Mismatch - By Nana Malone Page 0,54

Eli’s head increased until it sounded like a herd of elephants doing the bachata in his skull. “See, this is why I didn’t want to do this. I don’t want to lie to her and have to keep stories straight and figure out where the hell you've been that I’ve been. Hell, I can’t even tell her about my job or talk to her about any real shit because I’m too busy pretending to be you.”

Samson spread his arms wide. “Is it so bad being me, big brother?”

“I have no problem being you, except I happen to like being myself, and I hate lying. And right now, Jessica’s pretty pissed.”

Samson had the grace to look chagrined. “I guess we should coordinate better.”

“Wrong answer. Right answer would have been, ‘Eli, why don’t you go ahead and tell the truth like you wanted to from the start.’” But now Vince had him in even deeper.

Samson’s eyes went wide. “Dude, you can’t until after this opening. You promised. Jessica made it clear that if I step a toe out of line she’s gone. I need this, and Jessica is the one. She's the only one who can get me there. I thought you were going to help me?”

The desperation in his brother's eyes sliced deep. Eli had given Sam his word that he'd help. And Jessica was the fast track ticket to doing that. After these two exhibitions, and if she could convince the board of the Stanton Endowment for the Arts to make Sam their featured artist of the year, then his brother would be set for life. Sam would never have to spiral out of control like he'd done before. Eli would finally be taking care of him like he was supposed to. But what the hell would it cost him?

Before the words were even out of his mouth, he knew what he'd say. “Yeah, Sam. I'm behind you.”

The relief in Sam’s eyes was the final nail. Sam was so used to not being able to believe in anything or anyone that he really thought Eli would abandon him. No matter how much Jessica was under Eli’s skin, Sam was his priority. Even if he was lying to him.

Eli had to figure out what his next move would be on the signatures. Now that Vince had somewhere to look, he wouldn’t let it go. He had to address their Vince issue, but there was no need to alarm Sam yet. There was still a chance they wouldn’t need to open that can of worms.

Back at his place, Eli palmed his phone and stared at it for what seemed like hours before calling Jessica. He had to think about Samson. You have to think about yourself. That one text had him spinning out. It was easily explained, but he still didn’t want to have to go through with the lie.

Chapter 15

Jessica’s phone rang four times before she answered with a brusque, “What do you want, Eli? I don't really have time for this right now.”

“Okay, you’re pissed. I get it. But I swear to you, I was just cheering up a friend. I wish you'd called me then; we could have all had lunch together.”

She snorted. “Yeah right. How awkward was that going to be? Look, Eli, I don’t need this. We, this thing, it's getting way more complicated than I bargained for. I’ve got my hands full. I just lost another fucking client to Destiny, and my mounter has upped his prices. The last thing I need is to deal with you. You’re pretty much dangerous to my equilibrium. I'm not the jealous crazy chick. Current behavior notwithstanding.”

Eli's heart thudded in his chest. He might have chosen to protect Samson, but like hell he'd give Jessica up so easily. “You don't have to believe me. But for the record, that was a friend. Her boyfriend broke up with her, and I was literally cheering her up.” He sighed. “Now do you want to tell me about your day?”

She didn’t seem to want to hear it. “Bullshit, Eli, I saw you two together. It was all so fucking intimate.”

Fuck Samson. If Eli couldn't fix things tonight, he'd have to tell Jessica the truth. “Did you see me kiss her? Was I holding her in a lover's embrace? Whispering sweet nothings in her ear? Did you see any of that?”

She was silent for a beat. He could almost see the doubt worming its way through her psyche. “Eli, you were draped all over