The liveried doorman touched the brim of his shiny cap. “Good afternoon.”
Chandra smiled at the tall, slender man with translucent skin and pale blue eyes that reminded her of images she’d seen of vampires. The name tag pinned to his charcoal-gray greatcoat read Michael.
“Good afternoon. Mr. Tucker is expecting me.”
“I’ll ring Mr. Tucker to see whether he’s in. Your name?”
“It’s Miss Eaton.”
Michael typed her name into the telephone console on a shelf behind a podium. Then he tapped in Preston Tucker’s apartment number. Seconds later ACCEPT appeared on the display. His head came up. “Mr. Tucker will see you, Miss Eaton. He’s in 1801. The elevators are on the left.”
Chandra walked past the concierge desk to a bank of elevators, entered one and pushed the button for the eighteenth floor. The doors closed as the elevator car rose smoothly, silently to the designated floor. When the doors opened she found herself staring up at a man with skin reminiscent of gold-brown toffee. There was something about his face that seemed very familiar, and she searched her memory to figure out where she’d seen him before.
A hint of a smile played at the corners of his generous mouth. “Miss Eaton?”
She stepped out of the car, smiling. “Yes,” she answered, staring at the proffered hand.
“Preston Tucker.”
Chandra’s jaw dropped. She stared dumbfounded, looking at the award-winning playwright whose critically acclaimed dramas were mentioned in the same breath as those of August Wilson, Eugene O’Neill and Tennessee Williams. She’d just graduated from college when he had been honored by the mayor of New York and earned the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for best play of the year. At the time, he’d just celebrated his thirtieth birthday and it was his first Broadway production.
Preston Tucker wasn’t handsome in the traditional way, although she found him quite attractive. He towered over her five-four height by at least ten inches and the short-sleeved white shirt, open at the collar, and faded jeans failed to conceal the power in his lean, muscular physique. Her gaze moved up, lingering on a pair of slanting, heavy-lidded, sensual dark brown eyes. There was a bump on the bridge of his nose, indicating that it had been broken. It was his mouth, with a little tuft of hair under his lower lip, and cropped salt-and-pepper hair that drew her rapt attention. She doubted he was forty, despite the abundance of gray hair.
She blinked as if coming out of a trance and shook his hand. “Chandra Eaton.”
Preston applied the slightest pressure on her delicate hand before releasing her fingers. Chandra Eaton was as sensual as her writings. She possessed an understated sexiness that most women had to work most of their lives to perfect. He stared at her almond-shaped eyes, high cheekbones, pert nose and lush mouth. Flyaway wisps had escaped the single plait to frame her sun-browned round face.
“Please come with me, Miss Eaton, and I’ll get your portfolio.” Turning on his heels, he walked the short distance to his apartment, leaving her to follow.
Chandra found herself staring for the second time within a matter of minutes when she walked into the duplex with sixteen-foot ceilings and a winding staircase leading to a second floor. Floor-to-ceiling windows brought in sunlight, offering panoramic views of the city. The soft strains of classical music floated around her from concealed speakers.
Her gaze shifted to the magnificent table in the foyer. “Oh, my word,” she whispered.
Preston stopped and turned around. “What’s the matter?”
Reaching out, Chandra ran her fingertips over the surface of the table. “This table. It’s beautiful.”
“I like it.”
“You like it?”
“Yes, I do,” he confirmed.
“I’d thought you’d say that you love it, and because you didn’t I’m going to ask if you’re willing to sell it, Mr. Tucker?”
“Preston,” he corrected. “Please call me Preston.”
“I’ll call you Preston, but only if you stop referring to me as Miss Eaton.”
His eyebrows lifted. “What if I call you Chandra?”
She smiled. “That’ll do. Now, back to my question, Preston. Are you willing to sell the table?”
He smiled, the gesture transforming his expression from solemn to sensual. “Chandra,” he repeated. “Did you know that your name is Sanskrit for of the moon?”
“No, I didn’t.” A slight frown marred her face. “Why do I get the feeling you’re avoiding my question?”
Preston reached for her hand, leading her into the living room and settling her on a sand-colored suede love seat. He sat opposite her on a matching sofa.
“I’d thought you’d get the hint that I don’t want to sell it.”
Her frown deepened. “I don’t do well with hints, Preston. All you had to say was no.”
“No is not a particularly nice word, Chandra.”
She wrinkled her nose, unaware of the charming quality of the gesture. “I’m a big girl, and that means I can deal with rejection.”
Resting his elbows on his knees, Preston leaned in closer. “If that’s the case, then the answer is no, no and no.”
Chandra winked at him. “I get your point.” She angled her head while listening to the music filling the room. “Isn’t that Cavalleria Rusticana—Intermezzo from Godfather III?”
An expression of complete shock froze Preston’s face. He hadn’t spent more than five minutes with Chandra Eaton and she’d surprised him not once but twice. She’d recognized the exquisite quality of the Anglo-Indian table and correctly identified a classical composition.
“Yes, it is. Are you familiar with Pietro Mascagni’s work?”
“He’s one of my favorites.”
Preston gestured to the gleaming black concert piano several feet away. “Do you play?”
“I haven’t in a while,” Chandra admitted half-truthfully. She had played nursery rhymes and other childish ditties for her young students on an out-of-tune piano that had been donated to the school by a local church in Belize. Some of the keys didn’t work, but the children didn’t seem to notice when they sang along and sometimes danced whenever she played an upbeat, lively tune.
“Do you have any other favorites?” Preston asked.
“Liszt, Vivaldi and Dvorak, to name a few.”
“Ah, the Romantics.”
“What’s wrong with being a Romantic?” Chandra knew she came off sounding defensive, yet she was past caring. As soon as she retrieved her things, she would be on her way.
“Nothing.”
“If it’s nothing, then why did you make it sound like a bad thing?” she asked.
“It’s not a bad thing, Chandra. It’s just that I’m not a romantic kind of guy,” Preston countered with a wink.
She felt a shiver of annoyance snake its way up her spine. “Anyone can tell that if they’ve read or seen your plays. They’re all dark, brooding and filled with pathos.”
Preston realized Chandra Eaton had him at a disadvantage. She knew about him and he knew nothing about her, except what she’d written in her journal. And, he wasn’t certain whether she’d actually experienced what she’d written or if it was simply a fantasy.
“That’s