Panthea wrinkled her nose, and cut him off. “I don’t want to talk about that now,” she whined. “Let me pretend I have no worries. I mean just for this short time we have together?” she begged.
Marcus studied her for a second and nodded.
Panthea batted her lashes and blushed. “Besides, there’s something else I’d like to talk to you about.”
As she spoke, Marcus marveled at the power of make-up. He could hardly tell where her bruises were, but the mental picture he had taken was a constant reminder. Despite that, she still looked beautiful. Panthea put her spoon down and gazed up at Marcus.
“I need to be honest with you about something,” she said uneasily.
The friendliness vanished from Marcus’s face. Worry lines began to appear as Panthea hesitated before continuing. “What is it?” he pressed the second he sensed her reluctance.
“I really don’t know how to say this,” she began again.
Marcus swallowed dry and hard. His mind was racing with thoughts of what she could possibly want to say. He told himself this could be a turning point in this new friendship of theirs.
“Just cut straight to it,” he said sternly.
Sensing the change in his demeanor, Panthea almost wished she hadn’t brought it up in the first place, but knew she couldn’t leave him hanging.
“Well the truth is,” Panthea exhaled. “I am very attracted to you. I mean, very attracted to you,” she admitted.
Marcus’s eyebrows inched upward and his features softened. She noticed a smile ease across his lips, and he too released a sigh.
“Is that it? I mean, that’s what you wanted to tell me the truth about?”
When she nodded, he laughed a bit.
“Well, if that’s the case, I’ve been attracted to you from the moment you came sashaying into my office demanding a meeting with me. As a matter of fact, that image, the one of your hips swaying like they’re moving to their own rhythm, that’s the image I’ve fallen asleep to every night since that moment.”
Panthea smiled. “You say the sweetest things to me.”
Marcus paid their bill and pulled her chair out.
“Let’s head back to the city, Mrs. Daniels.”
She smiled, linked her arm into his on the way out of the restaurant, and pretended that he was the only man in her life.
12
“Oh my God,” Panthea squealed as they walked back to the car. She tugged on Marcus’s sleeve to get his attention, “Do you see that? That’s an absolutely gorgeous sunset,” she said, pointing toward the dazzling color spectrum dancing over the horizon. Marcus stopped walking to appreciate the view.
“I don’t want to leave,” Panthea announced and jumped in front of him mimicking an excited child. “I think we should stay. I mean, I’m not really up for the drive back to Atlanta tonight,” she said and laid out her case for his scrutiny.
So many thoughts started running through his mind. Marcus knew what might happen if they really did decide to stay. The distinct possibility did exist that he would end up in bed with another man’s wife. Another man’s wife that just happens to be your client, Marcus thought. Aside from the fact that what he was doing was completely unethical, that’s exactly what he was looking forward to doing, being alone with Panthea Daniels.
“Are you sure about that?” he studied her closely.
Panthea nodded. “I am. I just don’t want this day to end. I know what you’re probably thinking, but I just feel like the longer we stay here, the more time I can enjoy this sense of freedom.”
“I understand,” Marcus assured her.
“Do you really?”
He nodded. “Well, since we’re staying, why don’t we go for a walk along the waterfront, that way we can enjoy this sunset to the fullest? Afterwards, I’ll find a place for us to lay our heads. How does that sound?”
“That sounds absolutely perfect to me,” Panthea said. “Just perfect. The perfect end to this absolutely perfect day.”
Later that evening, Marcus and Panthea strolled into the Hilton Garden Inn in the historic part of Savannah. “Separate rooms,” she warned as he left her in the lobby. “I am still a married woman, you know, Mr. Douglas,” she added.