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From the looks of it, Felicity just knew that this wasn’t Austin’s favorite type of gig. Yet, he was still there—
A car horn sounded behind them. Before Felicity could look away, Austin looked toward the street and their gazes locked.
* * *
Felicity?
Austin blinked and the woman in the car was gone.
He gave his head a quick shake, blinked again. He was worse off than he thought if he was seeing her face when she wasn’t even there. It was ridiculous.
He pulled out his phone to text her and ask her if she was anywhere in the Warehouse District vicinity, but even if she said yes, what then? He couldn’t very well invite her to join him here at Macks’s gallery. However, he could ask her if she was busy, if she could meet him for a drink.
Right.
With a glass of wine in hand, he glanced around the gallery, trying to find something to distract himself so that he didn’t do something that he regretted. He took in the white walls that were dotted with framed art that was not part of this art opening. Beta Perez, the artist that Macks was featuring this evening, was the creator of gigantic paper dress sculptures. There were five of them perched on the gray slate floors. Each one nearly grazed the fifteen-foot ceilings. Though Austin had made his rounds through the gallery, looking at everything, even the paintings and etchings on the walls, he marveled again at the sheer scale of the dresses.
He didn’t know anyone besides Macks and Beta, the artist, whom he’d met when Macks had introduced him after he’d arrived. Macks and Beta were both talking to people, as they should.
While sculptures weren’t Austin’s style, and he couldn’t imagine where someone would put a piece of art that big, someone was bound to fall in love with them. Wouldn’t they? Why else would Macks have offered Beta a showing? He hoped she sold everything they were showing tonight and others that were specially commissioned.
And dammit, he was still thinking about Felicity and how he could be in the middle of a crowd like this and she still felt like his safe place. What would be the harm in seeing if she wanted to meet for a drink?
He drained the rest of his wine, took his phone out of his pocket and started to compose a text to her when Macks walked up.
“I’m sorry I haven’t been able to talk to you much tonight, but I am the host.”
“No apology necessary, I understand. Duty calls and you seem to be very good at what you do.”
She batted her eyelashes at him. He noticed they were unnaturally long and sweeping. Macks was a beautiful woman, but Felicity wore just enough makeup to look pretty and pulled together. Austin couldn’t help but think about how he preferred Felicity’s natural beauty to Macks’s worldly glamour.
“Why, thank you, kind sir,” Macks said.
“I’m almost ready to kick out the stragglers who are only here for the food and wine. After I lock up, we’re moving this party to Masquerade so we can dance. I’m driving. You can ride with me. Just the two of us.”
Something he was learning about Macks was that she did love to be in the driver’s seat. For that matter, so did Felicity, but she had a way of making him feel as if he was along for the ride, whereas sometimes, Macks made it feel as if she’d tied him to the back bumper and was dragging him.
“Where is Masquerade?” he asked.
“It’s in Harrah’s.” Macks laughed. “Oh, dear, don’t tell me you’ve never been dancing at Masquerade.”
Austin chuckled. Okay, he wouldn’t tell her. He also wouldn’t mention that Harrah’s was near the river, not too far from the French Quarter, at which she had turned up her nose the other night when he’d invited her out for a drink with his sister and Chaz.
In all fairness, Harrah’s was a nice hotel where she wouldn’t have to risk sullying her expensive heels as she might on Bourbon Street, but just as she hadn’t been up for going out the other night, tonight he just wanted to go home.
“Austin Fortune, you do live a sheltered life.” She reached out and toyed with his tie, keeping her gaze trained on it as she spoke. “That’s one of the many reasons I will be so good for you.” She kept her head angled down but glanced up at him through her eyelashes.
