Happily Ever Afton (9 page)

‘Actually, Afton wants to see the original Jackson Pollock first,’ he sidestepped her offer with wily ease, ‘so we’re going to make one quick stop on the way in the modern art gallery in the east wing – but you two go on ahead, don’t let us divert you. I’m sure we’ll run into you again at dinner.’

‘If looks could kill,’ Afton whispered with a giggle as they walked away. ‘I wanted to crawl behind that suit of armor in the Armory Collection with all the poison arrows slinging every which way!’

‘No one ever said murder was easy, Afton,’ Cooper murmured with a dashing grin, his words serving also to remind her that
none
of this was real.

She was here to help him avoid Katherine – as he had held up his side of their deal and helped her out with Jason.

Criss-cross
!

Even though they had veered
wildly
off course from the terms of their original deal a few times now she thought uncomfortably, remembering their passionate
unscripted
kisses. They stopped to admire the large abstract painting hanging prominently in the modern art gallery in the east wing, highlighted by vivid bold colors and seemingly random lines, blobs and squiggles created by the renowned, during his time, controversial, modern artist.

‘I’m glad it’s hanging in a museum,’ Afton commented staring appreciatively over at it, ‘I hate when some fat cat private collector snags a priceless treasure like this at an auction and then greedily keeps it hanging in their mansion already overstuffed with all the other treasures they’ve acquired just for their own personal enjoyment.’

Afton stepped closer with her champagne glass to her lips, getting a better look at the painting from several angles, and Cooper fell silent thinking of the original Pollock hanging in the great room of his multi-million dollar home with breathtaking views of Lake Washington. He resolved to see about loaning the painting he’d placed the winning bid on in a frenzied bidding war at a New York auction house, out to the museum as soon as he could.

They made their way back to the museum’s magnificently decorated entry hall and Afton thanked her lucky stars out loud when she saw Katherine and Reed were seated a few tables behind them. Cooper breathed his own sigh of relief noting the table they were to occupy contained strangers – no one who could potentially blow his cover.

He worried though, as he pulled out her chair earning him a lovely smile over a silken curve of shoulder, that when the truth did come out Afton would not appreciate his continued deception – or the reasons behind it. Before he could ponder the ramifications of what
could
occur, an overly botoxed woman stopped by their table handing them each a ticket along with one pen.

‘Fill out these tickets with your name and address and keep the stubs,’ she advised with her permanently frozen smile, ‘we’re going to have a raffle drawing later tonight with some really wonderful prizes – and I’ll just give you a hint that the top prize will be
trés magnifique!’

Cooper handed the pen to Afton and she quickly scribbled her contact info on her ticket placing it in the glass fishbowl before handing the pen back to him. As he filled out his own ticket, he failed to notice Afton peering discreetly over his shoulder as he neatly wrote in his address before he also dropped it down into the fishbowl.

‘What club are you a member of?’ she asked when the woman made her way with the rapidly filling fishbowl to the next table.

‘Hmm?’ Cooper stalled for time.

‘Reed mentioned you hadn’t been to the ‘
club’
lately and I was just wondering what kind of club it was.’

‘Oh that,’ Cooper scrambled, ‘our…
church
…has a men’s club, we…um…fellowship, get together for the occasional bowling match – or poker game – if the pastor’s not around that is…’

Afton nodded her head slowly not appearing convinced by his answer, perhaps not quite able to imagine a man as fussily groomed as Reed out of a tux, and in jeans and a sweatshirt chugging down a beer at a grimy bowling alley. Cooper hastily tilted one of the bottles of pricey champagne the waiter had left at each table into her glass, ‘have some more champagne; it was included with the invitation so we might as well enjoy it.’

As the delicious meal of smoked salmon served with caviar, roasted root vegetable salad and Thai spiced shrimp was served to guests on gold-rimmed china plates, Cooper discovered there was a direct correlation to the number of times he refilled Afton’s champagne glass – and the fewer questions she seemed to ask. He felt some remorse when with an unsteady hand; she replaced her glass on the table after his third refill.

At one point, she leaned over to whisper a little too loudly, ‘I’m really grateful for the buffer of champagne – I can feel Katherine’s dagger sharp eyes drilling a hole into my back although I dare not look around and risk being turned into a block of ice!’

Cooper noticed Afton also seemed puzzled by the steady stream of people who came by their table to greet him warmly – a combination of business associates, friends of the family and grateful clients – in her champagne clouded haze though, she never could quite form the question why.

‘Burp!’
Afton suddenly let rip a loud champagne-bubble induced hiccup.

Her hand flew up to cover her mouth in horror, hazel eyes round. When she removed her hand to apologize, she inadvertently knocked it against the edge of the table sending their centerpiece – an elaborate floral arrangement in a delicate crystal vase – swaying precariously until Cooper dived forward, saving it with natural athletic grace.

‘Oopsy daisy! I’m so sor…sorry; I don…don’t know why I’m so clumsy tonight…’ Her words of apology slurred together and the other couples at the table exchanged amused glances as Cooper frowned darkly.

I deserve to be run through with a rusty sword
.

Suffering feelings of deep guilt, he’d just resolved to take her home to sleep off her very obvious buzz and was rising from his chair, when the lights lowered. An announcement was made over the microphone to pull out ticket stubs as the winners were about to be announced in the raffle drawing. Cooper sank back down into his seat not wanting to draw more attention until they were finished distributing the prizes.

Polite applause rippled through the audience as the first prize of a year’s membership to the museum was plucked from the bowl, the lucky recipient heading to the front of the room to claim his passes. The second and third prizes were called to more applause, the prizes getting increasingly pricier and more desired. Cooper glanced impatiently at his watch, wishing they would hurry up, award the grand prize to the Louvre in Paris and get it over with already so he could get Afton home.

‘And the winner of our next prize is….Afton Lanford!’

Afton let out a loud whoop of joy that echoed endlessly in the cavernous marble hall.
‘Woo hoo
– that’s me! Hey, Cooper, I won!’

All heads twisted towards their table to see who had breached protocol in such an appalling manner. Before he could reach over and grab her, Afton shot out of her seat making her way on wobbly legs to the front of the room where she received a huge magnum of champagne as her prize.

‘I’ve already had an
awful
lot of this tonight, but not to worry,’ she said with a tipsy giggle into the microphone, struggling to hoist the heavy bottle triumphantly aloft in the air, ‘I can always make mimosas with breakfast – am I right, Coop?’

The audience roared at the audacity of using exorbitantly expensive champagne in such a frivolous manner. Cooper jumped up from his chair rushing to the front of the room passing a maliciously amused Katherine on the way, who gloated in her seat, clearly feeling she had just won her man back after such an embarrassing display. But the crowd was still clapping heartily at Afton’s obvious delight at her win, waving back at her until Cooper escorted her on her very unsteady legs right out the front doors of the museum and into their car.

When they reached her apartment building a short ride later, Cooper slid the sleek vehicle into an open spot out front then reached into the passenger seat and scooped a woozily dozing Afton into his arms where she snuggled against his chest purring like a contented kitten. He smiled, enjoying the feel of her in his arms and headed to the building where the doorman who looked somewhat unnerved, rushed over to pull open the doors when he saw them coming.

‘Er… excuse me, sir, but is she all right?’

‘I’m okay, Mickey.’

Cooper glanced down surprised to see Afton had raised one sleepy eyelid, the black labeled magnum of champagne still cradled in her arms. ‘Jus…just had a little too much of the ole bubbly…’ she patted the bottle lovingly then drifted back to sleep. Cooper and Mickey the doorman, exchanged a smile over her head.

‘If you lend me the pass key I’ll just tuck her in safely and be right back down in less than five minutes – I promise,’ Cooper reassured him quietly, appreciating the man’s concern for the dozing woman he said was one of his favorite tenants.

Cooper grasped the master key between his fingers and took the thankfully empty elevator up to her floor, juggling her in his arms so he could turn the doorknob and enter the apartment. He made his way down the hallway peering in open doors until he located her bedroom where he laid her gently on the silken duvet covering the bed and removed the champagne bottle from her tight clasp, placing it on her nightstand. Afton immediately turned on her side clutching her spare pillow snugly to her breast instead with a deeply contented sigh.

Cooper stood looking down at her with a crooked smile on his face. ‘Lucky pillow.’

He removed the drooping flower from her hair, reviving it by dropping it in a glass of water on her bedside table. Frowning, he wondered if he should remove her dress also, but decided against it thinking it might be too painful –
for him
– compromising and deciding to just unzip it. When he carefully lowered the zipper at the back of her dress, he got all the way to the silken skin located at the base of her delicately ridged spine then stopped.

Again with the no underwear
!

‘Afton, it’s more like
man
slaughter than murder because you’re
killing
me here, darling,’ Cooper whispered. He bent to plant a soft kiss on her forehead then, true to his word; he turned and left the apartment leaving her sleeping soundly behind him.

Chapter Six

‘COOPER, YOU REALLY
didn’t
have to come all the way over here just to bring me my purse!’

‘It was no problem,’ Cooper replied leaning with a shoulder against the doorjamb. He held out the forgotten purse. ‘Ryan’s sister called and mentioned they found it at the museum, and since I have my neighbor’s car tonight, I thought I’d drop it off and also see how you were doing.’

‘Ugh, it was bit of a rough morning – I didn’t even bother going to work or getting dressed for that matter as you can see,’ Afton said with a wry grimace, holding the gaping collar of her colorful silken robe closed at her neck with one hand. ‘But I’m feeling
much
better now.’

‘Well you look…
wonderful
,’ he said softly.

She flushed as his gaze ran quickly over her in the flower-splashed short robe lingering on her face. Afton was suddenly very grateful she had taken time to wash it and dab on some lipstick when he’d called to say he was nearby and would stop by to deliver her abandoned purse.

‘I’m
so
sorry about last night, Cooper – I hope I didn’t embarrass you too much. I don’t really remember much after my third glass of champagne I’m afraid.’

Cooper released a rumbling throaty laugh. ‘You were a perfect gentleman – I’m happy to report my virtue is still intact and
I’m
the one who should be apologizing – I guess I was a little heavy handed on the champagne pouring.’

The aquamarine eyes seemed to be shining more vividly than usual tonight, Afton noticed as he spoke. ‘You didn’t embarrass me one bit – I was
proud
to have you on my arm last night, Afton.’

A weighted silence fell between them. Afton nervously cleared her throat. ‘Did…did you want to come in for some coffee before you drive home?’

‘I would love to – if it’s not too much trouble,’ Cooper’s deep voice was low with hidden shadings all throughout.

‘No trouble at all!’ Afton sang out trying to lighten the strange aura of
expectation
seeming to hover between them, ‘come on in and have a seat.’

She moved towards the kitchen as Cooper unzipped the black leather jacket worn over a black long-sleeved shirt and pair of neat black jeans, laying it over the back of a chair as she instructed and taking a seat on her comfortable couch.

‘I’ll…just go start the coffee – it’s not as good as the coffee shop’s mind you, but it will have to do.’

‘I’m sure it will be great…er…I’m not keeping you from anything am I?’ he called out after her as she quickly put the glass pot on the coffeemaker with fumbling hands. ‘You look like you might have been on your way to bed.’

‘Oh, no – it’s only nine o’clock – the night is still young.’ Afton reassured him reentering the living room taking in at a glance the all-black outfit emphasizing his striking, devilishly attractive good looks, ‘well to be honest, I was supposed to watch a movie for my ‘oldies but goodies’ review this week and the deadline is tomorrow. How do you feel about watching a classic?’

‘Got any popcorn?’ he asked with a smile that caused that pesky knee-weakening indentation to flash briefly in one lean cheek.

‘Yes, and I might even have some Milk Duds too!’

‘So what makes this movie a classic?’ Cooper asked a short while later, reaching into the colorful ceramic bowl sitting between them on the couch for another huge handful of popcorn.

Afton looked over from where she sat with bare legs curled beneath her at the opposite end of the brown suede sofa centered in front of a large flat-screen television in the darkened living room. ‘Well it won eight of the top industry awards including Best Picture for one thing, but what it’s best known for is probably the kiss.’