Nicole nodded and leaned back against the counter with her coffee. “My career was just taking off when we met. I’d just graduated and had my first art show, which was a rousing success . . . thanks to Marguerite.”
His eyebrows rose. “Marguerite?”
Nicole smiled. “Yeah. My cousin, Pierina, and I used to help out Aunt Maria at Marguerite’s several times a year. I was really into art and during breaks, would usually end up sketching while Pierina and I chatted. Marguerite saw and is the first one who encouraged me to pursue art. Well, the first one to encourage me who wasn’t family,” she added with a small smile. “But family have to encourage and support you so her compliments carried a little more weight,” she explained.
When he nodded in understanding, she continued, “Anyway, Marguerite encouraged me and then kept tabs on me. I did a painting of Julius my last year of high school and gave it to her as a sort of thank-you.”
“Her husband, Julius Notte?” Jake asked with surprise. Julius and Marguerite had only reunited and married a few years ago. As far as he knew, Julius hadn’t been around when Nicole was a teenager.
“No, her dog, Julius,” Nicole said with a laugh. “Weird, huh? That she had a dog named Julius before she ever met her husband Julius?”
Jake didn’t comment. Marguerite had caught him up on a lot on their drive here and he knew that while Julius, the man, had only reappeared on the scene recently, he’d been in Marguerite’s life long before she’d named her first dog Julius. However, he didn’t say that.
“Anyway,” Nicole continued, “After I gave her the painting, she asked me to paint a portrait of her daughter, Lissianna, and then one of herself and then her sons: Etienne, Bastien, and Lucern. And when I had my first art show she insisted on making all the arrangements and invited some pretty big names in the art world as well as a lot of people with heavy pockets. The next thing I knew I had commissions coming out of my ears.” She smiled faintly in memory and then her smile faded. “That’s when I met Rodolfo.”
Jake imagined it must have seemed to Nicole like the universe was smiling on her at that point. Her career was taking off and then she met and fell in love with an exotic, foreign man who appeared to love her back. The world had been her oyster, or would have seemed to be. And if she’d met Rodolfo just as her career was taking off, she wouldn’t have had the money she had now. There would have been no reason to think he’d someday try to rob her blind in a divorce . . . and when that failed, try to kill her.
“Speaking of commissions, I guess I should get to work,” Nicole said suddenly, looking uncomfortable, and he suspected she was embarrassed by how much she’d revealed.
“And I should get to work as well,” he said calmly, but when she then headed for the door, he said, “Marguerite mentioned that you were interested in getting a security system for the house. I happen to have a friend who’s the best in the business. I can give him a call to come out for a look-see.”
Jake wasn’t surprised when Nicole grimaced. He knew Marguerite had suggested she needed security and Nicole had most likely reluctantly agreed just to stop the lecturing. But after heaving a sigh, she nodded. “Okay. Thanks.”
“No problem,” Jake murmured and watched her leave the kitchen, his gaze dropping to her behind and staying there until she was out of sight. Then he realized what he’d done and gave his head a shake. Jake had dated a lot of women both as a mortal and as an immortal, but he never mixed business with pleasure. It was dangerous to get distracted in his line of work, and Nicole would definitely be a distraction. Hell, she was already a distraction. He’d meant to read her after Marguerite left but had forgotten that intention as soon as she’d begun to talk. No, it was better to keep his mind on business and avoid the temptation of Ms. Nicole Phillips’s physical attributes . . . but damn, she had a nice round rump and there was nothing he liked better than that.
Grimacing at his own stray thoughts, Jake reached for his cell phone as it began to ring. His eyebrows rose when he saw the call was from Cody, the security guy he’d mentioned. His friend really was the best in the business, and as such, was always busy. He’d talked to his secretary rather than the man himself that morning. She’d said he’d be in at noon and Jake had said he’d call back then. It looked like Cody had decided not to wait. He was expecting the man to tell him he was so busy he couldn’t come out for at least a week, but Jake planned to use bribery and calling in favors to get him out earlier than that.
Nicole eyed the covered paintings at the end of her studio, briefly debating whether she really wanted the rest of her coffee and to work, or whether she shouldn’t dump the rest of it and go back to bed to sleep for another couple of hours. Nicole was tired and she was never at her best when she was tired. It made her work slow and uninspired, and she often just ended up painting over it again later after she’d rested, which was rather a waste of time. Sleeping for another hour or two or four and then waking up refreshed and excited to paint seemed more sensible. But she didn’t want to go to bed. Jake might think she was a slugabed like her ex had always claimed.
The thought of her new cook/housekeeper made Nicole recall the list of Jake’s duties that Marguerite had said she’d left on the dresser in her room. Turning away from the paintings, she headed back out through the office and up the hall, intent on fetching the list. She could hear the murmur of Jake’s voice as she stepped out into the lower living room and supposed he was making that call to his security buddy. The thought made her sigh, and then she wrinkled her nose at herself.
Nicole had no idea why she was so resistant to getting a security system. She’d actually looked into getting one herself when she’d first moved here with Rodolfo, but then she’d left him instead. When she’d moved back there had been so much to do, and then there had been the problems with the gas grill and furnace and people had begun suggesting her ex was trying to kill her and she should have a security system because of that, and suddenly Nicole had resisted the whole idea.
She would admit Rodolfo hadn’t treated her well, and yes he’d tried to go after as much of her money as he could in the divorce, including commissions she’d contracted for before meeting him and a percentage of any commissions she did in the future, which was just ridiculous. But to suggest he was trying to kill her . . .
Shrugging her irritation away, Nicole stepped into the guest room, grabbed the list of tasks Marguerite had left for her and returned to her studio. It looked like an awfully long list. Nicole waited until she was in her studio, cuddled up under the fluffy duvet she kept on the daybed that served double duty as a couch in the corner of the room, before beginning to actually read it . . . and fell asleep doing so.
Nicole shifted sleepily some time later, turning onto her side and tugging down the duvet she’d burrowed under. The action freed her eyes and nose, so when she then blinked her eyes open she had an unobstructed view of the eight-foot-tall silhouetted figure just feet away in her studio and blocking the light from the window.
The shriek that ripped from her throat was high and terrified. The figure reacted to the sound by wobbling and then tumbling off whatever he stood on. Nicole sat up abruptly and stared down at the man now lying on her studio floor.
With the window no longer blocked and light pouring in, she could see the stepladder he’d fallen off of and that he had a screwdriver in his hand. She stared at him with confusion as he sat up and then frowned slightly. The ladder and screwdriver didn’t suggest a break-in and he wore a blue shirt with C.C. SECURITY on the pocket. Her gaze shifted to the window and she saw a half-installed small white boxy-looking thing on the edge of the window.
“Man, you scared the crap out of me,” the man admitted, turning over and sitting up.
Nicole relaxed as she took in his gangly figure, red hair, and freckled face. Between that and his open air of chagrin, he wasn’t the least bit threatening and he was obviously the security guy Jake had mentioned coming for a look-see. Apparently a look-see had turned into an install, she thought with irritation.
“Are you okay?” she asked, pushing aside her irritation in favor of worry for the man who had taken a tumble. “You didn’t hurt yourself, did you?”
“Oh, no, I’m fine. I was only two steps up. I was more startled than anything,” he assured her and then they both glanced to the door when it burst open and Jake charged in.
He paused abruptly as he took in the scene, and then turned his concerned gaze to Nicole. “Are you okay?”
When she nodded and began to push her duvet aside, he turned his attention to the man still on her floor and moved forward to offer him a hand up, asking, “What the hell are you doing in here, Cody? I told you not to bother her while she’s working.”
“I know, but when I was doing the office I looked in and the studio seemed empty, so I thought I’d quickly do it while she was out. She must have been buried under the duvet,” he added with chagrin.
“I didn’t get much sleep last night. I decided to catch a nap before starting to work,” she explained to Jake, feeling guilty that she’d been lazy.