Chapter 4 – Drake
I hung up the phone feeling a little aggravated. I was feeling more of that emotion than anything else lately, and it was not a feeling that I was particularly used to. I wanted to see Erin, but it was becoming impossible. It was already Wednesday and I still hadn’t been given a time to meet with her. I wasn’t sure if she knew who I was, but either way, she didn’t seem to have any inclination to speak to me.
Bishop had assured me that I would hear something soon. All I had heard at the moment was that he was still waiting for her to find time for me. I wasn’t sure what was going to be said or what I would do, but I was sick of waiting. My impatience finally got the best of me, and instead of waiting like every indication from her said to do, I decided to just go down there. I was about to own it all, after all, and it just seemed silly that I was taking so much time waiting on other people to do what I should have done in the first place.
There was no stopping me when I got down to the museum, even though I had to let a few people know who I was to get them to see if she was in house. When I found out that she was, I didn’t wait for the third receptionist to call her. Instead I just went on down to the office that I had seen her go in before. I knew that it was hers because of all of the small pictures of her and an older man that adorned the wall. I had known her father in passing and he seemed like a nice enough guy. When I had heard the story of Erin from the ever-helpful Bishop, there was a moment that I had felt bad about what I was doing.
It hadn’t lasted long, though. It was more interesting to see how everything would turn out. I had thought of Erin in one way, and she had exceeded my expectations with the way she looked. She had looked the part, but what I hadn’t been expecting was the way I felt being around her innocence. She was demure, and even from a distance she was something to really take notice of.
When I knocked quickly and didn’t hear her say anything, I opened the door and walked in a little ways. I knew that she was there because the brunette at the front had finally said so. I got a startled look on Erin’s face, and it made the whole trip downtown worth it. I had just wanted to see her, and it was like my heart was automatically going a little slower now that she was in my sights. It was amazing. I smiled at her, waiting for the tell-tale sign of interest that I was so used to seeing.
Instead I got another shy look when she had recovered from the shock of me barging in and taking a seat across from her. I had purposely left the door open so that she would not feel trapped, but it didn’t seem to help as her eyes darted towards the entrance. She really was acting like a scared little bird, and I couldn’t help but find it endearing. It slowed me down some, and I took a breath before I said what was really on my mind. The fact of the matter was that it was going to be a little slower going than I had thought, and I was going to come at her from a different angle.
“It is nice to finally meet you, Erin.”
“Do I know you?”
I shook my head that she didn’t, but I knew that she recognized me from the last time I was there and from the glances we’d exchanged at the exhibit of Rose Wood’s art. Like then, there was almost no way to get her to look into my eyes. She just wouldn’t, and I wasn’t sure why that was. How could a grown woman as beautiful as her not realize that everyone who saw her would want her? She seemed to be surprised that I was looking at her so intently. A gentleman would have toned it down, or at least made an effort to do so. But I never was a gentleman, and even if I had been, I was not really sure that I could be one with her.
“I have been trying to coordinate with Bishop for several days to get a time to meet with you. I must say that, for a curator, you sure are one hard woman to get in to see.”
Her face changed when she put it all together. She took the hand that I offered, and for a moment I let the tingling sensation run through me as we touched. It was that spark that I’d known I would feel, and she didn’t disappoint me at all. All I could do was let go when she started to pull away. I was lost in her pale blue eyes even as they tried hard to avoid my gaze. Could she really see what I wanted to do with her? She was beautiful today, even without the tight dress and the hair flowing down her shoulders. There was still something about Erin that was slowly driving me crazy.
She blushed prettily and then finally met my eyes. “Sorry about that, sir. I have just been busy with everything that is going on. I just found out about all of this on Sunday, so I am just trying to wrap my head around what it is going to take to get everything ready for the shutdown.”
I could tell that it was upsetting her, and I knew that she had a legitimate reason to feel that way. If it wasn’t in such a great spot and if I hadn’t already made up my mind, the way she looked in that moment would have been enough to change my plans. But the clock was already running on all of these things and there really wasn’t anything that I could do. I mean, there was, but the business side of me knew that the last thing I wanted to do was back out of the deal. I didn’t want to be known for that, so one way or another, the museum was mine, just like I wanted her to be mine.
“It’s okay, Erin. It is good to finally get to meet you. I tried to say hello to you the other day at the art gallery, but when I came back from the bathroom you were gone.”
She looked guilty then, and I realized that it hadn’t been an accident. She had been avoiding me. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Why was she so bound and determined to stay away from me when all I wanted to do was be around her?
Erin didn’t answer me, and I realized that she wasn’t going to. She was going to pretend like she didn’t know what I was talking about. I guess she may not have. How was she supposed to know that I had been burning for her on the other side of the room? Did she know that I couldn’t think of anything else but kissing her and making her mine? It was an urge that I felt was impossible to ignore.
“So I take it that you have heard the news about the buyout?”
I didn’t know what to say and I was grasping at straws. I had been so confident in the beginning, but seeing her and finally being that close to her, Erin seemed to affect me even more than before. The fall of her face when I brought that up showed me that I’d put a foot in my own mouth. I couldn’t believe that I had been so stupid as to say something like that. What in the world was I thinking? For a man who was always thought of as smooth, I didn’t feel very smooth at all.
“Yes, as I said, I was just told about it a few days ago, on Sunday. That is why it has been so crazy around here. I didn’t mean to ignore you. I told Bishop this morning that I was going to try to work something out.”
“Well, I am here now. Why don’t we have a little chat now? I am sure that you have a minute.”
She looked at the clock on the wall and then shook her head as if she actually didn’t have the time. I wasn’t sure if she was trying to ignore me or if she really had something to do. Her blue eyes went from the clock, to me and then down to her calendar that took up half of the space left on her desk. She was a woman who was married to her work and her desk was an indicator of that.
After some time trying to find a reason why she couldn’t wait around, Erin finally got up and told me that she had a meeting that was going to start downstairs in ten minutes. I think she thought that it would make me back off, but she was wrong.
“Would you like for me to go with you? I don’t mind, really.”
Her face puckered a little, and I don’t know why, but I liked the way she looked just then. There was something about her, even though she was trying her hardest to get out of spending any kind of time with me.
“There isn’t supposed to be anyone that doesn’t work here at the meeting, so I am sorry, but I will not be able to bring you along. They are rather boring anyways, Drake, so I assure you that you are not going to be missing much.”
She smiled at me, and it finally looked genuine. If only she knew that I wasn’t going to take no for an answer. I didn’t care how much she believed that I was just going to let it go. I wasn’t. “That is fine, Erin. I will stay here and wait for you. I made sure that I cleared my schedule before I came down here. I didn’t want any interruptions.”
“Okay, that sounds good.”
It sounded anything but good to her. Her face was one that didn’t seem able to hold all of the emotions in, and it was hard for me to press her. She didn’t want me there, that much was clear, but I wasn’t going to let her bow out gracefully. I couldn’t, if that meant that I wasn’t going to get her.