Nina put her fingers over mine and moved them from her chin. Her touch on my skin sent a rush of electricity racing up my arm, making me want more.
"I do have a question. Is that okay?"
I couldn't help but smile. Same old Nina always with the questions. That was something. "Ask anything you want."
She turned to grab her laptop and opened it to bring up a picture of me with one of the actresses at an event a few months earlier. As I examined the image, all I could think of was how Nina had said I looked like a statue when I was with them. I'd never truly realized it until that moment, but I did.
"You seem to have a lot of girlfriends, but I can't find any pictures of me with you at these parties. Why?"
I blew the air out of my lungs and struggled for the best way to explain why there were hundreds of pictures of me with other women. "They aren't girlfriends, Nina. They're employees."
"And I'm your employee?"
"Yes."
"So they're all like I am to you?"
A groan escaped from my throat. This wasn't going well at all. "No. They're employees paid specifically to appear at events with me because I didn't have a girlfriend."
Nina's eyes lit up. "Oh. So there are pictures of us together at events once we began dating? I guess I just didn't get to those."
"Sure. I'm sure there are."
Arching one eyebrow, she saw right through my lie. "There aren't any pictures of us, are there? Why?"
"Because we only attended one event. I'm sure there are pictures, though."
Her look of skepticism turned to one of hurt. "I don't understand. We were together for six months and you asked me to marry you, but we only went to one event together?"
I knew what she was thinking. That for some reason I wouldn't want to be seen with her like I had with the actresses. This was not going as I'd hoped.
"It's a bit more complicated than that. Those women aren't in a relationship with me and get paid to deal with the press. I didn't want you to have to deal with that."
Leveling her gaze at me, she asked, "And what did I want?"
This was definitely the Nina I knew and loved. Smiling, I answered with the truth. "You were jealous and thought I was ashamed of you until I told you the truth about the actresses. Then you were afraid to go with me to the event we attended, but you ended up loving it. It was one of the best nights I've ever had."
Her expression softened and a smile spread across her lips. "Oh."
I wanted to tell her that the sex we had in the back of the Rolls had been better than any I'd ever had with any other woman. That just thinking of it was making me hard. It probably wasn't the right time, though.
"I wanted to talk about you getting back to doing things you used to do." We used to do. "I think it would be good for you to return to work."
"That sounds good. You said I'm your private curator, right? What does that mean exactly?"
"You handle choosing the artwork for the suites and penthouses in my hotels. I give you the assignments and then you present your choices to me."
A look of apprehension came over her face, and she bit her bottom lip. "Was I good at this?"
I'd seen that look before. It was the same one she'd worn that first day I assigned her my penthouse in the city. I'd wanted to take her in my arms and kiss her that day too.
"Very good."
Nina took a deep breath. "Tristan, I'm confused. I work for you as your private curator but I'm also your girlfriend?"
Fiancée.
"You loved the job, so you never mentioned wanting to stop once we began dating and even when you said yes to my proposal."
"So if I didn't want to work as your private curator anymore, you'd be okay with that?"
"If that would make you happy, then I'd be fine with it."
"What if I wanted a different job?"
"I'm sure there's something in Stone Worldwide that would suit you."
She bit her lip again. "No, I meant what if I wanted to work somewhere other than for you? I just wonder how good an idea it is to mix your business and personal life."
"Don't worry. I'm not," I said as casually as I could, hoping to hide how unhappy I was with where the conversation had gone.
"Well, then I'm not sure it's such a good idea to mix those in my life."
Fuck. I had hoped it would never come to the contract again, but I saw she wasn't going to just accept things. "Nina, you signed a contract obligating you to work for me."
The shock at my callous words was written all over her face. "For how long?"
"The initial period was for six months, but there's a provision that in the event you're unable to complete the six months that the contract is extended when you are able."
"What? How long is the extension for?"
"Two years."
She sat there on her bed staring at me with a stunned look for almost a minute before she finally spoke again. When she did, her words were like a sledgehammer to my chest.
Her eyebrows knitted. "So this is your idea of love, Tristan?"
I knew how this all sounded. I came off like the world's biggest dick, both in the boss and boyfriend departments. I knew that. But if I wanted to keep Nina safe, I'd have to deal with her thinking I was an ass, or worse, growing to hate me. I'd rather her hate me than be hurt by Karl and his buddies on the Board.
Her words hurt, though, so before I said something else that further convinced her of my asshole status, I stood to leave and repeated what I'd told her months earlier. "I can give you whatever your heart desires, Nina, but I can only do it this way."
"What if I can't handle this way, Tristan? What happens then?"
Another sledgehammer to the chest, but this time I couldn't stop myself from saying something in retaliation. "Then I guess you get to live rent free and get paid an astronomical salary for picking out pictures for hotel rooms, Nina."
I stared at her knowing that was a shitty thing to say, but I didn't care. I wanted her to hurt like she'd hurt me. If the look in her eyes was any indication, I'd succeeded.
Good for me. At this rate, I was going to have her speeding away in another of my goddamn cars by the end of the week. As I turned to leave the woman I loved and her new hatred for me, I wondered if maybe that was what was meant to be anyway.
I needed a drink, so I made my way to the room where Nina and I had first kissed to pour myself a scotch before I headed back to my room to begin the emotional pummeling I knew I deserved. In the span of less than a day, I'd screwed things up so completely that the woman I adored was likely making plans with Jordan to leave me before I even had the chance to give her a reason to stay.