Layers Deep (19 page)

At the bottom
of the staircase, the corridor widened and I squeezed Tristan’s
hand, wondering where this restaurant he spoke of was located.
Half-moon sconces lit the walls on the side as our maître d’ opened
a double glass door, revealing a lounge. At the back wall, a wine
bar stocked with bottles from floor to ceiling stretched to both
sides of the room. With the exception of one door to the side,
beyond which I imagined a cellar, the squared-off compartments
looked as if they’d been there for centuries, yet not a single
speck of dust covered the bottles.

Candelabras
stood tall in each corner of the room, over fifty candles lit on
each one. An eerie feeling swept through me when I thought what the
restaurant could have been used for when it was first constructed.
A prison, perhaps? And I didn’t even want to think about what this
little excursion of ours would cost.

The table in
the middle was set for four, and I wondered whether Tristan had
invited someone else. Our host pulled out my chair at the same time
that Laura stepped out of that mysterious entrance between the
stacked bottles on the back wall.

“Oh, my God!
This is unbelievable!” She rushed to hug me. “They have wine in
there from the 1950’s and a cognac that costs more per ounce than
our rent. Wouldn’t want to break a bottle of that one.”

“I missed
you,” I said.

“Who are you
again, and what have you done with my friend?” She smoothed my
hair.

“Part of the
job,” I explained.

“You look like
you’re ready to play in “Divas Gone Wild.”

My friend
cleaned up better than I’d expected her to. In fact, if she wasn’t
my friend, I’d be a little jealous of Tristan staring at such a
beautiful woman.

Tristan
whispered something to the bar man, who in turn ventured into the
deep wall. He then strolled over to our table.

“Laura, you
know Tristan Cross, my employer.” I felt the pride radiate from
me.

She offered
her hand for a shake. “I haven’t heard enough about you.” She
narrowed her brows.

“Believe me,
that’s good thing,” Tristan answered, and then added, “It’s my
pleasure to make your acquaintance. Allie had mentioned how
beautiful you are, but she never said you were related to
Aphrodite.”

Laura just
opened her mouth and lifted her hand to her chest.

Yup, she’d
been flabbergasted by none other than Tristan Cross. How in the
world did he manage to make my friend swoon and turn her attention
away from me so quickly?

“Wow,” she
breathed, bracing her weight against the back of a chair.

“I’ll let you
ladies be. If you need anything, I’ll be in the other room.”

That’s when I
noticed another glass door on the side wall and asked, “You’re not
joining us?”

“I will for
the main course, but I have some business to attend to first.”

And with that
he left.

“Holy crap,
Allie! He’s hotter than I remember. Even with the black hair and
all.”

“I know.” I
sat down at the table at the same time a waiter, who was nothing
short of hot as well, brought a bottle of wine. He poured a little
into my glass. I swooshed it, took a whiff, and tried a sip, the
way I’d seen at wine tastings, and then nodded to the waiter who
filled my glass. I honestly had no clue whether the bottle cost
twenty or two hundred bucks, but I hoped it was the former.

“This is
better than honey.” Laura took a few swigs before she finally set
the glass down. The waiter kindly topped it off. “Or perhaps it’s
the service,” she winked at him. “If you’re free later on, I
wouldn’t mind a private tour of the cellar.”

“As you wish,”
he replied and left.

“Stop flirting
with him!”

“Why? You have
a boy toy now, why can’t I?”

“Tristan’s not
a boy toy.”

“So, what’s
going on? You quit on me, moved out, and fell in love all in a
week?” She raised her brows, swirling the half-empty glass of wine
while supporting her elbow on the table.

“Hold on
there, Speedy Gonzales. I made a career change, I’ll move back to
the apartment once we finish a job and no, I’m not in love.” But my
heart pulsed in argument. Had I just lied to my friend? Why did I
feel I’d just betrayed both myself and Tristan?

“Then you’re
stupid. You should be down on your knees blowing this guy” – she
pointed to the glass door Tristan had left – “like
twenty-four/seven.”

“Shh.” I
tapped her hand and scooted closer to her chair. “Who says I’m
not?” I winked.

“You bitch.”
Laura’s smile couldn’t have been wider.

“I’ll take
that as
way to go on scoring such a hunk
.”

“Is he good?”
she asked shamelessly.

“I’d never had
better sex in my life.” Even I could picture my face mellowing.
“He’s unbelievable, and very giving.”

“Yay! I told
you men like a bare pussy.”

“Shut up. I’m
not bare.”

“Almost. I’ve
seen you in your panties, Allie.”

“You peek at
my privates?”

“I don’t peek,
but it’s hard not to see it when you flaunt it.”

“What happened
to flaunt what you’ve got?” I asked her.

“Okay, you’re
right. I may have been jealous of your tush and peeked. Hey, at
least I can appreciate a nice bottom.”

“Please remind
me of that when I’m in my underwear, so I can slap you.”

“Fine,
seriously now, what’s this job all about?”

The waiter
brought a pre-ordered entrée. Five pieces of something colorful I
couldn’t recognize, with the exception of some fancy greens,
glistened in an orange sauce sprinkled over the plate. It smelled
delicious.

“I can’t talk
about it,” I said after the waiter left.

“Undercover
shit.” She touched my crow hair again.

“Yeah, you can
say that.”

“And where
does that leave your heart once you’re done?”

“I’m not sure.
That’s what I need you for.”

“I’d say take
it one day at a time. Men like Cross have lots to worry about. They
don’t need a whiney girlfriend bitching over their shoulders. A
strong woman like you, confidant in her work, takes that much
pressure off him to babysit.”

Oh, gosh, how
much I’d missed her! There was nothing better than Laura’s honesty
and realistic point of view.

“You think?” I
poked a strawberry onto my fork.

“Trust me, I
know. Just be yourself. Do a good job and see what happens. Take it
slow.”

“It’s too late
for slow. He introduced me to his parents, who are the most amazing
people I have ever met. And his little sister... she’s just... she
feels like she’s my sister too. And I’ve just been able to break
ice with his brother too.”

“And you say
you’re not in love?” she said sarcastically.

Was I?

“That’s
impossible. It’s too fast and he’s my boss and this whole job. I
can’t fail him. He’s done too much for me.”

“Then let it
evolve on its own. There aren’t any rules to how the heart works.
Don’t think about it. It’s the best way, especially for someone
like you who has a difficult time staying grounded. You look happy
around him, and I’ve never seen you so at ease.”

“Uhm…” Tristan
cleared his throat.

We looked up
at the same time, and Tristan wasn’t alone. “This is James. A good
friend of mine,” he said.

James was
shorter than Tristan by a few inches, but just as prominent in a
room. He wore a striped suit that looked custom made and appeared
more comfortable than any elegant ensemble I’d seen Tristan wear.
This man belonged in a two-piece, and probably slept in one as well
just to keep his appearance. He reminded me of a younger version of
James Bond.

I pushed my
chair back to stand, but Tristan lowered his hand to my shoulder.
“No need. James is working with us on a project. You’ll find you
have a lot in common.”

Laura stared
in awe at the double-oh-seven, and if she didn’t close her mouth
soon, she’d start to drool. I kicked her under the table ever so
slightly, and she threw me a dirty look.

James sat down
between the two of us. Ready to charm him, Laura licked her lips. I
could almost see the wheels turning in her head as she strategized,
but Tristan continued, “Laura, I’m sorry to take you away from your
meal. Can I steal you for a moment?”

She stood up,
not too happy about leaving our new company, and mouthed
wow
in my direction when the men weren’t looking. Apparently James had
more of an impact on her than I would have anticipated, and I
wondered whether he’d be another mark on her four-poster bed after
tonight.

Tristan’s scar
on the lip lifted by a fraction. It was the only feature on his
face that ever gave away what he was feeling. If I knew any better,
I’d say Tristan was trying to set those two up.

“Allie, James
will keep you company. We won’t be long.”

I couldn’t
deny my curiosity about why he’d asked my best friend for a private
chit-chat, and made a mental note to grill her the first moment I
could.

At that same
moment the waiter brought a plate of appetizers for James.

“Okay.” I
said.

After
exchanging a quick ‘what the heck’ glance with my friend, the two
of them left.

“Is she
single?” James asked.

“Cut right to
the chase, don’t you?” I took a sip of my wine.

“I don’t have
time to waste time.”

It was the
same reply Tristan had used once on me. Were Tristan and James
close? Were they best friends like me and Laura?

“She is
single, but be careful what you wish for. Laura doesn’t exactly
date.”

“Then it’s a
good thing I don’t either,” he grinned. Then, his cheeks drooped
lower, and I could tell James was about to change the topic to
business.

“Allie, I will
be there, at the hotel when you go to the auction. I can’t disclose
my purpose to you, but you cannot show that you recognize me.”

“Why would
Tristan introduce us, then?”

“He’s a good
friend of mine. We spend a lot of time together, and we were bound
to run into each other sooner than later. Tristan also wanted you
to feel like you’re not alone. But know that I’m not there for
you.”

“Kendra?” I
picked some lettuce and a cucumber off my plate.

“No,” he shook
his head, “unfortunately I’ve done everything I can to help Tristan
with that. But in there, I have other business to take care of. As
much as I wish I could help, this will be an opportunity I cannot
miss. Someone else’s life depends on it.”

“You’re
rescuing a girl,” I said.

“Yes, but
please, don’t ask for details. Sometimes our plans don’t work out
the way we want them to.”

“I
understand.”

Our discussion
turned to hobbies and workouts. I’d found James to be more
intelligent than his muscle body suggested and his humor reminded
me so much of Laura’s.

At the thought
of my friend Tristan strolled in with Laura under his arm and
they’d joined us at the table. Our business talk turned to
chit-chat about movies and life. I tried to steal Laura’s glance a
few times, but she wouldn’t give anything away. She was
concentrating more on playing footsies with James. When she finally
said she needed to use the ladies’ room, I jolted up like a spring
to join her.

“What did he
want?” I asked her once inside.

“Who?”

“Don’t play
stupid with me. Tristan—why did he need to speak with you?”

“He asked a
few questions about work and whether I’d be interested in someone
like James. He said he’d set the whole dinner up so that we could
meet. Man, I don’t know what you told Tristan about me, but he made
me sound like an angel who could tame James.”

“Tame?”

“He has
fetishes some women don’t find too appealing, like...”

“Stop!” I
raised my hand. “I don’t want to know. I still think you’re lying,
but I don’t want to know. Out of all people, you’re not the best
person to choose to tame someone.”

“Moi? I should
feel insulted.” She smiled with a poker face.

“Right, and
pigs are flying in the sky.”

“Look, you
have a yummy guy, an exciting job, and a great best friend. Life
couldn’t get any better. Try to relax, Allie. Everything will work
out.”

If there was
anything Laura was right about, it was the exciting part. And
Tristan was about to take it to a whole new level.

The metal
building we’d pulled up to screamed
please paint me
. A few
layers of colors were peeling off the walls in some spots. I
surveyed the barren area in front. Rusted pipes and chains were
piled to the side. Remains of shattered windows were propped
against a stack of concrete blocks and wooden beams. A used can of
paint had been left behind as well. Further back, a couple of stray
cats chased each other among the dried grasses and weeds. Only one
other car was parked near the entrance.

Tristan opened
the door for me and led me inside. I’d expected the hinges to
squeak or a dusting of rust to sprinkle down, but neither happened.
Inside, the building I’d judged to be an old warehouse transformed
into a state of the art gym. The smell of leather and metal blended
with a little bit of grease as I examined the brand new equipment.
This was every trainer’s paradise, and I understood why Tristan had
brought me here. A gym this magnificent should have been used by at
least fifty people at a time, yet no one else was here.

“We have this
place for a few days.” Tristan answered my thoughts. “Freddie
delayed the re-opening by a week for me. He’s a close friend of the
family. Julian and I both trained here. It was like our second
home, but it’s fancier than it was before.”

A man in his
late fifties wearing an Adidas track suit hurried toward us with
long strides. He nearly knocked Tristan over before lifting him off
the ground in a bear hug, squeezing him until I thought Tristan’s
lungs would pop out. The man’s muscles ripened into
grapefruit-sized ovals.