Secretly Mine-Chapter 145: Many Talents

Lucas gently held out his arm so that I could place mine around it. He then walked me over to the other side of the large hall. As we walked, I could feel Christian’s fiery gaze on me.

"I can see some of the paintings up ahead. Shall we go take a closer look?" Lucas smiled at me, waiting for my answer.

"Yes! I heard some of tonight’s paintings were donated by renowned artists. I’d like to see if I can recognize any of them."

Though my art skills were only so-so, I enjoyed art and even studied it a little.

We walked over to where the large glass display was and glanced at the many paintings inside.

"Looks like they’re mostly landscapes and still life paintings. This one over here is exceptionally gorgeous," I said, pointing at a beautiful botanical landscape painting. It depicted an early morning scene where the sun was just rising over the horizon. The artist even included the morning dew on the flowers in the foreground.

Lucas turned to look me in the eyes, "Thank you, Leslie. Hearing you say that means so much to me."

My eyes widened.

"Wait. Are you implying that you painted this?!" I gasped.

Lucas nodded, "Yes. It was a painting I finished last year. When I heard about the charity auction, I sent it in as a submission since it was for a good cause."

"Lucas! That’s incredible! I had no idea you were so talented!" I exclaimed happily. Though I never knew he was an artist, looking at him now, I could see it.

"There’s still a lot you don’t know about me, and that’s okay. It’s more fun to discover new things about each other over time. Don’t you agree?"

I turned to look back at his painting. As soon as I looked at it, it felt like I was transported into the scene of the painting. It was so lifelike that I could almost smell the flowers. "I agree. It keeps things interesting, but now I’m more interested in getting to know you even more!"

"And I feel the same way about you, Leslie. You’re a joy to be around." His smile was pure and bright, but his words felt like they meant more than just a simple, friendly reply.

Maybe I’m overthinking it?

"Come, let’s take a look at the other paintings. I haven’t seen most of these myself," said Lucas, breaking the momentary silence.

We stood at the display case for a long time, complimenting and criticizing the various paintings inside. Outside of Lucas’s painting, the one we liked the most was a very small painting depicting a garden scene and a family of rabbits. They were so fluffy and cute, I wanted to reach in and pick one up.

"They’re so naughty! Look at that bunny eating a carrot out of the ground!" I laughed, pointing out the small detail.

Lucas laughed with me, "Yes! Or that one behind the bush, its mouth is full of greens!"

"Mr. Christaphori? I’m so glad I found you. There’s a small problem that we need your help with," a woman wearing the event uniform came over and bowed politely. "If you have a moment, could you come with me?"

Lucas looked at me, hesitating on how to reply.

"Oh, don’t mind me! I’ll be around. I had a lot of fun looking at all of the paintings with you," I quickly said. The event was going to start soon anyways.

"Let’s catch up sometime. Maybe we could both attend a painting class together sometime," Lucas smiled warmly. "Please excuse me, then."

I nodded and watched the event worker lead Lucas out to a different room.

-

Let’s see where Christian is...

My eyes scanned the hall, looking for the tall, handsome man. He wasn’t where we were standing earlier. I found Morgan standing next to Eve Lombardi, showing off her earrings.

Well, if Morgan is with Eve, Christian most likely slipped away.

My heart beat with excitement as I glanced up at the clock. The event was scheduled to begin in fifteen minutes.

Fifteen minutes before I can see you...

I looked around the hall once more, noticing that everyone I knew seemed busy in their own little groups. No one was paying attention to me.

What if I slipped out just a little early? Maybe I can surprise Christian by arriving earlier?

Thoughts of how I could surprise him flooded my mind. I was so excited for our sneaky meet-up that I decided that I didn’t want to wait any longer.

Skirting the edges of the hall, I pretended to walk over to the refreshment table before sneaking out into the main lobby area of the hotel.

The elevators were directly in front of the front desk, along with other guests of the event. Since my dress was rather eye-catching, I didn’t want anyone to see me entering the elevator. Instead, I walked to the back of the hotel where the restrooms were located.

If I remember correctly, there should be a door to the staircase over here.

I walked past the women’s room and to the very end of the hallway, where I found the staircase to go up. It was locked behind a door lock, but the keycard Christian gave me worked to unlock it. I quickly slipped inside and shut the door behind me.

The room I was looking for was on the seventh floor, and there was no way I was about to walk that many flights of stairs. Instead, I only walked up to the second floor and walked out, heading straight for the elevators.

Thankfully, the hallway was completely empty. I quickly made my way over to the elevators and pushed the button to call it. The doors opened immediately, so I hopped in and pushed the button to the seventh floor.

As I rode up, my heart began to beat faster and faster. I could still feel Christian’s gentle touch on my skin from where he touched me earlier.

By the time the doors opened to the seventh floor, my face was already flushed from all of my dirty thoughts.

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