Page 33 of Lawbreaker

“No good. Tanner would buy it immediately.”

“Nice point. Well, how about getting her to do one of Heather?”

“Your dad would buy it.”

She grimaced.

“Don’t you have some art history books?” he asked. “Stasia told me about them.”

“Yes, I do, and I gave Maddie a set of her own while she was recuperating from her back injury.”

“Then get her to pick a subject from one of the books, something with no ties to any of us,” he suggested.

“That’s a good idea.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, thanks for the weekend.”

“Some weekend, with Donalson stalking you like a doe in the forest,” he scoffed.

She drew in a breath. “It’s something I never got used to,” she confessed. “None of the boys I liked in school ever liked me. Of course, I was a stuck-up little snob in those days. Nobody really liked me.” She looked out at the city beyond the backstreet with a sigh. “Now it’s almost the same, except the wrong men like me too much and in the wrong way. They think because I come from wealth and I’m not bad looking that I know my way around bedrooms.”

“Which you don’t.”

That surprised her into looking up.

“You don’t think it shows?” he asked, his voice husky and deep and soft like velvet. “I know the other kind all too well. You’ve got class. It shows.” He smiled. “I’ll bet you sang in the church choir back home.”

She flushed. “So much for being sophisticated.”

“You don’t need sophistication. You have style and grace and principles. That’s more than enough, even in the city.”

She was surprised by the remarks. They made her feel as if she had champagne in her veins.

He realized that, at once. He shrugged. “What I said before, however, still goes. You’re attractive, but I’ve already got...”

“...a mistress,” she finished for him, with a weary smile. “I know. I’m not your type.”

“No.” It hurt him to say it. He turned away. “How does Monday sound, to go home? About three o’clock?”

“Midafternoon is fine.”

“Three o’clock. A.m.,” he emphasized.

“In the morning?!” she exclaimed. “That’s a myth,” she said, her lower lip protruding. “There’s no such thing as three in the morning!”

He chuckled. “Oh, yes, there is. Don’t worry. If you aren’t awake, I’ll send Big Ben over with a large bucket. He’ll pour water on you until you get up.”

“He’ll get a red toaster up alongside his head, too, the minute I can slosh my way into the kitchen to get it!” she promised, her blue eyes sparking.

“Hey!”

They both turned to look. Stasia was standing not five feet away, both hands on her hips. “Finally, you’ve noticed me! I said, the weather channel’s on and they say the storm is headed this way! We need to get to the airport before it hits!”

He glared at Odalie, who glared back.

“I’ll see you Monday at three.” He turned and helped an impatient Stasia into the car gently, after she hugged Odalie half to death. He got into the car beside her. Ben closed the door.