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do with the temperature. Her parents? That wasn't the relationship she
wanted. Though they'd never complained, Jennifer had always known that
her mother and father were living in a prison of their own making. Their
relationship, her family, represented a confinement. No, she didn't want that.
But she didn't want to be always waiting for David's return. She needed to be
with him. And he wanted to be with her. He'd said so on the beach only a
few hours ago.
Externals, she reminded herself. There were reasons beyond them that
condemned them to a long-distance relationship. Damn. Why couldn't he
have stayed a banker?
She flicked the light switch upstairs and displayed her afternoon's endeavor.
The pictures were ranged around the room, and David studied each as if he
were in an art gallery. "These are good, Jennifer. I mean, these are really
good."
When he came to the nude study, David paused. He was facing away from
her, and she could see the tensing of his shoulders. "Don't you like it?" she
asked.
When he turned to face her, she saw a reflection of his new vulnerability in
his smoky-gray eyes. It was the look she had captured in her watercolor. Her
artistic skill allowed her to create a portrait of a man. Her talent gave the
picture depth. She'd painted the eyes of a man in love.
Without a word he came to her and embraced her."Oh, David." She sighed.
"I wish we never had to be apart." In the gentle shelter of his arms Jennifer
came very close to wishing that the Wasp Man documentary would be
destroyed, that it would be a huge flop.
CHAPTER 12
BY MONDAY MORNING the weather in Denver had cleared. The tang of
autumn was in the air, invigorating and as crisp as the first bite of a red
October apple. Jennifer's mood had been lightened by a weekend of
lovemaking, but her doubts about the feasibility of a long-distance
relationship had not been erased.
Uncharacteristically she awakened early, showered, dressed and hurried to
check in at Watt's Up. It was almost as if she needed to reassure herself that
her shop had not disappeared over the weekend. A short drive, and she was
there. The cheery, hand-painted sign still hung above the doorway. The
window display was neat and intriguing. Jennifer swung around the back to
park. As she unlocked the rear entrance, she smiled. Watt's Up. At least
there was some stability in her life.
She was inspecting the movie memorabilia, deciding which items to
display, when Beth entered. "You're back," Beth said. "And you have a tan.
Tell me all about your glamorous weekend in Lotusland."
"Oh, the usual " Jennifer feigned boredom " hobnobbing with Shirley
MacLaine and George Hamilton, dining at Ma Maison, shopping on Rodeo
Drive."
"Not really?"
"Actually, I never left the house," Jennifer said. "But all in all, it was pretty
spectacular."
"What else?""Surely you don't want all the lurid details of what happened in
the late Wasp Man's boudoir."
"Stop!" David shouted as he bounded through the door. "It's a little early for
a kiss-and-tell biography."
"Early in the morning?" Jennifer asked. "Or early in the relationship?"
"Both." He kissed her lightly on the lips.
"You mean it's going to get even more depraved?" she teased, gleefully
rubbing her hands together. "Oh, goody. I can't wait."
"This woman should not be turned loose on the world until after twelve
o'clock noon," he said. "Hi, Beth."
"Hi, yourself." She turned to Jennifer. "Are you going to need my help
today?"
"If you can stay, I can use you. I really need to rearrange the inventory. Let
me find out what this wayward movie mogul is up to, and then we'll get
started."
She turned to David. Though her manner was brisk and businesslike,
Jennifer felt a surge of warmth simply because he was near her. He looked
marvelous in the morning, she thought, but no more so than late at night.
As he talked, a remembered picture of David, reclining on the pale satin
sheets on the bed in Malibu Beach, formed in her mind. With an artist's
appreciation for his masculine physique she imagined the play of shadow
and light across his chest, the sinews of his biceps, the shaded hollow at the
base of his throat. She leaned back against the counter and enjoyed the
memory, not hearing a word he said.
"Any suggestions?" he asked. "Any ideas?"
"I'm sorry," she said. "Could you repeat that?"
"Jennifer, where's your brain today?"
With a wicked grin she whispered, "Malibu...midnight on
Saturday...champagne-colored satin sheets..."
"Enough. I remember."
Though his roguish smile was in place, David was actually blushing.
Jennifer chuckled. That should pay him back for embarrassing her on a
public beach. They really were well suited to each other, she thought, a
couple of blushing old fogies. "Now, David, what were you saying?"
"In a nutshell," he said with an exasperated sigh, "I dropped off the Wasp
Man tapes to Wanda this morning, and she thinks we'll have a completed
film on Friday."
Jennifer gestured to Beth, who had been trying to fade into the woodwork
while the two of them talked. "Did you hear that? We might actually be able
to spend time with our men. Without interference from Wasp Man."
Both women applauded.
"Thank you." David bowed. "Here's the problem. There are four executive
types coming out from Hollywood on Friday, and they want to see the film.
Do you two ladies have any ideas where we could show this epic?"
Jennifer and Beth pondered for a moment. They mentioned several
possibilities and discarded each one. Then inspiration struck. "Delilah's,"
Jennifer said.
"Perfect," Beth concurred.
David looked at them as though they'd lost their minds. "Delilah? The artist
who specializes in neon tongues?"
"Her house is a mansion," Jennifer assured him. "It's huge, and she has a
huge room with a giant television screen."
"Do I dare ask why Delilah has a giant TV?"
"It's not really too kinky," Beth said. "In fact, it's a common malady that
occurs in Denver every autumn. Bronco fever. Delilah is a fanatic football
fan."
"Are we talking about the same woman?"
"Absolutely," Jennifer said. Thoughtfully she added, "But I'm not sure that
it's the football game that keeps Delilah interested. Rumor has it that she's
trying to get John El way the quarterback, to pose nude." "What a party that
could be," Beth said, and she listed the possible guests. "The artists, the
gang from The Lodge, everybody who worked on the film, your movie
executives."
"All those people?" David asked doubtfully.
"A premiere," Jennifer announced. "The Grand Premiere Showing of Wasp
Man Speaks. I'll call Delilah."
David paced a few steps and gave her one of his raised- eyebrow looks.
"Maybe we should give this a bit more thought."
"Nonsense." Jennifer picked up the telephone. "Her house is perfect, and
Delilah will love it." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]