Page 135 of Their Courtesan
“Dare I?”
“I won’t take a swing at you if you promise to keep your fists to yourself as well.”
Seth absentmindedly rubbed his smooth jaw.I’ve never seen a fleck of facial hair on his face.Miguel scratched his own scruff, chin and upper lip often left unshaved for two days at a time. “Still feels like a trap. Smart thing to do would be to keep a wide berth between us.”
“I’ve got a few things to talk about with you.”
“Spare your damn breath.” Seth moved the leather bag strapped across his chest so it rested on his hip instead of in front of him. “I’ve got work to do. Unless you’re…”
“Yes, yes, paintings. Sit your fucking ass down.”
Monday morning Miguel had his weekly sit-down meeting with Aimee to go over the week’s plans. Since it was a national holiday, they had no other meetings to tend to, except for Aimee’s agreement to go out with the new friends she had made since moving to America. Which meant she wasn’t too happy when Miguel asked her to make a few choice phone calls – including to Joy Cheung.“Tell her I want to set up a meeting with her client about commissioning some work. No, if you tell her I want to simply buy a painting he already has, she’ll insist on handling it herself.”
This meeting had been finalized the night before. Miguel had given a fake name to make sure Seth showed up. Naturally, he looked like he wanted to leave as soon as possible.
However, he sat. Perched was actually more like it. A tentative pose to let him get up and march out of there as soon as it was most convenient. Not even the bottle of beer landing on the counter behind him got his attention – he would only stare at Miguel, something burning behind his amber eyes.
“Suppose I should thank you for coming to my show,” Seth grunted. Artists sure could be derisive. “I’m not a fool, though. I know what you and Judith did. Getting back at me. Fine. We’re even.”
“Did she tell you?” Miguel asked drolly. That other bottle of beer was sounding good, water or no water first. “Or had I left her so satisfied that she turned down your business that night?”
“Why I should…”
“Calm down. I’m here to offer a truce.”
“What?”
Seth grabbed the beer and spun around on his stool. Good. Miguel had his attention.
“Look, pal, we both clearly love the same woman. She tells me that she loves us both equally, and why should I disbelieve her? Come on. You don’t think she’s a one man woman, is she?”
“Do I look dumb?”
Does he really want me to answer that?
“Hear me out, all right? If you agree to my little scheme I’ve cooked up, we could both become happy men. Maybe she’ll be a happy woman, emotionallyandfinancially.”
Seth gripped his bottle with a tense hand. “You’ve got ten minutes.”
Miguel only needed five.
