The Billionaire's Bagpipes: Prequel novellas to the Power Couples series by Danika Bloom

Author:Danika Bloom [Bloom, Danika]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fire Lily Press
Published: 2023-06-12T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 4

Catherine

I’m covered in a natural, manmade product that has the look and feel of straw and small sticks but is hypoallergenic and doesn’t carry mites or bird flu. Kind of important qualities when one is creating a giant bird’s nest in the middle of the lobby of a climate-controlled building.

I’ve had some doozy headlines in my career, but fortunately none that involved hurting anyone … well, if you don’t count the art industry tabloid that ran a six-part series featuring headline quotes from men who claimed I’d used them for artistic inspiration then heartlessly tossed them to the side when I was ready to start a new project.

If the stories had been concocted about anyone else, I admit, I’d have read as voraciously as my peers in the creative sector apparently had. Sure, it may be true that my love and work life seem to move in lockstep, and that each time I have a new major piece revealed, whatever relationship I was in during the build, ends.

But I do not suck my creative force, like a vampire, from the hearts of lovers, as one headline read.

“Let me get that.”

I’m startled out of my thoughts by Eric, who’s been assigned, or volunteered, as some kind of pain in my butt safety manager for the duration of the build. I’m not sure what his deal is since he’s acting more like a lackey than the highfalutin engineer he actually is.

But I have to admit, I don’t hate having his company or his help. Even though I do hate the premise of why he’s in my space.

“It’s a legal requirement. Not any indication of my confidence in your ability to create a perfectly safe installation,” Mrs. Power had assured me.

“Just here to do the math so you can focus on the art,” Eric added.

I’d smiled and kept my thoughts to myself. I was confident my math skills were as good as, if not better than, his.

“Catherine, you okay? You seem distracted today.” Eric takes a piece of vine from my hair and pokes it into the structure I’ve been building.

I reach for my head where the straw just was, too late to touch his hand. Then quickly drop my arm, realizing what I just tried to do.

“Math,” I blurt. “You’re here to do the math.”

He gives me a quizzical look.

“My ‘on-hand, human calculator.’ That’s what you called yourself in our meeting with Mrs. Power.”

“Oh, right. You need something figured out?”

I give him an obvious once over and smile. In part, because I’m an artist and he has the rare body proportions that both science and art agree is “the golden ratio.” And I’d be lying if I didn’t also admit to myself that as a woman who is attracted to the male form, he sparks all my hormonal synapses.

If only he wasn’t so arrogant.

“Has it occurred to you that for the past four weeks that you’ve been here, ready to do math for me, I haven’t needed you one time? Not once.

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.