I can’t trust Mina Blake.
THREE
Mina
“Oh my God. Fallon! It was awful!” I collapse onto my friend’s orange velvet couch, curl into a ball, and pull a shaggy chenille throw over my head. “I’m never coming out from under here. This is where I live now.”
“That’s fine. You’re welcome to stay there as long as you like.” The couch shifts as she sits beside me and pats my thigh. There’s a soft thunk of something heavy being set on the coffee table with the unmistakable clink of wine glasses following behind. “It will make it harder for us to share this bottle of vin santo rosso, but I’m sure you’re okay with that.”
Damn her willingness to exploit my love of sweet red wine!
“I can drink under here just fine, thank you very much.” I slip out a hand to reach for my glass, but Fallon scoffs.
“You absolutely cannot drink wine under there. It’s red. My blanket is beige. And you, while sweet as can be and I love you to pieces, are a klutz with a capital K when you drink.”
“Wow.” I sit up and wrap the blanket around my head and shoulders, insulating myself from the memories of Nathan West glaring at me like I didn’t deserve to breathe the same air as him. “Way to kick me when I’m down.”
“Honey, there are certain truths we need to own about ourselves. Drunken klutzhood is one of yours.” Fallon carefully unwraps the blanket from my head and folds it before draping it over the arm of the couch in a seemingly haphazard way that’s effortlessly stylish, just like the sleek black hair that falls gracefully down her back, highlighting a flowing, off-the-shoulder floral top. Add in high-waisted, wide-legged white linen trousers and it’s hard to believe she works from home.
“Now. Talk. Spill.” Fallon playfully flutters her eyelids, showing off a daring shade of eyeshadow while smiling widely. “Give me everything you have on ‘Welcome to my villain era’ Nathan West, then we can switch to what really matters, Benjamin Bancroft.”
“He’s so nice,” I say dreamily. “And a thousand times better looking in person, if you can believe it. They both are, assuming you can get past Nathan’s attitude.” I reach for the bottle of wine sitting on the coffee table. “I can’t get past it, by the way. I mean, I have to for the job’s sake. For Mom’s sake. But, well, you know. Rich assholes just aren’t my thing. Especially when they emphasize the asshole part.”
Fallon plucks an oversized wine glass off the designer coffee table she was so proud to bring home and holds it out for me. I fill it to the top. She widens her eyes when I do the same to mine. “How is your mom? Any better?”
“So much better. This treatment center is going to be everything she needs. I can feel it.”
“And once you get paid, you can afford it.” Fallon arches a brow.
She wasn’t a fan of my decision to enroll Mom in the clinic before the money from Nathan’s project came in. But I couldn’t watch her wither away. Not when help is available. His retainer fee was enough to get her started and I have room in my design schedule to add more clients. I’m not afraid of hard work and I don’t need much sleep. I’d rather be broke and tired, but know she’s taken care of than sit on a pile of money like a dragon protecting its hoard. Besides, it’s not like I do much with my evenings and weekends. Why not fill the time with work?
I arch a brow in return. “Which is why I’m not letting Nathan West bother me.”
“You might consider asking him for your full fee up front. Or at least part of it.”
“Sure. Right. The man is every bit as awful as you made him out to be, and it’s already clear he judges me for being poor. So I should definitely ask him to give me money before the work’s been done, even though our contract clearly states I’ll be paid at the end unless I need to make purchases along the way.”
“You’re the one who enrolled your mom in the program before you had the money.” Fallon holds up her hands. “I know. I know. Her condition was deteriorating. She couldn’t wait. No judgment.”
I cock my head. “I mean, some judgment.”
“I just worry because I love you.” She sighs dramatically before taking a large gulp of wine then says, “I still think you should consider asking him for an advance.”
I pout as I bring the sloshing glass to my lips and take a hefty swallow. “Can’t,” I say, then take another sip for good measure, “he’s a narrow-minded asshole who was nice to Benjamin and rude to me.”
I drink again, caught up in the unfairness of the meeting. Fallon raises her eyebrows and takes another large gulp herself.
“Nathan West used to be as kind and chivalrous as you could imagine. Hot, but humble. Rich, but generous. Smart, but down to earth. Driven, but, well, you get the point.” She shakes her head as she stares into the distance. “I’m telling you, Mina. Anyone who ended up with him would have won the relationship lottery. But something happened with that girlfriend because he went downhill fast after they broke up. I haven’t figured out why yet, but I’ll keep digging…unless you happen to hear something and feel like passing it on.”
“We’ve been over this. I’m not snitching on my client. It’s wrong and you know it.” I say, blinking to refocus my eyes before taking another swallow of wine from a glass that is becoming decidedly difficult to handle. I wrap both hands around it and bring it to my lips like a bowl to take another slurp. “Besides, you’re supposed to be making me feel better, not turning me into a spy. Let’s talk about anything but stupid Nathan West and his stupid self being nice to stupid Benjamin but not me.”
Stupid men and their stupid stupidness.
“Except Benjamin’s not stupid,” we say in unison, then burst into laughter.
“He’s nice,” I say, thinking of Nathan cutting me off halfway through my introduction, those broad shoulders blotting out the sun like the villain he is.
“And he’s talented,” Fallon adds.
I nod, remembering the way Nathan glared with those thorny eyes. “And Benjamin’s smile feels like sunshine. I like being around people that feel good.”
Fallon finishes off her mega glass of wine and pours another. “And he’s already made a name for himself with the kind of clients you want to add to your roster. Leveraging this relationship could be a big break for you, Meens.”
“Maybe.”
Her words float around my vin santo rosso filled brain and several seconds pass before they bump into my conscience. “Yeah, but I want to focus on how hot he is, not what he can do for me. He’s a person not an opportunity. It’s better to objectify him than to scheme ways to use him to my advantage, right?”
“Give me your phone.” Fallon holds out her hand expectantly.
“What? Why?” I ask, already passing it her way.
“It’s nothing.” Her smirk says it’s definitely something as she holds the phone up to my face to unlock it, then starts tapping away at the screen.
“What are you doing?” I ask, nervous now.
“Playing Cupid.” She’s typing, her smile growing more and more mischievous.
“Fallon. No. Give me back my phone.”
“You’re right. It’s better to objectify him…especially if he knows it’s happening.”
“I have to work with this guy!” I stand and grab for my phone. She jerks it away. “Stop playing Cupid!”
“I want you to know I’ve had a crush on you for a long time,” Fallon reads as she types, twisting out of my grasp. “You’re hot. And smart. And sweet. And talented. And I think we could really be something together. PS—Is it wrong if I dream about sinking my teeth into your ass?”
“Do not send that text.” I make another move for the phone and she holds it away, wriggling it playfully. “Fallon…be careful…”
“I’m not gonna send it, you goof. I’m drunk, not dumb.” She gives the phone one more wriggle as she hands it over. It slips from her hands, but I catch it with my catlike reflexes. Okay, my fumbling, bumbling, just-drank-a-bowl-of-wine reflexes. I drop it two more times before I finally get a good hold on it, then laugh as I plop back onto the couch.
“How’s that catch for a drunk klutz like me, huh? Where’s that capital K now?”
I unlock the phone to delete the text, but the chat box is empty. My heart stops. My jaw drops.
Why is it empty?
Where did the text go?
I blink several times and find the missing message, right beneath Benjamin’s reply…to the group chat with our super important but not at all nice client!
