“I thought I convinced you two nights ago.”
“You did. Both of us. But Jimmy thought you were different again last night.”
“Oh.” Angela didn’t know what to do or say so she shrugged. “Well, here I am.”
“Shall we go upstairs?”
“Sure,” Angela agreed. Maybe it would be easier to steal the statue without Jimmy there. At least she wouldn’t end up in bed with the lawyer. Aggie had said he was all business.
As they went up in the elevator, Angela studied Richard’s reflection in the mirrored wall. He was Jimmy’s opposite in almost every way. Where Jimmy was shorter than she, Richard topped her by half a head at least. He must be six foot two or three. His face was lean, not fleshy, his neatly groomed hair was brown with distinguishing gray wings. He had warm blue eyes and a small scar in his left eyebrow. The tiny flaw somehow made the overall features perfect. He was one of the most appealing men she had ever met. She wondered briefly why Aggie hadn’t liked him.
Angela had been too enthralled to watch which button Richard pushed, and she was surprised when he ushered her into an unfamiliar office lobby. She almost asked where they were, but remembered that Aggie must have come here for the interviews. She started to take off her coat and Richard moved to help her. A sentence from downstairs snapped into her brain and she stopped in her tracks.
“You said both of you,” she looked up at Richard, almost in his arms as the coat entangled them both. “You said both of you were convinced, but Jimmy wasn’t there.”
Richard finished helping her out of her coat and laid it across his arm.
“I videotaped us,” he admitted.
Angela saw red. As usual, anger made her icy calm.
“That was inexcusable.”
“It worked.” Richard spread his hands. “The tape convinced Jimmy to continue the contract. Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“What else have you videotaped?”
Richard reared back as though she had slapped him.
“Nothing!” he exclaimed. His eyes narrowed and turned suspicious. “You’re cold tonight. I see now what Jimmy means. There are two of you.”
“I’m only one person,” Angela lied. “I’m just more in control tonight. Don’t ever videotape me again.”
“Would you like a drink?” Richard asked.
The abrupt change of subject startled Angela back into awareness of her purpose tonight. She wanted the Giacometti. She had earned it.
“Is Jimmy upstairs?” she asked.
Richard nodded. So much for sneaking into the apartment tonight. She would weather the evening and come back tomorrow to steal the statue. It was only night four of twelve. There were still lots of chances. Besides, Richard was a handsome companion, probably charming when he wasn’t busy being a lawyer.
“I’ll take that drink you offered,” she smiled.
If he was confused by her abrupt about-face, he didn’t show it. He escorted her into a large office with a treed terrace outside the window. It didn’t look like Aggie’s description of Jimmy’s office and Angela hazarded a careful comment.
“Nice.”
“It’s my office,” Richard obligingly clarified. “We were in Jimmy’s before.”
Angela nodded as the lawyer handed her a glass.
“I hope Scotch is okay. It’s all I have in my office.”
“Scotch is fine.” In fact, it was Angela’s drink of choice. She took a sip. The blend was a smooth whisper with a bite in the tail. Glenfiddich?
Richard motioned her to a chair then sat opposite, not behind a desk but just across, knees almost touching. The proximity without contact ignited the scotch in Angela’s belly. He was an amazingly handsome man.
Angela noticed Richard’s empty hands. “You’re not drinking?”
“Not tonight. How have you and Jimmy gotten into such a mess?” he asked. The change of subject was smooth, his voice no more than mildly curious.
Angela shrugged and took another sip of scotch. At the moment, Jimmy was far from her thoughts.
“He’s crazy about you, you know.”
Angela frowned. Jimmy was crazy about Aggie, not her.
“What?” Richard probed.
“Nothing.” Angela swallowed the rest of the drink. She put down the glass and walked to the window. “Can we go outside?”
“It’s chilly.”
“Another scotch will keep me warm.”
Richard took the hint and poured her another drink. He brought the glass and her coat. She shrugged into the jacket then took the scotch. He opened the glass door and led her outside. The view to the mountains was stunning. The office was on the opposite side of the building from the seashore and looked out over the tops of other buildings past a vast expanse of dark forest toward a lighted slope.
“Skiing?” Angela asked. She walked to the railing and Richard followed.
“Grouse Mountain,” he explained.
“It looks like the Rainier R,” Angela commented. The lighted slope was shaped almost exactly like the beer symbol.
“I’ve always thought they should use it in an advertisement,” Richard agreed.
“Do you like me?” Angela turned to face him.
“Tonight?”
Angela nodded. Their faces were almost touching as they instinctively huddled for warmth in the chill breeze.
“Yes.” The word was almost a caress.
“Even though I’m cold?” Angela reminded him of his earlier comment. Her body edged closer to his.
“You weren’t cold the other night when you blew up,” Richard reminded her. “I’m not very hot-blooded myself. Jimmy is though.”
“You and I; Jimmy and Aggie,” Angela whispered under her breath.
“What?”
“Nothing,” she smiled. “It’s beautiful out here.”
Angela looked up into Richard’s eyes. She saw a confused attraction. He wanted her. He knew she wanted him. And he was thinking about Jimmy.
“I think I should go,” she said.
“Yes,” he agreed heartily. “You should.”
They went back inside and Angela put her untouched drink on a side table. Richard called for a taxi.
“Thank you.” She held out her hand. Richard took it between both his and held on.
“For what?”
“For the drink and the view,” Angela smiled. “For being nice.”
Richard released her hand and walked in front of her to the elevator. They descended silently.
“Aggie,” Richard began as the elevator doors opened.
Angela touched his lips with one finger.
“Shh,” she whispered and kissed him on the cheek.
She smiled to herself as she climbed into the cab. Life was still complicated, but suddenly the view seemed a lot more beguiling.
The next morning dawned drizzly and gray and found Angela heaving over the toilet bowl. A sympathetic Mary consoled her that it was probably just a twenty-four hour flu. Angela didn’t care. Her optimism of the evening fled down the swirling drain with what she feared was the lining of her stomach. When her sister squeezed her shoulder in reassurance, she didn’t even get the message.
Chapter 17
Jimmy didn’t hold out much hope for the coming encounter. Richard had been right; putting an ad in the paper had been a stupid idea. Still, he waited in the lobby of the apartment building at six o’clock, feeling foolish but clinging to a shred of anticipation. The young woman who stepped from the cab looked as perfect as always. Jimmy had come to distrust the perfection and looked for even the least crack in the beautiful armor. He found none.
“Okay,” he greeted the smiling woman. “Come on upstairs.”
“Jimmy?” The voice was tentative. He stopped in the lobby and turned to face her. She began again. “Jimmy, I have an apology to make. I know you haven’t been happy with me, but tonight I want to make everything up to you.”