Crazy Love (Emerald Lake Billionaires 3) (13 page)

Daniel thought about the art auction. They’d made a difference in Tommy’s life and created an event for the whole community to enjoy.

“I spoke to Nick yesterday.”

Holly’s mouth dropped open. “You did?”

“He said you’re looking for somewhere to hold your art workshop.”

“He’s renovating his warehouse so we can’t go there. We’ve called all the places we could think of, but no one’s got any available space.”

“The loft above my garage is empty. It’s a huge space. I’m not sure if it’s what you had in mind, but you’re welcome to have a look.”

“You’d do that for us?”

He was offering her the use of his loft for a lot of reasons. He wasn’t sure she’d like some of them so he stuck with the ones he was comfortable sharing. “You helped Tommy’s family when you didn’t need to. If using my loft makes a difference, I’m happy to share the space. Besides, I need to work on Blake’s app. The more time we spend together, the sooner I can tell him why the app put us together.”

“The workshop will be over a whole weekend. Is that a problem?”

“Not at all.” If it meant spending more time with Holly, it could have been over three weekends and Daniel wouldn’t have minded.

“The teenagers who are coming to the workshop are reviewing their portfolios for art school. We don’t have structured classes, but we do give them advice. We’ll try not to be too loud.”

“If you need anything over the weekend, just ask. Tell me about your art.”

A shadow crossed Holly’s face. “What do you want to know?”

He watched her closely. “I tried finding information about Holly Miller, the artist, online. You don’t have an artist profile page or any links to your work. What type of painting do you do?”

“When I first started painting I tried everything. I have a portfolio full of watercolor landscapes, pastel portraits, and abstract oils.”

Daniel looked beyond what she was saying and into her blue eyes. Holly was on guard and trying hard not to show it. “What do you paint now?”

“Mostly portraits. When I was staying in Paris, I met a man on the steps of the Sacré-Coeur Basilica. He had the most amazing face I’d ever seen. His name was Pierre and he was eighty-five years old. We talked and laughed while I sketched his face. Meeting Pierre changed the way I thought about my work. I’d been so busy replicating what I saw that I didn’t look for the essence of what was in front of me. Does that sound weird?”

Daniel shook his head. “It sounds normal. So you’re a portrait artist?”

“Since I started painting professionally, I have been. A few months ago I painted my first landscape since art school. I wasn’t sure it was the right time, but I’m glad I did it.”

Daniel raised an eyebrow.

Holly hesitated before continuing. “I usually work on three paintings at a time. It can take me up to four months to finish each one. Trying something different is risky, especially when you’ve developed a reputation as a portrait artist.”

“Do you have any photos of your work you could show me?”

“Not with me. Tell me about your IT company.”

Most people were happy to talk about what they did, but Holly was the exception. He didn’t know why she was so secretive about her life as an artist, but one day he’d find out.

Instead of asking her more questions, he decided to tell her about his company. “I have fifteen staff members working on a variety of projects. We design apps for a variety of uses.”

“How do you manage your company from Bozeman?”

“I have an office in town and fly to New York once a month for business meetings. If anything important happens between meetings I’m only a few hours away. Four of my staff are moving to Bozeman in the next few weeks.”

“Will that make it easier to manage your company?”

“I hope so. Some of the projects we’re working on require a lot of brainstorming. It’s harder to bounce ideas off each other when you’re thousands of miles apart.”

Holly didn’t look bored with what he’d told her. If anything, she seemed interested in what he was doing. “Apart from your friend’s dating app, what are you working on at the moment?”

“I’m developing an app that helps with the distribution of products. It can be used in all sorts of areas. So far we’ve tested it with a clothing retailer and a medical logistics company.”

“What’s the biggest challenge you’ve had?”

“Getting authorization to test the app where it can make the most difference. A lot of humanitarian aid goes to Third World countries. The app can help identify what’s required at each location and whether the resources they need arrive safely.”

“It doesn’t make sense that no one wants to use it.”

Daniel agreed with her, but that didn’t make the process of trialing the app any easier. “Blake has some contacts in the Red Cross. I’m hoping we’ll begin our first trials soon.”

“So Blake is helping you with your app, and you’re helping him with his?”

Daniel nodded.

“And you’re helping me with a venue for our art workshop?”

Daniel wasn’t sure if their ice cream date was going to end in the next thirty seconds or if it was the start of an interesting relationship.

“So if I helped you, I’d be helping Blake as well.”

“That’s right.”

Holly held out her hand. “In that case, you can think of me as your business partner. I’m happy to help you review your dating app.”

Daniel shook Holly’s hand. He was glad she was helping him but not so happy about being business partners. Whether she knew it or not, she’d just answered an important question.

His only consolation was that being business partners was better than having no relationship at all.

CHAPTER SIX

“Oh my goodness,” Mia said in awe. “Look at the size of Daniel’s house.”

Holly took her foot off the accelerator and slowed her car to a crawl. She didn’t know what she’d expected to see, but this definitely wasn’t it.

If the size of his home wasn’t enough to leave them speechless, the simplicity of the design was. The two-story house, clad in wooden siding, was painted a soft shade of gray. A stone chimney rose through the center of the gabled roof and white trim framed each of the windows. With a wide porch that wrapped around the building, Daniel’s house reminded Holly of an old family homestead.

She could imagine children running in the yard and horses in the corral. It was the kind of home that would get better with age, becoming part of the landscape as easily as the seasons followed each other.

“How much do you think it would cost to build a house like this?”

Mia turned to Claire. “More than we’ve got. I wonder what the inside is like.”

“Don’t even think about it,” Holly warned. “We’re only looking at the loft.” She began to wonder if bringing everyone out here was a good idea.

Hannah pointed to a big tree beside the house. “There’s even a tree house with a swing. This is perfect for our workshop.”

“Is that the barn?” Claire said excitedly from the back seat.

Holly looked to the right of the house. Sitting three stories high was the prettiest barn she’d ever seen. The white trim surrounding the tall windows made it look like another home.

“I wonder if Daniel wants a roommate,” Hannah said. “This is so perfect. I can’t believe he wants to share his property with us.”

“We’re not going to have a rock concert,” Claire said. “Most of the time he won’t even know we’re here.”

Holly didn’t know how ten teenagers could go unnoticed on any property, but she wasn’t going to disagree with Claire. She drove into Daniel’s front yard and stopped her car.

“Be on your best behavior,” Hannah said half-seriously. “We are professional artists looking at a potential studio for our workshop. But if Daniel offers, I’m moving out here tomorrow. It would be perfect for a studio.”

“You’re such a pushover,” Claire said to her sister. “I hope your date knows that all it takes to impress you is an amazing house.”

Hannah unbuckled her seat belt. “I don’t even know if Brett has his own home.”

“It won’t be as gorgeous as this one,” Mia said as she closed her door.

Before Hannah and Claire got out of the car, Daniel stepped off his porch. “Hi. Welcome to my home.”

His smile made Holly’s heart leap.

“You’ve got a beautiful home,” Mia said. “Thank you for offering us the use of your loft.”

A faint blush skimmed Daniel’s cheeks. “Hopefully, it has everything you need.” He looked at the sky. “We’d better hurry. The storm everyone’s been promising isn’t far away.”

Holly pulled her jacket closer and followed Daniel and her friends.

Hannah nudged her as they walked inside. “All I can say is,
wow
,” she whispered.

As much as she didn’t want to be impressed,
wow
described how Holly felt as well.

“How did you know we’d arrived?” Mia asked Daniel as they walked down a wide corridor.

“I installed monitors on the front gate. As soon as you entered my property cameras were tracking your movement.” Daniel opened a door and stepped into his garage.

Mia stopped so suddenly that Claire collided with her. Hannah sidestepped around both of them and froze.

By the time Holly walked into the garage she knew why they weren’t moving. Sitting under a row of fluorescent lights were two bright red sports cars. Holly didn’t know much about expensive cars, but she did appreciate their sleek lines.

Daniel looked at the vehicles, then back at the star-struck artists standing in his garage. “They aren’t mine. I’m looking after a friend’s Lamborghinis while he’s remodeling his garage.”

Holly didn’t know if that was supposed to make them feel better but, looking at her friend’s faces, she’d say it hadn’t made any difference.

“If you decide the loft is a good place for your workshop, I’ll move the cars to a friend’s place for the weekend.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Holly said. “I don’t think Mia would be able to concentrate if your friend’s cars were downstairs.”

“I’m not that bad,” Mia grumbled. “It’s my grandfather’s fault. He’s owned a Porsche for as long as I can remember. He taught me about horsepower, torque, and acceleration before I could hold a pencil.”

Daniel headed toward a staircase at the side of the garage. “Nick has good taste. If he wants to see the cars, he’s more than welcome to come out here.”

“Thanks, I’ll tell him.” Mia took one last look at the Lamborghinis before following Daniel upstairs.

“What were you planning on doing with the loft space?” Hannah asked.

Claire poked her sister in the ribs.

“Oww,” Hannah hissed. “That hurt.”

“Serves you right,” Claire whispered. “You are not moving out here.”

Hannah rolled her eyes. “You could come, too.”

Holly hoped Daniel’s hearing wasn’t as good as hers. She glanced at him when she stepped onto the landing.

The gleam in his eyes told her he’d heard every word. “Eventually this will be my home office, but for now, it’s empty.”

“Oh.” Mia sighed. “It’s lovely.”

Holly walked to the far side of the room. Floor-to-ceiling windows ran along one wall, flooding the whole loft with natural light.

Daniel reached out and turned on a row of light switches. “It’s overcast outside so the light isn’t as good as it normally is. Over here is a small kitchen.” He walked to the opposite side of the loft. “There’s a bathroom and another room in here.”

Claire opened one of the doors. When she reappeared, she was smiling. “The bathroom is bigger than our kitchen.”

Hannah scowled at her sister. “You’ll have to excuse Claire. She doesn’t leave home very much.”

Claire’s smile grew wider. “Don’t listen to her, Daniel. I think your loft is amazing.”

“So do I,” Mia said. “There’s more than enough space for us.”

Daniel pointed to a white panel on the wall. “These are the controls for the central heating. It works independently from the main house. There’s a small fridge in the kitchen. All of the water is filtered. Is there anything else you’d like to know?”

Holly ran her hand along the top of the kitchen counter. It was perfect for what they needed. “The workshop is in four weeks’ time. Could we bring our tables and supplies out here the day before we start?”

“That’s no problem. If you need help moving anything out here, let me know.”

After they’d worked through more details, Daniel invited them downstairs for coffee. Claire was so excited about the loft that Holly didn’t know if spending more time with Daniel was a good idea.

“I only have one thing to say,” Mia whispered to Holly after everyone had left. “You need to marry Daniel before anyone else meets him.”

Heat rushed to Holly’s face. “Just because he lives in a beautiful home, it doesn’t mean I should marry him.”

“You’re right. But if a man looked at me the way Daniel looks at you, I’d be setting up my studio in his loft.” Mia looked closely at Holly. “You don’t know, do you?”