Repaying the Debt

Chapter1

Chapter One

Chrissy burst into our apartment. Her messy blonde curls were wilder than normal, blue eyes wide and excited as she all but bounced over to our worn-out flannel couch. She sat down beside me. I could practically feel her vibrating.

“Izzy, you won’t believe what happened to me.”

“Aliens, it was aliens.” I answered her, looking up from the latest Jensen Spellmore novel that I was reading. The spine was already worn out, but I was prepping for his next release by rereading the last book.

“Woman.”

Placing my bookmark between the pages, one of the few perks about working in a bookstore was the discount I got on all the used books. I closed the book and looked over at my best friend and roommate. “What is it?”

She held up two tickets and I squinted, trying to read the paper she was waving in front of my face. “I got an invitation to the gallery opening tonight.”

“No way.” Grabbing her wrist, I held her still so I could read the information on the thick cream-colored paper.

The name of the artist Leonardo Philips was pressed into the paper and I shrugged. “Who is that?”

“Seriously?” she asked, some of the excitement leaving her eyes. “He’s only like the hottest artist around. And I don’t just mean for his talent. That man could do all kinds of things to me and I would happily let him.”

Letting her wrist go, I leaned back against the couch. Of course, he had to be a hottie for Chrissy to be interested in his work.

“What kind of art does he do?”

“He’s amazing. I can’t believe you don’t know who he is.” She shook her head, pulling her phone from her bag. She tapped his name into the web browser before handing me her phone. “Imagine, we might get to meet him.”

I looked at the screen. She was right. He was hot but no hotter than a lot of the models she had worked around. His messy red hair fell in waves around his shoulders, his cheekbones were harsh angles. Cold golden eyes glared at the camera as he crossed tattooed arms over his muscular chest.

“He, um, looks scary.”

“Izzy!” Chrissy said, snatching her phone away. “Don’t talk about my future husband like that.”

“I bet he’s a player.”

“Iz,” Chrissy warned, holding her phone to her chest. “He’s talented and beautiful and if I got the chance, I’d worship him like the god he is.”

“Chrissy.” I hissed, and she let out a laugh.

“Not like it’ll ever happen, but a girl can dream.” She fluffed her curly hair behind her thin shoulders. “He only dates supermodels and rumor has it, Cyrus Klein.”

“I’m sure you could win him over.” I bumped my shoulder against hers and she pulled back the phone, smiling at me.

“So this means you’ll come with me tonight?”

“I’ll go with you, but we may not see him,” I said, looking down at her phone. Despite how intimidating he looked, there was a beauty to him that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

“Ohmigod!” Chrissy screeched, bouncing up and down. “We’re going to have so much fun. I’m going to pick us out something to wear.”

Chrissy all but ran to my room. Shaking my head, I picked up my book. Planning to lose myself in the fantasy romance for just a little while longer.

“Izzy put the book down and go make yourself pretty.” My best friend called from the other room and I let out a long sigh. It seemed I wasn’t going to get to read about the characters getting together after all. I sat my book on the bright purple coffee table. Our apartment wasn’t much, but it was ours and we’d had fun making the small space our own with thrift shop finds and a lot of DIYs.

My foot caught the edge of the coffee table as I stood up and I lurched forward. Tripping, I sprawled on the floor, letting out a curse. Hoping that the fall wouldn’t leave my knees bruised. I dragged a hand through my auburn hair before pushing myself to stand. Walking over to my bedroom, I pushed back the beaded curtain.

Chrissy had two dresses in her hands. Her eyes were moving over a black sequin-covered dress that I’d bought on a whim when I wasn’t drowning in debt.

“You can borrow it if you want.” She looked around the fabric, her face splitting in a wide grin.

“You’re the best, you know that?”

“It looks better on you anyway.” Chrissy handed me the black shift dress that she’d had in her other hand and I looked it over. Already deciding to pair it with some simple pearl earrings and a pair of red flats.

Walking over to the closet, I pulled out my flats and Chrissy let out a low whine. “No, wear the heels.”

I looked down at the sparkly red heels sitting in their cubby. There weren’t too many reasons for me to wear them and I did want to look nice. Tossing my flats back into my closet, I grabbed the heels, setting them on my bed.

The two of us got ready for the event and before I knew it. It was time to go.