Chapter Nine: Taking A Stand

"Why, what a lovely surprise!" Evelyn Hunter beamed as she opened the door to her posh penthouse. Even lounging in a frilly robe and slippers, the bright-eyed older woman with the winning smile and tightly curled golden hair looked chic and seductive.

"Hi." Andy flushed with pleasure, clutching the heavy canvas bag of battered and worn used books a little tighter. "I was just in the city for the afternoon, so I thought I'd say hello."

"Well, come in, come in, by all means!" Evelyn's Manhattan penthouse was like a museum, full of gorgeous paintings and marble statues. There were flowers everywhere and Andy loved walking on the thick, soft carpets.

"I'm glad I left my shoes outside!" Andy joked, feeling like a crude outsider as she sank down on the luxurious leather sofa. "Your home is so beautiful, tracking mud into it would be a crime!"

"You've been out in the rain all morning," Evelyn said softly, a glimmer of warm sympathy in her strikingly beautiful green eyes. "Running errands for Miranda?"

"No, no!" Andy kicked the bulky bag at her feet. "Just selling some old books of my father's. He was a professor, you know."

"And now you're selling his books to raise money?" Evelyn's keen gaze drank in the muddy spatters on Andy's well-worn vintage dress, and the raindrops glittering like diamonds in her long black hair. "How about a cup of tea? I'm still in the middle of breakfast, I'm afraid. Even though it's well past noon!"

"Thanks! I didn't have any breakfast this morning either. I mean, I woke up incredibly early to get the bus into the city, but Miranda was still sleeping and I didn't want to wake her and I wanted to get out of there so I didn't stop for anything to eat!"

"Well, have something to eat, and then you can tell me all about how you and the great Miranda are getting on." Evelyn lowered her voice dramatically, and then laughed as though the two of them were sharing a very special private joke.

"I really don't know where this relationship is going," Andy confessed, after a big meal, dabbing her lips with a lace napkin. She felt guilty for blabbing, but nothing she said in this elegant place would ever get back to her small town dress shop. "It's not that I don't enjoy working for Miranda, or learning from her. But it's hard, balancing the challenge of working for a very demanding boss with the demands of a more . . . intimate relationship. Sometimes I feel like I don't have any control over anything. Not even my own life! It just feels so . . ."

"Suffocating?"

"Yeah." Andy let her shoulders sag, slumping wearily. The feeling of being trapped in a suffocating relationship had been weighing her down for days. Getting it off her chest was such a relief!

"Miranda has always been a little overly protective." Evelyn rested a slim white hand on the girl's knee. "It's not just you, Andy darling. She was like that when we were in school together."

"Were the two of you a couple?" Andy's dark blue eyes were both curious and shy. "Sorry, I know it's none of my business. But it makes sense that you would get together, I mean, with her wanting to be a dress designer and you wanting to be a model."

"You're the one who should be a model," Evelyn murmured, stroking Andy's cheek. "That face should be on magazine covers. If only Miranda could see . . ." the older woman sighed.

"See what?" Andy loved being drawn into things, closer and closer to the heart of the mystery. She was on the edge of her seat, leaning towards Evelyn with her full red lips slightly parted.

"Everything that life has to offer." Evelyn let her robe fall open, giving Andy just a quick peep at her beautiful shapely breasts. Then she kissed the girl firmly and knowingly on the lips.

"Oh, but I can't . . . I shouldn't . . ." Fighting to remain loyal to her boss, Andy broke the kiss. But it was impossible to resist Evelyn's spell. She shook her head, a little dizzy from breathing in the sweet scent of the older woman's perfume.

"Come with me, darling." Evelyn guided Andy into the nearby bedroom, casually throwing her arm around the girl's shoulders. There was a bookcase full of books and more fine paintings. But all Andy could focus on was the rather rumpled royal-sized bed.

"Sorry for the mess," Evelyn said, very tongue in cheek. With a casual shrug, she let the robe slip off her shoulders completely. Her body was slim and delicate but also ripe and full and curved. "Your turn," she whispered.

"Oh!" Andy had been hoping to sell her father's books and raise a little money, maybe enough to ask Evelyn out for a drink later in the evening. She meant to ask for some career advice, and maybe pick up some tips about moving to the city. None of her plans had included undressing in her mentor's bedroom!

"Here, let me give you a hand." Evelyn unbuttoned Andy's blouse, smiling as their fingertips touched. "All thumbs, are we dearest?"

"I don't need any help!" Andy stepped back and unsnapped her bra on her own, knowing that if she got into bed with Evelyn it had to be her choice. It was her life that would change forever.

It was time to take a stand.