ears. Tall and confident, he attracted more than one woman’s admiring gaze. Including her own.
Barrett’s head turned to the direction of the ladies’ room, a slight furrow on his brow. He scanned the sea of faces, the crease growing deeper with each pass until he spotted her. The line smoothed as one corner of his mouth tipped up. She remembered the feel of that mouth close to hers, strong yet exquisitely tender. How it had begged for her to linger even after she pushed him away. Her butterflies looped in a frenzy. No. He wasn’t a man for kissing. He was a confidant, an anchorage should things get rocky. Glancing around at the Iron Cross medals for courage under fire and bravery before the enemy, it wasn’t a question of if things turned rocky, but when.
“There you are, poppy.” His smile widened as she weaved through the crowd to join him. “Thought I might have to send out a search party.”
The butterflies swooped with delight at her suggested pet name. Blast those wings. “Powdering one’s nose takes an artistic hand that cannot be rushed.”
“Hear, hear!” The other lady in the group raised her glass and drained the contents in one gulp. The diamonds at her throat glistened as she swallowed. “Men simply don’t understand what pains we suffer to look so good.”
Barrett’s arm slipped around Kat’s waist, pulling her close. “Kat doesn’t need all that paint to enhance her already beautiful face.”
Heat rushed to Kat’s face. Whether it was from the warmth of standing so close to him or his intimate words brushing her ears, she didn’t care to discern. This is an act. Don’t let his aftershave muddle what you’re here to do.
She playfully pushed him away. “You do know how to embarrass a girl.”
“How can it be an embarrassment if it’s the truth?”
The desire twinkling in his eye almost had her convinced.
“Because a lady will never admit to needing cosmetics, and now you’ve outed me in front of these gentleman. Whatever am I to do with you?”
“I’m sure he can think of something.” One of the men with three silver diamonds on his collar leered at her as his dark eyes lingered on her body. His companions snickered as the woman looked away, the skin around her red mouth pinching white.
Clapping called for the room’s attention. Eric, with a beaming Ellie next to him, stood by the curtained entrance to his newest exhibit. Rocking back and forth, he looked ready to pat himself on the back from sheer pride. “Meine Damen und Herren, Mesdames et Messieurs! Die ausstellung ist für ihr sehvergnügen offen.”
“Looks like the show’s beginning,” Barrett whispered.
Kat focused to keep her eyes from rolling. “Oh, goody.”
Like cattle, the crowd slowly shuffled through the now opened doors into a large space dotted with photographs, paintings, and sculptures depicting a sun-filled Germany. The room narrowed at the end, bottlenecking the crowd into a dimmed, tight space. The art grew darker, more sinister, as pointy faces creeped in the shadows, their clawed hands raking across the sun and land while the perfectly blond inhabitants ran in terror.
Juden. Jew.
“Pathetic, isn’t it?” Barrett’s snort hummed in her ears. “Look at them. They’re eating it up.”
Kat didn’t want to look around. She didn’t want to see the nods of approval or the self-flamed righteous anger burning in the German eyes around them. If the people at home could see her now. No amount of Father’s power could prevent her being labeled a traitor.
“How can they possibly believe this?” Sickness twisted in Kat’s stomach as she neared a poster with a demon lurking around a group of blue-eyed children. She couldn’t fathom such hatred toward another human being.
“Ol’ Adolf’s a mighty powerful speaker, and right now the Germans are looking for someone to blame for their loss of power.”
“The Jews, Poles, and Gypsies have done nothing to deserve such degradation and hate. Is the Resistance not helping them?”
“Why else do you think I’m training fighters? They learn what they can and go out to fight.”
“Do you not wish to join them out there?”
“I love nothing more than a good brawl, but their operations are beyond my sphere, which is right here. With you.” Barrett turned, blocking her from view of the crowd. “We’re trying to make friends with these people. Especially your sister’s beau. We have to make him trust us if we’re to get into the inner circle.”
Frustration and anger chased each other around and around inside her until they clashed, with