Secrets in the Stone Part 25

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."

v Rooke had a headache by the time they returned. She'd thought she'd known what to expect, but her preconceptions hadn't been anywhere near the reality. They'd walked as far as Times Square because she'd wanted to see the place she'd heard about in so many of her audiobooks. The picture she'd had in her mind was somewhat accurate, only several orders of magnitude less chaotic. The sheer weight of humanity-the crush of pedestrians at an hour of the night when most people in Ford's Crossing were in bed, the clamor of b.u.mper-to-b.u.mper traffic, the flas.h.i.+ng marquee lights advertising the names of people and events she couldn't read. Earlier when she'd looked at the map, she'd been confident she could site a few landmarks and be able to orient herself enough to get around, even alone. Now she wasn't sure at all.

"Let me take your jacket," Adrian said.

Rooke rubbed at the ache in her forehead and wondered what she should do.

"Are you feeling all right?" Adrian asked quietly.

"Yeah. Sorry. I'm a little tired, I guess." Rooke grinned wryly.

"And the d.a.m.n Steri-strips itch."

"The doctor did say you should take it easy for a couple of days."

Adrian shook her head, looking unhappy. "I don't think traveling to a 230 a New York and traipsing around the city for half the night qualifies as taking it easy. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."

"Hey." Rooke grasped Adrian's upper arms and rubbed them gently. "I wanted to go, remember? And we've been through this before.

You're not responsible for me."

Adrian smoothed her hands over Rooke's shoulders. "Maybe not.

Maybe I just like looking after you."

Rooke drew Adrian closer and rubbed her cheek against Adrian's hair. "I kinda like it when you do."

"Good." Adrian tightened her arms around Rooke's neck and kissed her, a quick brush of lips that was all she dared. "Now I think you need to get some sleep. Let me show you where you're staying."

"Thanks. I'm sorry I-" Rooke cursed as her phone rang. She yanked it off the waistband of her jeans. "h.e.l.lo."

"Good evening, Rooke love," Melinda said. "Valencia told me you'd arrived. I'd love to see you tonight. It's been so terribly long.

Perhaps for a drink?"

Adrian had gone to stand in front of the bay windows, and Rooke glanced at her rigid back.

"I don't think so. Not tonight. Thanks."

Melinda sighed dramatically. "All right then. But you're all mine tomorrow. I'll send Valencia at ten. I want to go over some things with you and then I want to take you shopping."

"Shopping? What for?"

"You may wear those jeans I find so devastating for the showing if you want, my darling, but I want to dress you up and show you off at the reception I'm giving. There'll be reporters and art critics and the like attending."

"I suppose it's really necessary?"

"Occasionally you must play the artiste."

Rooke rubbed her forehead again. "I'm sure I can find something myself."

Melinda laughed. "Please, indulge me. You wouldn't accept my hospitality, at least let me do this. I'll enjoy it, and I promise you a good time."

"Fine. I'll see you tomorrow." Rooke hung up. "That was Melinda."

a 231 a "I gathered." Adrian struggled to get a grip on her resentment.

Rooke and Melinda were going to be spending quite a bit of time together in the next week, and she couldn't turn into a raving lunatic every time Melinda so much as spoke to Rooke. "I guess the madness starts tomorrow."

"Sounds like it." Rooke shouldered her duffel, waiting for Adrian.

"She's sending Valencia for me in the morning."

Adrian narrowed her eyes. "Is she. That was thoughtful."

"Something bothering you?"

"No," Adrian said, leading Rooke down the hall to the guest bedroom. "I'm happy you're going to have this opportunity. I mean it."

She pushed open the door to the bedroom. "Here you go. Bathroom's through the door on the right. I'll be across the hall."

"Thanks." Rooke hesitated, then stroked Adrian's cheek. "Sleep well."

"You too," Adrian whispered, wondering how she would ever get to sleep with Rooke so near, and fearing what she might dream if she did.

a 232 a

ChapTER TwEnTy-SEvEn.

Couldn't sleep?" Adrian asked when she discovered Rooke sitting on the sofa in the living room, her chiseled profile cast in moonlight. She didn't know what had awakened her from a dense heavy sleep, but she'd opened her eyes and was instantly on guard. Her skin tingled in warning, but when she listened for sounds of danger, she heard only deep silence. Still uneasy, she'd gotten up to search and had been drawn to Rooke, as surely as if Rooke had called her name aloud."Did I wake you?" Rooke said, her tone dull and flat. "I'm sorry."

"That doesn't matter." Adrian sat down next to her, aware for the first time that Rooke wore only boxers and a sleeveless T-s.h.i.+rt. She felt even more exposed in a tank and panties. But she couldn't worry about that now. "What's wrong?"

"I had the dream again. The one with the gravestone. I was so cold, so cold, and it was so dark."

Adrian caught her breath at the confused, almost forlorn note in Rooke's voice. She stroked her arm to comfort her and a surge of soul-numbing cold instantly suffused her. The moonlight disappeared and the air around her became murky, as if she were underwater. Her chest constricted and when she tried to take a deep breath, nothing happened.

Panic threatened to consume her, but before she succ.u.mbed, she focused all her will on the one thing she trusted more than any other. Rooke. She drew on that remembered strength and tenderness, and dragged herself free of the suffocating vision. Quickly, she knelt on the sofa and pulled Rooke into her arms, cradling Rooke's head against her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

a 233 a "You're all right, baby," Adrian murmured, caressing Rooke's icy cheek. "You're all right."

"They were touching me, touching me, and I couldn't get away.

I couldn't breathe and I couldn't get away." Rooke s.h.i.+vered. "I was drowning, Adrian."