Page 47 of Liar & Champion
“And marrying this delicate rose is placating the monster?”
I sighed heavily. Jezebel knew too much, but she didn’t usually poke around in other people’s business. “She doesn’t know we’re married, just together. Marriage wasn’t the deal. The deal is to date her for six months. Kitten knows about that, and agrees with the timeline. She wouldn’t have agreed to save me from the hungry debs if her psycho stalker hadn’t shot me, so I guess that’s a good thing.”
“This stalker, do you have a weekend set aside to take him out yet? What are you going to do with her while you’re having your fun?”
I almost smiled at her, an almost real smile. Sometimes talking to Jezebel was like talking to myself. “I appreciate the offer, but I’ve got Tom looking after her.”
She tsked and shook her head. “You’re worried that we’re going to corrupt her? Think of the fun we could have. Pinkie could teach her how to stab people, Trix could teach her to drive over people, and I could teach her how to persuade a man with my feminine wiles.”
I snorted because that was funny. “I did think about teaching her to shoot. That’s Minx’s specialty, isn’t it? She’s like Minx with a skateboard. She has an excellent sense of balance.”
“Now I’m worried.”
I waved her concern away. “Just try to act normal around her when you eventually run into her. Accidentally. Forget about the whole thing. It’ll be over in six months.”
“Sure, honey. I’ll act completely sane and boring. I won’t even shoot anyone.”
“I appreciate it, sweetheart.”
“You’ll probably have to stop sweet talking me, or she might get hurt feelings. Like Minx?” She sighed heavily. “She’ll have all the feelings.”
“There’s nothing wrong with feelings.”
“There’s nothing wrong with snails either, until you try to eat them. Just watch yourself, Nix, or that six months’ll end up a death sentence.”
“Life sentence?”
She shrugged and then hit the gas, squeezing her boat between two hybrids that gave her room because they didn’t want to be swallowed whole.
No, it was only a temporary marriage, like my wedding band, made out of something you could burn, or would eventually just crack and fall into pieces. And that’s how it was supposed to be. So why was it so hard to breathe around the thought of ever letting her go?
Chapter Sixteen
LIAR
After I got my phone, which Tom paid for with a company card that apparently Nix paid off every month, we walked back to the hotel, taking a side route to see the skate park. It was nice, shady, and a bunch of kids were doing some good stuff. No one approached me, which was weird because I was super approachable but apparently having an unnoticeable brick wall with me everywhere I went changed that dynamic. Was I going to have to sneak out to do anything fun? That would also be kind of fun.
“How long have you worked with Nix?” I asked as we approached The Providence, the fanciest hotel I’d ever seen and where I now lived. With no kitchen.
“Long time.”
“Wow. That’s specific. Do you always talk so much?” I teased him.
He grunted.
“I’m so glad you’re such a great listener, because I really wanted to get feedback for this ten movie series I have an idea for, about a doctor who goes undercover in American’s farmland to discover the secret of e-coli.”
He grunted.
“It all starts with this scene of desolate farmland, you know, empty, eroded by the winds with a creaky windmill in the distance, maybe a barn door opening and closing with a dramatic thud. Could be the first jump-scare.”
We went through the front door with its opulent stonework depicting scenes from the bible, particularly Adam, Eve, and the snake. The sculpture was incredibly good, not just some prefab stuff, but real marble carved by real artisans. I stopped to touch the leaves. Every detail was perfect, but also stylistic in a way that made me want to feel more. It was such a pleasure to touch. I needed to do sculpture. Nix would be amazing to sculpt, and then when he was gone at work, I could feel him up. That would be hilarious, having a life-size nude marble statue of Nix in his minimalist apartment.
“Tom,” a manly-man voice said sounding like a voice-over. People didn’t sound like that in real life.
I looked over to see a massive man with black hair, dark blue eyes, and an open shirt showing dark chest hair over just enough bare chest to make me wonder what the rest of him looked like. I blushed and I focused back on his eyes, because I was married. I wasn’t looking at other men’s chests, but he was something else.
When his eyes met mine, they crinkled at the corners and he gave Tom a warm smile. “This your woman? Nice to meet you. You’re an artist or you wouldn’t be ogling the leaves. Tom, I didn’t know you liked the sensitive types. Let me buy you two lunch.”
