Unfinished Muse (25 page)

When my clothes were dry—I had a much
smaller load than she did—I thanked her for the laundry detergent,
gathered my folded gym clothes, and left. If I’d done things right,
Missy would be back to work on the scrapbook. If not, I’d think of
something new tomorrow.

Because I still had Mark left to badger. And
he’d been the most difficult of the three from the beginning.

~*~

By the time I was finished with Missy, the day was
nearly over. Now that I knew I was supposed to have written
permission to keep my stuff home over night, I figured it was best
to drop it off before I tackled a heart-to-heart with Mark. The
pass Polly had given me was only for the weekend.

The lobby was kind of crowded, since most
people were heading home, but I was going up, and most people were
coming down, so the elevator was empty when I stepped in. As the
doors closed, a blond head that looked familiar bobbed above the
crowd out in the lobby. The man stopped and turned, and my breath
caught in my throat. The doors closed before I got a good look.

I rubbed my eyes as I rode to the fifth
floor. I couldn’t have seen Freddy. That would be too weird. I’d
never seen him here before. Was he related to a god, too? Could he
have hit rock bottom on the loser scale? If so, was that my
fault?

The doors opened, and I headed into the
office, still arguing with myself. It couldn’t have been Freddy.
Surely I’d have seen him before, especially since, coming from
Topeka, he’d be using the same portal into the building that I
used. I hadn’t seen his car in front of the abandoned warehouse
where I parked every day.

I hung my belt under my name and placed the
bottle of bubbles in the supply closet.

Didn’t I have a moment in Maenads when I’d
thought I saw Freddy at the other end of the bar? Was I losing my
mind? Was I obsessed with my ex?

Had I made a mistake breaking up with
him?

I didn’t see Freddy when I went out through
the lobby, nor did I see a guy who
looked
like Freddy. Mine
was the only car parked outside the building.

When I got home, I was still mulling over
the possibility that Freddy was working at Mt. Olympus. The problem
had such a deep hold on me, I walked right past Mark and into my
house. I didn’t even notice him.

Phyllis, however, had seen us both. “Wynter,
how could you not stop? He’s been sitting on his front step waiting
for you for over an hour.”

“What?” I peered out the window. Sure
enough, Mark was sitting on his porch, looking a little forlorn,
and holding a bottle of wine and a bouquet of flowers. “What makes
you think it was me he was waiting for?”

She flapped a leaf at me. “He was looking
right at you and tried to get your attention.”

I frowned at her, but stuck my head out the
door anyway. “Hey. I didn’t see you out there.” I stepped outside.
“You okay?”

His pout turned into a smile. He pulled
himself up and held up the flowers and wine. “I owe you an
apology.”

I shook my head. “For what?”

He crossed the courtyard and handed me a
bouquet of purple irises and fat yellow tulips. “I was short with
you last night, and I nearly flashed you my junk this morning
before kicking you out.” He looked ashamed. “I haven’t been very
neighborly.”

I cradled the gorgeous flowers in my arms
and smiled at him, still shaking my head. “Totally my fault. I’ve
been too nosy.” I eyed the bottle of wine he still had. “I don’t
suppose you’d want to come inside with that and we can both be more
neighborly.”

I wasn’t even sure what that meant. I hoped
he didn’t take it to mean I was inviting him in for sex—or worse—a
date.

“That would be perfect.” He held the door
open and followed me inside.

I handed him two glasses and a corkscrew so
he could handle the wine while I put the flowers in water. With the
flowers in a tall vase in the center of the table, we each grabbed
a glass and sat in my kitchen like old friends and not awkward
acquaintances.

We talked about a lot of things during our
first glass—Mrs. Terwilliger’s latest tirade about the volume of
everyone’s televisions after 10 PM. Construction on the turnpike.
And whether I actually had any friends.

I hadn’t been expecting that one.

“Seriously,” he said. “In all the time
you’ve been here, I’ve never seen a single person, other than you,
walk through that door.” He finished his last sip and refilled both
our glasses. “You must have a boyfriend because…” He waved his hand
at me. “Well, look at you. Yet, I’ve never seen you bring anyone
home.”

I chuckled at him and gave him a long look.
“So, are you asking me if I have a boyfriend? Is that what this is
about?”

He shrugged. “That wasn’t my intention, but
sure.”

I twirled the stem of my glass between my
fingers. “I’ve been single for, oh, about three weeks or so.”

“Oh. Well.” He took a nervous swig. “I’m
sorry. I hope it wasn’t a tough breakup.”

I sighed. “No. Not especially. Pretty
typical. I’m not so good at the long-term thing. Probably tougher
on him than it was on me, since I’m the one who pulled the plug.” I
neglected to tell him I was having ex-boyfriend hallucinations.

“Gotcha.” He sat in silence for a moment,
running his fingers over the rim of his glass. “Want to get a
pizza?”

~*~

We were halfway through a large with pepperoni,
sausage, and extra cheese, and already into our second bottle of
wine, when his project finally came up. We’d moved to the living
room and sat on opposite ends of the couch.

“I just feel like such a chump,” he said.
“The guy gave me this huge sob story about his little girl having
leukemia and wanting to do something special for her. I gave him a
really cheap price for my design expertise and agreed to build it
myself, too. That way, I could control costs and keep it super
cheap for him.”

I frowned. “Well, what’s wrong with that?
I’m sure he’s got a lot of hospital bills to pay, right? And it’s a
nice thing to do for a sick little girl. That doesn’t make you a
chump.”

He sat with his head hanging down, staring
at an uneaten crust on his plate. When he looked up at me, his hair
fell over one eye. The other eye looked so sad. “I just found out
the guy scammed me.”

I gasped. “Not uh.”

He nodded. “Ya huh. I ran into this guy in
the hardware store. We got to talking, and he said he’d been
through the same exact thing with my client. Made-up daughter with
leukemia, awesome playground for cheap, then, apparently, Pete
turns around and sells the house for a profit. I’m not helping a
little girl. I’m helping a scumbag flip a house.”

My heart sank. “No. I can’t believe that.”
The pizza I was chewing lost all its taste. “Did you call him?
Double check?”

He shook his head, and I wanted to push that
hair out of his face.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a
black leather wallet. “Here.” He handed me a business card. “That’s
the guy I met in the store.”

The card felt thin and flimsy, as if it had
been printed on a home computer. “Did you check him out?”

“He’s got a business card.”

I stared at him. Nobody was this sweet,
gullible and naïve, were they? I let out a long sigh. “Let’s see
what we can find out before you take a side, okay?”

I ran into my room and grabbed my laptop.
When I returned, he was refilling our glasses. I took a sip, then
settled in to boot up and see what I could find out. If my client’s
project was a scam, maybe somebody up in the Fates department was
being a dick. Somebody should know about that. I suspected,
however, that something else was going on.

First I searched for the Dwight McDougal
from the business card. I was not surprised to find nothing on him.
Not even a Facebook page. Mark’s client, however, was easy to find.
He
and
his adorable little girl were in the paper.

I turned the laptop around so Mark could see
the screen. “Is that your client?”

His eyes widened. “Yes. He does have a
little girl.”

I nodded and closed the laptop. “And she’s
pretty sick, too.”

“Wow. I don’t know what to say.” He looked
horrified. “I screwed up.”

“Why on Earth would you believe a random guy
in the hardware store over your client, then not verify it?” I
touched the back of his hand.

He looked so intelligent. In fact, I
knew
he was intelligent. This made no sense.

“I’m an idiot. I’ve been taken for a ride
before.” He shook his head. “I didn’t want to look stupid a second
time, so I guess I jumped to conclusions.” He ran his hand through
his hair, and his face looked pale. “Holy shit. I nearly screwed up
that kid’s birthday.”

I understood that he was focused on the
client and trying to get things back on track. But I had a more
important concern he didn’t seem to be worried about. “Who the hell
was the guy in the hardware store, then?”

The question seemed to startle him. “I have
no idea. Why would he try to interfere like that? Why would anybody
care?”

I stared at the card in my hand, turning it
over and over. “What did he look like?”

Mark shrugged. “I don’t know. Like any guy.
A little taller than me—maybe six-two. Blond hair, short on the
sides, kind of spikey on top. Blue eyes, I think. Nothing really
memorable about him.”

My stomach dropped, and I tried to keep my
face neutral. It had to be a coincidence. That description could
apply to just about anybody. I was being paranoid.

There was no way Freddy was hijacking my
clients.

Chapter 21

I didn’t see Freddy at work the next morning, though
I didn’t expect to. I still thought he had nothing to do with any
of this and I was making connections where there weren’t any. That
was the reasonable explanation.

Rick, however, made damn sure I saw him. He
sat in the lobby for me and hopped up as I walked by. “Hey. Thought
I’d try to catch you on the way in so we could get some
coffee.”

I stopped and counted to five in my head.
This was a problem I couldn’t put off. I would have to deal with
it. But it was also a problem that smelled like an invitation to a
sweaty, loud, life-changing night. It was a problem wearing a thick
layer of guy-liner and a pirate costume. His eyes today were brown,
as was his normally blond hair. The hopeful quiver of his lower lip
made me want to press my mouth against it and see if it tasted like
a cinnamon latte.

This would take every bit of resolve I had
in my body to set things right and not make them worse.

I nodded. “Okay. Coffee. But I have to be
quick. I’ve got a lot going on.”

His worried face relaxed into a grin. “I’ll
take it.”

We rode the elevator to the second floor in
silence. The presence of so many other people—and a small sphinx
that smelled a little like a wet skunk—made it less awkward than it
might have been. When the doors opened, we were the only ones who
stepped out on that floor, so we were alone. The pressure and
warmth of his hand against the small of my back was both familiar
and troubling.

He ordered a cinnamon latte for each of us
again, and we took them to the table in the corner we’d used
before.

This time, the silence was definitely
awkward. He looked incredible. He smelled fantastic. He looked at
me like he really liked me. A lot. A guy who looks at a girl like
that is likely to treat her like a princess.

But I wasn’t ready. It was too much too
fast.

I took a deep breath and let it out. “Look,”
I said, not meeting his eyes. “I really like you. In fact, maybe I
like you a little too much.”

He touched my chin and raised it so I would
make eye contact. “I don’t understand why that’s a bad thing.”

I took a gulp of coffee and burned my mouth.
“It wouldn’t be if I’d met you later. But I just got out of a
relationship. I mean
just
got out.”

He raised his eyebrows. “You still have
feelings for this guy?”

I shook my head. “Well, no.” I couldn’t
possibly tell him I kept seeing my ex pop up in unlikely placed.
“But I’m not…” I trailed off, thinking about how ridiculous and
impossible it would be for Freddy to have been the guy in the
hardware store trying to sabotage Mark’s project.

“You’re not ready?” Rick’s voice was gentle.
“I didn’t mean to rush you into anything. I can back off until
you’re more comfortable.”

I gave him a weak, worried smile. “You’re
not mad?”

He leaned forward and tapped his paper cup
against mine. “I’ve got all the time in the world.”

Rick agreed to give me time, then said
something about being out of time himself and ran out the door. One
of his eyes had turned blue, and blond streaks had appeared on the
top of his head.

As I watched him go, I wondered for the
first time what would happen if his costume ran out in front of me.
Would he be naked? Was he really that good looking?

In the end, I was more confused and
distressed than I’d been before I’d had coffee with Rick. But I did
know I’d done the right thing. Somehow, I wasn’t done with Freddy
yet. A new boyfriend wasn’t in the cards until I sorted myself out
first. In fact, most of the trouble I’d had with men in my life was
because I jumped into relationships too fast.

I needed to figure out how to handle Wynter
before I could take another stab at having a boyfriend.

Having figured out this deep, spiritual
truth, I waltzed into the office with a little more confidence than
I’d had before. Dave’s leer and Jeremy’s ugly smirk barely touched
me as I squeezed past them in the hallway. I grabbed my gear,
dropped a framed picture of my mom on my desk, and squeezed past
the Ass-clown Brothers on my way out.

I had more important problems on my plate
than a couple of mouth breathers who resented their inability to
get laid.