Page 4 of Kissing Danger

I realized I’d been observing his clothes a little too long when he tugged his cuffs back into place.

I quickly snapped my gaze back up to his face. Thankfully, he didn’t seem annoyed. Rather, he seemed amused by my distraction.

“I’m guessing that wasn’t what you originally planned to have as your finale piece.”

Heaving a sigh, I explained about the missing dress.

“Even the model who was supposed to wear the dress is nowhere to be found. I’m hoping she didn’t steal it.” Feeling a little more confident now that I’d managed to string several sentencestogether without stumbling—and the dizzy spell had passed—I set the water bottle aside to face Nathan directly.

“How’d you know that last piece wasn’t planned? Everyone I’ve talked to so far has been praising me for my ‘artistic deconstruction of fashion’. I haven’t had the heart to tell anyone I slapped it together at the last minute.”

He laughed. A single sharp barking sound, like the snap of sharp jaws. “I thought it was obvious. The last piece didn’t fit the theme of the rest.”

“The... theme?” I asked, equal parts hopeful and wary.

“Yeah. Your pieces each embodied the movement of the different cars on display.”

A spark of joy, and the thrill of recognition, filled me. Before I could second-guess myself, I slapped his arm like we were old friends, a big grin splitting my face.

“Thank you. Finally, someone gets it. Even my assistant didn’t really get what I was going for.”

Luckily, he didn’t seem to mind the slap. Based on the muscle I’d felt under his suit, I wasn’t sure he even noticed the impact of my hand.

“I wasn’t sure at first,” he admitted. “It was just a general observation that the first outfit seemed to match the low riding speed of one of the cars. It wasn’t until the fourth outfit that I was sure about the theme. Making that poor girl walk in shoes of two different heights seemed a bit cruel, but it was a perfect representation of a really old classic car that has no shocks and can’t get above thirty kilometers an hour.”

His use of kilometers instead of miles alerted me to the slight accent in his voice. It was slight, and I couldn’t place the country, but I was at least certain that he wasn’t born in America.

Not that it mattered. He could have been a penguin from Antarctica for all I cared. I was just happy to have someone I could talk with about my art who actually understood it.

“I second-guessed myself so many times about using those shoes. I was terrified that the model would trip halfway down the runway, but the piece wouldn’t move the same without that uneven gait.”

Nathan merely shrugged and leaned back a little more, draping one arm over the back of the bench so it pressed against my shoulder. “The models are professionals. Walking under difficult conditions is their job. If they can’t figure it out, then they should find a new job. But what made you choose that kind of theme? It seems a lot harder to capture than what everyone else chose to go with.”

“Cars are meant to move,” I said, getting excited enough that I was talking with my hands as much as my mouth. “They aren’t meant to just sit in a showroom. Cars, even ones just meant for the movies, belong on the road. For speed and movement. To only admire their form when they’re sitting still is like... like presenting a leather chair and calling it a horse.”

With a few pointed questions from Nathan, I went into a long description of my artistic choices, my overall style and vision for my work, and how I’d put it all together. It was only when I found myself explaining the pros and cons of muslin that I realized how long I’d been talking.

“Oh my God,” I gasped, checking my watch. “I’ve been babbling for twenty minutes. Why didn’t you stop me? You must have been bored out of your skull.”

Nathan’s broad hand grabbed my wrist, hiding my watch from view. “I enjoy it when people are passionate about something. There’s a depressing lack of passion in this world. Besides, I’m glad someone can appreciate the spirit of the cars here. That’s why I chose to come to this event. I don’t actually know much about fashion, but I know about cars, so I was hoping that would help bridge the gap. I was getting disheartened when I realized that the cars were just meant to be an aesthetic backdrop and not a feature of the event.”

He looked around the room like he was searching for something, although I wasn’t sure what he could possibly see through the crowd of people. “You know,” he whispered to me. “This museum has a new exhibit where you can drive some of the cars. Not the one-of-a-kind ones from movies, but some of the standard classics. It’s technically closed for this event, but I could probably convince the staff to open it if you’d like to join me.”

My initial answer was “absolutely,” but before I could say so, I caught sight of my watch again. So much time had passed while I’d been talking to Nathan. Kiki had to be looking for me by now. I had a job to do.

“Sorry. I’d love to, but I’m supposed to be networking right now.” I gestured toward the crowd around us. “Talking to investors, trying to get prominent companies to notice me. That sort of thing.”

I expected him to be disappointed. Maybe even angry. What I didn’t expect was for him to let out another of those sharpbarking laughs that sent a shiver up my spine, which I couldn’t decide if I enjoyed or not.

“Oh, but that’s perfect,” he grinned just enough for a few of his teeth to show. His canines were particularly prominent, and I had a brief mental image of the big bad wolf about to gobble up little red riding hood. “I am an investor. I’ve just purchasedFantaisiste. I figured it was better than trying to build up a brand from scratch, but while it’s technically a functioning company, I’m in desperate need of some new artistic talent. That’s why I’m here, to scope out a new designer to hire.”

Like most people in the fashion world, I’d heard ofFantaisistebefore. They were a newer brand that had seemed to be on track to one day rivalPradaorLouis Vuitton, but a few years ago they’d run into some money troubles and struggled to bounce back.

This guy had bought it?

The whole company?

He said it so casually too, like we were discussing the merits of buying a new car versus a used car.

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