Naked Canvas (An Alpha Billionaire Romance)

by Grey, Sadie

  I took the coffee from him and put it on the counter. Then I took his hand and dragged him back to bed.

  ***

  Afterward, we lay next to each other in a tangle of sweaty sheets. I stared up at the ceiling content with life for the first time in forever. He reached over and held my hand again. The gesture made my heart swell with affection for him.

  “So,” he said. “What would you like to do today?”

  I sighed. “What I’d like to do is stay in bed with you until neither one of us can move.” I gave his hand a squeeze. “But I have my first final exam in two days. I have to study. I may not be able to afford tuition next year, but I still need to pass all my classes this year.”

  “About school,” he said. “I’ll cover that.”

  I shook my head. “Absolutely not. I broke the agreement. If I took your money now, I wouldn’t have earned it. It would just be charity.”

  “Nonsense. We spent the full twenty-four hours together. You just took a little break in the middle.”

  “I can’t take it. It was fine when it was just a business arrangement, but now that we’re a couple, it would be wrong.”

  He turned on his side to look at me. “So you think we’re a couple now?” he asked.

  “Oh, well, I thought that’s what you wanted…” I trailed off.

  He pulled me into his arms tightly and kissed me. “Of course, that’s what I want. If that’s what you want.”

  “It’s what I want,” I said quietly.

  “Then it’s settled. But I don’t know about all this finals business. I don’t think I’m ready to let you go.”

  “It sucks. I know. But I have to do it. All of next week I’m going to be stuck with my head in a book.”

  “Maybe I can just pay off your professors so we can spend the rest of the week together.”

  I giggled into his chest. “Believe it or not, there are some problems that money can’t solve.”

  “That’s crazy talk.”

  “I know. It’s sad, but I think I’m going to have to do this the old fashioned way.”

  “Damn. Can we still see each other?”

  “I’ll do my best to make some free time, but I can’t promise anything.”

  “I’ll be waiting by my phone anxiously. Like a sad little puppy.”

  I laughed. “You’re so stupid.” I took all of the sting out of the words by kissing him and then quite a bit more.

  Chapter 23

  True to my words, the next week consisted of late nights surrounded by notes and books.

  Gallons of coffee were consumed, tears were shed, and all the while, my heart ached to be with Dominic. We texted each other and spoke on the phone, but I never got a chance to see him. He begged me to meet with him for just an hour, but I knew that hour would become two hours, then three hours, and before I knew it, a whole day would have gone by. So I forced myself to stay away.

  He pouted a little, which was somehow cute when he did it. I promised I would make it up to him when finals were over, and he begrudgingly agreed.

  Finally, a week later, I walked out of my last exam for the year and into the sweet spring air. Couples sat out on the sunny quad, flirting and laughing. It made me think of Dominic. I messaged him that I was out and that I would stop by later. He didn’t respond.

  It didn’t matter. Even though finals were done, I had one more piece of business to take care of on campus. I headed to the academic support office to talk to my adviser, Mrs. Hamilton.

  She invited me into her office and I took a seat. My stomach twisted with nervousness.

  “Angie, good to see you again. How can I help you?”

  “I’m in a bit of a bind. Is there a way I can take a year off school and come back without having to reapply?”

  Her eyebrows knit in consternation. “Well, yes, students can take a leave of absence in certain situations. I have to say I’m surprised, though. Dean’s list. Top five percent of your class. Why would you want to take a year off?”

  I started to say something but instead I started to cry. Mrs. Hamilton came around the desk and put her arm around my shoulder.

  “Oh, honey, what’s wrong?”

  I forced myself to calm down enough to speak. “I can’t afford it. I need to take some time off to earn some money.”

  “Can’t you get loans?”

  “I already have loans, but without a job, they don’t come close to covering all of my expenses.”

  “Yes, you’re not the only student whose told me that. Still, with your grades and your background, there has to be a way to work this out. Let me check your file.”

  She sat down at her computer and clicked around. “Well this is strange.”

  I sniffed and wiped away my tears. “What?”

  She turned to me with a confused smile on her face. “According to your file, you’re all paid up.”

  “My tuition for next year has been paid?”

  “No, your tuition for the next two years has been paid. You’re all set until graduation. Do you have some mysterious benefactor you don’t know about?”

  Fucking Dominic. “Yes,” I said. “I know exactly who did it.”

  “Well, don’t seem so upset. This is good news, right?”

  “I don’t know. I’m sorry, Mrs. Hamilton. I have to go.”

  I gathered my things and rushed out of her office. Out in the quad, Dominic was waiting for me.

  “How did your last final go?” he asked cheerily.

  “I can’t believe you,” I said, furious.

  “What? What did I do?”

  “You paid my tuition even though I told you not to.”

  “Oh,” he said, smiling. “That.”

  “Yeah. That. I can’t take your money.”

  “You didn’t take my money. The school did. And rather eagerly, I might add.”

  “I’m serious, Dominic.”

  “I’m serious, too,” he said. “They were like, super eager to take it. They didn’t even ask my name.”

  When I didn’t laugh, continued. “Look, I wanted to help you out, so I did.”

  “I don’t want your charity.”

  “And I don’t want to see a brilliant young woman miss out on her education because of something so trivial as money.”

  “Trivial to you,” I said.

  “Yes, exactly. I’m sorry if that sounds arrogant, but the money I spent is a drop in the bucket for me. And what’s the point of having money if I can’t help the people I care about?”

  “It doesn’t feel right.”

  “The fact that you’re so reluctant to take my money is the exact reason I have no problem giving it to you. Plus, it’s kind of turning me on.”

  “Well, prepare to get rock hard because I really can’t accept it.”

  “Can you just let me play the hero this one time? Please?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “If it really bothers you, you can punish me later.” He winked at me.

  “I just don’t want to feel like I owe you anything.”

  “Well, I can’t take the money back. They were very clear on that. So there are no strings attached. You could walk away right now and never speak to me again, if that’s what you want. Is that what you want?”

  “Of course not,” I said.

  He pulled me into his arms. I lay my head against his chest, my anger melting away from me.

  “Thank you, Dominic. For being my hero.”

  “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For letting me.” He gave me a tight hug and then pulled back. “Now. Since you’re finally done with finals, I have a surprise for you. Come on.”

  He grabbed my hand and pulled me along behind him. Cavanaugh was waiting for us at the curb beside the sleek black car.

  “Lovely to see you again, Angie,” he said, tipping his hat to me.

  “Cavanaugh,” I said, nodding. “Meddled in anyone’s private affairs today?”

  He winked at me.
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

  I hopped into the back seat beside Dominic, and Cavanaugh glided the vehicle out onto the street.

  “So what’s the plan?” I asked. “Are we going to dinner?”

  “You’ll just have to wait and see,” he said.

  He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close. I nestled against him and breathed in his cinnamon and citrus scent. Finals were over and so were my money problems, allowing me to relax and just take in the joy of the moment. The steady rhythm of Dominic’s heart beat a soothing lullaby in my ear. My eyelids drooped and I drifted off to sleep.

  A gentle hand on my arm awoke me. I opened my eyes to see Dominic leaning over me. It felt like I was still dreaming.

  “We’re here,” he said.

  I looked out the window. The car was parked in what appeared to be an airplane hangar. This suspicion was confirmed by the gleaming metal jet parked several yards away from us.

  “What’s all this?” I asked sleepily.

  “The plane. My plane, I guess, if you want to get technical.”

  “What? Where are we going?”

  “On an adventure.”

  I sat up straighter in the seat. “You can’t just spring this on me. I don’t have any clothes. I don’t have my toothbrush.”

  “We can buy you lots of clothes and toothbrushes when we get there.”

  “Get where, Dominic?”

  “Well, I was thinking breakfast in Paris. Dinner in Rome. Or maybe Spain. I know a great tapas restaurant where the owner owes me favor.” He looked down at my shocked face. “What? Too cliché?”

  Only Dominic would think a spontaneous flight to Paris was cliché. I shook my head. “That sounds perfect.”

  “Oh,” he said, relaxing. “Good.”

  “Wait. I need my passport if we’re going to leave the country. We have to go back to my apartment.”

  Dominic reached into his pocket and pulled my passport out.

  “How did you get that?” I asked.

  He smiled guiltily. “I might have bribed your landlord to let me in.”

  “Seriously?”

  “If it’s any consolation, his assistance didn’t come cheap. Besides, I’ve waited a week for this. I don’t want to wait one second more.”

  “How long will we be gone?” I asked.

  He turned to me. “When do you have to be back at school?”

  “The middle of August.”

  “The middle of August it is. Come on.”

  I followed him out of the car, feeling dizzy at how fast everything was moving. Dominic led me up the stairs of the jet. The cabin of the plane was all sleek leather and gleaming fixtures. He guided me to a seat that felt like sinking into a cloud.

  Dominic disappeared into the front of the plane, and a young stewardess approached me with a glass of champagne. I took it without thinking.

  “If you need anything at all, miss, don’t hesitate to ask,” she said.

  I thanked her and she glided away to the back of the plane. Dominic returned and sat down next to me.

  “Everything’s all set. We’ll be taking off in a few minutes.”

  I looked around the cabin. “And Cavanaugh? He’s not coming with us?”

  “No, he’s staying here to look after things. Don’t worry. He’s basically got the summer off. He’s thrilled.”

  “So that’s it?” I asked. “We’re going away for the summer. Just like that?”

  He smiled at me. “Just like that.”

  The plane taxied out to the runway. With a burst of speed, we sped down the tarmac and up into the sky. I stared out the window. The familiar world below shrank away until we were surrounded by clouds. The setting sun behind us painted the world a lovely shade of gold.

  I had no idea what the future would bring, and, for the first time in my life, I was okay with that.

  Epilogue

  Dominic took me on a magical journey. He showed me the world and opened my eyes to the beauty all around us. Being with him was like a dream come true, only I never had to wake up.

  I never believed in happy endings before, but now I realized that sometimes things can work out for the best. Sometimes two people from different worlds can find each other. Sometimes they can save each other.

  When our whirlwind trip from Europe was over, I returned home with more than just a gorgeous tan and a million photographs.

  I was pregnant.

  The news brought us closer together than ever before, which I hadn’t thought was even possible. I moved in with him, we set the date for our wedding, and yes, we lived happily ever after.

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