Page 14 of The Billionaire's Kiss
Climbing out of the truck was a chore. I didn’t want to jump out of it for fear of breaking an ankle. “Um, a little help would be appreciated, Warner.”
He came to me, offering his hand. “My lady.”
Using his hand to balance myself, I made it down to the ground safely. “You’d hate my car. It’s tiny and extremely close to the ground.”
“I probably wouldn’t even fit.” He held my hand as we began walking up the street.
Even though the street was busy with pedestrians, there weren’t that many people at this end of the street. Up ahead, I saw tons of lights in many different colors, and the sound of music and people drifted down to us. “It’s funny. I’m getting so excited about seeing this.”
“People come from all around the world to check out this place. It’s like nothing else.”
As we got closer, I could smell hints of various foods in the air. “There are cafes down here too?”
“Cafes, boutiques, bars upon bars, tattoo parlors.” He squeezed my hand. “We could get matching tats if you’d like.”
“My mother would strangle me.” His suggestion did make me curious though. “Do you have any tats?”
He put his hand over his right pec. “I’ve got a broken heart with angel wings.”
“Sounds like there’s a story behind that.”
“One for another time.” We came to the end of a block, and we had to stop and wait for the lights to cross. “There are a few bars you’ve got to see. Maggie Mae’s is an Austin staple and Coyote Ugly is a must-see. But if you hear any music that grabs your attention, we can just head into that bar.”
As we got to the first block with bars and other businesses, the crowd got a bit thicker. The smells became more intense, and the sounds insane.
Some places had men standing outside as if out of an FBI movie—black suits and sunglasses. “And those men are here because…?” I had to wonder how safe we were if men like those had to be around.
“They’re the bouncers. Plus, certain things go on inside certain clubs. If they see someone trying to go inside and think they might not appreciate what’s going on in there, they let them know.”
“What kinds of things are going on in some of these places?” Now I really felt afraid and knew why Warner had warned my group about this place.
“Well, the saying here iskeep Austin weird. That’s because some weird shit goes on.” He pulled me along. “We’re not stopping anywhere that might offend you, I can promise you that.”
“Thank you.” I felt extremely grateful for the man at that moment. “If I were alone, who knows what I might walk into.”
Knowing I was perfectly safe, I put all the worry and fear of the unknown behind me and looked around. Neon lights adorned everything along both sides of the street. And as we kept moving, the crowd kept getting thicker and thicker until I understood how easy it would be to lose each other in a place like this.
Different types of music mingled with the sound of people talking, laughing, clapping, and making hooting sounds. We stopped as we came to a crowd of people who were all looking at something we couldn’t see yet.
Warner moved us through the crowd until we were at the front of the group. A man squatted near the ground, a can of blue spray paint in his hand. He looked up at me. “Ah, may I paint you, beautiful lady?”
“Me?” I asked with surprise. “I guess so.”
“It will only take me a moment.” He put the blue can away and grabbed a red one and a brown one. “The hair.” The spray paint hissed as he moved both cans in rotating motions over a rather large canvas he’d laid out on the sidewalk.
When he’d finished, my curly hair filled the outer parts of the rectangular board. “That’s amazing—it’s the exact color of my hair.”
Next, he picked up a can of white and a can of tan and made the shape of my face. Then, he picked up a pale green can and made the top part of my dress. Putting the cans away, he picked up a palate and whisked a small paintbrush with such speed that I couldn’t tell what color he’d dipped it in until it spread over the face in the painting.
Thin black lines formed my closed eyes, and somehow, he feathered the lines for the eyelashes so well that they looked real. Red lips shaped like a budding rose followed, then golden buttons along the middle of my dress, and he was done. “I present you with this gift. You are a true beauty. Thank you for allowing me to paint you.”
Warner was quick to pull out some cash and hand it to him. “I understand the painting is a gift for her. Here’s some money for you to babysit the lovely painting for us while I take her on tour. We’ll pick it up on our way out.”
Nodding, he took the money before propping the painting against the wall behind him. Then, he found another beauty to paint. “How about you, lovely lady? Will you be my next muse?”
Moving along, I held tightly to Warner’s hand. “I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. He was amazing.”
“He had you modeling for him, so it was bound to come out well.” Tugging me into a bar, he handed the man who stood at the door some money, then in we went. “We need a drink.”
