Читать книгу Wrapped In Red: Mistletoe Mantra / White Hot Holiday - Sherelle Green, Sheryl Lister - Страница 14

Chapter 5

The next morning, Nomi tossed and turned in bed. Sexy Linc was not part of the bargain. Yes, he could help her, and yes, she needed him, but he was not supposed to look like he did. Nor was he supposed to ask her out to the one event she certainly couldn’t go to.

And she certainly was not supposed to respond to him like that. Just thinking about his intense, focused green eyes on her made her feel flushed.

Over the past five years she’d dated some, but nothing serious. After all, her last serious relationship had sent her fleeing her home under the cover of darkness, so she was more than a little gun shy. And the guys she had dated were nice enough, some with great potential, but she had yet to meet a guy who gave her that same kind of exhilarating rush that her job did. So she just didn’t bother.

The knock on her door came at eight sharp and she was a little surprised to find Linc on the other side. They weren’t supposed to meet until eight thirty. “Oh, good morning. I’m almost ready. I just need to finish my makeup.”

“Sorry I’m early, but I figured maybe we could get breakfast before we head over to Jilly’s gallery. Besides, she’ll kill me if I don’t bring her a pastry from Claire’s bakery.”

Nomi smiled. “I see Jilly still has her sweet tooth. How is she doing anyway?” Nomi shoved aside the twinge of guilt. She didn’t want to ask secondhand, but Jilly would pretend she was okay for Nomi’s sake. Her fiancé had called off their wedding in New York just six months ago and Jilly’d had a rough time.

“You know Jilly. She’s tough.”

“She also puts on a brave face even when she shouldn’t.”

He gave her that almost smile of his again. The man was dangerous to her equilibrium. “Like someone else I know.”

She raised her brow. “You’re her twin, so if anyone would know, I suppose it would be you.”

“She’s still hurt and reeling. But she’s good. She’s back at work and business is booming. Jilly will bounce back. She always does.”

She put down her powder brush. “I was sad to hear about your father. How’s he doing?”

Linc shrugged “Fine, I guess. It’s hard to see him slipping, you know. Most days he’s lucid and he wants to work. But there are days now where he’s not even sure where he is and who people are. It’s killing Mom.”

“Can’t be easy on you, either.”

Again he avoided talking about his father, this time by changing the subject. “After the gallery, do you know where you might want to try next?”

Guilt pricked at her. He had enough things to worry about without shuttling her around town. “What about work?”

“I work at the winery for Mom. I’m the operations director.”

“I’m sure she needs you.”

He rolled his eyes. “Everything is shut down until after the holiday. I’m all yours.”

The way he said that sent a tingle through her body, awakening nerve endings she hadn’t thought about in a very long time.

“I feel bad. I’m sure there are things you’d rather be doing than spending every waking minute with me.”

His gaze skimmed over her body. “Not really. How about this? I’ll feed you, take you to see Jilly and we’ll see where things are. It probably won’t be easy to find this guy, especially if he doesn’t want to be found and it’s tourist season.”

She nodded. “Yeah, okay. I just wanted to get this done as quickly as possible so I can get out before the holiday.”

He cocked his head. “Not a fan at all of Christmas?”

“Yeah, well, I’ve been soured on the whole holiday season.”

“That’s a shame. No eggnog, no caroling, no presents?”

Nomi laughed. “Hold up now. I still like presents. I’m not an idiot.”

He nodded, his eyes narrowing imperceptibly. “Lennox really did a number on you.”

No. She was not discussing Brad Lennox. “He’s not even on my radar. I’m here to work and get out of Faith as fast as my stilettos can carry me. And I’m sorry, Linc, but you’ll have to think of another way to have me pay you back. I slept on it, and I still can’t go to his wedding with you.”

His lips tipped up at the corners. “We’ll talk about it later. Right now, your taxi service awaits.”

She had a sinking suspicion he wasn’t going to let it go. But she was hungry and needed fuel for that kind of fight.

For breakfast he took her somewhere she’d never been, just on the outskirts. Even though it was still somewhat early, the place was full of tourists, but at least there wasn’t a line out the door. If this were LA, there would be at least an hour wait.

While they waited for their food, she studied him. “You know, I realize I don’t know you that well. Even back then, I didn’t really know you. All I know is you run an excellent taxi service and you were sweet enough to offer a girl a lifeline when she needed one.”

His laugh transformed his face, making him appear more open and, if possible, more handsome. The sound rolled over her, making her warm from the inside out despite the chill outside. “I’m an open book. Ask me anything you want to know.”

She widened her eyes. “Anything? You realize that as a journalist, my whole job is to ferret out the story I’m looking for. This is a dangerous proposition for you.”

“I think I can take it.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you. No evading, Porter. You have to answer honestly.”

He shifted in his seat a little, but his gaze never wavered from hers. “Do your worst. Just remember, turnabout is fair play.”

She weighed her options. She had no life to speak of besides the magazine, so he could ask her whatever he wanted. “Fine.”

He leaned back to make room for the waitress bringing them their coffee. “Shoot.”

She opened her mouth, but decided to take a sip of coffee first. Sighing in contented bliss, she put her cup back down. When she looked at him again, he was staring at her, his green eyes now hot and dark.

“What?”

“That look on your face. It’s sexy.”

She blushed, but would put down money saying he couldn’t see it. “I see you’re starting with the flattery.”

“Or truth.” He shrugged.

Nomi laughed. This felt like...flirting. Or maybe you’re woefully out of practice. “You were super smart. I figured you’d go off to law school or something, like the rest of the prep school set, or bum around Europe. What are you doing back in Faith?”

He opened his mouth, then a light flush stained his cheeks, but he answered her. “I did all that. Transferred every AP credit I could and busted my ass to graduate from Carnegie Mellon in three years. Travelled some, came home. Not much to the story.”

“Now, why don’t I believe you?”

Her flashed her another grin. “I did graduate from CMU. Have the diploma to prove it.”

“You know what I mean.” She changed tactics. “You could do anything. Go anywhere, be with anyone. Why here?”

“Dad got sick, and the way I figure it, there’s plenty of time for me to go do other things. Mom has needed more help at the winery.”

“Are you happy?”

A shadow drifted across his face, but then his good-natured smile was back in place. “Right in this moment, yeah. Good food in the company of a beautiful woman.”

Her heart rate picked up in response. Easy does it. We’re here to work. Not flirt. For the rest of breakfast, she kept things on safer topics—catching up on some of the people she’d known, local gossip, her job and their favorite places to travel.

He relaxed her and made it easy to forget where she was, but a flash of red hair outside the window was all the reminder she needed. Amber. She was going somewhere in a hurry, and Nomi didn’t have time to sit here on a leisurely breakfast date. “I see my competition is already up and at ’em. Do you think we can head to Jilly’s now?”

He made a poor attempt at hiding his smile. “Sure, let me get the check.”

“Oh, I can’t let you do that. You’re doing me the favor, remember?”

“I insist. I’ll add it to your tab. Why don’t you get the car warmed up.”

While he flagged down the waitress, she headed out to start the car. She climbed into the passenger seat of the SUV and leaned over to stick the key in the ignition. Maybe if she’d been more alert, better mentally prepared, or hadn’t wasted part of the morning pretending she was on a bed-and-breakfast date, she would have noticed the woman coming out of the post office four doors down.

With her smooth chocolate skin and high cheekbones, she was the picture of Nomi in another twenty years. Nomi froze, not sure what to do. She hadn’t called her parents and hadn’t planned to. But still, she couldn’t ignore the twinge of pain in her heart at seeing her mother again.

Adrenaline spiking through her blood, Nomi knew she had to make a decision. If she didn’t move, then her mother would see her.

For several loud, pulsing heartbeats, she stayed like that, but then her brain kicked in. Just as her mother was about to look up from her bag, Nomi ducked. She’d call home. Just not right now. Later. Maybe tonight. Maybe tomorrow. Definitely before she left...maybe.

The driver’s door swung open and Linc laughed. “What are you doing?”

Sheepish, she sat up. “I, uh, thought I lost an earring.”

His brows rose. “Did you find it?”

“Yep.” She pointed at her ear. “Put it right back.” She could tell that he didn’t believe her, but she did not want to get into some long conversation about why she was hiding from her mother.

By the time they reached Jilly’s gallery, she felt more at ease. Linc’s sister had always been exuberant. It was no wonder she’d been a part of the pep squad at school. “Nomi! It’s so good to see you.” She bounded up to her and enveloped her into a warm hug.

Nomi squeezed back and let herself settle into the feeling of being home. She’d missed Jilly. Her bestie had been out to LA frequently to see her, or they’d met in places like New York, DC or San Francisco.

“Oh my God, Nomi, you have to tell me everything. Start talking. I’m so sorry I couldn’t be there yesterday, but Linc came to the rescue, right? He wasn’t late, was he?”

“No, Linc was perfect.” Damn, why did her voice sound so husky? She cleared her throat. “I didn’t recognize him at first.”

“He’s changed a lot, huh? Sometimes I can’t even believe it. You would think he’d have a girlfriend, but for some strange reason he doesn’t. If you ask me, he’s carrying a torch for someone.”

Linc’s brows rose, then he coughed. “Enough, Jilly.”

Nomi resisted the urge to shiver while she glanced between brother and sister, trying to figure out what the sudden note of tension was about. “Jilly, we have so much to catch up on.”

Her friend squeezed her hand. “We will find a way to make time before you go, okay? In the meantime, I know you didn’t come all this way for a snow fix. What do you need?”

“Even if it’s at midnight. We’ll figure it out. So, your gallery has showed some work of one of my favorite photographers.”

Jilly nodded, understanding. “Nolan Polk.”

“Is there anything you can tell me about him? What he looks like? Any places he might frequent? Even better, where he lives? It’s important I get a hold of him.”

Jilly bit her lip. “Have you tried his agent? She might know how to reach him best.”

Nomi rolled her shoulders. “Yes, repeatedly. I’ve tried everything. I keep getting the ‘Mr. Polk doesn’t take unsolicited requests’ message. I’m sort of desperate. We’re looking to put his photographs in our twentieth-anniversary issue featuring beauty around the world. I think some of the portraits he’s done around the world would be ideal.”

“Well, he is extremely talented. No doubt about that. But unfortunately, I can’t tell you much about him.”

There was something about the way Jilly slid her gaze away when she said that. “Look, I get it. You’re protecting your relationship with him. But anything you can tell me would be helpful. What does he like, where might I look next? I’m sort of running out of time.”

Jilly slid a glance toward her brother and sighed. “Okay, fine. First place you might look is Faith Woods. He used to do a lot of photos out in the woods. Rumor is he has a cabin there. Then tomorrow night, there’s an auction at the country club. Every year for the past three years, he’s donated a piece. I doubt he’ll be there, but it’s worth a shot.”

The country club? One of the last places she wanted to go. But if it meant a chance at Nolan Polk, then she’d better pull out her little black dress. But first, she and Linc were going to the woods.