Figure Eight (Celtic Knot Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

cold. It was quite possible I was running a fever, but nothing could have broken my vision for my painting as I continued to work diligently, time passing by without me even realizing it.
    “Alright, class, time to clean up for the day,” Ginny said as she clapped her hands together to gain our attention. “Great work. We will pick up again on Wednesday.”
    Everyone busied themselves cleaning up their station, and I sat on my stool staring at my painting. I took in the strong jaw that held a slight carpet of stubble. The darks wisps of hair fanned just over his brow and came just short of his chocolate brown eyes. I was so caught up in the beautiful image in front of me that I didn’t hear someone approach me from behind.
    “I didn’t know I had brown hair,” a soft British voice whispered in my ear. I nearly fell off the stool from the surprise and my paint palette fell from my hands to splatter brown acrylic all over the studio floor.
    “Oh no,” I exclaimed as I bend down to try to wipe up the mess with the only other thing I held in my hands...Rownan’s handkerchief.
    “Shit!” I blurted out when I realized that I had now ruined the monogrammed piece of fabric. Large hands clamped over mine, stilling my ferocity to clean up the mess and the embarrassment I felt from my clumsiness. Tears pricked my eyes and I found it hard to see through the blurriness as I willed them not to spill over onto my cheeks.
    “It’s ok, love. Don’t worry about it,” Rownan’s kind voice reassured me. I kept my head bowed so that he didn’t see my distress as I tried to make my way to my feet. Rownan extended his hand to assist me and I graciously accepted it feeling weaker than I did when I woke up this morning.
    “Your painting is beautiful, Ashley, but that is not me,” he chuckled slightly as he looked at my work on the easel. I followed his gaze with my eyes to look at my creation on the canvas and nearly stumbled backwards. He was right, the painting wasn’t him. It was Dominic.
    “I...I…” I faltered trying to find the right words to say. My cheeks once again flushed as all the blood rushed to my head.
    “Either you are feeling extremely guilty about what happened, or you are a masochist and like to torture yourself,” he said playfully. I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out. I looked like a damned fish opening and closing my mouth underwater. Rownan saw my unease and smiled his gorgeous white teeth at me, which in turn made me smile. In fact, I think it was the first time I had really smiled since the whole incident with Dominic went down.
    “Come on, I’ll escort you to your car. You look like you could go for a nap.”
    “Ok, uh, just let me wash these,” I replied as I held up the paintbrush and palette I picked up from the floor. Making my way over to the sink, I turned on the taps and tried to regain my composure. How in the world did I paint a picture of Dominic while looking at the naked form of Rownan? Was my subconscious having me imagine Dominic while I was trying to paint the picture of another man?
    I methodically washed the paintbrush and palette, being sure to strip them both of all of the acrylic before setting them aside to dry. Rownan was waiting for me near the door by the time that I had finished. I glanced around the studio to notice that we were alone all except for Ginny who was straightening items around the room.
    “Ginny, love, I will talk to you later, yeah?” he asked her, his deep voice bellowing off the walls in the empty room.
    “Yes, see you Wednesday. Ashley, I hope you feel better,” she said before returning to her task.
    “Thanks.”
    Rownan walked me to my car as he offered, although we remained silent the majority of the way. Once we made it to my car, he wrapped his hand around the keys I held in my hand and proceeded to unlock and open the car door for me.
    “My mum would be disappointed in me if I did not open the door for a lady,” he shrugged