My eyes closed, but I felt a hand touch my arm and I looked around to see Nina standing in front of me, her expression full of concern.
"Hey, are you okay?"
I shook the grogginess from my head and forced a smile. "I'm fine. Good morning." Bending down, I kissed her softly on the lips. "Sleep well?"
She stroked her fingertips down my tie. "Better than you, I'm guessing since I'm not sleeping standing up. I thought only horses did that."
"I'm fine. Long day ahead of me."
Nina wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into her. "I'm worried about you. Why don't you ever stay with me all night?"
I couldn't tell her the truth—that I wasn't sure she was ready to see the real me, the man who suffered through each night with nightmares, sometimes just one but other times dozens. Would she even want me if she knew I was so fucked up?
"I'm one of those workaholic types. My brain never shuts off, so a lot of times I get up and do work when you're sleeping. I don't like to bother you, so I go back to my own room."
She squeezed me in her arms and looked up at me with a smile. "It wouldn't bother me and it would be nice to see you there when I wake up."
I couldn't say no when she looked at me like that, with those blue eyes so sweet. "Okay." I didn't mean it. There was no way I could stay with her all night feeling like I did now.
Nina turned to pour herself a cup of coffee. "I'm going to do some work on the Atlanta suite today. I have some good ideas, I think. How's your day look?"
Atlanta.
"I need to move up our trip there. Be ready to leave this afternoon," I said before I took my last sip of coffee.
Spinning around, she splashed coffee down the front of her shirt and rushed to pat it dry with a towel from the counter. "What? I'm not ready. I need more time."
"I have things I have to take care of there, and they can't wait. I'm sure whatever you choose will be great," I said calmly. "Be ready to go by three. I'll be back in a few."
I left Nina stunned in the kitchen and quickly got away from the house before she could ask any questions. I wasn't ready to explain everything yet.
Michelle was waiting for me when I got to my office, along with Daryl and Karl. While I would have liked to make both of them disappear, I had to deal with them. As I breezed past them on my way in, I decided Karl and his threats would be the first hurdle of the day.
"Karl, how nice to see you. Join me in my office."
He barely let me sit down before he began. "Is there anything you want to tell me, Tristan?"
I looked up and saw him standing in front of my desk. He held his chin high, as if he was looking down on me or had something over me.
"Other than what I told you last time, Karl, no. So if you're here with some bullshit bluster, I'm not in the mood. Go bother someone else."
He stepped forward and placed his palms on the edge of my desk, pushing the platinum nameplate aside. The symbolism wasn't lost on me. His meaty, rough hands with their thick knuckles shoving me out of the way.
Leaning forward, he jutted his face toward me. "Made any trips lately, Tristan?"
I'd been foolish in thinking he hadn't had someone watching me. Faking nonchalance, I leaned back in my chair and laced my fingers behind my head. "None recently, but I'm planning to head to Atlanta right after New Year's. Would you like me to bring you back some peaches, Karl?"
His expression changed as he mentally filed away the nugget of information I'd just given him, and then he grinned. "Speaking of peaches, how is your young lady? Feeling well?"
I bristled at his reference to Nina. "Have you taken to caring about Nina's welfare now, Karl?"
"I'm just here to remind you that if there is anything incriminating, she would be in grave danger."
I couldn't help but chuckle at him. "You been watching A Few Good Men recently? Your threat might work better if you sounded like Nicholson."
Karl didn't seem to understand my joke and continued, "This is almost at its end, son. Remember that."
He turned to leave as the triumphant victor of our lame battle of wits, mumbling something as he flung open the door and stalked past Michelle. This was a hell of a way to start the day. And now I had to deal with Daryl and his pictures, which would require more playacting on my part to avoid looking like a boyfriend who was in the dark as to what his woman was doing.
"Tristan, I have so much I want you to see," he announced as he entered my office and closed the door behind him.
"Take a seat, Daryl. Let's see what you have."
He sat down in front of my desk and pointed toward the door. "Before I begin, I should let you know that I saw him watching your lady while I was watching loverboy."
I couldn't hide my surprise at hearing that Karl himself was watching Nina. Thank God I had two bodyguards on her. But he was beginning to be a real problem. Stalking me was one thing. Stalking Nina was an entirely different thing and one I didn't like.
"I'm guessing by the look on your face that you didn't know. He didn't get close to her, but he was there and watching her."
"Thanks, Daryl. Did you see anyone else there?"
"Just the two giants who are always around her. I'd keep them with her at all times. That guy is no good, Tristan."
"So what do you have for me, Daryl?"
He handed me the pictures he'd taken as he watched Cal. "Pics of him with a handful of women. That boy gets around. Pics of your lady with loverboy. He's a real player and unless I'm reading her entirely wrong, she's way out of her league with him. You need to make her realize he's playing her. Got a decent amount from her the other night."
I sifted through the pictures of Cal Johnson and his catalog of women, stopping when I reached the few of Nina and him at the restaurant she'd told me about. I couldn't help but stare at her expression as she sat listening to the lies he spewed about a girlfriend breaking his heart and whatever other bullshit he told her. She looked so innocent sitting there next to him, her blue eyes intense as she sympathetically listened to his tale of woe, her mouth turning down slightly as the pictures went on and she heard how awful his life was. Did she look like that next to me, I wondered? In many ways, Cal resembled someone like me. I'd been accused of being manipulative many times by women. Had they seen me like I saw him now?
"I'm happy to report that nothing happened between them, you know, sexually. If you ask me, he doesn't seem interested in that from her at all. And she gives off no vibe that she wants him. I think it's a case of she's too nice and he knows it."
I handed the pictures back to Daryl, my gaze still fixed on the last one of Nina smiling warmly at Cal as she gave him money. "I'm wondering if it's time I paid our friend Cal a visit."
"If you're asking me, I say no. Don't bother yourself with this. Deal with your lady. I really don't think she's planning some kind of rendezvous. I think she's just naive and wants to help out an old friend who's down on his luck. She doesn't know this is his game. Let her know what's going on and I guarantee you I won't have any more pics of them together."
I thought about Daryl's suggestion and nodded my agreement. I didn't expect to see anything more from him about Nina and Cal, but it was best to keep an eye on loverboy for a while longer. Standing from my chair, I walked around to lead him out. "Keep on him for a little while. I want to be able to show without a doubt that he's scamming women."
"No problem, Tristan. Want to schedule a time to meet after Christmas? Say, the Friday after?"
Patting him on the back, I escorted him to Michelle's desk so she could mark the date on my calendar. "That's fine. If I don't see you before, have a merry Christmas, Daryl."
"You too, Tristan. Enjoy your holiday with your lady."
When he was out of earshot, I turned to Michelle. "I'm going to be out of the office until after the holidays. The same order as before applies. Do not let Karl in, but I want you to tell him I'll be in Dallas for Christmas when he asks."
"Okay. I will, Mr. Stone," she said quietly, as if her agreement was to be a secret too. "Is everything okay?"
I ignored her question as I spied the gift box at the back of her desk, evidence that Angelo had gotten her the Christmas gift I'd wanted. I'd told him to choose a necklace, something classic but nice, leaving him as much room to choose as he liked.
She blushed and looked back at the box. "You didn't have to go to such trouble, Mr. Stone. It's lovely."
Michelle knew as well as I did that I hadn't gone to any trouble since Angelo had done all the leg work. Smiling, I said, "It's the least I can do to make up for years of not doing enough. I hope he picked something you like."
She turned back toward me with the necklace laid across her palm. A white gold necklace with a diamond and pearl pendant, it was very much her style—classic and understated. Thank God for Angelo because if I had to pick out gifts like that, I'd likely be standing dumbfounded for hours in front of the counter at Saks.
"I love it. Thank you."
"I hope you have a nice holiday, Michelle. Make sure security locks the suite as you're leaving on Monday. I'll see you when I get back."
"Monday? You don't want me here on Christmas Eve, like every other year?"
Suddenly, I felt like Ebenezer Scrooge. I had made her work every other Christmas Eve since I'd started at Stone Worldwide. I was there, so it had never occurred to me that she shouldn't be there working too.