With a mischievous smile, Rebecca swept out.
CHAPTER
On Sunday, bleary-eyed from lack of sleep, Athena perched on her large blue velvet antique settee in the sitting room of her carriage house. Well, really, how could she sleep a wink when she knew Rebecca must be up to something and Athena had made a deal with the devil? Well, Drew wasn’t the devil. Worse. He continued to be the source of her misery. No, no, not misery. Disillusionment. Disappointment.
Oh, for goodness’ sake, just stop thinking about him.
She tried to focus on the buildup to Talk of the Town as her sisters sprawled around her, sipping Veuve Clicquot mimosas to celebrate the spectacular opening of Pandora’s Box.
The show’s catchy theme song shocked Athena’s heavy eyelids back open.
“Here it comes,” Diana breathed, turning up the volume with the remote.
The second Athena heard Rebecca say, “Good morning, darlings!” her heart thumped against her ribs.
What is Rebecca going to do, and how will it impact my deal with Drew?
She tried to concentrate on how beautiful her sisters looked on TV and how sure of themselves they sounded. Best of all, Pandora’s looked like a jewel box of delights, just as they’d hoped.
When the show broke for a commercial, Athena took a deep breath into her starving lungs. Until then she hadn’t realized she’d barely been breathing.
Venus groaned. “I dressed to show off my jewelry. Do my new Marc Jacobs skirt and top make me look fat?”
“You aren’t fat!” her long-suffering sisters shouted in unison.
Athena knew Venus had been battling her sweet tooth since she turned three and grew tall enough to climb on a chair to get to the cookie jar.
“Good. Then I can have more of this.” Smiling, Venus topped off her freshly squeezed orange juice with more champagne.
Athena guzzled a bit more champagne than she should have herself, trying to cool the hot ache of anticipation boiling in her stomach.
The instant Rebecca came back onscreen, looking at the camera in such a “girlfriends telling secrets” way, Athena knew the moment had come.
“Here’s a fun, sexy quiz for you.” Rebecca smiled. “Who are the two outrageously wealthy, impossibly attractive, brilliant, exciting renaissance men who attended the grand opening of Pandora’s Box? I’ll give you a few clues. One teaches sailing to underprivileged teens, and one is a mentor to juvenile defendants. One owns adorable dogs. And as you will soon see, one has a way with cats.”
Rebecca shook her head, and her sleek blond hair fell charmingly around her small ears. “I know, darlings, they sound too good to be true. And much too interesting to keep you guessing until next week. So here they are.”
Athena sucked in the same sharp, short breath she had yesterday when the Clayworth men strolled into the store. She couldn’t take her eyes off Drew as he walked toward the camera and Phil had panned to the two of them. Drew stroking Drusilla Junior, gazing at Athena and her gazing right back, as if they were alone in the room. She’d read about out-of-body experiences. Surely seeing and feeling the attraction to Drew all over again came close to one.
In the interest of nondisclosure, she ignored the stunned looks her sisters threw her and concentrated on what Rebecca was saying.
“Yes, you’ve guessed it. Drew Clayworth and his cousin Connor O’Flynn, the perennial most eligible men in Chicago.” The camera panned on each of their sensual faces.
Athena had purposely not watched them leave, but the cameraman had caught it on tape. Drew paused at the door to look back. For some reason, his face relaxed and his lips curled in the briefest of smiles before he turned and left. A rush of hot curiosity made her shiver. She had the oddest wish to know what or who had made him happy. Once, long ago, she’d believed she had the power to do that.
“I’ve told you that Pandora’s Box is dedicated to the Smith sisters’ late mother, Ann. You might know Athena, Venus, and Diana owe their unusual names to their father, Alistair’s, passion for Roman and Greek goddess mythology. I’m sure our darling Smith sisters were told about Plato’s claim that our earliest ancestors were born hermaphroditic and so powerful they threatened the gods, who punished them by cleaving each being in half. From then on, Plato said humans have longed for their other half, and when one finds it, love happens. I can’t wait to see these commitment-phobic Clayworth men meet their better halves.”
Rebecca’s mischievous smile lit up the screen. “Remember, if you can’t keep a secret, tell me. I always change the names to protect the guilty. The innocent don’t need protecting. See you next week, darlings!”
Athena couldn’t turn off the television fast enough. “Well, that was lovely. I’ll go fix brunch.”
“Hey, wait a minute!” Venus called after her. Curiosity blazed in her eyes. “What was that between you and Drew? You both looked mesmerized by each other.”
Always a pro at hiding the truth about Drew, Athena laughed. “There is nothing mesmerizing about my deal with Drew. Maybe he was mesmerized by Junior.”
Hearing her name, Junior looked up from licking her paws and pranced over to rub against Athena before settling in Diana’s lap.
She stroked her and stared up at Athena from the floor. “I remember the summer you broke your ankle and had to stay off it for months. Every weekend we were at the Clayworth estate swimming at their private beach, Drew stayed on the sand, reading with you. I always thought you were more than friends, different than the rest of us. What happened? All of a sudden it was like you didn’t know each other.”
Athena shrugged away the bitter memories. “He’s a Clayworth. Obviously he can’t even commit to a friendship.”
Diana gazed up at her with a fey sort of knowledge beyond her years. “Drew was always different than the others.”
Venus sprawled on the settee, her apricot hair falling out of its untidy topknot. “Drew is certainly different than his cousin Connor. Drew is gorgeous and charming, while Connor is so uptight I don’t know how he moves without squeaking. I shudder for their better halves if they ever find them. Actually, I remember Dad telling us about Plato’s theory, but I don’t know how I feel about it. What if you were attracted to someone you loathed? Knew he was absolutely the worst person on the planet for you, but every time you saw him you wanted to rip his clothes off?”
“Or if you were torn between two men and loved both of them.” Diana’s large eyes glistened in her small face. “What do you think, Athena?”
I found him too young, and he walked away from me.
To get off the hook, she laughed. “I think Venus is too hard on Connor. Yes, he can be a bit stiff at times. But he’s an absolute doll with his aunt Bridget, and she adores him, so he must have some redeeming qualities.”
Venus laughed and threw the exquisitely embroidered pillow of bright red poppies at Athena. “All right. I admit that. But both Drew and Connor are full of themselves, so I don’t feel sorry for the poor little rich men. Connor’s mother is one of the biggest snobs in Chicago, but, sure, Bridget is an original. Drew?” She shrugged. “He’s always been the enigma. Still waters run deep and all of that. Back me up here, Athena.”
Both her sisters looked at her.
They have no idea Drew was my first love. Lately, memories of her secret, scary, sexy feelings for Drew flashed through her mind. She knew she looked flushed. Could feel the warmth seeping through her pores. Always it had been her giveaway around Drew. Her fighting the forbidden attraction.