He entered the lobby, then pushed into Bedroom Eyes.
“Hi,” she said shyly, her heart in her throat.
For the briefest of seconds, his eyes sparkled with pleasure and a smile bloomed, but abruptly, as if he’d called his features to attention, his reactions went flat and dead, and he said, “Hello,” in the neutral, polite tone of a stranger.
Just like that, she realized, everything had changed.
“Are you okay?” she asked, completely disappointed.
“I’m fine. Just tired. Maybe we overdid it yesterday.” He gave her a half smile, then moved behind the counter to rummage around on the shelves.
“Overdid it? You think we overdid it?” After the glory of yesterday, the disappointment was like a punch in the stomach. But she wasn’t going to let on. No way. Maybe Rick had a fear of intimacy as Mark had said. Maybe he just needed room to breathe. That didn’t make it any less irritating. “What are you looking for?” she snapped at him.
“The ledger,” he said, lifting it onto the counter.
“What for?”
“To look things over. Check for mistakes.”
“Lester doesn’t make mistakes.”
“How would you know?” He shot her a look. “You don’t ever check.” She didn’t like the judgmental tone in his voice. This wasn’t the first time he’d made a critical crack about her business practices. He was basically a suspicious guy. “I look things over. Darien trusts Lester with far more money than I’ll ever have, so what’s the big deal?”
He shook his head as if she were being foolish.
“And furthermore, I don’t appreciate how you grilled the poor man when he was here, either.”
“You’re too trusting, Samantha.”
“I have good instincts about people.”
“You can be wrong.” He looked almost angry.
“Oh, yeah? I hired you, didn’t I?” she snapped.
“Yeah, you did,” he said, looking so hurt, she almost apologized. “Look, I need to check with the workers upstairs. After that I want to touch base with Val and Blythe and Mona. You okay for a while on your own?”
“Of course I’m okay. I was okay before you got here and I’ll be okay when you’re gone.” She was royally pissed now. How dare he make her sound helpless? Why did the man have to make everything so complicated?
“I know that, Samantha. I do.” He didn’t even have the decency to snap back at her. He sounded almost melancholy. What the hell was going on with him? Just when she thought she’d figured him out, he went all mysterious on her. Maybe she should just give up.
AT MIDNIGHT, SAMANTHA unlocked the front door to Mirror, Mirror and stepped into the lobby, the security lights bright enough that she didn’t need the penlight on her key chain to see what she was doing. The velvet dress she’d borrowed from the costume room before leaving work swished against her knees, as soft on the inside as it was plush on the outside. She loved this dress.
She was giving them one more chance. Rick was sleeping in the studio, she knew, since she’d spotted his Jeep parked a block away. Why not in the lot, since his secret was out? One more Rick mystery. But tonight she was sleuthing out only one riddle: Would he come out and play with her?
Her heart pinched with hope.
Rick had spent the day roving the center, pretending to check on everything but her. When they had crossed paths, their eyes had never quite met. If it weren’t for that darling hickey peeking above his collar, she’d have had no clue they even liked each other, let alone had made wild love at Oak Creek.
Tonight she would either fix what was between them or end it altogether. Oak Creek had been fabulous enough for any woman, of course, but if there was a chance to enjoy more fantasies with this incredible man, she owed it to herself to try.
Right before she’d left the studio, she’d arranged studio two for her ravishment fantasy, setting up the black filigreed arch, laying out the velvet sash and arranging clumps of red, black and gold candles here and there.
In the lobby, she glided to Bedroom Eyes, unlocked the door and eased in, her heart racing.
She stilled and listened. Nothing. Rick was probably asleep. She would wake him with a kiss and bring him into her fantasy in the neighboring studio. She scooped off her slip-ons and tiptoed barefoot down the hall, her heart thudding so loudly it seemed to reverberate against the walls.
At the door to studio one, she peeked in and saw him in the bed. Under the satin spread, his big body rose and fell with the slow breaths of sleep. She tiptoed closer.
At least he’d opted for a real bed instead of that rock-hard futon in Mona’s shop. The guy was seriously into self-denial. Maybe they could try out a mild domination game. But only after she was certain Rick didn’t consider more sex a betrayal of his higher purpose. Lord.