Janelle Denison - Too Wilde to Tame

"What are these drawings for, anyway?" he asked curiously.

She hesitated for a moment, just long enough to make him think she wasn't going to answer his question. Then she met his gaze and trusted him with something that was obviously very personal for her.

"I create stained-glass art from these designs," she replied as her fingers played with the silk sash tied around her waist. "I even have a degree in 3D glasswork."

He couldn't have been more stunned. "Really?"

She nodded, a wry grin tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Yes, much to my father's dismay. He was hoping for a business degree of some sort, so that was a huge disappointment for him. But I really wanted to give my glass artwork a shot."

"Once you graduated, why didn't you?"

"Oh, I definitely tried," she said and combed a hand through her disheveled hair. "When I came back home after college, my brothers were in need of a secretary, so I took the job, thinking it would be a temporary thing. Except being family, I get paid very well, which makes it very hard to just outright quit and start a new career on my own. Either that, or the inflated pay was a calculated attempt to keep me in the family business."

Cameron highly suspected the latter, that this was her brothers' way of protecting Mia and keeping an eye on her.

"So I decided maybe I could incorporate my stained-glass designs into the business," she went on. "Maybe offer it on the side for customers and companies who were looking for something unique and different to compliment their new tile or restoration work, and let things build from there."

"That's a great idea," he said enthusiastically.

"I thought so, too, but Scott, and even my father, disagreed." A look of tired defeat passed over her features. "They both felt there wasn't a big enough market for my artwork, and that easily, the idea was dismissed."

Cameron absently ran his thumb beneath his lower lip, wondering if her brother and father believed they were making a decision that was in her best interest, a way of protecting her from possible failure. That certainly seemed like the Wilde family way when it came to Mia.

"So now I create the stained-glass artwork and designs for me, as an outlet and for gifts," she said, seemingly resigned to that fate.

He'd been impressed with her drawings and designs and pictures. Now he wanted to see the completed product. "Do you have any of the stained-glass art that are finished and I can see?"

She rolled her eyes. "Do I ever! I've got dozens I've made and have stored in the closet and beneath the bed, but if you're just being polite about your interest, I'd rather not drag them out."

This last bit was said almost defensively, and her chin had even lifted a notch. But beneath that stubborn act was a woman with real and deep insecurities, along with the inability to believe in herself when it truly mattered.

Reaching out, he touched a finger to her chin and slowly lowered it, telling her without words that she had no reason to put on a tough act with him, because he was beginning to see right through that facade. "My interest is genuine, Mia, or I wouldn't have asked," he said gently. "Can I please see your stained-glass art?"

This time, she didn't fight him. "All right."

She turned around and he watched as she got on her hands and knees next to the bed, then reach beneath it, treating him to a spectacular view of her curvaceous backside covered in slippery silk. For a moment, all thoughts of her artwork fled and his interest drifted in an entirely wicked direction. Luckily, before he acted on the carnal fantasies heating his blood and making him hard, she stood back up and lifted a large plastic container up onto the mattress.

Exhaling a low, harsh breath, and putting his own desires on the back burner for the time being, he stepped up beside Mia as she tossed aside the lid and withdrew a carefully secured panel of stained-glass art. She removed the bubble wrap, revealing a stunning piece of artwork that exceeded even his own expectations.

He took in the array of colorful orchids that were tied off with flowing ribbon, all made out of shards of cut glass, and found himself completely in awe of just how gifted Mia truly was. She showed him a celestial design, a fairy with golden blond curls and shimmering wings sitting in a meadow of wildflowers, and an intricately designed dream catcher. All the pieces were breathtakingly beautiful, with rich hues, a vibrant kaleidoscope of colors, and striking jewel tones. Bright. Alive. Passionate.

Just like the woman who'd created them.

He was so impressed with her artistic ability and that she'd managed to keep it hidden from everyone except her family and close friends. "Mia… these are incredible."

"Do you really think so?" She bit on her bottom lip.

He nodded sincerely. "Yeah, I really do."

She shifted on her bare feet, and he wondered what was going through that mind of hers. Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long to find out.

She looked up at him, a tentative smile shining through her bout of uncertainty. "There's something else I'd like to show you. Designs no one else has ever seen."

He couldn't imagine anything more sensational than what she'd just shared with him, but he watched quietly as she went to her closet, opened the door, and stepped inside the spacious area. Standing on the tip of her toes, which caused the hem of her robe to ride high on her thighs, she grabbed another container from a top shelf and brought it back to the bed.

Inside was more stained-glass artwork, just as meticulously crafted, lovingly detailed, and exquisite as all the other pieces. She carefully picked up a panel that depicted a peacock with its tail fanned out in full bloom-an intricately designed piece that was created in an array of arresting hues. She held it up to her bedroom window, and the morning sunlight shone through the stained glass, throwing prisms of bold, rich blues, greens, and golds flickering across the walls and ceiling.

Stunned by the dazzling, radiant display, Cameron could only stare in silent amazement.

"What do you see in this design?" Mia asked, her excitement nearly tangible.

He laughed, because it was so obviously a peacock. "Is this a trick question?"

She gave him one of those sassy looks of hers, along with an infectious grin. "Maybe."

Bracing his hands on his hips, he shrugged. "Okay, I see a peacock."

"Very funny, wise guy." She scrunched her pert little nose up at him, though that did nothing to diminish the laughter glimmering in her slate-gray eyes. "Do you see anything else?"

Realizing she was serious, he narrowed his gaze and looked hard , studying the cuts of glass and the metal casings around each shard as he tried to figure out what he was missing.

He was about to give up when it finally happened. Like one of those 3D magic eye illusions, where if a person stared long enough at a picture a hidden object within the image slowly came into focus, as was the case with this particular piece of Mia's stained-glass artwork.

Then again, he supposed his eyes could be playing tricks on him, because she was insisting that something was there. Still, he went ahead and told her what he thought he saw. "Is that an image of a naked woman along the peacock's feathers?"

"You see it?" she asked, the disbelief in her tone mingling with a dose of excitement. "You really see it?"

He chuckled, enjoying her girlish exuberance. "Either that, or it was a damn good guess. But what I see, other than the peacock, is right here." He stepped closer to the panel and used his finger to trace the slim silhouette of woman, from her tipped back head and flowing hair, to her high, full breasts, and down her long, lean body.