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I grinned. “Is that bad?”
“For you, it is.” He reached over to cover my hand with his own. “Sorry, but I don’t think you’re mature enough to handle the way a man like Paul uses women.”
I snatched my hand back and scowled. “Thanks for lowering my self-esteem.”
He moved around the table and placed his arm around my shoulder. “No, Nadia. I’m your oldest friend. I know you, and I didn’t mean to hurt you, but you haven’t dated enough men to know a player’s game. You’ll think you’re in love when all he wants is to fuck you for a while and move on. I mean, look what happened to your mom. She got used and abused.”
I glared at Xander, and his lips formed an O. “Shit, I’m sorry I brought her up. That was low—”
“Just forget it,” I snapped and took a deep breath. “Tell me about your upcoming presentation.”
He launched into his latest collection of hats as I left my body and watched myself chat with him. My mind tried to get past the pain that rose at being reminded of how my birth mom had been thrown away by my birth dad after finding out about me. Xander and I split a cab back to the dorms. He was being kind, but he’d still hurt me.
The thing was, I suspected Paul Crane wanted something from me. I wasn’t sure what, but regardless, I hoped to see him again.
When I checked my bank account, I winced. After sending money to Mom and going out, I was down to three hundreddollars to last until my next tiny paycheck from food service in two weeks.
What was I going to do? The worst part was knowing that I could be letting my parents down. But at this point, all I could do was wait and see what comes of Lollipop and pray an alternate job came along.
I took a shower, hoping it would help me rest. The day had been a long and confusing one, and my mind was still wired from all that had transpired. Thankfully, I went straight to sleep. No doubt all that dancing with Xander helped.
When I woke at nine, I decided to return Paul’s call. To my surprise, he answered.
“Nadia,” he said with a drawl.
I giggled. “Hello, Mr. Crane. You called me?” My voice rose several octaves.
“Call me Paul, and yes, I did. So, what have you been up to since yesterday?”
“The restaurant inspired me, so I went to the lab and drew for hours. I don’t know if my sketches will develop into something, but I enjoyed it. Thank you.”
“I’m happy to hear that, and I’d like to see your designs. I was also inspired yesterday. I started the day writing music.” The joy in his voice was evident, and I smiled even though he couldn’t see me. “Do you enjoy classical music?”
“Not particularly. I’m old-school. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Paul McCartney and Wings. Oh no. I mean, classical is wonderful music. I know you’re a classical pianist, and I put my foot in it. It’s early,” I stammered and hit the side of my head.
He chuckled. “You were honest. I’ll have to remember to call you early then,” he said in an amused tone. A thrill went down my spine.Paul Crane plans to call me again.
“I like old music, too. I’m named after Paul McCartney.”
“That’s cool. My birth mom loved rock music.” I immediately covered my mouth. The interviews, that psychiatrist, and Xander put her at the forefront of my mind when I hadn’t thought of her in years.
“I read your essay about that,” he said.
He was much more involved in the surrogacy agency than I suspected. Did he read them after he dropped me off?
I propped my pillow behind my back and stretched my feet out on the bed. “Oh yeah, you probably know more about me than I’d tell anyone.”
“I hope that’s okay, Nadia. We go over all candidates before they’re invited to a New Solutions interview. However, I also background check everyone in my orbit. In my experience, I have to be selective and cautious.”
“I don’t mind. It skips the small talk.” He laughed with me.
“I forgot. I went to my first college party, and I danced around. Oh, I have a photo.”
I chose the one where Xander had me posing with the bondage tape and bikini and sent it. Did he find me attractive?Oh. My. God.
I just sent Paul Crane a picture of me in a sexy bikini.
What the hell had I been thinking?
