By The Sea, Book Two: Amanda by Stockenberg Antoinette

Author:Stockenberg, Antoinette
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gilded age, boats, newport rhode island, masterpiece, yachts, americas cup, downton abbey, upstairs downstairs, masterpiece theatre, 20s roaring 20s 1920s flappers gangsters prohibition thegreatgatsby
Publisher: Antoinette Stockenberg

Chapter 9

"Do you think that's wise?" Geoff kept his hands on the wheel, conscious that he looked and sounded like a prig.

"You don't have to drink if you don't want to," she said, misinterpreting his reluctance. "Will you come in anyway? There's something I'd like to show you." In the darkness her voice was soft and tentative, utterly unlike her usual manner. She might have been an Englishwoman. Miss Marylsworth, for instance. How did she do that?

He glanced at her suspiciously. "To be quite honest, I'm afraid to."

The surprise in her voice was genuine. "Afraid? Why?"

"Up until now, we've always met on neutral ground. I think that's the reason neither one of us has taken a poke at the other so far. Anything could happen in there. Are you sure you want to chance it?" He tried to make it sound light.

Her voice wavered a little through her smile as she said, "Now you're being silly. Everyone knows the English don't go in for that Wild West stuff."

In the dark she couldn't see his eyebrows lift in resignation. "All right, then. Lead on." Damn. He didn't want to, he didn't want to, he didn't want to.

The courtyard was dark. He kept close to her, close enough to smell her sunburn and the leftover heat of a July day spent on the ocean. Damn. As Amanda fumbled with her keys, he wondered why she didn't keep a maid to get the door. Earlier that day he'd caught a glimpse of a stunning flat through a door of her studio; clearly she had the money for all the live-ins she wanted. Amanda dropped her key ring. They both reached down for it. There was a brushing of heads and an immediate schoolboy's apology from him. The last thing in the world he wanted was for her to think he was looking for an excuse to grope. Damn.

Inside, Amanda flipped a switch, washing the entire studio in white light. Geoff stood in the center, hands in his pockets, eyes squinting to adjust to the glare, and looked around more carefully than he had earlier. It was a full working studio, with several projects underway. History would decide whether Amanda was any good, but Geoff had already decided that she was definitely hard-working.

"How long have you been at this?" he asked, curious.

"I fooled around at it for a year or two after I graduated from Radcliffe. But I've been working full time for ... well, forever, I think. Do you have any moral objections to watching me have a drink?" she asked with only a trace of sarcasm.

"That isn't what I—sure, drink away," he said.

She'd lit a cigarette and was pouring brandy from a paint-spattered crystal decanter into a glass for herself. It was the old Amanda, to be sure; her voice had the old challenging tone in it as she said, "I'm in the middle of a professional crisis, and I thought you might be able to help me. You're the most old-fashioned

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