Page 64 of Nefarious
He grabbed his keys off the side table, walked outside to his car, and settled into the driver’s seat ready to listen to Margaret’s filthy imagination.
Val held the scotch in both hands, watching the ice clink from side to side as she sloshed it about. “And how is it you’re not seeing anyone?”
“I have tried.” Noelle blew a raspberry. “This industry doesn’t make it easy on a girl.”
“Tell me about it.” Val took another swallow, savoring the smoky backbone. “This is good scotch.”
“Yeah. Would you believe my father started me on the stuff? Now I only keep the best on hand. Would you like another?”
They sat in Noelle’s kitchen, having decided it wasn’t worth going through the motions of getting ready to go back out again. Noelle’s place wasn’t far from Val’s, so they ended up at her house. Noelle stood and brought the full bottle over. “Now it’s a party.” She held up her glass, and they clinked.
Val kicked off her heels and settled into her chair. “I can’t believe you and I weren’t better friends at R&M.”
“I didn’t recall that you had many friends. Except Dane, of course. And Geraldo.”
That was all Val needed to steer this ship the way she wanted. “Ugh. Geraldo. I don’t know how I didn’t see him for what he was sooner.”
Noelle looked into her glass and narrowed one eye. “Can I ask you something? You won’t laugh?”
“Yes. And no. I won’t laugh.”
Noelle shook her head, and her hair tumbled around her face. She’d taken it out of the tight twist an hour before. “No, I can’t. It would be a breach of confidence.”
Val pushed Noelle’s scotch glass toward her and said with a German accent. “Ve haf vays of making you talk.”
For Noelle’s great stock of scotch, she didn’t seem to have a habit of drinking it. And it was beginning to show.
Noelle wrinkled her nose and grimaced and bit her lip all at once, shame-faced, mustering the courage to do something she knew she shouldn’t, but that she really wanted to do anyway. “Okay. So Dane told me he’s in love with me. That’s ridiculous, isn’t it? Has he ever said anything like that to you?”
“Dane said that? That’s interesting. I’ve really only heard him profess his love for one other woman.”
“Not you, then?”
Val snorted rather than lie.
Noelle nearly whispered. “Was he really in love?”
“Oh, quite.” She gave Noelle what she thought was a gentle smile. “But the girl didn’t know what she had until too late.”
“Or maybe she did.” Noelle snickered.
Val didn’t laugh. “No, I think that girl came to regret her choices.”
“Do you think he got over her?”
“Possibly.” Val leaned in, confidentially. “But I think he’ll always harbor some feelings for her. I think he has a romantic notion that there can be a happily ever after.”
Noelle ran a finger around the rim of her glass. “Dane’s a romantic?”
“Hopeless.”
Noelle stared down at the table. “He’s just lying, right?” She lifted her eyes. “What if it’s some kind of emotional manipulation to get something from me. But why would he go to the trouble? Is it just because he likes a challenge?”
“Dane? Like a challenge?” Val laughed like it was a ridiculous idea. In fact, Dane loved a challenge. If Val had slept with Dane the first time he’d come onto her, their relationship would have been altogether different. “He might still carry a torch. But if you don’t respond to him, he’ll stop pestering soon enough. He won’t wait around forever. He has some sense of self preservation.” God, Noelle should see through this bullshit considering how long he’d pursued her in New York.
“So you think he means it?” Her eyes goggled. “I don’t really know what to think of him. I’d come to work here convinced I’d need to steer clear of him. And within the first month, he conned me into going on a date with him.” She smiled a wide, tipsy smile. “It was a great date. He knows how to impress a girl.” Now she frowned. “But I can’t tell if all that is him posturing, on his best behavior.” She swallowed the rest of her scotch. “Do you think I should give him a chance?”
Val’s eyebrow began to rise like the helium hula hoop at the trust exercise, and she stopped herself from giving everything away in one look. “Oh, I don’t know. What could it hurt?”
