Tierra laughed. “You’re trying to start something!”
He nodded his head. “I am.”
“You starting something is how we got Tianna. We were going to wait until Lorenzo was four before we had another baby, remember?”
He nuzzled his face into her hair. “I can’t help it if you’re abundantly fertile.”
She laughed again as he continued to stroke her gently, his hands gliding up and down her body. They lay together for only a brief moment, relaxing into the soft inhalations of each breath and then minutes later both were sound asleep.
* * *
Natalie and Tinjin had been talking on and off for a couple of hours. Despite the conversation being lighthearted and easy, there was a hint of sadness behind her eyes and Tinjin felt it tugging at his heartstrings. The emotion surprised him just enough to give him reason to pause. He stared at her as her gaze moved to the window and the weather outside. It was still snowing, white flakes of ice and cold blanketing everything in view.
“So why are you going to Salt Lake City?” he asked, breaking through the quiet that had moved between them.
He watched as she bristled, biting down against her bottom lip. Her eyes misted but she fought back the urge to cry. She tossed him a quick look, then returned her stare to the window and the landscape outside.
“You ask a lot of questions, TJ,” she finally answered, shifting in her seat to meet his eyes. “You’re like a woman, you’re so nosey.”
Tinjin laughed. “You’re one to talk. And don’t call me TJ. My parents named me Tinjin and I like my name. It’s the only thing the two left me with.”
She chuckled softly. “I like your name, too, so don’t be so sensitive.”
“I’m not being sensitive. Just don’t call me TJ. We don’t know each other that well.”
“I think we know each other very well. Well enough that you deserve a nickname. If it makes you feel better you can give me one. Something just between the two of us.”
Tinjin paused briefly. “Okay, Gnat. I’ll call you Gnat. Like the bug.”
“You’re calling me a bug? An annoying bug?”
He shrugged his broad shoulders. “It fits. I’m giving you a nickname just like you gave me one. We’ll be TJ and Gnat. Gnat and TJ. Airport buddies forever!”
“You’re not funny. And you’re a pain in the ass, do you know that?”
Tinjin laughed. “Takes one to know one.”
Natalie rolled her eyes.
“Now that you’ve walked all around my question, are you going to answer it?” He crossed his arms over his chest.
She eyed him intently, the look he was giving her moving her heart to skip a quick beat. She took a deep breath and held it for a second. “No, I’m not,” she said finally. “It’s still none of your business.”
“I told you why I was headed in that direction.”
“But I didn’t ask. You just volunteered it. Just like you’ve been volunteering all of your business.”
Tinjin smiled, his full lips bending warmly. “I’m an open book. I have nothing to hide.”
“Bully for you. I don’t know you that well, so my business is none of your business.”
“I thought we were becoming friends.”
“It’s good they don’t pay you to think.”
“And you’re a mean girl, too!” Tinjin exclaimed. “Beautiful and mean!”
“You should be careful,” Natalie said, her expression smug. “That’s a lethal combination.”
They were interrupted as a hostess suddenly moved between them. “Can I get either of you anything to drink?” the woman asked as she looked from one to the other before letting her gaze rest on Tinjin’s face. She gave him a suggestive smile.
He smiled back. “I’d love a scotch. Straight,” he said. He looked toward Natalie.
“A glass of white wine, please,” Natalie said.
“And white wine for my friend,” Tinjin said as he passed the woman his credit card.
“I’ll bring those right over.” She gave Tinjin a quick wink of her eye.
Tinjin winked back.
When the woman was out of earshot Natalie shook her head. “Really?” she snapped, her eyes narrowed into thin slits as she stared at him.
“What?”
“You’re really going to flirt with another woman right in front of me? Really?”
“That wasn’t flirting. Besides, you set the rules. You said that it’s not like we’re friends, remember?”
“It’s still low of you. But then you’re a man, I guess I shouldn’t have expected better.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that I don’t have a lot of expectations when it comes to you and your kind, TJ. That’s what it means.”
Tinjin crossed his arms over his chest. “Beautiful, mean and bitter. You’re just a walking contradiction, aren’t you?”
“Am I?”
A wry smile pulled at his full lips. “You’re like an angel’s trumpet.”
“A what?” Confusion washed over her expression.
“Angel’s trumpet. It’s this incredibly beautiful flower. It has amazing color and seductive lines. In low doses it can be a highly effective hallucinogen. Too much and it’s lethal. It’s also called devil’s weed.”
Natalie paused as she pondered his comment. Before she could respond the hostess returned with their drinks.
“If you need anything else please let me know,” she said, the comment directed straight at Tinjin.
“Thank you. We’ll do that,” Natalie said.
Tinjin laughed. “I think you like me.”
“Maybe I do. Maybe I don’t,” Natalie said nonchalantly.
He nodded. “Yeah! You like me a lot!”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m getting used to you, TJ. Don’t misread me.”
“Oh, I’m reading you just fine, Gnat!” Tinjin said with a soft chuckle.
Natalie met the look he was giving her. Despite her best efforts she couldn’t fight the smile that pulled at her mouth. An easy laugh slipped past her lips. She rolled her eyes a second time.
Chapter 3
Natalie had never known a man who slept with his eyes half open but Tinjin did, the dark lids at half-mast as he slumbered. If it were not for the soft lull of his breathing, with the wispy whistle at the end of each breath, she would have sworn he was staring at her. But he snored softly, lost in a deep sleep.
The length of his body was stretched across the cushioned seats. His arms were crossed over his chest, his hands tucked beneath his armpits. His head rested on a pillow beside her leg. He was so close to her that she could feel the heat from his body warming her own. She resisted the desire to draw her finger across his forehead, to tease the slight arch to his brow with her manicured nail. She didn’t know him like that, yet she had the strongest urge to trail her hand across his profile.
There was something about him that she liked and it had as much to do with his deft sense of humor as it did with his good looks. He made her laugh and feel as though she didn’t have a care in the world, even if it was a false sense of comfort in the moment. Because truth be told, Natalie had a lot on her mind and she couldn’t imagine anything about the next few days being carefree or easy. But something about being with Tinjin had her feeling as if things might settle upright when it was all done and finished. She blew a deep sigh, a shiver running up her spine.
Tinjin suddenly shifted, his body jumping slightly as he was startled from a sound sleep. He sat upright, wiping at his face with the palm of his large hand. He swiped the sleep from his eyes, then moved his gaze in her direction.
“I guess I fell asleep,” he said, murmuring softly.
“You think?” Natalie responded. “You
snored and you drooled. It wasn’t pretty, player.”
He met her gaze. “I see waking up to your warm personality is quite the thrill.”
“Enjoy it while you can,” Natalie said smugly.
Tinjin’s full lips lifted in a slight smile. He shook his head then stretched his arms up and out as he shook the last remnants of sleep from his system. He moved onto his feet and reached for his carry-on bag.
Natalie shifted forward in her seat. “Where are you going?”
Looking down at her he couldn’t help but smile. Her nervous expression belied her efforts to appear tough and distant. Her eyes were wide and curiosity shimmered in the pale orbs. Her lips were parted ever so slightly and he suddenly wondered what they might taste like against his own. He took a deep breath.
“Restroom,” he finally answered. “I need to wash my face and rinse my mouth out.”
Natalie blew out the breath she’d been holding. She nodded. “When you get back we can go find something to eat. I’m hungry.”
Tinjin laughed. “Is that an invitation?”
Natalie shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t make anything out of it. I just didn’t see any reason why you should eat alone.”
Tinjin laughed a second time. “I don’t remember saying I was hungry.”
“You look hungry. I was helping you out.”
“Just say you enjoy my company, woman! You’re not fooling anyone! I can see right through you.”
Natalie laughed with him. “You are just so full of yourself!”
Tinjin nodded. “I don’t eat fast food so figure out where we’re headed,” he directed. “I shouldn’t be long.”
As he moved in the direction of the restrooms, Natalie mumbled under her breath. “God, I like a man who takes command!”
* * *
Neither spoke as they made their way to terminal four and the Palm Bar and Grille. They maneuvered through a maze of stranded travelers, warm bodies resting wherever anyone could find to lay their head. When they reached their destination there were only a handful of people inside and an enthusiastic waitress waved them into the space.
The chatty young woman was eager to have someone new to talk to. “Welcome to the Palm!” she greeted them excitedly. “Are you both from the city? Were you headed on vacation?”
Natalie eased into a seat as Tinjin answered. “No. We flew in from London and our connecting flight was canceled.”
“It’s something! This storm is crazy!” the girl exclaimed. “My name’s Hannah and I’ll be serving you. We’re a little shorthanded and I need to apologize now because we’re out of lobster. The trucks couldn’t get here this afternoon.”
“I’m allergic to seafood so I won’t be interested in the lobster,” Natalie said.
“That’s good to know,” Tinjin said, lifting his gaze from the menu to her face. “I was just about to order the calamari appetizer for us to share.”
Natalie shook her head. “I’d look like a bruised tomato if I ate that and I’d be scratching hives for days. It’s not pretty.”
“I guess it’ll be the beef tenderloin carpaccio then,” Tinjin said.
“Good choice,” Hannah said as she jotted a quick note down on the lined pad in her hand.
“Would you ask the chef to put extra shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano on that, please? I like good cheese,” Natalie said.
“No problem, miss.”
Tinjin’s eyes shifted back and forth across the menu. “Do you want to share the New York strip?
Natalie hesitated before answering. “Yeah, we can do that,” she said, nodding.
“We’ll have the thirty-six ounce prime double-cut New York strip,” Tinjin ordered.
“And two of your house salads. Plus the green beans, the wild mushrooms and the asparagus fritti for our sides.”
“I have to have potatoes,” Tinjin said, meeting her gaze. “I need something to offset all those vegetables.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Yes, I do. I’m a meat and potatoes man.”
“The three-cheese potatoes au gratin are really good,” Hannah interjected, her eyes moving from one to the other. “They’re my favorite.”
“We’ll have a side order of those, too!” Tinjin said with an air of finality.
Natalie shook her head. “Unnecessary carbohydrates. Calories neither of us needs.”
“This coming from the woman who asked for extra cheese on the appetizer.”
Natalie laughed. “Yes, I did. That little bit of cheese won’t hurt me. Those potatoes, however, will put twenty pounds on my hips and I make a living with this body.”
“Are you an actress or something?” Hannah queried, her eyes wide as she stared at Natalie.
“Or something,” Tinjin said with a wry smirk. “She’s an adult film star. She does porn. Hardcore, dirty porn.” He winked an eye at Natalie.
“Oh,” Hannah said, suddenly blinking, her cheeks warming with color.
Natalie laughed. “Good one,” she said as Tinjin gave her a bright smile.
He winked again. “And Hannah, we’ll take a bottle of your best red wine. If you’ll ask your resident wine steward to make the selection for us, please.”
“Yes, sir,” Hannah said. “I’ll be right back with your salads.”
When the young woman was out of sight, Natalie gave him a light kick under the table. “A porn star? Really?”
“Hannah believed it.”
“I’m sure she did. But for the record I’ve never done porn before.”
“Not even a homemade movie with you and your boyfriend? A little something for your personal stash?”
“I don’t have a boyfriend.”
“One of your exes then. You’ve never taken a nude picture for one of your exes?”
“Never. No pictures, no movies. I don’t do that.”
“Interesting,” Tinjin muttered. “Very interesting.”
“Why is that interesting?”
“Gives us something to aspire to,” he said matter-of-factly.
Natalie pondered his comment, her mouth lifting to a full grin. “Not on your best day ever,” she said. “But have fun dreaming.”
“I can be very persuasive,” Tinjin said, his voice dropping an octave.
Natalie laughed. “You might be good, but you’ll never be that good.”
Tinjin’s bright smile warmed his face. He leaned back in his seat, shifting his legs out in front of him. He crossed them at the ankles as he folded his arms over his broad chest.
“So, Gnat, tell me something else I don’t know about you,” he said.
Natalie leaned forward, resting her elbows atop the table. She dropped her chin against the backs of her hands. She eyed him intently as he stared at her. A moment of silence swelled full and thick between them before she finally answered.
“Have you heard of the blog site, Pretty, Pretty?”
“I actually follow it. I’ve been following it since it started. It’s grown nicely and it has a great reputation for setting some of the newest fashion trends.”
“Thank you.”
A slow smile pulled at Tinjin’s mouth. “That’s you? You’re the creative genius behind Pretty, Pretty?”
“Creative genius! I like that!” Natalie exclaimed.
“I don’t believe you.”
Natalie shrugged, her narrow shoulders jutting toward the ceiling. “Believe it. I am the creative genius behind Pretty, Pretty.”
“I’m actually impressed.”
“You should be.”
Tinjin chuckled warmly. “So what was the inspiration?”
There was a moment’s pause as Hannah returned to the table with their wine and salads.
Natalie swallowed her first bite
of iceberg lettuce, bacon and blue cheese before she spoke. “When I was a little girl I always had to wear hand-me-downs from my older sister. She rarely got new clothes, so by the time they got to me you can just imagine how well-worn they were. But I loved clothes and I loved fashion. We’d go to the supermarket and I’d stand in the magazine aisle and pore through Vogue while I waited for my mother. My sister use to tease me, pointing at a picture and saying, ‘Oh, how pretty, pretty! Too bad you can’t have it.’ So one day I set off to prove her wrong. I was tall and skinny as a teenager and someone said I should model. The first chance I had I went to New York and signed with a modeling agency. They sent me to Europe and the rest is history. But a few years ago it dawned on me that I couldn’t model forever. I needed to do something else but I knew I wanted to stay in the industry. And Pretty, Pretty came into being.”
“So what’s next?” Tinjin questioned. He swiped at his lips with his cloth napkin.
“I’m all about the editorial. I’d like to give Anna Wintour a run for her money and take Pretty, Pretty into mainstream media.”
“So you want it to be a full-fledged magazine like Vogue?”
“With technology today, I’d like Pretty, Pretty to be the premiere digital fashion magazine and even better than Vogue.”
Tinjin sat staring at her for a moment.
“What?” she questioned, a wave of nervous anxiety washing over her. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Because I’m really impressed. And surprised. Beauty and brains.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“I meant it as one.”
A pregnant pause swelled full and thick as they sat studying each other until Hannah and a second waiter slipped in to bring them their food.
Natalie’s smile was bright. “So what about you? Tell me more about your shoe company.”
“Tinjin Designs is my dream come true. I’ve been designing since my first art class at Savannah College of Art and Design.”
“You went to SCAD?”
He nodded. “I did. I took a fashion design course to get close to a girl I liked. She dropped out of the class and I stayed.”
My Stallion Heart (The Stallions Book 7) Page 3
