Page 385 of His Virgin Romance Series
GABBY
“No, thank you,” I said. “For my painting.”
Miles smiled tenderly at me. “I was trying to express how I felt about you… but I think my feelings were too big for the canvas.”
“I think you did a pretty good job,” I said. “In fact… I might have bought it if it hadn’t been a little out of my price range.”
At that exact moment, one of the gallery staff came up to the painting and pasted a little ‘sold’ sticker right next to it.
“Wow,” I breathed. “You have a fan.”
“I think in this case, it’s the person in the painting that had to do with the sale,” Miles said, with a secret smile.
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” I said, staring at my image and thinking how much more beautiful his vision of me was.
“I do,” Miles said quietly.
I avoided his gaze and looked around at the crowd. “This is a good turnout… isn’t it?”
“Gordon knows how to put on a show.” Miles nodded. “And because of it… I might actually be able to make an honest living and focus on my work.”
“It’s what you always dreamed,” I said. “And you finally got everything you wanted.”
“Not everything,” Miles said.
He didn’t put a lot of emphasis on his words, but the weight of them settled between the two of us. What did I want? What had been my real motivation for coming here in the first place? I wasn’t so sure that I knew myself. But staring at Miles’s gorgeous blue eyes, I couldn’t see past my own need and desire. I loved him so much that it hurt to be this close to him and feel the barrier that stood between us. Yes, that barrier was of my own making… but he had built the foundation for it without even realizing. Could I really forgive all that happened?
“I should go,” I said.
“Please don’t,” Miles said immediately. “We haven’t spoken to each other in so long… I just… I just want to talk to you.”
“About what?” I asked.
“About anything,” he said. “How about we grab some dinner now?”
“Now?” I asked incredulously.
“Yes.”
“But the exhibition?”
“Doesn’t mean as much to me as dinner with you,” Miles said. “Please?”
I thought about saying no, but even as I considered it, I knew that it wasn’t a real possibility. I had missed him too much to turn him down now. I didn’t know if that was weakness on my part or just an admission that this whole situation was out of my hands.
“I’ll go let Gordon know I’m leaving,” Miles said. “Please… don’t disappear on me.”
He left, and I turned around looking for Leah. She came up behind me with a look on her face that told me she had overheard everything.
“Where did you go?”
“I thought you two might need some alone time… turns out I was right.”
I smiled. “Do you think I’m crazy for going out with him tonight?”
“No… you need closure… no matter which way the pendulum swings,” Leah said. “I’m going to head back to my hotel, okay? Will you let me know what happens tomorrow?”
“I will.”
