“Hi there,” he said when he was a few feet away. Remembering how much she’d liked his chest the night they were together, he put his hands on his hips, making sure his unbuttoned shirt was open to reveal it.
She glanced up at him and smiled. Then her eyes dropped to his chest, and she sighed. “Hello, Nicholas.”
Maybe more sex was what was needed. For both of them. This couldn’t be her normal type of attraction. Hell, given that she’d pretty much ignored the fact that they’d slept together the next day, he knew it wasn’t.
“How’s it coming?” he asked, realizing that around her, there was nothing cool about him. How’s it coming? Really? He sounded more awkward than Leo.
“Not too bad. I met with Talia, and she gave me some direction. I think we are going to use your past shows and your inspiration for the big illusions as the tie-in to the antiques and props in the hallway. I’m just making a few notes.”
“That’s a great idea,” he said. “Want to have dinner with me and we can discuss it further?”
…
Dinner. Hell’s bells. She wasn’t sure this was a good idea, but there wasn’t anything she wanted to do more than see him again. See him naked again.
“Dinner, yes. But not to discuss this. I don’t want to even pretend that I’m having dinner with you for business reasons,” she said.
“I like your honesty, Zelda,” he said.
“But?”
“But?”
“Your voice dropped a bit at the end. It’s almost as if you want to believe me but don’t,” she said.
He dropped his hands and shook his head. Clearly, this wasn’t the kind of discussion he wanted to have with her. She should let it go.
“I was simply thinking about dinner,” he said.
“I’ll come, but I want to know more,” she said. “Why would you like my honesty but not intend to believe it?”
“I just don’t trust people,” he said. “In my experience, everyone is hiding something.”
“Then you can’t have known many nice people,” she said. “I’m not after anything. I just want to get to know you better. There’s something between us, something I think I’d like to explore. I can’t stop thinking about you. Dinner would be great, but I don’t want to pretend I’m seeing you to discuss how I’m going to decorate the lobby.”
She’d made up her mind to face him with bluntness. No pretending with him or with herself that she wasn’t going out with him for any reason other than she liked him and he intrigued her.
“Good. I want that, too.”
“Good,” she said. “Surely not everyone let you down. I mean, your grandfather, the one who got you into magic…he had to be the exception.”
Nicholas’s his face tightened; had she found his Achilles heel? He was a master at regulating his emotions but now she thought she saw a flicker of his real feelings.
“I thought so.”
“But?”
“But nothing, Zelda. I can’t discuss this now.”
She nodded. He seemed to understand the power of the past and the influence it could wield over the present. She guessed that his past contained secrets as well—he’d pretty much admitted it to her—so she could understand where he was coming from.
“I hope I can convince you not everyone is untrustworthy,” she said. “I think maybe that’s why we met. I have been thinking about this a lot.”
Nicholas shook his head. “We met because someone stole something from me.”
“Don’t you ever wonder if there is something else at play here?” she asked.
“No,” he said bluntly. “I’ve never felt that there was anything other than my own free will guiding my actions. In fact, Houdini felt the same way. You know he started doing illusions to prove the charlatans wrong.”
She did know that. “And yet, he was an illusionist.”
“He did it for entertainment. He wasn’t taking money to tell someone they’d meet the love of their life or that a relative from beyond the grave was trying to get in touch with them. There’s a huge difference.”
She liked this side of him. Usually when he was doing his tricks and talking about magic, there was a cool aloofness to him. But not now. She wanted to discover what drove him to perform illusions, and if it was that he thought everyone was hiding something, then perhaps he wasn’t all that different from Houdini.
“We can get into this at dinner,” she said. “I like this side of you.”
“You do?” he asked.
“Yes. I want to know the man behind the magic.”
“What you see is what you get,” he said. “I’m just a ripped guy doing tricks for a living.”
She couldn’t help laughing at that. “I already know there is more to you than that. You really cared about Stetson’s feelings. You made sure he wasn’t let down. A lot of people wouldn’t have worried about it.”
“Kids don’t always get a fair shake when it comes to the adults in their lives. Stetson is lucky to have a mom who clearly loves him and you. I wanted him to have a guy in his life who didn’t let him down, either.”
She stood up when he said that. He couldn’t know how much that meant to Molly and to herself. Stetson’s dad had never been in the picture, and Molly gave up dating when it became clear that most men weren’t interested in having any kind of relationship with her son.
“See? There’s more to you than just this hard body. You’re right. Kids need positive influences of both sexes. And I think you really made an impact on Stetson. And not just because you are the hottest magician in town.”
“Honestly, he reminds me a bit of myself. And I would have killed to get some tips from the big guys back in the day,” Nicholas said.
“Did you ever meet any of them?” she asked.
“No. We couldn’t leave my grandmother alone. Sometimes a nurse would come in, but it made Granddad so nervous that I stopped asking to do things. He couldn’t enjoy himself when he was worried about her.”
“That is a surprisingly mature decision for a kid. How old were you?”
“Ten,” he said. “But it was worth it. We watched all of the David Copperfield TV shows, and then we’d try to replicate some of the tricks for my grandmother. It wasn’t a bad life.”
She could tell that. But she also knew she was only seeing part of the picture. His childhood sounded idyllic, especially compared to hers. She or her sister always had to stay hidden whenever they travelled, in case they were seen and the secret of their illusion discovered. And they had always been referred to by the same name. Her entire childhood had been mired in deceit.
She told herself that didn’t matter, but to a man who thought everyone was hiding something, it could. Still, they had only hooked up once and were simply having dinner. There was no need to tell him about a past that would never mean anything to him. But a part of her wasn’t so sure.
She came from a big magic family—the kind he would’ve heard of, if he’d followed magic from a young age. But that illusion that had almost killed Zoe had shaped Zelda in ways that she still struggled to talk about.
Would Nicholas see her keeping this from him as a betrayal? Her gut told her yes, and her heart confirmed it. She would feel betrayed if he kept something like this from her.
But she’d never talked about it. Not with anyone. When she and Zoe had left and gone their own ways, Zelda had locked that part of her life away.
How could she tell Nicholas about it now? How could she not?
His watch beeped, and he glanced down at it. “I have to get back to rehearsal. I’ll pick you up for dinner at seven.”
She nodded and watched him walk away. After this dinner, she’d end it. She liked Nicholas, but she knew better than to believe that there could be anything serious between them. Especially since she wasn’t sure she could wade back into the
sea of illusion, and it was his entire life.
Chapter Eight
She hadn’t been on a date in a long time. At least, not one like this. Nicholas picked her up in a sports car that had an open T-top. She was glad she’d decided to wear her hair in a chignon so it wouldn’t whip around her head as they drove. As usual, he was dressed in pants that were slim-fitting and a dress shirt that hugged his muscles. And he wore a pair of aviator-style sunglasses with reflective lenses, so each time he glanced at her she could only see her own reflection.
She’d felt another zing of sexual awareness go through her when he’d kissed her at her door, but she was trying to keep it in check. She really was! It was hard to analyze a man when all she could think about was getting his shirt off or wondering if it would cling to his chest if they got caught in the rain. That would look so good. Not that it rained much in Vegas…
Ugh. She groaned inwardly. Her thoughts were out of control. “Stop it.”
“What?”
“Nothing. I was just talking to myself.” She shook her head, then decided to change the subject. “I wasn’t sure you would show up for dinner. Rumor has it that you are behind on rehearsing your show,” she said.
“There’s no need to ask where you heard that,” he said. “I haven’t been as focused as the team would like, but that’s mainly due to my efforts to retrieve my water chest.”
“Why is it so important to you?” she asked. “It’s a nice memory of your granddad—and I think that’s sweet of you—but surely you can find it at any time. Why is it so important now?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think of it as sweet… Do I come across as sweet?”
She just smiled at him. “Yes, it does. And sentimental.”
“Hmm…I hadn’t realized that. Well, the reason I need the chest is that I have been using it since I first started performing for an audience. It’s been in every show I’ve ever done, and the one time I didn’t use it, I was off my game, and the show bombed. It’s my…”
“Good luck charm,” she said.
“I was going to say talisman, but that works,” he said.
“So not having it is making you superstitious.”
“When you say it like that, it seems irrational. But regardless, the chest makes a huge difference to me.”
“I don’t see it as irrational at all. It’s all down to the mindset you have when you are performing. I know the police are looking for your chest, but would you like me to ask in some of the forums I frequent? They are usually pretty good for coming up with leads,” she said.
“Would you mind?” he asked.
“Not at all,” she said, though she’d pretty much decided that very afternoon to get away from Nicholas and the damned Houdini water chest. Obviously, there weren’t that many of them in existence, so finding it shouldn’t be too difficult. “Does anyone know that you think it’s a good luck—talisman?”
“No, but most people who move in the elite magic circles have something that is their version of a rabbit’s foot,” he said. “When I was younger, I made it the centerpiece of every show I did. I guess that some other magicians might have worked it out. But it’s not something I normally talk about.”
“Is there anyone who would benefit from seeing your show fail?” she asked. “Is magic that cutthroat?”
“There are rivalries, of course, but my show is unique, and most of the time I’m not directly competing with anyone else. And in Vegas, everyone wants the quality of the illusion shows to be high. It’s a benefit to all of us if there are a lot of good shows instead of just one. We all sell more tickets.”
“That makes sense. So, no rivalries?” she asked, trying to figure out who could possibly be behind the theft. It wasn’t the kind of item that could be pawned easily, and it made no sense to take it…unless the culprit knew its worth to Nicholas.
“Well, there is Jade.”
“Jade?”
“That’s a story better suited for another time,” he said. He pulled into the parking lot of an upscale restaurant and drove up to the valet station. “Let’s just say we were once partners, and it ended badly.”
She got out when the door was opened for her and then moved to stand aside while Nicholas handed his keys over and took the claim ticket. He pulled on his dinner jacket as he walked toward her, and she couldn’t help but notice the way women’s eyes were drawn to him. He put his hand on the small of her back as he came to her side, and they started to walk into the restaurant.
She liked the feel of his hand on her back, the heat of it even through the fabric of her dress. Within moments, they were escorted to a table in a small alcove toward the back of the restaurant that had a drawn curtain around it to give them complete privacy.
“I wanted to bring you to my home, but I wasn’t sure that was the best idea for a first date. But this will give us some privacy. Since the posters went up for my show, I’m being recognized more often. And tonight, I just want to be with you.”
She smiled. It was a thoughtful gesture, and if she wasn’t already enchanted by him, this would have done it. She took her seat, and Nicholas shrugged out of his jacket, handing it to one of the waiters to be hung before sitting down.
They placed their order, and then they were alone. Even though they’d had sex, she was suddenly shy and unsure of herself. He was an illusionist. He had come into her life on the heels of an object that she’d hoped would finally bring her closure with her past. But instead, he was awakening so many memories and feelings that she’d never experienced.
For the first time in her life, she wasn’t stuck in the past and hiding from her present. Instead, she was fully aware of where she was. She liked it, but it scared her.
…
Zelda was breathtaking tonight. She had her hair up in that sophisticated chignon, and it made him realize there was more to this woman than the sexy, quirky, magic antiques dealer he’d known so far. Her questions had been probing, and he suspected that she wanted to know more about him. The attraction between them felt different to him, too. Of course, he wanted to hope it was the same for her.
No one wanted to be a booty call to the person they were obsessed with, so he could be making allowances that he shouldn’t be. He hoped not. Even telling himself that there had to be more to her than met the eye, he still couldn’t keep his guard up. Maybe it was those chocolaty brown eyes of hers or the fact that she seemed to have no filter. But he wanted to trust her.
Maybe it was time to put Jade and her betrayal firmly behind him. Sure, he made a big show of making it clear that everyone knew he’d moved on. But a part of him was still scarred, so deeply betrayed by the woman he’d shared so much of himself with that there were times when he still hated Jade.
“So, you said there was one woman who might hate you enough to steal the chest,” Zelda said as if reading his mind.
Of course she would remember that.
“Yes. Jade. She and I were partners for about five years, just before I made it big,” he said.
“But she might have stolen your chest? I’m guessing things didn’t end well,” she said.
“They didn’t,” Nicholas admitted. “But that was years ago.”
“Still, you think she might have stolen your talisman?” Zelda asked.
“I don’t know. She knows how important it is to me. It’s the kind of thing she would do just to mess with me.”
“You must have really hurt her,” Zelda said.
Hurt her? “I doubt it. She’s not that kind of woman. She’s pretty cold when it comes to men.”
“Ah,” Zelda said.
What the hell did that mean?
“I have been researching your old shows, checking out options for the exhibit, and I really liked your first big show…the televised one. I noticed you used the straitjacket escape, which might be a challenge to find. Ther
e are tons of knockoffs, but I’d love to have an original one. I know it hasn’t been that long, but you looked really young there,” she said.
She changed the subject, so he couldn’t keep talking about Jade or find out what she meant, but he was happy enough for that. “Yeah. I was so nervous. Could you tell?”
“No,” she said. “I didn’t plan to watch the entire show, but I ended up doing it anyway. You are really good.”
He remembered that show, he tried to project confidence but he had been on edge during that performance and he’d had to draw on all of his skills as a showman while he was in front of the camera.
“Thanks. I try,” he said trying to sound humble, but he was proud of his abilities.
“I know Trixie is my point of contact, but I’m trying to put into context any old tricks or illusions you use and create different moments along the hallway. I think I have something like eight alcoves to fill.”
“I don’t want to talk about work,” he said. “I want to know about you, Zelda. You said you grew up on the east coast. What brought you to Vegas?”
“Escape,” she said. “That and my car broke down just outside of town. Molly stopped to help me. She was about six months pregnant with Stetson. We hit it off, and she offered to rent me a room in her place. She needed extra money because her ex was off rodeoing. I took her up on it, and things started working out. I took a job at Touch of Magic—Edna Stevens used to run it. She trained me and then offered to let me buy the place two years ago.”
“Did you know anything about antiques before that?” he asked. “Was that what you did back east?”
She shook her head. “No. I mean, I like antiques, but it turns out I have an eye for replicas and junk.”
She laughed at herself when she said it, and a shaft of desire went through him. “I’m sure that’s not true.”
“It is. Edna was in stitches when I went to the first antiques fair with her. She told me to walk around and find some pieces that we should have in the shop. Everything I chose was a modern version of an older piece. The only things I didn’t completely screw up were some specialty items. She gave me tons of books to read, and I started to learn what was what,” Zelda said.
Wild Nights Page 8