Kiss Me Crazy Read Free Page B

perfect they could be as a couple.
    “I need to folow my dreams, Baron. It’s something I’d promised myself I’d do before I reached a certain age, and I’m not growing any younger.”
    He understood dreams, but he couldn’t bring himself to applaud her decision. Valerie had said the same thing about folowing her dreams, though worded it differently, before shattering his life with, ‘I can’t do it married to you.’
    Pain blindsided him, piercing and relentless. He thought he’d reconciled with his past and moved on. The echoes of it sneaked up on him when least expected, but never this vividly. He clenched his teeth to stop the ache, to contain the anger and the disappointment.
    But Kara wasn’t Valerie. Kara was smart, gifted and tenacious, an amazing art conservator he couldn’t afford to lose.
    They once had a relationship that worked, one he’d missed these past years. He could have it al again—the meals in the basement, stimulating discussions, watching her eyes light up with laughter when he told his lame jokes. Only his time it would at work and at his home.
    “Is it the money?” He made sure his voice stayed calm, belying the turmoil churning his insides into goo.
    “No.” She shook her head so hard a lock of her pale hair moved to the front of her face. She brushed it behind her ear impatiently. “Of course not.”
    “You know I could double it if that’s what you need.” Anger flashed so fast in her eyes he might have imagined it.
    He ignored the letter in her hand and concentrated on her expression, her body language. Her gorgeous eyes watched him, calm but serious, her hand resting on top of her purse. With her love for vintage accessories and graceful mannerisms, she was a throwback to a time when women walked around with pink parasols and lackeys waited on them hand and foot. He wanted to be the one to pamper her, love her. There must be something he could do, offer her to stay while he planned his next move.
    “Do you need a new studio? I can refurbish the offices next door to your specifications.”
    A baffled frown settled between her curved eyebrows.
    “Fab Fashions just leased it.”
    “Leases can be terminated at the landlord’s discretion.”
    “And you think that would be fair?”
    The censure in her voice made him feel like a heel, for about a second. There was a lot more at stake here than some tenant’s ruffled feathers. “I’m just trying to make it worth your while to stay, Kara. I’l get a designer to start working on the—”
    “No, Baron.” She jumped to her feet and pressed the tips of her fingers against her temple. “This is not about money or an office.”
    “What is it then? Last year you said your work wasn’t chalenging enough. You couldn’t reach your fulest potentials as a restorer of fine art when the bulk of your work was on antique furniture, busts, and vases. You needed to clean more paintings, the older the better. I made it happen.”
    Her work was exceptional and word spread fast. People lined up to use her services, from private colectors to antique dealers. The demand for her services was only going to grow. Why couldn’t she see that? They were a team, damn it. A great team.
    “Once again you’ve come up with a reason to leave. What exactly do you need, Kara?” His tone had gotten colder and curter as he progressed, and her eyes narrower.
    She nearly slammed the letter in front of him then braced herself on his desk with the palms of her hands, her eyes flashing.
    “You obviously haven’t been listening to anything I’ve said. I need to fulfil a dream. Something I thought you, of al people, would understand. Obviously I was wrong. You are...,” she growled deep in her chest, “never mind.”
    Good gracious, she was glorious in anger. Her close proximity sent a dose of her feminine scent straight to his gut, piercing his defenses. Not that he’d ever had any when it came to her. His eyes shifted from her eyes, passed the