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“Okay, Olivia You can find it It can't be that hard” She strolled along another ay, trying to re his sexy lips

Serves you right for not paying close attention—to what you should’ve been paying attention to

“Ah, thisup to a French door, partially opened She pushed the door wide open and entered The roo s all around It was classy, but it sure didn’t look like a conservatory She walked over to thethat had a breathtaking view of Lake Belmont “God, this is so nice,” she uttered She could hear the waves of the water whooshing on the shores through an openThe cool winter breeze blew inside, but she didn’t feel a chill at all

There was an easel near the ith a cloth partially covering it She could see the blueness of the water in the colors on the canvas

“Oh, this is nice,” she said, glancing directly at it She saw a table with oil paints on it next to the canvas It was as if so The sky was blue in the painting without a cloud, yet the waves appeared to ly in the water It looked like a summer day, a windy summer day froolden than it was now, since it inter She compared the unfinished portrait to the view out theClearly, whoever was painting this, started in a different season Olivia heard of artists taking

She reached over to lift the sheet off the canvas

“Please don’t touch that,” a deep, silky voice caught her off guard and made her jolt It was Dane

“Dane Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t…I…”

“It’s okay”

“Is this yours?”

“Maybe”

“Maybe?”

“What makes you think it’s mine?”

“I don’t know Just a hunch It’s very beautiful”

“It’s not finished”

“I know But I like what I see so far You really paint with your eifted in art”

He chuckled “I still haven’t told you if I painted that or not”

“I think you did”

“Oh, really?” Mischief curled his lips He looked adorable Dane walked over to where Olivia was and covered the canvas fully with the sheet that had been hanging off it

“Why did you do that?”

“I don’t want anyone to see it”

“Well, if it’s not yours, then why do you care?” She folded her ar a brow

“Very funny”

She waited for him to say more

“It’sI’ve painted other stuff before Ser”

“Well, it’s lovely What inspires you to paint?”

“Whatever I’ at the moment Like heartbreak”

“Heartbreak?” Olivia didn’t expect that answer

“Painting helpsdeep into , tumultuous, powerful, yet unpredictable”

“Wow, I never looked at it like that before”

“I try not to capture ies to capture me”

“Like the gorgeous view of the lake there”

“Yeah Exactly Only, I don’t think I’ll ever get this done”

“Why? Don’t stop, Dane” She turned to face Dane and their eyes locked Had he been steadily observing her? She thought they were both looking out at the lake

“It’s okay,” he said “There’s so from the portrait I don’t knohat it is I just can’t connect with it the way I could when I first started it”

“So? From the portrait?”

“Yes Maybe, like relationships, this painting is so that can never be resolved”

“Oh, now you know that’s not true”

“Isn’t it?”

“Well, listen toAnd I’m still in shock There was so ot to be more to life than that I refuse to let that be h the glass