Return of the Jerk (Sweet Life in Seattle, Book 2) (37 page)

Natalie takes a sip from her virgin drink, an ‘Atomic Cat.’ “I thought Fiona was interesting. Plus, she sent me the outline of a great marketing plan last night. She said it was free of charge. Payment for letting her stay at your condo.”

“She did?” Blair says with surprise.

“I’m curious to meet her, too.” Lindsay sits on the couch next to Natalie. One of Tori’s cats—Lita, a blonde tabby—comes over and rubs against her legs. “She sounds like a character.”

Both sisters are dressed casual in jeans, though Lindsay’s jeans are ripped and she definitely has more of a bohemian vibe. Natalie is short and curvy with long, straight blonde hair, while Lindsay is tall and slender with dark, wavy hair. They barely look like sisters, but Blair has noticed in profile they have the exact same nose.

Blair picks up her drink. “You haven’t seen how she treats everyone like a servant, though.”

“Why haven’t you kicked her out?” Lindsay reaches down to pet Lita. “I wouldn’t put up with that.”

Natalie reaches over to pet the cat, too. “Kick them both out. I don’t understand why you’re letting them stay there while you move in here. None of this makes any sense to me.”

Blair sighs. “I know it’s strange, but there’s more to it.”

She can see the way Natalie and Lindsay are both looking at her. Blair takes a deep breath and decides to tell them the truth about her marriage.

“So, he married you out of obligation?” Natalie asks, when Blair is finished explaining.

“Basically.”

The sisters are studying her. “So, where do things stand now?” Lindsay wants to know. “Are you still in love with him?”

“Yes.” Blair sighs. “Pitiful, I know.”

“That’s not pitiful,” Natalie says. “There’s no shame in loving someone. He’s an idiot for not appreciating you more.”

The front door suddenly opens. They all turn and watch as Tori and Fiona come inside. Tori bounces over with her usual sprightly energy, while Fiona saunters in, swinging her dark hair like she’s ready for the catwalk in Milan.

Fiona gets an excited grin on her face when she sees Blair. “There you are!”

“Hi, Fiona.”

Fiona comes over and positions herself so the whole room has to take notice of her. “I come with good news. Your torture is working!”

“My torture?” Blair asks.

“My
God
, I’ve never seen Nathan so miserable. Moving out and leaving him there was pure genius. I doubt even
I
could have thought of something so ruthless!”

Lindsay laughs with what sounds like approval.

Fiona comes over and takes a seat. She doesn’t seem to know how to behave and is acting overly excited toward everyone. Blair decides maybe it was nice of Tori to invite her after all, and with annoyance finds herself feeling sorry for her again.

Drinks are poured, snacks are dished out, and while all the women chat, Blair can’t stop thinking about Fiona’s comment, wondering if it’s really true.
Is Nathan really miserable because of me? I doubt it.

“Hey, if that marketing plan is payment for staying with me, why didn’t I get a copy?” Blair asks Fiona.

“Because I could tell Natalie is far more receptive to my ideas.” Fiona takes a sip from her drink, ‘Mountain Dew Me.’ “
She
listens.”

“Give me a break. You need to send me a copy.”

Fiona only sniffs and tosses her hair over her shoulder. “I’ll think about it.”

Blair grips her glass tighter and resists the urge to do something satisfying, like pour the contents on Fiona.

As the women are all talking, Lindsay announces that she’s been accepted into an artist residency program in Berlin, Germany.

“That’s amazing, congratulations!” Tori says, and there are murmurs of agreement around the room.

“The only bad thing is I’ll be leaving right after the baby is born.” Lindsay looks at her sister. “I feel like the timing is all wrong.”

Natalie shakes her head. “It’s fine. You have to take this.”

“I applied over a year ago,” Lindsay admits. “I was starting to doubt I’d even get in.”

The women all talk it over, and everyone agrees Lindsay should go to Berlin. That it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

A couple hours into their girls’ night, Fiona tells them all about her problems with Sachi. As everyone offers advice and opinions, Blair gets up to go to the bathroom. On the way back, she checks her phone and notices a voicemail from Nathan.

“Oh, my God.” Blair sucks in her breath, as she walks back into the living room. “Nathan says he’s calling about Mr. Maurice!” She shoots a look in Fiona’s direction. “Is there something wrong with my cat that you didn’t tell me?”

Fiona, who is on her second or possibly third cocktail by now, looks up at her slightly bleary-eyed. “The
cat?
Your fucking
cat?
” She shakes her head. “That cat is in
love
with Nathan.”

“Is Mr. Maurice okay?”

“Of course.”

Blair bites her lip. Mr. Maurice was the one thing she’s been feeling guilty about all week staying with Tori. She knew she couldn’t bring him along, though. He’d be miserable around all of Tori’s animals, especially her three dogs.

“I’m going to call him back.”

Everyone watches as Blair puts her phone to her ear. She waits while it rings then hears Nathan’s deep voice, “Blair, finally!”

“I just got your message. Is Mr. Maurice okay?”

“Didn’t mean to alarm you. He’s okay, except . . .” Nathan pauses and his voice goes soft. “Think he misses you.”

“Mr. Maurice misses me?”

Fiona lets out a laugh as she picks up a tortilla chip. “That cat couldn’t care less she’s gone. Mr. Maurice clearly prefers
men
.”

Lindsay and Natalie are both cracking up while Tori is watching Blair with concern. “I’m sure Mr. Maurice does miss her,” she tells the others.

Blair walks into the dining room with her phone so Nathan can’t hear them all talking.

“Trust me,” Fiona says, dipping her chip into the homemade salsa. “It’s not the
cat
who misses Blair.”

“Think you need to come home,” Nathan is telling her in earnest. “It’d be best all around. Especially for Mr. Maurice.”

“Mr. Maurice wants me to come home?” She feels torn. “I don’t know. Fiona says he’s fine.”

“Fiona? You going to listen to Fiona about this instead of me?”

“I guess I could come by and see him for myself.”

“Good idea. Why don’t you come over right now?”

“Right now? No, I can’t drive. I’ve been drinking a little.”

“That’s okay,” he says quickly. “I’ll come get you.”

“You will?”

“Yeah, definitely.”

Nathan tells her he’ll be over in a half hour. They hang up, and Blair doesn’t know what to think. “He’ll be here shortly,” she tells the others, walking back over to the couch. “I’m going to go check on my cat.”

Everybody is giving her a knowing look.

“He obviously wants to see you,” Lindsay says. “That’s what’s really going on.”

“I think she’s right,” Natalie agrees.

“Of course that’s it.” Fiona laughs. “That cat hasn’t even noticed Blair’s gone!”

“I’m sure that’s not true.” Tori shoots Fiona a quelling look. “But I agree with everyone. It sounds like my brother is making this whole thing up.”

Blair considers this. “You really think so?”

They all nod.

Blair changes into a green sundress that comes to right above the knees and a cream-colored cardigan sweater. She’s wearing her hair loose and long. Everyone agrees she should wear flip-flops and not sandals.

“You don’t want to look like you’re trying too hard,” Lindsay says.

“But the dress is perfect.” Fiona nods in agreement. “Men love skirts.” Everyone looks at her, but Fiona only shrugs. “Like I said, I
used
to date men.”

All the women are seated casually in a circle when Nathan arrives. He follows Tori into the living room after she answers the door.

“Hello.” He nods to the group, and they all murmur their greetings in return. He looks over at Blair. “Are you ready to go?”

She’s sitting on the couch, trying to appear nonchalant, though the sight of Nathan nearly makes her heart stop. He’s wearing his usual jeans with a fitted T-shirt and, as always, wears them extremely well. She can see part of the brass buckle on his leather belt. Those red and black sneakers. Blond hair tucked behind his ears.

When their eyes meet, Blair can’t stop the smile on her face. She just can’t help it.
It’s so good to see him.
He smiles when he sees her, too, his eyes roaming over her almost greedily.

Blair gets up and grabs her purse. Everyone is saying they hope Mr. Maurice is all right, though she can hear the humor in their voices. She hopes Nathan doesn’t hear it. Lindsay and Natalie make no bones about thoroughly checking him out as he stands there waiting for her.

“We’ll see you later,” she says as everyone watches them leave. They all wave goodbye with more knowing looks.

The Mustang is parked at the end of Tori’s driveway, right behind Lindsay’s red Mini Cooper, and the sight of it makes her happy.

“I’ve really missed Isadora,” Blair says, buckling herself into the passenger seat. She smiles at the car’s familiar red interior. It’s early evening and though it was sunny today, some clouds have moved in, and Blair wonders if she should have worn pants instead of a dress. Although, Nathan’s eyes keep lingering on her legs.

“I was surprised when you didn’t take her with you to Tori’s,” he says, climbing in beside her.

Blair doesn’t reply. She’s not sure why she didn’t take Isadora. Probably because Isadora belongs to Nathan.
He made that quite clear.

“So, what the hell was that back there anyway?” he asks, starting the engine. “Some kind of meeting?”

“No, we’re having a girls’ night.”

“Really? Felt more like a witches’ coven to me,” he mutters, backing out of the driveway.

Blair laughs. “You were being thoroughly dissected.”

“Yeah.” Nathan smirks. “I noticed that.”

They start driving toward Seattle, and they’re being overly polite with each other. Neither of them comments about the fight they had or Blair moving out. She asks how things are going with both his book and blog. Nathan tells her how he’s been helping out at Brody’s during the day and working on everything else at night.

“You’re at the garage all day? When do you sleep?”

He snorts. “Never. I have insomnia.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, had it since I was a kid.”

Blair takes this in, surprised to discover something about him she didn’t know.

“It’s what got me into writing in the first place,” he tells her. “I kept a journal and used to write in it at night when I couldn’t sleep.”

They keep driving, but he’s not headed toward her place and is going west instead.

“What are you doing? I thought you were taking me home to see Mr. Maurice.”

“In a little while. Figured we’d go to the park and walk around first. Hang out and talk.” He looks over at her. “That okay?”

“I guess. I’m worried about my cat, though. Tell me the truth, how is he?” She’s watching Nathan’s profile.

“Told you, Mr. Maurice misses you.”

Blair wonders if everyone was right and Nathan is making this whole thing up just to see her. She wants it to be true too much to trust it, though.

“Don’t worry. Other than that, he’s fine,” he continues talking. “Just gave him some tuna right before I left to come get you, so he’s fat and happy right now.”

Nathan drives them to Gasworks Park and finds a corner spot in the parking lot near the large gasworks structure. It’s a little breezy outside, and Blair buttons up her sweater, grateful she wore it. They head over to one of the walking paths that leads toward the water.

“So, how’s it going at Tori’s?” he asks as they leave the parking lot.

“It’s fine.”

Neither of them says anything more as they walk, though Blair senses something is on Nathan’s mind. It’s nearly dark out and the city is lit up like a box of jewels. This is one of her favorite vantage points to see Seattle.

Nathan suddenly breaks the silence. “Tori said you were out with some guy last night. Was it the dipshit?”

Blair nearly chokes on her own spit. “I . . . I’d rather not talk about it.”
Thanks a lot, Tori.

“Have you started seeing him again? Is that what this is all about?”

“What do you mean?”

“You moving out. Is it because of him?”

“No, of course not.” The wind is blowing her skirt around and she tries to tame it.

“Then what?” He stops walking and faces her, his expression intent. “Tell me.”

“It’s hard to put into words exactly.”

“Tell me anyway.”

Blair doesn’t know what to say.

“You still pissed off at me? Is that it?” Nathan lets out his breath. “Look, I’m sorry I got so angry about Isadora’s title. Just took me by surprise, is all.”

“No, I’m the one who should be sorry. I shouldn’t have gone through your stuff. That was wrong of me.”

“So, what the hell is happening here?”

“I don’t know.” Blair looks out at the view of the city. “I guess I just needed a break from things.”

He’s still watching her, and she can sense he’s bothered. When he speaks, there’s an odd note in his voice. “From
me?
That what you needed a break from?”

Blair turns back to him and is surprised to see the hurt in his eyes.

“Because I thought we were exploring something here,” he continues, his laser focus turned on, drilling into her. “Has that changed?”

“No, it hasn’t changed. I still want that.” Her breath catches. “I still want you
.
” Blair is amazed at her own words.
I can’t believe I said it!
The closest she’s ever come to admitting the truth to him.

“You do?” The hurt clears, and a grin pulls on his mouth as he reaches down for her hand. “I want you, too.”

His touch feels so good, Blair almost closes her eyes. Joy surges through her at his words. She hopes they mean the same thing hers do.

It’s fully dark outside and starting to sprinkle rain, so they head back to the car, holding hands. Once inside, though, Nathan doesn’t start the engine and instead leans back in his seat, grinning at her.