Marriage Lessons by Katie Allen

Author:Katie Allen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Falling for your boss—no matter how fast he makes your pulse race—is such a cliché. But it’s one Annabelle Shay can’t seem to avoid. Gallery owner Louis Dumont is stupid hot. Plus, he’s sweet, sensitive and a brilliant artist. But he’s also oblivious. Which is good because Annabelle loves her job too much to risk it.
Published: 2018-07-11T18:33:57+00:00

Chapter Ten

A string of anatomically impossible curses flew out of Annabelle’s mouth as she lifted one of Velvet’s paintings off the wall.

Louis’s laughter was audible even before he popped his head through the doorway to the studio. “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”

“Generally, I don’t really kiss my mother at all. It’s hugs or nothing.” Her words were absent as she examined the damage. It wasn’t as bad as she’d initially thought when she’d spotted it from the ground. The canvas had just pulled free of the bottom stretcher bar. Still, the threads were loose enough that she hesitated to just throw in another staple or two or five and call it good. If she pulled the canvas as she would be required to in order to get the proper stretch, it might distort the painting. Even if the effect was minor, it was a big enough deal that she wanted Velvet to do the fixing—or to at least give Annabelle permission to mess with the painting.

“Same. What’s the latest catastrophe?” Although his voice was light, she knew he was bracing himself for more bad news. It had been a day of annoyances and spills, most of them minor, but both of them still were drawn tight with tension in anticipation of what calamity would befall them next. Annabelle was going to be grateful when the show was done tomorrow.

“Not technically a catastrophe, but I’m still going to make the artist deal with it.” She held it out so he could see the loose bubble of canvas just above the bottom edge of the frame. “From all the staple holes, it looks like this canvas didn’t cooperate when it was stretched. I’m not about to try to fix this and end up ruining the whole painting. Velvet can be responsible for any destruction.”

“Good plan.” He gave her a faux-solemn nod in agreement. “It’s bad enough that we have to deal with their tears and nerves and sometimes their vomit. It’s time for those freeloading artists to step up.”

Placing the painting in the break room that would be used for catering during the show the following day, she closed and automatically locked the door behind her. “Speaking of freeloading, or at least an attempt to stop freeloading, I’m cooking tonight.”

“I fully support this plan. What are you making?”

Eyeing him carefully, she realized that he was being honest. He really wasn’t planning on squashing her latest attempt to contribute. She’d already tried to pay him rent and cover part of the utilities, and it had been the closest to honestly angry that she’d ever seen him get. Making a mental note not to share that she’d been grocery shopping earlier for the ingredients, she left that part out and simply said, “Salmon, rice, and broccoli, if that sounds okay?”

His face lit up, brighter than Annabelle expected the simple meal plan to cause. “Sounds perfect. I can make a total of four things: chili, lasagna, meat loaf, and tuna casserole, which means I’m really sick of those four things.

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