“Probably because more people are interested in romance than in a bunch of old paintings,” Timothy chuckled. “However, nothing the man said is untrue, so he can’t be sued for liable.”
“Yeah, well, how about how he let the cat out of the bag and invaded our privacy? Nobody at the office knew about us, and I thought we had time to ourselves before . . . well, something like this.”
Timothy sighed heavily. “It would have come out anyway, darling. Maybe in a way this is beneficial. Now you have no choice but to come to my place and spend time with me.”
I laughed, a rather stiff and kind of sick laugh. In fact, I wasn’t sure whether it was a laugh or a wail.
“I want to see your apartment, Timothy. I was wondering when you were going to show it off, but I don’t see why you think this means that I have to stay with you for several days. I work, remember?”
Timothy shook his head, looked up at the ceiling, then down at me. “How long do you think it would take to track you down? You’re beautiful. Every male up to no good will see this picture and WANT you.”
I shook my head and glanced up at the ceiling so he wouldn’t (hopefully) see me rolling my eyes. Then, I laughed. This time it sounded more like a regular laugh, not an excited laugh or one that spoke of great joy. This one was the kind of snorting laugh that argued with the ridiculousness of life.
“They’d be very disappointed to see the reality of me. Timothy,” I said. “When I’m not Simone-painted and fitted into movie stars gowns, I look like this.” I glanced down, realizing, once again, how horrible I looked. “Well, not usually this bad.”
That brought Timothy closer, and he gave me another embrace and a kiss, which was not what I’d intended, but I didn’t argue about it being unwanted.”
When I came up for air, he said, “Please don’t argue about this. I’ll call Sanders and let him know about the possible threat so you can take off today. It may be a matter of concern for him at the office, too. Once someone tracks you to his firm, a possible media invasion could occur. I’m going to recommend that you lie low for a good, solid week.”