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She looked as if she’d just stepped off the runway of a Calvin Klein show at fashion week.
“Hello again, Felicity. I’m here to see Austin, please.”
As if his sole purpose was to sit around the office, waiting for her to grace him with her presence.
“I’m sorry, he’s in a meeting.” Felicity eyed the white envelope in Macks’s hands. “May I give him a message for you?”
Macks frowned. Her gaze darted around the reception area as if she didn’t believe Felicity and expected to see him hiding behind a plant along the far wall.
“Will he be long? I’ll wait.”
“I’m afraid he’ll be tied up for the rest of the afternoon. Is that for him?”
Felicity nodded at the envelope Macks was holding with both hands, as if reluctant to give it up.
“It is. It’s an invitation to the opening of an art exhibition at my gallery.”
Oh, so she owns a gallery. Okay. That explains the art in her apartment—and Mr. Erectus.
Felicity reached out to take the envelope. Macks didn’t give it up.
With her outstretched hand, Felicity gestured to the invite. “I’ll see that he gets it.”
For a moment Felicity feared that Macks might decide to take the invitation with her and attempt delivery another time. Finally, she relinquished it.
“Thank you, Felicity.” Macks’s red lips tilted up in a tight-lipped smile. “Tell Austin I’m sorry I missed him.”
As she watched the woman walk away, she couldn’t help but wonder if Austin had taken it upon himself to book dinner reservations for himself and Macks, the same way he’d booked their dinner at R’evolution. She would never know. She’d better get used it, because once she left Fortune Investments, he’d likely be out of her life forever.
Chapter Five
Austin arrived at Felicity’s house a few minutes earlier than he’d promised. He parked on the street and took a minute to take in the neat green double shotgun-style home with its symmetrical front porch decorated with darker green gingerbread embellishments, potted topiaries and hanging ferns.
Before tonight, he’d never really pictured where Felicity lived, but if he had, this would be the place. It was perfectly her. He let himself out of his red Tesla and in through the gate of the waist-high wrought iron fence that surrounded the tidy little front yard, then made his way up the brick path toward her front door. Hers was the left half, with the corresponding address in brass numbers above the threshold.
He glanced at his watch before knocking on the door. He was a full ten minutes early. But her car was in the driveway and surely it couldn’t take very long to do what she needed to do for Maia’s dogs. If she wasn’t ready to go, he could wait.
Tonight, patience and kindness were the key words.
“You’re early,” she said when she answered the door. Austin noticed she’d traded in her sleek black pencil skirt and pumps for a blue dress and strappy sandals.
“Sorry,” he said, glancing around, taking in the nicely furnished living room. Its hardwood floors and brightly colored furniture added a feminine touch to the otherwise traditional room. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her how nice she looked, but he reeled the words back in the nick of time. “We have time. Go ahead and finish whatever you were doing.”
Although, he couldn’t imagine that she needed to do anything else to herself because she looked gorgeous.
“No problem, but here.” She handed him a pretty gold necklace. “Will you help me with this? It’s difficult to put on by myself.”
“Sure.” As he put the necklace around the front of her, she held her hair up, allowing him a better look at the fine clasp on the piece of jewelry. He could also see the delicate curve of her neck, which was just long enough to be graceful, and the gentle sweep of her jawline. He leaned closer, trying with clumsy fingers to hook the necklace into place—it really would be difficult to manage alone. Not that he thought Felicity had ulterior motives.
Okay, maybe it had crossed his mind.
But then he got a whiff of her perfume, a delicate floral scent. It not only made him want to lean in closer and nuzzle her neck, claim that recess where neck flowed into collarbone, but for a split second, his mind blanked on all the reasons he shouldn’t do it and his most primal urges took over.
