Page 141 of The Substitute Fiancée

“Let me help you with the frames.”

I hesitate. I need him in my life, but I don’t want us to fall into the same patterns again.

“As a friend,” he adds softly.

Our gazes lock.

“Okay,” I whisper.

His hand lifts toward my face, then stops, suspended in midair. As if he suddenly remembers that he no longer has the right.

Regret passes through his eyes.

“Good night, Sam,” he murmurs.

“Good night.”

I close the door and lean against it, short of breath, aware that this closeness is as precious as it is dangerous.

As necessary as it is impossible.

48. The Frames

Alexander

Two weeks later, Sam, Oliver, and I head out in the middle of the afternoon to pick up the frames she ordered from a small craftsman in the Paris suburbs. I rented a van for the occasion.

“My God…” she breathes when she sees the warehouse where her frames have been stored. “They’ll never fit in the apartment. What am I going to do?”

She stares at the frames, visibly anxious. She clearly underestimated the problem.

It’s true they take up a lot of space, but the real headache will come when she has to paint them. I immediately go through the options. The penthouse? She’d refuse outright. Renting a studio? She’d never agree to let me pay. The office?

“Come to MatchMapping,” I suggest. “We have a big meeting room that’s not being used right now. You could use it as a workshop.”

She hesitates, brows furrowed.

“Thanks, but I can’t accept. A painting workshop in a tech company makes no sense. I’ll find something else. A garage, maybe…”

“Come on, Sam,” Oliver cuts in. “You don’t have time for that. Alexander just told you the room’s sitting empty.”

She thinks for a few more seconds, then gives in.

“All right… if you really don’t need it.”

“No problem,” I reassure her.

We load the frames. While she pays and thanks the carpenter, I step aside to make a call.

“David, are you and Clarisse still at the office?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“I need a favor. Can you ask security to clear out the Artemis room within the next half hour, and have Clarisse move the meetings scheduled for the next two weeks?”

“Got it. This for Sam?”

“I can’t hide anything from you.”