A Brush With Love In Fortune's Bay Read online

  The restaurant owner had moved some of the tables to create a makeshift dance floor, so now her parents were dancing, cheek to cheek, to a love song, together with other couples. Conor, who’d never really liked dancing, had let Giorgia pull him off his chair, and was now swaying to the slow rhythm too. Kyla was the only one still sitting. Even the little kids from another party, two tables over, were dancing. She’d never felt more of a wallflower than right now.

  Kyla let out a sigh. She missed Caleb. It was unbelievable that after just one day, she missed him so much already. The strength of her feelings for him scared her and thrilled her at the same time. She wasn’t sure if being back home, coupled with meeting Caleb, had sort of brought her back to her high-school years so that now she thought she was still a teenager. It had to be that. She had no other explanation for the weird fluttering in her belly when she saw him, or the way she all but melted, like a marshmallow on a campfire, when their lips met. Or for the feeling of loss that gripped her heart when she wasn’t with him. No grown-up woman should feel this way outside of a movie or a book—it made no sense.

  Her phone vibrated inside her purse, on the table, and she reached for it, her heart pounding when she thought it might be Caleb. They’d exchanged numbers the night of the movie in the park, and even though they hadn’t messaged or called each other yet, she hoped maybe he missed her like she missed him and wanted to chat. Maybe he was going to invite her to his place and… Her mood plummeted when her boss’s name flashed on the screen.

  “Any news?” was his greeting when she picked up. Her boss liked getting straight to the point, but she wouldn’t have minded a standard “How are you?” before he got down to business. She rolled her eyes, glad he couldn’t see her, and braced herself for the conversation she knew she wasn’t going to enjoy.

  “No, Rodney. Like I told you yesterday, he’s not interested in showing his paintings to the public.”

  His harrumph on the other end of the line told her what he thought of that. She wasn’t surprised. She actually feared he might be thinking about firing her. With hindsight, she should have asked Caleb first before sending those pictures to her boss and getting him all excited about an event that would potentially save the gallery and their jobs. The last time she’d spoken to her boss, he’d broken the news that the gallery was going through some tough times and it was imperative they find some new artists to bring in new clients. It was no wonder Rodney was eager to get Caleb to sign on the dotted line, as soon as possible, and start organizing the exhibit.

  “Kyla, I want those paintings. I already have a few buyers in mind. You have to convince him.” The way he emphasized the verb gave her chills. He was an easygoing boss most of the time, except when things didn’t go the way he wanted them to. Those were the times when Mr. Hyde took Dr. Jekyll’s place, and he turned into a ruthless businessman instead of the art lover. “Take all the time you need, stay there as long as it takes to get him to say yes. You have a few days leave you haven’t used—enjoy some beach time, wear a skimpy bikini, and see if you can change his mind.”

  Rodney laughed but Kyla’s stomach squeezed. She didn’t want to use seduction techniques on Caleb—at least not to get him to sign a contract. But knowing she could have more time with him with her boss’s permission sounded great. She’d resigned herself to leaving him in three days, but knowing she could explore their…relationship, or whatever it was, was enough to lift her sour mood.

  “Okay, I…um, I’ll keep you posted,” she said, suddenly eager to hang up and let Caleb know she was staying a little longer. Granted, she’d have to find an excuse for her prolonged stay, but she was sure she could come up with something. She wasn’t confident Caleb would change his mind about the paintings, but maybe if they spent a little more time together, got to know each other up close and personal, and she managed to make him see what a great opportunity it would be for him, he might agree in the end. And she’d get her promotion, as a bonus.

  After she hung up, her cheeks hurt because of the grin that cracked her face. She was already envisioning days at the beach and afternoons in Caleb’s garden, lying in each other’s arms, kissing and cuddling, when the chair next to her scraped on the tiled floor, interrupting her daydream.

  “Was that your sweetheart on the phone?” Giorgia asked, sitting on the chair and grinning at her. They’d had a chat about Caleb last night, when Giorgia had come over to Conor’s and they’d had a pizza—a proper, homemade pizza made by a real Italian. Her beloved brother had started the discussion with the usual I-don’t-trust-him line and had proceeded to inform Giorgia about the curse and how the guy had always been antisocial, even when they were younger. He wasn’t expecting Giorgia to take Kyla’s side, though. It had been quite hilarious to see her brother at a loss for words, when he’d obviously expected to have his girlfriend back him up and discourage Kyla from continuing to see Caleb. Eventually, he’d just accepted defeat and changed the subject.

  “No. It was my boss. He’s just given me some happy news.” Kyla was happy she had someone she could talk to about Caleb. She’d lost touch with most of her friends from school, and though a bunch still lived in Fortune’s Bay, she knew they wouldn’t understand her feelings for Caleb. After all, she had been the only one who’d never considered him a weirdo.

  “Aaand…?”

  “He said I can stay a bit longer. Until I—” She stopped, wondering how much she was willing to share with her brother’s girlfriend. Sure, she was a nice girl and they got along well, but Kyla barely knew her, after all. Having someone to share the truth with might be useful, though. She’d never been a good liar, and having Giorgia on her side could also help her keep Conor’s overprotective behavior at bay. Not to mention, Giorgia might provide advice on how to share the news with Caleb. “Okay, I’m going to tell you something, but you have to promise it stays between me and you.”

  Giorgia moved the chair closer to Kyla’s. “Come on, spill the beans.”

  Kyla told her everything, from the moment she’d met Caleb to the end of her conversation with Rodney. Giorgia listened without interrupting, nodding or gasping accordingly. It felt good to finally let it all out, as if with every word, the big rock on her chest became smaller and smaller, until it was nothing but a pebble.

  “I don’t like the idea of lying to the person you love,” Giorgia said, once Kyla was finished.

  “I never said I love him.” Had she? She wasn’t sure of her feelings for him; she didn’t even know if she was just living out the high-school crush she hadn’t been able to live back then. No, she didn’t love Caleb. She liked him, a lot more than she had liked the guys she’d dated, but she didn’t love him. It wasn’t possible. Was it?

  “Well, I didn’t believe I was in love with your brother after spending only a few days with him, and then he proved me wrong.” Giorgia’s eyes turned dreamy, and Kyla couldn’t help smiling. Her brother was head over heels in love with his girlfriend, and she wasn’t that far behind. “When I heard about the legend of the matchmaking ghost, I thought it was just a skillfully planned tourist magnet. After your brother opened his heart to me and convinced me we were meant to be, I believed all that had brought us together couldn’t be just coincidence.”

  Kyla rolled her eyes. “Don’t go telling me it was Destiny who brought Caleb and me together. I don’t believe in that silly legend just as I don’t believe in the curse over Caleb’s family.”

  “Whatever it was that brought the two of you together, I think you should explore your feelings and take the opportunity of this prolonged vacation to get to know him better. Who knows, maybe he really is your soul mate and you could live your fairytale. I never meant to stay here, and now I can’t see me living anywhere else.”

  Kyla shook her head, rubbing her thumb on her phone screen. She didn’t want to stay in Fortune’s Bay. There was no future for her here, unless she decided to work for her brother or settle for some kind of shop-assistant position. The local art gall
ery would probably be the only business that wouldn’t wrinkle its nose at her art degree. It was too small to need any other person except the owner working there, though—not to mention, it was a little too old-fashioned for her liking. She was used to her modern workplace in New York, with the vibrant atmosphere and all the glamorous events her boss liked to organize.

  “So, what are you going to do?” Giorgia’s voice broke into her musings, and Kyla stared at her, biting her bottom lip. “Perhaps you could tell him that you have lots of unused vacation time and your boss thought you could take the opportunity and use it now? It’s not that far from the truth.”

  Kyla nodded and mulled over the suggestion. It could work. She could embellish the story with a few more details, just to make it more believable and maybe, once she got Caleb to agree to the exhibit, she’d tell him the whole truth. He wouldn’t be mad at her by then, and once they organized the event, he’d have to spend a few days in New York. Maybe he’d love it there and would decide to stay a little longer. Her apartment wasn’t big, but he could use it as his office while Kyla was at the gallery. And when she got home, they’d snuggle on her cheap but comfortable couch and watch a movie. She’d take him to the MoMa, the Met, and the Guggenheim. They’d go to musicals and eat at some cozy restaurant in Little Italy. Every now and then, they’d take a flight and come back to Fortune’s Bay to see their families. Okay, maybe she was getting a little ahead of herself now. Just because he’d kissed her and been friendly, it didn’t mean he was thinking of turning his life upside down for her.

  “Are you girls talking about me?” Conor came up behind Giorgia and bent to kiss her cheek. Kyla shook away the images of her and Caleb strolling hand in hand in Central Park.

  Giorgia smiled and winked at Kyla, before looking up at her boyfriend with a serious expression. “It might be hard for you to believe this, but I can talk about things that don’t involve you.”

  Conor pouted like a kid, and Kyla couldn’t help laughing. Her brother was so smitten, he turned into a different person when he was with Giorgia. It was cute.

  “I should be offended. But I love you too much, so I’ll forgive you.” He kissed her cheek again and stroked her dark hair, staring lovingly at her.

  Kyla’s thoughts drifted to Caleb again, and she dreamed of having him look at her the way her brother was looking at Giorgia. She shook away the image again. This silly thing had to stop. She couldn’t let him think she was at his mercy; she had to be in control of her feelings if she didn’t want to end up with a broken heart. She was an adult woman now, and once she left town, she would not be with teary eyes and pining over a guy like she had ten years before.

  With newfound determination, she picked up her phone, stood up, and excused herself, eager to share the news with Caleb and hoping this would help them build the foundation for something that could last outside the Bay.

  Chapter 5

  The day after her parents’ party, Kyla had shown up at Caleb’s place with what was now her usual greeting, “Sugarpuff wanted to see her friend,” although he knew very well it was just a joke between the two of them.

  They’d been sitting outside in his huge garden for a little more than an hour, and while the dogs played or snoozed, she sat on a wooden garden chair with a notepad in her lap. Caleb had been working on a painting when she showed up, and she didn’t want him to interrupt his creative flow, so she’d pulled a notepad out of her bag and borrowed a pencil from him. She’d never been good with brushes and oil paint, although she liked sketching. At some point, while they chatted about everything and nothing at all—though it was mostly Kyla doing the talking—she’d decided she enjoyed watching him paint much more. He was sexy as he moved the brush across the canvas, his biceps flexing underneath his T-shirt, his face scrunched up in concentration, and at the same time peaceful and relaxed. It was obvious he loved what he was doing.

  “I want to paint a portrait of you,” Caleb said out of the blue, staring at her with the paintbrush in midair.

  Kyla sat up straighter and tilted her head to the side, narrowing her eyes. “Like Jack in Titanic?”

  His eyes widened, then narrowed as a cheeky smirk tugged at his lips. “Are you offering to strip for me?”

  She shrugged, feigning indifference she wasn’t feeling. “Not unless you’re asking me to.”

  “I think I’d be too distracted to even manage to hold the brush.” He shook his head and looked away, focusing his attention back to the canvas. “Perhaps we should stick to a standard, fully clothed kind of portrait. So I don’t have to start planning my funeral.”

  Funeral? What was he talking about? Had he hidden something important from her? Was he dying?

  “Oh my God, are you sick?”

  He turned to stare at her, a frown wrinkling his beautiful face. “What are you talking about? I’m perfectly fine.”

  “Then why are you talking about funerals?”

  His frown eased and he broke into a laugh. “I meant, your brother would kill me if he knew I’d asked you to pose naked for me. I bet the guy’s only waiting for an excuse to knock me unconscious.”

  Oh. Ooh! She burst out laughing, imagining Conor’s reaction, as well as her parents’, at the sight of a painting of her lying on a settee in her birthday suit. It would be as hilarious as embarrassing. Although, if she and Caleb would reenact the next scene from the movie too, it would definitely be worth it.

  “So yeah, as much as I’d like to see you naked, I think I’m too young to die.”

  She stopped laughing just as his eyes widened. Had he just said…?

  “Um, no, wait. I didn’t mean it like that. I…uh…” He cleared his throat and his cheeks took on a pink hue that made him look like a sweet child. Oh goodie, he was plain adorable.

  She stood up and took his face in her hands. His cheeks were warm under the light scruff that was starting to form on his face, and she rubbed her thumbs against the prickly skin.

  “I would like to see you naked too. Not on a portrait, though.” Okay, that was totally unlike her, but it was the truth. She wasn’t going to stay longer than it would take her to convince him to accept her boss’s offer. And she wasn’t one to jump into bed with someone when she knew there would be no ground for something serious. It was the reason why at twenty-seven she still hadn’t gone all the way with anyone. But this was Caleb—the guy she’d spent hours fantasizing over as a teenager and who’d always owned a piece of her heart, even though he’d never known it. If there was one person worth losing her virginity to without a hint of regret, it was Caleb Morgan—the broody, shy guy she’d never stopped comparing every man to.

  “Kyla, I swear I didn’t mean—”

  Her lips on his interrupted the rest of the sentence, and when he dropped the paintbrush and pulled her onto his lap, she sighed against his mouth. Would he carry her into his bedroom now and show her what dreams were made of? As far as she was concerned, she’d be okay with him laying her down on the grass if he wanted. Right now, she didn’t care about candles, music, or rose petals—she just wanted him.

  “I think we should slow down before things get out of control,” he said, breaking the kiss and breathing heavily. He rested his forehead against hers and let out a sigh that, to her ears, sounded like it held just a bit of frustration. Maybe he didn’t want to slow down and was acting like a gentleman?

  “If you’re worried I’m thinking we’re going too fast, then don’t be.” She closed her eyes and decided she’d go ahead and tell him the truth. Yes, it would make her feel stupid and he’d probably think she was old-fashioned, but she wanted him to know her mind and her stupid heart had kept her from going all the way with other men because she’d always wanted her first time to be with Caleb Morgan. She’d just realized it now. It wasn’t because she was hoping to find the man of her dreams and give herself completely to him and him only. No. It was because, deep down, she’d always compared every guy to Caleb and wanted them to be him. He’d been the boy
of her dreams when she was just a dreamy teenager, and he was the man of her dreams now that she’d gotten to know him—the real him, not the outcast everyone stayed well away from. He was the one she wanted. And she was going to tell him. She pecked his lips lightly, then looped her arms around his neck and, without looking at him, she told him everything she’d kept hidden in her heart for ten long years.

  Caleb’s heart thumped in his chest as if someone was using it as a drum set. When Kyla started talking a mile a minute, he had no other option but to listen—also because his mind was in a daze after the crazy good kiss they’d just shared. He couldn’t believe his own ears when she admitted that she’d been holding off making love to the guys she’d dated because deep down she’d always wanted her first time to be with him. Him. The guy nobody had ever wanted to hang out with in Fortune’s Bay. The weirdo who preferred painting to partying. The one who didn’t go to prom because he’d never built up the courage to ask the pretty Irish girl to be his date. The girl who was now a gorgeous woman, and who was currently sitting on his lap, baring her soul to him.

  Perhaps the legend wasn’t just a tale for tourists. Maybe Destiny was real and she’d set her eyes on them. Maybe this time he wouldn’t end up with a broken heart full of disillusionment. Kyla wanted him to be her first—did this mean that she wanted this to be something serious?

  “If I tell you I haven’t made love to anyone either, would it be a total turn-off?”

  Kyla’s eyes widened. Why did he want to open up and unveil the most secrets parts of his soul when he was with Kyla? He hardly ever talked more than it was necessary, and he’d never told much about himself to his college friends, or to the two girls he’d dated. His mouth had a mind of its own when Kyla was around.