I opened my mouth but had no idea what to say. I hadn’t eaten. Did he want to have dinner? Or did he want to…

I had the feeling that Roy Wolfe wasn’t either of his brothers. Reid was a known womanizer, and Rock… Well, Lacey hadn’t confided in me about their first encounter in her office, but I had ears. They hadn’t exactly been quiet. I was thankful no one else had walked by during their little interlude. Her partnership at the firm could have been jeopardized.

Didn’t matter now. She no longer worked there.

“Are you going to say anything?” he asked.

“I…have work in the morning.” God, what an idiot! This was far from my first encounter with a handsome man, but I was acting like a shy schoolgirl who just got asked out by the football captain.

“I know. I wasn’t asking you to spend the night.”

Warmth crept up my neck and into my cheeks. “Of course not. I knew that. So…dinner?”

“If you want. I’ll order something for you. You don’t want to be thinking about food while you’re posing.”

My heart fluttered. “Posing?”

“Yeah. In fact, I’m sorry, but dinner will have to wait. I promise you a gourmet feast if you let me paint you right now, with that faraway look in your eyes. I’ve just got to capture that on canvas.”

“Posing?” I echoed, sounding like a complete imbecile.

“Yeah. Please. I’ve got to paint you, and it has to be now.”

My heart thundered so loud I thought he might be able to hear it. He wanted to paint me? Charlie Waters? Plain Jane? My appetite no longer seemed important. This man—this extraordinary artist—wanted me to be his next subject.

Me.

Me.

“Sure. I guess so.”

“No ‘I guess so.’ Yes. Be absolutely sure. We both need to be all in.”

His dark eyes were burning with fire. Passion. For me.

But not for me, really. For something I represented. Something he wanted to immortalize on canvas.

It was a start.

“Yes. Yes, Roy,” I said, trying to sound confident. “I will pose for you.”

“Thank God. Follow me.” He led me through the living area. A small kitchen sat on the other side, and then a short hallway where two doors stood. One was open. The studio. I inhaled, expecting to smell the piney resin scent of turpentine or mineral spirits.

Hmm. Nothing.

The other door was his bedroom. It had to be.

He raked his gaze over me. “I wish it were daylight. I could capture you so much better in natural light, but this will have to do. You’ll have to change.”

“Change? You wanted to paint me as I am.”

He smiled. “I mean change clothes. That crisp suit is too businesslike. I want to see you as you truly are.”

“You mean…naked?”