GLORIA PRESSED THE CELL PHONE to her ear and strode across the street, black boots mirrored in wet pavement. “I’m
so
ready to go home,” she said with a sigh. “I’m starving, but I only have time for a quick bite. I need to work tonight.”

The cool, misty air wreaked havoc on her curls, sending them aloft. The elastic band in her hair managed only to cinch her low ponytail into a bishop’s sleeve shape and errant curls haloed her olive face, tangling in her dark lashes. She brushed them aside.

“I have maybe an hour, two at most. Then back to ‘the Chang Enigma.’”

“Still an enigma, huh?” Bruce said through the earpiece.

“As much as ever. Benefactors can be such a drag sometimes.”

“They’d be insufferable if not for the massive sums they throw your way.”

“Or not, in Chang’s case. Anyway, I have to keep trying. If I can just refine the pitch a little tonight, things should normalize at the office.”

“Do what you have to do. You’ve put in a good sixty hours this week already. Maybe you only need a few more to crack this guy’s code.”

“That would be great.”

Gloria scanned the streets and saw a figure among the passersby that she thought was Bruce. The figure turned into a café and disappeared.
She smiled, imagining Bruce’s easy posture and stride. No one walked like him, certainly not the guy she just saw.

“You close by?” she said.

“Pretty close.”

She arched her back and surveyed the shop windows with a swivel of her chin. The crowd replicated itself in the glass and in the shining slick pavement. Sunlight broke through the cloud cover and bounced from one sparkling surface to another, leaping across the street and back again in hide-and-seek fashion.

“If I can just get Mr. Chang to provide funding for this project, my schedule will ease up a little and we can have more nights to ourselves.”

“You’ll get him. Woven Hillside does great stuff. I was telling someone just yesterday about the schoolbook program and the shelters you’ve gotten funded.”

Gloria gazed at the display where an opulent tapestry hung; a peacock woven in green, blue and gold, with backdrop motifs in royal purple.

God, it’s gorgeous.
Her fingers itched to stroke the delicate threads.

Then, for a moment, she caught the reflection of a pale woman’s face. Someone so beautiful it sharpened the senses. And with her a man, also very pale. In the distortion of glass, it almost looked as if they had wings and impossibly thin, bent legs. Pivoting to look over her shoulder, Gloria searched for them, but saw no sign of anyone in white.

She stared at the window again. This time her eyes fixed on a reflection from across the street, where she found Bruce standing there, phone to his ear, watching her.

She grinned, refusing to turn around. “This unbridled faith wouldn’t have anything to do with our being engaged, would it?”

“Maybe we’re engaged
because
I have unbridled faith in you.”

Gloria’s heart melted a little and she longed to touch his hair. Still, she resisted the urge to wheel around and make eye contact. Her shoulders eased downward and the arch in her spine went slack.

He continued. “After all, I met Gloria the tireless fundraiser before I ever got the chance to touch Gloria the—aw, damn. I’ve been made, haven’t I?”

She laughed. “In fact, you have.” She turned to face him directly,
phone still pressed to her ear. “And how long have you been watching me while I fussed about waiting for you?”

She could see the breadth of his grin even from across the street. “Actually, I kinda got here before you did.”

“Really.”

“Yeah, really.”

She ended the call and slapped her boot against a puddle, waiting for him to jog across to her. He did so and gathered her up into his arms, brushing his lips along her brow. “Bessy-me, baby!”

She playfully evaded him, heading instead toward the subway as he followed at her elbow.

“Shame on you!” she said. “Making me wait with my stomach growling!”

“Is that what that racket was? I thought we were getting some kind of cell phone interference.”

She chuckled and threw him a playful slap. “How did you suddenly know that you’d ‘been made’? Did you see me looking at your reflection in the window?”

Bruce laughed boyishly. “Nah. I could tell you saw me by the way your body changed.” He slid his hand down the length of her back.

She shivered luxuriously. “Am I so transparent?”

“Afraid so, babe. That’s why I had to watch you for a while first. I never get to see you in your powerhouse mode.”

“What do you mean? You see me in business suits all the time.”

“Yeah, and you’re beautiful in them. But I’m not talking about what you wear; I’m talking about how you are. Your face is all serious and you stand like you’re ready to lead a marching band down the street.”

“Is that so? And how am I otherwise?”

Bruce grinned. “Well, once I come around, you get all
kittenish
.”

“What?”

Bruce gave a rueful shake of his head. “You can’t help yourself. You stop leading the marching band and instead you walk all sleek and catlike. And you get a kind of sleepy smile.”

She harrumphed, but could not banish the smile—probably a sleepy one—from her lips.

“No use fighting it, babe. It’s my natural pheromones. They’re awfully powerful. You’re pretty much helpless against ’em.”

Gloria snorted. “I see. Then explain this: since you observed this ever-so-dramatic change in me from across the street, how could I have been reacting to your, um, devastating pheromones? Wouldn’t I have to catch your scent in order for that to happen?”

“That might have been true a while back. But you’ve been with me long enough now that all you have to do is see me. Your response is downright Pavlovian.”

Gloria’s eyes widened. “Oh my. I had no idea I was making such a spectacle of myself.”

Swiftly, completely taking her by surprise, Bruce spun Gloria into an alley and kissed her deeply, pulling her tight into his warm chest. She felt the unmistakable flow she felt every time they touched like this. The first time it happened, she thought she might be coming down with something. Now she realized it was just the opposite.

“They want to do scientific research on me, you know,” he said huskily, their faces still touching.

“They?”

He stepped back to wave his hand dismissively. “Yeah, they. They want to get to the bottom of this irresistible beacon of attraction I send out.”

She nuzzled his neck. “Well you know what? They’re right. To hell with dinner. I need to have you now.”

At first, Gloria thought Bruce was actually going to take her up on this. After all, there was that time in Prospect Park. But in midtown Manhattan? Even in an alley, they were completely exposed.

Then he kissed her again and took her hand to lead her back onto the street. “We’d better just get dinner instead. I can’t concentrate with your stomach growling so loud.” He led her back to the sidewalk and down the subway stairs. “Yeah, all those hunger growls scared some poor couple dead white.”

Gloria gave a start and a different kind of tingle went up her spine. “The people in white? I think I saw them, too.” She remembered the harsh exoticism of the woman’s beauty and the way the scrambled reflection made it look like they’d had wings and bent, ostrichlike legs. “Did you see what they were wearing?”

“I didn’t get a good look.”

Bruce’s face suddenly tightened. Gloria turned to identify the cause
for his discomfort, and as she did, he steered her away from a man ranting near the token booth. The guy had wild brown and gray hair and a denim shirt. He carried a sign that read, THINE LOVE IS MINE DEMISE.

As Gloria made unintended eye contact with the man, his voice thundered.

“Kneel down now!” he said. “Swear your allegiance! You put them in power to rule us all because of your selfish longings!”

BOOK: American Quest

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