He reached across the island and picked a few grapes off the bunch. “I’m not. I got out of there as soon as I could. Spent some time in the Navy and then spent a few years bouncing around the country before I got into this line of work.”
I subtly scanned his muscular frame, imagining him in Navy whites. Jordan was going to melt when she heard he was former Navy. That May we got to experience Fleet Week had made quite an impression on her, and she’d said for months afterward that she’d love to have a sailor. Hell, she might melt when I told her he was from somewhere they call the Cowboy State.
“Ever been married?” I probed.
He smiled broadly. “No. No ex-wife and no kids either.”
Check. Single and unfettered.
He was looking better and better by the minute. I filed these facts away and popped another grape in my mouth. “Don’t you want to know anything about me?”
Varo folded his arms across his chest and shook his head. “Since I’m not scoping you out for a friend, I figured I’d just let you tell me about yourself when you felt comfortable.”
Caught red-handed! Damn.
I felt my cheeks grow hot as a blush of embarrassment spread over me. “I…it’s just…Jordan’s a great…” I stammered out, not having much success in getting my point across.
“It’s okay. I’m flattered, even if I can’t ask her out.”
“Why? She’s fantastic. She’s a teacher, a wonderful person, and she’s a great time. I think you’d like her.”
“I already do, but it doesn’t change the fact that we can’t get together while I’m on this job. It just wouldn’t work out.”
My shoulders sagged under my disappointment at his words. “Oh. Are you sure?”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea as long as I’m guarding you. Conflict of interest. Plus, I don’t think my boss would like it.”
All of a sudden there seemed to be a light at the end of the tunnel. “Then it’s all good because I know your boss and he’d be fine with it,” I said grinning with satisfaction.
Varo stood silently for a moment and nodded. “You make a convincing argument. Maybe when all this is over I might try to see if we can get together.”
A might was better than a no, so I clapped my hands together in triumph. “That’s great! I’m not going to say anything to her, though, so I don’t ruin it. I don’t want to meddle.”
“I think they call that matchmaking instead of meddling.”
Shrugging, I explained, “I just like to see everyone as happy as Tristan and I are.”
Varo looked at me oddly, as if he couldn’t believe what I’d just said. I could understand that. It’s not like Tristan was anywhere nearby for months now, but I still had hope. “I know that sounds strange, but we are happy. It’s just that we’re not together now. Soon, though. I have to keep believing it’ll be soon.”
“I’m all for being happy, but as far as I can tell, very few get that blessing.”
Hmmm, the bodyguard is a little jaded.
“Well, as Jordan always says, good things happen to good people. She says that to me, and I’m saying that to you. They do.”
“I’ll have to take your word on that, Nina. I haven’t seen that to be true yet.”
“Just you wait and see, Gage. Trust me. I know about these things,” I said as I grabbed another handful of grapes and headed out of the kitchen. “Now let’s get your stuff moved into your room.”
By the time Jordan got home after work, Gage had moved all of his things into his new room next to mine. Not that he had a lot of belongings to his name. A large garbage bag would have held every item he owned. The man certainly traveled light. Even though I’d been uncomfortable about Tristan’s idea to make the world think he was never coming back, the part that involved Gage wasn’t so bad, after all. I still hated the idea that anyone would believe I’d be able to move on so easily and replace Tristan, but at least I’d found out my partner in the deception was a decent guy. I’d be happy when he and Jordan finally got together.
I met her at the door, thrilled to tell her the small part I could about him moving into the house. Since Daryl had warned me against keeping her in the loop, I had to come up with a story that sounded somewhat believable.
“Hey, you! How was your day with the little darlings?”
She looked up from putting her keys in her purse and frowned. “Awful. Two of my students got into a fight, and now I have to go back at six tonight to meet with the parents. The worst part is that my principal thinks this happened because I can’t handle my classroom.”
“I’m sorry you had such a bad day. Come into the kitchen and sit down with me so we can talk and eat a little dinner before you have to go back to the city.”
Jordan shook her head. “I can’t. I’m just going to grab a quick shower and get ready. I hope you don’t mind me asking Jensen if he’d take me back.”
I took her bag and walked with her down the hallway to her room. “Of course. It’s not like you’re going to take a bus there. I can come with you, if you like. I didn’t get out today, so I can get dressed and be ready to go in no time.”
Pushing her bedroom door open, she took the bag from my hand and threw it on the bed. “No, that’s okay, Nina. I better do this alone. When I get home, hopefully I’ll be in a better mood.”
“Okay. Just remember how great a teacher you are. Those kids are lucky to have you, and your principal needs to remember that.”
She took a deep breath and forced a smile. “I know. I promise we’ll talk when I get back.”
“Good because we need an old-fashioned girls’ night in, complete with our favorite movies and buckets of popcorn, and tonight looks like the perfect night for that.”
Jordan’s expression softened. Nodding, she said quietly, “It’s a date. I’ll see you when I get back.”
At a little after seven, she texted me to say everything had worked out and her principal had even apologized for jumping to conclusions before she had all the facts about the fight. I was thrilled and texted back that I was heading to the kitchen to make the popcorn. Girls’ night in was on!
We both needed this kind of night. I was feeling a little better since finding out Tristan had been receiving all of my texts, but I couldn’t say it wasn’t frustrating that he never responded. I was sure Daryl would have some valid reason why he couldn’t if I bothered to ask, but it was still aggravating. And with Jordan’s job woes, she was dealing with her own frustrations. A few great chick flicks and too much popcorn were definitely what the doctor ordered.
Two Jiffy Pop pans into my popcorn popping, I heard a knock and turned around to see Gage standing there. “Hey, want some popcorn?”
“No. I just wasn’t sure who was in here making all that racket,” he said with a smile.
“Yeah, it’s just me. You have to shake this stuff or it burns,” I said as I turned back toward the stove.
He walked in and stood next to me. “Wouldn’t microwave popcorn be easier?”
“No way! That stuff is bad for you. Something in the chemicals they use and the heat of the microwave, or something like that. It’s Jiffy Pop all the way.”
“Health nut, huh?”
I looked up at him and laughed. “Not exactly. I think there’s like two hundred grams of fat and carbs in all this popcorn.”
He looked down at the giant bowl half filled with Jiffy Pop that sat on the countertop and scooped out a handful for himself. Throwing a piece up in the air, he leaned his head back and caught it in his mouth. “Mmmm…not bad. A little buttery, but not bad.”
“Don’t tell me you’re one of those popcorn eaters who doesn’t like butter?” I asked as I continued shaking the pan on the stovetop.
Throwing another piece up above his head, he caught the second one in his mouth and smiled. “Butter’s okay, but I don’t like my food swimming in it.”
I grabbed a kernel and threw it up in the air, but it came nowhere close to my mouth and fell on the floor next to me. I’d never been good at that kind of thing.
Chuckling, Gage looked down at the floor and back up at me. “Looks like you need some practice at that trick. Watch.” He stepped behind me and leaned in close so his head was next to mine. “I’ll throw it up in the air and just position yourself underneath it.”
He tossed the popcorn in the air and moved back away from me so I could catch it. Leaning my head back, I watched as the kernel dropped right toward my face. All I had to do was keep my mouth open and it fell right in. Excited, I stopped shaking the pan of popcorn and turned around to face him.
“I did it! Now with just a little practice, I’ll be able to do it without your help.”
“Glad to be of assistance. Any time,” he said with a smile.
I caught a glimpse of someone standing in the doorway and looked around Gage to see Jordan standing there with a hurt look on her face. Before I could say a word, she turned on her heels and disappeared. Taking the pan of popcorn off the burner, I set it down and asked, “Can you pour this into the bowl when it cools down? I’ll be right back.”
Jordan had gone to her room, and by the time I got to her, hurt had turned to anger. I knocked on her door only to hear her yell, “Go away!” and knew she misunderstood what she saw in the kitchen between Gage and me. I knocked again and waited a minute for her to let me in, taking her silence as the okay for me to enter.
The look on her face was one of complete betrayal. It stopped me dead in my tracks as I closed the door behind me. “Jordan, I think I know what’s wrong, but you’re mistaken.”
“I don’t think I am. What was going on in there, Nina?”
“Nothing. Nothing at all. Gage was just keeping me company while I was making our popcorn, and then he was teaching me how to do that throwing it up and catching it in my mouth trick. That’s it.”
“Gage? When did he become Gage? What happened to calling him Varo, like you always have? Since when did you two become such close buddies?”
I took another step toward her, but she moved away, her anger coming off her in waves. “He’s still Varo. It’s just that he told me his name today and I was just trying to be nice.”
“You’ve changed, Nina. I can see it clear as day now as you’re standing there. You’re different. Maybe it’s the money or maybe you’re just lonely since Tristan doesn’t seem to ever be coming back.”
Her words hit me like a fist to my chest. “That’s not fair, Jordan. I’m no different than I’ve ever been. I can’t believe you’d bring up Tristan never coming back like that.”
“Isn’t that what the whole Gage thing is about? You knew I liked him, and still you’re acting like that with him? Why would you do that?”
Defensiveness raged inside me, and I lashed out. “That whole Gage thing, as you call it, is just me being the same old Nina I’ve always been. That I’d never been really nice to him or West wasn’t because I didn’t think I should be but because I was feeling depressed all these weeks. So now I feel a little better and I get accused of being someone else and not myself? That’s bullshit and I don’t deserve it.”
Tears welled up in her eyes, and she screamed, “You have everything here! Why do you have to go after him too? Isn’t it enough to have all the money you’ve ever wanted? Now you want another guy in addition to Tristan? What happened to waiting for him and being so madly in love?”
Jordan had never yelled at me like that and I stepped back in astonishment for a moment, but I wasn’t stunned for long. I barked back, releasing all the months of unhappiness on her. “I have nothing here! What do I care about money when the man I love is absent all this time? You think I stay in my room curled up in a ball so much because I’m fucking happy? I stay there because it’s all I have left of him. It’s the only place that truly feels like he’s there with me. I’m not doing anything with Varo, and if you think I would do that to Tristan or you, the two people I love more than anyone else in this world, then maybe you’re the one who’s changed, not me.”
She looked stunned by my outburst, but I saw the hurt in her eyes too. As I turned to leave, I heard her mumble about West and something he’d said, but I didn’t care. I stormed out of her room across the house to my own room, devastated that my best friend had just accused me of trying to steal the man she wanted. Burying my face in the pillow, I let the tears flow from all the frustration and hurt bottled up inside me. How could she think I would ever do that to her?
I wanted to believe she’d lashed out at me because of her problems at work, but her words had hurt. All the money in the world meant nothing without Tristan, and she knew that. She knew how much I loved him, so why would she think I’d ever go after Gage? And that she thought I’d ever break the girlfriend code and chase after someone my best friend wanted, even if there was no Tristan in the picture, was crazy. Since that first day in college, we’d been like sisters. My own sister had never rejoiced in anything that made me happy, but Jordan did. From the moment we met, I’d been able to tell her whatever was in my heart and she supported me, and I’d always been there to do the same for her. I’d never betray her, and it hurt like hell that she could even entertain the idea that I would.
I needed to clear the air with her. No matter what else was going on, she was my best friend. Hurt or not, I had to make her understand there was nothing between Varo and me. How I’d ever explain the two of us being seen as a couple in public was beyond me at that moment, but I’d cross that bridge when I came to it.