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“I’m not sleeping with him, for Christ’s sake.” I roll my eyes. “I just met him.”
“Keep it that way. Trust me, Em. Don’t make the same mistakes I made. Don’t end up like me.”
“Is it so bad where you are?” I ask him. “You’re still young, good-looking. Not all women are like her.”
I don’t have to say who I’m talking about. He knows.
Something sad crosses his expression, but he smiles nonetheless. “I’m aware of that. The problem is, we can’t tell the good from the bad. Especially when you’re blinded by love. Giving someone your heart is giving them the power to destroy it. No one should have that much power over you. Ever.”
I let that sink in. He gave my mother the power to destroy his heart. When she left, he believed she’d done just that. Of course, she hadn’t. She merely injured him. If he’d been as fully obliterated as he thinks, he wouldn’t have managed to pull through. To take care of me and love me.
But nothing I say will ever change his mind. I need to prove to him with actions that the heart survives anything. And love is always worth the risk.
“Don’t worry, Dad.” I push off the desk and go to him. Bringing my arms around his shoulders, I kiss the top of his head, then press my cheek to it. “The only man I’ll ever love is you.”
He places his hand over mine and squeezes. “I just don’t want you to suffer, Em. You’re all I’ve got left. I have to protect you.”
“I know.”
When I leave the office, he seems satisfied with himself. He reminded me to guard my heart, as he’s done for years.
I’ve always heeded his advice. Or I believed I had. Perhaps I just never met anyone who made me want to test his theory.
Until tonight.
The first thing I do when I step back into the gallery is search for him. Noah. God, even his name is sexy to me.
I move through the crowd, scanning the room for any sign of him. Wishing I could peer into those warm gold pools just one more time. Maybe reach in this time, touch the bottom and see what the dark shadows are made of.
But he’s no longer here. He said he was leaving, but I’d hoped he’d changed his mind.
Disappointed, I stand at the doorway beside our security guard, Marty.
“You expectin’ more people to show?” he asks. “It’s kinda late now.”
I rub my palms over my bare arms to dispel the chill of the night as I glance up and down Sinatra Drive. “No. Just needed a bit of fresh air.”
“Too stuffy in there for ya?” He scrunches his nose as he tosses his chin toward the crowd inside. “Theymake it stuffy.”
I offer him a smile I don’t feel. “I agree.”
“Hey,” he says with concern lacing his tone. “What’s the matter, kid? Why you look so sad?”
“I don’t know,” I lie.
Because the truth is, I do know what’s wrong with me. Noah left.
I tell myself it’s pointless anyway. I’m about to leave the country for three months. Still, I can’t deny the disappointment.
After I go back in, I finish out the night, but all the while, my thoughts remain on the man who, in five minutes, left a mark on my brain. It was the rush. A sort of high I’ve never experienced before and want to again.
When the exhibition ends, my father drives us the few blocks it takes to get to the house. Although we’d normally walk such a short distance during the day, crime has been on the rise. Especially at night.
“Do you want to stay up and watch a movie?” Dad asks.
Shaking my head, I say, “I need to go over my bags again. Just in case I’ve missed anything.”
“They have stores in Paris.”
