Free His Canvas by Ava Lore Page B

deserved to be called
out. You can't just go around treating people like things. You gotta maybe buy
them dinner first or something, or at the very least don't literally run
away afterward. It was part of the social contract. That sort of thing
could give a girl a complex.
    On the other end of the line, Malcolm was silent, clearly
impressed by my big brass ovaries. I was willing to bet no woman had ever
spoken to him that way. I'd left him speechless with my wit.
    "I'm not sure," he said at last. "Did you enjoy
it?"
    ...Great. Now I was the one who was speechless. I tried hard not
to look at Felicia. "Yes," I said. "I did, thanks."
    A gust of air as he let out a sigh. "Good," he said.
"I was worried. Please, come over and we can look at these photos. You can
give me the critique of a professional."
    And I had nothing to say to that, either, except,
"Okay."
    "See you soon." And he hung up without saying goodbye,
like people on television do. I stared at my phone for a long moment before
stuffing it back into my purse.
    "Well?" Felicia was leaning on her lump of clay,
staring at me as though she knew something I didn't. A little smile played on
her lips.
    "I'm going to his house to go over the photos he
took," I told her. "He wants my professional opinion."
    "And is he going to stick his tongue in your twat
again?"
    I'm so proud I didn't blush at that. "We left that
open-ended," I said. I gulped a few more mouthfuls of beer and got up.
"See you on the flip side, ladies."
    "Don't trip and fall on his cock by accident!" she
shouted after me as I closed the door.
    Don't worry, I thought. It won't be by accident.
     
    *
     
    I rang Malcolm Ward's doorbell about ten times before trying the
knob and finding the house open. Reasoning that I'd been invited over, I let
myself inside and shut the door behind me.
    Immediately the claustrophobic atmosphere descended on me again.
So much stuff, everywhere. There weren't actually piles of shit on the floor,
but there were so many end tables and foyer tables from the beginning of the
last century piled high with junk that there might as well have been. I allowed
myself to stop and inspect the incredibly valuable sculpture he had just sitting inside his unlocked door where anyone could waltz in and take it, but the
press of things on all sides and the musty smell of antiques soon drove
me to the stairs.
    I took them two at a time. "Mr. Ward?" I called at
each landing until, faintly, I heard him from the fourth floor.
    "Come up!" he yelled down.
    I sprinted up the steps to the fourth floor and breathed a sigh
of relief when I walked out into another large room like the one at the top of
the house. This one was completely empty save for a luxurious bed at the back
end and a desk at the front, looking out onto the street. Large windows let
light stream in from the cloudy day outside, and Malcolm Ward was sitting at
the desk, staring intently at the computer he had set up there.
    My God. I was in his bedroom.
    It's cool, I thought. I'd been in plenty of bedrooms
before, most of them not even attached to either me or my partner. I'd just
play it like I was totally fine. Because I was.
    Totally fine.
    Straightening my spine, I strode across the floor toward
Malcolm, the low heels of my boots clacking on the wood. I couldn't quite make
out what was on the computer screen since it was backlit against the windows. I
squinted at it as I drew closer. Blurry lines slowly resolved until I was
halfway to him, and then I suddenly realized what they were.
    He was looking at pictures of me on his computer.
    ...Well, of course he was.
    My footsteps slowed as I found myself overcome by embarrassment,
seeing my face plastered across the screen. Then he began to zoom out, and I
realized this was one of the pictures he'd taken as I'd slipped my panties off.
My naked body came into view and I ground to a halt, halfway to the desk. Ward
sat in his chair, hunched over and staring intently at the monitor. He didn't
even