She extended her long, skinny arm and shook my hand with her bony hand that had just been fondling Tristan's tie. Her blue eyes slid over me from head to toe and back up again, and I was sure she was judging me.
"My pleasure. We're just getting ready for his interview this afternoon with Executive Homes. They plan to do an entire spread on him and this stunning house of his."
Ours. I wanted to correct her but as she stood looking down at me, I suddenly felt small and insignificant. All I could get out of my mouth was, "That's nice."
Then she asked, "Will you be staying?"
The way she said it made me feel like I was an intruder. I looked at Tristan for some support, but he simply stood behind her looking back at me. His silence was deafening and hurtful. I felt like a visitor in my own home, and suddenly, all I wanted to do was run.
As well as I could, I calmed my anger and said, "I'll leave you to your business. I don't know what time I'll be home, Tristan. Perhaps I'll stay in the city with Jordan. She's been wanting me to go out. I'll let you know."
Kacey looked relieved to see me go and returned to fiddling with Tristan's collar, but I noticed as I turned to leave that Tristan's eyes had narrowed ever so slightly. If he could hang out with his little friend, I could hang out with mine.
I marched out of the living room with my head held high and hoped neither of them saw how shaky my legs were under me. On top of the jealousy and insecurity churning in my stomach, now I was angry. Not only had he never told me his assistant was a female—a stunning one who looked like the actresses who accompanied him to formal events, no less—but he stood there like a statue, never saying a word to let her know how much I supposedly meant to him.
Jenson was nowhere to be found, so I waited outside by the car, preferring to shiver in the late fall weather of upstate New York than stay inside with Tristan and his assistant. It could have been twenty below and I wouldn't have felt the cold I was fuming so badly. The man who had made me the happiest woman in the world less than twenty-four hours earlier now had just let some gorgeous Amazon woman make me feel like an outsider with my own fiancé.
The front door opened and I heard footsteps, but when I turned around I saw it was Tristan. I quickly set off down the drive, but he kept pace with me and overtook me in mere seconds. I so didn't want to have the conversation we were about to have.
"Nina, I think we should talk."
I turned my back on him and stomped off in the other direction. "I don't think so. Go talk to your assistant if you need someone to listen to you."
His hand touched my shoulder and I jerked my body away from him. He wasn't going to get a pass on this one with just a touch or a few sweet words.
"Nina, I'm not going to chase after you," he said as he followed behind me.
"Fine. Don't. It's not like I'm anyone you should be chasing after anyway."
"You're acting ridiculous. You can't be jealous of Kacey. All she did was adjust my tie. It's not like she saw me half naked."
I stopped dead and turned around to see him standing there grinning like some sexy Cheshire cat. So that's what this was all about? Blake and my dropping bikini bottoms?
"Don't even tell me she's not a total bitch who made me feel like I was unwelcome in my own home and you didn't just stand there and let her do it."
"You saw what your jealousy wanted you to see. Sound familiar?"
"So it was just a coincidence that Kacey the blond bombshell was here today after what happened with your gardener? I doubt it. And why didn't you ever tell me your assistant looked like that?"
"I've never told you what any of my employees look like, Nina. They're simply people who do things for me. I don't pay attention to what they look like."
I raised my eyebrows in disbelief. "Is that supposed to make me jealous too?"
Tristan smiled and reached out to caress my cheek. "No. You misunderstood. But perhaps you can see my point from earlier now?"
Sighing heavily, I wilted under the weight of my anger. I hated that I was jealous. I hated that it was so easy for me to feel insecure.
"Tristan, I don't want to do this for the rest of my life. I can't be worrying so much that my husband is having some hot thing with his blond assistant that I go crazy here out in the country and begin to stalk him while he's at work. And I have to be honest. I'm not above the whole stalking thing. It's not my most attractive trait, but I get jealous."
He kissed me and pressed his forehead to mine. "I love you, Nina. Even the jealous you. Maybe we should both remember what happens when we get jealous."
"Okay. I promise no more flashing your gardener," I teased.
He straightened to his full height and laughed. "I wouldn't worry about that. I fired him."
Guilt over Blake's firing made my stomach turn and I stepped back away from Tristan. "Are you kidding? How could you do that? You fired someone for something I did? Do you plan to fire Kacey too since she made me jealous?"
He seemed to consider my idea and reached out to take my hand. "No, but I see your point. I will if you want me to."
I pulled away, horrified at what he was saying. "No fucking way! I won't be responsible for you firing someone twice today, even if it is that snarky bitch. If you fire her, it's because you want to, not because I said to."
"Nina, I want you to be happy. Tell me what would make you happy, and I'll do it."
The petty, jealous me wanted him to fire Kacey, but that was no more right than firing Blake. I understood his jealousy, but we couldn't go on like this. Not if we ever expected to be happy together.
"Don't fire Kacey, but promise me she doesn't ever get close enough to you to touch you again."
With a smile, he took my hand in his and brought it to his lips. "Agreed."
"And give Blake his job back. I can understand you aren't crazy about him working as the gardener since he saw me without my bikini bottoms, but give him another job somewhere else."
Tristan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Agreed. Now here's one for you. No staying in the city tonight."
"Agreed." I hadn't planned on staying with Jordan anyway, so it wasn't much of a concession.
"I have to get back to work. That magazine is expecting to tour the house, and I have to be there."
A stab of hurt pushed on my heart and I began walking toward the car. I guess I wasn't allowed to be known as Tristan Stone's live-in girlfriend. "Fine. I guess it's your house, so you should be there."
He grabbed my arm and pulled me back toward him. "Nina, let me explain."