Love on Landing (10 page)

Maybe she simply thought the sculpture was pretty.

They stopped next in a room full of paintings of ballet dancers. Tali sighed quietly as she walked around the room examining the artwork. Gavin couldn't help but study her instead of the art hanging on the wall. Sure the paintings were beautiful, but this woman in front of him was the most interesting thing in the museum.

She was so expressive as she gazed at a painting of a little girl in a fluffy tutu. Her eyes narrowed then widened as she scanned the entire painting up close before stepping back and tilting her head to the side. He watched as her fingers stroked her lips as she stood there, lost in her own world.

If he could have taken a picture of that moment, he could have hung the photo on the wall alongside the most famous pictures and it would have stood out as one of the most captivating. Watching her stole his breath.

"You're not looking at the art," she said, finally coming out of her dreamlike state to take note of him.

He smiled. "I am, just not the paintings."

"You can be very charming when you want to be. You know that, right?"

"Of course I do. And I use it to my advantage as often as possible." He took her hand, leading her out of the room and across the hall to a bench before pulling her down to sit with him. She sighed, leaning into his shoulder. His chest grew tight with affection. How was it possible to feel this after only knowing her a short amount of time? How was it possible his opinion of her could change so drastically between when she'd first yelled at him in the cockpit to now, sitting on a bench in the middle of a museum discussing art?

"It feels good to rest. I can't believe we've been here a couple of hours already." She covered her mouth as she yawned her words. "I think the lack of sleep is starting to catch up to me."

"We can go if you want. I've seen enough art for one day."

"No," she answered quickly. "I want to see the rest."

He nodded and laid his arm across her shoulders. If she wanted to stay, he'd stay too. But first he had a question. "So what's with you and your interest in art? It seems like this stuff all means a hell of a lot more to you than the average person."

She shrugged. "I don't know. I love looking at the brushstrokes, and the colors and the composition. It's fascinating to see what choices the artist made and then try to figure out why. Don't you think?"

He laughed. "I usually think 'huh, that's nice' and then move on. I guess I'm not very artistic."

"Sorry, I know I stare at each of them too long." She ducked her head to look at her hands resting in her lap. "We can go whenever you're ready."

What? Who is this shy girl?

"No, we'll stay. I'm not criticizing you or anything. I'm only trying to understand. I didn't take you for the artistic type."

She stiffened beside him. "Why not? Because I'm too spoiled and self-centered to care about art? Because the only thing someone like me could ever be passionate about is shopping?"

Whoa.

"Well, you have to admit the first impression you put out there in the world isn't as someone who cares deeply about art. Unless of course the art is draped over a model as they strut down the runway or splashed across the pages of your favorite tabloid magazine."

"First impressions can be wrong you know."

"True. And my first impression of you definitely was wrong. But you can't fault me for seeing what you put out there." He stroked his hand across her shoulder, trying to ease the tension causing her shoulders to rise up around her ears. "I'm trying so hard to figure out who you really are, Tali. That's all."

"I'm just me—spoiled, shopaholic, and sometimes artistic with a hearty dose of bitchy when necessary. And just so you know, I do read more than just tabloid magazines. Got it?"

"Got it." He laughed. "So tell me, since you love art so much, do you create any art yourself?"

"Not really. I'm usually so busy I don't have any time to sit and sketch or paint… or even
think
about art." She got up from the bench and pulled Gavin up beside her. "Come on. I've had my fill of art for the day. Let's go."

Gavin followed Tali out of the museum and out onto the street. "Where to now?"

"The river. I never get tired of walking along the Seine."

He walked with her in silence for a while, unsure of what to say. If she wanted to create art, why didn't she make time to do what she was most passionate about? Hell, she was so rich there was no way she actually needed to work. Didn't she have ample time to sit and draw or paint until her heart was content as could be? Surely, if anyone had the ability to make time for their passions in life, it was someone as wealthy as Tali.

They stopped along the pathway and gazed out over the river, watching as one of the many tour boats floated by. He loved to look at the city. He felt so comfortable and familiar with the city after having been here a few times before. Paris was a place he could imagine calling home if the situation was right.

The old stone buildings, the cobblestone roads, the smell of crepes and coffee in the air—all were things he could imagine immersing himself in if he decided to settle down somewhere. Of course, he didn't see that happening anytime soon if he were going to continue as an on-call private pilot for people like Tali and her family.

No, the only way that would happen was if he one day managed to create his own charter company. He'd always loved the idea, but he also knew he had many years of hard work ahead of him before his dream would ever be possible.

What was Tali's dream? Did she have one? Maybe her dream was simply to go on shopping sprees at all the finest designers in all the most famous cities.

He glanced at Tali, expecting she would be taking in the sights of the river and city as he was, but that's not what he found. Instead of paying any attention to the beautiful architecture and scenery, she was watching an artist as he stroked paint across a canvas.

"Why don't you paint, too?" he asked, referring to the painter she was so obviously interested in.

Tali didn't respond. She simply tilted her head and nibbled on her bottom lip. She appeared to be concentrating so deeply she didn't hear him speak. That, or she was ignoring him.

"Earth to Tali." He nudged her arm with his. "Hey, you okay?"

Tali blinked rapidly before turning her eyes on him. "What was that?"

"I tried to talk to you and it was as if you didn't even hear a single word I said."

"Sorry. I guess I got lost in thought watching the artist paint. His brush strokes are amazing. His work should be hanging in a gallery somewhere if it isn't already."

Gavin smiled. Seeing Tali passionate about something made him relaxed and at peace. When she talked about painting, or any art in general, it was as if something inside of her started to glow, radiating out of her through every pore.

"What was it you were trying to talk to me about?" She looked away from the painter and started walking along the pathway again, kicking at loose stones with the tip of her shoes.

"I was curious about why you're not working on any art while you're here. Or maybe why you're not painting as a full-time thing. You seem to love creating art. Seems like everywhere we go, you find something to look at like it's a masterpiece."

"I just like pretty things." She shoved her hands into her coat pockets. "I love painting, but it's a hobby for once in a while when I have free time, which sadly isn't as often as you might think."

"Why not? You had free time enough to drop everything once you got dumped and run off to Paris. How do you not have time to do a little painting?"

"Gee, thanks for that. You can be a real jerk sometimes, you know that?"

"Listen, I didn't mean to be a jerk. I'm just trying to understand. If you love art so much and being creative and seeing the beauty in everything is such a big part of your life, and you're rich, why aren't you doing what you love all the time? I don't understand."

"Just because I'm rich doesn't mean I don't have responsibilities you know. In fact, I think a lot of the time rich people have even more responsibility dumped on them than the average person."

Gavin laughed. He couldn't help it. She was completely ridiculous. There was no way someone as rich as Tali, who had as much time and money at their disposal as they could possibly want, could ever be as stuck down with responsibility as the average person was. She was flat out delusional.

He shook his head. "No way. Nope. You will never convince me that's true."

"That what's true? That I have responsibilities? Does the thought blow your mind so much when you realize maybe I could be like you in some way?"

"No. I know you're a lot like me. Our fiery personalities constantly clashing is simply one example. I can't see why you aren't doing what you love to do when you have the resources to do whatever you want to do whenever you want to do it."

Tali sighed. "Because I don't have that. Believe it or not, I don't get to do whatever I want, whenever I want. There are things expected of me because of who I am. And those are things I can't ignore, no matter how much I might want to."

"Like what? I'm trying really hard to understand, but I don't get it. You have so much more freedom than everyone else from the everyday bullshit of life."

Tali stopped walking and stood with her hands folded across her chest. "Freedom, huh? Freedom like being forced to take four years of business school I had no desire to take in the first place. Like having to maintain a 3.8 GPA so as not to disgrace the family. Or, how about the fact I'm now being 'groomed' to run the family business one day even though I feel like pulling out my eyelashes one at a time every single day I'm forced to go in to the office."

"What is your family's business involved with exactly?"

"Global marketing and logistics for exporting and importing sustainable products."

"Wow. That's a mouthful. Is the work interesting?"

"Not really. It's important work, but I can't seem to get excited about doing everything the job entails. I sit in meetings discussing things. A lot."

Gavin swallowed. Well, that didn't sound as luxurious of a lifestyle as he'd imagined her having. Maybe her life wasn't all fun and games and shopping trips. But couldn't she still make her own decisions about things?

"Okay, so it's not all shopping and fancy dinners, but don't you still get to have a mind of your own? Don't you still get any say in your life and how you spend your time?"

"Sure, I can say whatever I want. And maybe if I had some siblings, I'd be able to do whatever I want too. But I'm the only Radcliff child in line to take over when my father is ready to retire. There's no way he'd ever sell the business and he would never leave the company to someone who wasn't his own flesh and blood."

There had to be a way for Tali to do what she loved and what she was obligated to do, too. Couldn't there be a balance?

"Can't you work at the business part time and do your art the rest of the time?"

"You don't understand, Gavin. Let it go."

"No. You need to stand up for yourself and do what makes you happy instead of what everyone else wants you to do. You have no reason not to. Tell your family the truth about how you feel and I'm sure they'll understand."

"No, they won't. I don't have one of those television show families where everyone understands and everything is perfectly peachy in thirty minutes. Back off about it already."

Gavin thought back to all the shopping they'd done the day before and suddenly Tali's love for fashion made perfect sense. She hadn't been looking at those clothes as an impulse buy, she looked at them with respect for the artist who had created them. Art was her dream, her passion—she had to do it.

He couldn't even imagine what his life would be like if he wasn't allowed to do the thing he was most passionate about—flying. If he were forced to sit in stuffy meetings all day, it would be utter torture. Is that how Tali felt every day?

Rubbing his hands up and down Tali's arms, he tried to comfort her, tried to make her understand he had her best interests in mind. "Just do what you love and everything else will fall into place once you're actually happy."

"Who said I'm not happy?" She challenged, getting right in his face. So close to him that if he really wanted, he could kiss her without much effort. She was pretty hot when she was all hot-tempered.

"You did." He laughed. He couldn't help it. Damn she was strong-willed. She didn't make anything easy, ever.

"I did not. I said I have obligations. I guess a free spirit like you doesn't know what it means to have obligations to anyone other than yourself. And don't you dare laugh at me. My life, my problems, are not a joke."

"I never said they were. But it's about time you stopped acting like some poor tortured soul and realize you are in a position to take your own life in your hands. You whine, but you really have no reason to."

"You need to stop making assumptions about things you know nothing about." She shook her head and Gavin could see tears pooling in her eyes. "I don't know what I was thinking last night. I really must have had too much wine with that peasant dinner you forced me to eat. I can't believe I would let myself be with someone who is so clueless about what life is really like."

"Don't blame last night on the alcohol. And don't you dare imply I took advantage of you. You loved what we did last night. Seems like you have trouble admitting how you really feel about everything. Maybe you should stop pretending for a change and be who you really are for once—stop hiding and blaming everyone else for your place in life and maybe you'd finally let yourself be happy."

Tali wiped away a tear with the back of her hand. Damn. His chest constricted at the sight of the lonely tear and the knowledge he was the reason it was there. Why did he always say things to make her cry?

"I'm sorry," he started, pulling her into a tight embrace. "I shouldn't have said that."

Tali stiffened in his arms. "Get your hands off of me."

He peered down at her, not loosening his grip. "Tali, really—I'm sorry. That was uncalled for and I didn't mean to make you cry again."