Текст книги "A black tie affair"

Автор книги: Sherrill Bodine

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 11 (всего у книги 13 страниц)

CHAPTER

16

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.”

Athena felt herself blush and prepared to say something profound. “As much as I appreciate your advice, I decided against it.” The extraordinarily determined glint in Makayla’s eyes worried Athena a little, but she couldn’t discuss the intimate details of her relationship with this young, impressionable girl. Although it was hard not to shout to the world, Thanks, Fates. Or maybe I kicked you in the butt—I’m where I want to be. With the man of my dreams, the love of my life.

She stopped herself, smiled, and uttered what she’d said hundreds of times to her sisters. “Don’t worry. I’m sure everything will work out.”

Makayla nodded. “Right. Actions speak louder than words. You wait and see.”

An hour before the black tie dinner, Athena and Makayla were both ready, waiting in the office to go downstairs to the exhibit hall, which had been transformed as she’d once tried to make Drew see. He still hadn’t arrived.

What will he think when he sees me in my black dress? The one I’ve worn only for him?

Happy Makayla had been here to get her into the dress, Athena smiled into the distance, dreaming about Drew getting her out of it.

“Bummer. I forgot my speech for when Miss Keene wants me to say a few words about my scholarship. I left it in the large Collection Room.” Makayla jumped to her feet, looking very young and hip in all black and biker boots. “Gotta go get it.”

Athena shook her head. “No, I’ll go. I’m so nervous I need to walk it off.”

Or see Drew a few minutes earlier than planned, dressed in black tie and coming up the staircase.

She didn’t see him, but she still floated down the steps, holding her dress by the elegant loop and dreaming about the moment when she would.

Drew, still fussing with his damn bow tie on the way up the staircase, saw Makayla waiting at the top.

“Hello—you look very pretty tonight.” He smiled into her watchful eyes. “Is Athena in her office?”

“No. Come with me. I know where to find Athena.”

She said it in such a stern, almost angry voice, he worried something might be wrong with Athena as he followed Makayla down into the bowels of the museum, where they’d gone the night they found the first Bertha Palmer dress.

Makayla opened the door, and he saw Athena obviously looking for something on the long table.

He stepped in to help her and heard the door lock behind him. He looked over his shoulder. “What the hell?”

Athena glanced up, a notebook in her hands.

“I believe your young intern locked us in here.” Amused more than concerned, he strolled toward Athena. He’d rather be here with her than at any party.

“Oh, no, she thinks she’s helping!” Athena rushed past him and tried the doorknob. It wouldn’t budge.

“Makayla, it’s all right,” she called through the wood. “Mr. Clayworth and I need to get upstairs.”

“You two need to talk first,” Makayla called back, the same note of urgency in her voice that she’d noticed earlier. “You have fifteen minutes before everyone arrives. I’ll be back in ten.”

Athena sighed, shrugging her beautiful shoulders. “She means well, really she does. The switchboard is shut down. Do you have your cell? I’ll call Leonard and get us out of here.”

“Now, why would I want such a thing?” Chuckling, Drew prowled toward her.

Laughing, she backed away. “Drew, stop it! You know how long it takes to get in and out of this dress.”

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” He swept a tangle of muslin off the table and lifted her up onto the edge, so they were gazing into each other’s eyes.

He kissed her warm forehead, her fluttering eyelids, and the soft skin at her throat, breathing in her scent.

“What is that perfume?” he muttered, nuzzling the valley between her breasts.

“Jicky,” Athena breathed with a little catch. “Supposedly Jackie O’s favorite. I should have asked when I saw her at the Secret Closet.”

His palms cupped the undersides of her breasts. Below the pit of his stomach, every organ tightened and grew.

“I love it… I love…”

The door creaked open and Makayla—crying, “I couldn’t stop them!”—rushed in, Venus and Diana on her heels.

Athena sucked in a sharp breath, her fingers tangled in his hair, and he froze with his hand cupping her breast.

“Athena, what are you doing?” Diana gasped.

“That’s obvious!” Venus stalked toward them. “I’d say unhand my sister, but she appears to be enjoying it.”

Prepared to handle this, Drew lifted Athena down from the table and held her protectively behind him, even through she struggled. “Venus, I want—”

“No, Drew.” Athena pushed in front of him. “She’s right. I should have told them.”

“I wish you had,” Diana sighed.

Venus tossed her hair over her shoulders. “The road to perdition is paved with good intentions, or some such cliché. You didn’t, so now we have this mess, Dad coming home any day, and Leticia Strong in Pandora’s Box not half an hour ago purchasing two pairs of Eisenberg Original earrings for two gowns. Shall I repeat that? Two gowns. She doesn’t know which one she’s wearing tonight. Is anyone else feeling the pressure here?”

He could get both gowns for Athena and protect Clayworth’s tonight before he left. He clasped Athena’s hand. “Yes. We’ll take care of it.”

Athena looked up at him, and everything fell in place. Together, they were stronger than apart.

“Yes, Venus, give me the address. Drew and I will take care of this.”

“You can’t have all the fun,” Venus insisted. “I’m going with you.”

“No, you’re not,” Athena ordered. “You and Diana are staying here to represent our family at the dinner.”

“And Connor will represent Clayworth’s.” Drew joined in.

“Joy!” Venus retorted, huffing and puffing and throwing her hair around.

“Don’t worry. We’ll do it,” Diana promised.

“And I’ll represent the Costume Collection, right?” Her brows lowered, the tiny diamond barely twinkling, Makayla gazed at Athena. “Are you, like, mad at me?”

Athena’s grip on his hand tightened, and the loving smile she gave Makayla spoke volumes.

“Like, I’m not mad, either.” Drew laughed, happier than he’d been in, Christ, he didn’t remember how long. “Now we’ll go find Bertha’s dresses and get them here where they belong.”

Leticia and Bertrum Strong lived in a crumbling mansion in the midst of overgrown, once magnificent grounds on Lake Michigan, only a few blocks from the Clayworth Compound in Lake Forest.

Athena and Drew had probably sailed past it dozens of times when they were young.

Before knocking on the door, she turned to look up at Drew beside her. Her partner. Her love. “If Leticia Strong has the gowns, we’ve found them all and no one has gotten hurt.”

“I know,” He pressed a kiss on the top of her head. “I’ve notified Lewis. Lake Forest Hospital is ready when and if I give the signal.”

I’ll never be alone again. We’re stronger together than apart.

Knowing it made her tingle all over as she pounded once with the brass knocker.

An older man answered the door, swinging a stunning pair of heavily jeweled Eisenberg Original earrings in one hand, and in the other he grasped the summer dress—black corded gauze with green and pink stripes over green taffeta that Athena had first examined in the top-secret closet.

Standing in the towering foyer, too stunned with relief to speak, Athena felt Drew sigh beside her.

A sound from above caused all of them to look up.

Leticia Strong glided down the sweeping staircase, wearing the champagne velvet gown Athena had lain beneath for an hour to become intoxicated with truthfulness.

Glassy-eyed like Shelby had been, Leticia appeared not to see anything but Bertrum, who gazed at her with complete and utter adoration.

“Bertrum, I love you. I’ve always loved you, but I was too stupid to know it. I want to be together again.”

Bertrum, visibly shaken, muttered, “Leticia, you haven’t looked at me like this for seventeen years.”

Leticia threw out her arms. “Honey bunny!”

Letting the earrings and dress drop to the floor, Bertrum stepped toward her. “Twinkle-toes! Shall we go up the golden staircase together again? It has long been my fondest wish.”

“Yes!” Leticia threw herself into his waiting arms.

Tears stung Athena’s eyes. Really, she should do something, but she wanted them to have this moment of bliss.

“I know, Athena, I want them to have this moment, too,” Drew whispered as if he’d read her mind, shared her feelings. “But we should do something.”

With real regret, Athena tried to get their attention. “I’m sorry, but you really shouldn’t be doing this in those clothes.”

Leticia, her chest heaving with emotion, turned absolutely clear eyes on her. “My dear child, this is exactly what we should be doing. Life is short, and our fates are in our own hands. We can’t recall our past choices, but we can learn from them. Seize the day, dear child. Seize the day! I certainly plan to do so from this moment on. Honey bunny,” she murmured, throwing herself back into Bertrum’s waiting arms, and they embraced with all the gusto of lovers half their ages.

The ambulance sirens were right outside on the circular driveway. Drew opened the door for them.

“We’ve dealt with this before,” Athena told the paramedics, who were staring at Bertrum and Leticia locked in a passionate embrace. “Just give us the gloves and masks and stand back.”

She threw a set to Drew, who, grinning from ear to ear, suited up and surrounded the couple with her.

“Leticia, we must go to the hospital now,” Athena called loudly, trying to get her attention.

Bertrum looked up, Leticia’s red lipstick smeared all over his face. “Are we playing dress-up again?”

“Yes.” Drew gripped his arm. “You lie down here on this stretcher and watch.”

“And you be the nurse over here.” Athena, holding Leticia’s hand, helped her onto the second stretcher. Athena placed the blanket over her. “We need to change your dress now, Leticia. Here, let me help you.”

Athena got the heavy champagne gown safely in plastic. Drew had already wrapped the black dress Bertrum had dropped on the floor.

“Remember, twinkle-toes, you dressing up for me used to be one of our favorite games,” Bertrum chuckled, turning his head to gaze at his wife, who blew him a kiss as the paramedics wheeled her out the door.

She and Drew watched the ambulances roar away, sirens wailing. “That was the most…” Words failed her, and she laughed until she found her voice again. “Outrageous display of love reborn I’ve ever seen. Thank goodness for Bertha’s toxic stays.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” Drew stripped off her mask and gloves. He pressed two long kisses on her open palms and gazed up at her with such mischief in his eyes that she laughed.

“Athena, may we please go up the golden staircase together again? It has long and shall forever be my fondest wish.”

CHAPTER

17

She couldn’t get him home fast enough.

The instant they walked into her bedroom, she grasped his tux shirt and one by one loosened the mother-of-pearl studs.

As each stud fell to the wood floor with a little ping, they both laughed.

She knelt to nuzzle her face into his firm belly.

He gasped. “Athena, stop. I’ll never last the ten minutes it takes to get you out of that damn dress.”

She looked up into his face. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

His skilled fingers were already moving over her back, undoing buttons. “Thank God, I’ve always been a quick study.”

“At getting women out of their clothes in record time?” she chuckled, unzipping his trousers.

“It’s the first thing little Clayworth boys are taught.” He slid her dress off her shoulders and her breasts fell free.

His arms were around her, lifting her high on his bare chest so he could meet a sensitive nipple with his tongue.

She pressed closer, wanting more. Wanting him.

Cradling her head, he gently laid her on the bed, her hair cascading over the pillows and his arm as he stretched out on his side.

Maybe it was the profound joy she’d seen on Bertrum and Leticia’s faces, or maybe it was the culmination of wanting this man, like this, for most of her adult life. Getting it, and finding him, this intimacy, everything and more than she had ever hoped, dreamed, fantasized about.

Everything about Drew was so sweet to her senses it made her head reel with pleasure.

Each chiseled bone in Drew’s face relaxed into tenderness. His hands drifted over her body, freeing her of the heavy dress.

His fingers stroked her wrist and shoulder where the sailing bruises had faded into her pale skin. Stroked across her breasts, down her rib cage to her stomach and below.

“Like a goddess, but not a statue. Warm, loving Athena.” His husky voice warmed her lips as the heel of his palm kneaded her until her thighs parted and she arched into his hand and mouth, bringing a tighter, brighter passion than before.

Their gazes locked, his mouth hovering above hers, and with a slowness that felt like liquid fire, he entered her.

The pattern of her breath changed, and so did his.

Their other night of love had been as close to perfect as she’d dreamed. But this, this exquisite fit of their bodies, burned like a fever. They moved in primal rhythms, each sensual motion so tender, so loving, she closed her eyes and lost track of herself. There was only this power they created together.

Like Drew had done his whole life when he knew he couldn’t under any circumstance oversleep, he woke every hour on the hour to check the time and to kiss the closest part of Athena he could reach.

When he awoke the next time, he shifted down to lay his cheek under her breasts, listening to her heartbeat. He felt at peace.

He tightened his arms around her and pressed his lips into the Jicky-scented warmth between her breasts and called her name, “Athena.”

“Yes, I’m here,” she whispered and ran her fingers slowly through his hair.

“I have to leave you in the morning. I’ll be away in England for a week or so.”

He felt her stiffen in his arms, and he shifted higher so he could see her face. He could always read her feelings in her eyes.

Her eyelashes were a dark fringe as she looked down and then up at him, staring with an intensity that demanded answers. “Why are you going to England?”

“I’m sailing in the Fastnet.” He said it as quick as he could. She of all people knew what this meant to him. To them.

“Why?” He heard the tears in her voice, saw them glisten in her eyes. He pressed his lips there, tasting the salt.

“They sailed in that race because of me. I wanted it. I should have been on that boat with them. By racing in the Fastnet, I’ll have closure. Be at peace with their choices and mine.” He spoke aloud the guilt and pain he’d held close to him for fifteen years.

“Drew, there are other ways to honor them.” She shivered, shaking so much he knew he’d said too much, too soon.

He never wanted there to be another secret between them. He tried to hold her. “Athena,” he breathed.

“Light a fire first,” she whispered.

He flung back the covers, went to the fireplace, and found the long matches on the mantel to light the logs.

The blaze cast strange long shadows across the room as he crawled back into the bed.

He wrapped his arms around her and pressed kisses on her sleepy eyelids, her warm throat. “Don’t worry. Everything will be fine. I’m catching a plane to England at nine tomorrow morning. Just a few days. Then I’ll never leave you again. I promise.”

He didn’t know how long they snuggled under the covers, kissing each other all over while he murmured that he meant his promise, they’d wasted too much time, she was perfect, wonderful, and he could never have enough time with her. Athena permeated his body and mind. He felt panic, like this night was momentous and he had to hold her tighter and make love to her hot, sleepy body and fascinating mind.

Athena’s mind raced with feelings and images of Drew and the Fastnet and his leaving her. How could he? They had just found each other again. She wanted to understand his need to finish the race that his parents had never completed. His words had torn at her heart.

She tried to hang on to these feelings but they faded beneath his slow, sweet kisses, which went on and on. His intimate words spoken amid the soft sheets filled her with so much longing she felt tears well up in her eyes.

Drew had always been the reason she could never feel this with anyone else. Why she’d always felt like she was making a mistake with another man. It had always been Drew. Drew in her heart and mind.

The leaded-glass windows with the stained-glass panels on top reflected the firelight, causing a prism of color to play across their bodies. His looked so beautiful and strong to her. So precious she never wanted to let him go.

“I love the weight of your breasts in my hands,” he whispered.

She thrust to meet him, wrapping her arms, her body around him.

His voice, his husky sounds of desire, of wanting her, released something wild. She opened herself to him completely. With them there weren’t any inhibitions or pretense.

He rolled on top of her, the crush of his weight, him hard against her, driving her a little mad.

I won’t let him go.

She felt so hot, so full of love for him she knew she would explode any second. She lifted her hips, welcoming him inside her.

She withered under him, shuddering with each of his powerful thrusts. Rigid, heat pumping through him into her, Drew called her name and she held him. The overpowering sensation of being filled, complete, caused sobs of joy in the back of her throat.

Like the Greek Sirens, Athena would call his name, hypnotize him, bind him to her so he could never leave.

She held him tight, feeling his warm breath against her breasts.

She held him until she knew from his even breathing he had fallen asleep. She pressed one more kiss on his forehead and slowly, carefully eased away from him.

The way his face looked in the firelight, the high cheekbones, the long, full curve of his lips, brought fresh tears to her eyes. It felt like a weight pressing down on her chest now that she understood what racing in the Fastnet meant to him. But what might it cost him?

She’d been waiting her whole life for these nights with him. To show with her body what she’d always felt in her heart and mind for Drew. To have had this intimacy for so short a time and to have it be over at dawn reminded her of the worst of all the Greek tragedies her father had taught them. So many nights wasted, and more to come.

Logically she knew he would be away only a few days.

When his parents went to the Fastnet, they never came back.

She padded stark naked into the small office. The light from the computer screen flashed three a.m.

She googled the Fastnet.

It was all there, the articles about the famous offshore yachting race. Particularly the Fastnet the year Drew’s parents were killed. The words conjured up the waves in the Fastnet storm big enough to capsize large and small boats alike. She could feel the frigid night with roaring white water surrounding her. See the rudder of Drew’s parent’s yacht snap off and the violent waves throw the crew out of the cockpit to the end of their tethers into the freezing, deadly ocean.

She switched off the computer and sat staring at the blank screen. The course of her life had altered because she’d been forced by circumstances, fate, to reveal her true feelings. Drew, too. She knew it, felt their unique bond forge in a new, more powerful way. She couldn’t, wouldn’t let him sever it again. She’d keep him here any way she could. Make love to him all night if necessary. She smiled into the darkness—no hardship there. Any thoughts that he might be a selfish lover were laughable.

This feeling rivaled the stuff of legend, of myth. Maybe she was being silly. Giddy and stupid on love.

No way would he be getting on that plane tomorrow morning to sail in the Fastnet. She’d convince him to never go.

She’d stopped him once. She’d do it again to save him.

She went back into her bedroom and crawled into the bed next to him.