“That one is one hundred.”
“Thousand?”
Pippa sputters behind me. Or maybe it’s Tommy because when I look at him, his face is bright red. “No,” he whispers, his voice scratchy. “Just one hundred dollars.”
I frown. “You’re severely undercharging for your art.”
“I am?”
“Definitely. I already have people in mind who would pay thousands upon thousands of dollars for these pieces.”
“What…” The redness from his face is gone. Now he’s white as a ghost. “I’ve never even dreamed about that much money.”
Pulling my wallet from my slacks, I fish out my business card. I hold it between my pointer and middle finger as I hand it to him. “I’m going back to Manhattan tomorrow, but here’s my card. Email me, and we’ll get your art in my gallery. You’ll find out what at least half a mil looks like by the end of the month.”
“Half a what?” the kid asks. His eyes are so wide with shock that he looks like he’s straight out of a cartoon.
“Million,” I finish, confident his pieces will sell. The kid will be in for a real treat when he finds out what people will pay if he does custom work for them. I know ten people off the top of my head who’d want a custom piece done for sentimental reasons.
Pippa looks as shocked as Tommy when I finally look at her. Her mouth hangs open, and I hate that the first thing that pops into my mind is how fun it would be to shove my cock in it. Her tongue is a perfect shade of pink. It’d look hot as fuck licking cum from my shaft.
The thought is so abrupt that I almost trip over my own feet. The only reason I don’t face-plant is because I’m able to reach out and steady myself on the corner of the table. Luckily, Pippa and Tommy seem to be so swept up in the amount people are willing to pay for art that they don’t notice my slip-up.
Straightening my spine, I look around the room to see if anyone else noticed. No one seems to be paying any attention to us. Tucking one hand in my pocket, I slide my other through the crook of Pippa’s elbow.
“Any other undiscovered talent here I should know about, shortcake?”
I stop us, turning around so we’re almost chest to chest. It isn’t lost on me that I could easily drop my hand. She doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, so I don’t need to keep hold of her. My fingers stay in place. The thrum of her pulse beats underneath my fingertips. Or is it mine?
“You know you just changed his life, don’t you?”
“No. That was all you.”
16
PIPPA
“Should I be concerned that you’re going to murder me and hide my body where no one will ever find me?”
I laugh, turning into the long driveway that leads up to my family home. “As tempting as that is, how could I torture you if you’re dead?”
“Fair point.” He looks out the window, and I wish I knew what he was thinking. What does he see when he looks at the place where I grew up? I don’t know how you could look at the rolling hills, the mountains around us, and not fall in love with Sutten Mountain. There’s not a better view in this world than the one at the place I called home growing up.
I drive through the gate to the ranch, watching Camden look at the large “Jennings Ranch” sign that hangs over us.
“A ranch?” he questions. “What are we doing here?”
I keep driving, marveling at all the work that’s been done already to prep the land for winter. I try and help my dad and my brother, Cade, out as much as possible, but with my own business, I can’t be out here as much as I’d like to. After my mom passed, I spent a lot of time here trying to do whatever I could to help my dad and my brother. After some time, I couldn’t handle being around them. I couldn’t handle being here, being reminded that I lost my mom, so I threw myself into work. All I did was eat, breathe, and sleep the bakery until I realized it was out of control, and I got Kitty to force me to get some work-life balance.
I had no idea what was going on with my brother, my dad was a shell of the man I knew growing up, and I didn’t know what to do about it except to distract myself by working.
“Is the guy walking up to us going to help with your murder plot?” Camden teases. He seems looser than when we first started our day, more carefree. That might change once he figures out what I have planned for us.
“The guy walking up to us is my brother. And while he can be a dick, I doubt he has any intention to murder you.”