Venus in Love (15 page)

Her biggest complaints about large galleries were that they either dumped you into a stark white gaping room lined with frames or treated you like a mouse in a maze weaving in and around oddly placed walls and glass cabinets. Although cabinets and cases were for the protection and preservation of valuable works, she didn’t care for it. It was an unfortunate necessity to protect the piece from damage, be it from vandals, thieves, or the environment.

“I’ve made the final list of pieces that we’re pulling from the collection, and Rita tells me that everything for the auction is right on schedule,” Morgan said.

“Oh, excellent. I was going to get with you on that. I know this is your first auction so if you have any legal questions or need any documents reviewed, we can call Lilly Kent, our attorney.”

“Lilly. I love that name. Why does it sound familiar? I don’t believe I’ve met the attorney yet, have I?”

“I’m sure you’ve heard Alex say her name upstairs, probably followed by an expletive or two. And you would remember had you ever had the…pleasure…of meeting the woman.” Lee failed at hiding her blatant sarcasm
.

“Rita is working on it, but I did have a few questions that she didn’t have time to answer the other day. If you already have something scheduled I can pop in and at least say hello.”

“Okay. I’ll have Alex put a meeting on the calendar.”

*

On Wednesday morning, Lee waited in her office for Lilly to arrive. She had called her and asked that she arrive thirty minutes before the meeting with Morgan because she felt that she needed to set some ground rules for the game she knew Lilly would start. First and foremost, Morgan was off limits. Lee needed to make that perfectly clear. Yet she knew that the moment she told Lilly no there would be no stopping her. Of that, she had personal experience.

“No. Nothing good would come of that!” she warned herself. “But wait. If I can get Lilly to focus on me, it shouldn’t be that hard. Lilly is predictable and is motivated by her pants—” Lee’s contemplation was cut off by Alex’s knock at the door.

Alex opened the door, and Lilly sauntered in. Alex rolled her eyes and announced the arrival of Lilly anyway.

“Game on…” Lee said to herself as she rose from behind her desk and took the venomous hand in hers. “Lilly, aren’t you looking exquisite this morning.”

“Well, Ainsley darling, you’re welcome to notice. I must say you’re looking rather handsome yourself.” Lilly slid her hand up Lee’s arm to her neck and pulled her in for a slow, cold kiss on her cheek. The contact made Lee shiver. “I think about you when I’m alone, and sometimes when I’m not,” Lilly hissed into her ear.

“That sounds…interesting.” Lee wanted to use another word, but this would only work if she fed into it. She led Lilly to a seat. If they were sitting, she could concentrate on the mission and avoid Lilly’s ice-cold hands snaking over her body.

They sat in the guest chairs, but somehow Lilly managed to angle herself and cross her legs so that her foot touched Lee’s leg. “There was no agenda for this little prelude meeting, so I’m hoping it’s more personal than professional.”

“Well, in a way. I’d been thinking that I’d not seen you in some time and thought it would be nice if we, I don’t know, caught up.” Lee blatantly lied and just the thought sent chills down her spine. Lilly was the last woman she would think about or want to spend any time “catching up” with.

Lilly rubbed her stiletto pump up and down Lee’s calf. “Really? Someone is having a change of heart I see. So, how would you like to get caught up?” Lilly winked.

Lee’s stomach turned at the thought, and her plan unraveled itself. She was encouraging Lilly’s atrocious and unprofessional behavior and she couldn’t go through with it. “You know what, this is a terrible idea.” Lee stood up and moved away from Lilly.

Lilly’s brown eyes grew dark as night. “But it sounded like a perfect one to me.”

A knock at the door sent Lee’s heart racing, She straightened her shirt, and said, “Come in.”

Alex opened the door and showed Morgan in. Morgan glowed with her ever-present smile, and Lee couldn’t resist smiling in return. “Hello, Ms. Blake.”

Lilly also stood. She interrupted and introduced herself. “We meet again, Ms. Blake.”

*

When Morgan entered Lee’s office, she was surprised to see her standing with such a strange and uncomfortable expression on her face. Regardless, Morgan couldn’t help but smile when she saw her.

When a woman stood up, Morgan looked toward her. “We meet again, Ms. Blake.” At first, Morgan didn’t know why she would say that. She didn’t think they had met before. But then she recalled her as the woman she met the morning she arrived for her interview. “The Church, right? I remember that now. I couldn’t figure out why your name was so familiar to me when Lee mentioned it. It is nice to see you again.” Morgan held out her hand.

Lilly slipped her cold, slender hand into Morgan’s. “Likewise.” Lilly held on to Morgan’s hand longer than reasonable until Lee interrupted.

“Great. Just great. Let’s have a seat, shall we?” Lee moved around to her desk and sat down slowly, never taking her eyes off Lilly.

“So, Ms. Blake, it’s lovely to see such a young and attractive woman holding such a powerful position at the Dencourt. Nice choice, Lee.” Lilly winked in Lee’s direction but did not try to hide it from Morgan.

Morgan was shocked by Lilly’s outright and offensive statement straight out of the gate. “Um. Thank you?” Morgan looked at Lee with a look that said,
“Are you serious?”
A pink hue developed quickly over Lee’s face.

“Lilly. I’m sure Ms. Blake is flattered. But let me remind you that her age and her…her attractiveness have nothing whatsoever to do with her appointment. She is an Ivy League-educated curator with an exceptional reference list and qualifications.”

Only part of that was true, but Morgan was appreciative of Lee’s attempt to put Lilly in her place. “I graduated at the top of my class from Yale and completed an intense eighteen-month internship at the Musée du Louvre. My looks are hardly what got me there, or here,” Morgan added in her own defense. She had no doubt that her face burned the same shade of red as Lee’s now was.

“And feisty too.” Lilly was clearly not affected by Lee’s or Morgan’s attempts to correct her behavior.

“Ms. Kent!” Lee blurted out.

Morgan was appalled, and she had no desire to entertain any further conversation with Lilly. She stood and addressed Lee. “If you will excuse me, I have some…any other place to be.” As she turned to leave, she looked down at Lilly who rested her chin on her hand and eyed Morgan predatorily. Morgan rolled her eyes in disgust, “Ms. Kent.”

“Until next time, Morgan Blake.”

Morgan left the office and shut the door loudly behind her. The sound caused Alex to look up in surprise. “Morgan? What’s wrong?”

“I have never…never in all my life been so disgusted by someone, especially not a woman. And an attorney no less.” Morgan was rambling.

“Wow! And you were only in there for three minutes. She must’ve pulled out all the stops.” Alex smiled.

“Stops? That woman obviously has no stopper of any kind. How the hell does Lee keep her on staff? Is she like that to everyone?”

“Mostly just to Lee. They used to…I guess you could call it, date. But thankfully, it didn’t last very long.”

Morgan’s stomach twisted into a knot when she thought about the two of them being romantically involved. What the hell would Lee see in such a garish and insulting woman, besides her aggressively good looks? It had to be the only reason that Lee would keep employing such a liability. “If you need me, I’ll be downstairs. Avoiding any further inappropriate comments from Lilly Kent.”

*

“Lilly. That’s enough. No more disgusting sexist comments or perverse sexual innuendos, to me or any other member of this gallery. Do you understand?” Lee stood and pressed her hands firmly onto her desk.

“Aww. You know you don’t mean that, handsome.” Lilly stood and matched Lee’s posture. Her face was only inches away from Lee’s. “Have I ever told you how turned on I get when you get so…mmm…bossy?” Lilly ran her finger up Lee’s arm.

Lee jerked her hand away and stood up straight. “Enough, Lilly. I mean it. One more time and I will fire you.”

Lilly stood slowly. “Really?”

“Yes, really. Now do you understand?” Lee wanted to make sure that Lilly knew she was serious.

“I understand, Ms. Dencourt.” Lilly glared at Lee before she excused herself and left the office.

Lee followed Morgan down the cobblestone street. Since they’d left the restaurant, Lee had resisted every urge to stop and pull Morgan into her arms. They talked and laughed over dinner and enjoyed flirting unabashedly over cocktails. Their friends and companions whispered and gossiped about the obvious pairing in the making. Fueled by the drinks and atmosphere, they did little to hide their quickly heating attraction. When the party decided to move to the next destination, Lee and Morgan agreed but purposely lagged behind. When they reached the last block before the next establishment, Lee could no longer resist. She grabbed Morgan by the arm and pulled her into a dark, narrow alley. “I’ve been dying to do this all night.” Lee cupped Morgan’s face in her hands and swiftly claimed Morgan’s mouth with hers.

Morgan responded wantonly and parted her lips to allow Lee’s tongue to tease hers. Morgan ran hers hands up Lee’s back, pulling her so close Lee could feel Morgan’s heart pound in her own chest. Lee tangled her fingers in Morgan’s hair and pulled back her head to expose the sensitive flesh of her neck. Lee dipped her head and ran her tongue along her pulsing vein, inhaling her delicate perfume. She kissed her collarbone and heard Morgan moan with need. Morgan cupped Lee’s face in her hands and brought her up to look into her eyes. “Take me home, Lee. I need to be with you. Please. Feel how badly I want you.” Morgan begged and pushed Lee’s hand down to her—

Lee’s alarm clock rang out, and her eyes flew open. “For the love of God!” Lee flung her hand and knocked the offending clock off the nightstand.

Lee was really getting tired of these unfinished dreams. She was spending her waking hours avoiding them only to be unsatisfactorily consumed by them at night. She was quickly becoming desperate for release, and self-satisfaction was not getting her by anymore.

*

Morgan was excited for the day. The floors were nearly complete in the Venus exhibit, and Morgan wanted to run and slide across the beautiful glass finish. Instead she decided to pop into the preservation department and check on the cleaning schedule of the in-house pieces she had selected for the exhibition. On her way down, she ran into Lee in the stairwell. “Hey.”

“Hi.” Lee’s smile was intoxicating.

Morgan looked around. “What are you doing lurking in here?”

“Nothing. I was on my way to the gallery to see…to check things out.”

“Oh. Well, I was on my way down to check on the Venus works if you wanted to tag along.” It was about the time for Lee to come down and
accidentally
run into her.

“I’d love to.” Lee took a step down and Morgan grabbed her wrist. Lee looked at Morgan’s hand but didn’t pull away. Morgan could feel Lee’s pulse quicken beneath her fingertips.

Morgan quickly let go. “Wait. I wanted to talk to you about Lilly and how I stormed out of your office yesterday.”

“Morgan, it’s okay. I would have done the same thing. I’m so sorry about that.” Lee reached back out for Morgan’s hand. Her stomach fluttered at the renewed contact between them. Morgan’s breath caught in her chest when Lee stepped back up and pulled her close.

“It’s not your fault. You warned me about her, but I guess I was still caught off guard. I’ve never actually heard anyone say such things, to my face at least.”

“It was inappropriate, and I told her just that after you left.” Lee looked into Morgan’s eyes with sincere apology.

It was the first time they had been alone in weeks, and the closeness of Lee’s body to hers was overwhelming. She could feel the heat as it burned between them. “I…maybe I overreacted. I can do that sometimes,” Morgan’s words trailed off as she lost herself in Lee’s kind eyes.

“Listen.” Lee stroked Morgan’s hand in comfort. “You didn’t overreact. And if it happens again I will take care of it. I promise.”

The space around them faded, and all Morgan could see was Lee. A door slammed on the landing overhead, and Morgan jerked her hand away as she stepped back from Lee. “Um. Thank you.” Lee and Morgan looked up and watched Lilly saunter confidently down the steps toward them. “Well, I have to get downstairs to check on the paintings. I’ll…I’ll see you later, Ms. Dencourt.” Morgan ran down the steps away from Lee and Lilly.

*

Lee was irritated by Lilly’s unexpected disruption. She showed her into her office and closed the door between them.

“What is she doing here today?” Lee did little to curb her disgust. “Is she even on my schedule?” she asked Alex.

“No, ma’am, she isn’t. She came in about ten minutes ago. I told her to wait, but she went to look for you on her own,” Alex answered.

“Please tell me I have a meeting that I can’t miss then.” Lee looked over at Alex’s desk calendar.

“No. There isn’t anything. You always go downstairs to see…the galleries during this time. I tried to keep her up here away from Morgan because I know how uncomfortable she is with her. I’m sorry.”

“Alex, it’s not your fault. There aren’t many people that are comfortable around her, including me.”

“And me.”

“I’m sorry. It’s inappropriate, and I hopefully put a stop to it,” Lee said before entering her office and shutting the door a little too forcefully.

Lilly sat confidently in Lee’s chair behind her desk. “I like this view. It’s powerful.”

“Lilly, don’t sit in that chair.” It was her father’s chair, and Lee was appalled that Lilly would sit in it.

Lilly stood and came from behind the desk as she ran her hand over the surface. “So, are you fucking her?”

“Excuse me!” Lee shouted as her head nearly exploded. “You are out of line, Lilly.”