The Artist (The Game Changers #2) Read Online Free Page B

fit perfectly under his arm, causing me to feel a foreign burn of jealousy in my gut.
    I felt like an interloper, but I couldn’t very well walk away with Maverick’s eyes still on me like his girlfriend wasn’t under his arm. This evening was quickly becoming unbearable. I mentally cursed Maddox for leaving me alone for even a moment.
    “Oh, Miss Peters! I’m so glad you could make it. Your father said I should expect you.” Blythe smiled warmly at me.
    “Please, call me Katherine. Your work is beautiful. My father is going to be disappointed he missed it. I’m going to recommend he purchase the profiles in the other room for me.”
    “Wonderful! Those are two of my favorites.” She looked up at the maverick, who was still watching me carefully. “Oh, I’m sorry. Katherine, do you know Adam Vaughn?”
    “No.” My ingrained manners took over, and I held out my hand to him. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Vaughn.”
    He unwrapped his arm from Blythe and took my hand. Butterflies fluttered inside my belly, which was another foreign sensation brought on by this man.
    He squeezed my hand, sending more sparks up my arm and straight to my belly. “Nice to meet you, as well. It’s Adam, or Maverick, if you prefer,” he added with a wink.
    I blushed. Blushed! Turned red. Kitty Peters does not blush.
    “If you’ll excuse me, I need to find my friend. Enjoy your evening. Beautiful work, Blythe. Let’s meet for lunch next week. I’m sure my father would love to hear about your show.”
    “Of course, Katherine. You have my number,” she said.
    “Adam.” I nodded just before I turned and walked back to the main room where I found Maddox still talking with Nolan and Eve. I never thought I would be so happy to have a conversation with Eve, but I surprisingly preferred the discomfort of standing with someone who most certainly hated me over being near the one man I couldn’t seem to control myself around.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Five
     
     
    “Kitty,” my father answered the phone with his usual lack of greeting.
    “Lunch next week, but I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”
    “What makes you so sure?”
    “I just am. By the way, I reserved two paintings. They’ll be expecting your payment.”
    “Fine,” he stated, nonplussed by my request. I knew he was about to go in for the kill, though. “Your mother is back in town. She will be by your place to pick you up for lunch at twelve thirty. Be ready.”
    “Fine,” I responded in a similar manner.
    “Let Sharron know about lunch. I’ll be back on Tuesday.”
    “Sure.” We both hung up without goodbye.
    With that, I emailed Sharron, my dad’s assistant, the lunch request so she could schedule it. Then I finished the final touches on my latest column before climbing into the shower. I allowed the three hundred and sixty degree jets to massage my body and let my mind think about the night before. I might have conditioned my hair twice while distracted by my memories. The art showing had to be one of the strangest events of my life. Not only did I have the strange interaction with the maverick I couldn’t stop thinking about, but Eve and I actually carried on a pleasant conversation. For one thing, I didn’t feel the need to repeat my Oscar-worthy performance as the woman scorned, because no one around us cared about it. It also helped that Grant wasn’t there to challenge me. I’d had enough of alpha males evoking out of control emotions in me for one night. While Grant never made me feel the way Adam had, he had an uncanny way of making me lose my temper with the effortless raise of an eyebrow.
    Finally, I decided not to reflect any further on the events of the night before. Instead, I wrote the night off as a fluke and mentally prepared for lunch with my mother.
    My phone rang right on time. I took the elevator down to her Benz and allowed her driver, Charles, to open the door for me. She sat on the opposite side of the car