Chapter 10 #3
She caught hold of his fingers, pulling them away from her cheek.
Her body flushed in all the places that hand had roamed.
He drew his head back from her shoulder, his eyes wild and searching and strange as he stared up into her face.
“And you’re all right?” he rasped. “You’re . . . you’re not hurt at all?”
“No, of course not.” Luna moved to slide off his lap.
His hand at her waist resisted, but when she took hold of it, he allowed her to draw both his hands up in front of her, clasped between her own.
She eased back to her feet then, standing between his knees even as he gazed up at her with an expression of desperate pleading.
“I was only over at Mrs. Goddard’s, remember?
” she said. Her voice quivered rather more than she liked.
Part of her wanted to release her hold on him, to see where his hands might venture if given their freedom once more.
But she held on firmly. “I’m fine, Mr. Grimm. ”
“Mortimer—” he began.
“He’s gone.” Luna spoke with more conviction than she felt. “We’re safe. For now, at least. And so is Garden.”
Her voice seemed to calm him somewhat. Bowing forward, he pressed his forehead against her fingers and breathed hard. “I’m sorry,” he murmured at last. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
Luna’s throat thickened. What was he apologizing for?
His current behavior? His withheld truths?
The sins of his past? It hardly mattered.
None of it did, if she was honest. Not even the awful revelation of his identity.
Because nothing could change what he had done to her heart.
Nothing could change the way he had slowly broken down all her defenses and somehow installed himself as the most beautiful, the most important person in her entire life.
All her resolutions, so firmly planted overnight, threatened to be uprooted in a single blast of powerful emotion. She simply could not do this. Not with this man. Not right now. Not with tomorrow and the mail train and her departure looming so large on the horizon.
“Mr. Grimm,” she said, coloring her voice with sternness in an effort to disguise anything more vulnerable.
“You need to get upstairs and put yourself in the shower. It’s only an hour until opening, and we’ve got a stack of commissions to get through before the day is done.
Pickups start at noon, and we don’t have any of those nosegays for the Governor’s Ball ready.
Do you hear me, Mr. Grimm? We’ve got to focus now. ”
He lifted his face once more, blinking up at her blearily. Had he registered a single word she’d spoken? That severmist poison must have been much more potent than she’d guessed. She could only hope it wouldn’t cause him any lasting harm.
“Come on,” she said, gripping his elbow.
She gave a firm tug, and he seemed to understand her intention.
He braced his feet and rose again, more slowly than the previous attempt.
He took a step, staggered, and she hastily tucked herself under his arm.
His gaze dropped to her face with an expression of such lovesick longing that she would be quite tempted to ignore all other concerns and kiss him, only . . . Luna winced.
“I hate to be the one to tell you this, Mr. Grimm,” she said, “but you don’t half stink!”
His expression crumpled, and he turned away quickly. A flush of pink stained his cheeks.
“Go on,” Luna urged, as he found his own footing. “Get upstairs, please. I’ll handle the flowers and get things ready for opening, all right?”
Nodding, Mr. Grimm carefully removed his arm from around her shoulders and made his way out from behind the counter.
She watched him stagger to the stairs, where he gripped the doorframe and looked back at her, his eyes suddenly very wide and desperate.
“You’ll be here, won’t you?” he asked, his ordinarily posh voice slurred. “When I get back? You won’t go away?”
A knot of sickness twisted her gut, but Luna forced a little smile on her face. “I’ll be here,” she said. “I’m just going to tidy up a bit then make a start on those commissions.”
He nodded. Turned to the stairwell, paused. Looked back at her again, as though afraid she might have already flickered out of sight. Then, with a heavy sigh, he disappeared into the stairwell.
Luna listened to the sound of his footsteps ascending, to the creak of his apartment door opening and shutting in his wake.
Not much after, the pipes by the trimming sink roared to life, testimony to the shower up above in action.
Luna pressed her lips together in a tight line.
She turned and caught Debbie looking at her just as a tear escaped through her lashes and trailed down her cheek.
She hastily dashed it away, but not before the raven’s quick eye spotted it.
“Never mind?” Debbie ventured.
“No, don’t mind me,” Luna answered firmly. “I’m fine. It’s all going to be fine.”
But in her heart, she knew it wouldn’t be.