Page 41 of Arrogant Playboy

“If only my charms worked on you,” he says sadly before saying goodbye and leaving my office.

16

DANIEL

I’m nervous as I knock on Rosie’s door. I’m here to talk to Emily about New York, and I hope that when she opens the door she doesn’t slam it in my face and hears me out.

Slowly, the door opens, and Emily pokes her head out.

“Hey,” I say awkwardly.

“Hey.” She frowns at me.

This is going great. “You’re painting.” Noticing the paint on her clothes, I hope talking about that is enough to put her at ease.

“Yeah, I am,” she says sharply, looking me up and down suspiciously.

This isn’t going well at all. “Can I come in? I want to talk to you about something.” I can see how conflicted she is by my request.

“Yes,” she eventually answers. “Would you like a drink?” she asks as I enter the living room behind her.

“Water, please,” I answer as Emily moves about the kitchen. “How are you doing?” She shrugs in answer. “I see you’ve received Louis’ flowers.” Vases of sunflowers are throughout the room.

“Rosie seems to like them,” she says.

Does she? Emily hands me my glass of water and I nervously take a sip.

“Why are you here?” Emily asks, her annoyance coming out through her tone.

“I have an offer for you.”

I can see she is not interested before I even say anything. “No amount of money can make me go back there, Daniel.”

“That’s not what I’m here about.” Her brows arch in surprise. “Before everything happened, Louis asked if I’d contact the New York gallery to see if they would be interested in sharing the space they have for him with another artist.” She stares blankly at me. “The gallery said yes.”

“That’s all good, but this has nothing to do with me. I don’t work for Louis anymore,” she says.

“The artist is you, Emily. They said yes to showing your paintings.” Emily stills, and I can see she is processing what I said. “Louis sent me photos of the paintings you did while in Ibiza. He said he found an amazing new talent while on holiday and asked me if they were any good. I loved them. I said that I would represent them in a heartbeat. I honestly had no idea they were yours. He wanted to hear my real opinion. Which was that I needed you on my books.” Emily frowns at me. “Louis thinks you’re talented. No, extremely talented,” I add.

She shakes her head. “I’m no artist, Daniel.”

“Yes, you are. I want to represent you, Emily.”

She does not look convinced or happy about it. “You’re only saying this because of what happened. Is this some sort of hush money?” she asks, standing up abruptly and pacing the room.Hush money?“You’re both trying to absolve yourselves,” she yells at me.

I can see that I’ve upset her, and she wobbles on her feet as if she might faint. I rush to steady her, but as soon as my hands touch her, she pulls herself from me and moves away.

Shit.

“Emily, you have no idea how sorry I am about what happened to you.” She won’t look at me now. “Louis blames himself. He’s … he’s not doing so well. He wants to help.”

“That’s why he’s offering this?” Emily asks, her eyes narrowed on me suspiciously as tears fall down her cheeks.

“God, Emily, no. He knows you’re talented. He’s had this planned for ages. He was going to tell you after you got back from Paris.” I try to explain to her, except I watch as she wraps her arms around herself. “I think you’re talented, too,” I add. Emily looks up at me. “I’d love to see what you’ve been working on.” My eyes fall to where the paint splatter is on her outfit. “You don’t have to say yes to New York but think about it. We can make sure that you and Louis are never near each other if that’s what you want. Whatever makes you feel comfortable. But please, please, just think about it?”

She turns and goes to leave the room, but then indicates for me to follow, which I do as she shows me her makeshift studio.

Wow.

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