Fearless (The Story of Samantha Smith #1) (24 page)

“Pleasure,” Brandon smiled, but shook Romeo’s hand with a firm, manly handshake. I think that turned Romeo on even more.

Kamiko was nervous for the first time since I’d met her. Her voice quivered. “My name’s Kamiko Nishimura. You have a wonderful gallery, Brandon. I’m sorry, should I call you Brandon, or Mr. Charboneau?” She giggled like a song bird. Poor thing. She didn’t know what to do when she wasn’t in love with a cartoon.

Brandon laughed politely. “Brandon will do fine, Kamiko. And thank you. We work hard to make Charboneau Gallery a special place.”

This guy Brandon was very classy.
 

“Have you had a chance to enjoy the artist’s work?” he asked me directly. His hazel eyes were as enchanting as his fine features.

“We just got here, but yeah, it’s really good,” I sipped my wine, trying to hide my nerves.

“Christos is a talented young artist. He has a perceptive eye and a confident hand. His work is far beyond his years, but with a pedigree like his, that’s no surprise.”

“Pedigree?” Somehow, that made Christos sound like a show dog. I didn’t like that.

“Ahh, perhaps you mistook my meaning,” Brandon said tactfully. “The Manos family name carries a lot of weight in the international art market. Spiridon and Nikolos both have established themselves as celebrated painters. Christos follows in their footsteps. Although they have paved the way for him, every artist must prove themselves. Christos is well on his way, I should say.” I couldn’t tell if this guy was
trying
to sound dashing and gentlemanly, or if he actually talked this way all the time.

“Yeah,” I said. For some reason, after Brandon’s words settled in, they rubbed me the wrong way. I suddenly felt like I needed to stand up for Christos, like this Brandon guy was viewing Christos as some kind of commodity or asset for him to manipulate. “Christos is really good. His paintings are beautiful.”

“As are you, Sam. Can I call you Samantha? It seems so much more elegant and fitting, don’t you think?”

Why was this guy trying so hard? “Sam’s fine.” Despite his beauty, he made me uncomfortable. I glanced at Romeo and Kamiko, wondering if they’d noticed the change. Nope. Both remained hypnotized by Brandon’s beauty.

“You should consider sitting for Christos,” Brandon said to me. “He’s always in need of beautiful women to pose for him.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I, uh…” I shot Romeo a pleading “bail me out” look.

Romeo was busy sipping his drink while sneaking ogling glances at Brandon.
 

I elbowed Romeo, catching him off guard. He sputtered his drink all over his hand and choked down a swallow. He coughed a few more times, which served to draw attention away from me. “Oh, she couldn’t. Sam’s dance card is usually full.”

Dance card?
 

“You see,” he continued, “Sam doesn’t like to hold still for long periods of time. Poor circulation. Hence all her dancing.” Romeo looked around for some place to wipe his wet hand. Finding none, he smeared it conspicuously across his pants. He made a sniveling, apologetic face.

Everyone gawked at Romeo, even Brandon. Brandon’s gawking was the most subtle, but his raised eyebrows were a dead giveaway.

Romeo blundered forward like a court jester. “Sam wouldn’t do well posing for hours at a stretch while being painted. Reminds her of mannequins.” Romeo flashed his teeth nervously. “She, uh, had a traumatic experience, uh, in her childhood. Trapped overnight in a department store. Can’t bear to go inside shopping malls ever since.”

I exchanged an eye roll with Kamiko. Well, at least Romeo had come swashbuckling to my rescue, even if he did trip over his sword while pulling it out of the scabbard.

“Do you want to look at some of the other paintings?” Kamiko asked. “I know I do.”

“Great idea, Kamiko.” I edged toward her.

“Well, thank you for coming to the gallery.” Brandon smiled suavely. “If you’re interested in anything you see, let me know. Here’s my card.” He handed me a business card for the gallery.

Interested? The paintings were a tad bit out of my price range. In fact, they were on the other side of the galaxy from my price range.
 

Brandon gazed into my eyes again. As hot as he was, something about him made me increasingly uneasy. The business card was already in my hand, and his fingertips brushed mine. I don’t think he wanted me to call him about the art.

“Pleasure meeting you, Samantha,” Brandon smiled suavely.

Romeo yanked me by the arm. “Let’s go, Sam! Lots more to see! Paintings everywhere!”

Kamiko took my other arm and they led me into the crowd. I couldn’t help glancing over my shoulder. Brandon was still smiling. He slid his hands casually into his pockets and mouthed the words “Call me.”

“You know in cartoons—” Kamiko started.

“Now is not the time for cartoon talk!” Romeo interrupted. “We need to escape!”

“That’s what I was going to say!” Kamiko pleaded as we wormed through the crowd. “You know the part when the snake starts charming some poor mouse, saying all kinds of nice things, but he really wants to eat the mouse? That’s what Brandon was doing to Sam!”

“Do you mean G-rated eating or X-rated eating?” Romeo asked lasciviously.

“Gross, Romeo!” Kamiko grimaced.

“Hurry up!” Romeo cracked. “We better get away before Brandon lassoes Samantha with his serpent!”
 

“Okay, you two,” I admonished. “Enough antics. Back to the art.”

We blundered past a group of silver-haired ladies in designer evening dresses. They stood in a circle, talking to someone, laughing and giggling demurely.

“Oh, Christos,” one of the women said, “you are just like your grandfather. You look like him too. If I was a few years younger, I’d chase after you myself.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Moorhouse. If you weren’t married to Mr. Moorhouse, I’d take you up on that offer,” Christos flirted.

Between the shoulders of the silver hairs, I saw Christos, holding a glass of champagne in his hand, talking up all the women. He wore a long sleeve shirt that hugged his body tightly. It showed off his muscles while hiding his tattoos.

“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, does it girls?” Mrs. Moorhouse asked. The hen party clucked in response. “When are you going to paint me, Christos?”

“When my skills have developed to the level required to capture your elegant and timeless beauty. I have a lot to learn.”

Mrs. Moorhouse blushed. “Will someone bring me a fainting couch? I’m about to expire.”

Christos grinned at her. Or should I say Adonis. He was workin’ it tonight! I knew he was probably being charming to sell paintings, but it was gag-worthy all the same.
 

“Where is Spiridon, by the way?” Mrs. Moorhouse asked. I was wondering the same thing myself. Wouldn’t Spiridon come out to support his grandson at a big event like this?

“My grandfather had to leave early. He wasn’t feeling well.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Give him my best when you see him, will you?”

“I’ll do that Mrs. Moorhouse.”

“And say hi to your father the next time you see him. We all miss him.”

Christos’ jaw clenched, but he forced a smile at Mrs. Moorhouse. “I’ll do that.”

I squeezed around the group of women and pulled Romeo and Kamiko with me.

“Hey!” Romeo whispered in my ear. “I think Christos is your buddy Adonis!”
 

“I think you might be right,” I said dryly.

“What’s with his secret identity?”

We were far enough away for us to speak normally. “That’s what I’d like to know.”

“I can’t believe Christos Manos is Adonis,” Kamiko gasped. “He’s super hot,
and
an amazing artist?!”

“I thought you were only attracted to cartoon men,” Romeo quipped.

“Well, considering Adonis looks like a super hero from a comic book, I’m okay with it.” Kamiko sipped her drink, which was lemon-lime soda, to hide her bashful smile. “He’s like ten times hotter now.”

“Because he looks like Superman?”

Kamiko stamped her foot. “No, stupid! Because he’s a great artist! Do I need to punch you?”

Romeo folded his arms over his chest. “What, and cause a scene?”

“I’ll do it.” Kamiko raised her fist menacingly.

“Great! Because I love scenes!” Romeo giggled. “More drama, more drama!” He devolved into snickering.

I felt a hand slide down my lower back. For a second, I thought it was Brandon and he was pulling that cartoon snake charmer trick like Kamiko had talked about. I turned around. “Oh, hey Adonis! Er, Christos.”

Kamiko and Romeo both said hello.

I had been afraid Christos wouldn’t want to talk to me. Or ever see me again. I glanced at his eyes, but saw only warmth. What a relief.

“Hey Samantha.” He smiled down at me, taking in my outfit. “You’re beautiful tonight.”

I covered my gaping smile with my fingers. “No I’m not.”
 

Christos stood next to me. His hand wasn’t on my back anymore, but he leaned slightly into me, like we were a couple on a date. He nodded toward Kamiko and Romeo. “What brought you three out to the show?”

“Professor Childress sent out an email,” Kamiko answered. “What were you doing art modeling for our class when you’re selling gallery paintings?”

“Don’t be rude, Kamiko,” Romeo admonished.

Christos chuckled. “It’s okay. I owed him a favor. His model cancelled at the last minute.”

“Lucky for us,” Romeo said bashfully. “Oops! Did I say that out loud?”

Christos took it in stride. “Have you guys seen the sculpture garden outside?”

“No!” Kamiko said. “There’s a sculpture garden here?”

“Yeah, out back. I can show you.”

“I totally want to see it!” She sounded like she was ordering strawberry milkshakes at In-N-Out.

“Christos probably needs to stay inside and talk to the people,” I said.

“I need a break.” he said. “Let’s go take a look.”

We all followed him outside. The sculpture garden was surrounded by hedges strung with white Christmas tree lights. The sculptures were all of ballet dancers.

“I’m glad you guys came out,” Christos said. “It gets a little old at these things, being on all the time. One wrong word, and you piss off some Daddy or Mommy Warbucks, and you lose a huge sale.”

“We know what you mean,” Romeo drooled.

How the hell did any of us know what it meant to make several hundred thousand dollars in an evening? Or to worry about screwing it all up? Christos lived on another plane of existence from the rest of us mortals.

“I like being able to bullshit with you guys. Hey, Samantha. Can I have a swig of your wine?”

“A swig? You make it sound like a communal pig trough.”

“Then you won’t mind if I drink some,” he grinned.

“Yeah, sure.” I offered him the glass.

He drank several long swallows, then handed me the glass.

As I processed the ramifications of this huge gallery show, I realized I was somewhat confused about Christos’ background. “So, Christos, why are you even at SDU?” I gestured at all the art in the room. “I mean, as a student? You seem to already have an art career.”

“Yeah, school’s sort of a formality at this point. But this is my first big solo gallery show.”

Kamiko’s mouth dropped. “Your
first
show? How come the prices are so high?”

“Well, because of my name. And because they’re good.” He cocked his ever-egotistical Adonis grin.
 

There was no denying it. He
was
amazingly talented.

“But I’ve sold a bunch of pieces over the years in various group shows. People have been waiting for my first show for awhile.”

Brandon Charboneau walked up, somewhat flustered. He had that possessive look on his face I didn’t like. “There you are, Christos. You have guests inside. They all want to spend a few minutes with the artist. Can you spare a moment for your adoring patrons?”

“See what I mean?” Christos whispered in my ear. To Brandon, he said, “Yeah, no problem.” He waved to us. “See you guys later.” Christos walked off with Brandon. I saw Brandon lean in close and say something pointed into Christos’ ear. Christos jerked away and frowned at him. That was strange.

“Well, there’s more paintings inside,” Kamiko said. “I want to see the rest of them. You guys coming?”

“Yeah.”

We all went back inside. Kamiko was in artist’s heaven looking at the paintings. She pointed out all these little details about the compositions that I and Romeo had missed. The way the edge of a cloud would circle right into a women’s head, pulling your eye down her body. Or the way the shade from a tree made the image of a person pop out from the background.

I was fascinated by all of it, and tried to soak up as much as I could.
 

After awhile, I despaired that Kamiko knew so much about art, and was so much better than me.
 

Christos was better than all of us combined, and came from a family of artists who had connections in the business.
 

How the hell was I ever going to be anything more than an accountant?

Sam Smith, Pipe Dreamer.

Sigh.

At some point, I wandered off by myself while Kamiko and Romeo talked to some of the other people in the gallery. I think Romeo was crushing on a young hipster guy he’d just met.

I finished my wine, and got more. I definitely had a good buzz going.

Brandon walked up next to me and put a red dot sticker on the placard beside me. The price for this one was $18,500.

“Hey, you,” I said.

“That’s the last of them. We sold everything.”

I covered my mouth and stifled a hiccup. “All of the paintings sold?”

“Yes, they did.” Brandon smiled proudly, almost like it was his accomplishment.
 

I didn’t like that one bit. Why was that?
 

“I already called my father to tell him the good news,” Brandon said as he slid his hands in his pockets, still facing the painting.
 

“About the paintings?”

He turned his head to look me up and down. “That, and I met an amazing woman tonight, one that rivaled the beauty of Christos’ paintings.” His eyes gleamed.