Page 29 of The Cask

I swallowed hard.

When we were alone again, he lifted his glass. “To you.”

I clinked my glass against his and we both took a sip.

Clearing my throat, I broke the spell with which he was trying to seduce me. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because you’re beautiful and it’s hard to take my eyes off you,” he answered without hesitation.

I took a drink as his compliment washed over me. I was hoping the wine would douse the flames, but it didn’t seem to help. I nodded at him. “You’re good.”

“I’m not trying to be good. I’m just being honest. But if I’m making you uncomfortable by saying it, I’ll stop.” He put his glass to his lips and paused. “But just know I’m thinking it every time I look at you.”

My stomach fluttered.

“Well, speaking of being honest,” I started, changing the subject. “I looked you up and saw this interesting article inLifestyle Magazine. They paint you as quite the virtuoso. Your art collection is impressive.”

“Thank you.”

“Are you an artist or just a collector?”

He gave me a sheepish grin. “I’m more of an investor.” He lifted his shoulders. “I don’t know anything about art except that it is a good investment. I don’t even know which paintings belong to who except for the two that I actually picked out myself. The others…” His sentence drifted off as he shook his head and shrugged.

“Oh?” Curiosity got to me. “Well, who is responsible for the appearance of you being an art collector?”

“Amara Gooding.”

Sensing his discomfort, I became more intrigued. “And she’s a curator? An art collector? An artist?”

“She’s a curator.”

I watched him as he finished his glass and then poured himself another.Am I striking a nerve? Interesting…

I quirked an eyebrow. “Just a curator?”

“No.” He smiled, but it didn’t quite meet his eyes. “She’s an ex.”

“An ex-girlfriend or ex-wife?”

“Ex-girlfriend. I’ve never been married.”

“Oh okay. So your ex-girlfriend picked out all of your art and then you got featured in a magazine. How did she take that?”

“She actually set it up. She contacted them and two months later, they replied. But by that time, we had already broken up.”

“Am I making you uncomfortable?” I wondered.

He shook his head. “Nah, it’s not that.”

“You sure?” I tilted my head to the side. “You look a little uncomfortable.”

He smirked. “I wasn’t planning to talk about an ex-girlfriend on the first date, but I’ll answer whatever questions you want me to answer. Are you willing to do the same?”

“Of course,” I answered, reveling in watching him squirm on the other side of the table. “But one more question about Amara and then I’ll drop it.”

“Okay.”

“Why didn’t you give her credit? I didn’t see her name mentioned anywhere in the article.”

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