Love Me to Death (10 page)

“Oh yes, this is good stuff. You know your food, Ned, I give you that even if you need a foreign translator just to order it.” She laughs. I’m getting used to the pleasure that sound gives me.

“So, tell me about your work, I’m curious.”

“I design rings and sell them in volume to different companies. I love it,” she says before taking in another forkful of her meal.

“I never see you wearing any.”

“They’re expensive; I very rarely wear my own designs.”

“What made you get into it?” I ask with genuine interest.

“I don’t know, I guess I’ve just always loved rings since I was a kid. I used to collect the ones I got in my girly magazines and then as I got older I started to convince my mom and dad to buy me better ones. It was a hobby at first; I was building a collection but I could never find exactly what I wanted. Then one day it dawned on me that the only way I could get exactly what I desired was if I made it myself. The rest is history.” I can see the sparkle in her eyes as she speaks.

“I’m guessing you’ve done pretty damn well based on the size of your penthouse?”

She laughs.

“I’ve been blessed with a very good career, but it’s just money. I can’t take it where I’m going, can I?” She chuckles. I hate hearing those words. I don’t want to go there so I don’t.

“Do any celebrities wear your pieces?”

“Yes, quite a few; that’s how I get a lot of my rings sold. They are like walking billboards for me. People see their favorite celebrity wearing one of my pieces and suddenly my rings are flying off the shelves.”

“Sounds awesome, so do you have some sort of factory where they’re made?”

“I have five: two in the US, one in the UK, one in Switzerland, and another in India.”

“You’ve done pretty well for yourself, Ned. I’m proud.”

“I have a great team.”

“And I’m pretty sure
they
have a great boss. I know I do.” I laugh.

“Smooth, are you looking for a pay rise?”

“Maybe, is it working?”

“Nope.”

“Damn.”

She laughs.

“What about you? How did you get into acting?” I don’t think I’ve ever had a woman ask me this or look so genuinely interested in my answer.
This woman
.

“Honestly, it was the only thing I was good at in high school. I pretty much flunked everything else. My teacher, Mr. Eagles, believed in me for some reason. He kept pushing me until I started to take it seriously.”

“What do you love about it?”

“It’s like looking at life from a different perspective. I think as a world we’re pretty judgmental of people we don’t understand. Playing a role allows me to immerse myself in a character’s world and life. That experience always teaches me something new about people and the world around me. It gives me a new type of appreciation.”

“And affects other people’s views as well,” she says gently.

Gosh, she gets me.
“Exactly.”

“It sounds pretty amazing.” I look up to find her smiling at me.
Why is my heart beating so fast?

“It is,” I whisper. “So what’s on the agenda for tomorrow?” I ask in need of a subject change.

“Tomorrow is your day off.” I suddenly hate days off. “I have back-to-back meetings all morning. I’m very close to signing a contract with a huge jewelry retailer, and I need to tie up a few loose ends tomorrow.”

“That’s fantastic.”

“Yeah, if it all goes as planned then I will get the go ahead to visit Paris and make an offer on a building that I will eventually turn into another factory.”

“That’s awesome. So, what do you have planned for the evening?”

“Nothing as of yet.” She smiles. “Why?”

“Well—”

The sound of her phone ringing interrupts me.

“Sorry,” she says before sliding it out of her purse. I give her a little nod that tells her it’s ok and then continue to finish my cannelloni, which I’m sad to see coming to an end.

“Hey, Misty,” she says. “Oh, you’re with Jackson? Yeah, it was an awesome surprise.” She laughs.
I’m suddenly very interested in this conversation.
“No, I really had no idea he was coming until I saw him this morning. Yeah, of course. Hey, Jackson. Yes, I’m good. I’m just eating dinner.”
With Cole … you forgot that bit, Ned.
“Tomorrow evening …” She looks up at me and I smile like I’m not interested in her or her conversation. She looks away. “Yeah, I’m free, what did you have in mind? La Vita, that new restaurant? Yes, I think I know it. Yeah, six is a good time for me. Great, I’ll see you there then. No, tell her I’ll catch up with her soon. Ok, you too, bye.” She hangs up and I pretend not to notice.

“Sorry about that,” she says quietly.

“It’s cool,” I say with a shrug of my shoulders. I finish my last bit of food and down my wine in one go.

“Whoa, slow down; we all know what happens when you drink too much alcohol.”

I smile. “That reminds me; you intentionally made me break a clause in our contract by ordering me a glass of wine.” I point out accusatory.

“Nope, you can drink it when you’re with me because I can control what comes out of your mouth,” she says with raised eyebrows.

“Is that right?” I ask mischievously.

“It is,” she states having no idea that she just challenged me in the worst kind of way.

“Ok.” I take my fork and the empty glass in my hand and stand up. I clink my fork against the glass. “Hello, could I please have your attention?”

“What are you doing?” she asks, looking up at me in horror. I ignore her.

“I just want to make a toast to my beautiful girlfriend,” I say looking down at Neddie. She gives me a look that says
you better sit down.
I stay standing. “This woman, right here, is the most beautiful woman I have
ever
laid eyes on.” That is not a lie. I hear a few “oohs” and “ahhs” from the crowd and so I continue. “She came into my life a short while ago.” Two days to be exact. “And I have to say that it has been the best thing that could have happened to me. She irritates me but also makes me laugh. She drags me home, strips me and puts me to bed when I get so drunk that I can hardly walk.” I get a few chuckles at this point. “But best of all she cooks the most delicious pancakes and wears the sexiest butt floss I have ever seen.” Ned is covering her face at this point and the crowd displays more than one confused face so I keep going. “So thank you, baby, life would be so dull without you.” And cue the round of applause.

I sit back down in my seat and smile at Ned as everyone continues to clap. “Ah, baby, don’t be embarrassed,” I say laughing.

“I can never come back here,” she says as I laugh. “I’m going to get you back for that,” she mumbles.

“I can’t wait,” I chuckle.

After the crowd settles down, we pay the check and head out the door of the restaurant.

“I cannot believe you did that!” Ned laughs as she hits me on the arm.

“I thought we spoke about your violence,” I say grabbing her hand and slipping my fingers through hers again. I start dragging her home. “And I can’t believe that you thought you had control over what I say.”

“Neither can I, you’re like a loose cannon,” she groans. I laugh.

“There is no part of the contract that says I can’t make toasts to my girlfriend in public places.”

“Yeah well the contract may need amending,” she says.

“I’d do it all over again to see that look on your face.”

“What? Humiliation and shame?”

“Yup, that’s the one.”

“I’m glad my pain amuses you.”

“It does, babe.”

We continue walking in silence as we make our way back to Ned’s penthouse. I keep replaying the night over in my head and it brings a silly smile to my face. I don’t think I’ve ever spent this much time with a woman and felt so comfortable — other than with my mom and Layla. It’s weird, and I’m not entirely sure if I like it. I try not to think about all the reasons why it’s crazy to enjoy spending time with Ned and instead focus on this moment right now.

“This is your stop,” I whisper as we stand outside of her building.

“Yes,” she whispers.

“Good luck with your meetings tomorrow,” I say as we stare into each other’s eyes.

“Thanks.” She smiles. I pull her toward me so that we are no more than an inch apart. I love the feel of her body heat; I try to ignore the ripples of pleasure that are coursing through my body. I press my lips against her forehead and hold them there for a second. I feel her relax under my touch and it gives me the strangest sense of joy. I stand back and create some space between us.

“Goodnight, girlfriend,” I whisper with a slight smirk.

“Night, boyfriend.” She smiles up at me.

“Night,” I repeat and then I turn around quickly without looking at her face. I can imagine the expression she has but seeing it plastered over her face is far too dangerous. So, I never look back and instead take direct and fast steps in the direction of my apartment. It’s over twenty minutes away by train, but I don’t care. I need all the air I can get right now because Ned just stole a ton of it when I held her in my arms.

I wake up with the image of Ned smiling, on my mind. I had a pretty good time with her yesterday, probably because she’s actually quite funny.

I stretch my arms in the air and turn to see the right side of my bed empty, something that hasn’t happened in a while. I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to be able to abide by that rule in the contract. We may need to re-negotiate.

I slide out of my bed and stroll into my kitchen. I search the cupboards for something decent to eat but only come up with a granola bar that I’m pretty sure is beyond the expiration date. I don’t look at the date on it, that way I won’t know and can eat free of guilt. Now that Ned’s paid me my money I can finally do a decent shop. It’s been months since my account has seen money and it feels good.

I head back to my room and jump straight back into bed. I have no idea what to do with my day off but I’m bored already. I rip back the packet of my granola bar and start chewing away. These things taste disgusting but I’m hungry. I find my phone thrown down on the floor and pick it up.

Five messages …

The first two are from Tracey — I know this because she signed her name at the bottom. Both of them are filled with curse words that describe what a terrible person I am. I delete them and move on to the next. I laugh as I open up the next message which
ironically
is from the flexible Lacey. Again, I only know this because she signed her name. She is just echoing her sister’s messages except hers are littered with spelling mistakes. I can’t resist messaging back and simply type the words
Auto Correct
and hit send.

No wonder women hate me.
Ned doesn’t seem to hate me.
I doubt I’d be laughing if she did. Somewhere deep down, the thought of it bothers me.

I scroll to the next message which is from Bobby stating that
we need to talk.
Yup, I think I’ll deal with that later. The last is a message from an unknown number calling me an
ass.
I’m going to take a wild guess and say it’s that Kylie chick I had to kick out of my bed the other day. I’m the target of hate mail today.