Wanted!
Page 17
“Dammit, Pam, you knew about this.”
“Aunt Pam to you.”
“Aunt Pam.” He still hadn’t taught himself to say that, although he wanted to. He loved the idea that Pam was his aunt, although right now he was pissed as hell at her. “How could you keep this a secret from me? You know how I feel about secrets.”
“I promised not to tell you. And at the time I promised, I didn’t know you’d found that document my sister had drawn up. I didn’t know secrets would become your personal sore spot.”
Nick glanced around and lowered his voice. “On top of that, most of the pictures are of me.”
“Why do you think I had you sign that release?”
“So she could put the pictures up in Indianapolis.”
“You could have asked me what she planned to do with them.”
“And you could have told me she was in negotiations with a gallery in Jackson.” Nick blew out a breath. “Is this how things are going to go with Dominique and me from now on? She makes a bunch of plans, which I find out long after the fact?”
Pam looked at him with obvious amusement.
“What’s so funny?”
“You. You’re thrilled that she’s trying to establish herself here, and you’re even thrilled that she’s doing it with pictures of you. The only problem is that she didn’t let you know in advance. Am I right?”
He rolled his eyes. From the moment she’d met him five years ago, Pam had been able to figure out what he was thinking. Now he wondered if that was because he had certain things in common with his birth mother.
“Nicole always hated being the last one to know,” Pam said with a telling smile. “She loved surprising people, but she wasn’t big on being surprised.”
Nick sighed. “Okay. What now?”
“As you can see, traffic’s good. I don’t know what the cash register says, though. People might have come for the free champagne and hors d’oeuvres, and not to whip out that credit card.”
“I’d like to talk to Dominique, and I’d like to do it someplace private, if that’s even possible.”
“I’ll see what I can arrange. But if I set this up, don’t keep her long, and don’t smear her lipstick.”
“You sound like her agent. Whose side are you on, anyway?”
Pam winked at him. “I’m on both sides. You two belong together, and I’d love to see that happen.” She started to walk away.
Something Emmett had said echoed in Nick’s head, and he caught Pam’s arm. “Did you send Dominique over to the ranch on purpose, because you thought she and I would hit it off?”
Her eyes twinkled, but she didn’t answer.
That was enough answer for Nick. “For God’s sake, Pam.”
“Don’t worry.” She patted his arm. “It’ll turn out fine.”
Moments later he glimpsed her guiding Dominique toward the back of the gallery. Pam glanced in his direction and motioned for him to follow her. He did, and was soon face-to-face with a startled Dominique in a small room that smelled of sawdust and was filled with framing supplies.
“Don’t be long,” Pam said as she closed the door.
“You came.” Dominique’s cheeks were flushed. “I was afraid I’d blown it by not telling you sooner.”
“About that. We need to have an understanding.”
“We do?”
“Yes.” He couldn’t resist touching her, but the minute he took hold of her bare arms, he forgot what he’d been planning to say. All he could do was stare into those big brown eyes and wonder if he could kiss her without smearing her lipstick.
“What sort of understanding, Nick?”
He struggled to regain his original thought. “That two people who love each other don’t keep secrets.”
Her breath hitched. “You love me?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I can’t sleep, can’t eat, can’t go more than five minutes without thinking of you. When I got your message I wanted to be furious with you for not telling me about the exhibit, but I…Dominique, I love you so much.”
She moaned softly. “I love you, too. But I wanted to wait until I saw whether this show was a success, and financially, I—”
“I know that’s important to you, and I don’t want to undermine your independence, but could we make a commitment that we’re going to be together, whatever happens?”
She looked at him for a long, long time. “Yes.”
“How indelible is that lipstick?”
“Not very.”
“Do you have more somewhere?”
“Yes.”
“Then come here, you.” He pulled her in tight and kissed that sweet, sweet mouth. He was as careful as he knew how to be, but she was so delicious, and he hadn’t kissed her in so long…. When he finally made himself pull back, her lipstick was a mess. “You’ll have to fix that.”
“It’s okay.” Her smile lit up the small room. “You are so worth it, Nick Chance.”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5623-5
WANTED!
Copyright © 2010 by Vicki Lewis Thompson.
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