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Nessa clasped her hands together, rested them on her lap, and looked at me. I sensed her nerves, but also the calm thatcame when someone had endured too many storms. She had mastered the skill of forcing herself to remain calm to do what was necessary.

I admired that.

Who are you, Nessa Lambert?

She blew out another breath. “I have a business proposal for you.”

The surprise dropped into my lap like an asteroid that didn’t belong. No one had shocked me more in one day than her.

My business radars perked up. “Let’s hear it.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

VANESSA

I blinked at his words.I’d expected him to ask me more questions before wanting to hear my proposal. But I supposed a billionaire like Attikus Mount was used to people tossing out proposals. I knew mine would probably be themost unexpected.

You don’t know that.

We were the only two people in this room. My body became fully aware of his presence. Energy resonated from his body, slamming into me. Though it was a hospital room, the intimacy was palpable. It thrummed in the air, tingling my skin.

Attikus stared at me, waiting for my reply. I stared back, still trying to process my thoughts. He didn’t press me, so I studied his attractive features close up. That was when I realized only one set of lights was turned on in the room. Did he leave the rest of the lights off for me to sleep?

The dim lighting made his brown irises look like spears of molten copper bursting around darkening pupils. His angular face had the perfect bone structure. I imagined the shadows rejoicing as they skipped along the tight creases on his forehead, climbed over the rise of his strong nose, and slid around thecurve of high cheekbones to settle on his square jaw. The contrast of dark and light over his lips did something strange to my stomach. When he pursed his lips slightly, the muscles in my inner thighs flexed.

The mystery around him increased by the second. I wanted to discover him as though he was a painting. What was his history? What made him bleed?

What would make himsmile?

As an artist, I understood the beauty of contrast and composition. This man possessed those aspects perfectly. He was the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen. But I would never tell him that. Men like him already had big egos. If they got any bigger, the world would be unlivable.

Beauty is deception, Vanessa.

Oh, I know.Emmanuel was that horrendous mistake.

But right now, I wanted to see, feel, and wonder about a man without consequences.

“Are you done staring?” he asked, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

My eyes darted to it as though it was a splash of paint that completed an artwork perfectly.

“I’m an artist, so I appreciate a great canvas when I see it. You have a well-balanced face.”

“Are you buttering me up for your proposal?” he asked with a straight face.

“No.”

That was the truth, but I could see why he wouldn’t believe me. What normal person would say that to a man she didn’t know well? Technically, he was my landlord. We weren’t even friends.

I shook my head clear of whatever trance I was under. “I was studying your face. It’s something I do—most artists do that often. I can’t help it.”

“I’m not asking you to,” he said, and the tension in his forehead relaxed. “Your art captures your emotions. Now I know the depth in which you study something.”

“You’re an art collector, so you understand it too.”

He considered me. “Art was an escape for me?—”

He blinked as though he hadn’t meant to say that. “I mean, art is an escape for people. Just like writing and music. It takes you to another place, another time, so you can forget the pain.”