Crash Into Me (22 page)

He
leaned in and kissed me. "That will sound great on Page Six."

Page
Six. My stomach did a funny somersault. This was the first time he'd ever
mentioned anything even remotely related to being with me in public, and the
idea was at once thrilling and terrifying. This was everything I'd wanted and
now that it was happening, all I could think about were my deficiencies.

I
wasn't a tall, willowy, supermodel type whose clothes hung perfectly off her. I
had a tendency to make silly comments when I was nervous. For God's sake, there
were times I couldn't even get my hair to lay right and not look all flyaway.

Tristan
got into the driver's seat and started the car, but one look at my expression
and he knew something was wrong. "Did I say something? What's going
on?"

"I
just remember you saying you never took girlfriends to those events that land
you on Page Six, but then you just mentioned it. I'm just wondering if I'm the
right type to be on the arm of someone like you."

He
cradled my face in his hands and shook his head. "Don't say that. You're a
beautiful, intelligent, charming woman who makes me smile. That's more than I
can say for anyone I've ever met at those things. If you don't want to go to
them, I'm fine with that. But it would be nice to have someone to talk to at
them."

"You're
trying to guilt me into going?" I joked. "But what about the idea of
people seeing you smile? What will that do to your reputation?"

He
rolled his eyes and turned to drive. "I hadn't thought about that. Well,
then. It's settled. I'll remain cold and impersonal in public and nobody will
know the real me. Except you."

I
knew it was selfish, but I liked the idea of the world thinking he was cold.
There was something very special about Tristan only feeling comfortable enough
to drop his cool facade with me.

We
got to Tony's to find the entire restaurant deserted. Peering in through the
front window, I saw no one inside. Disappointed, I turned toward him. "I
don't think they're open."

Tristan
brushed it off and took my hand to lead me inside to a table in the back. A
waitress appeared almost instantly to take our order, and as he told her what
we wanted, I wondered where all the other customers were.

She
walked away toward the front of the restaurant and I asked, "Don't you
think it's weird there's no one here?"

He
got a strange grin on his face. "No. Not at all."

The
lights dimmed throughout the building except where we sat, making me feel there
was definitely something odd going on. "Tristan, they're turning the
lights out. I think they might be closing early tonight."

I
looked around to see where the waitress had gone to and when I looked back at
Tristan, he was on one knee on the wood floor next to me and beside him sat a
small robin's egg blue colored box. In the palm of his right hand was a smaller
black velvet box. He pulled back the top and there sat a gorgeous diamond ring.
I'd never seen anything so stunning, and even in the dim light of Tony's, the
stone was brilliant.

"It's...oh,
my God, Tristan. I don't know what to say." I covered my mouth with my
hands and tears began to roll down my cheeks.

"Say
you'll marry me."

At
that moment, I was sure there wasn't a happier person on the entire planet. As
I looked down into those eyes so full of love for me, my heart felt fuller than
it ever had before.

"Yes.
Yes! I'll marry you, Tristan."

He
slid the ring onto my finger and took me into his arms as I cried tears of joy.
This was more than I'd ever dreamed could happen in my life. I kissed him right
there in Tony's Pizza Heaven and right in front of the waitress, who was
standing there with our tray of pizza and crying herself.

The
blonde looked down at Tristan with a look of anticipation. "Did she say
yes?"

Looking
into my eyes, he smiled. "She said yes."

"She
said yes, everybody!" the woman yelled toward the kitchen, where a chorus
of whistles and clapping exploded. She placed the large tray of pizza on the
table and smiled at me. "Congratulations. You're a lucky girl. It's not
every guy who arranges a proposal like this."

She
left us alone, and I turned toward him. "How long have you been planning
this?"

"Since
Venice."

I
looked down at the dazzling ring on my hand. I guessed the diamond was at least
two carets and was set in a platinum setting and band. To say it was gorgeous
was an understatement. It took my breath away.

"And
you got the people here at Tony's to help you?"

Tristan
took a bite of pizza. "I figured it would be easier to get you to say yes
if the restaurant wasn't filled with people."

"So
you paid to have the restaurant closed to everyone but us?" I asked in
disbelief.

Nodding,
he smiled. "You sound surprised. Of all the things I've spent my money on,
this is the best one. It's not every day a man gets to propose to the woman he loves,
and if it costs a little money, that's okay."

I
glanced down at the ring sitting on my left hand and back up at him. "A
little? I'm not sure I'm ever going to get used to your idea of a little
money."

"I've
told you before, Nina. I would spend ten times that amount to make you happy.
That's all I want."

Leaning
over the table, I kissed him sweetly, tasting sauce and cheese on his lips.
"I'm the happiest woman in the world because of you. Don't ever doubt
that."

With
a wink, he smiled and said, "Good. Now eat your pizza before it gets
cold."

Chapter Twenty-One

Later
that night as we laid in each other's arms after making love for hours, I heard
the all-too-familiar vibration of Tristan's phone on the nightstand near his
side of the bed. In seconds, his mood changed from the blissful happiness we'd
shared all night after his proposal at Tony's to sullen and brooding. His
shoulders grew tense under my fingers, and in seconds he was gone from our bed
to answer that phone I'd grown to hate.

I
laid there feeling cold without him next to me and wondering if now that we
were planning to be husband and wife did I have a right to ask him what was
going on with these calls. Whatever it was that he was dealing with each time
that phone rang and it dragged him out of our bed, it tore at my heart that he
obviously believed he needed to deal with it alone.

Straining
to hear any bits and pieces of his conversation right outside in the hallway, I
was able to make out only a few garbled words that meant nothing to me. He was
only gone for a few minutes, but when he returned to bed he was visible shaken.

He
laid down next to me and moved to take me in his arms as I'd been before.
Pulling me close, he was silent but I sensed the tension coming from him in
waves. I laid my head on his chest, and he began to coil my hair around his
index finger over and over.

After
a few minutes, I whispered against his skin, "Tristan, what is it?"

"Nothing.
Just work. Let's go to sleep. We have a lot to decide tomorrow."

I
knew he was referring to our earlier discussion of what kind of wedding we
wanted or if we should just elope since neither of us had much family, but as
he spoke of all that now, it sounded like something unhappy to him.

Kissing
his neck, I whispered, "You can tell me anything. There's nothing you can
say that will change how I feel. I hope you know that."

He
sighed heavily and squeezed me to him. "Everyone has something they're
ashamed of, Nina. All we can hope for is that the one we love can see past
it."

His
words were so cryptic they worried me. "I can't believe you have anything
to be ashamed of. I'll never believe that. No one who has treated me like you
have could have done anything so bad he should be ashamed."

Tristan
kissed the top of my head and sighed again. "Sometimes we have to do
things because others have done wrong. All I can promise is that I would never
hurt someone like others in my position."

I
heard the sorrow in his voice and wanted to ask about it, but it didn't seem
like the right time. On the night that he'd asked me to marry him, I didn't
want to fall asleep after talking about things that made him unhappy. I wanted
to make him as happy as he made me.

Snuggling
close to him, I whispered, "All that matters is that I love you and you
love me. Everything else is out there. Always remember that and we can get
through anything."

My
words didn't ease his mind, and when he kissed me just before we fell asleep,
all I could feel was his sadness.

In
the middle of the night, I awoke to Tristan thrashing around in his sleep next
to me. He was mumbling something over and over as he frantically shook his
head.  His body writhed as if he were in pain, and his face twisted into a
terrible grimace.

"No!
No! Don't...don't do this. Stop!"

I
gently nudged Tristan's shoulder to wake him, but he shook his head violently
as he pleaded for the people in his dream to stop. Pressing harder into his
body, I finally was able to wake him. He stared at me in terror for a few
moments before he realized it was just me there with him.

"You
were having a nightmare," I said as he took a deep breath. He nodded, and
I gently stroked his forehead drenched with sweat. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"What
was that?"

He
shook his head as he sat up to get out of bed. "Nothing. Go back to sleep."

I
reached out to touch his back, and he turned to face me. "Tristan, what
were you dreaming about?"

His
body sagged and he hung his head. "It wasn't a dream. I have nightmares. I
have since the accident. That's the reason I never stay after you fall asleep.
I thought I could do it tonight, but..."

I
listened as his voice sadly trailed off, so wanting to help fight whatever
demons he was dealing with. "Come back to bed. It'll be okay."

"Maybe
it would be better if I say in the other bedroom like I always do. They can get
pretty bad."

Sitting
up, I wrapped my arms around him and pressed my cheek to his back. "I wish
you wouldn't. I'm not going to be scared off by a few nightmares. If we're
going to be married, I have to know about even this kind of thing."

He
took another deep breath and quietly said, "Okay."

Easing
back onto the bed, he pushed his hands through his damp hair and closed his
eyes. I laid my head on his chest and curled up next to him, hoping my presence
helped to calm him. As he usually did when we laid in bed together, he twisted
my hair around his finger over and over until just before he feel asleep when
he stopped and whispered, "I love you, Nina. No matter what, don't ever
think I don't love you more than everything else in the world."

I
woke up feeling happy and refreshed, and for the first time ever, I was still
in his arms. I vaguely remembered him leaving during the night, and as I
focused my eyes, I saw why. On the table near the window sat a glass vase
containing an enormous bouquet of my favorite flowers, pink roses. They were a
soft pink color and there had to be three or four dozen of them. I inhaled
their soft scent and smiled at his thoughtfulness.

Tristan
roused next to me, waking up much easier than I did. As soon as his eyes were
open, he was wide awake, but there didn't seem to be any evidence of his
nightmare now. "I remembered they're your favorite."

Propping
myself up on my elbow, I wondered aloud, "Where did you get dozens of pink
roses in the middle of the night?"

My
question made him smile that gentle grin I loved to see. "I ordered them
yesterday. They were delivered first thing this morning."

I
shook my head in amazement. "Is there anything you don't think of?"

"Not
if I can help it. I guess if you'd have said no my plan with the roses might
have been for nothing, but a man should be prepared."

Nuzzling
his neck, I said, "Did you think I would say no?"

"You
can never be sure. If you had, I would have just had to work harder to convince
you that you should say yes."

I
climbed on top of him and straddled his hips. "I do love a man with a
plan."

"Speaking
of a plan, we need to decide on what we want to do about the wedding. For me,
I'm all for eloping. I can see us getting married on some island and spending
day after day in bed for weeks."

"Are
you okay after last night?" I wasn't sure how to approach the nightmare
he'd had.

Smiling,
he casually brushed the topic away. "It's nothing. I'm told it's quite
common for survivors to have them for a long time after an accident. I just
hope I didn't frighten you. I had hoped I could go one night without them,
especially since last night was..."

I
pressed my finger to his lips and shook my head. "You didn't frighten me.
I'd rather have you next to me, no matter what, than anywhere else." I
didn't believe for a second that it was nothing, like he said, but I hoped when
he felt he could talk about it that he'd know he could turn to me.

"Now
about that plan."

Rolling
my body, I slid up and down his quickly hardening cock. "Mmm...my sister
would probably like to be at my wedding."

"Then
we can fly her and anyone else to whatever island we choose. Jordan, your
sister, her entire family. Whoever you want. But I say we don't wait."

He
grabbed my ass and squeezed, exciting me. Sitting up straight on him, I slid
the sheet down to reveal the swollen head of his cock. Running my fingers over
the soft skin, I said, "Sounds like you're in a hurry. What's the rush? I
already live here with you and sleep in your bed."

Licking
his lips, he eased his hips off the bed, running his cock through my already
excited pussy. "I want you to be my wife. No hurry. I just don't see any
reason to wait."

I
looked down into his gorgeous face and for the life of me I couldn't find any
reason either. Running my fingertips along his hips, I grinned the smile of a
woman about to have great sex. "Then I don't either. Name the date and
I'll be there."

Tristan
focused his gaze as if he were deciding on an appropriate date and said,
"December 14. It's a Saturday. All we have to do is pick an island and
tell everyone we want there. But first, I can think of something better to
spend our time doing."

He
pulled me down on top of him and kissed me long and deep as he slid into my
body, filling me up. There were better things to do first.

I
had the urge for a swim, so I headed to the indoor pool for some relaxing laps
before I figured out how I was going to tell Jordan and Kim that in less than
two months I wanted them to join me on some island Tristan had in mind for our
wedding. I'd loved the pool since that first night he'd brought me here, but
I'd only enjoyed it once or twice the entire time I'd lived in the house. A
quick swim and then my plan was to have Jenson take me to Jordan's suite by late afternoon.

My
hot pink and black striped bikini from two summers ago still fit, thankfully
after all the dinners Tristan had treated me to, so I slipped it on in the
dressing room adjacent to the pool and got ready to jump in. The crystal blue
water felt so refreshing as I descended to the bottom at the deep end. As I
swam to the surface, though, I felt something strange on my legs and before I
knew it, I had no bikini bottoms on and they were floating six feet away on top
of the water.

It
was Jimmy Mitchell's pool party in sixth grade all over again, except no one
was there to see me, thank God.

I
swam my bare ass over to where the fabric bobbed up and down in the water and
grabbed my bottoms, happy that the flashback to that summer in middle school
was the most embarrassing part of my current mishap.

And
then I heard a man's voice and there was a fresh new humiliation. I turned
quickly in the water and saw Tristan's gardener before I raced flailing toward
the side of the pool to hide myself. I only needed to see his face for a second
to know he'd seen all that God had given me. Wriggling into the bikini bottoms,
I tried my best to be cool.

"Hi.
I didn't realize I wasn't alone. I'm Nina."

He
hung back away from the side of the pool and smiled a shy smile. Nearly as tall
as Tristan, he was thinner and less built but he looked like he was closer to
my age than his employer's. His blue eyes focused on me for a moment before he
realized he was staring. Looking away, he stammered an apology and finally
said, "I'm Blake."

With
my bottoms finally in their rightful place, I relaxed and moved away from the
wall slightly. "Hi Blake. I've seen you before in the summer."

He
turned his gaze back toward me and nodded. "I'm Mr. Stone's gardener. I
didn't know you were in here. I was just cutting through taking a short cut to
the back of the house. I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"It's
okay. No harm done. Did you work here before Tristan bought the house last
spring?"

A
look of confusion crossed his face and he looked over my head toward the back
wall. "I've worked here for almost two years, miss," he said in a far
icier tone than before. "It's nice to meet you, miss."

He
walked quickly toward the back door of the pool area before I could say another
word. I returned to swimming wondering what I'd done to obviously offend him
but with bigger things to think about. Ten laps later, I was ready to begin my
day.

I
climbed out of the pool and looked up to see Tristan standing on the deck next
to the chair where I'd left my things. Dressed in a suit, he didn't look like
he was there to swim. "Hey!" I said as I walked toward him to get my
towel. "I thought you left for work already. I would have asked you to
join me for a swim."

Tristan
silently stared at me as I dried off. "I see you met my gardener."

Knotting
the towel around me, I nodded. "Yeah. I think I offended him. Sorry about
that. I must have said something wrong."

"You
should be more worried about offending me."

His
tone was cold and matched the look in his eyes. Confused, I shook my head.
"What?"

"You
heard me."

I
couldn't help but feel defensive. He was upset about something, but I had no
idea what it was. Trying not to let things get blown out of proportion by
either of us, I stood on the tips of my toes and kissed him sweetly on the
lips. "I better get going. I have to tell Jordan and my sister the good
news."

As
I turned to walk away, Tristan caught me by the wrist. "Nina, you can't
imagine I appreciate my gardener seeing you swimming half naked, can you?"

"Oh!
That's what that sour face is all about." Then I looked around the room
realizing what he was saying. "Are you telling me you have cameras in
here?"

"You
didn't answer my question."

I
tugged my wrist from his hold. "You didn't answer mine."

"When
you and I began all this, I told you that I'd give you anything to make you
happy, but I expect certain things from the woman I'm with. One of them is that
other men don't see you like I do."

His
words came out like ice cold water dripping from his lips, but I saw beneath
his cold facade that he was boiling mad. Part of me was pissed at being
recorded doing something so innocent as swimming, and I questioned where else
cameras were placed in the house. But another part of me loved seeing him this
jealous over another man looking at me.