Fix It Up - Mary Calmes Page 0,33
black like a cat burglar.”
“Make up your mind,” I said, crowding him, moving in close so he had to tip his head up to hold my stare. “Do I look like a thief or a hustler? Which one?”
“You look old,” he choked out. “Like you’re going through some midlife crisis and the turtleneck is hiding gross wrinkles.”
I shrugged. “Good to know,” I replied smoothly, stepping around him and leaving with Danny, who had his hand on the small of my back as he led me out the front door.
“Where are you going now?” Nick asked irritably the night after that, sitting on my bed, watching as I leaned over to lace up the Converse sneakers I was wearing with khaki shorts and a black T-shirt.
“Danny invited me to grab dinner at a food truck and listen to jazz in the park,” I answered, turning to look at him. “You wanna come with me?”
“Why on earth would I—”
“Nope, you’re right,” I said quickly. “Forget I asked.”
But when I reached the door, he asked when I was going to be home. It was interesting that he hadn’t moved from my bed.
“Why? You want dessert or something?” Last weekend in August and suddenly, out of the blue, there was a thaw like on the night at Stig’s house. Since I wanted that, wanted to help him, wanted him to let me, and not keep up the constant battle, I made the overture, inwardly girding for whatever horrible thing he was going to come back at me with.
“If you think of it,” he said haughtily, getting up and walking out on my balcony.
Danny had friends join us, three other couples, and it was nice and fun, good food, wine that everyone brought, and engaging conversation.
When I got home, having brought Nick a slice of Dobash cake from the Hawaiian food truck, he turned up his nose at it, so I snatched it back, walking to the kitchen.
“Wait,” he called out, rushing across the room and grabbing it out of my hands, putting it down on the counter. “I thought it was just plain old cake, but—this might be what I had when I was there a couple years ago.”
“In Hawai’i you mean?”
“Yeah,” he mumbled, taking the fork I offered him.
When he took a bite, the smile, in spite of himself, was radiant. And yes, lately I’d realized what the big deal was about Nick Madison. Between the thick chestnut-brown hair, the full lips, deep dimples, and miles of sleek, tanned skin, he was gorgeous. When those honey-brown eyes, framed in long lashes, were fixed on me, I understood that being seduced by Nick Madison could be quite the temptation.
“Thank you,” he murmured, licking the tines of the fork.
“You need milk,” I said quickly, moving to pour him a glass.
“Did you have fun?” he asked, and when I looked over at him, I found him watching me.
“Yeah, it was nice. Danny has great friends.”
He nodded as I put the glass down beside the plate and passed him a paper towel.
“Two dates in a row, plus the others you’ve been on with him,” he said, taking small bites of the cake. “That’s getting serious, huh?”
“He’s a very nice man,” was all I said. I was not about to tell him that Danny had basically pleaded with me to go home with him, but that I had used Nick to get out of going. Because yes, a sweet man who did nothing for me at all. I needed the promise of power, of demands, of being given orders that I would follow without question. Sometimes, the quietest of men, the most contained, became, behind closed doors, precisely what I needed. Danny, I knew, wanted to experience what he felt would be true passion. That included being held down and made to comply. What he didn’t understand was that I hungered for that just as badly.
“Nice man?” Nick said, bringing me back to the conversation. “That’s all you have to say about the good doctor?”
“How did you know he was a doctor?”
“Because he mentioned it, like, nine times in five minutes so I’d get it.”
“Get what?”
“Why he was better than me.”
“What?”
“Just…never mind,” he murmured, smiling as he ate his cake. “Nice man,” he repeated. “That’s the kiss of death right there.”
I wasn’t about to discuss my personal life with him. “You know,” I threw out casually, “maybe you could give a free concert in the park sometime. That’d be a nice thing for the community you live in,