My hot pink and black striped bikini from two summers ago still fit, thankfully after all the dinners Tristan had treated me to, so I slipped it on in the dressing room adjacent to the pool and got ready to jump in. The crystal blue water felt so refreshing as I descended to the bottom at the deep end. As I swam to the surface, though, I felt something strange on my legs and before I knew it, I had no bikini bottoms on and they were floating six feet away on top of the water.
It was Jimmy Mitchell's pool party in sixth grade all over again, except no one was there to see me, thank God.
I swam my bare ass over to where the fabric bobbed up and down in the water and grabbed my bottoms, happy that the flashback to that summer in middle school was the most embarrassing part of my current mishap.
And then I heard a man's voice and there was a fresh new humiliation. I turned quickly in the water and saw Tristan's gardener before I raced flailing toward the side of the pool to hide myself. I only needed to see his face for a second to know he'd seen all that God had given me. Wriggling into the bikini bottoms, I tried my best to be cool.
"Hi. I didn't realize I wasn't alone. I'm Nina."
He hung back away from the side of the pool and smiled a shy smile. Nearly as tall as Tristan, he was thinner and less built but he looked like he was closer to my age than his employer's. His blue eyes focused on me for a moment before he realized he was staring. Looking away, he stammered an apology and finally said, "I'm Blake."
With my bottoms finally in their rightful place, I relaxed and moved away from the wall slightly. "Hi Blake. I've seen you before in the summer."
He turned his gaze back toward me and nodded. "I'm Mr. Stone's gardener. I didn't know you were in here. I was just cutting through taking a short cut to the back of the house. I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"It's okay. No harm done. Did you work here before Tristan bought the house last spring?"
A look of confusion crossed his face and he looked over my head toward the back wall. "I've worked here for almost two years, miss," he said in a far icier tone than before. "It's nice to meet you, miss."
He walked quickly toward the back door of the pool area before I could say another word. I returned to swimming wondering what I'd done to obviously offend him but with bigger things to think about. Ten laps later, I was ready to begin my day.
I climbed out of the pool and looked up to see Tristan standing on the deck next to the chair where I'd left my things. Dressed in a suit, he didn't look like he was there to swim. "Hey!" I said as I walked toward him to get my towel. "I thought you left for work already. I would have asked you to join me for a swim."
Tristan silently stared at me as I dried off. "I see you met my gardener."
Knotting the towel around me, I nodded. "Yeah. I think I offended him. Sorry about that. I must have said something wrong."
"You should be more worried about offending me."
His tone was cold and matched the look in his eyes. Confused, I shook my head. "What?"
"You heard me."
I couldn't help but feel defensive. He was upset about something, but I had no idea what it was. Trying not to let things get blown out of proportion by either of us, I stood on the tips of my toes and kissed him sweetly on the lips. "I better get going. I have to tell Jordan and my sister the good news."
As I turned to walk away, Tristan caught me by the wrist. "Nina, you can't imagine I appreciate my gardener seeing you swimming half naked, can you?"
"Oh! That's what that sour face is all about." Then I looked around the room realizing what he was saying. "Are you telling me you have cameras in here?"
"You didn't answer my question."
I tugged my wrist from his hold. "You didn't answer mine."
"When you and I began all this, I told you that I'd give you anything to make you happy, but I expect certain things from the woman I'm with. One of them is that other men don't see you like I do."
His words came out like ice cold water dripping from his lips, but I saw beneath his cold facade that he was boiling mad. Part of me was pissed at being recorded doing something so innocent as swimming, and I questioned where else cameras were placed in the house. But another part of me loved seeing him this jealous over another man looking at me.
"Tristan, Blake didn't see anything intentionally."
"Blake?"
My choice of words was unintentional and equally as unfortunate. "It's not what you think. I introduced myself and he told me his name. If it makes things any better, he had no interest in talking to me and left almost immediately."
He cocked one eyebrow. "It doesn't."
Cradling his face in my hands, I smiled up at him. "Tristan, there's no reason for you to be upset. I promise there's no one else but you for me."
His expression remained unchanged, and I saw I wasn't getting through. Without another word, he turned and walked away, leaving me unsure where we stood but sure we could work out whatever it was later.
By three o'clock, I was ready to head out to see Jordan to cruise the bridal magazines and call my sister to tell her the good news too. I searched for Tristan, hoping to tell him I was leaving, but he wasn't in his office or our bedroom. As I walked down the hallway from our room, I heard his voice in the front living room and entered to kiss him goodbye.
One step into the room and I stopped dead at the sight in front of me. Next to the couch we'd sat on that first night, Tristan stood with some woman with gorgeous long, blond hair and legs longer than my whole body. She was standing entirely too close to him and fixing his tie like she'd done it before and felt completely comfortable with her hands on him. I only saw her from the side and hated her.
Then I heard her speak and the hate was purer than anything I'd ever felt.
"Tristan, this tie isn't going to work well. You need something brighter." Her voice was intentionally sultry, like she was affecting a sexy voice instead of using her normal one.
For his part, the man I'd just agreed to marry the night before stood like a statue as she fawned over his collar, but that didn't make it any better to watch. Jealousy coursed through my veins, making my hands ball into fists at my sides.
"Excuse me, am I interrupting?"
Tristan looked around the woman and smiled, but when she turned to look at me, her expression telegraphed loud and clear that, in her mind, I wasn't welcome.
"Nina, let me introduce you to my assistant. Kacey, this is Nina."
I waited for him to explain to Kacey who I was to him, but the words never came out of his mouth. Insecurity mingled with jealousy to create a noxious pain in my gut, and I walked toward them. Holding up my left hand, I said, "I'm his fiancée. Nice to meet you."