It's Been You

by Rina Gray

  She knew this game he was playing. Confess her deep-rooted fears and secrets in the cover of darkness. She wasn’t one of his airheaded bimbos.

  “Nice try, by the way, Dr. Lawson. Trying to get me to tell my life story. Lucky for you, I don’t shy away from my humble beginnings. We all aren’t fortunate enough to grow up with silver spoons in our mouths.”

  He didn’t respond, but the heat of his anger was palpable. Hot, tangible, and searing. His anger flooded her senses and left a sour taste in her mouth.

  “Just because I grew up in money doesn’t mean I grew up happy. Money can’t buy love. And nannies, as nice and kind as they were, don’t replace the love of a mother.”

  That sour taste must have been the foot in her mouth. She needed to make it right. “The homemade soup you made me— your father taught you, right? So you had at least one parent there for you.”

  He sighed, and the wave of anger receded. She relaxed; relieved his mood had lightened.

  “Yeah, but Renita was set on keeping us apart. They divorced when I was five. Pops remarried, and she hated that. She would always say some snide remark about my father and his new wife Martha. My stepmom couldn’t have kids, and my mother had a field day with that.”

  Light steps interrupted their conversation. “Your dinner,” Hannah announced.

  Tiana immediately recognized the smell. “Fish.” She wanted to hear about his family, not play another guessing game. Despite her growing up in poverty and Nathaniel growing up in wealth, they’d had a similar upbringing. She knew the feeling of not being loved enough by her mother. A few weeks ago, she would’ve scoffed at the idea that they had something in common. But she could hear the anger and pain in his voice, and it chafed her skin. This was a man deeply wounded by the woman who was supposed to protect him. To teach him how to love and be loved by a woman. Is this the reason why he’s a womanizer? But he had his Pops.

  “Tell me about your dad.”

  “My dad, he … he’s the best. Came to every school function, game, and award ceremony. He’s the best person I know.”

  Conversation seamlessly flowed throughout dinner and dessert.

  Tiana scooped the berry cobbler, and the sweet tasty juices burst free on her tongue. “I have to admit, tonight was … ”

  “Amazing. Life changing. Dare you say, fun?”

  “Meh. It was cool.”

  He didn’t answer, but she did hear a long exhale of breath.

  “Fine. It was all of the above. There. Happy?”

  “Ecstatic, Peaches.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Tiana meandered through the maze of chaos at the video shoot, proud that her team had selected the perfect location to execute her creative concepts. The agency had rented out a warehouse located in the gentrified Meatpacking District in Manhattan.

  Busy shoppers bustling around the high-end retail district would never guess a million-dollar commercial shoot with superstar Jake Ross was taking place. The gleaming, fire red T-8 had been lifted in from the back dock and was now in the middle of the warehouse floor. “Tiana!” A familiar and much-welcomed voice called from behind her. Charlotte, a close friend and Damien’s media coordinator at his non-profit, hugged her close. “This looks amazing.” Charlotte spun around, bouncing with energy. “I’m so glad you invited me to shadow you and all your awesomeness today.”

  Tiana grinned; remembering the devious plan she and Melanie had hatched a week ago to get Charlotte out of her Saran-wrapped shell. When Melanie and Jake faked their relationship, Melanie had discovered Charlotte’s crush on the rising baseball star. “Of course, Charlotte. As a media coordinator, you will most likely work with celebrities that volunteer with Refurbished Dreams. Things might get crazy, but holler if you have a question.” She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned.

  “Tiana.” Jake towered over her at six foot four. She stole a glance at her flustered friend who smoothed her burnt orange dress, then clasped her hand behind her back.

  “Jake the Great.” Tiana did a mock curtsy.

  “Aww, you gotta tell ya girl Mel to stop calling me that.”

  “I’ve seen you play and I must say you are living up to the name.” Tiana jerked her head toward a squirming Charlotte. Damn, that girl needed to take a chill pill. “And I’m sure you know Ms. Charlotte Jones.”

  “Yeah. Damien’s secretary, right?”

  Charlotte’s smile slipped a mile. “I’m the media coordinator at Refurbished Dreams. Before then, I worked with Damien on your account for over a year.”

  Tiana had expected Charlotte’s response to be hard and cutting, but it was soft and wounded. He really had no idea who she was. “Anyway.” Tiana clapped her hands, done with the disastrous matchmaking. “Let’s get you into makeup. The shoot starts in an hour.”

  Jake nodded and turned to leave.

  Tiana gave Charlotte a warm smile, trying not to give away her knowledge of her friend’s misguided heart. “Follow me, young Padawan.” Tiana wanted to say patience you must have, especially with the notorious baseball player, but Charlotte would have to learn the lesson of love on her own.

  • • •

  Jake stepped into the vehicle and, on cue, smiled and winked into the rearview mirror. Tiana frowned, drumming fingers over her mouth. She couldn’t quite place it, but something was off. She turned to Charlotte to get her opinion, but her starry-eyed friend was licking her chops like a lion on the Discovery Channel.

  Then Tiana heard a deep voice. “You look uncomfortable, man. Do a chin lift in the mirror instead of winking.”

  Her fingers dug into her palms when she recognized the voice belonged to Nathaniel. Tiana swung around, hands on her hips.

  With a natural swagger, Nathaniel gave Tiana and Charlotte a two-finger salute and strode to the director.

  Tiana felt her jaw unhinge as she took in the scene. Nathaniel, who was now talking to the director and Jake, pointed to the car and re-enacted his stupid chin bob.

  Anger replaced the blood rushing through her veins. He must be out of his damn mind! This is my shoot! Energy surged and powered her body, unsticking her rooted feet and thrusting her into action. Her heels clacked against the cement floor as she hurried to break up the newly formed boys’ club.

  By the time she reached them, the director had waved his hands in the air for attention on the set. The director adjusted his Coke bottle glasses against his pale face. “Guys, let’s try it again and use Nathan’s recommendations.”

  Tiana took a deep breath, ready to shoot down the new direction of the scene, but Nathaniel grabbed her wrist and pulled her to the side.

  She slapped his hand away. “I can’t believe you —”

  “Just hear me out, Peaches. It sounds corny, but it’ll work.”

  “Quiet on the set!” the production assistant yelled from a few feet away.

  Jake ran through the scene again, looking much more relaxed. The grin and nod were perfect, his natural charisma now present.

  Dammit.

  Nathaniel leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Told you, Peaches.”

  “Perfect!” Justin, the director, yelled from his seat. “Let’s get the female model prepped for the red carpet scene.” He stood from the chair and walked to Nathaniel and Tiana. “Nathan, I’d like to run a few ideas by you.”

  Tiana straightened her back and swung her attention to the director. “Justin, I’m happy to review the ideas you have. Nathaniel has a meeting with a client and has to be on his way.”

  “Oh.” Justin adjusted his glasses. “He’s not your boss?”

  My boss! Her temper spiked to a nine-point-five magnitude on the Richter scale. She clasped her hands together and took a deep breath in an effort to remain calm. “No, he’s not my boss. Furthermore—”

  Jake stepped into the fray and shook hands with Nathan. “Great ideas, man. Are you going to be around for a while? I’m a damn good player but not much of an actor.”

  Tiana cleared her throat, but she r
eally wanted to scream. “Nathaniel. I need to speak to you. Now.”

  Nathaniel tossed his hands in the air in surrender. “After you.”

  Once they stepped out the back, Tiana whirled around to face him. “Just where in the hell do you get off coming to my shoot, mouthing off to my director about my concept, huh? What’s up with that?” She jabbed a finger at his chest.

  “Ow.” Nathan rubbed over the spot. “Your fingers are lethal weapons, woman.”

  “Just answer me, Nathaniel. Why are you here? Are you trying to sabotage me?”

  “Tiana, I’m not trying to sabotage you, I swear. I just wanted to see the shoot.”

  “Why? Afraid I’m going to win the promotion?”

  “It’s not like that. I’m here to support you. And I saw the scene wasn’t working for Jake, so I changed it.” He stepped away and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his navy blue slacks. “Let’s be real. If I told you my opinion directly, you would’ve shot me down.”

  “It doesn’t matter.” She waved her hands at him. “You shouldn’t be here to have an opinion.”

  “Tiana … Peaches, I’m not trying to take over. And look, to be fair you can come to my shoot because I respect your opinion.” Nathaniel stepped into her space. “I should’ve spoken with your first, and if I have any other ideas, I’ll tell you first, cool?”

  Tiana squeezed the bridge of her nose. It’d be good to see his shoot. Assess the competition.

  “I don’t want you here, but you can stay as long as I can see your shoot.”

  “Deal.” He stuck out his hand.

  She looked down at his hand and rolled her eyes. “Just stay out of my way.”

  • • •

  Tiana massaged the soles of her feet and slumped on the green chenille sofa.

  Melanie scuttled into the room and hopped into the seat across from her, folding her legs under each other. “So, how did it go?”

  Tiana swung her legs to lie back on the sofa. “I’m sure you already squeezed every detail of the shoot from Charlotte.”

  “Maaaybe. But I want to hear from you. Besides, the conversation was heavy on how hot Jake is and not so much about the outcome.”

  A throb formed along Tiana’s temples. She lifted fingers to massage her head. “It went well. The videos are gonna rock. However, Nathaniel can quite frankly go to hell in a gasoline-doused hand basket with an overnight delivery option.”

  Mel smothered a chuckle. “Deliveries to hell tend to be expensive. Besides, they have a weight limit of one hundred and fifty pounds.”

  “Then I’ll cut off his legs. The coward doesn’t deserve them anyway. He can just slither around like the snake he is.”

  “Hold that thought.” Melanie hopped from the sofa and rooted around in the kitchen. She heard drawers open and shut and a clanking of silverware.

  Melanie skipped back into the living room, two yellow bowls in hand. “Ice cream. You’re welcome.” She shoved the cool dish into Tiana’s hand. “Now spill.”

  Tiana twirled her spoon in the bowl and scooped a huge hunk of ice cream, chock full of chocolate, sprinkles, cake, and heaven. She thrust the delicious treat into her mouth and sighed, feeling a smidge better. “All right. Let me tell you what the little charlatan did today.”

  “Word of the day!” Melanie clapped. “Ten points.”

  “Ten points noted,” Tiana responded. “Now, where was I? Nathaniel, who will forthwith be known as Nathaniel the Deceiver, tried to sabotage my shoot.”

  Melanie rolled her eyes. “You really need to diversify your shows. You’re starting to sound like an extra on Game of Thrones.”

  Tiana wielded her spoon like a dagger. “There is no such thing as too much GoT. Now, let me finish. Anyway, he struts on my set, distracting my staff. And then this jerk had the audacity to speak to the director about tweaking a scene that I’d already approved.”

  “No, he didn’t!” Melanie waved her spoon. “Did he make it better or worse?”

  “He had decent ideas, but still … it was my set!”

  Melanie nodded, readily agreeing.

  Tiana was certain that Mel knew she would blow up if her friend didn’t co-sign everything Tiana said about Nathaniel the Deceiver. “I asked him to leave and then he claimed he was there to support me. I let him stay and then … ” She took a deep breath, the betrayal running deep. “Then the bastard was chatting it up with Jake about his stupid commercials they’re shooting next week.” Tiana narrowed her and picked up her bowl of ice cream. She crammed in another spoonful. The cool, creamy sweetness was like balm to her nerves. “After that, he had to go.”

  Melanie folded her arms across her chest and leaned back. “Uh oh. What did you do?”

  “Well I told you about his nice little Jag Daddy got him for his thirtieth birthday?”

  Melanie shook her head no. “You didn’t tell me, but I saw the shiny black beauty parallel parked across from our apartment when you were sick.” Melanie grabbed her water, and suddenly her eyes popped. “Tell me you didn’t key his car?”

  Tiana scoffed and scowled. Did her friend really think that badly of her? “I would never do such a thing!” She shrugged. “I just had his car towed for illegal parking.”

  Mel threw back her head and clutched her sides, giggling like four-year-old. “Yeah,” she said in between a fit of laughter. “Because having his car towed is so much classier than keying his car!” Mel wiped the tears that formed from laughing so hard.

  Tiana joined her laughter too and patted herself on the back. A year ago, she would have ignored him and borne the brunt of his bullying.

  Still smiling, Mel shook her head. “If he was dumb enough to park illegally then he kind of deserved it.”

  Tiana paused mid scoop. Should she tell Melanie the honest-to-goodness truth? That she’d swiped his keys, parked illegally, and then called it in? She ate the last corner of her ice cream. Nope. Taking that to the grave. A part of her was upset that she’d restarted their prank wars. Before the shoot, she’d felt like they were on the path to friendship, but she was pissed by what he did. Tiana smothered her rising guilt. She wasn’t nearly finished with Nathaniel. After all, his shoot was next week.

  • • •

  “It’s wonderful to see your smiling face, Tiana,” Nathaniel greeted his surly co-worker. Tiana jerked her head and narrowed her eyes. Damn if he didn’t want to yank her up in that prim and proper cream pantsuit and have her wrap those endless legs around him.

  But she was pissed, and it was his fault. He really hadn’t gone down to the commercial shoot to screw her up. He’d missed seeing her face. Missed hearing her off-tune humming. Missed the reluctant smiles that had been becoming more and more frequent with each day that had passed.

  Tiana was stiff and still at her desk. Tucking a stray hair behind her ear, she nibbled her bottom lip.

  She knew he was staring. He sighed. An apology was long overdue, and he was already over her cold silence. “I’m sorry.”

  Tiana clenched her small hands into fists and pushed away from her desk, her chair spinning from the force. “You’re sorry, huh?” She crossed her arms across her white blazer. “So am I. Do you want to know why I’m sorry?” She uncrossed her arms to point at her chest.

  She didn’t wait for an answer. And he was too stunned by her anger to stop her. He didn’t want to stop her. She was stunning. Gorgeous. His angel of retribution.

  “I’m sorry I trusted you to be an adult. I’m sorry I thought you were capable of decency and goodness. I’m sorry I considered you a … a friend.” Pain flashed in her eyes. “I was wrong.”

  His heart galloped from his chest. No, this wasn’t anger. Her eyes had shone brightly but then dimmed. Weariness. Sadness. Disappointment.

  Anger, he could take, but not her disappointment. Not her sadness. He’d pushed her too far. He needed to end this farce they were playing and be frank. He liked her. Hell, he more than liked her. “Peaches, I—”

  “As far as
I’m concerned our little wager is done. I trust you as far as I can chuck you, which, fortunately for you, is not very far.”

  “Knock, knock!” He heard Isaac’s voice. Dammit, not now, man!

  Nathan cleared his throat and stood to greet his boss. “Hello, Isaac.” Nathan glanced at Tiana, who struggled to relax her body.

  To take attention off his upset co-worker, Nathan stood and waved their boss to his side of the office, pointing Isaac to an empty chair in front of his desk. Nathan turned his head and glanced over his shoulder to check on Tiana. Her eyes blazed.

  At least she isn’t sad. “What brings you to our office?”

  Isaac flipped his navy blue jacket behind him, as if he were about dine at an expensive restaurant instead of sit in the chair in front of Nathan’s desk.

  “Just got the official word from HR. The director’s position will be posted next Monday. I’m stopping by to make sure you both know and apply.”

  “Absolutely.” Tiana’s voice was now full of warmth and eagerness. “Thank you for stopping by to tell us.”

  “Not a problem, Tiana. And I heard wonderful things about the shoot. I can’t wait to see the final product. And kudos to you for being able to get Jakes’ nieces and nephews for the family segment.”

  Nathan hadn’t heard about that. That must’ve happened after my car was mysteriously towed. He knew it was Tiana’s handiwork, but he decided not to call her out on it, since it was his fault.

  Tiana dipped her head down and smiled. “Thank you. You’ll be one of the first people to see it, once everything is perfect.”

  Isaac slapped his knee and stood. “Glad to hear it. Nathan, good luck with your shoot.” He patted Nathan’s back. “I hear you’re going to need it.” He winked at Tiana.

  He’s pitting us against each other, the old shit.