Just One Moment by Dena Blake

Author:Dena Blake [Blake, Dena]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781635553888
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2019-06-19T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

The restaurant was fancier than Shay had expected. Thankfully, she’d spent the better part of an hour choosing just the right outfit. After several botched attempts, she’d decided on a black slip dress and wedge heels. The dress fit her looser than she remembered, but when she looked in the mirror, she was happy with the way it hugged her curves. Chloe had dressed in half the time. She’d gone with her first choice of a light-gray shift dress with long puffed sleeves and a scoop neckline. She’d worn black-suede ankle-strap heels and had accessorized the dress with a black-beaded and fringed, drop-pendant necklace. With her long black hair pulled to one side and draped across her shoulder, she was stunning.

The dress might have been loose-fitting, but Shay knew exactly what was underneath. She remembered that for sure. When Chloe had walked out of the bathroom, Shay had been captivated by her beauty as usual, and she’d told her so. Chloe’s cheeks had reddened immediately, and her eyes had become dark as Shay gazed at her. She would’ve liked to take more time exploring that look, but they’d been behind schedule because they’d had to call an Uber and pick Chloe’s car up where they’d left it at the restaurant the night before.

As they were led to their table, Shay glanced around at the art on the walls. She tingled with excitement when she spotted one of Chloe’s pieces hanging above the booth. “This is you?” She pointed to the painting.

“Yes.” Chloe smiled softly. “They’ve been good to me here.” She glanced around. “They’ve been letting me hang my art for a while. It’s really helped get my name out there.”

“So, we’ve been here before?” She glanced around but didn’t recognize the place at all.

“You more than I.” Chloe chuckled lightly. “If it hadn’t been for your perseverance, my art wouldn’t be hanging here at all.”

“Me?”

“Yes. After Rob remodeled the place, you were relentless, calling him every day and even offering to pay him to hang it. I’m trying to think how he put it. Something like, you pushed him into taking the worst business risk that turned out to be the best marketing decision of his life.” She smiled softly. “Apparently people come in just to see my paintings now.”

“Wow. I always knew you’d be famous.” And she did. Chloe put so much of her heart into her work. It just needed some exposure.

“Thanks to you, I am.” Chloe’s smile faded as she stared at her finger tracing the pattern of the tablecloth.

She reached over and took her hand. “That’s a good thing, right?”

Chloe took a deep breath. “All our financial worries are gone now.”

“That’s a good thing, right?” she repeated, insisting on eye contact.

“Yes. Yes, it is.” Chloe’s smile returned, and she picked up the menu. “So, what are you in the mood for?”

The personal discussion had turned awkward and then faded quickly into the general topic of food and hunger, which had Shay wondering again what had changed in their relationship over the past year to make Chloe so distant.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.