I haven’t tried to inquire about Jasalie once, not even to find out if she went to Tucson or not. I’ve been dying to know, but I knew once I opened up Pandora’s Box, there’d be a whole mess of emotions sitting there for me to deal with. And until this moment, I didn’t think I could bear to feel them. Because until this moment, I’d given up on ever getting her back.
“Good. So…has she asked about me?”
“Boss.” Dale’s warning me.
But I don’t care.
“Dale. I know this is illegal, but I’m asking you as a friend. You and I have known each other for years, and I’ve never once paid for you to look out for someone else before. I’ve never…”Had someone in my life who could cut my heart in two.“I just need to know if…”
“She hasn’t been with anyone else.”
I release a shuddering breath.
“She did ask me to pass on a message to you one time, however.” His voice is filled with humor.
This should be good. “Do I want to know what she said?”
“Not sure.”
“Okay, just tell me.”
“She said you could suck it.” He can barely get the words out before he breaks into laughter.
“She said I could suck it.” I repeat the phrase. “I don’t think she meant that sexually.”
“No.” He’s still laughing. “By the murderous look on her face, I’d say definitely not.”
“Right.” An image of Jasalie glaring at Dale through his car window hits me. Hands on her hips, narrowed eyes, and spitting mad—I reach for my jeans to adjust myself. “Where are you right now?”
“Mr. Wild…” The tone is firm now. Final.
“Never mind. I’ll find out another way. Thanks, Dale. You’ll get a bonus this week for putting up with my interrogation.”
I end the call and call Marcus.
“Hey,” I say as soon as he answers. “I need Lilla’s phone number.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Jasalie
“Lilla, what are you doing?” I say as she comes up behind me at the gallery and starts fixing my hair around my shoulders.
“I just want you to look your best.” She glances up at the clock. “You need to make sure you keep showing off these gorgeous waves in your hair.”
“You already made me leave work an hour early so I could get a blowout at your favorite salon,” I say. “Not to mention, for lunch, you took me to the mall and wouldn’t let us leave until I’d tried on every dress in the store, and bought the most fitted one available. You called it my good luck dress.”
I look down at the little black dress that comes to mid-thigh and somehow manages to highlight all my curves while still giving off a professional vibe.
“And it’s all working.” Lilla beams as she gestures to the surprisingly decent-sized crowd at the gallery. “Look how much attention your sculptures are getting.”
As soon as I had set everything up, Lilla made sure to look at all my sculptures and give her assessments—
“Awesome. Great. Perfect.” She ticked off one compliment after another as she pointed at each of my pieces.
I laughed, but as the evening wore on, Theresa passed by several times and whispered in my ear that a few of the pieces were attracting a lot of interest.
Yes, my first show has been amazing. To have interested buyers is something I didn’t imagine happening for years. And Theresa was so incredibly helpful—from her suggestions of how to set up my sculptures and where to attach the titles—she’s been nothing but great.
