Sal cracked a smile.He was being charming, and she was falling for it.“Thank you,” she said.“But you didn’t have to hand-deliver this.”
“I wanted to see how you were considering the news,” he responded; his wording was kinder than usual.Was Harmon like this with his friends?With his family?With the people he loved?She suddenly had a surge of questions in her head.“Theola told me about all the negative press.”She nodded.“You were right.It’s a circus,” she said, sounding defeated.
“How are you holding up?”he asked, breaking eye contact for the first time.He looked downward and crossed his arms.“I’m sorry this is happening, and during your global debut as an art curator.”
Sal leaned her elbows on the railing, viewing the top of his bent head.“Well…” she exhaled, amazed at how well she was taking this, or maybe she was just relieved she had someone to talk to about it.“I’m a tough cookie.I may not look it, but I’ll find my way through.”
Harmon stepped forward and lifted his head to look at her.Their lips nearly grazed as Sal’s eyes widened.She held her breath.Harmon just stood there, and judging by his stunned reaction, their sudden proximity was unintentional, though undeniably, the vibrations between them felt like static.She was about to stand upright and distance herself from Harmon when a gentle hand cupped her face, and the warmth of his lips touched hers.Their lips clashed eagerly, hungrily, and Sal felt herself nearly surrender.
“I want you,” he panted in the few breathless seconds their lips were apart.“I don’t know what you’ve done to me.”He brushed his thumb along her lower lip.
Sal was still leaning over the railing, and rested her forehead against his, her legs quaking.Her mind was a jumble of things, but one thing was for sure: she certainly, achingly, wanted him too.But how could she possibly want someone while loving someone else?
Little by little, she tenderly removed herself from his grasp to stand upright above the staircase.“I should get going,” Sal whispered as she traced the navy-colored invite.“Thank you for this…I’ll try to make it.”
Harmon, looking disappointed and a bit embarrassed, merely nodded.
Sal started up the stairs but paused halfway.She would not deny it any longer.Still, she held herself in restraint.“I need time,” she said, turning back, “but I want you too.”She offered a knowing, kind look, and then turned and continued up the stairs, leaving him alone with a glint of hope.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Sisters by Bond
SAL
“Sothepaintingisfine, and it’s with us now.But guess what?”Willow said on the phone.“By a miracle, we retrieved your phone too!That’s why we took so long.We had to make the extra stop.”
Sal gasped.“Oh my God, how?”
Sal could hear her smiling from the other end of the line.“Someone surrendered it to the lost and found at the National Museum of Fine Arts, and they called us just today.Isn’t that crazy?”
Sal placed her hand on her head, elated that someone had found her phone, and said with a wide smile, “I guess my luck is turning.”
“It sure is,” Willow said.“We’ll be there soon!”
“Bye,” she said, ending the call and placing the phone on the antique dresser.“Thanks for being a good replacement,” she whispered to it as she let out an enormous sigh of relief.Thank goodness, and to think she went nearly crazy when she thought someone had stolen it.
From the corner of her eye, she saw the navy-blue invite with the red wax seal Harmon had given her.She pursed her lips and opened it.“Wow,” she mumbled with her brows raised, and sniffed it.The invitation was even perfumed.Goodness, everything he did was teeming with subtle luxury.“You are cordially invited to The Midnight Masters, a Museum Exhibition at the National Museum of Fine Arts opening night on November 15th.”
It was going to be held a full week before their art show, and based on the program and attached catalog, it wasn’t even similar to what Sal had in mind for her exhibition.I guess everyone will have to be surprised.Then she heard footsteps on the stairs and laughing, followed by Willow and Theola entering the room.
“We’re back,” Theola announced in a singsong voice.
“And the painting?”Sal asked.
“We dropped it off at the Wedding Gift House, and…” Theola pulled Sal’s old phone from her lilac handbag.“Here you go!”she said with a huge smile, handing it to her.
Sal felt a familiarity when she held it in her hands as she said, “Thanks, guys.”
“Don’t mention it,” Theola said.“Now I have to get back to the emails about all the negative press.”Theola excused herself and closed the door behind her.
Willow sat on the four-poster bed as she removed her shoes and jean jacket.“Hey, where’s that from?”
Sal looked at the invite and opened it again.“It’s an invitation to Harmon’s opening night.He’s holding a museum exhibit at the National Museum of Fine Arts,” she said, shrugging, and offered Willow a look.
“You got this today?”Willow asked as she took the invite from Sal’s hands.
“Yeah,” Sal replied, massaging her nape.“Imagine, he saw me in this outfit today, and still wanted to invite me.”She chuckled, referencing her joggers and plain black cropped tank under a knitted cardigan.
