NICK
The metal clankedas I set the bar back in the catch after doing my first rep of bench presses. I’d always looked after myself and worked out, but for most of my life, it had been for vanity reasons. Now that I was pushing forty, I found that it was as good for my mental health as it was for my physical health. Some days, working out was the only thing that cleared my head.
After another twenty punishing minutes, the alarm went off on my phone, indicating it was time to start waking up my sleeping beauty. Unlike me, Bella wasnota morning person, and she needed to be gently nudged awake over a few attempts.
I grabbed my water bottle and a towel and headed into the main house. As soon as I walked in through the side door, I saw that the kitchen light was on and heard the sink running. It could be Carmen, who arrived between six and eight every morning, depending on the day. Or, it could be Skye.
Last night, my dinner meeting ran late. It was worth it because I’d closed the deal. Mitch Green was signed to a three-year exclusive contract with Locke Media. I got home after ten, so I’d missed her arrival at eight. I’d thought about popping in to Naomi’s room but decided against it. The fact that I was so drawn to her was actually making me want to keep my distance. I wasn’t a huge fan of the magnetism she possessed. I’d never felt so powerless against anything before. It scared me but also excited me, which was a dangerous combination.
Adrenaline raced through me, and my pulse sped as I approached the kitchen. The anticipation was both unnerving and exhilarating. When I saw Skye washing a bowl and mug, a rush of endorphins flushed my system. I’d never experimented with drugs, but I wondered then if this was what being high felt like. If it was, I could understand people chasing the euphoric sensation.
It had been four days since I’d seen her when she left my house on Friday morning after her shift, and I’d thought about her. A lot. All weekend, I’d been thinking about her. She’d dominated my thoughts. But it wasn’t until this moment that I realized how badly I’dmissedher.
Growing up the way I did, I was used to people coming in and going out of my life. I’d never really missed someone before, apart from Bella. But that was different. She was my daughter. I’d never missed an adult in my life. Skye was the first to earn that distinction.
Her head was cast down, but when I stepped forward, she looked up, and her eyes widened right before they dipped below my chin, and a flush appeared on her cheeks. Unlike previous encounters in the kitchen, I was wearing a shirt, but since I was dripping with sweat, the thin cotton was clinging to my skin.
Speaking of her eyes, today they were outlined with thick black eyeliner, and she had on mascara. That wasn’t all; her lips were an even deeper shade of red than they normally were. I hadn’t immediately noticed the difference, but now I did. She was wearing makeup.
“Wow, you look…” I stopped myself before I said something inappropriate.
“I know.” Her shoulders tensed visibly. “My friend Rihanna, is a makeup artist, or at least she’s considering the field, and she wanted to perfect the wedding look.”
“Wedding look?” I repeated it as a vision of Skye in a white dress and veil walking down an aisle, directly toward me, appeared in my head. I blinked and shook my head, not sure where that image had come from. But before I was able to erase it, the scene caused a warm feeling to swirl in my chest. That same sensation turned to dread when a thought struck me through the heart like a dagger. “Are you getting married?”
“What? No!” She let out a short huff of laughter as if that were the most absurd idea in the world. “Ri just likes to switch careers every couple of years. Now it’s makeup. And bridal is where the money is. Put bridal, or wedding in front of anything, and you can jack up the prices like three hundred percent. I’m not even exaggerating.” She stopped talking abruptly, as if stopping herself from going on a tangent. “Anyway, she came over last night to practice before my shift, and we lost track of time. I was going to take it off on the drive over, but someone, probably my daughter, but honestly, it could just as easily be my mom, used all of my makeup wipes and didn’t tell me. So, I came to work like this.” She waved her hand in front of her face.
“Are you free on Saturday, the 18th?”
She stared at me for a silent beat without responding. I didn’t blame her. The question had come out of left field. One minute we were talking about makeup, the next I’d asked her about her availability on the weekend.
“Saturday night? Um, I mean… I don’t… I’m not sure…”
Her flustered response triggered a realization in me of how my question must have sounded. I quickly added, “I know you’re not scheduled to work, but I would like to bring my mother to a charity event, my charity event, and I’d feel more comfortable with two nurses there.”
“Oh, right. That makes… I thought…” She let out a nervous laugh before shaking her head. “Never mind. Um, yeah, I think I could do that. Let me just check and make sure that my mom doesn’t have plans. I know Callie’s fourteen, but I don’t like to leave her home alone.”
“Does she go out a lot?”
“Not really. She spends the night at her best friend Jenny’s house a lot on the weekends, but not on school nights.”
I grinned. “I meant your mom.”
“Oh, um, yes.” She nodded. “She has averyactive social life.”
I sensed that statement was weighted with some history. It made me wonder what Skye’s childhood had been like. “Has she always been…social?”
“Yep.”
“Was that hard, when you were growing up?”
“I mean, it wasn’t great.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t be. It’s not… I was…” She took a breath. “She was young when she had me, so yeah, it was fine.”
She leaned down and put the dishes in the dishwasher, then closed it.
