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Mulberry flushed, small pink spots appearing on her pale cheeks. “She’s going to be so mad at me, thinking I was keeping you a secret.”
“Do you normally keep secrets?” He watched her swallow hard, her fingers curl.
Nick wanted to shake her and make her talk to him, but he knew she was hurting, even if she pretended she wasn’t.
“Sometimes, when I have to.”
“And why do you have to?” He leaned forward, stopping himself from taking her slender fingers in his hand.
She laughed, her features changing to something soft and beautiful. Nick shook his hand and smiled ruefully.
“Okay, dumb question. But I do think we need to work on our back story.”
Mulberry nodded. “I came to Vancouver to see my mom film this show, but I do charity work with Growing Threads. They are a sustainable clothing line giving half their profits to charity.”
“How generous of them,” he said dryly.
“You’re against charity?” Mulberry took the plate, brushing by him, striding into the living room. Her floral scent teased his nostrils.
She leaned back against the couch, stretching out those gorgeous legs.
Feeling like some kind of forlorn puppy dog, he followed her.
“No,” Nick perched on the end of the couch. “I’m cynical of how much they actually help.”
“Because you know everything?” Incredulousness rang clear in her tone.
“No, because I watched people grandstand my whole life.” He wanted to be done with this conversation. “Fashion is not my thing. So I couldn’t meet you there. Where else?”
Mulberry shrugged. “When I was in Vancouver for the launch of the bag, that’s the last time I saw you. I went to the Ina Grott concert, but I guess girly hip hop isn’t your thing. I went with Emma and a group of friends. That guy with the shaved head and other bodyguards were on my details then. You stomped off during the day after I left the Growing Threads offices.”
Nick rubbed the stubble on his face and glared at her. “You didn’t listen. I told you to get in the car, and I’d drive you to the hotel as arranged, and you told me—“
“To go away,” Mulberry hugged her knees, and man did she ever look young.
Too damn young for the thoughts he had racing through his mind.
Dirty thoughts, like how he wanted her legs around his neck. How he wanted to feel the weight of her breasts in his hands. “I ended up going with that woman and another guy.”
Nick curled his lip, remembering.
He felt slightly embarrassed that he couldn’t get her in the car. If it was a high-risk situation, anything other than basically babysitting, he would have done whatever was necessary to get her in that vehicle.
But Jeanette and Finn were the backups because it wasn’t long after the kidnapping and Jordan’s death, and Axis Management was on edge.
“Why did you tell me to go away?” His tongue felt thick in getting the words out.
Mulberry looked away. “I just needed space.”
It had been an unseasonably hot day in September, and he’d stood waiting outside the charity’s building. When she came out, she looked upset, tears streaking down her cheeks.
He grabbed her arm and asked if she was okay.
He glanced at her now, huddled into herself on the couch, her face between her knees.
She looked up as he moved, sitting on the table across from her.
“Mulberry, you have chosen the course here. It’s my job to keep you safe, and I promise I will do that. But I need to know if something could be a threat.”
