CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

When Passions Collide

“Nothing? Not even a spark?” Olivia frowned. Her disappointment was clear.

“Oh, there was a spark. He’s a great guy. He’s just married to his job.” I nodded to Marcy. “You are going to be over the moon about his food. Do him justice when you write his article.”

“Oh, I don’t know if I’ll give Marcy that piece,” Olivia murmured, as I knew she would.

I wiggled my eyebrows at Marcy out of sight of Dragon Lady. Marcy knew how to fight for an article. I just wanted to make sure she knew to fight for this one.

She looked at Olivia and wiggled her own eyebrows where Dragon Lady could see her. “I better get assigned that piece. I’ve been waiting for a cover opening because nothing less will do him justice.”

It occurred to me that Marcy was young, and pretty. Very down to earth. Just Ryan’s type. And apparently interested, because she added, “I think you’re nuts to let him get away, Diana.”

Maybe she was right. But the kitchen would always win over time with me. And that smashed one of my Commandments to smithereens. “I want a guy who will be there when I need him.”

Olivia raised her eyebrows. “How naïve of you. After you’ve been married once or twice, you’ll realize that a man who can amuse himself is much easier than one who likes to stay underfoot.”

I laughed. “I only plan to be married once.”

“Ah,” she said, and nothing more. I had surprised her speechless. Very unusual.

Tandy stepped into the silence with her own harsh laugh. “Give me a busy man who pays the bills and has good life insurance any day.”

I looked at her, and couldn’t resist a jab. “Well, then, you shouldn’t be looking at Nick. His work is sporadic and his idea of life insurance is wearing his seatbelt.”

It was a mistake. I could see the way she took my words and straightened up like I’d dared her to go after him. That competitive streak that had made her go after every lead article, including mine, apparently extended to guys.

She smiled at me, a look of pity mingled with joy. “That’s how he is around you, Diana. If I got hold of him, he’d be the new flavor of Photographic Monthly. And he’d have a million dollar policy.”

Olivia nodded. “He is good. I especially love these shots.” She put her laser pointer on the picture Nick had captured of Ryan and me standing by the fire, right after we’d realized a reunion wasn’t going to work. Ryan’s face had a distant, hungry look. My expression suggested I had just gotten off a Tilt a Whirl and was trying hard not to be sick.

“He’s not good. He’s great.” I made a mental note to make sure I paid attention to where Nick was at all times. Otherwise, the world was going to know more about me than even my best friends knew.

<<>>

Emily had showed up for Sunday morning bagels without Phil. Again. I didn’t ask because she was in the mood for a fight and I wasn’t. She took one look at the pictures I had spread across the coffee table and said, “Can’t you skip one?”

“If she skipped one, it should have been Henry, not this guy.” Nick seemed a little grumpy this morning. He had slammed down the bagels as if they were a declaration of war instead of a peace offering.

“Hey!” I protested. “Are you trying to cost me my job? Do you know what Olivia would do to me if I skipped Alejandro?”

Emily pouted. “Then I guess I should tell Phil to start drafting your prenup.”

Nick scowled at her. “Why not just have him draw up divorce papers while you’re at it?”

“Someone needs to chill. Did your favorite barista give you an extra shot of espresso without telling you?”

He shrugged. “I was out late last night. I’m tired this morning.”

“Hot date?” Emily teased.

He didn’t answer. I got an image of Nick and Tandy strolling along Broadway after a show and shoved it aside before it could take root and destroy my day.

Sighing, I stood up and pointed to the photo-laden table. “We have no time for the grumpies today. I have to decide on the perfect weekend date so the powers-that-be can get it all set up. Any suggestions?”

Nick opened his mouth and I held up my hand to silence him. “No editorial comments about the photos, please. I know you wince when you look at the shadows and framing and…everything. But if you’d taken time to give me lessons, like you always say you will…” I trailed off. “Just ideas for what to do, please. Is tripping down Memory Lane too lame?”

I looked at all the pictures that documented my year with Alejandro. I could title the collection, My Year as a Tourist in my Own Town. There we were at the Met, in Central Park, at the Rock, biking over the Brooklyn Bridge, outside the Empire State Building. My stomach clenched as I remembered the day he had proposed at the top of the Statue of Liberty. I’d meant to say yes, but then a big school group had swept us apart and by the time we’d reached the ground again, I’d started to wonder if he just wanted his green card, like Emily had claimed.

“He’s got to be over the tourist thing by now.” I smiled at Emily, but I had to force myself to sound lighthearted. “If all he ever wanted was a green card, then he’s probably gotten it by marrying some other woman. It’s been over two years since we broke up.”

Emily nodded, cheered by the thought of a married Alejandro. “You’re right. What if he is married? Will Dragon Lady still make you go on a date? That seems a little predatory.”

“Desperate is the word I was thinking,” Nick added unhelpfully.

I pinched off some poppy seeds from the top of my bagel and threw them at him. “He isn’t married, but rest assured that Olivia has already thought ahead, just in case one of the seven is married.”

“Is she planning to have the spouse offed quickly, so as not to interfere with the feature?”

“No.” Though no doubt she’d considered it, knowing her. “If any of my exes are married, we’ll invite the wife along.”

“Awk-ward.”

“Tell me about it.” I had been in favor of dumping the reunion if any of my exes had found true love, or a facsimile thereof. Tandy, with Olivia in agreement, had thought it would be interesting to do a comparison between the wife and the ex-girlfriend.

Emily looked at me more thoughtfully than I liked. “So? Do I need to tell Phil he needs to get a prenup written ASAP?”

“Like she said, Alejandro is not married.” Nick glared at Emily. “He has his green card. And he’s started that carpentry business he was always talking about, in Brooklyn.”

Emily wrinkled her nose. “Brooklyn?” Her eyes widened. “You’ve talked to him?” She didn’t say traitor, but her expression clearly communicated it.

Nick had the grace to look slightly ashamed. “I helped him out by taking some pictures of his furniture, and his shop. For a brochure. Is that a crime?”

For some reason, I wanted to say yes. Instead, I said, “No. No crime. Alejandro is a nice guy. We all liked him. Even you, Emily, once upon a time.”

“I should have known it. There’s something in your voice. You’re looking forward to this date.”

I shook my head, thinking of the photos Olivia and Tandy pored over with a magnifying glass. “No one looks forward to revisiting an ex with Nick and his camera around. Who knows what embarrassing situation he’ll capture for posterity this time around.”

“Hey. You’re the one who thought it was a good idea I take this job.”

Emily scraped some cream cheese off her bottom lip with her teeth. “Which it was. We were getting tired of being your main bagel supplier. It’s nice that you can contribute more than day olds now that you have a steady gig.”

“Don’t forget to take one home for Phil. I want him to appreciate my newfound wealth, too.”

I scolded, “Wealth? Please. A few nice paychecks does not mean anything in this town.”

“Do you want me to quit?”

His question wasn’t angry, but it still stopped my heart. “Quit?”

“If I’m making you uncomfortable, then maybe I—”

“Cut it out. Of course I don’t want you to quit.” I tried to make peace with him. “Besides, you liked Alejandro.”

He nodded. “He makes me see things in a whole new way. Gotta love a guy who can do that.”

Emily said snarkily, “Of course he makes you see things in a whole new way — everything here is new to him. He’s like a kid at Christmas.”

I objected, ignoring the pictures that reinforced his embrace of all things tourist. “Spain is hardly a third world country.”

“You’d hardly know that, the way he talks.”

Nick leaped to his defense, “He does very well for someone who learned English in his teens watching American TV shows.”

Emily scoffed, “Oh please, he works that foreign accent and wide-eyed innocence for one reason, and one reason only. He just wants to—” She stopped short, her face flushing bright red. “Never mind.”

I sighed. “Go on. You know if you don’t get it off your chest now, you’ll worry at it until you do say it.”

“Fine.” She crossed her arms, and then recrossed them. “Diana, I know you don’t like to admit it, but that accent makes him attractive to every woman with a pulse. And he doesn’t mind.”

“It’s not like he asks for the attention.” Nick leaped to his defense again, which was really starting to irritate me.

“Emily. This is work. An assignment. A weekend. Do you expect him to cheat on me in two days?” I picked up the picture of us ice skating in Rockefeller Plaza. “Believe me. I’m going to keep him busy. I just need to know what to do with him.”

“Put him in a monk’s robes and don’t let him talk near any pretty girls.”

Nick ignored her. “You know, with your connections, you could get tickets to one of the live shows. He’s a big fan of Letterman.”

“And The People’s Court.”

Emily raised her hands in defeat. “Fine. Ignore me. But, don’t come crying to me when Nick gets pictures of girls slipping Alejandro their phone numbers when you’re not looking. All I know is that he knows how to work that charm, and he can find any excuse. New Year’s Eve, a sprig of mistletoe hanging overhead…” She suddenly scrutinized her nails, as if checking to see if it was time for another manicure.

Nick looked puzzled.

I felt sick. “What are you saying?”

Emily swiped at an imaginary spot on her thumbnail and was silent for a moment before she looked at me defiantly. “I’m saying he found a way to be under the mistletoe once. And it didn’t bother him one bit that he took advantage of that stupid tradition to kiss his girlfriend’s best friend.”

Nick sucked in his breath. “You kissed Alejandro? And you think I’m wrong to shoot some photos for him?”

Emily looked like she might cry. “He kissed me. I didn’t even see the mistletoe until it was too late.”

I stuffed my shock back down inside. Deep down. With a shrug, I said, “Mistletoe kisses don’t count.”

Emily looked at me, and I could see she knew what I knew. Every kiss counted with Alejandro. The man knew how to kiss.