Scarred for Life Page 7

  "You know, perhaps if you see the guest rooms, you'll change your mind," Nicole declared with a confident smile. Her hand rested on her hip, which was cocked to the side.

  "You can show me if you want, but my mind isn't going to change," Dane said.

  "You haven't seen the rooms yet. Now, I'll give you the full tour, just so you can get familiar with the place and you can see the rooms. I know you'll take one of them."

  ***

  The vagabond didn't argue, figuring that she'd let Nicole have her way for now since the redhead had already made up her mind. She motioned with her hand for Nicole to lead the way. The lawyer happily obliged, strolling off through the living room. They went to the hallway. Nicole patted on a door as they passed by the table, letting her guest know that was a closet. The room next to it was the downstairs bathroom. Dane only had time to poke her head in to see it was a full bath painted a blush pink before Nicole tugged her towards the next room.

  "This is my office, but I prefer to call it my library," Nicole beamed with joy.

  The ebony-haired female nodded as the light came on. Once the room was illuminated, Dane understood immediately why Nicole felt pride and also knew instantly that Nicole was an intellectual. The room deserved to be labeled a library as the bookshelves went wall to wall, only interrupted by a desk with a computer. The shelves were stocked full.

  "I guess I won't need to go too far if I ever need to figure out how to build a rocket or find out how deep the ocean is," Dane remarked with an amused smile.

  "There are a variety of topics gracing my shelves. Please, don't hesitate to come in here. It's my favorite room in the house."

  Dane made a meaningless gesture because she wasn't sure if she'd ever use the room. She never knew what she was going to do from one minute to the next, so she didn't commit to anything. Dane's almost obvious indifference didn't take the impish bounce out of Nicole's step or prevent her from taking Dane by the arm, gently pulling her out of the library and to the room across the way. The dining room was set up as if it were waiting for a dinner party that never arrived. The table had six empty chairs with plates and glasses sitting in front of them.

  "I keep it this way just for decoration. I eat in the kitchen all the time." Nicole motioned to the doorway from the dining room that led to the kitchen. There was also a doorway that led to the living room.

  "It looks nice," Dane commented honestly. The deep wood made the room inviting while the square plate design gave it fashionable touch.

  Nicole took Dane's arm again and proceeded to tug her upstairs to view the guestrooms. Dane didn't say anything, simply hobbling along to keep up with her ebullient host. The first room was by the stairs. Nicole flicked the light switch on the sidewall as soon as they came in and the room was bathed in light. Dane peered around the warm, neat, mint-colored room. There was a dark wood, queen-sized bed against the wall to the left of the door. A dresser, vanity, and television stand matched the bed color. A moderately sized television sat on the stand with a DVD player underneath. The closet was opposite the bed and next to the television stand. There were a couple of photos framed in the room and a window opposite the door.

  "What do you think?" Nicole inquired with an arched eyebrow.

  "It's a nice room. Bit too nice for me," Dane replied.

  "It is not. I think you'd be very comfortable in this room."

  Dane shook her head. Nicole tried a little harder to push the room, insisting the room would be the ideal place to stay. When it was clear that she wasn't getting through to the younger woman, she moved on. They went to the second room, which was down the hall near the bathroom. The second room was as impressive as the first one and designed in a similar manner, but with blush pink walls and white furniture. Dane silently admitted both bedrooms had a relaxing feel to them, but she shook her head to that one also.

  "It's real nice and all, but I think I'll stick to the den. All my stuff is down there, anyway," Dane commented, shrugging slightly.

  "Danny, it wouldn't be that hard to bring your stuff up here."

  "Yes, it would."

  Nicole tilted her head slightly and the vagabond knew she was awaiting an explanation. Dane waved it off, not wanting to say that her leg—especially her knee – was throbbing and would only get worse if she tried to carry items up the stairs. Besides, she preferred the den for now. Not totally sure why, she didn't bother to contemplate it.

  "Danny, come on. This room is dying for some company," Nicole said, smiling brightly.

  "The den's dying for some attention. I already get the feeling you don't go in there as much as you do the other rooms," Dane quipped with a teasing smile.

  "I go in there when I need to store something. Although I'll admit that I haven't been in there for a while now. I really should get around to changing that light bulb," Nicole mused aloud, putting a manicured finger to her chin.

  "Trust me, I'm just fine with it. Hell, I was sleeping on a bench when you picked me up. This is huge step up from that."

  Nicole sighed and shook her head. For her trouble, Dane offered her a shrug and a half smile that was almost apologetic. The expression must have gotten to Nicole because she surrendered. She turned around and led Dane back downstairs. Stepping to the side of the opening of the den, she motioned like she was presenting the room to her guest. Dane chuckled as she picked up her bags and limped into the room. She could feel eyes on her, probably noting her uneven gait.

  "Make yourself comfortable," Nicole's bemused tone made it clear she couldn't figure out why Dane desired the smallest, most cluttered space in the house, especially after seeing the guestrooms.

  Dane set her pack and guitar case down and took the opportunity to survey the den after her eyes adjusted to the dark since she might be there a while. There was a broken bookshelf along the far wall, holding dusty books and torn magazines. On the back wall, there was a grey sofa that had seen better days ages ago. The coffee table was stained with ancient drinks and each leg was a slightly different height, causing the table to lean to the side with the junk piled on it.

  If Tyler lived at the house, she would've thought the derelict room was par for the course, but with Nicole it was very different. Nicole was obviously a sanitary and organized person. Dane couldn't figure out how the redhead managed to keep her den in a state that was contrary to everything else in the house.

  Dane didn't bother with checking out the stuff on the table. She also avoided going through the piles of things in the corners. None of the items in the room were hers, so she didn't see the point in bothering any of it. She flopped down on the couch, which she hadn't bothered with before, favoring sleeping on the floor. Dust leaped up to greet her as soon as she touched down. Coughing, she waved her hand to fend off the dirt.

  "I guess spending the next couple of days here won't be too bad." All and all, Dane had definitely seen and spent time in much worse places. Having four walls, a ceiling, and heat were good enough for her. Added to it, she had a real pillow and blankets to use when she made her bed.

  ***

  Upstairs, Nicole sat in one of the chairs in her bedroom. Her thoughts drifted to the company she had downstairs. Her fatigued mind was catching up to her impulsive, altruistic actions. The idea that she had allowed a stranger to stay with her was now knocking at her foggy, tired brain and it was accompanied by the thoughts of all the times her kind acts came back to bite her in the ass. Shaking her head, she tried to rid herself of the haunting thoughts that she felt were coming too fast and too late. Hopping out of the chair she considered if she just went to bed she'd avoid doubting herself.

  Instead of going to bed, she paced her bedroom, taking a few moments to panic over a couple of different things. First of all, she couldn't believe she just suggested that a homeless stranger stay with her. What do I know about Danny, aside from the fact that she's Tyler's cousin? Hell, being Tyler's cousin should be a huge strike against Danny for a bunch of reasons.

  "What if she's a
thief like him, but worse? She could rob me blind or something. What if she's as annoying as he is or worse? God, he got on my nerves almost every minute of the day toward the end. What if she's plain worse than he was? Well, I could kick her out if she's worse than he was, but then I'd be going back on my word, Who the hell knows what kind of family he really comes from, though," Nicole muttered to the air.

  Of course, she knew some things about Tyler's family. The Wolfe family was somewhat prominent, having enough well off businessmen in their ranks for people to take notice. There were a few other successful professionals sprinkled into their flock, adding to the attention the family received. They were also infamously pretentious and notoriously immoral. She had seen that first hand with Tyler, so she stood by her initial statement.

  From the short time that she had spent with Danny, she knew the "kid" was nothing like Tyler. There was something almost tangibly different about Danny when comparing her to Tyler. She could see it in Dane's eyes and feel it radiating from the younger woman in warm, nearly comforting waves.

  "There's just no way for her to feign being that caring. It shines in her eyes, even though she looks a little jaded and tired. She's sweet in a way that Tyler couldn't even dream of and she wasn't pretending, either. Tyler was making it all up because he wanted me to go out with him, but she doesn't seem to want anything from me. I practically had to beg her to stay here, so I couldn't just let her go back out onto the streets. Even if she can live out there, she shouldn't have to." The flawed logic that she used helped ease her mind, but not enough.

  The second thing bothering her was that she didn't think she was being a very efficient host. She settled for putting Danny up in the den. The room was a castoff and used for castoff things.

  "And I put a guest there. Horrible, horrible manners. Maybe tomorrow I could get her into one of the guestrooms. I mean, she has to be accustomed to better accommodations than my den."

  Nicole assumed Danny was acquainted with more majestic things because Tyler liked to brag so much about his family. Tyler liked to make it seem as if his family had more money than God, but she doubted that since he had to work for a living just as she did. Nicole huffed, succeeding in confusing herself more so than she had when she started out because now she didn't even know why she was pacing.

  Nicole ran her hand through her lush, rust-colored hair, as if that would stop her from thinking. She had a long history of affording people the benefit of the doubt and granting them too many chances. It typically didn't work out in her favor. Plus, she was stuck between thinking of Danny as a guest and thinking of Danny as a stranger… a stranger related to Tyler. It had been a while since she had a guest pointblank, but with the odd circumstances surrounding Danny, Nicole just felt out of sorts.

  In order to cease thinking about it all, Nicole rushed out of the room and marched into the kitchen. Food will settle my mind since I haven't eaten dinner. She glided across the polished black tiles between the large, well-stocked stainless steel refrigerator and the marble counter top, pulling things from the refrigerator and placing them on the counter. She rifled through the cabinets, pulling out various spices and flavors. Cooking was done on autopilot and plaguing thoughts ended.

  Fifteen minutes later, dinner was made and eaten. Nicole felt better now that her belly was full. She made a plate for her guest, but when she called for Dane, no answer came from the den. She gathered that the younger woman was asleep already, so she put the plate away in the fridge. Marching upstairs, she took a hot shower and fell into bed. Burned out from the extremely long day, she was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

  Despite the drain she felt that night, she still woke up before her alarm clock went off and went about her morning routine getting ready for another hard day of work. After dressing in a black suit with a silk burgundy shirt, she made her way downstairs and prepared breakfast, making enough for two.

  Once the food was on the table, Nicole marched off toward the den. She was about to walk right into the room, as she was her habit, but stopped just shy of the threshold. It was someone's room now, she reminded herself. It would be rude to burst in. Too bad there was no door to knock. She shook her head, recollecting when her large, former college football player cousin had accidentally yanked the door out of the wall a couple of years back. She should've taken him up on his original offer to repair it, but that would've required him to miss an important flight and he hadn't been back to her home since to make the offer again.

  "Danny, are you awake? Breakfast's ready," Nicole called into the dim room. Peeking inside, she spotted Dane sitting on the floor, going through her knapsack. A sigh of relief escaped Nicole, happy that she hadn't disturbed her.

  Dane's head popped up, causing smoldering steel eyes to meet emerald ones. "Breakfast?" she echoed in a bemused tone, like she didn't know what the meal was. "Breakfast? You didn't have to make breakfast for me."

  "Well, it's too late. I already did and you'll have to eat it or waste it," Nicole commented with a firm nod of her head, but a friendly smile on her face.

  "Well, I do hate to waste food," Danny replied with a sweet, half smile that Nicole was sure could light up a room.

  "Somehow, I had a feeling that would be the case." The shorter woman chuckled.

  Dane flashed a monster grin, looking more childlike than ever. Her grey eyes shone like molten silver when she saw the meal; Nicole couldn't help giggling. On the inside, she felt a little lighter, too; no one had ever looked at something that she cooked with such intensity and appreciation.

  "This all looks wicked good." Dane slid into one side of the small, dining nook.

  "I hope it tastes as good as it looks. What kind of beverage would you like to go with it?"

  "Whatever you're having is fine. I'm not too picky."

  "Are you sure you're related to Tyler?" the attorney teased with an amused smile.

  "Unfortunate side-effect of our fathers being brothers and all. But, then again, it's hard to believe they're related, too," Dane replied with an equally amused expression.

  Nicole laughed, her face lighting up. She had not been laughing much lately, so she was thankful for the laughter she was experiencing now. It felt like a weight being lifted off of her shoulders and chest with each laugh.

  ***

  Dane could understand the sensation. It had been an extremely long time since she laughed. In fact, she was surprised that she still knew how. Nicole managed to get through her barriers effortlessly and she was stunned that she didn't mind. It was refreshing to be around someone that wanted to bring a smile to her face just for the sake of conversation and didn't have ulterior motives.

  "Here we go. Two tall glasses of fruit punch," Nicole said, putting down a glass in front of Dane. She glanced at the taller woman's plate, discovering that she was already halfway done with her large portion.

  Dane noticed the wide-eyed look she was getting and laughed. "Hey, it tried to pull a gun on me, so I did the only thing I could," she joked.

  "I'm sure you taught it a lesson it won't soon forget." Nicole chuckled, settling into her seat.

  "So, you said you work with Tyler. You poor, unfortunate soul. Defense attorney?"

  An sheepish smile came over Nicole's face. "Worse. Corporate."

  "Oh, well, daughter of Satan, I'll be sure to sacrifice a live virgin to you before I leave."

  "You know…I didn't want to be a corporate lawyer…" Nicole muttered, green eyes glancing away as if she were ashamed.

  "Hey, it's cool. You're a step ahead of me. I don't even have a gig," Dane pointed out, hoping that would put the smile back in those jade eyes and on that soft face.

  "You're just batting a thousand in life, huh?" Nicole teased, forcing out a smile.

  Dane grinned, but the expression didn't quite take up her whole face like the others before it did. It might have had something to do with the fact that Nicole's smile wasn't genuine. "You have no idea. So, aside from making a bunch of money and coo
king a mean fucking omelet with the works, oh, and of course taking in the homeless, what do you do in your spare time?"

  "Read. You?" Nicole countered.

  Briefly, Dane wondered if the answer that she had been given was a brush-off. Perhaps Nicole didn't want to reveal much about herself. Nicole’s library crossed her mind. No, Nick was probably being very honest with me.

  "Nothing much," the ebony-haired woman replied with a shrug.

  "I noticed your guitar case. Do you play?"

  Dane shook her head. "There's no guitar in that case."

  The taller woman couldn't fight back a brief scowl after admitting she didn't have a guitar in the case. She wondered if the look on her face kept Nicole from pursuing that topic because she skillfully took the conversation to something less personal.

  “How was your stay in the den?”

  "It was great. It was nice to be able to wrap myself in a blanket and not worry about my stuff going missing before the sun came up."

  Nicole nodded her understanding. "I'm glad it was good for you. You can still take a guestroom whenever you want. I'm sure you'd appreciate a bed just as much as you appreciate that blanket."

  Dane shook her head. "Quite fine where I am, thank you." Her tone was polite, but light with humor, too.

  "I wish you would take a guestroom, Danny. But, I can't argue that right now because I need to get to work." Nicole reached for Dane’s empty plate. Dane shot to her feet and the rapid movement caused Nicole to pause.

  "I'll get the dishes." Dane promptly collected the used dishes.

  "Danny, you don't have to do that. You're the guest."

  "I'm the freeloader. I can do a few dishes, no problem. You don't have to waste your time and you can do something relaxing before you go to work," Dane said, flashing a winsome smile while she was at it. She wasn't sure what was coming over her. Typically, she abhorred doing anything or saying anything, but right now, she was pleased to requite the kindness shown to her.