“But I’m a good writer.All I need is a chance to show the world that.”
“So they all say.”
She propped herself on an elbow to face him.“Do you have a problem with my trying to make a name for myself?”
“Of course not.But if you go to New York, you’ll be setting yourself up for a fall.I know New York, Hillary.New York won’t take kindly to girls from Timiny Cove.”
Her mouth grew tight.“I’m from Boston now, and in case you hadn’t noticed, I’m a woman.”
“I’m the one who made you a woman.How could I not notice?And I just told you I like you.So why do you want to change things?”
“Because I want to be someone.You should be able to understand that.You’ve spent years working for a name and an image.Is it so wrong for me to want the same thing?”
Dropping his cigarette in the ashtray, he drew her to his side.“I want you to stay the way you are.I like you this way.Why do you think I keep coming back?”
“Because the others won’t put up with you the way I will.”
“The others would love to put up with me if I’d let them, but I won’t.I’ve never had a relationship with another woman like the one I have with you.”
“Not even with Patricia?”
He went very still.Of course, she’d known.She had been around the house a lot during that time, and she wasn’t blind or dumb.But she hadn’t mentioned it before.If she was hoping to one-up him, though, she was in for a let-down.He had no intention either of denying what he’d had with Patricia or of apologizing for it.
“Not even with Patricia.”Setting her aside, he climbed from the bed and went to the window.He drew the sheer drape back only enough to give him a look at the alley.It was a bleak view, oddly compatible with what he felt inside when he let memory take him back.“Patricia was weak.She had to be protected from every little fear.She wanted to know all about the business, but she couldn’t take half of it.”
“Do you discuss the business with other women?”
Letting the drape fall back into place, he turned.“No.
It has nothing to do with them.”
“It has nothing to do with me, either.”
She was propped against the headboard the way he’d been moments before, looking lazy and replete.The fact that she wasn’t rushing out of bed was another of the things he liked about her.She didn’t jump up to smooth her hair or repair her makeup or take a shower.She was perfectly content to linger with the sight and scent of their sex-play on and around her.
Looking at her, the pique he felt at the thought of Patricia began to ease.“I tell you about the business because I trust you.I trust that you won’t take what I say and turn it against me.”
“I wouldn’t do that!”
“That’s what I just said.”He came back to the bed andreached for another cigarette, but she snatched the pack from the nightstand.
“You’re smoking too much.”
“It relaxes me.”
“Why are you so tense?”
Staring her down, he held out a hand.When she put the pack of cigarettes in it, he shook one out, lit it, then sank onto the edge of the bed with his back to her.“I’m human.I have pressures like everyone else.Right now, they’re pretty heavy.”
“Is there a problem withFacets?”
“Nothing that time won’t fix.”
“What do you mean?”
He was a minute in answering, reluctant to air his worry but, finally, wanting her encouragement.“We spent a lot of money getting started.It’ll be a while before we show the kind of profit I want.”
“You knew that would happen.”
