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“Edmund, please let me…”
“Shh. Later. Power nap first. You were amazing.”
Alexa closed her eyes, secure in the knowledge that this wouldn’t be the last time—not when it was this good and this surreal. She slept with that knowledge and the fast beat of his heart, settling when he settled more comfortably beside her. She woke up to sunlight on her face, tucked in her bed, and Edmund gone from her bedroom and his. Puzzlement slinked in.
Then she read the note that dispelled whatever illusion she had.
Chapter 10
The museum felt like a mausoleum with the walls wiped clean and no art in sight, but Edmund supposed that was to ensure that no one would contemplate sneaking in here after a night of partying and selling art pieces to the best bidder. A peek at one of the smaller halls showed a guard roaming about before pausing upon the sight of him. Edmund bowed slightly.
“Hello, kind sir. I set an appointment with Mr. and Mrs. Rossi, but they don’t seem to be here.”
The guard strode over, frown disappearing when Edmund’s suit was noted.
“We apologize for the delay. Normally the manager and the day guard should be here by now, but they…” The man caught himself and inhaled deeply. “Anyway, welcome. Could you wait a little bit longer, sir?”
“Of course. Would you mind if take a look around? I’m Ed. I own some of the pieces here.”
“Sure. Not the restricted sections, though.”
“Yes.”
He walked away before more instructions could be given, exploring the halls until he found the deeper areas where the wall art hadn’t been removed. Another turn and he was in a bigger one, where a piece snagged his eye and had him staring. He sat on the available bench, scanned the other paintings, and waited the time out.
Minutes later, footsteps drew nearer. He turned, fully expecting the manager and already opening his mouth in greeting.
“What is this?”
Her scent assaulted him first up close before he glimpsed her in all her pent-up glory. There was no visible anger, but the tightness in her voice and the coldness in her tone reminded him of when they had first encountered each other in the forest. Her simple ponytail, jeans, and white shirt that hung on her figure had an ache filling his lungs until it was hard to take in air, punched with the prettiest vision. Then he saw the note.
It took everything inside Edmund not to stand up and snatch her up. It took everything in him not to touch her hair and see if it was as soft as it had been last night.
“What does it say?”
“You know damn well what it says.”
The curse would have made a lesser man flinch, but he held on to his casual expression.
“The note says to get breakfast and get ready. I tried to slip out early before the sun came out. I was waiting for you the whole time. You are late.”
Silence met his words. He knew it was unfair to phrase it so innocently and knew he deserved whatever punch he got from whichever kin she had who found out. But that was the point: that she had kin whowouldhunt him down if they discovered what he had done, and her last name alone was a reminder of what he was getting himself entangled with—and that had been because he lacked control and surrendered to a mistake that she had been smart enough to stop the first time.
Alexa should have been off-limits from the start, but his weakness was a bastard that knew when to sneak its way in. The only way to not ruin their relationship further was to go back to the way they used to be when she had been nothing but a muse and Billy’s messenger.
“Edmund?”
“But it’s okay,” he continued, deflecting the question in her eyes. “You are not that late and they haven’t arrived yet. We still have time to get ourselves together before Mr. and Mrs. Rossi are here.”
“I see.”
He thought he detected hurt in her eyes, but it was gone too quickly. He tried to look away but eventually couldn’t resist, her emotion calling at him to reach out. His fingers twitched. Before it could lift from the bench, she nodded.
“You are right.”
“I am?”
She nodded again.
