Withholding the sigh that wanted to escape, she shook her head. She craved him like a drug, which was foolish. Becoming dependent on him would no doubt damage her in the long run. But it was hard to quit thinking about him, what with remembering the way he looked at her. Touched her. Kissed her.
Melted her…
“Stop thinking about Jared.” Willow nudged her in the side with a pointy elbow.
“Ow.” Sheridan rubbed her ribs. “How do you know I was thinking about Jared?”
“You get that dreamy look on your face like you’re floating on a cloud or something.” Willow shook her head. “It’s pretty disgusting. You’re in love and it shows.”
Panic swept through Sheridan. She wasn’t in love. She didn’t even know him. Not that well. They’d been together what, a couple of months? And it had been a rocky few months. Only the last few weeks had they made a real connection. A connection she wanted to explore further.
She frowned. Okay, she sounded ridiculous. Their connection was purely sexual. Their marriage was fake. And they were putting everything at risk by having sex.
Clearly, she was an idiot.
“They’re starting to arrive,” Willow said as she glanced toward the door, which opened to reveal three women entering the gallery with excited looks on their faces.
“Let’s go greet them,” Sheridan said, worry gnawing at her. Pushing all thoughts of Jared aside, she went to welcome her new students. She wanted everything to be perfect that night. Hopefully the photographers hanging around wouldn’t ruin it.
…
Jared crept into Sheridan’s gallery, relieved to see the front of the building empty. He could hear his wife’s voice as she conducted her painting class, the murmur of answers coming from her students, her lilting laughter ringing through him, making him smile.
“God, you’re so gone over her, it’s pathetic,” Nick muttered, shoving him in the chest.
“What do you mean?” The photographers were long gone, since the event had been going on for over an hour and Jared hadn’t arrived yet. They had all given up waiting for him, and he’d planned it that way. He didn’t want any attention for the night. It all belonged to Sheridan.
But he wanted to come and help her, at least for a little bit. He owed her, after all. And he’d brought a partner in crime, who’d come willingly, since he was in hot pursuit of a certain woman named Willow.
“I mean, you hear her voice and you get all googly-eyed like some horny teenager. It’s ridiculous.” Nick shook his head, the diamond studs in each ear glittering in the light. “She’s got you so by the balls and you don’t even know it.”
“She does not.” Did she? Hell, he hadn’t a clue.
“Delusional. This is what happens. You fall in love with a woman and you become delusional. No thank you,” Nick muttered.
Jared wasn’t going to bother asking what crawled up his friend’s ass to make him so bitter. He already knew the answer.
They entered the studio space soundlessly, Jared’s eyes widening at the chaos within. At least twenty women crowded around the long table that sat in the center of the room, their hands flying busily across the canvases in front of them, all creating the same thing, but their interpretations were individually different.
Sheridan stood at the head of the table, leading them in their creation of a beautiful garden, bursting with bright pink color. She offered instructions as she curved her brush, sweeping the blob of paint into a perfect petal. Her brows knit in concentration, her teeth sunk into her bottom lip, a smear of pink paint streaked across her chin.
She was so beautiful she made his chest hurt.
He rubbed at it absently, earning another shove on his shoulder from Nick. Fucker.
The room suddenly grew quiet as they noticed him and Nick standing there. Jaws dropped, a gasp sounded, and then all of those heads swiveled in Sheridan’s direction.
“Your husband is here,” one of them said, awe and wonder tingeing her voice.
Sheridan turned, her gaze meeting his, her golden eyes lighting up like the sun. The smile on her face left him dazed and she went to him without a word, standing up on tiptoe to kiss him softly, full on the mouth before she stepped away. “Hi.”
He wanted to grab her, sling her over his shoulder, and take her home. “We’re not disturbing you, are we?” Reaching out, he wiped at the paint on her chin. It didn’t budge.
“No.” She shook her head, her smile never fading as she looked at Nick. “I was sort of hoping you’d surprise me.”
“Really?”
“Yes. You both can help. We’re almost finished and everyone needs their canvases framed before they leave.” She waved a hand to a table in the far corner of the room, where a stack of white wooden frames sat empty.