“Drew.” She breathed his name, like she had earlier beneath him, her face flushed, her eyes glistening. She shifted closer, and he held her safe in his arms. He wouldn’t waste a minute of this.
I don’t need to tell her now. Later. Later I’ll tell her I’m leaving.
Drusilla Junior’s persistent meows and her rhythmic scratching at the gate woke Athena during the coldest part of the night.
Beside her on the pillow, Drew slept through it all. In the dim light filtering through the curtains, his every feature made him look like an antique Greek statue, except with astonishing eyelashes.
Where did they go from here? Did they need to talk about the future? What would happen when her father returned soon?
No! I want nothing to mar this new beginning. Later. Later, we’ll talk.
She snuggled closer, spooning their bodies together, and promptly fell asleep again.
A tiny beeping sound made her open her eyes and blink. Had she imagined it?
Another tiny beep and she realized it had to be coming from the watch on Drew’s wrist, positioned under her left breast.
She glanced at the small clock on her bedside table and sat straight up in bed. “Oh, no, I’m late for Pandora’s Box.”
He stretched, muscles rippling across his shoulders. “What time is it?”
“Nine-ten.”
“Christ, I need to be at Clayworth’s.”
Both naked, covers tangled around their waists, they stared at each other. Drew had the strangest look on his face, almost disbelief. His eyes were definitely letting her in, and his lower lip looked so kissable she couldn’t resist nibbling on it.
“Go! Shower is in the hall bathroom unless you want to join me in the tub.”
“Yeah, I do,” he growled, nuzzling her neck.
Trying to be mature, she gently pushed him away. “Can’t. Go shower. Meet you at the front door in twenty minutes.”
She scurried out of bed, bathed, dressed, and met him in the hallway in record time. She didn’t know if she should be embarrassed, or weepy with joy, or if she should try to appear nonchalant.
She’d always been the one who could say something witty in the middle of most long silences. But at the moment, words failed her.
Drew solemnly uttering “We need to talk” broke the spell.
Refusing to let anything spoil this moment, this pinch-myself-to-prove-this-isn’t-a-dream new beginning, she put one palm over his warm lips. “No. If you’re embarrassed, I don’t want to hear it. And I certainly don’t want to hear that you had a fine time but making love with me wasn’t all you’d thought it would be.”
She knew it wasn’t true.
He stopped her nonsense with his lips on her mouth. “Christ, Athena, you’re perfect. I’m worn out.” He chuckled against her ear. “However, I feel myself reviving.”
“Far be it from me to deflate the vaunted Clayworth ego. You were pretty spectacular yourself.” Again, she forced herself to be mature and gently push him away. “Now go do good deeds. Call me later.”
She watched him run down the steps and climb into his Porsche. Only when the car, with its low roar like a lion suffering a sore throat, rounded the corner did Athena go inside to turn her phones back on and reluctantly return to stark reality.
An edge of concern bit into her bliss when she saw Venus had called her on both phones every five minutes between five and six last night. Plus she’d sent a text demanding to know what Athena was doing and where she was and why she wasn’t returning her calls about a lead on Bertha’s dresses.
Of course the dresses were important. She shoved away the guilt. Just not as important as being with Drew.
Half an hour later, Athena rushed into Pandora’s Box, welcomed by Venus’s look of stunned disbelief.
“I can’t believe you didn’t race right over here when you got my message. I kept Mrs. Strong here for as long as I could last night.”
“Sorry. I was buried under unfinished business.” She remembered the weight of Drew’s body pressing down on her, and hot desire curled through every cell of her body. She took a deep breath and blinked away the image. “What makes you so sure Mrs. Strong is a lead to the Bertha Palmer dresses?”
“She practically described the champagne gown with the train when she was trying to explain what jewelry she wanted to purchase.”
“Is she coming back?” Athena mustered interest for her once overpowering need to find the missing gowns. Of course she still worried that others might become infected, but the concern had been buried under her hot anticipation and desire to spend every free moment with Drew, thinking about him, making love to him. The intimacy of two consenting adults trying to build a meaningful relationship.
“I told her I would bring in the perfect jewelry for her, so I could get a promise that she’ll be back tomorrow or the next day. I tried, but I couldn’t get an address or a phone number out of her. Are you all right?” Venus asked. “You look like you have a fever.”
Her core temperature was still at a sexual high after hours of bliss, but she couldn’t share yet with Venus. She wouldn’t understand.
Athena shook her head. “No, I’m fine, really. Just disappointed about Mrs. Strong. But I’m sure we’ll get another chance with her.” She looked away, straightening a piece of jewelry on the table, trying to appear nonchalant even though her heart pounded and her pulse raced.
Loving Venus, I promise, soon, very soon, there won’t be any need for lies.
CHAPTER
It had been the longest day of Drew’s life. Between Clayworth’s, overseeing the transport of his boat, and keeping in touch with Ed about the dead-end investigation into Bertha’s dresses, which yielded the fact that they probably would never find the thief, he hadn’t seen Athena. Clayworth’s would be in Connor’s capable hands. He had already changed all the alarms at the Secret Closet and dealt with the police. Drew was half convinced that Bertha’s dresses had been destroyed or hidden away somewhere and couldn’t hurt anyone else. And finally his boat was ready for its journey to England.
By two o’clock Thursday morning, the mast was down and the keel removed off his Wally 80. His special license in the windshield, Drew followed the trailer to O’Hare Airport in the middle of the night as required by law.
He watched his boat being placed into the belly of a Russian Tubeloff Transport to be flown to England, where it would be reassembled and made ready for the Fastnet.
Tomorrow he’d be joining it.
Today he’d be with Athena again.
After the black tie dinner, they’d go back to her carriage house and make love in her bedroom. So like her. Her breezy charm, her passion for old-fashioned elegance in a sometimes inelegant world.
Then he’d tell her everything. He’d tell her about the Fastnet.
And then he’d tell her he loved her. Had always loved her but had been too young, too stupid, and too afraid to admit it.
Athena sat listening to yet another voicemail from Drew apologizing for being too busy to see her until tonight. Makayla strolled into the Costume Collection office in the middle of it.
Makayla lowered her eyebrows and shook her head so hard her ponytail slapped her on the cheek. “You guys need to talk. Maybe you should write in to ‘Ask Rebecca.’ I have a friend who did, and Rebecca gave her awesome advice about how guys will tell you anything to get what they want, but it’s their actions that show their real feelings.” Makayla’s eyes widened. “Unless you’re taking my advice, after all, and like making him fall in love with you and then dumping him.”