Jilted

by Tess Thompson

  “Salacious?” Judi’s eyes twinkled. “Do tell.”

  “Sometimes. Women mostly talk about things other women have done to them or said about them—basically wronged them somehow. Unless they’re talking about the man in their life. If they’re at my bar it’s usually because a man has behaved badly and they want to talk to their friends about him. It always surprises me how many make excuses for them. Many don’t seem to expect much from the one who’s supposed to be their best friend.”

  “And men? What do they talk about?”

  Sophie clicked them off on one hand. “To each other, it’s sports or work, almost always. When they’re talking to women, it’s usually to pick them up unless they have them already. Those ones tend look at their phones or whatever game is on.”

  “More women should see themselves as the queen of the world and order heads to roll.”

  Sophie laughed, then quickly sobered. “A lot of women mold themselves into whatever it takes to keep their man. I don’t think they even realize they’re doing it.”

  They were interrupted by the sound of the front door opening.

  “Go back to your room. I want you to make an entrance,” Judi said.

  “Really?”

  “Yes, really. Now scoot.”

  15

  Nico

  * * *

  Nico pulled a cork from the bottle of Chianti and poured it through the infuser into a decanter. In one corner of the kitchen, Mrs. Coventry was teaching Jen how to roll over for a treat. So far, Jen had rolled over at least five times. “You’re going to spoil her dinner,” he said.

  “Dogs always have room for dinner.”

  He tugged on the collar of his button-down shirt, still baffled as to the reason his landlady had asked that he dress nicely for dinner. But he knew better than to question her. Whatever eccentric reasoning she had was of no consequence. He was always happy to oblige if it made her happy. She’d been so good to him and now to Sophie.

  After finishing with the wine, he made a salad. The pasta was happily cooking away on the cooktop. Sophie’s pasta sauce simmered on the back burner. A fresh loaf of bread was already cut and on the table. Whenever Sophie appeared, they could eat.

  Mrs. Coventry put the doggy treats in the cupboard and went to the sink to wash her hands. “Please find a white in the wine refrigerator. We’ll have that before dinner.”

  “Sure thing.” He leaned over to open the glass doors and pulled out the top drawer. Sophie didn’t like oaky chardonnays, so he chose a French Chablis.

  When he rose to his full height, his breath caught. Sophie stood in the doorway wearing a dark blue dress that accentuated her curves and high black sandals that helped to show off her long, toned legs. Her hair was piled on top of her head, and she’d done up her eyes with black liner. Her full lips were painted red, making her look utterly gorgeous and, as much as he hated to admit it, much less innocent than usual.

  He pressed his fingers against his mouth to stop himself from looking like a hooked fish gasping for air. What had she done to herself? He flashed to earlier. She’d made him so hot he wanted to take her right there in the parking lot. And now this? It was as though she was trying to seduce him.

  Jen, seeming equally surprised at Sophie’s transformation, didn’t run to her as she usually did. Instead, she came to stand next to him and simply stared at the vision in blue while wagging her tail in appreciation.

  “Nice dress,” he said.

  “Thanks,” Sophie said, as if dressing up like a supermodel going to a Hollywood party were perfectly normal.

  “Dear, you look lovely,” Mrs. Coventry said. “I knew the dress would be perfect for you.”

  “I might never take it off,” Sophie said. “I’ll sleep in it like my mother did when she was a kid and got new school shoes.”

  “You bought her that dress?” Nico asked. When and how and where? Why did he feel slightly betrayed by her doing so?

  “I had my girl at Le Chic bring them down.” Mrs. Coventry and Jen each took a stool at the counter.

  “You have a girl?” he asked. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”

  “Sophie needed a few new things, so I called after you left this morning,” Mrs. Coventry said. “Now, about that wine.”

  Slightly light-headed, he went to the cabinet where Mrs. Coventry kept the wineglasses. He had to pass by Sophie as he did so and caught a whiff of her perfume. This was not her usual fragrance, which smelled more like cookies. This scent was exotic and almost dangerous. Not almost. Totally dangerous. To him and his double-crossing body.

  He took out three glasses and held his breath as he passed by the temptress. When he was safely back to the island, he poured them each a generous portion of Chablis. Meanwhile, Sophie settled on the seat next to Jen. Both women and the dog looked at him with an anticipatory countenance. He set a glass of wine in front of each of them. “I’ve nothing for you, Jen.”

  Jen angled her head to the right and whined softly.

  “Do you see what you’ve done?” Nico asked Mrs. Coventry. “She thinks she’s a person.”

  Sophie patted Jen’s head. “She’s better than a person, aren’t you, girl?”

  For the next few minutes, he bustled around the kitchen putting the rest of the dinner together as Sophie filled them in on the latest news. The insurance company was cooperating completely. They’d soon have a check for the assessed value. “All in all, it’s probably a year before we can reopen.”

  “What an opportunity you’ve been given,” Mrs. Coventry said.

  “An opportunity?” Nico asked. All he saw was a year without a business. No income. Nothing but the hassle of a rebuild.

  “She means, what can I do to take advantage of the fresh start,” Sophie said. “I can design a completely different place if I want to.”

  “It’s exciting,” Mrs. Coventry said.

  “Maybe I’ll find inspiration in France,” Sophie said.

  “A café,” Mrs. Coventry said.

  “I think people liked it the way it was,” Nico said. “Local watering hole and all that.”

  “We’ll see,” Sophie said before taking a sip of her wine. “But that’s not the most interesting thing that happened today. Wait until I tell you about our meeting with the fire detective. Do you remember when Stone and Autumn’s mother had to move here because her apartment building up north burned down?”

  “Sure,” Nico said. The entire complex had collapsed. Fortunately, no residents perished, but they were forced to find other living arrangements. “That’s when Valerie moved into the Victorian, right?”

  “What’s a Victorian?” Mrs. Coventry asked.

  “The old house on Main Street that Rafael turned into apartments,” Nico said. “Trey and Stone used to live there.”

  Mrs. Coventry waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, yes. Of course. I knew that house back when it was still a house. The saddest woman lived there with her seventeen cats.”

  “You’ll have to tell us about that sometime,” Sophie said. “I love old stories about the town. I wonder if Hugh knew her.”

  “Can we stay on topic, please?” Nico asked. “I want to know what the detective said.”

  As he took the pasta from the steaming water and mixed it into Sophie’s delectable sauce, she told them about the possible connection between the two fires. “The minute he told us about the fire up north, we all thought of the same thing almost immediately. You should’ve seen the poor detective’s face when we explained about the bad nanny and her father and everything else. He said Kyle attracted trouble like a bee to honey.”

  “I’d have to agree,” Mrs. Coventry said.

  “The detective is going to look into the whole thing and see if the nanny has any other disturbed family members. But Solomon—that’s the detective—doesn’t think it’s related. He said if it were connected to Mel, then why would they have come after me? I had no involvement in any of that. And Zane didn’t either, other than being a
Dog.”

  “What else could it be?” Nico asked.

  Sophie fluttered her fingers and lowered her voice dramatically. “He thinks the answer could be in the Dogs’ past.”

  Mrs. Coventry pulled on one earring. “A deep dark secret.”

  The two of them were acting as if this were a murder mystery on television. “This isn’t something to take lightly,” Nico said. “We almost died in that fire.”

  Both immediately sobered. “You’re right, dear,” Mrs. Coventry said.

  Sophie put one elbow on the counter and rested her cheek in her hand. He got a straight shot right down her cleavage. Her bra was black and lacy and pushed her breasts together. “He asked Zane to try to think about anyone who might have a vendetta against them. Zane said he couldn’t imagine there was one. He said Kyle had a lot of old girlfriends who might hate him, but not the rest of the Dogs. Solomon said if they’re targeting the Dogs’ loved ones it has be for something they all did together.”

  “But wait a minute,” Nico said as fear crawled up his spine. “If that’s the case, then the rest of the Dogs’ families might be in danger, too?”

  “That’s why they need to catch the guy soon,” Sophie said.

  “Or woman,” Mrs. Coventry said.

  “Until then, Sophie, you have to be on high alert.” Nico sprinkled Parmesan cheese over the top of the pasta dishes.

  “Maybe all the more reason to go on my trip early,” Sophie said. “All signs point to Paris.”

  The thought of her leaving hollowed out his heart. He liked it just like this. Sophie to come home to. He put those thoughts aside. “Are you two amateur detectives ready for dinner?”

  “Bon appétit,” Mrs. Coventry said as she raised her empty glass. “I think I’m a little drunk.”

  Jen barked in agreement.

  When they were all seated at the table, the three of them dug into the pasta. They ate and chatted away about their experiences in Paris. After they finished, Sophie rose to clear the dishes, but Mrs. Coventry stopped her.

  Mrs. Coventry had tricked him. She was not coming out to the hot tub. Instead, he was going to be all alone with the hottest woman to ever wear a bikini. He should have known when she suggested they take a hot tub after dinner that she’d make some excuse not to join them. He’d been suspicious before, but now he knew for sure. Mrs. Coventry was trying to manipulate him. She wanted him with Sophie. The dress at dinner had been purposely purchased to show off Sophie’s figure. Which it did. It definitely did. And now it would be a bikini.

  When Mrs. Coventry had mentioned at dinner that she’d asked Le Chic to bring a few bathing suits for Sophie and why didn’t they all enjoy a hot soak and another glass of wine, he should have known better than to agree.

  None of Mrs. Coventry’s interfering ways were going to work. He had a plan of his own. After almost doing her in a public parking lot that afternoon, he knew he had to do something drastic. Tonight, he would convince Sophie to leave the country. As much as he would miss her, she had to go. She would be safe from the lunatic arsonist. He would be safe from Sophie.

  He stretched his legs out long and rested his neck on the rim of the tub as the Jacuzzi jets swirled about his legs. The stars were vivid tonight in an almost-purple night sky. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sophie come out of the house. He sat up straighter and watched as she padded across the patio wearing nothing but a red polka-dot bikini and carrying two plastic glasses filled with red wine. Mrs. Coventry was evil. How had he not seen that until now?

  Sophie’s hair was still up in the bun. He’d love to run his lips down the side of her neck. The bottom of the swimsuit was like two cocktail napkins connected by a shoestring over her hips. Sophie’s generous breasts were barely covered by the equally small pieces of fabric. He couldn’t tear his eyes from her as she climbed the steps up to the tub, still holding the glasses. She leaned over to set his glass in the holder closest to him. Great, a whole new angle from which to view her cleavage. Why did God and Mrs. Coventry hate him?

  She grinned as she perched on the ledge with just her legs in the water and sipped from her wine. “This feels wonderful. Wasn’t it thoughtful of Judi to think of a bathing suit for me?”

  “Sure was,” he said drily.

  “What’s the matter? Don’t you feel well?” Her brow wrinkled.

  “Perfect. Thanks.”

  “I’ve always loved polka dots.” She drank more wine. “I used to have a suit just like this when I was a little girl.”

  “Given its size, it might be the same one.”

  She laughed and kicked his knee with her foot. “It’s all that pasta I ate at dinner.”

  “It’s not that you’re too large. It’s that the suit’s too small.”

  She didn’t say anything for a moment, then set her glass aside and slipped into the water up to her chest. “I’ve never heard a man complain about the smallness of a bikini before.”

  His stomach clenched as she moved over to sit adjacent to him. Under the water, her foot brushed against his. “I’ve been thinking. You really should leave for your trip sooner rather than later. I don’t like the idea of this arsonist on the loose.”

  “Do you want to get rid of me?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Liar. You’re afraid you’ll kiss me again.”

  “That should not have happened. I lost control.”

  She rose up slightly so that her cleavage was visible above the water. He tried to drag his gaze away. He truly did. But he was a weak, weak man. Sophie destroyed him, crushed every ounce of resolve to be an honorable man.

  “Nico?”

  Spell broken, he looked into her eyes. “I’m sorry. It’s just that you’re so damn beautiful. This isn’t fair.”

  She grinned. “All’s fair in love and war.”

  He wrapped one hand around her neck and pulled her toward him and kissed her. She returned the kiss, opening to him with complete trust. Before he could stop himself, he had dragged her onto his lap, and they attacked each other’s mouths. Passion rose in him like a beast, all-consuming and unrelenting. He had to have her.

  She moved to straddle him. He moaned as her strong legs wrapped around him. They kissed again. She ground her hips against him. His fingers brushed under the bikini top to stroke her nipples. She arched her back and let out a sound of such primal desire he thought he might lose it right then and there.

  That’s when it hit him what a total sleaze he was. Taking advantage of her like this when he had no intention of getting involved.

  He removed his hands from her body before he explored another place. “Not like this,” he said, panting. “This isn’t how it should be.”

  She lifted her face away from him. “What do you mean?”

  “Sophie, your first time should be special. Not in a freaking hot tub.”

  Her face fell. “But why?”

  The hurt in her eyes made his fill with tears. “I’m sorry, Soph. This is all my fault.” He had to physically lift her off his lap and set her aside. “You deserve so much better than this. Flowers and romance and a bed. I’m doing everything wrong here. This isn’t how it’s supposed to be.”

  “You mean, I’m not supposed to be with you. Isn’t that what it always comes back to?”

  “No, that’s not what I meant,” he said. But the words wouldn’t come. They were stuck inside him.

  16

  Sophie

  * * *

  Sophie pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her knees. Humiliated and still breathless, she stared at him, desperate for him to realize how simple it was. They were meant to be together. “Come to Paris with me. We can kiss on a bridge overlooking the Seine, and you’ll see how we could go on and on together. Outside of the country, you’ll understand age is just a number. Souls are ageless, and ours belong together.”

  “Paris?” He was looking at her as though she’d announced she was running for president.

  “Ye
s, Paris. You’ll understand then how these feelings we have belong to us and only us. No one gets to say whether this is right or not. Not Zane or society or even your paranoia that you’re a dirty old man.”

  “No, I can’t. I have work.”

  “You could. If you really, really wanted to, you would.” Tears spilled down her face, mixing with the steam.

  He reached for her and spoke into her damp hair. “Soph, please don’t cry.”

  She twitched away from him and crossed her arms over her chest. “Nothing’s going to put out the fire between us. Not even a real fire. It doesn’t matter how far away I go or for how long. The moment we’re back together, the flames start up again. You can keep running, but this thing between us isn’t going anywhere.” She was crying now, but she didn’t care if he saw how sad and angry he’d made her.

  “You’re right,” he said.

  Everything seemed to rain down on her. All of it. The fire, and Hugh leaving before she could know him, and Zane’s desire to sell the lot, and even the emptiness she’d felt after Sebastian was born. Most especially, Nico’s rejection. All of these things made her heavy and weary down to her bone marrow.

  Why was she fighting so hard for this man who was too much of a coward to seize this beautiful thing between them?

  A quiet voice whispered to her. You can’t be with a coward.

  She had to walk away.

  They could have died in that fire, and still he didn’t see how precious and rare their love was. Here she was, throwing herself at him again.

  “Why can’t you admit you love me?” She dropped her head to hide the tears. “It’s not hard, really. You just say the words, then take me inside and do what we both want so badly.” She fought to catch her breath as the idea of life without him burrowed into her and filled her with a bleak, awful desolation like the coldest place on earth.

  She watched him through her tears as he covered his face with his hands. He became distorted in her blurred vision, like an abstract painting. Yet she could see him clearly for the first time. He was a good man, but he’d chosen to live a diminished life because he was afraid to love again. This was not about her youth or her virginity. This was about him and his inability to see that she was his second chance, his prize at the end of all that pain.