The Art of Love: Origins of Sinner's Grove (30 page)

She decided to put all such thoughts at the back of her mind as she pondered the outfit she’d selected for the evening. When she’d signed the contract with Mrs. Mason, she’d splurged on a stunning gown she had to admit she’d bought with Gus in mind. It was a full-length deep-turquoise sheath with a small train and short sleeves offset from the shoulder. It displayed the tops of her breasts but wasn’t vulgar in any way. The back accentuated her curves as well. Smiling to herself, she decided not to wear her hair completely up but chose a newer style in which some of her tresses flowed over her shoulders. Gus seemed to like running his hands through her hair when he kissed her, and wouldn’t he at least want to give her a birthday kiss? She finished dressing and put on her formal black coat, hoping to impress him once they reached the restaurant.

Promptly at seven p.m. there was a knock on her door and when she opened it, Gus stood there looking impossibly handsome in a black tuxedo and long formal coat. His dark hair was tousled as usual, and she longed (already!) to run her hands through it. He looked like he had shaved, since his usual end-of-day shadow was nowhere to be seen. Impulsively she put her hand on his cheek.

“It must really be a special evening,” she said with a smile. “No bristles tonight.”

Gus put his hand over hers. “You noticed. I don’t shave twice in one day for just anybody.” He took her hand and brushed a kiss on her palm. “In honor of the occasion, I hired a closed carriage and driver. You won’t freeze tonight, I promise.”

“I know you’ll keep me warm,” she said, then blushed as she realized what she’d implied.

Gus grinned at her embarrassment, but didn’t take it further. “If I’m good for nothing else, I do generate a lot of body heat. Lucky you.” He helped her into the carriage and sat next to her, putting his arm around her as if it were the most natural gesture in the world. “Antonelli’s,” he instructed the driver.

Antonelli’s was known for its expensive but excellent Italian food and its equally snooty waiters. For the general population, reservations were hard to come by, which explained why Lia had never been there. But Gus seemed to be a regular—at least they treated him as such. They were given a lovely table toward the back of the restaurant. A bottle of chilled wine was waiting for them as was a stern-faced waiter, who pulled out Lia’s chair. He waited while Lia took off her coat and
she
waited to gauge Gus’s reaction. He didn’t disappoint her.

“Hell and damnation,” he murmured, staring at her from head to toe. “You are magnificent.” Gus glanced at the waiter, who had the temerity to raise his eyebrows, look Gus in the eye, and quirk his lips. The server handed menus to each of them.

“Thank you, Louis,” Gus said dryly. “Check back in a few minutes if you would.”

“Of course, Mr. Wolff. At your service.”

The waiter stepped away and Lia hoped her blush at Gus’s perusal had died down. “You’ve obviously been here before,” she commented. “To know the waiter by name and all.”

“I’ve been here a time or two,” Gus admitted. “Truth be told, I actually helped get Louis the job. He worked in a restaurant I owned up north and decided he’d had enough of the cold.”

“Ah.” Lia looked over the menu and paused, expecting Gus to suggest something to order as he’d done at the Cliff House and Henry’s.

“See anything you like?” he asked after a few minutes.

Lia smiled. “I thought for sure you were going to tell me what’s good on the menu.”

Gus chuckled and shook his head. “I was so nervous that first day that I didn’t want to leave anything to chance. Now that I look back on it, it was pretty pushy of me to order for you. What if you hadn’t liked fish?” He shrugged. “I’ve eaten here a lot and never been disappointed, so order whatever you like. It’s your birthday, after all.”

Lia couldn’t help grinning. The man paid attention! She remembered the times her father, and then George, had quietly expressed their disapproval when she dared to order something they didn’t feel she should have. If it were up to them she would have subsisted on salad and chicken breasts for eternity. She closed the menu. “All right, then, I’ll have the lasagna with lots and lots of sourdough bread.”

She found Gus beaming at her and it was as if his warmth shot straight through to her heart. Her whole being lit up, and in that moment she felt
right
, as if she were the most important person in the world to him, and he to her. It might not be true, but tonight,
tonight
she was going to pretend it was.

“A woman after my own heart,” he said lightly. He made a show of looking at her figure again. “Course, I don’t know where you’re gonna put it all, but I’m not complaining. I love leftovers.”

“Leftovers? Ha! I can pack it away, just you watch.”

Gus gazed at her, a slow smile crossing his face. “I’ll make you a bet: if you finish that lasagna, you can ask a favor of me; if you don’t, I can ask a favor of you.”

“It’s a deal,” Lia said, too quickly as it turned out. Unbeknownst to her, Antonelli’s was known for providing enormous portions. Lia’s serving of lasagna was easily large enough to serve a family of four.

“Not fair,” she complained when Louis brought her entree. She had already eaten a delicious tortellini soup, antipasto salad, and two pieces of her beloved sourdough; in truth she could have easily passed on the lasagna altogether.

“Is there something wrong, madam?” Louis looked alarmed; Antonelli’s prided itself on never leaving a customer dissatisfied.

“Oh. Oh no. Nothing is wrong. It looks…delicious,” she assured him.

“I bet her she couldn’t finish it,” Gus said.

“And she’s never been here before?”

Gus grinned and shook his head.

“Quite unsporting of you, sir,” Louis said with a sniff. The waiter then turned to Lia. “I hope you didn’t place too high a wager, Miss. Mr. Wolff is known for collecting his debts.”

“Good bye, Louis,” Gus said.

Lia looked at Gus, who shrugged and went back to eating the ravioli he’d ordered. “I suppose I forgot to tell you Antonelli’s is known by businessmen around town as Lucky’s.”

“Why Lucky’s?”

Gus chuckled. “Because when you dine here, you’re guaranteed to take a tasty piece of something home with you.”

“That’s terrible!” Lia feigned righteous indignation, fighting back a smile. She pointed her fork at Gus. “I think I’ve been hoodwinked.”

“Yes, ma’am, you surely have.” Gus couldn’t hide his own smirk.

“Well, what favor are you going to ask of me?”

“Still thinking about it,” he said. “But don’t get all stubborn on me and try to eat it all. What you don’t finish we’ll take home…as leftovers.”

Lia couldn’t help laughing. And loving the sound of the words “we’ll take home.” As the dinner progressed she found herself tumbling headlong into the kind of love she’d worried about since she’d met him. Gus talked openly about his family and his work, and over a dessert of tiramisu he brought up the topic that even Sandy avoided this time of year.

“So what did you send your son Georgie for his birthday?”

Lia stopped eating and looked up at him. Strangely, she didn’t feel like bursting into tears; she felt…comfortable. Comfortable talking about her son, whom she wasn’t able to be with, with a man who faced the same situation with his daughter. “A…a train set,” she said. “Em said he’d been asking for one and I thought he might like it.”

“Damn straight he’ll like it. There’s something about a train and little boys.” They continued to talk about Georgie until the conversation naturally migrated to other topics, and for the first time since she’d left her marriage, Lia felt as if she were whole again. She wanted to cry, but held it in, knowing that Gus wouldn’t understand the gift he’d given her.

Gus, in fact, had something completely different in mind. “Drink up,” he said as she was finishing her coffee. “I’m taking you on an adventure.”

Lia didn’t think anything could top the precious time they had just spent together. “What do you mean? Tonight was lovely. There’s no need—”

“There’s every need. You, Miss Starling, are about to do something you’ve never done before.”

Lia looked at him askance. “Um, there are lots of things I’ve never done before.”

“Yes, but this is something you’ve wanted to do for a long, long time. Louis?” The waiter, who’d been standing discreetly around the corner from their table, came around with their coats. “Miss Starling and I have to get a move on. We’re going swimming.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

“I
cannot believe you did this,” Lia said with wonder in her voice. They were standing at one end of the cavernous indoor swimming center known as the Sutro Baths. Several stories high, topped by an enormous glass roof, the seaside facility held seven pools and could hold up to ten thousand bathers at a time. Tonight, however, Gus had reserved the entire place just for the two of them.

“Incredible, isn’t it? Sutro was a mechanical genius.” He stood behind her and covered her with his arms, murmuring in her ear, “Listen.”

It was quiet and still, as if the building were resting from the day’s activities. But every few moments Lia could hear a faint, intermittent
whoosh
and the muted roar of the waves just on the other side of the outer wall.

“That’s the tide moving ocean water in and out of these pools,” he said. “Sutro figured out how to work with nature to keep them constantly clean. It’s remarkable, really.”

Lia turned to look at him. “You did this for me.” It was a statement, not a question, even though she still couldn’t quite get her mind around it.

Gus smiled down at her. “You said you always wanted to learn how to swim, and I wanted to give you that, so you’d have a birthday you’ll never forget.”

Lia looked into Gus’s eyes and read love in them. Pure and simple love. Joy engulfed her and she couldn’t help herself; she reached up and drew him to her for a kiss.

A kiss? No, it was more of a declaration. Gus took what she offered and returned it tenfold. He let her know through his touch and his mouth that he desired her, yes, but
needed
her as well. He held her face between his large hands and staked his claim, a claim she willingly yielded. Their bodies sought each other—hard seeking soft, gentle welcoming strong, equal in what one brought to the other. Lia whimpered in her need to get closer and was answered in turn by a muffled groan as Gus reluctantly broke the kiss, touching his forehead to hers. “If we keep this up, you will never get your lesson,” he said huskily. He stepped back. “Come on, let’s go in the water.”

“But I have no suit,” Lia said. She looked down at her beautiful gown. She couldn’t bear to ruin it, not after it had been part of such a magical evening.

“I’m guessing you don’t have much on under that frock. Am I right?” Gus perused her body with an intense expression.

Lia blushed. “No, not the…um…usual,” she said.

“I figured as much.” He walked over to a stack of clothing sitting on a bench by the first pool. Next to the stack he’d put a clothing-sized box he’d brought from the carriage. “You’ve got choices. You can wear one of these contraptions—” he held up one of the gray striped women’s bathing suits that Sutro rented to the public, which was ugly and stretched out, and looked incredibly uncomfortable “—you can wear what’s in this box—” he pointed to the box he’d brought in “—or you can do what I’m going to do, which is wear your birthday suit.” With that last remark he grinned and began removing his tie.

“Wait!” Lia cried. “Aren’t you going to wear
anything
?”

“Sorry. I wouldn’t be caught dead in one of those rentals. Who knows what the last guy was up to?”

All at once the fanciful
idea
of swimming with Gus changed into the distinctly unnerving reality of what she was about to do. No way would she disrobe in front of him; for heaven’s sakes, she had never even done that in front of her husband! She considered trying on the rental suit, but Gus’s comments conjured visions of sweaty or otherwise unclean individuals. Besides, she couldn’t bear the thought of going from her beautiful gown to what looked essentially like a used flour sack. By process of elimination she reached for the box.