Jesus, if he got close enough for me to smell his delicious cologne, I knew I'd likely be lost. And if he gave me one of his sweet smiles, I didn't know if I'd be able to remember anything, much less how I felt the night before.
It was going to be a long six months.
"Nina, we'll be leaving early tomorrow morning and we'll be gone for two days and nights, so feel free to take today to get anything you need done."
His tone was decidedly cool, which in a strange way made me feel better. Now he got to feel how I did. Plus, if he stayed upset with me, it could make staying away from him much easier. Things were looking up.
How I was going to handle the sleeping arrangements in Dallas was beyond me, but I'd cross that bridge when I came to it.
"Fine. I have some laundry to do. If that's all, I'll see you tomorrow."
I waited for him to say something, but he just stared vacantly at me and proceeded to begin typing on his laptop. If he had any thoughts on what had happened to the flowers, he wasn't saying and I wasn't asking.
Rebuffing Rogers' offer to wash my clothes, I loaded up the machine and returned to my room. While my laundry did its thing in the washer, I checked my email and found a message from Jordan. All she'd typed was a link so I clicked it, looking forward to some cute pictures of kittens or even some lame chain letter. Anything to take my mind off Tristan.
As the page opened, I sat stunned at what appeared on my laptop's screen. There he stood in his tux looking like he was some marble statue of himself, a blonde on his arm, and other beautiful people around him at some event. I read the caption, needing to know what he'd done the night before.
"Stone Worldwide Charity Benefit at the Fairview Grand Hotel"
My heart sank at the sight of him holding the woman's arm. Some gorgeous blond woman's arm. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen, first analyzing every last inch of his date and then fixating on him. Her hair was the pale color blonde that appeared naturally on Scandinavian women and for a price on anyone who could afford a Fifth Avenue salon. I couldn't tell what color her eyes were, but I was sure any description of them would include the word sparkling. Perfect, brilliant white teeth sat in a mouth with bee stung lips that made me think of those bright red wax lips I used to buy at the candy store as a child. Worst of all, she looked genuinely happy and at home on his arm as they posed for the camera.
He looked less comfortable, which at least was one saving grace. In fact, he looked just as he had in the last picture Jordan had shown me of him on the gossip page and the ones I'd seen of him online back at the apartment. His eyes were cold, and that smile that never failed to melt my heart was nowhere to be found. He was just as gorgeous as always, but he seemed like a shell of the person I'd grown to know.
I so wanted that to make me feel better, but it was fleeting and it didn't take long before that horrible feeling like someone had carved out my insides was back. He'd left me behind to go to some charity event with some blonde bombshell, and there was no denying that. The proof was sitting on my laptop screen staring at me, mocking me.
Closing the tab, I hung my head and willed the tears to come. At least if I cried there was a chance I'd feel better eventually. Crying was useful for that. But nothing came. My emotions were telling my eyes that it was time to do the crying thing, but they didn't seem to get the message. They simply continued to stare at the screen, as if something was going to pop up to make all the emptiness I felt go away.
It was no use. I officially felt like shit and had the photographic evidence to prove that the man who I'd thought was my boyfriend was actually someone who didn't care for me enough to take me to his fancy society function so he'd found a gorgeous woman to go in my place.
And it wasn't even noon yet.
I checked my email once more with the hope that maybe Alex had sent me a message. At moments when a girl felt like nobody loved her, it was always nice to hear from a guy who liked her, even if she wasn't crazy about him. I didn't dislike Alex, but I wasn't really interested in him either. For what it was worth, he was beginning to look like a very good prospect after the whole Tristan thing, though. There was something to be said for a man who was straightforward.
Alex hadn't sent anything, but just as I went to close my laptop, I saw an email come in from Tristan with the subject "Hi." Unsure I wanted to know what it said but unable to stop myself, I opened it and began to read.
Dear Nina,
I'm looking forward to our trip to Dallas tomorrow. If you'd like to talk about it, I'll be back at five. Rogers hung your picture up this morning. It's perfect and exactly what I want to see when I open my eyes.
Love,
Tristan
Love, Tristan. It should have read as a command, Love Tristan, since that was what it seemed like. I closed my laptop and decided then and there I wouldn't be available to talk at five or any other time that day.
I'd made the decision to go down this path and I was damned if I was going to be swayed from it by his soulful eyes, sweet words, and every other weapon in his arsenal of seduction. If I wasn't good enough to be seen with in public, then he wasn't going to see much of me in private either.
Chapter Twelve
It's amazing how being stubborn always made situations so much worse. I quickly found that I was playing in a much bigger league with Tristan than I was used to. After avoiding him all the previous day, if I was thinking that a new day would make everything better, I was sadly mistaken. It seemed that Tristan Stone could be very much the personification of his last name at times and quite able to deal out the silent treatment as well as he took it.
Unfortunately for me, I was more big talk than anything else and the plane ride in his private jet nearly broke my resolve. I'd only been on a plane twice before and never anyone's private jet, so my excitement made the words want to come bubbling up out of my mouth. What stopped them was Tristan's icy demeanor as he sat across from me, only rarely acknowledging my presence with a knowing look and never saying a thing to me the entire three and a half hours it took to get from New York to Dallas.