I'd always had a thing for artists.
What was it about them? Not their looksβthat's for sure. Didn't matter what a guy looked like, whether he was embarrassingly young or decrepitly old, big or small in any direction. If he was an artist, I was into him. From afar. I never had the confidence to actually approach a guy. I figured I wasn't an artist's type.
So my friend Luxanne hooked me up with some work as a life model. She'd been doing it for years and told me what to expect. Nothing.
"You hear all this bullshit about painters seducing naked girls on velvet sofas," she said. "Pure romanticism. Never happens."
And if it never happened to her, there was no way in hell it would happen for me. Luxanne was slim and blonde, undeniably desirable. I was pretty much the opposite of that.
I gave it a shot nonetheless, hopes sky-high. A private session, tooβnone of that posing for a class of students stuff. Stripped bare, I laid my naked self out, but Master Reinhardt didn't take the bait. He was all business, all brushes and oils. I could see it in his eyes. No lust there. And I felt pretty crappy about that, even though he was rather old and not what most women would call handsome. None of that mattered. He was an artist, and that made me all butterfly-bellied the whole time I was sitting for him. Even though he was looking at me completely naked, I felt like he wasn't really seeing me at all. Maybe he was gay. I secretly hoped he was, just so this wouldn't be a case of yet another man gazing right past me. Why was I invisible?
The great master set down his brush and looked me in the eye. Would he make a move now? My heart raced. See me! Love me! Want me!
No such luck.
"I have business to attend to." His voice was dark and rough, like gravel. It made me tingle all over, especially below my belly. "My wife Ethel will bring your luncheon. Please pardon my absence. I shall return post haste."
"Okay, sure." He'd already left the room by the time I said, "No problem."
I wasn't sure where to go, or if this wife of his was bringing lunch to me. Hell, I couldn't even remember where I'd put my clothes! I definitely wanted to get dressed before some old lady came in the room and spotted me in my birthday suit.
Too late.
A wheeled cart pushed the studio door open, squealing as it entered the room. Behind it stood a young Asian woman, long black hair tucked behind her ears. She had on a tight black T-shirt and frayed jogging pants covered in paint.
"Hey." She sounded uninspired, like she'd rather be any place but here. "Lunch."
There was a spring salad on the cart, with cherry tomatoes and little bocconcini balls alongside grilled chicken. It looked amazing. So did she. I didn't want to admit my attraction, even to myself, but I couldn't deny that tingle in my pelvis. Artists...they did it for me every time.
Still, I felt jumpy and weird with this stranger seeing me naked.
"Sorry." Should I cover up my boobs and my bush? No, she'd think I was an idiot. "Master Reinhardt said his wife was bringing me lunch."
She raised an eyebrow, seeming unamused in the extreme. "Okay."
"You're obviously an artist too." I didn't know why I was talking. I felt so stupid. "Do a lot of artists work out of the house?"
"A few." She shrugged. "Students use the extra studio space in exchange for household chores, a little cooking and cleaning. It's a pretty good deal."