“You what?”
“How much I like that kooky heiress.”
“I feel that too,” she admitted. “All of this is entirely new for me, by the way.”
“Why did you feel guilty then?” I asked.
“We convinced her we were her friends. She shared confidences with me. We built a relationship, however quickly, on mutual trust, and we betrayed it. Even though she’s a criminal. I’ve never felt that way before. I think you’re making me soft.”
“And I think you’re making me more bloodthirsty,” I admitted. “If we’d had the time, I would have taken those stolen books myself and marched right to the FBI.”
This is why we make such great partners, I wanted to say. But that would mean bringing up work—the great unknown—and shattering our morning happiness seemed like a travesty.
“I’ve turned you into a real detective, Henry Finch.” She wiped chocolate from her mouth. Before she could lick it away, I stepped across the floor, grabbed her wrist. Stepped between her spread legs and sucked her finger between my lips. Her eyes danced with mischief.
“Delicious,” I repeated.
Delilah hooked her legs around my waist, tugging me close. “Did you want to be a librarian when you were a little kid?”
“I did,” I said, settling my hands on her hips. “Without books, I would have been a real lonely kid. Joelle and Jeremiah had tons of friends, and you know my parents worked constantly because of their jobs. Books were my escape—to different worlds, different universes. I could be a Viking or an archer, go back in time or see a distant future. And libraries held the key to all of that.” I marveled at the flecks of green shining in her eyes. “If libraries didn’t exist, where would we go to discover all the worlds we haven’t traveled to yet?”
Delilah fairly beamed at that, until a shadow crossed her face. “I’m sorry Bernard took that from you.”
I gave her neck an open-mouthed kiss. She shivered. “The more time I spend at Codex, the more time I spend with you, Delilah—the more I realize he can only take what I allow him to take.”
An understanding flooded her expression at that. She cupped my face and brought our mouths together in a sweet and silly kiss that still left me filled with longing.
She went to pull away, but I scooped her forward with a low growl, let our mouths open together, our tongues sweep, my fingers splay across her ass. It was a lazy, chocolate morning kiss; it was hot coffee and sunrise and the intimacy of bare feet.
Her legs tightened on my waist, and I dragged my palms up her back to gather in her hair. A breathy moan escaped her lips as I kissed along her jawline. Down her neck. Right along her collarbone…
Delilah’s cell phone rang out in the silence. Without breaking the kiss, she reached across the island and flipped it over.
“Fuck, it’s Abe,” she said, touching her swollen lips.
I nodded with a grimace. “Put it on speaker.”
She did, pulling her legs up and away from me.
“Hey,” she answered, voice tentative. “Everything okay?”
“Good morning,” Abe said crisply. “I’ve been trying to reach Henry all morning. Do you happen to know where he is?”
I rubbed a hand down my face. My phone was probably at the bottom of my bag, ignored since I’d brought Delilah home last night.
“Um… no,” she said, brow furrowed. “But I can give him a ring. Maybe he’s on a run or something. Is everything okay?”
I crossed my arms and leaned back against the counter.
“I need him to verify authenticity of the manuscript this morning. Francisco is so ecstatic about the recovery he’s throwing an intimate VIP event tonight for special guests to get early eyes on the Copernicus.”
“Oh,” Delilah said. “That’s good…I guess?”
“And he wants us all there, to celebrate.” There was a long pause. “You’ll be there?” It was more command than question.
“Of course,” she said. “And I’ll find Henry for you.”
“Thank you,” Abe said. Then he cut the call.
She placed the phone down. Cleared her throat awkwardly. “I should probably go so you can head to Codex.”
Her cagey movements made me nervous. But she flashed me a flirtatious look. “Which is sad, since I had some ideas for that leftover chocolate.” The kiss she gave me was much less sweet and much filthier. “I’ll see you tonight, at this event?”
Was this how it was going to be now? Seeing Delilah in my kitchen—and then seeing her at work? Pretending we weren’t falling for each other while still going undercover? Something wasn’t sitting right, but Abe’s orders to authenticate the Copernicus demanded my full attention.
“Of course,” I said, squeezing our fingers together. “I’m already excited to see you there.”
She blushed again—and it was so damn cute I wanted to press pause on this day, take her back to my bed, enjoy her luscious body for hours on end.
She slid off my counter.
“And what are you going to do?”
She threw a few jabs, bounced on her toes—blush disappearing as quickly as it appeared. “Off to spar at the gym.”
“Do you need a fighting partner soon?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I’m really looking for a partner that’s actually a challenge?” She propped her fists on her hips with another smirk.
“Smart-ass,” I said, nipping at her neck.
She squealed, danced away from me, as light on her feet as ever.
“Bring that fighting spirit tonight, newbie,” she said, strolling up my stairs. My eyes lingered on her bare legs until they fully disappeared from view.
While my heart clamored against my ribcage like a tambourine—rattling around everything I once thought I knew.
48
Delilah
It’d been more than two weeks since the four of us had fled up these stairs, chasing a shared hunch that a book had been stolen. Now we stood in front of the Romanesque columns of the Franklin Museum and stared up at a banner that read: Revolutions of Spheres: Copernicus and the Heliocentric Solar System.
“The last time a first edition of this book was in the United States was more than thirty-five years ago,” Henry told us. “This exhibit will be spoken of for a long time in the academic community.”
“Good thing the book didn’t disappear for good,” Abe said briskly.
He’d been cooler than usual to Henry and me since we’d appeared in front of the steps. I knew his anger would blow over—it always did—but I couldn’t help but feel those twinges of guilt over Victoria blossom into something more urgent when I looked at Abe and Freya. A desire to protect their trust in me at all cost.
And when I turned and caught Henry’s eye, I knew where that feeling stemmed from. But how could I keep that trust while falling for my partner?
We stepped into a museum teeming with people, the buzz of the audience high and excited. Henry and I were once again strolling through Philadelphia high society, but it was all different. We were different. And Henry seemed easily in his element as usual—I remembered that first night at the art gallery, watching him study each painting as if he wanted to decipher every one of its secrets. He was doing it now, examining each artifact, uncovering its hidden seams.