Page 44 of Liar & Champion
Speaking of big, a man built like a brick wall with a bald head who might have mob connections because that’s just the vibe he gave off came through the door and walked right towards Nix, clearly with something on his mind. Did Nix owe him money?
“Hey, boss, is this the client?” he asked, finally glancing at me and giving me a slight nod before returning his attention to Nix.
Nix gave the other man a nod. “Tom, meet Mrs. Death-Hammer, my wife.”
Tom whose implacable expression could not be moved dropped his jaw while his eyes widened in shocked horror. “Your wife.” He said it like he didn’t understand the words.
I waved at him and held my hand out to shake, trying not to feel awkward. Boss? Nix was this guy’s boss? “Hi, Tom. Do you work in home health care like Nix? It’s so nice to meet you. We just got married yesterday, so we’re also getting used to the titles and things. You can call me Sunshine.”
“Ah,” Tom said, getting his facial expressions under control as he carefully shook my hand. Also quickly, because he dropped it like it was a hot potato before giving Nix another look. “This the woman causing trouble that you were supposed to go take care of?”
Nix shook his head, sounding tired. “No. I take it Jezebel is back.”
“Jezebel?” I asked, because who was he calling a Jezebel?
“Works with the animals,” Nix said tugging me gently back against his side. “Sunshine, do you mind if I leave you with Tom? He works as a bodyguard sometimes, so I’d feel better if he were with you. I take it I have to get in to work early,” he added, glancing at Tom with something hard in his eyes, almost like he didn’t want to leave me. Aww.
Tom said, “Horse’s new driver saw you, and told Horse, who told me. There’s a situation with the deputy.”
“Ah. Las Vegas never sleeps and always has problems.”
Tom scratched the back of his neck. “Well, that’s true, but I didn’t realize that you’d just gotten married or I wouldn’t have bothered you, no matter how many times Jezebel threatened to shoot the mayor.”
Nix sighed again. “Sounds like one of Jezzie’s animals got on the wrong side of the law. Am I wrong?” he asked Tom.
Tom shook his head soberly. “Snowdrop bit the mayor’s nephew, seems he was getting too friendly and…” He glanced at me. “Sorry, ma’am. I don’t mean to bore you with details.”
“Not at all,” I said, beaming at him. “This whole world is so fascinating, and Nix hasn’t described in detail the complexities of his work, so naturally I’m interested, but I don’t mean to pry. Why don’t you two talk outside while I pick the color of my phone case?”
Nix and Tom exchanged glances and then Tom crossed his arms and looked more immovable than before. “Nix says youneed a bodyguard? I can do that. You won’t even notice I’m here.”
I glanced at Nix then back at Tom who was a brick wall. One always noticed those in the middle of a phone store. “I don’t need a bodyguard. My psycho stalker has no idea where I am.”
His brows rose then lowered as he settled deeper into his guard pose. He wasn’t moving unless I moved. I definitely shouldn’t have mentioned my psycho stalker if I wanted any kind of independence, because he took his job seriously. Apparently.
“Really, you don’t need to worry,” I said looking at Nix and Tom, waving my hands like that would help. “I’m just going to get a phone and go back to the hotel and talk to my aunt. Then I’ll do some preliminary sketching for my next project.” I glanced at Nix and saw him like he’d been last night, looking up at me with that burning beauty.
“Project?” he asked with a raised brow.
“I’m an artist. I can’t just not do art. It’s one of my jobs, only I’m not paid for any of mine.”
He smiled slightly, showing a dimple in his cheek. Gah, so cute! “All right. When I get home with dinner?—”
“You’re not going to the dinner with the crew?” Tom asked then cleared his throat at the look of irritation Nix gave him. “Sorry. I guess you could take Sunshine with you.”
“You may call her Mrs. Death-Hammer. I suppose I didn’t make that clear. My apologies, Tom. Please accept them.” Nix squeezed Tom’s shoulder in what should have been a friendly way, but Tom just kind of sank down, trying to look unnoticeable. He was definitely failing.
“Oh, a dinner with the crew? I could meet everyone? Trix, the metal worker, she’d be there?” I asked trying to dispel the awkwardness but feeling weird. Was Nix really Tom’s boss, or just the head of the crew? Tom called him boss, and once Nixsuggested he be my bodyguard, he was on it. Also, people were starting to stare at us, actually mostly at Nix, and some people pulled out phones and started taking stealth videos of him. He really was gorgeous, but it seemed extra invasive of his privacy. Maybe it was a Las Vegas thing.
Nix turned to study me before he slowly nodded. “Yes, I suppose you’d better meet the crew, sooner rather than later. I suppose dinner would be…” He frowned and glanced at Tom. “You’ll get her phone set up, get me the contact information, and see that she’s comfortable?”
Tom just nodded.
“Kitten,” Nix said, drawing me to the side, glancing around and finally noticing the people taking video of him and frowning slightly. “Tonight’s dinner is going to be a mess. It’ll be mostly dealing with paperwork unless Pinkie’s stayed on top of it, but she’s been busy with her latest album’s release, all the video and stuff with Dirk. I don’t know if we have a secretary who can pick up where she left off, and then there’s Jezebel. She’s…” He took a deep breath and exhaled. “She’s a Texan who doesn’t relate to people as well as animals. That’s putting it nicely. She’ll make you feel uncomfortable, because that’s what she does with everyone unless she’s particularly fixed on having good manners, which she won’t have because everything’s kind of up in the air with the beginning of the season. Trixie will just want to talk about vehicles. She does jewelry making sometimes, mostly started because she had all these odd auto parts and needed money, so it all kind of evolved.” He tugged me into his arms and gazed down into my eyes like he wanted to memorize how I looked. “I wanted a few more days alone with you, but I don’t suppose it can be helped. We’ll always have our days in the cabin to look back on fondly.”
I gripped his shirt and gazed up at him, feeling lost in his eyes, his strength, the scent of him. “The season? So it’s not always so crazy?”
“That’s right.”
