A half-hour later I was parked behind the Anderson Gallery unsure of what the hell I was doing there but sure I wanted to meet Nina in person and not only to make amends for what had happened to her father. I hadn’t planned on being interested in her. All I wanted to do was see if I could find a way to help her, but something in the way she held her head high as she did the dirty work dumped on her at the gallery impressed me.
I wanted to know more about this woman, and that was something pretty rare for me, so I stood there waiting in that alley next to the Dumpster hoping she’d be the person forced to take out the garbage and not one of the other two women serving drinks and cocktail wieners that night. When the door opened, I saw luck was on my side.
“Nice show, huh?” I asked, willing to lie if it got the ball rolling.
She spun around, obviously frightened, and I realized that a strange man standing in a dark alley waiting for a woman probably wasn’t the best move. I was no rapist, but it still didn’t look good. I remained cool, standing against the Jag with my arms folded, hoping to give off a non-attacking vibe. I didn’t need to begin whatever this was with her screaming for the cops.
Regaining her cool, she answered, “Yeah, it was great. The artist is quite talented.”
I didn’t know her, but I knew bullshit when I heard it. Whether or not the artwork was as bad as I thought it was, she hadn’t liked it. That was clear.
“It was shit and you know it. Nice outfit, though.”
I don’t know why I took the cheap shot at her clothes. It wasn’t like they were anything anyone would willingly wear if they didn’t have to. Sometimes I was a real asshole. Instantly, I felt shitty as a frown settled onto her mouth and she snapped at me. I deserved it and tried to fix the damage my stupid comment had already caused to the situation.
I couldn’t help but smile at the memory of Nina putting me in my place within a minute of meeting me. She was strong even then, standing there alone with a strange man in an alley way and telling him to basically go fuck himself when he stepped out of line. Looking back, I guessed I should have been happy she even agreed to get into the car with me after my stupid comment.
She’d taken a chance on me that night and trusted me not to be some ax murderer. Now I had to trust her. Whether I liked it or not, I had to give up control of us and hope to God I didn’t lose her to someone who could give her the one thing all my money couldn’t buy.
A stable life.
Chapter Three
Nina
For the second time in a week, Daryl wanted to speak to me. Just hearing his voice on my phone made my stomach flip with nerves. I still hadn’t given up on the idea that one day he’d call and tell me that Tristan was finally coming home. So as I waited for Daryl to arrive, I busied myself with fantasies of Tristan’s homecoming and the beginning of our life together as husband and wife. It seemed like we’d been fighting for that life for so long that it was hard to remember when we were just us—Tristan and Nina, happy and in love.
I heard a noise behind me and turned in anticipation to find Jordan standing in the dining room doorway. My disappointment was surely clear in my face, and I saw her react to it with pity. I hated the pity.
“Oh, I thought you might be Daryl,” I weakly explained.
“I need to invest in some better makeup if people are beginning to confuse me with that guy,” she joked.
I knew she was trying to keep my spirits up and appreciated the effort. “No, he called to let me know he needs to speak to me, so I thought it might be him when I heard footsteps.”
Jordan laughed. “I better get back to my Pilates then. Want some company until he arrives?”
Nodding¸ I smiled at her joke. “Yeah.”
Throwing her bag on the table, she sat down and reached out to give me the “sympathetic hand touch” she did when she thought I was sad or depressed. Not that she was wrong. I was feeling bad.
Giving my hand a gentle squeeze, she asked, “Anything I can do to cheer you up? Maybe the tragic story of how I’ve resorted to doing the most idiotic things to get Varo’s attention might bring a real smile out of you.”
I’d seen Jordan’s attempts to get Varo to notice her and wondered why he never seemed to even give her a second glance. She was knockout pretty with beautiful green eyes and long blond hair. She had a much better body than I’d ever had, probably since she actually exercised regularly and took care of herself. On top of all the outside goodness, she was funny and vivacious. What was there not to like?
Just the day before I’d watched from the sitting room window as she took her daily stroll around the grounds and intentional turn toward the carriage house to try to speak to him. He just stood there leaning against the car, barely smiling in response to whatever she was saying. I knew Jordan well enough to know what she sounded like when she was flirting, and never before had I seen any man just stand there with a stony face like Varo did. It was almost like he was deliberately trying not to like her. West appeared more interested in what she’d been saying and even stood there to talk to her after Varo walked away.
“I think that man must be nuts, but don’t feel bad. I can barely get a word from him, and he’s supposed to actually work for me,” I said in an attempt to make her feel better.
Jordan shrugged. “It’s no big deal. I mean, what would I do with someone like that anyway? He’s as big as a house. Probably on steroids, and you know what they say about those guys.” Measuring out an inch between her thumb and forefinger, she snickered. “Hung like a chipmunk.”
I laughed out loud at the thought of such a huge man with such a tiny penis. Leave it to Jordan to make me laugh at her misery and lessen my own at the same time. “You’re so bad!”
“His loss. I could have rocked his world, even if he is Needledick the Bug Fucker.”
Her words made me choke on my morning coffee, and liquid nearly came shooting out of my nose. Coughing, I croaked out, “Jordan, I’ll never be able to look at him the same way again! Jesus, I have to deal with him.”
“You’re not supposed to deal with his junk. Just his silent as a statue routine. I’m sure you’ll forget what I said before you see him again,” she said with a wink.
“I doubt I’ll ever forget it. Needledick the Bug Fucker is something that sticks with you.”
From behind us came the sound of someone clearing their throat, and I slowly turned to see who’d heard us slandering my bodyguard’s penis size, hoping that it wasn’t Varo himself. Thankfully, it was just Daryl, although the look on his face was pure confusion.