Chapter 102
954 Words
“So, we hear you’re hanging out with King, huh?”
Naomi looked up, surprised, her fork halfway to her mouth. “You heard that how?”
Reena Mackay smiled across the table at her. “Oh, word on that man travels, Naomi. Believe me – King is the subject of a great deal of attention and gossip.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s a man of mystery, to put it mildly.”
“Yeah?”
“Hell, yeah.” Mitchell Corrigan stared at Naomi with his usual stunning intensity. “You sure you know what you’re doing with him?”
“I’m not doing anything with him,” Naomi said, a bit flustered. “He’s just interested in funding the expansion of the art program and the center, and we’ve spent some time talking about it.”
“Uh-huh.” Mitch held her gaze with those dark green eyes. “Well, that’s good. Keep it there, maybe. He’s a good guy in general, I think, but I’m not sure he’s what you need right now.”
Naomi nodded. Reena and Mitch were two of the very few people who knew about her sobriety, and they were well aware of her decision to abstain from romantic relationships for a while. From the moment she’d told them about being an alcoholic, they had been nothing but supportive and caring.
“Do you know Matt personally?” Naomi asked them. “Or is it all just rumor?”
“Oh, I know him pretty well,” Mitch said. “I met him at some of my underground fights. He was there on some jobs to do with Kirk Jensen, I think.”
“So what do you guys know about him?” Naomi let her curiosity get the best of her. “I mean, he seems OK to me.”
“Does he now?” Reena’s blue eyes sparkled. “Well, I don’t know much about his businesses, and I don’t want to know, to be honest. But I do know that the man is not big into commitment.”
“No?” She forced herself to sound disinterested. “Lots of women?”
“Oh, God. Truckloads. Word is that he can be found in the crash rooms of Curves most weekends.”
“The crash rooms?”
“The f**k rooms,” Mitch said bluntly. “Ideal for quickies before heading back out to the bar to drink.”
Naomi was surprised how disappointed she was to hear that about Matt, then she gave herself a quick mental shake. Come on, had she really expected a man who looked like that, and who had obvious wealth, and who boasted that level of s****l confidence and swagger, to be into having a steady girlfriend? He was the epitome of a guy whose interest in a woman extended as far as pouring coffee down her throat the morning after – and that’s if she was damn lucky. The f**k room women wouldn’t even get that much from him.
The more Naomi thought about it, the more she’d come to see his invitation to dinner as a throwaway gesture. A little muscle flex, a ‘yeah-why-not’ question while they were stuck together in the same room, a way to kill some conversational time. He’d asked for the hell of it, just to see what she’d do, and she was sure that when she’d said no, he’d simply shrugged those massive shoulders and asked someone else within an hour. Someone who almost certainly had said yes.
“Well, no surprise there,” Naomi said now. “He didn’t really strike me as the long-term commitment type, though he is a decent guy.” She took a sip of tea. “He’s great with Callie and Noah, two of the artists. He’s patient and so amazingly gentle… they can tense up around men, especially big men, but with him, they’re totally fine. That’s rare, believe me.”
“Yeah?” Reena contemplated that. “Well, some men are decent guys, and crap boyfriends.”
“True enough.” Naomi grinned at Mitch. “You want to weigh in on this one?”
“Nope.” Mitch shook his dark head. “I know my limits on certain topics, ladies. But if you want some free and unsolicited advice about King, here it is, Naomi: let him help you out with the program if he wants to, ‘cause God knows, you need funding for what you’ve got planned and he's rolling in cash, though I don't want to know how he actually makes it. But really, be careful with that heart of yours around him, OK? He’s not a serious guy, and you’re a serious woman.”
“What do you mean, I’m 'serious'?” Naomi said.
“I mean, when you’re ready for it, you’re going to go looking for the real deal, right? Commitment and romance and love… you’re a one-man kind of woman, and that’s exactly the one kind of woman that King isn’t into.” Mitch’s face was grave. “The ladies love him – but he never loves ‘em back. You follow?”
Naomi nodded slowly. “Yeah. I hear you, loud and clear.”
“A shame, really,” Reena piped up. “Because he is s*x on legs.”
“I know, right?” Naomi said.
“Hey!” Mitch said mock-indignantly. “I’m sitting right here, sugar!”
Reena winked at him. “Deal with it, sugar. Matt Kingston is smoking hot, and being a serial womanizer and commitment-phobe does not change that fact.”
“Yeah,” Naomi said ruefully. “Unfortunately, that is completely true.”
- Writer
