Page 71 of Eternal Obsession

Her scent was alluring.

“You know, Jadeon, there’s something about you that is really old-school.”

“I get that a lot.” I smiled.

“Are you wearing contacts?”

I knew silence was the best answer.

“They’re just an unusual brown, that’s all. Your irises are luminous.”

“Thank you, I think.”

“This is such a perfect restaurant. Do you eat here often?”

“No, I . . .”

“You don’t eat much do you?” Ingrid said. “Funny how you ordered desert, and yet . . .”

“You have a keen eye, Ingrid.”

“Comes with the territory.”

“How long have you been a policewoman?”

“Since I was eighteen.” Ingrid laughed. “Are you doing the math on my age?”

“I am.”

“And you’re an art collector. What a delightful time you must have spending your days in art galleries and auction houses.”

I felt my expression warm.

“Tell me what it is about your work you love the most,” Ingrid said.

“I adore how an artist portrays daylight, the way a master captures an aurora, or the perfect sunset. And you?”

“I love it when I catch the perpetrator. I never give up and I never let go. I’m like a bulldog.”

“More champagne,” I offered.

With dinner over, I escorted Ingrid to the hotel’s elevators. I turned her to face me when I realized that my mirrored reflection was absent.

Ingrid studied my worried expression.

“I don’t like heights,” I lied.

Trying to distract her with conversation.

“Before it became the iconic Savoy Hotel, the site on the Strand was home to the grand Savoy Palace.” I was rambling. “Later the Savoy Hospital. And even once a military prison.”

“You really do love history.”

“The consummate historian,” I joked.

On entering the hotel room, I guided Ingrid to the large sofa. Kneeling at her feet, I removed her shoes.

Although surprised, she went with it. There was no way to avoid the truth that merely my presence would lull her a little.