Elastic Hearts (Hearts #3)

by Claire Contreras

  My lips parted slightly, I felt my breath coming in tiny spurts as we looked at each other. His gaze held a promise, but more than that, there was a soft curiosity that hadn’t been there before, and as his hazel eyes brewed and studied mine, I went completely still, my body anchored by his. An earthquake could have shaken, my door could have been pounded down by a million paparazzi, and I still wouldn’t have moved, because his hand on my face and that gaze was the only thing I felt I needed.

  We both blinked at the same time, his hand dropping as he cleared his throat.

  “Yeah, let me . . . go get my shoes,” I said again, and disappeared into the hall. By the time I reached the top of the stairs, I wasn’t sure if my heart was galloping because of the steps I took two at a time or what had just happened in the kitchen. I didn’t know what was happening, but I knew I needed to get to that courthouse and make this go away once and for all so I could at least explore the realm of possibilities between us.

  When we got outside, Victor positioned himself on the side the paparazzi were standing and put his arm on my shoulder as he led me down the sidewalk. When the cameras started flashing, I was glad I had my sunglasses on.

  “Nicole, what happened the other day at the ice cream shop?”

  “Is the divorce back on? Is that why you moved here?”

  “Are you still working on your marriage?”

  I kept my head down, my eyes on my black Jimmy Choos, and kept it moving. The questions continued until we got to the car, and even after our doors shut, the flashes continued.

  “I don’t understand how anybody could live like that. It’s like living inside a fishbowl,” Victor said.

  “With no water,” I replied.

  He glanced at me as he stopped at the red light. “Do you get used to it?”

  “I guess in a sense it becomes the new normal, which is insane to admit. Once this whole thing is over I can go back to living life, though.”

  “You mean go back to partying without worrying about them trailing behind you?”

  “Goals,” I said with a sigh. I paused to think on that for a beat, though, and it didn’t accurately portray what I wanted out of life. “As lame as it probably sounds, I kind of just want to be able to pump gas without being followed around and asked about Gabe. I’m assuming once it’s over they won’t feel the need to mention every woman he’s seen out with.”

  Victor didn’t take his eyes off the road, but nodded. “Does it bother you? Hearing about him and other women?”

  “I think what bothers me is their need to throw it out there just to get a good picture of whatever face I make. The knowledge of the women . . . doesn’t bother me anymore.”

  Once I saw him leave the club with the blonde, and survived, I knew that ship had sailed, and even though it had hurt a little, I realized rather quickly I was completely fine without him. I’d been without him for so long anyway.

  “Do you read the tabloids?”

  “Of course I do.”

  I was just as guilty as everybody else in Hollywood who didn’t read the tabloids. I’d rather find out what they were saying about me firsthand. Victor didn’t respond to that, instead he hit the steering wheel with his palm when we hit a wall of traffic.

  “Fuck you, Los Angeles. Fuck you,” he said. I couldn’t help but laugh, and when he shot me a glare, I laughed harder.

  “We’re on time,” I said.

  He sighed. “I guess we are. Sorry. Court days make me crazy.”

  “Oh. Court days make you crazy. What’s your excuse every other day of the week?” I asked, smiling. I could tell he was having a difficult time keeping a serious look on his face. He looked at me, his eyes dead set on mine.

  “You.”

  My stomach flipped. “Me? How do you figure that?”

  “You make me crazy every other day of the week.”

  “How?” I asked, hyper aware of the way my heart was pounding in my ears.

  His hand reached out to grab mine. He put it on the shift and covered it with his as he moved it to another gear.

  “Well, you’re occupying my mind every day of the week, so my deduction is that you’re the reason I’m completely crazy.”

  I swallowed. “Do all of your clients occupy your mind as much as I do?”

  When we stopped at the next red light and he set the gear in neutral, he looked at me, and from the way his expression intensified, I was sure he was going to kiss me. Ravish me. I shivered slightly, and put my hand out to adjust the air vent so it wasn’t hitting me directly. Victor smirked knowingly.

  “Fuck, no,” he said. “They don’t, and that terrifies me.”

  I reared back slightly, taken aback by the sincerity in his tone. My heart was pounding so loudly now, I wasn’t sure I could even say what I wanted to say.

  “Why does it terrify you? Because of your job?” I asked in a whisper. He ran his thumb along the seams of my fingers.

  “Not because of my job.”

  Our gazes were locked on each other. I wanted to ask so many things.

  Because you like me more than you care to admit?

  But I didn’t want to ruin the moment. If he said yes to either of those things, I would be thrilled, but I still had to be mindful of his promotion. I wouldn’t get in the way of him getting it. Yes, I wanted him. Yes, I thought sleeping with him again would douse this flame, but I knew we had to be careful. And the reality was that I liked him. A lot. He started driving again and I sat back in my seat. How messed up was it that I was feeling these things for another man? For the man who was helping me divorce my husband? If I was being honest with myself, I didn’t really care how messed up it was. As far as I was concerned I hadn’t been married for a long time, because even though we were on paper, the things that happened in that relationship over the past two years were things no respectful relationship should have to endure. I didn’t blame Gabe on the matter, either. It was both of us. He changed. I grew. Apart.

  When we reached the parking lot of the courthouse, he looked over at me.

  “You ready?”

  I gave him a small smile. “I think so.”

  He turned slightly in his seat with a serious look on his face. “No. You are. There is no think. There’s only know. You’re a hellion. Fuck what they say. Fuck what they want. This is about what you want, and whatever you want, we’ll get.”

  His words filled me with a sense of serenity. I’d told Gabe I didn’t need a knight in shining armor, and I didn’t. I didn’t need Gabe. I didn’t need Victor, but it felt good to have somebody like him on my team. Fighting for me. Fighting with me. I told him as much, and caught a glimpse of a more tender Victor, one I’d seen more often than not lately. He looked at me for a long beat, with those beautiful eyes and just said one word. One drawn out, gravelly, deep voiced word that threatened to make my toes curl in my heels.

  “Nicole.”

  He gave my hand one tight squeeze before switching off the ignition. I took one last long breath before we got out of the car and headed toward the building.

  I SHOULD BE awarded a medal for dealing with imbeciles. First, the metal detector kept going off and I kept having to go back through it, even though Jean was the one securing the place and had seen me walk through these doors a million times. I wanted to say, “I’m pretty sure I left my shotgun at home this time, Jean.” But with all of the mass shootings I couldn’t really make a joke out of it. I told Nicole as much as I put my jacket back on and she laughed.

  “That and your temper,” she said.

  “You’re the only one who thinks I have a temper,” I said, picking up my briefcase and glancing at my watch.

  Nicole scoffed. “Maybe I’m the only one who tells you that you have a temper.”

  I waved at my friend Ezra as he walked by going the opposite direction with his client.

  “Golf this Sunday?” he asked.

  “And miss the Lakers game?” I shot back. He laughed, shaking his head.

  “M
aybe sometime next week then. I have a case I want to discuss with you.”

  I nodded and continued walking. “See? People like me.”

  We stopped outside the doors and I propped my briefcase on the piece of crown molding on the wall so I could look for the file I needed. As my fingers sorted through the tabs, I chuckled, thinking about the day I found Nicole’s panties inside. We hadn’t talked about it at all, mainly because there hadn’t been a good time to bring it up. If I asked her about it when we were alone, we’d be charting troubled water. As it was, things were choppy, lines were blurring, if they’d even been there in the first place. When I found the file I was looking for, I took it out and shut my briefcase.

  “Maybe it’s because you only let them see one side of you,” Nicole said. I frowned. What the hell was she talking about? I looked at her.

  “Are you talking to me?”

  She shot me a look. “No shit. Who else is standing here?”

  I looked around, and sure enough, we were the only ones in the hall. I shook my head. “What are you talking about now? Your voice box hasn’t taken a break all day.”

  She laughed and pointed at me. “You see? So grouchy. Like Oscar.”

  I rolled my eyes and put the file under my armpit. “Be an adult, Nicole. Stop talking about cartoons and fantasy shows for a moment.”

  “Oh yeah, let me just sit here and quote rappers so you can keep up with me.”

  I sighed. She wasn’t going to shut up. Maybe it was her nerves. Everybody had a coping mechanism. As long as hers wasn’t open-mouthed chewing, we’d be all right. Hell, as long as her mouth was on me, we’d be all right. I shook my head and blinked out of my thoughts.

  “Nic,” I said.

  “Hmm?” She tilted her head slightly to look at me.

  “Can you please be quiet for a little while? I need to think and I can’t if you make me keep looking at your lips.”

  She smiled and put her hands up. “I won’t even make a joke out of that.”

  I wanted to take her face in my hands and kiss that smirk off right there in the middle of the courthouse that was practically my second home. Instead, I walked until I reached the room and opened the door. Lewis was sitting at the conference table with the phone to his ear, taking notes of something. He looked up and nodded in greeting.

  “I’ll have to call you back. Okay. Sure.” He hung up and stood, offering his hand for me to shake. “Good to see you again.” He looked at Nicole and did the same. “Unfortunate circumstances, but good to see you.”

  We sat down across from him.

  “Where’s the prince of Hollywood?” I asked.

  “Running a little behind. Thanks for agreeing to meet me here. I have a case ten minutes after this one and there was just no way I’d make it here with the traffic.”

  “The fucking traffic is unbearable. Is it me or is it getting worse?” I asked.

  “It’s getting worse,” Nicole said.

  Lewis smiled slightly. “We’ll try to do this as fast as possible. Gabriel said you’re amicable.”

  She scoffed. “Did he? We seem to have a difference of opinion in more things than I realized.”

  I looked at her. “This is off the record right now, but when he walks in here and we start our meeting, I can’t have you jumping in when he says anything.”

  “So I just stay quiet?”

  “If you can,” I said, hoping she understood it was for the best.

  I got along with Lewis, until we were put on a case against each other. Then the gloves were off, mainly because he was damn good at his job and I took no chances.

  The doors opened and Gabriel walked in with a little kick to his step, looking like a man who was ready to be single. It gave me a vote of confidence because we’d be closing this sooner than expected, which meant soon I’d have his ex-wife in my bed. I’d always heard the saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” and took it at face value, but it was the first thing that came to mind. The problem was, now I was in the situation, I realized that in reality it wasn’t one man’s trash. Women weren’t things you could discard. Much less a woman like Nicole.

  “Sorry I’m late,” he said, looking around the room. I didn’t miss the way his eyes stayed on Nicole. A man walked in behind him. At first I thought it was the mediator, but I knew all of the mediators and I’d never seen him.

  “Who’s this?” I asked when the man took a seat beside Gabriel.

  “I’m his manager, Darryl Cusack.”

  “And you’re here because?”

  “You’re about to find out,” he said, smiling smugly. He looked like a fucking caricature, his head not proportioned with his body.

  Soon after, Marvin Harrison walked in. I could have leaped from happiness. From the smile on his face, I could tell Lewis was having the same reaction. Out of all the mediators, Marvin was the easiest one to work with. He was clear, to the point, and most importantly, fair. I rubbed my hands together as he took a seat. When I glanced over at Nicole she was giving me a funny look. What? I asked with a frown and a shrug. She shook her head, looking away from me.

  Marvin started talking, and I shut all personal thoughts about Nicole out. He asked if they were both sure they wanted the divorce. They both said yes, though with the way he was looking at her, Gabriel didn’t look like a man who was done. I looked away. We went down a checklist of things, the King Charles named Bonnie that Gabriel had kept (for now), the Hollywood Hills home, the Escalade, the Prius, the Porsche, the Bentley, the farm in Idaho, the stocks in a production company, and the New York condo. Darryl perked up at the mention of the condo. I kept the expression on my face impassive. Nicole made it clear that she no longer wanted the house in The Hills, but she did want to be compensated for the money she put into remodeling the kitchen and the guest house.

  “The dog?” Marvin asked, looking at Nicole first.

  “He can keep it.”

  “So there will no longer be a need to share it?” he asked.

  From the corner of my eye I caught the way her hands gripped her thighs. I looked at her. “You sure about this?”

  She nodded, her eyes watering. “I just want it to be over. I don’t want to share anything that ties me to him,” she whispered.

  Across from us, Gabriel cleared his throat. “You can take her.”

  Nicole’s gaze tore from mine and flew to his. She didn’t speak, though.

  “You can take her. It’s fine. I’m barely home anyway,” he said.

  She blinked rapidly and cleared her throat before smiling. “Thank you.”

  “Of course.”

  I kept my face impassive, but couldn’t bear to look at the moment they were sharing any longer, so I looked back at Marvin.

  “Cars,” he said.

  “I want the Prius,” Nicole told me.

  I looked at Gabriel, who nodded. Lewis spoke up. “Done.”

  “And the Cayenne,” she added. Gabriel’s brows hitched, but he nodded.

  “Done.”

  “The house in Idaho?” Marvin prompted, looking at Nicole again.

  “It’s his.”

  “Done.”

  “The condo in New York,” he said.

  “My client and Gabriel came to an agreement on this,” I said, sliding over the contract they’d signed. Marvin picked it up and read it quickly.

  “Objection. She didn’t uphold her end of the bargain,” Darryl said. I could tell he was having way too much fun with this.

  “She went to two events with Mr. Lane, er, Rogers,” I said, unsure of which last name to use for somebody who evidentially acted like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. “The contract doesn’t state how many events she was to attend, so to the best of our knowledge she upheld her end of the bargain.”

  “The best of your knowledge isn’t enough,” Darryl said, slamming a hand on the table. I shot Lewis a look. His face was so red, I thought he was going to explode right there.

  “Please let me handle my client, M
r. Cusack,” Lewis said.

  “Then do something about this, because she still needs to go to at least one more red carpet event with him after the scene she caused during their ice cream outing the other day.”

  I grit my teeth together. I took a deep breath. I clasped my hands together on the table in front of me.

  “My client needs to process and think about it before she makes a decision. Is that all?” I asked. My patience was running thin, so for Darryl’s sake it was best he kept his mouth shut.

  “No, that’s not all.” But of course he didn’t know when to shut the fuck up. “She needs to attend this event with him and we need to schedule another candid appearance.”

  I drummed my fingers on the table, and looked at Lewis again. He heaved out a heavy breath. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave, Mr. Cusack. We both want what’s best for our client, and what’s best for him right now is for you to wait outside.”

  He huffed and puffed, but did as instructed.

  “As far as the appearances go, I’ll speak to my client in private as well,” Lewis said.

  Marvin nodded and stacked up the papers in front of him. “Well, I guess we just need to come to an agreement on this and we should be able to put it behind us.”

  We stood with the condition that we’d figure it out by the end of the week. I shook Lewis’s hand, then Gabriel’s, and then stood off to the side with Marvin and Lewis as Gabriel and Nicole spoke. They were being very quiet, and I kept finding myself looking over to them frequently as Marv tried to set up a game of golf. Golf was a sport I didn’t even like, but had learned to play because many successful business meetings tended to happen over a game.

  The last time I looked over, Gabriel had his hand on Nicole’s shoulder and she was nodding at something he said. A wave of jealousy crashed through me, and I didn’t even know why. They were getting a divorce. They’d been married. They had history together. Maybe that last bit was what bothered me. She had history with him. That, and to my horror I realized, I wanted her to only have eyes for me. I glanced at my watch and excused myself from the conversation. I had a meeting in my office scheduled in an hour and I still needed to take her home.