Powerful (The Driven World) - Kathleen Kelly Page 0,61
waiting area. Athena doesn’t need me to hold her hand. She’s a strong, independent, powerful woman. With Raquel, they’ll work out a deal. They don’t need me.
After an hour, Athena finds me with a huge grin on her face.
“Where have you been?”
“Right here, waiting for you.” She puts her arms around my waist, and I rest my forehead to hers. “How’d it go?”
“There are a few things to work out, but I’m pretty sure they want it.”
With her hand clasped in mine, I take her outside into the sunshine. Athena holds her face toward the sun’s rays closing her eyes.
“I asked Andy Westin to weigh in.”
Athena’s eyes fly open. “Why?”
“You’ll need a good director, and if he says yes, I want the lead.”
“Kris, I don’t need you to do this for me.”
“No, Athena, I’m doing this for us. Where you go, I go, and if I can help in your journey along the way, I will.”
Athena does a little dance and throws her arms around me. “Yes!”
“What was that?” I ask, laughing.
“What?”
“Was that like an interpretive dance?”
Scowling, Athena puts her hands on my chest. “It was a victory dance.”
“Hmm, needs work.”
“Oh, hush.” She kisses me and lets out a contented sigh. “What do you want to do today?” Athena asks.
With my fingers clasped around her back, an idea forms. “What about if we go shopping?”
“We did that yesterday.”
“Yeah, but I have something special in mind.”
“Hmm, I like the sound of that.”
Releasing her, I thread my fingers through hers. “Come on, New York is an amazing city, and I want to buy you something.”
“I’m intrigued.”
“All will be revealed.” I wave my hands in front of my face, and Athena laughs.
Pushing my hair out of my eyes, we walk through the streets. New York is one of those cities where people rarely make eye contact. If you do happen to catch the attention of someone, they normally try to sell you something. It can be anything from a CD to a t-shirt or a bus ride for the tourists. People rush past, it’s one of those cities that never sleeps. You can be up at two o’clock in the morning and find a Starbucks and conversation.
With Athena’s hand held firmly in mine, we walk toward Rockefeller Center. A man dressed in an orange sarong holds out a flower to Athena, she reaches out to take it. I pull her hand down and shake my head.
“If you take it, you have to pay for it.”
“Really?”
Laughing, I nod. “Yep. Eyes down or on me, and don’t take gifts offered to you from strange men. Didn’t your mother teach you anything?”
Athena laughs. “Right. Eyes on you.”
Raising her hand to my lips, I kiss it. “That’s right, babe, on me.”
Athena pulls her hand out of my grasp and shoves me. “You’re so full of it.”
Taking her hand again, I nod. “Here I was thinking I had you fooled.”
“Nope, this time, I’m in this with both eyes open, and we have history, so I know what to expect.”
Stopping her, I take both her hands in mine. “I’m not that guy.”
“What?”
“I’m not that guy anymore. You’re not that girl. This, what we have right now, feels right. I want you with me. Always.” Athena goes up on her tiptoes and kisses me. “That means one of us has to move.”
“Are you asking me to move to LA with you?”
“Or I can move to Boothbay, but I’m not doing the long-distance thing. I want you with me.”
The smile she gives me lights up her face. “Kris, I can work from anywhere.”
“So that’s a yes?”
She hasn’t realized it, but I’ve walked us into a store.
Athena nods and kisses me. “Of course, it’s a yes.”
“Oh! How wonderful!” Both of us look at the saleslady in the store. “They say it happens in here all the time, but you two are my first.”
Athena frowns, bringing her eyebrows together. “Pardon?”
“My first proposal.” The woman claps her hands and gives us a crisp nod.
“No, no, no,” Athena shakes her head and looks around Tiffanys. “Kris?”
Taking her hand lightly in mine, I shrug. “I’m not letting you go. I want you with me. Why not make it official?”
Athena cocks her head to the side. “Official?”
Dropping down onto one knee, I take her hand in mine. “I’ve loved you since I was seventeen years old. I should never have left you. I’ll never leave you again. Athena Boswell, will you marry me?”
Tears form in her eyes, and I hold my breath waiting for her answer. “Do