Frostbite

He flashes me a smile. “He takes care of them?”

Laughing, I push his shoulder. “You know what I mean. He stores them in a room. It’s climate-controlled and dark.”

Nodding, he glances back at my phone. “How many in total are there?”

I look down at the screen before my gaze levels on him. “More than a hundred by now. I lost count.”

He shifts until he’s facing me directly. With a touch of his finger to my chin, he exhales. “Rae, these should be in a gallery.”

I study his face. “They should be?”

“Do you know how much just one of these paintings is worth?”

I shrug. I’ve never put much thought into that. “Rocco gave me two thousand dollars when he bought one, but he’s family, so he was extra generous. A woman I met on my way to London gave me three hundred for two.”

“Rocco and that woman both got a hell of a good deal.” He points at my painting on the wall. “I did too.”

I brush my hand over my forehead. “Are you saying you think more of my paintings are worth thousands of dollars?”

“I think all of them are.”

I stare at his lips. “You work in metal. You’re a sculptor.”

“And a lover of art,” he adds. “I know brilliance when I see it, Raelyn. You don’t need to be working for anyone. You’re sitting on a goldmine.”

If he’s right, this is life-changing. I can stay in New York. I can be here when my sister has her baby. I can rent an apartment and a studio in the city I love. I can be close to Calder.

“I think we should take a couple of your paintings to a gallery I know and have them appraised.”

“When?” I spit out.

“I’ll make a few calls.” He picks up his phone from the nightstand. “Let’s get it done this week.”

“I can’t believe this is happening.” My voice cracks. “Maybe I don’t have to wait so long for all of my dreams to come true.”

He leans closer to brush a soft kiss over my lips. “Maybe they’re coming true now.”***I’m halfway through finishing an ornament when Calder comes racing down the stairs from his loft.

After we arranged for me to drop off two paintings at a gallery in the West Village tomorrow, he got a call from his sister.

She called her engagement off and needed his advice.

I listened as he calmed her and told her that one day the right man would walk into her life when she least expects it. As his gaze drifted to mine, he remarked to Magnolia that she might run into a stranger on the sidewalk and that man could change everything for her.

After that call, he gathered me in his arms and made love to me.

It was tender and pure. We held each other tightly as we fell from the high. I never wanted to leave his arms, but as he drifted back to sleep, I crawled out of bed and came down here to work.

I needed a moment alone to process everything that’s happened to me since I first saw Calder on the sidewalk the night we crashed into one another.

This could be my life.

I could work on my craft full-time instead of assisting someone else as they do.

I can live in the same city as my sister, her husband, and the baby.

I can see Calder.

I can keep falling in love with him.

I gaze down at the ornament in my hands. Paint streaks cover my fingertips and palms. I’m still wearing the blue robe that my lover draped around me, and deep inside my chest, my heart is beating so hard I almost can’t breathe.

I thought it took endless hours of talking and months of understanding another human being to fall in love with them.

But I feel it already. The embers are there, laying a base for what is to come.

This is the beginning of love, and I never want it to end.

“What do you have there?” Calder rests his hands on my shoulders. “Is that the ornament I ordered?”

I glance back and up at his handsome face. “I canceled your order.”

He chuckles. “Why the hell would you do that? I was prepared to pay you three times what you normally make on one. Did you forget?”

I move to stand so I can face him. He’s dressed in a pair of navy blue pants and a white button-down shirt. A suit coat is draped over his forearm.

“I didn’t forget.” I sigh. “I plan on making you a special ornament for Christmas. It will be my gift to you.”

His eyes narrow. “You’re doing that for me, Raelyn?”

I’d do anything for you.

Those words don’t leave my mouth. I’m scared I’m falling faster than he is.

Nodding, I wave my paint-stained hands in the air. “I need to wash up. It looks like you’re on your way out. I should go home for a few hours before I report back here for work tonight.”