Chapter 17
17
Anger may in time change to gladness; vexation may be succeeded by content.
THE ART OF WAR , SUN TZU
Bella had changed. Before, if Bella argued with him or wanted to contradict him, there was a certain reticence about her. As if she were holding back.
Well. She sure as shit wasn’t holding back now.
‘This is unacceptable,’ he said, trying to keep his anger at bay.
‘You are wrong,’ she stated defiantly, grey eyes flashing glitter. Again.
‘I’m your boss,’ he reminded her for what felt like the hundredth time.
‘That doesn’t mean you’re not wrong, Chase,’ she all but growled. Growled ! At him!
‘The kids don’t like it when Mummy and Daddy fight,’ Maurice sing-songed as he passed on the way to the kitchenette where Ali and Ye-Joon were looking on in concern.
Chase bit back a sigh. ‘We should take this to my office.’
‘Why?’ Bella demanded. ‘You think they can’t see us in there?’
‘When did you get so mouthy?’ he demanded.
‘When you stopped caring about the reputation of yourself and this gallery,’ she whisper-hissed back.
‘What?’ he demanded, fully outraged now. ‘I care!’ he yelled, leaning into the argument now. ‘But what I don’t care for, is using children to try and redeem it.’
‘The children are safe, the school is anonymous, and the picture is so far away that you can’t identify anyone other than you,’ Bella mutinously yelled back.
‘I had no warning, Bella. None. I woke up this morning to this.’
He slapped the newspaper down on the countertop, the article face-up and centred around a photograph of the little boy holding his hand and staring at his picture, framed and up on the wall.
Bella shrugged and gave him a look that basically wondered what the hell his problem was.
‘It’s a balanced article on the importance of local galleries working with local, underfunded and overstretched schools, to help breach the barriers to art.’
‘But you didn’t tell me about it,’ he growled, unable to confess why the fact that he’d been kept in the dark about it felt like a betrayal.
‘Because you wouldn’t have agreed to it,’ she pointed out.
‘Precisely.’
‘And you would have been wrong.’
His hands flew to his temples.
Give me strength.
‘I’m mad at you for doing this,’ he said, stating the obvious.
‘For doing my job?’ she threw back at him. ‘Because that’s what this is, Chase. My job. Our job, in fact. To make sure that this gallery opens with the greatest success for Tej and for the artists that we show here. And part of that ,’ she stressed, entirely for his benefit, he was sure, ‘is making sure that your reputation is damn near squeaky-clean.’
He clenched his jaw, his teeth aching under the pressure. ‘Fine.’
‘Fine,’ she shot back.
‘But no more PR stunts.’
Bella narrowed her eyes and he wanted to throttle her.
‘What is it this time?’ he demanded, anchoring his hands on his hips so that he didn’t accidentally actually do just that.
She inhaled and held her breath.
And the longer she held it, the more he worried.
‘We’re attending the Harrison’s gala at the Pulham Hotel, this coming weekend.’
‘No, we’re not,’ he said, cutting a hand through the air, not even having to think about it for a second. ‘You can go without me.’
‘No, I can’t. Magenta came through and got us two tickets. So, we’re going.’
‘We are absolutely fucking not , Bella.’
‘You don’t need to swear.’
‘You did,’ he pointed out.
‘I did not,’ she denied hotly.
‘Yes, you did,’ he needled.
‘When?’ she demanded, outraged and he didn’t know what was funnier. Her outrage that she’d cursed and wasn’t aware of it, or the twists and turns in this conversation.
‘“Damn near squeaky-clean”,’ he quoted for her.
She thinned her lips and, clearly, chose to ignore him. ‘Tej has already paid for them,’ she said instead.
Chase’s head snapped up. ‘What?’ he asked, not because he hadn’t heard, but because he needed to clarify it before he got on the phone and tore his friend a new one. Because Tej knew how much he hated even the idea of a gala, let alone going to one.
‘Because he knows that these are the things that you have to do as a gallery director, Chase.’
Your role. Your responsibility. Things you need to do .
She was backing him into a corner and he didn’t like it one bit.
‘I was nice to you,’ he pointed out, reminding her of the weekend.
‘I know. And whether you believe me or not, this is me being nice to you,’ she said, more gently this time.
‘Christ, I’d hate to see you when you’re being mean.’
Something flashed past her eyes, but was gone before he could really register it, because he suddenly realised what he was registering. Rich grey eyes, staring up at him, the smooth creamy skin, glowing with just a touch of a flush, and her lips slightly parted as if in expectation or want.
He turned on his heel and left before he did something stupid, like try to kiss her.
* * *
Bella’s heart was thundering in her chest as she watched him leave the kitchenette. She’d expected an argument, had been ready for it. She’d prepared all her responses to every conceivable objection he might have… she just hadn’t been ready for her . For how she’d feel when she went head to head with him and it had been…
Exhilarating.
Exhilarating and fascinating, because she usually got things done by smoothing waters, making it easier for everyone, slowly moving the pieces on a chess board so that it happened organically. Doing it this way – confronting Chase – was like smashing up against a wall and seeing who would cave first. And it had been him!
He had done what she’d wanted him to do, not by being quiet, but by being determined and loud and unapologetic and… demanding . And it was so intoxicating that she felt light-headed.
Astrid
How did it go?
Bella
I did it! He agreed!
Astrid
Whoop whoop! I had absolutely no doubt whatsoever.
Does he know about the prize?
Bella
…not yet.
Astrid
Ah, he’ll be fine.
Bella
He’ll have to be.
Astrid
Yeah he will! You go girl!
But he’s okay? I feel pretty bad about the whole vengeance thing.
Bella
Me too. But yeah, he seems okay?
How are things going with Aiden?
Astrid
Oh, you know. He’s being his usual charming self.
Bella
And Blake?
Bella knew that things had got tense with Aiden’s brother Blake who, according to Astrid, was the complete opposite to Aiden but just as much of a pain.
Astrid
Turns out Blake is a pussycat
Bella frowned. Really?
Bella
You mean to say you’ve tamed the lion?
Astrid
Something like that
Bella laughed, slipping her phone back into her pocket and picking up her coffee as Maurice came into the kitchen.
‘Ali’s got the mock-up of the layout for the Nayak’s first brochure. I thought you’d like to see it.’
‘Absolutely,’ she said, smiling as they returned to the office. Now that the plans to help boost both Chase and the gallery’s reputations were underway, Bella was knee-deep in finalising content for email bursts, newsletters, and what would be the website’s live content, once it transitioned from the ‘coming soon’ phase, which would happen the following week. Once that was done, she could shift her focus towards active comms in order to create a decent client list and a broader audience.
Which needed her attention because as much as Chase wanted to stick his head in the sand about the damage the article had done, the newsletter numbers had dropped considerably and website hits were almost exclusively driven by people being nosey following the article.
Which was why the Harrison’s charity gala was so important – and why she was so thankful for Magenta for coming through for them. They were raising money for families living in poverty in New York and even if Chase grumbled and moaned, he couldn’t argue with that.
Tej had thought it was a great idea when she’d spoken to him to sound him out about it and the cost – and of course, permission to use the gallery for the prize. Bella bit her lip, still uncomfortable about essentially going behind Chase’s back in order to organise it. But she knew he’d try and shut her idea down. And he couldn’t. Not if they were going to make the opening a success.
‘You need to pace yourself,’ Maurice said, later that day. ‘We have time,’ he insisted.
And Maurice was right. She had loaded up her work plate and was approaching it like an all-you-can-eat buffet with a time limit. But she couldn’t help it. She needed to. Because when she wasn’t working…
Chase was standing in front of her in a towel and nothing else.
Or popping a fry into his mouth with that wicked look in his eye.
Or running his fingers through his hair.
Or scowling.
She really liked it when he scowled.
What was wrong with her?
She fanned the flush rising on her cheeks and tried to ignore the look of curiosity that Maurice was casting her from the side.
Eight months ago she’d been about to marry Olly, with nothing more than a future of children and a white picket fence on her mind. Now, her ex-fiancé was getting together with her new best friend and she was lusting after the ex-lover of her other best friend. A man who very much didn’t want a white picket fence and children. A man who was the complete opposite of her and everything she wanted.
She groaned out loud, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hand, and a cup of camomile tea appeared by her side.
‘You should go home, Bella.’
She jumped at the sound of Chase’s voice, and he stopped back with his arms raised as if to say, I mean you no harm.
She looked up to find that the rest of the office was dark, and her team had gone home.
She put a hand to her chest to try and sooth the sudden shock to her heart, belatedly laughing and saying, ‘You startled me.’
‘Clearly,’ Chase said, a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth, before his gaze stilled. ‘Am I such a terrible boss that you have to work so late?’
‘Awful. Horrible. Evil boss,’ she said, trying to hide her smile as she closed down her computer reluctantly.
* * *
Chase had purposefully put a wide birth between him and Bella Carmichael. No more drinking buddies, no more disagreements at the office. He was on his best behaviour. And if she noticed a difference in their interaction then she had chosen not to say anything.
He was blaming the book. He should never have picked it up.
But when he’d seen it lying open on the side table, he’d been curious.
Fuck me, Daddy. Please? I’ve been such a bad girl.
He shivered. He actually fucking shivered. Less at the thought of the character and more from the thought of Bella reading it. Bella enjoying it.
Every time he looked at her his pulse dropped a beat and his chest caved. And it was no good. Nothing was helping. Not even distance, because every time he went home he knew she was on the other side of the corridor.
With that damn book!
The problem, he decided, was that he had too much time on his hands.
Sascha was well on her way to creating a strong enough body of work for the opening and he knew that any further input from him would be unnecessary.
He thought that Tej might have suspected something, from the way that he kept asking after Bella. It had taken on a slightly teasing tone in the last few calls and Chase didn’t like it one bit.
Tej – of all people – knew why he needed to keep his distance. He was trying really damn hard to get his life back on track. He couldn’t afford to mess it up by having any kind of relationship with someone he worked with.
But that didn’t seem to mean a thing when every now and then he’d find himself tracking her progress between her desk and the kitchenette. Or when he found himself in their office, and he couldn’t resist nudging her pen to an angle that was sure to frustrate her, and getting far too much enjoyment from the way she huffed and put it back.
Or the way he held his breath when she passed by him so that he didn’t have to be assaulted by that mouth-watering scent that he still couldn’t quite identify, and could never ask her about. Because that would make him look as unhinged as he was beginning to feel around her.
Christ, get a grip, he told himself as he checked his phone and re-read the message she’d sent him on his phone.
Room 365
They were supposed to head to the gala together, but Chase had been running late and Bella had decided to get ready in the room that came with the gala tickets, rather than trek halfway across New York to get to the hotel.
It made things different, to pick her up from the room. Made it feel like a date . And he didn’t want it to feel like a date. Bella still hadn’t told him what the gallery had offered as part of the blind auction, and he had a feeling that he wasn’t going to like it. But as long as it didn’t involve him, then really he didn’t care. Because as much as he was ready to admit, Bella was doing good things for the gallery. Things that he should probably be doing, if he’d not been so distracted by his work with Sascha.
But now that Sascha was pretty much standing on her own two feet, he could return to his duties, and Bella could return to hers.
He checked himself in the mirror of the elevator that took him to the third floor of the spectacular Pulham Hotel, tugging at the suffocating black tie around his neck, feeling awkward and wanting the whole thing over as soon as humanly possible.
The elevator arrived and he scanned door numbers to find the suite Bella was in. What a monumental waste of money – to rent rooms as part of the dinner ticket. The majority of people attending had apartments in the city, and if not, certainly enough money to arrange to return to wherever they’d come from. And for the life of him, he couldn’t understand why Bella had even wanted to use the room to get ready in. A dress. Some make-up. Surely it wasn’t that hard?
He found the room and knocked, impatient and irritated already.
‘Hold on!’ Bella called through the door.
And he waited nearly thirty seconds before she opened the door saying, ‘Sorry, I was doing my…’
Her words trailed off as she took him in from head to toe. And he honestly couldn’t hold it against her because he was utterly speechless.