Part 25 (1/2)
Adrian went rigid. ”Oh my G.o.d. Oh. My. G.o.d.”
Rooke laughed. ”It's okay. But we probably should get going.”
”Your grandfather just saw me attack you like some s.e.x-crazed maniac.” Adrian's voice was shrill. ”I can't get in the truck with him now.”
”He probably wasn't watching.” Rooke grinned, grabbed Adrian's briefcase, and pulled the front door closed. ”And even if he was, he won't care. He likes you.”
”He likes me,” Adrian repeated softly, and her throat closed. She hadn't realized until just that moment how much she cared that Rooke's grandfather like her. Because Rooke loved him, and he loved her.
”Who wouldn't?” Rooke said with absolute sincerity.
”My family, for starters.” Adrian smiled sadly, feeling the old a 226 a familiar ache that came from knowing she wasn't the daughter or the granddaughter her family wanted.
Rooke frowned. ”What happened?”
Adrian waved a hand as they made their way down the sloping curve of the drive toward the truck. ”Nothing that hasn't happened dozens of times before.”
”Are you all right?” Rooke paused before opening the door to the truck and cupped Adrian's chin, searching her eyes. ”Adrian?”
”I am now.” Adrian longed to throw herself into Rooke's arms again, to feel herself soar in the incredible freedom and safety of her embrace. Instead, she pressed her palm to Rooke's chest and found solace in her immutable strength. ”Just stay close, okay?”
”Right here.” Rooke covered Adrian's hand where it rested on her chest. ”Right here.”
v ”Pretty fancy ride,” Rooke commented after she and Adrian settled into the rear of the Town Car Melinda had sent for them.
”Melinda knows how to treat her clients,” Adrian muttered. A smoked gla.s.s privacy window separated them from the female driver in front. The young redhead, dressed in the requisite dark suit, white s.h.i.+rt, and black tie, had greeted them with professional friendliness as she loaded their luggage into the trunk. When she'd held the door open for them, however, she'd surveyed Rooke with blatant interest. And when she'd noticed Adrian watching her cruise Rooke, she'd smiled with a hint of challenge. Adrian had managed to bite back a retort, but she was fuming. Was she just now noticing that every woman in the world had s.e.x on the brain, or was it just that every woman who saw Rooke suddenly got hungry? Of course, she could completely understand it.
Rooke wore a pale blue b.u.t.ton-down-collar s.h.i.+rt and broken-in jeans that were faded in the knees and crotch. With her dark hair and eyes and her brown leather bomber jacket and scuffed brown boots, she was mouthwateringly s.e.xy. Adrian could barely look at her without wanting Rooke all over her. She wondered what Melinda's driver would report if Rooke f.u.c.ked her blind right here on the plush leather seat. The image slammed home and Adrian gasped.
”Something wrong?” Rooke asked.
a 227 a ”No, nothing.”
Rooke didn't look as if she believed her, but she didn't push.
Instead, she leaned back and stretched out her legs, her long lean thigh lightly brus.h.i.+ng Adrian's, making it even harder for Adrian not to straddle her lap and beg to be taken. Even Melinda's simmering seductiveness hadn't melted her mind like this. She had to find a distraction before she embarra.s.sed herself, so she tried to put herself in Rooke's position. What must she be feeling about the upcoming show?
What must it be like for her, about to become immersed in a city of a million strangers?
”What about maps?” Adrian asked. ”Are they of any use to you?”
”I'm good with spatial orientation,” Rooke said. ”I never get lost when I'm driving, but I haven't traveled very far. I can look at a map and remember general relations.h.i.+ps between continents and things like that.”
”Wait a minute.” Adrian dug around in her briefcase and found a dog-eared map of Manhattan with the bus routes and subway system in one of the pockets. It'd probably been there for years. She unfolded it, s.h.i.+fted closer to Rooke, and balanced it on their laps. She traced the outline of Manhattan with her finger. ”This is what the borough looks like.” She pointed to her neighborhood and then the location of Melinda's gallery. ”I live here...and Osare, Melinda's gallery, is over here.”
”Uh-huh.” Rooke traced off the intersections. ”Ten blocks east, four blocks south.”
”Exactly.” Adrian hugged Rooke's arm. ”Even if you're off by a block or so, anyone would be able to tell you which way to go as long as you know my address.”
”Are you planning for me to get lost?”
”No,” Adrian said quickly, then realized from Rooke's smile that she was being teased. ”I just...I didn't think you'd want to be dependent on me to get around. Not that I mind, because I'd love to sho-”
”Adrian.”
Rooke took Adrian's hand and in a single beat of her heart, the car, the snowy fields flas.h.i.+ng by outside the windows, the muted glow of the dying sun disappeared, and all Adrian could see were the flames of a thousand lifetimes burning in Rooke's eyes.
a 228 a ”G.o.d, you're beautiful,” Adrian murmured.
”I'm looking forward to being with you. It doesn't bother me to need your help.” Rooke entwined her fingers with Adrian's and rested their joined hands on her knee. ”Show me the rest of the city on the map.”
”Okay,” Adrian said, keeping a tight hold on Rooke's hand. She loved touching her, something else that was completely new for her.
”Here...”
A faint crackle followed by the driver's announcement that they had arrived startled Adrian back to awareness. She'd completely lost track of time as she'd answered Rooke's questions and described the city. Sometime during the trip, night had fallen.
”It will make more sense to you during the day,” Adrian said as they waited inside the car for the driver to unload the luggage. ”We'll go for a walk tomorrow.”
”How about tonight? Too cold?”
Adrian squeezed Rooke's hand. ”I'd love to go for a walk.”
The redhead opened the door and Adrian and Rooke climbed out.
”Thanks,” Rooke said.
”My pleasure,” the redhead said, handing Rooke an embossed white business card. ”My name is Valencia. Feel free to call me if you need anything. Ms. Singer has instructed me to be at your disposal.”
She paused. ”Night or day. Call my cell.”
Rooke put the card in her jacket pocket without a glance. ”Thank you. I'm sure Adrian will have everything I need.”
Valencia laughed softly. ”You never know.” Then she gave a small salute, walked around to the driver's side, and a few seconds later the car pulled away.
Rooke grabbed her duffel bag and Adrian's briefcase. ”Should we put these inside?”
”Come on,” Adrian said, unexpectedly excited to be having a houseguest. Not just any guest. Rooke. She was torn between wanting to show her some of the city sights at night, when everything looked cleaner and brighter, and staying inside with her, only the two of them, coc.o.o.ned from the world. Selfish of her, probably. She'd grown up here.
For Rooke it was a brand-new universe. She opened her apartment door and held it wide. ”You can just dump the bags in the living room for now.”
a 229 a When Adrian turned on the lamp, Rooke scanned the room. The not overly large room appeared at once lived-in and subtly luxurious- gleaming hardwood floors, a large oriental wool area rug, a sofa and matching chairs in a muted navy pattern, bra.s.s lamps with silk shades, and a huge oak table that Adrian used as a desk in front of three bay windows. Floor-to-ceiling built-in dark wood bookcases occupied one entire wall, and every shelf was full. Several piles of magazines sat on the coffee table and end tables.
”This is nice,” Rooke said, enjoying a glimpse of Adrian's life even though she couldn't help but notice how far apart their lives were.
”Thanks, you look good in it.” When Rooke laughed, Adrian slung her arm around Rooke's waist and kissed her cheek. ”Let's take that walk.”