Chapter 21
“Hi,” Nikki said as
Derek slipped into a chair next to her.
Marco smiled slyly at
him, which Nikki caught. Derek actually turned red in the face, and
Nikki’s stomach did one of those swan dives only Olympic divers
were meant to do.
Simon quickly ordered
his brother a drink. Nikki overheard him say to Marco, “Get some
alcohol in him, loosen him up.”
“It is such a shame
we can’t get him to Guru Sansibaba. He could let go of all of those
intimacy issues the past has created for him.”
Nikki turned and
glared at them.
“Don’t you two have
plans or something? This is your town,”
Derek said.
“Sure, sure, sure. Of
course we do,” Simon replied. “Maybe we could all get together
later for dessert or a drink or something fun like that. I’ll have
my cell on.”
He winked at Nikki,
who wanted to deck him.
Marco leaned in and
gave her a kiss on the cheek. “You be careful, Bellisima.”
She wasn’t certain if
he meant be careful of getting her heart trampled on, be careful of
having too good of a time, or be careful of the bad guy or guys out
there who wanted her to stop playing amateur sleuth.
The boys
teeter-tottered away and an awkward silence ensued between Nikki
and Derek.
“You decided to
come,” she said.
“I did. I, uh,
actually have some accounts here that could use some
attention.”
“I could’ve handled
that for you.” She shrank back a bit.
“I know. I thought
personal attention from me was needed.”
He’d come here for
business and not at her behest. This man caused her nothing but
confusion and, to be honest, it was getting tiring.
“Right.”
“Don’t get me wrong.
I’m sorry, Nikki. I also, I mean I really came up here to talk to
you. The business is a side thing. A good excuse to take off for
the weekend.”
Good excuse. Well, excuse me.
“I felt bad about the
other night. I was rude.”
“It’s not a big deal.
I do wish you would’ve let me explain.”
He shook his head.
“There’s no need. It’s none of my business why you canceled dinner
and what you did with your time.”
“Maybe not, but I
think you thought I was out with Andrés, and I
wasn’t.”
She could tell he
wanted to ask her more by the way he shifted on his bar stool and
casually sipped his drink, one eye trained on her.
“I was out with
Deirdre Dupree. I’d run into her earlier that day in Sonoma Square.
She was distressed over Susan Jennings’s murder. She once had a
thing for Kristof, and so I suggested we meet for dinner. At the
moment I was caught up in her drama and I wasn’t thinking about the
fact that we already had plans. I’m sorry about that.”
He set down the
mojito. “I would’ve understood that.”
“You didn’t give me a
chance to explain.”
“I guess I didn’t.
Can I ask you, if you were with Deirdre, how is it that you came
home with Andrés?”
Cough it up. It was
shameful to her to have to tell Derek this. “Honestly, I drank too
much over dinner, and he called me while I was at dinner. I knew
that getting a cab that late over in Sonoma might be difficult. I
told him my predicament and he came to get me.”
“You could’ve called
me. I would’ve come.”
“I was embarrassed.
You’re my boss. I didn’t want to bother you so late. Besides, I
thought maybe you’d be miffed at me for canceling dinner,
especially since it was supposed to originally be a business
dinner, and then going out with Deirdre.”
He laughed. “Nikki,
what kind of guy do you think I am? I’m not an ass. We’ve all had
too much to drink when we shouldn’t have. At least you had the
smarts to get a ride. I only wish you’d called me. Boss or not, I’m
also your friend and I would’ve understood. But I’m glad that you
and Andrés are such good friends, that you were able to turn to
him.” He took another sip of his drink. After setting it down he
asked, “So are you two seeing each other, you know,
dating?”
“No. We’re not
dating. I told you that the other night, and it still stands. We
are not dating. I am spending more time
with him lately because of Isabel’s situation. He needs a friend
right now.”
“You don’t think she
did it, do you?”
“No way. I know
Isabel. She’s got a good heart and wouldn’t hurt
anyone.”
“Are you snooping
around in all of this, Nikki? Is that the reason for your dinner
with Deirdre? I never knew you two were close. Not to mention, what
about your sudden trip here? Is there some lead you’re following?”
“Do you really want to know?”
“Yes, I do. At least,
I think do.”
“Fine. I’ll tell you,
but over dinner. My treat. That’s what we agreed to, and since I
already explained myself about the
other night and I was supposed to do that over dinner, I think I
still owe you dinner. Besides, didn’t you tell me that there was
something you wanted to discuss with me?”
He hesitated for a
moment. “Yes, there is.”
“Shouldn’t I change?”
she asked. She was still wearing the turtleneck and jeans from
early that morning.
“You look
great.”
After so many hours
and a rough day, she doubted it, but what the hell? The way he said
it to her, Nikki couldn’t help but believe him. Besides there was
the plus that he couldn’t see the bad scrape on her arm. If he did,
she knew that he’d have questions and she also knew that he
wouldn’t like the answers.
They headed out the
lobby doors and caught a cab. With Derek at her side Nikki wasn’t
looking over her shoulder like she had been earlier. But, she
refused to entertain the thought that Isabel could truly be the
killer as Simon and Marco had suggested. Still, the suggestion did
nag at her, as well as the idea that maybe someone was still watching her.