Disclosure of the Heart (The Heart Series) (17 page)

For the rest of the night, Juan Carlos was animated when talking with everyone else but a complete turd when he spoke with me. It was only when we were in the cab headed to my place that he let loose. “What did you and Adam talk about?”

“I don’t know…” There wasn’t a sentence I could relay that wouldn’t tip him off. Then I thought of my unlikely savior. “His girlfriend was there.”

“Uh huh.” He didn’t buy it.

It was an untenable situation. I couldn’t and shouldn’t tell him my every thought and word with Adam, but I hated lying. I took a sharp breath and said, “I love you, Juan Carlos, but can’t I be friends with Adam?”

“I love you, but I promise you he wants to be more than friends.” He gave me a side-glance and looked out the window. “And don’t pretend like you don’t know it.”

Everyone always said women had intuition, but men had the uncanny ability to sense when another man was horning in on his mate. I deflected again. “Felicity would have something to say about that.”

He clasped my hand in his. “I love you, I’ll fight for you, but I’m not going to be part of any kind of scandal.”

“Thanks, but neither am I.”
Because I will never let it get to that point…

“I think we should take a break for a bit.”

I blinked repeatedly, not believing what I was hearing. Juan Carlos was breaking up with me in a cab? I looked at the driver, who was talking at warp speed in Farsi on his phone. At least we had some privacy.

I was confused. “You just said you love me and want to fight for me.”

“I do, but I think you need some space.”

“So this is actually a break, not a break-up?”

“Yes.”

“All right.” My forehead furrowed. “If that’s what you want.” Now that it was being handed to me, I wasn’t sure if I wanted this newfound freedom.

He nodded, and with a quick flick of his wrist, he checked his watch. “I can’t spend the night tonight. My stuff is at Jeff’s, and I’ve got an early flight.”

“Okay,” I said, though I knew in my bones everything was far from okay with him. Yet despite the uneasiness, a wave of relief came over me. I wasn’t going to have to choose that night.

Chapter Ten

T
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, there was no better means for me to get my mind off my personal life than to head in to work. As I typed away in my quiet office, I heard my phone buzz with a text. It was Adam.

Morning, Nicki. How are you?

I smiled and replied.

Good morning. I’m at work. What are you up to?

His response made me jealous.

Reading the paper. Then working. Then playing football.

The life of a reporter was easier than mine, I grumbled to myself.

That sounds fun.

Then he proved Juan Carlos right.

Can I see you this week?

I typed with a smile on my face.

Check your calendar! We’re traveling starting Wednesday. We’ll see each other all the time.

It took him a moment to write back.

Smart-arse. You know what I meant.

I giggled aloud.

I know :) Let’s see how it goes. It’s a busy week.

I stared at my phone. Texting with Adam was much more fun than work.

BTW, you looked beautiful last night.

My hand went to my cheeks.

You’re making me blush.

Then he told me something he’d once said before, a long time ago.

Good. You’re even prettier when you blush.
Now crack on with your work.

Of course, any trip to the Midwest electoral battleground states for an American president was of the most critical importance. With the region’s aging industries of steel production, coal mining, and car manufacturing, the economy was fragile. I never got a moment to spare until the second night. I decided to call Adam on the hotel phone just to surprise him.

“Hello,” he said.

“Hi, Adam. It’s Nicki.”

“Well, hello. Why are you calling me on the hotel phone?”

“For kicks. Did I surprise you?”

“A little bit. Actually, it reminds me that we’re in the same building.”

“We are,” I said, looking around my room.

“Which floor are you on?”

“The twenty-second. And you?”

“I’m on the twentieth. We’re neighbors.”

“Not really. My neighbors are Secret Service snipers on either side of me.”

“Snipers? I never really thought about the president traveling with snipers.”

“Well, he does—in case they need to easily kill someone trying to kill him. You’re not supposed to see them, though.”

“That is the job of a sniper.” He laughed. “So should I be looking at the rooftops and belfries to find them?”

“Yeah, during the day when the president is outside, that’s a good place to start. Right now, you could just wander along the twenty-second floor. Both of those guys have the TV blaring in their rooms. They’d be easy to locate.”

“And so I could figure out that your room is the quiet one in between theirs?”

“Yeah…”

“I’m coming up, then.”

“What?” I panicked.

“Scared you, didn’t I?” He laughed.

“Maybe.”

“You have to admit it’s a bit frustrating we’re finally talking and even in the same building, but we’re not in the same room.”

“Yeah, but…” I giggled. “I don’t think being in a hotel room alone together is a good idea.”

“Now, why would that be? We would just talk…well, I would just talk. Considering your behavior the other night, I’d have to fend you off.”

“You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”

“No, I won’t.” He lowered his voice. “So you never told me what happened with old Juan Carlos.”

I thought about Juan Carlos’s warning of a scandal. I didn’t want to bring it up, so I kept it short and turned the tables. “We’re taking a little break. What about Felicity?” I chuckled. “I mean Lady Felicity.”

“Now, be nice…”

“You’ve got to be kidding me after the crap she said to me.”

“You don’t need to be angry with her. I’m angry enough for both of us, and I gave her a right bollocking.”

“So did you kiss and make up?” I hit my hand on my forehead. I didn’t want an answer.

“Not really.” He cleared his throat. “Do you actually want to talk about this?”

“Not really,” I muttered.

“Seriously, Nicki, I want to see you again. When can we spend some time together? Next weekend?”

“Um, I’d like that, but my dad visits next weekend.”

“That’s nice.”

“Yeah, he’s coming for a visit. He arrives on Friday morning and leaves Sunday afternoon.”

“Will you two be going out with Juan Carlos?”

“No.” I sighed. “Given what’s going on with Juan Carlos and me right now, I don’t think it’s appropriate to go out with my dad together. There’d just be too much expectation around it.”

“Ah. Okay.”

Somehow his mild manner encouraged me to explain more. “It’s weird, you know. I never understood until now how people could be separated. I never got how that worked. I always thought you were either in a relationship or out of one—on or off. Now that I’m in the middle, I understand a little more. It’s not a comfortable place. No one wants to be there. Things aren’t working. But you don’t want to do anything drastic yet, so you feel like you’re just buying time until you can make a decision.”

“Er. Yeah.”

“Oh God, Adam. I’m sorry. I’m rambling.”

“No. No need to apologize. Actually, I was in a similar situation with Muff.”

“Muff? Really?”

“My ex-girlfriend. We were together for a few years. The difference here is that you’ve been honest with Juan Carlos. You asked for time apart while still being together. I didn’t ask with Muff. I just took the time without telling her why.”

“It was actually more of a mutual decision between Juan Carlos and me, and we sort of glossed over why, although your name came up.”

“In a bad way?”

I really didn’t want to dwell on Juan Carlos. “Tell me more about this Muff person.”

“Not much to say. She really wanted to get married. I didn’t. It was an ugly break-up.”

“And your parents wanted you to get married?”

“Dad was eager for me to marry her. But my mum, being a counselor, always said she wanted what I wanted. She’s good that way.”

“That must’ve been difficult with your dad.”

“It was.”

I did feel sorry for Adam’s strained relationship with his father. I didn’t want to make him sad about it, though, so I asked, “You really dated a woman named Muff?”

“It’s a family nickname. Her real name is Mary.”

“In America, ‘muff’ is slang.”

“Now, Nicki, what’s it slang for?”

“You figure it out.” I giggled.

“I’d like to.”

“And what do you mean by that?”

“I suppose it’s not fair for me to say things like that to you.” He was smug. “I don’t want to be a tease.”

“Oh God. Can we move on?”

“Of course. So how was today?”

“It sucked. The schedule was a disaster. The meetings went poorly. Logan was cranky. And I spent most of my day responding to an idiot congressman who likened Logan to friggin’ Fidel Castro for bailing out the US automakers.”

“Well, when I think of Communists, I definitely think of rabid free-traders like Logan.”

“I know. It’s ridiculous. A giant portion of the American economy is linked to car manufacturing. Any president would bail them out in some way.”

“Other than your boss being compared to a crazy Communist dictator, did anything good happen today?”

“I got to talk to you,” I said with a smile.

“That is a good thing. So next weekend…when does your father leave?”

“I could see you Sunday afternoon.”

“Good. Come and see me after my football match. David will be there. After the game, we all go out as a group. They’re nice blokes, and it’s such a large group you shouldn’t worry about us being seen out together.”

It sounded like fun and not a heavy date in public. “Should I bring Lisa?” She’d been extraordinarily tight-lipped about David, only saying he was a good kisser and an even better bullshit artist.

“I’m sure David would like that. He says he’s chipping away at her. I’m willing to bet he’s already asked her out.”

“I bet she’s said no, too. I’ll bring her along, though.”

“Meet us at the pitch. We play at the polo fields on the Mall near the tidal basin. Do you know where that is?”

“Yeah. I’ve been there once before when Juan Carlos played a game.”

“JC plays football?”

“Occasionally.”

“Tosser. He’s probably lousy.”

“No, he isn’t for your information.” His jealousy was amusing. “And what do you mean by ‘tosser’? He doesn’t use his hands when he plays.”

Adam snickered, which let me know I’d said something ridiculous. “Never mind,” he said. “You should get some sleep. I’d offer to tuck you in, but…”

“Good night, Adam.”

“Night, Nicki.”