Page 76 of Fake Dating My Billionaire Boss

Chapter 26

Bella

I’m slightly winded as I reach the doorway to the new Silver Springs Museum of Modern Art. Chasing Bo up stairs is not an easy task.

I should have put him on a leash the minute we got out of the car, I think, as I survey the scene before me.

He’s probably knocked into some precariously positioned table of champagne glasses by now, or worse, bumped one of the pedestals sprinkled through the room. On top of each pedestal is a sculpture worth more than my eye teeth, and the last thing I need right now is to be in more debt to Damian.

The thought of Damian makes my heart rate spike.

I’m going to see him here, any minute now, and I don’t know how I’m going to handle it.

And—where is Bo?He took off like a shot the minute I opened the car door for him.

My eyes sweep the room in search of my pup, but when a patch of indigo catches my attention, I momentarily forget about my goal of finding him.

That indigo…

I mixed that color.

I suck in a sharp inhale. That’s my painting, hanging in a central position on the far wall.

The works around it are much smaller, and the lighting above seems to be focused on my painting.

It’s in the spotlight, and instead of feeling mortified because it’s not even finished, for Pete’s sake, I feelimpressed. Like I’m seeing it for the first time, and if it was someone else’s I’d tell them:“Amazing work. Incredible. You knocked it out of the park.”

It’s a surreal feeling, to try to connect the large, colorful painting on display to my own imagination, my own hand.Did I really paint that?

The earlier part of the summer feels like a dream to me.

There’s a gaggle of people standing in front of it, but when they step to the side, I catch a glimpse of the center of the painting: the two smudges that I thought ruined the piece. Only now, I can see it in a different way. Those two figure-shaped smudges, with their bodies intertwined and bonded, don’t ruin the painting. Those figures make it better. They’re clearly kissing and tears well in my eyes as a memory surfaces. That night. Kissing Damian in the dark.

I reach a hand up to brush away the tears. Not good.

I’m already a mess, and I’ve been here for all of thirty seconds.

My emotions surge again when I catch sight of Maxine Finch standing across the room. She’s smiling at me. As I look at her, she lifts a hand and waves.

What is she doing here?

I’d wave back, except for the fact that now I see Bo, trotting toward me, and in true Border Collie style, he’s wrangled a larger beast. That larger beast he’s herding along, in this case, isn’t asheep or cow. He’s got Damian’s hand pinned gently between his teeth.

When they reach me, Damian lifts the corner of his mouth in a tentative half-smile. “Our furry friend here knows how to get what he wants.”

A warm glow erupted in my heart, at the sight of Damian, and these darn tears won’t stop springing into my eyes.

“Sorry,” I say, as I swipe my fingers under the lid of one eye, then the next. “It’s just—wow. Being here and seeing it… and seeing you. It’s all—wow.”

English really is my native language. But right now, I can’t form full, grammatically correct sentences. Not even close. Damian’s eyes are dark, warm pools of brown that suck me in so deep that everything else in this vibrant, buzzing space immediately fades.

He’s dressed in dark slacks and a gray button-up shirt, no tie. His dark hair is longer than the last time I saw him, earlier in the summer, and there’s a faint hint of stubble along his jaw. His lips are exactly as full and inviting as I remembered. As his eyes draw me in, I feel his body do the same.

The next instant, I step in closer to him and feel his strong arms wrap around me and hold me tight.

“I was really hoping you’d make it,” he whispers as we hug.

His deep voice rakes through me, leaving me surprised that I managed to go so long without hearing it.

---