The Adventurer

the past five years? Selling antiquities?"
    "Uh-huh."
    "And some of them were fraudulent?"
    "Right. Smuggling the real stuff is a better bet. Dedicated collectors and dealers won't ask too many questions about sources so long as the pieces are real, but they'll be mad as hell if they think they've been taken in by a fake."
    "So Jake has been reduced to selling fake South American antiquities. What a comedown for him." Sarah shook her head. "That must have grated. No wonder he was looking for a way back to fame and fortune."
    Gideon stroked Ellora. "Some people would say that publishing a small treasure-hunting magazine like
Cache
is even more of a comedown."
    Sarah glared at him. "It certainly is not. You're in publishing, the same as I am. You're an author. Just like me. You write for people who can still dream, the same way I do. We perform a very valuable function for a very important group of people, Gideon Trace, and don't you forget it. As this world of ours gets more high-tech and more endangered, it needs its dreamers more desperately than ever."
    "I never thought of it quite that way," Gideon murmured, amazed as usual by her highly biased view of him. It was very heartwarming.
    Sarah turned away again. "I suppose somehow Jake is a dreamer, too, isn't he? Unfortunately he's just kind of screwed up in general."
    "Unfortunately." Gideon yawned. "You were right, by the way, about why he set up that ambush five years ago. He was trying to prove something to himself. Trying to get free of his dependence on me."
    Sarah nodded. "Trying to prove he didn't need you to be a success. You're sure he'll stay out of our lives from now on?"
    "Reasonably sure."
    "What about the Fleetwood Flowers? He wanted those very badly."
    Gideon felt Ellora stretch languidly beneath his hand. "I told him the Flowers didn't exist."
    Sarah stared at him, clearly startled. "But he knew we had the strongbox."
    "I told him there was nothing in it."
    Sarah smiled slowly, with obvious satisfaction. "That was very clever of you, Gideon. Did he believe you?"
    "Not entirely, but I think that after a while he'll convince himself I was telling the truth. He'd rather believe there were no Flowers than that he failed to get hold of them."
    "Yes, exactly. He'll convince himself there was no treasure. And since we have no reason to advertise the fact that we found the earrings, Jake will never know the difference."
    Gideon leaned his head back against the cushions and watched her through narrowed lids. "It's possible that when we get the strongbox open tomorrow it really will be empty. You probably shouldn't get too excited about finding anything inside, Sarah."
    "They'll be in there." She hugged herself happily. "I can't wait to go to work on that old lock tomorrow. It's going to be such a perfect ending to this whole adventure."
    "What about us, Sarah? Does finding the Flowers mean the end of that, too?" Gideon asked quietly.
    She smiled serenely. "Don't be an idiot, Gideon. You and I are just starting our adventure."
    "You really mean that, don't you?"
    She paused and gazed out into the night. "I've told you before, Gideon. In some way I've never been able to explain, the Flowers are linked to you, but they have nothing to do with our relationship. Do you see the difference?"
    "I think I'm finally beginning to understand." Gideon glanced toward the stairs. "It's nearly two in the morning, Sarah. Let's get some sleep. Knowing you, you'll be up at the crack of dawn trying to jam a hairpin into that old lock."
    She chuckled, reaching for his hand. "I don't have a hairpin with me. But that's all right. We'll rely on your professional skills."
    Gideon rose from the sofa and put his arm around her shoulder. With his other hand he lifted her chin. When his mouth closed over hers, she parted her lips for him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
    Gideon picked her up and started toward the stairs.
    "I love it when you do this kind of thing," Sarah said, her eyes cloudy with desire as Gideon carried her into his bedroom. "You're so good at it."
    "You think so?" He put her down on the bed and came down beside her. Slowly he untied her robe and opened it. She was so lovely, he thought as he bent his head to kiss her breast. And she wanted him.
Him
, not Jake Savage or anyone else. Just him.
    "Yes. Perfect." She caught his head and held him to her, lifting herself invitingly against him. "Absolutely perfect."
    "Perfect," Gideon agreed softly. His hand slid down