Me And Mrs Jones (12 page)

Unlocking the gallery door, she went inside closing the door after her. She had to get her mind off of Travis for the next couple of hours, but it seemed easier than it honestly was. He had taken root in her head and she wasn’t about to let anyone or anything take Travis away from her.

Their initial taste of intimacy had pleased her and she wasn’t ready to let go until she got the entire meal.

Travis stimulated her mind along with her imagination in a way that kept her interested in him longer than any other man had since her divorce. He had a way of sparking her inquisitive side by allowing her glimpses into parts of himself that he kept from others.

He didn’t brag a lot about how he found inspirations that drew him to paint amazing pictures, but how it just seemed to call to him from somewhere deep inside. She couldn’t help but be more curious when Travis did things like that to her.

Walking around the room, Renee placed her purse down on one of the showroom tables and then made her way over to one of Travis’ paintings that Cruz already had hung up. Standing back, she took her time looking at it wondering what Travis had been thinking when he decided to paint this specific waterfall.

This particular showing of his talent was a lot more intimate and fascinating that his other two works of art. The way the water glistened on the canvas called to a collector to stop and take notice like the hypnotic water had a secret only it could tell you...and you wanted to be that one person it told.

With this upcoming show, Travis’ name would become more recognized in the community with the bigger art buyers. He would get to learn who the significant players were and then the right person would start calling on him to do more work for them.

Renee sensed that Travis might be a little uncomfortable socializing with a lot of unfamiliar people, but he didn’t have to talk and sell his work a lot. Most buyers just wanted a chance to mingle with the artists for a few minutes to get a sense of who they are.

She really wanted everything to go well for Travis. He was bringing so much into her life and she only wanted to do something for him. This was the only thing she could think of.

The more people saw him at the opening, the easier it would get for him. The bell ringing above the door as someone entered the gallery dragged Renee’s attention away from Travis’ painting.

“How can I help you?” she asked, turning around with a friendly smile on her face, but it slipped instantly when she saw who was standing inside of her gallery. “What in the hell are you doing here?”

“Hello, Renee,” her ex-husband Robert said. “You look good.”

“I don’t care how you think I look,” she snapped. “What are you doing here at my gallery? We haven’t spoken since the divorce and I want to keep it that a way.”

“I need to talk to you. I was going to talk you when you were outside, but you were with that young guy,” Robert said walking towards her which made Renee take a step back. “I guess the rumors I heard are true. You’re dating someone younger than you.”

The heavy dose of sarcasm in Robert’s voice didn’t go unnoticed by Renee. “Why do you care what I’m doing? You’re married to Shelia now and by the way the alimony payments will stop. Shit! Did you think I wouldn’t find out about your quickie marriage? We live in a small town. You can’t keep secrets because word travels fast.”

“That’s why I’m here. I want to tell you something about my marriage to Sheila. If you’d just give me a few minutes,” Robert said.

“Get out of my building.” Renee was so pissed that she was almost shaking from it. How dare Robert show up here and ask her for anything after the way he had treated her?

“This place really looks amazing. I guess you got everything you wanted after our divorce.”

She knew what Robert was doing and she wasn’t about to fall for his game. Anytime during their marriage when he realized she was annoyed by him Robert would try coaxing her into a better mood with false compliments, but now that ridiculous tactic no longer worked on her.

“Robert, you need to leave. I don’t want you here. If you need to talk about anything involving your life, than do it with your wife. Remember I’m your ex-wife now and I’m no longer interested in anything going on with you.”

Storming around Robert, Renee made her way to the front door and flung it open. “Leave now and I’m not telling you again.”

Robert’s hazel eyes narrowed and his back became ramrod straight as he slowly made his way towards her across the room. The atmosphere in the room changed so suddenly that it made her shiver. Her ex-husband didn’t like to be ignored in any sort of matter. When he wanted your attention he expected to get it no matter what you were doing.

Instead of breaking eye contact like she would have done in the past, Renee held Robert’s gaze until he was standing right in front of her. His eyes searched her face like he was trying to read her thoughts, but he wasn’t going to see any kind of expression because she was done with him. He was her past and that was where his worthless ass would stay.

“I’ll let this go for now, but Renee you will talk to me. We have some things to work out but I know whatever you have going on with that young boy isn’t serious. The two of us have a history together and I have earned the right for you to at least hear me out,” Robert said as he walked past her out the door.

Smug bastard
, Renee thought as she slammed her gallery door closed. Her ex-husband was out of his mind if he thought for one moment she was going to give him the time of day. He was in her past for a reason and that was where he was going to stay.

There would have been a time that seeing Robert would have sent her into a tailspin, but not anymore. She was even stronger now than when she’d filed for her divorce. If Robert was having any kind of problems or second thoughts it was too damn late for him to be showing up now with them.

Nothing he could have told her would have erased the horrible way he lied; cheated and mistreated her during their marriage. Robert was still a boy only in a man’s body. She felt truly sorry for him because he would always be searching for something and never would realize when it was right in front of his face.

Shaking her head, Renee strolled away from the door allowing her mind to drift back to Travis and the wonderful lunch they’d shared. Dana was right. She shouldn’t be nervous about dating Travis. He was a good man and as long as he was treating her with the respect she deserved, then everything would be right in her book.

Renee couldn’t deny that in the short time since Travis had entered her life everything had heightened around her. She loved getting up in the morning, but she got just a little more enjoyment out of it because of Travis.

He definitely had a zest for life and a sense of adventure her ex-husband never thought about exercising in all of the years they were married to each other. Renee knew she wasn’t ever going to be bored while she was spending time with Travis.

Today was her first time going to the small intimate restaurant Travis had taken her to because she wasn’t big on going out of her routine. Honestly, the change of pace had been very nice and eye-opening to her.

Another thing about Travis that she was getting increasingly fond of was his directness about his intentions towards her. He’d made it known the first time that they met he was totally interested in getting to know her better. At first, all of his bluntness had made her want to turn and run in the opposite direction, but now she couldn’t imagine Travis not being around her.

She was going to go with it and see where it might lead the two of them. If Travis’ instincts toward relationships were on the same level as his painting intuitions then she was in for a very good time.

Travis was trying to seduce her with little things and they both knew it. He challenged her by showing her a different side of a man, the caring side that wanted to know what was going in her heart and mind. He made her feel sexy no matter what she was wearing.

He somehow excluded this undeniable sex appeal that fascinated her and any other women within ten feet of his body; however, Travis never looked in their direction. His eyes always were trained on her making sure she was alright during both of their dates.

One thing was for sure, Renee didn’t doubt that she would never be in a rut when Travis was around. He was going to keep her on her toes and the thought excited her to no end.

****

Walking around his huge apartment studio, Travis perused the paintings hung on his wall as he tried to pick out which one he wanted to give Renee as a present. He knew it was only their third date, but he wanted to give her something to remember it by. She was already making his day by agreeing to spend the night with him camping.

Renee wasn’t aware how exhilarated he was by the ‘chase’ of getting her to even go out with him more. When he’d first mentioned taking her out on a date, he’d seen the doubt in her eyes but he wasn’t the type of man to allow that to stop him. She was slowly opening up to him yet he was going for something bigger than that with Renee.

Everything about Renee was so different from other women who were constantly flirting with him even after he had told them he wasn’t interested. She had this confidence about her that seemed to pour from every single pore of her beautiful body.

How could a man not take notice and be drawn to something so sexy
?

The other night when he was at her house and they started making out on her couch, it took everything he had in him to stop. Renee wasn’t aware of how long it had been since he’d made love to a woman. He didn’t want to scare her off by coming on too strong from his intense need to be with her.

Even the scent of Renee’s perfume today made his cock instantly hard and she wasn’t even aware of his arousal. For a spilt second, Travis thought about locking the gallery’s door and taking Renee right there in the middle of the floor. However, he wasn’t sure if Renee would be so eager to make love the way he wanted.

She was so sophisticated and cultured. What if getting naked at a moment’s notice and having sex anyway and anywhere wasn’t something she would ever consider doing with him? Sex was a huge part of any healthy relationship and he wanted a very healthy connection with Renee. He would have to be out of his mind not to want to see her naked as much as he could.

Making love to Renee was extremely important to him, but it wasn’t the item at the top of his list. Out of everything that was going between him and Renee, he hoped she understood that he wanted her for her and nothing else.

He wasn’t dating her to get his paintings in her gallery or get more contacts in the art world. Hell, the idea of being with an older woman wasn’t even the reason why he asked her out in the first place.

Travis wanted Renee only because she was Renee: a beautiful and intelligent woman who caught his attention from the second he laid eyes on her.

As long as Renee wasn’t confusing the reason the two of them were dating each other then everything would continue to be perfect between them. Nothing was going wrong yet and he didn’t see anything bad happening in the upcoming future.

Travis seriously doubted that Renee even knew how much she had started inspiring his art. She was challenging him to be more passionate about what direction he wanted his dream to go. Renee respected his talent more than anyone who wasn’t a part of his family. He admired her opinion which made him desire to impress her even more.

When he was around Renee she made him feel like a man, the man who could protect her no matter what might come their way. Renee was his now. He was falling for her and he wasn’t going to let her insecurities about their age or anyone else’ negative comments stop them from being together. All he had to do was show Renee how much they could have and prove they were the perfect couple.

Travis continued to look at the paintings on the wall until one near the front door caught his attention. This painting was one of the first ones he had created when he was in college and finally made the decision to major in art instead of business. Out of all of his work, this one was him on a canvas.

He almost considered it a self-portrait. The painting was of a man standing at a fork in the road wondering what path he should take. If he went left would his life change for the better or could the right side be the direction he had been searching for all of his life?

Taking the painting off the wall, he stared at it a few more minutes as all of the memories from that day came rushing back to him. His art professor had asked numerous times to keep it so he could hang it in the classroom for other students to learn from and admire, but he turned him down because he wasn’t ready to give it away but now he was—to Renee.

As confident as he acted about his work, the need to have Renee love this particular painting ate at him. Travis needed her to see the inner meaning of his brush strokes. Her faith in his abilities would only push him to do more like this one since he considered these kinds of creations his true calling.

Placing the painting under his arm, Travis grabbed his car keys off the table and headed out of the door. He didn’t want to be late picking Renee up from her house. It got dark pretty early in the woods and he had so many things to show her once they out there and settled in for the night.

Chapter Eighteen

“Travis, your gift was amazing,” Renee said as he worked on getting their campsite up for the night. “The painting of the crossroads in your life touched me. I noticed instantly that you were the man standing at the fork in the road. I just feel bad I don’t have anything for you.”

Travis finished up working on the tent and then joined Renee in front of the canvas as she looked at the newest thing he was working on. Usually, he liked keeping his half-finished designs to himself, but when he saw Renee’s face light up at the possibility of seeing one of his works in progress, he didn’t have the heart to tell her no.

“Baby, you have given me my gift by coming out here with me. I love seeing you in a part of my world. I honestly thought you might turn me down at the last minute, but you didn’t.”