There was something about the photographs hanging on the walls that made me shiver.It was like I recognized them, but I’d never met this artist and aside from one email, I’d never seen their work.

“Whoever this mysterious B.D.is, they’re fabulous, darling!I have one of theirStudies of the Urban Animalhanging in my parlor,” an older woman whisper-screamed to someone standing close to me.

I had no idea what collection she was talking about, but judging from all the red stickers I’d noted as I passed, it looked like B.D.had a hit on their hands.

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