One Magic Moment, page 18
“Mrs. Bradley, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” She said.
Nia was struck at how beautiful Simone was for her age. Her brown eyes were bright and alive and her skin was still as smooth as a baby’s bottom. Her careful makeup highlighted her tawny complexion and her thick, auburn hair was beautifully arranged in a sleek chignon atop her head. Diamonds and rubies were draped around her neck and dangled from both ears. She exuded class and understated elegance, wearing a beaded burgundy camisole and a long, paisley, taffeta ball-gown skirt that flowed to her ankles. She looked incredible for the mother of a thirty-year-old son and every bit the society matron. Nia was no hick and didn’t consider herself from the wrong side of the tracks, but something told her she might be far out of her league,
“Welcome, Nia. Please come join us in the Irving room for cocktails before the opera.” Simone Bradley motioned for Nia to walk ahead of her.
“Darling, don’t you think you could have told her to wear something more appropriate?” She heard his mother whisper, but just loud enough for Nia to hear, “And a little less sexy. We are going to the opera.”
Nia blushed, but kept a straight face. She strode into the living room to greet Marcus Bradley and his daughter Jordan, keeping a polite smile plastered on her face. Nia would keep her head held high and act as if she hadn’t heard his mother’s insulting comment.
“Mother,” Damon whispered, lightly grabbing her by the forearm, “don’t start. I think Nia looks gorgeous.”
“And we both know where your mind is, dear.” His mother chuckled, patting his hand. “Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.”
“There’s my big brother,” a brown-haired beauty exclaimed, sweeping past Nia to give Damon a bear hug and smother him with kisses. No doubt, this was Jordan. Was she purposely being rude by not acknowledging Nia’s presence?
Jordan Bradley was every bit as stunning as her mother. Nia noticed almost immediately that she exhibited the same superiority complex as well. A mass of golden ringlets framed her flawless face. Jordan appeared to be equally as tall as her father and Damon. Dressed in a black halter tuxedo dress with white satin lapels and black strappy sandals, Jordan towered over Nia. Her dress showed off her amazing athletic figure.
Mr. Bradley noticed the slight overture and came over to welcome Nia and shake her hand warmly. Ever the diplomat, Damon thought as he crossed the threshold with his mother. He returned his little sister’s kiss, but he was going to have a talk with Jordan; he wouldn’t have her disrespecting Nia.
“It’s great to finally meet you, Ms. Taylor,” Mr. Bradley stated. His lips thinned as he gave Jordan a stern look. “Forgive my daughter’s exuberance. She and Damon are quite close.”
“Sorry, Nia,” Jordan apologized, trying to look contrite. The apology definitely was not genuine, but Nia nodded her head anyway.
“It’s great to meet you, too,” Nia replied, coming forward to shake his hand. A few inches taller than Damon’s six feet and one inch, Marcus Bradley dwarfed her. With his commanding presence and dark black eyes, Nia was sure his employees looked up to him as Damon implied, but feared him a little, too. Damon resembled his father, but Mr. Bradley had more lines on his angular face and narrow lips.
“Would you like a cocktail or appetizer before dinner?” Marcus asked, holding a platter of goodies to tempt her. Nia’s stomach grumbled from the smell of the enticing aromas.
Nia looked at Mrs. Bradley, who was no bigger than a toothpick, and declined. “No, thank you, but a glass of white wine would be great,”
“How about I prepare you one of my delicious martinis instead?” Mr. Bradley turned around to prepare the drink, not waiting for her answer.
“My father makes a great lemonade martini,” Damon ventured.
“That would be lovely,” Nia replied.
Marcus set about making her drink. Several minutes later, he handed her a martini. Nia accepted the drink and made polite chitchat with his family. Damon stood by her side the entire time, but sensed her uneasiness.
A short while later, Marcus announced it was time to head to the theater. “We wouldn’t want to miss the curtain,” he explained. “The limo I hired for the evening should be waiting for us outside.”
They all filed into the foyer. Nia watched Marcus wrap a shawl around his wife and lightly kiss her on the shoulder. Simone looked up at him affectionately. It was great to see a couple still in love after many years, though to Nia it was quite unusual.
Her grandparents rarely showed public displays of affection. She wasn’t even sure if they were still in love or whether they stayed together out of habit. She hoped that if she ever married, somehow she and her husband would manage to keep the flames burning.
As predicted, a black stretch limousine awaited outside the Bradley’s’ home. The men allowed the women to get in first before climbing in after them. Nia sat opposite Damon’s mother and sister. She wanted to see their facial expressions and gauge their reaction to her on the ride to opera. Damon joined her, sitting opposite from his family. The limousine eased out of the driveway, making its way to the expressway and toward the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
“Damon tells me you work at Dean, Martin & Whitmore,” Mr. Bradley began. “It’s a great firm. Dan and I are old friends,”
“Yes, I know,” Nia said. “I remember seeing you at our Christmas party.” Damon turned to give her an unpleasant look. Had she just stuck her foot in her mouth? It’s a great place to work and I love what I do,” she added.
“Ah, yes,” Mr. Bradley said, ignoring her last comment, “now I remember you as well.” He turned to his wife and daughter. “Nia’s the woman I told you about.” His wife looked confused. “You know, the woman Damon made such a public display over in the Whitmore’s’ living room at their Christmas party.”
Damon sighed, rolling his eyes. “It wasn’t a public display, Dad. I just introduced myself.”
“Whatever,” his father said, looking at his son, “Damon was quite enchanted with you, Nia, and could hardly concentrate for the duration of the evening.”
“And that hasn’t changed.” Damon lightly kissed Nia’s hand. “I’m as enchanted as I was that first night, maybe even more now.” Nia turned to give him a quick smile. She found confidence and assuredness in his sultry brown eyes and tried to convince herself to relax. This night meant so much Damon. He desperately wanted Nia to connect with his family and he’d forewarned her that his father could be quite blunt at times.
“That’s great, son,” Mr. Bradley replied. “It’s great to finally see you happy again after that engagement fiasco with Kendall.”
A hush fell over the limousine. Damon fumed sitting across from his father. He turned to find Nia’s questioning eyes on him. She blinked several times, waiting for confirmation. The pain was evident in her eyes even though she tried to disguise it. Refusing to face him, Nia stared resolutely through the window.
He had expressly forbidden the subject of Kendall to come up in conversation and his father damn well knew it. He’d had a lapse in judgment and didn’t wish to have it thrown in his face. Not to mention the fact that he hadn’t told Nia about the engagement. It was so long ago to him, it didn’t seem to matter. Whatever his personal agenda, his father had no right to make Nia feel uncomfortable.
Jordan, who’d been casually looking out the window, took the cue; maybe she saw the smoke billowing from his ears because she changed the subject. “Well, I for one am excited to see Carmen again,” she gushed. “The character is so sassy and no-nonsense. She’s just my kind of woman and I hear it’s going to be great with Anna Rossini singing the lead.”
She smiled at Nia, who was frozen in anger. “You’ll love it, Nia. Or maybe not, opera is an acquired taste.” He could hear his mother’s quick intake of breath; even his father put his head down in embarrassment. Damon felt Nia’s hand ball up in a fist alongside him. Could his sister stick the knife in any farther?
Jordan looked apologetically at Damon.” I mean, not everyone loves the opera. Damon tells me you’re quite fond of the theater and musicals.” Jordan tried to backtrack, but Damon knew it was too late. Nia was furious and Damon didn’t know what to do.
He was thankful when the limo came to an abrupt stop in front of the theater and they were able to disembark with no event.
Oblivious to the conversation swirling around her, Nia managed to put one foot in front of the other. From the start of the evening, everything had gone from bad to worse. First, his mother insinuated that she wore inappropriate attire for the opera. Then Damon’s sister completely ignored her and spoke down to her as if she wasn’t cultured enough to appreciate the opera, and all the while Damon stood by doing nothing to protect her from these attacks. But the worst was finding out from Damon’s father that he’d been engaged to Kendall. Why hadn’t Damon told her beforehand? He’d had ample opportunity, way before they’d even slept together. No wonder Kendall thought she had a right to him! How could he have kept this from her? She thought she could trust him. Had she made a mistake? Was he keeping more secrets from her?
The usher seated the Bradley party in their balcony theater box. Nia sat down stone-faced and looked directly ahead of her as the crowd of people below scrambled to find their seats. The lights flickered indicating the opening act was about to begin.
Damon squeezed her hand when he sat beside her, but Nia snatched it away. She couldn’t bear to look at him then, for fear of bursting into tears. Somehow she would make it through the rest of the evening with a modicum of decorum. She wouldn’t give his family the satisfaction of knowing they had upset her.
“Here’s some glasses,” he offered, handing her a small pair of theater binoculars. “They’ll help you see the action a little better.” He stared at her, but she accepted them without looking at him.
It’s going to be a long evening, Damon thought, sitting back rigidly in his chair. He’d hoped that night would be a resounding success and would’ve laid to rest Nia’s fears about their different backgrounds. Instead, his parents cultivated her worst fears.
The rest of the evening proved uneventful. During intermission, while Nia was in the ladies’ room, Damon took his family aside and had a word with them. He’d stressed that he wasn’t going to put up with any more antics and would have their heads if they said one more negative thing about Nia’s clothes, lack of culture or much less breathed the name Kendall Montgomery in her presence. After being dutifully chastised, they all promised to be on their best behavior, but the damage had already been done. The sparkle had gone out of Nia’s eyes.
Over dinner, his parents played the eager hosts and Nia muttered the appropriate responses when asked a question. She talked briefly her job as an advertising assistant at Dean, Martin & Whitmore and discussing their upcoming campaign, which pleased Marcus endlessly.
Damon noticed that she picked at her Caesar salad and barely ate her pecan-crusted salmon. He knew Nia to have a healthy appetite. He watched her move her food from one side of the plate to the other. This was all his fault. He never should have insisted that she meet his parents. He knew she wasn’t ready yet and now they’d gone and embarrassed him, hitting on a sore spot between the two of them. He saw how uncomfortable Nia was around his display of wealth. Although she enjoyed the ski trip to Alpine Valley and the romantic weekend in New Orleans, he could tell she was unnerved by it. Of course, he couldn’t blame everything on his family. Nia was angry with him for not telling her about Kendall, and justifiably so. But he’d been afraid to tell her about the engagement.
With their relationship still so fragile, Nia was overreacting and probably looking on it as some sort of betrayal. This could completely destroy her trust in him and he couldn’t let that happen. Nia meant everything to him. He didn’t realize just how much until now, when he thought he could lose her. He loved her with all his heart. He’d tried to ignore those feelings but they were there. He’d known since New Orleans, but was too afraid to admit it. But was Nia ready to let his love in?
He knew she wanted him to take her home to her apartment, but he was taking her to his place. Somehow he would convince her just how much he cared for her, loved her. On the ride to his house, Nia stared out the window and sat as far away from him as humanly possible without falling out of the car. All he wanted to do was pull her close and drown himself in her, but he didn’t want to see the sad look in her eyes.
Chapter 15
Damon opened the door to his condo and let Nia brush past him. She closed the door behind her, almost slamming it in his face.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Nia asked, turning around to face him. She’d been holding the question inside the entire evening. She couldn’t believe Damon had kept his engagement to Kendall a secret from her. To make matters worse, he’d stubbornly refused to take her home and had driven her to his place instead.
“I’m sorry,” Damon stated quietly. He loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top of shirt, ready to do battle. “I should have told you, but I didn’t want you to overreact like you’re doing now.”
“Overreact? How could I not? I was completely taken off guard.” Nia went over to the minibar to pour herself a glass of brandy. She needed something strong. She swirled the liquid around in the decanter before taking a sip. “Did your father enjoy embarrassing me? The old man must have gotten a real thrill out of sticking it to me.”
Damon stood up. He’d had enough. Nia had hardly spoken a word to him on the ride home and the silence had been deafening. “Don’t say another word,” he rasped, putting his hand up. “I won’t let you talk about my father.”
“Why not?” she countered. “Your entire family tried to belittle me the entire evening. And you let them.”
“I admit that they were out of line, but, Nia, they’re not really who you’re upset with, now, are they?” Damon asked wearily.
“No, they’re not. They were only part of the problem. I’m upset because you lied to me.”
“I didn’t lie.”
“Let’s not play word games, Damon,” Nia lectured. “A lie is a lie, whether it’s one of omission or not. And you’ve yet to tell me why you broke off your engagement with Kendall. What’s the big secret? What are you hiding from me?” She paced the floor.
Damon rubbed his head in frustration. He shrugged out of his tuxedo jacket. “There is no big secret, Nia. It’s simple. Kendall and I were engaged a couple of years ago.”
“And what precipitated your calling it off?” Nia pressed. She waited for an explanation. Damon didn’t appear to be forthcoming with the details.
“Do we have to talk about this?” Damon flopped down on the couch. It had been a long evening and he didn’t want to think of the time when he’d been a fool, falling for Kendall’s act. He didn’t want to remember how she had come on to Will, who’d turned her down, before betraying him with one of his other friends. After Kendall, he’d thought he had lost the ability to love, contenting himself with celibacy until he’d met Nia. She’d single-handedly brought back his belief in love, the kind of love he saw in his parents’ relationship and wished for in one of his own.
“Yes, I want to know what happened.”
He gave in. “All right, but can you stop pacing the floor?” Reluctantly, she came to sit down next to him. He respected Nia too much to let anything come between them. “I let a long-standing friendship between the Bradley’s and the Montgomery’s precipitate a relationship between Kendall and me.”
“I know all this already.”
Damon rolled his eyes. “Fine. What you don’t know is that at one time I fancied myself in love. I was ready to settle down, start a family, and Kendall said and did the right things to make me believe she wanted it, too. But it was all a lie. She deceived me and I didn’t notice her roving eye. Maybe I didn’t want to see it. I always knew Kendall to be a flirt, but I never expected she would cheat on me.”
Nia’s eyes widened in astonishment. She couldn’t believe it. Kendall was the one who ruined their relationship? She’d always thought it had been Damon who’d called off their affair because he wasn’t ready for commitment. Nia never would have guessed that Kendall was unfaithful.
“How did you find out?” She was utterly amazed. All this time, she had been so far off the mark.
“I saw them.”
“Oh, Damon, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.” She reached out to touch his hand.
“No. Let me finish,” Damon pulled away. “You haven’t heard the whole story.” He took a deep breath. “Kendall didn’t pick a stranger to sleep with.” Nia’s eyes widened in disbelief, but Damon continued. “She chose one of my best friends, Daniel Hollister. And I was the one who found them in bed together. I was stunned. Daniel and I went way back; we had known each other since kindergarten. I couldn’t believe he could betray me with my fiancée, but there they were. It’s hard not to believe something when you see it with your very own eyes. Afterward, they both begged my forgiveness, claiming that the other seduced them, but I didn’t want to hear any more lies. Needless to say, that ended the engagement and the friendship.”
Nia shook her head. “I don’t get it. The way Kendall behaves, you’d think you were the one in the wrong, but it was her. She betrayed you. But yet she still thinks she has a chance with you?”
“Nia, you have to see that Kendall uses her body as a weapon. It’s probably her greatest asset and she uses it to get what she wants, I know that now. Looking back, I can see that our relationship was all about the physical; she never really knew me. But then again, I was confused. I thought love and sex were synonymous and she was able to wrap me around her little finger.”
