Naughty Match

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 20

FINAL EPISODE

…

There was no way I was telling him I was her boss, and while the term boyfriend felt juvenile in comparison to my feelings for her, I had no other option. “I’m her boyfriend.”

Mr. Reed frowned. “What do you do, Mr. Quinn?”

I briefly wondered how long his questioning would last. “I’m an artist. A painter, actually.”

He said nothing for a few moments, choosing instead to size me up with his steel blue gaze

before letting out a humorless bark of laughter. “My daughter is accustomed to a certain way of life, Mr. Quinn. Are you telling me you can provide her with that on an artist’s salary.”

“Rosie doesn’t need me to provide her with anything. She’s perfectly capable of taking care of herself.” I hardened my gaze.

Mr. Reed snorted as if he didn’t believe me, I continued. “That woman showed up to Miami with

$100 to her name and still somehow managed to survive, no thanks to you.”

“That may be, but Rosaline would have never had to leave home had she done what she was supposed to.” He sat up higher in the bed. “That girl has always had trouble seeing the bigger picture.”

I was getting angrier by the second. He knew nothing about Rosie. His own goddamned daughter was a complete mystery to him.

“With all due respect, sir, I think you’re full of shit.” “Excuse me!” His offense was almost comical.

“You don’t know your daughter at all. The only person who has trouble seeing what’s right in front of them, is you.”

The man in front of me stopped, his breathing deepening a bit. I knew he was calculating his next move. Trying desperately to get me to see Rosie and I were no good together. Hoping my exit from her life would cart her back into his. He was pathetic.

“She has a fiancé, you know.” He folded his hands in his lap. “One who, I’m sure, wouldn’t care much to see her running after some lousy, two- bit wannabe-“

I was finished with this conversation.

“You’re a sorry son of a bitch.” I shook my head. “I’m beginning to think you’re just too goddamned stupid to get it.” I stalked closer to him, my face a mask of rage. “There’s nothing that can tear me from that woman. Not some piece of shit ex and definitely not your flimsy attempts at dominance. She’s the only one who has the power to keep me away from her.”

He smirked. “Oh, we’ll see about that.”

I leaned down towards him, forcing him to stare into my eyes. “We sure will. Especially if you even think about contacting her again with anything less than reverence and apologies on those lips of yours. We’ll see what this lousy, two- bit wannabe will do to protect the woman he loves.”

I straightened up just as Melissa returned to the room with a tray of food.

“You think about what I said, Mr. Reed.” I made for the door. “Have a speedy recovery, now.”

Rosie and I left the Reed estate with little fanfare and no goodbyes. As we made the trek home, I couldn’t help but be grateful for that son of a bitch father of hers. I wanted to kill him for his cowardice and mistreatment of her, but I was grateful it had brought her to me.

Rosaline Reed, in all her glory, was the best person I had ever known. She came into my life, burning bright and hot, filling me with more passion than I had ever felt, giving me things I didn’t know I needed.

She had helped me find inspiration and true purpose and while I knew she still felt lost, slightly adrift in a world where she wasn’t quite sure where she fit, I knew I would always be there. To help her and support her with everything I had.

Rosie changed me, from the very first time she showed up to my warehouse, her eyes full of determination. I wasn’t sure I truly believed in destiny, but as fucking sappy as it sounded, I knew she and I had been fated to find each other.

I reached over and grasped one of her hands. “I love you, Rosaline.”

She smiled over at me, her hair whipping in the wind as we drove along the California coast. “I know.” She kissed the back of my hand. “I love you too, Mr. Quinn.”

………………..

6 Months later

………………..

Rosie

“Will you be still!” I pinched Nora’s arm as she shifted from side to side next to me.

“I can’t help it, this is so exciting!”

The Miami Museum of Contemporary Art had contacted Dex about putting one of his paintings on display not long after we got back from California. The bastard refused to tell me what piece they chose, stating that he wanted it to be a surprise. I had no idea what he was up to, but I was proud as hell of him.

MMCA was one of the most prestigious art museums in the country and the fact that one of Dex’s pieces had been chosen seemed almost surreal. He was in the studio for countless hours

perfecting it, shooing me away or making me promise not to sneak any peeks from my perch in the office.

I agreed, of course, and while it had been hard as hell not to look when I was left alone in the studio, I refrained somehow. Waiting eagerly for the day when I could lay eyes on the thing he had been working so hard on.

“Some champagne for the two most beautiful ladies in the room.” Cam returned to our sides, carrying two flute glasses filled with bubbly.

“I don’t know.” I chuckled. “She’s pretty hot.” I pointed over to a large sculpture of a naked woman standing a few feet away from us.

“Not as hot as my Nora though.” He wrapped his arms around Nora’s trim waist for a second before she pushed him off.

“Ugh!” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be obnoxious, Cameron.”

“Don’t be such a snob, baby girl.”

I smiled as the two of them exchanged sly grins. They had barely spent a night apart since the first time I caught him at Nora’s apartment. Their banter was as legendary as their fights, but

they seemed to suit each other well. I couldn’t have been happier for them. Plus, I had so much fun rubbing their relationship in Dex’s face.

“That smile on your face better be because you’re thinking of me.” My boyfriend’s deep voice startled me out of my thoughts.

“I was actually reminiscing about the good time my lover, James, and I had last night,” I replied, looking him up and down and thinking about how delicious he looked in his tuxedo. “Before you

interrupted me, of course.”

Dex flicked my nose before leaning close. “You’re pushing it, kid. Don’t go too far and wind up on my bad side.”

I gave him a peck on the lips. “You know I love your bad side, baby.”

He chuckled, wrapping an arm around my waist before the museum curator took the podium in front of the painting.

“It gives me great pleasure to have you all here for the unveiling of Dexter Quinn’s newest painting.” The audience clapped. “The piece will be housed here at the Miami Museum of Contemporary Art for the indefinite future.” Another round of applause before the curator

cleared his throat again. “I present to you…” He motioned towards the assistant, signaling him to remove the white cloth. “Rose in Bloom.”

My eyes watered immediately as I laid eyes on the painting; it was the one Dex had shown me all those months ago. The not- so abstract portrait of me covered in beautiful colors and half hidden by brushstrokes. It was still the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, next to Dex of course.

“I can’t believe you did this,” I whispered over to him. “I can’t believe you did this for me.”

“This is the least of what I would do for you, sweetheart. This is the least of what you deserve.”

I had gone from being a nameless Miami newcomer, begging for a chance at a new start, and desperate to forget where I came from to being immortalized in a beautiful museum, surrounded * by other works of amazing art.

I wasn’t done growing yet, I knew that. I still had things to figure out and plans to make. I wasn’t sure if I would ever be finished growing. All I knew was that I was happy. For the first time in my

life, I was* unabashedly, deliriously happy. Not just with my life, but with myself as well.

Being with Dex Quinn opened my eyes to what life could be: full of love and all the passion in the world. He could deny it all he wanted but he had changed me. From the first moment I laid eyes on him, I was changed. And while I knew the road ahead of me was long and filled with unknowns, I knew I had him. Forever by my side. Immortalized in the very beat of my heart…

THE END.