Robin helped her into a waiting Lincoln Town Car, then instructed the driver. “The River Café, please, Tanya.”
“Are you trying to dazzle me? An exclusive restaurant with terrific food, I’ve been told, and a chauffeured car.” She inhaled the new leather smell. “At least it’s not one of those ostentatious long limousines. A Lincoln Town Car seems more your style. Comfortable and classy.”
“You think I’m classy?” Robin’s thumb circled Lily’s palm. “Don’t forget the lovely view of lower Manhattan and the romantic atmosphere. I am trying to seduce you after all.”
Lily caressed the buttery leather seat, then smiled at Robin. “I’m weakening.”
When they arrived at the restaurant, a former barge moored under the Brooklyn Bridge in the East River, Robin leaped out of the car and dashed around to open Lily’s door. She took Lily’s hand and helped her out. Lily gaped at the flower-lined entry, the sparkling lights and the view of Manhattan just across the water. “It’s spectacular. I can’t thank you enough for bringing me here. I love it. I didn’t expect it to actually be in the river.”
Robin squeezed her hand, loving her out-there, enthusiastic appreciation, so unlike the blasé response of her usual self-consciously sophisticated dates. “We can walk in the garden later if you’d like.”
The maitre d’ greeted Robin by name and whisked them to a table next to the windows.
“Come here often?” Lily widened her eyes as she sat opposite Robin.
Robin blushed. “For business mostly. It’s on the must-see list for a lot of our out-of-town clients.”
“Uh-huh?” Lily’s tone was teasing, and though she raised her eyebrows at the presumption of Robin’s hand lying expectantly palm up on the table, she didn’t hesitate to place her hand there. Thoroughly enchanted by Robin, she wasn’t naïve enough to think she was the first woman Robin had set out to seduce. And she was charmed—the fragrant bouquets of flowers, the lighting, a pianist playing romantic ballads, the view of the Manhattan skyline, and Robin smiling across the table.
“Champagne, red wine, beer? What’s your pleasure, Lily?”
“Whatever you’re having.”
“I’m having seltzer and lime. Here’s the first secret I’m sharing tonight. I rarely drink. That first night was the exception because I was celebrating, and even then I only had half a glass of champagne. So?”
Lily studied Robin. “You don’t mind if I have alcohol?”
Robin laughed. “Not at all.”
“Then I’ll have champagne because this is a celebration-worthy night.”
Robin squeezed her hand. “I’m glad you think so.” She waved the waiter over and ordered for them. “A glass of your best champagne and a seltzer with lime. We’ll order dinner later.”
“Okay, Lily, your turn to share a secret.”
“A secret, huh?” She stared out the window. “I didn’t come to New York to escape hordes of fans who want to ravage me. I moved here to get married, but she never showed for the ceremony and left me to explain it to our ninety-five guests, most of them her family and friends whom I’d never met.”
“Whoa.” Robin sat up straighter. “How’d you get involved with someone who obviously has her head screwed on backward?”
Lily shrugged. “Poor judgment combined with gullibility and neediness.” She sat back, pulling her hand away from Robin. “She chased me so long and so hard I believed her when she said she was in love with me, and I convinced myself I was in love with her. She never bothered to explain, so I still don’t understand what happened.” She picked up her glass, gazed out the window, and downed half her champagne.
Robin gave her a minute, then took her hand again. “Is that why you’re commitment shy?”
“You might say that.” She offered a shaky smile as she turned back to Robin. “Sorry to be so dramatic. I guess I’m still raw.” She straightened her silverware. “The good news is that after the shock of being humiliated in front of almost a hundred guests wore off, I realized I was relieved she hadn’t gone through with it, that I had fooled myself into thinking I was in love with her. The bad news is I no longer trust my feelings. Or what others say they feel for me.”
“With good reason. So why did you stay in New York?”
“I’d sold my townhouse in Chicago and used it as the down payment on the apartment we were going to live in and make mortgage payments on together, but really it was because I fell in love with New York.”
Robin nodded “It’s a great city. Do you think you’ll ever trust again?”
She gazed into Robin’s eyes for a long minute. “I hope to, some day.”
Heat surged through Robin. She had never responded to anyone the way she did to Lily. She rubbed her thumb over Lily’s hand, imagining slowly undressing her, caressing her everywhere with her fingers and her lips and her tongue.
“Where did you go, Robin?”
She looked up. “What? Oh, sorry, just,” she flushed, “thinking.” She met Lily’s eyes. “About what I’d like to do to you.”
“Oh.” Lily waved her hand in front of her face as if she needed to cool down.
Their eyes held. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset—”
“You didn’t upset me. You do things to me without actually doing anything and make me feel things without touching me. I’ve never experienced that before.” She took a deep breath. “Um, tell me about your family. Are you close?”
Robin smiled, but her eyes were sad. Recalling the moment in the bar that first night when Robin looked so vulnerable she regretted asking the question.
“Well, my mom died a long time ago, so it’s just my dad and my two brothers and me. They live in Florida. I haven’t seen any of them in years. What about your family?”
Lily wanted to know more. What had happened to her mom, and why wasn’t she close to her dad and brothers, but clearly it was a sensitive topic so she dropped it. “My moms, Delphine Boudreaux and Cordelia Carlyle, met at the University of Alabama where Cordy, as she’s called, was in her first year of teaching mathematics, and Del was a graduate student in journalism. They fell in love and settled nearby after Del graduated. I have a younger brother and sister, twins Bella and Ben. Del is our birth mother, and Cordy’s twin brother Cornelius was the sperm donor, so all three of us also have the same dad. Cornelius is also gay. He lives and works in Hong Kong and we see him occasionally.”
“Is Alexander a pseudonym? Or were you married?”
“Neither. When they started having children, they decided we all needed to have the same name so they changed their names to Alexander. We all have their previous last names as our middle names.”
“Yesterday you said you were from Alabama and California, but now you just said Alabama.”
“Right. When I was sixteen, Cordy was offered a position at Stanford and we moved to California.”
Robin sat up straighter. “The brilliant Dr. Cordelia Alexander is your mom? I took as many classes as I could with her when I was a graduate student at Stanford. How’s that for six degrees of separation?”
“Did you like her? Do you think she’d remember you?”
“Maybe. I was always bugging her with questions and theories and ideas, and she kindly and patiently responded. She’s brilliant. So what does your other mom do?”
“Del was a journalist, but when we moved, she had to leave her job, so she started writing novels.”
“Delphine Boudreaux is your mother?”
“One of them, yes. You’ve read her?”
“Yes. I love her books.”
“You made the connection really quickly. Are you sure you didn’t google me?”
“Absolutely. It’s an unusual name and you mentioned it. Besides,” she patted herself on the shoulder, “I have a rather high IQ and I’m quite good at solving puzzles.”
“Well, la-di-da.” Lily noticed the sky outside changing colors and realized Robin had timed their reservation so they could watch the sunset. “Wow, what a gor
geous sunset. You are quite a romantic, Robin DiLuca.” Their eyes connected again, and she reached over and gently trailed a finger along Robin’s jaw. Suddenly a light flashed and she and Robin both jerked back.
Robin jumped up. “What the?”
The photographer ran toward the door, but Tanya and another woman cut her off and escorted her out. The maître d’ rushed over. “I’m so sorry, Ms. DiLuca, I don’t know how she sneaked by us, but she’s gone now.”
“Someone on your staff must have tipped her off since only my chauffeur and my assistant know I’m here tonight.”
“Please let me comp your dinners.”
“Not necessary. Just leave us and make sure there’s no one else lurking.”
Tanya, the chauffeur, appeared at the table and held up a small square. “I got the memory card, boss, so don’t worry, no picture.”
“Thanks, Tanya. Where are you?”
Tanya pointed to a table further back.
Robin waved at someone sitting there. “Give Mel a kiss for me and enjoy your dinner.”
“Will do.” Tanya smiled at Lily. “Sorry for the interruption.”
“Not your fault.” Lily was puzzled by the incident and the fact that it didn’t seem to be the first time. “Why are you being stalked by a photographer?” Then, seeing that Robin was rattled by the incident, she held her hands out. “Give me your hands and look me in the eye. Are you in trouble? Are you a married politician or public figure? Or married to a politician or public figure?”
Robin shook her head. “I’m not in trouble or married. It’s nothing bad I assure you. I just wanted to know you a little better before we talk about it. At least Tanya saved us from having our picture in the gossip columns of the News and the Post tomorrow or, worse, plastered on the front page of some skuzzy supermarket magazine.” Her shoulders drooped, and she turned to look out the window, clearly trying to figure out what to say.
Lily squeezed her hands to get her attention. “Let’s enjoy our dinner. Tell me about it whenever you feel comfortable. I always enjoy a bit of mystery.” She sipped her champagne. “I am curious, though. Your chauffeur is having dinner here with a date?”
“She’s not my chauffeur. She’s an entrepreneur. She owns the car and I hire her when I need to be driven. I feel bad asking her to sit in the car and wait when I eat, so she eats too. Sometimes, like tonight, Mel is available to join her.”
“And you pay?”
“Of course.”
“Wow. That’s really nice of you. Technology pays well, does it?”
“Yeah, it does. Let’s order. Is the tasting menu okay with you?”
“Sure.”
Robin waved the waiter over. “We’d like the tasting menu.” She looked at Lily. “More champagne or a glass of wine?”
“Red wine please, something full-bodied, bold and rich.”
Robin raised her eyebrows. She conferred with the waiter and he departed. “I like bold and full-bodied,” her eyes slipped down to Lily’s cleavage, then back up, “too.”
Lily’s body flamed and she hoped her full-body blush wasn’t visible in the dimly lit restaurant. She glared at Robin. “You may not know this, but bold can be offensive.”
Robin had the good grace to look embarrassed. “Sorry, I’m not usually so gross, but when I’m near you all I can think about is sex.”
Lily couldn’t help smiling. She felt the same way. “Now tell me a secret, something no one knows about you.”
Robin looked up and seemed to relax when she saw the smile. “Right, a secret.” She looked out the window for a few seconds, then cleared her throat. “I was supposed to be named Rosaria Anna but somebody changed it to Robin Ann on my birth certificate. I sent silent thanks out to the universe every day when I was a teenager. Except for my dad and brothers and my friend Katie, and now you, no one knows that.”
“Rosaria, huh? Would you like me to whisper Rosaria in your ear when we get around to making love?”
“You’re a tease, you know? I don’t care what you whisper as long as we get around to making…having sex soon. Your turn to tell a secret.”
It didn’t escape Lily that Robin changed her “making love” to “having sex,” but she filed it away for future examination. She tapped her fingers on the table, thinking. “I write romances as Lily Boudreaux, mysteries as Lily Carlyle and literary fiction as Lily Alexander.”
“Wow. So how many books have you written?”
Lily laughed. “The more relevant question is how many have I published. Seven romances, three in a mystery series, and two literary novels.”
“Don’t you feel hemmed in by the rules of romance? You know, girl meets girl, girl loves girl, girl loses girl, then girl gets girl and they live happily ever after. Seems it would be boring to write.”
“It doesn’t bore me at all. There’s lots of room for originality and creativity if you want to keep it fresh. Besides, I don’t always stick to the rules. Sometimes I’m so into my characters that I want to know what happens after the happily ever after, so I interrupt it with a tragedy or a conflict that causes the relationship to fall apart.” Lily sipped her wine. “Then I have to solve the problem and get them back together for the real happily ever after. It challenges me and, I hope, makes it interesting for the reader.” She paused. “Mystery has rules too.”
“Like?”
She ticked them off on her fingers. “The good guy or gal has to catch the killer. You have to play fair with the reader and give them the clues so they can solve the crime along with the detective. The killer has to be involved in the story and not be pulled out of the hat at the last minute. And all the loose ends need to be tied up by the final scene. Both romance and mystery are harder to write than they seem.”
“What’s your favorite?”
“I love them all, so I usually have a couple of books going at once. Which is why I instituted blackout days, like tomorrow. No phone, no Internet, no distractions of any kind. Just me and my computer in my apartment, writing all day. ”
“But we need to have another date.”
“The blackout ends at six p.m. so the evening—”
“Sold. I’ll pick you up at seven p.m., informal attire. Now let’s eat.”
The waiter placed the first of their six courses on the table, and it looked and smelled delicious. They ate slowly, enjoying the food and each other. For dessert Robin surprised and delighted her with a chocolate version of the Brooklyn Bridge, which gave her an idea.
They walked out of the restaurant hand in hand.
Lily brought Robin’s hand to her heart. “It’s a beautiful night. Let’s walk over the Brooklyn Bridge.”
Robin looked down at the three-inch heels that brought Lily eye to eye with her. “You’re going to walk in those shoes?”
Lily shrugged. “If they hurt, I’ll go barefoot.”
Tanya pulled the car up next to them.
“I don’t know. Wait a second.” Robin leaned into the car and said something. Tanya got out, dug around in the trunk and came up with three pairs of sneakers. Robin showed them to Lily. “We have Tanya’s, Mel’s and mine. What size are you?”
“Nine.”
“Here, Mel’s are nine and a half. I have some clean socks in my gym bag and you should be all right.”
Lily leaned into the car. “You don’t mind, Mel?”
“I’d be honored. And, believe me, you’ll feel a lot better wearing them than going barefoot on the bridge.”
Lily sat on a bench outside the restaurant and put on the socks and sneakers, then Robin helped her into the car. “Drop us at the entrance to the bridge. I’m not sure how long it will take us to walk across so we’ll get a taxi home.”
It was a beautiful night and they strolled arm in arm, stopping now and then to kiss. “This is lovely, Robin, thank you for indulging me. Have you walked it before?”
Robin smiled down at her. “I’m a bridge virgin just like you. And I should thank you. It is lovely. And romanti
c.”
Lily’s smile was mischievous. “Something new to add to your repertoire?”
“I don’t think so. Most of my dates wouldn’t be caught dead walking and definitely not someplace where there are no expensive stores.” She leaned in for a kiss, then propelled them forward again. “Is there something you would love to do but haven’t done yet?”
Lily hesitated for a second. “Travel. More than anything, I want to see the world, taste different food, meet different people, enjoy different cultures, and spend part of every year doing it.”
Robin spun her around so they were facing each other. “I’d love to do that too. I’ve been so busy going to school, then working, that I’ve never taken time off to travel.” She kissed Lily’s palm. “I think we’re destined for each other.”
Lily caressed the back of Robin’s neck. “Spend New Year’s Eve with me in Paris?”
Robin took a step back. “It’s July. We’ve just met. How can we commit to being together on New Year’s Eve?”
The intensity of her attraction to Robin was making her loopy. Right now she wanted them to spend the rest of their lives together. But she could see she’d made Robin nervous. Well, she’d started it, might as well finish it. “Can you do a week? I’ll make the reservations tomorrow.”
Robin rocked heel to toe. “What if I can’t or don’t want to by then?”
“Hey, didn’t I write you a get-out-of-jail contract? You can stop seeing me at any time. I’ll take someone else.” Where was this coming from? Neither of them was ready to commit, and yet she was pushing for a commitment for a date six months from now.
“Well, then, I would love to spend New Year’s Eve with you in Paris. A week sounds lovely.”
At the end of the evening, they were back in the hallway in front of Lily’s door. Robin’s kisses were gentle and passionate and erotic, and every nerve in Lily’s body tingled and yearned for more. Robin’s lips moved down her neck and slowly made their way to her cleavage while her hands slid down Lily’s hips and cupped her butt. Lily felt faint. She slid her hands under Robin’s jacket, enjoying the feel of the silk as her hands traced Robin’s firm body, then aware of the sound of the elevator moving up, she pulled away, panting. “This is harder than I thought it would be.”
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