Page 85 of The Chase
That gut-wrenching fear circled my chest. “What time do you have to be at work?”
“Eight, maybe.”
“You make your own hours?”
“Pretty much.”
And then I realized I’d have to face Adley this morning. Hopefully I’d get the chance to warn him about Christie’s before anyone else did.
Tobias tilted my chin up. “You told me something last night...”
He really did have dreamy irises, and that dark blond hair crowned that handsome face; his five o’clock shadow enhanced his edginess.
God, what he’d done to me.
My sex tingled in memory.
He trailed a fingertip along my collarbone. “You mentioned you saved a few paintings from the fire?”
I rubbed my eyes, not remembering I’d told him that. “Yes, I carried three and dad carried the big one.”
“Where are they?”
“Safe.”
“Are they still at your old house?”
I pulled the sheet up and over my head and hid from him.
His soft gasp proved his realization.
Tobias dragged the sheet off me slowly until I had no choice but to look at him. His face lit up with intrigue. “Show me.”
I slid off the bed and wrapped the sheet around me, fully aware his eyes drank me in as I scrambled to cover myself. My self-consciousness returning as though we’d not already seen each other naked and I’d not just had the most incredible sex of my entire life.
I padded out and down the hallway and into the spare bedroom. There wasn’t much in here, just a bed with an antiqued white frame made to match the soft hue of the Laura Ashley wallpaper. There was that corner wicker chair that no one was ever going to sit in. The rose prints that hung on the far wall offered some red into the mix and balanced out the blue.
Tobias’s gaze searched the room but his expression was unreadable. He leaned against the doorjamb with his arms crossed against his chest as he watched me—
Gripping the left side, I slid the walled antique mirror all the way to the left and revealed the cupboard-sized safe hidden behind it. After tapping in the ten-digit code, I waited for the mechanism to release. The door opened and I reached in and dragged out the large wooden pallet.
“Do you need a hand?” He stepped forward.
“I’ve got it, thank you.” Carefully, I laid it flat on the carpet and slid off the lid.
He came over and knelt beside me. “What do we have here?”
I lifted out the first painting, which was separated from the others by brown paper. “Vermeer.” I watched him swallow back his surprise.
Tobias’s irises went from green to gold as his gaze swept over the portrait of the young woman staring back at us, her beauty mystical, the light shining off the canvas bringing a brilliant aura over her delicate face.
I rested that aside and went back to the wooden pallet and eased the next frame out.
Tobias’s jaw gaped. “Da Vinci?” His eyes roamed over the sketch of a cannon gun, the image stained cream and brown, and faded only slightly by time.
“Did you know da Vinci was left-handed?” I said.
“Might have read that somewhere.” His tone was soft.
