Page 19 of Broken Pieces
Something unknown possesses me, and I find myself extending my hand, grabbing one of her hair strands, and placing it behind her ear. Her cheeks flush at my movement, her freckles looking adorably cute with the soft scarlet color all over her face.
“Noted,” is all I reply with a wink and continue walking. “But in all seriousness, I think I like the theme we’ve been sticking with. Impressionism is the way to go.”
It has been a transition ever since we started working together. We’re honestly still transitioning because our styles are so different, so we’ve had to come up witha middle ground. Aria is amazing at what she does and has the patience of a saint. I’m as picky as they come and she’s willing to work with me and has been helping me make this a reality, but also pushing those boundaries and making me expand to other styles.
She catches up to me, and bites her lip, clearly thinking how to respond. And the move is so ironically sexy, I almost bump into someone since I’m paying absolutely no attention to what’s happening in front of me. All my attention goes to her,alwaysher.
“If you’re serious about wanting your gallery to resonate in the industry and make an impact, you need to open your mind, Damian. A mix of different styles. Be different for once.”
Arriving at the gallery, I open the door for her and nod, considering her words. “I guess you do have a point.” I sigh.
She stops in her tracks and turns around. “I’m sorry, did you justagree with me?” she asks sarcastically, throwing me the same question as before. She goes to check my temperature, amusement dancing in her eyes and I indulge her, just for the hell of it. Her soft hand touches my forehead, and the touch is simple, and light, but it burns all the same, with that charged electricity that seems to happen between us every time we are near each other. Her touch affects me in every way possible, but it’s addicting nonetheless.
“You don’t have a fever either.” She hums. “Isn’t that weird?”
“Oh yes, so weird,” I reply with an amused tone.
She rolls her eyes and smirks as she takes her hand away from my forehead, then quickly goes upstairs to have her morning gossip with Isabella. They're getting friendly quickly, which I appreciate because I’ve known Isabella for a while now, and I’ve never seen her with any friends. I have a soft spot for Isabella, not that I’d ever let her know. I prefer to stay as the annoying asshole boss, but I’m extremely glad she’s finding some people to hang with.
As I walk upstairs, I overhear Aria ask, “Are you going out with us tonight? You didn’t go last time, so you owe me!”
Isabella nods, which makes Aria jump excitedly like a kid. “It’s going to be great! You’ll love Sophia. Just beware, she’s a little unhinged.” She giggles.
I lean on Isabella's desk, casually sipping my coffee. “I can confirm sheisunhinged.”
She gapes at me in disbelief. “Don’t you dare speak about my best friend like that.”
I raise my hands in surrender with a chuckle. “You're the one who mentioned it; I'm just confirming. Where are you guys going?”
Aria side-eyes me and smirks. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
Consider me officially fucking curious. But I’ll drop it—for now.
I laugh, opting not to spar with her, wanting the nice moment we had during our walk to last. Leaving the girls to their gossip, I walk toward my office to get some very much-needed work done. As I close the door slowly, I overhear Aria saying they're going to a new club downtown.
A club? Where preppy stuck-up guys go to pick up women because they have nothing better to do and are so terrible they don’t know where else to pick up women?
Over my dead fucking body.
I shake my head, trying to escape the uncomfortable, stupid feeling. Why do I care? She's a grown ass woman, one who can make her own decisions. As I sit down, I try to ignore the sense of dread in the pit of my stomach. The idea of her going to a club, where men are going to be dancing with her, touching her hips, and getting too close for my comfort has my blood running hot. It suddenly gets too fucking hot in my office, and as I take off this suffocating tie to get some relief, an idea pops in my head.
I have to come up with an excuse to keep Aria here late. That’s reasonable, right? I’m her boss. I can ask her to stay late to complete a task or something. I pace around the office, trying to come up with an idea. Anything that’ll prevent her from going.
Finally, I find the perfect and truthful–ishexcuse. We're missing one more piece for our collection, and there’s an auction happening soon in New York that’s extremely important and securing tickets to attend is a must. With this in mind, I stride to her office and knock before entering.
She looks up from her computer, her eyes flashing with a hint of irritation. I've noticed she despises interruptions, considering they disrupt her workflow or whatever the hell she calls it.
“The New York auction… I'm having trouble finding tickets.” I get straight to the point.
She frowns. “TheDamian Romano is having trouble finding tickets?”
Shit. I should’ve come up with a better excuse.
“Yes,” I answer dryly.
She drops her pen on the desk and massages her temple, letting out a sign. “Well, I’ll try to find something.”
Not good enough.It’s time to pull my annoying boss card. “This needs to be solved today.”
