She stopped. “Apparently nothing, Mr. Millard. Don’t worry. I shall take care of this.”
“I am worried, Mrs. Donnelly. A man of my reputation—”
“Should think things through before he makes a mess of them.” Now she turned, slowly, hoping he would take the glee in her eyes for anger. “After all, we both know men will be men.”
His gaze met hers. He seemed to be appraising her. “Yes,” he said, “I guess we do.”
They stared at each other for a long moment. Finally, his gaze returned to the desk, where the portrait had been.
“What, exactly, can I do, Mrs. Donnelly, to prevent you from talking with my wife?”
Roz straightened. “You should control your daughter.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“But of course you will not. So this will happen again. And my husband seems to be the person she has chosen to lead down the path of inequity.”
Too thick. She was going to have to stop frequenting vaudeville.
She touched her hair with a shaking hand. “My husband and I have relocated because of this problem before. I’m afraid we’ll simply have to do so one more time.”
She turned, hoping—praying—Millard would stop her again.
“Ma’am,” he said. “I’ll pay you for the portrait.”
“What?” She put that frosty tone back in her voice. “My husband and I have agreed not to sell these evil things any more. If he discovers that I have done so—”
“I can’t expect you to give it to me to keep it out of the wrong hands. I’ll buy it from you. Call it a loan. So that you can restart your business in—”
“The West,” she said. “We will be taking the next train out.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I do not take bribes, Mr. Millard.”
“It’s not a bribe, Mrs. Donnelly. I would like the portrait, and I am certain that you will need funds to make your fresh start.”
She bowed her head. “I did not come here for this.”
“I know that, ma’am.”
Roz had a hunch he had done this before, paid money to keep talk of his former mistress and daughter quiet. He would do it again if he could.
“I will take your loan,” she said, walking back toward him, still clutching the bag. She wouldn’t relinquish that until he gave her the money. “But I will repay it as soon as I can.”
“I’ll draw up a note, then, ma’am,” he said.
It took all Roz could do not to look at him in surprise. Apparently, he had believed her.
***
“So we have to pay him back?” Jack sounded indignant. He was leaning on the railing, staring down at the water of the Missouri. The paddlewheeler had left port an hour ago, with all of Roz’s camera equipment, some new clothes, and a lot of money in gold coins sewn into her shift and Jack’s vest.
“No, silly,” Roz said. “He thinks we’re heading west. I even told him what train we’d be on.”
“We need new names again, just in case,” Jack said.
“We need them anyway,” Roz said. “I trust you’ve been selling the daguerreotypes.”
“Not yet,” Jack said. “Someone might know her. She doesn’t need that stigma.”
As if Jack were worried about Emmeline. “Still afraid of her mother, huh?”
“For a former sexpot, she wields a mighty umbrella.”
“Well,” Roz said. “She won’t come after you. She’ll come after me.”
Jack turned toward her. “What did you do?”
Roz shrugged. “On the way out, I saw the editor of the local paper. I gave him one of the daguerreotypes and told him that the portrait was of Mr. Millard’s daughter, that she had it taken so that the entire town would be scandalized and he would have to pay attention to her.”
Jack seemed shocked. Roz had never seen Jack look shocked before. It gave her a heady sense of power.
“Why would you do that?” he asked.
“It’s what Emmeline wanted,” she said.
“Roz, you hated Emmeline.”
Roz moved away from the railing. No sense standing so close to the water when she was weighted down with gold coins, coins she hadn’t—technically—stolen.
“Of course I hated Emmeline,” she said with just a hint of a smile. “But she’s an adult. And she did want her father’s attention. Now she has it.”
Jack shook his head. “Be careful what you wish for because Roz might give it to you.”
She took his hand. “I’ll give you what you wish for, big boy.”
“All I want, my darling Roz,” he said with a rakish grin, “is a little bit of your attention.”
“A little bit?” she asked.
“Forget what I just said.” He bundled her in his arms and lead her to their stateroom. “I don’t want a little of your attention. I want all of it.”
“Mmm,” she said, opening the stateroom door. “What a demanding husband.”
“Be happy,” he said. “I could be like Millard.”
“No, you couldn’t,” she said, pushing the door closed and grinning at her husband. “Not if you want to live.”
“Artistic Photographs” by Kristine Grayson was first published in 2010 by WMG Publishing.
About the Author
Called “The Reigning Queen of Paranormal Romance” by Best Reviews, bestselling writer Kristine Grayson has made a name for herself publishing light, slightly off-skew romance novels about Greek Gods, fairy tale characters, and the modern world. Her novel Utterly Charming, which Sourcebooks reissued in October of 2011, won the 2001 Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award. Her most recent novel, Wickedly Charming, appeared in May of 2011 from Sourcebooks. Charming Blue, her next novel from Sourcebooks, will appear in September 2012.
If you liked any of the stories in Geek Romance: Stories of Love Amidst the Oddballs, you might like these works by Kristine Grayson:
Absolutely Captivated
Completely Smitten
Cosmic Balances
Simply Irresistible
Strangeness of the Day
Standing up for Grace
Totally Spellbound
The Last Vampire
Up on the Rooftop
Utterly Charming
Wickedly Charming
Geek Romance: Stories of Love Amidst the Oddballs Page 12