Wrapped In Red. Sherelle Green

deserved better than him.”

      Her smile had been sad, wistful, and she’d kissed him on the cheek. And that was it. He’d never seen her again.

      Jilly snapped her fingers in front of his eyes. “Earth to Linc. Did you hear me?”

      He’d been too lost in his last memory of Nomi. “No. Sorry.”

      His sister rolled her eyes. “Focus. She’s coming back, so what are you going to do about it?”

      “Pick her up from the train station.”

      “Please don’t be obtuse. This is your chance.”

      “She’s only staying a couple of days, Jilly.”

      “I know, but that in itself is huge. She hasn’t been home in five years. Maybe you can convince her to stay a little longer. Have a Christmas fling.”

      A fling? Just the thought made his skin tight. “Not that easy, Jilly. She’s coming back for Nolan Polk.”

      Jilly’s eyes grew wide and she cursed under her breath. “What are you going to do?”

      That was the question. He’d created the Nolan Polk pseudonym for his work back in college when he’d been trying to distance himself from the family name. He’d wanted people to want his work because it was good, not because his father was a senator. But one bad decision and Polk had become a prison he couldn’t escape.

      There was no way in hell he could help her find Nolan Polk. Problem was, when Nomi had something she wanted, she wouldn’t let it go.

      “I can’t use the Polk name or distribute that work until the New Year. If I do, I’m in breach and it’ll cost me everything.”

      Jilly ground her teeth. “I could kill that woman for locking you into this deal.”

      He wished he could wipe his whole relationship with Melanie Stanfield off the plane of existence. Just thinking about it made anger pulse in his veins. When he and Melanie had been together, at first things were great. She had art connections thanks to her family, particularly abroad. When he’d proposed, she’d officially become his manager.

      The one clause in his contract he should have paid closer attention to stated that no one else could distribute his work for profit for a term of three years. At the time, he’d been convinced of their love. Like a chump.

      But then things had gone bad. And she’d started paying more attention to the value of his work than the value of their relationship. When they’d broken up, she’d held him by the short and curlies to his contract. He’d rather eat glass than give her a dime.

      For the past two years since he’d been home, he hadn’t sold or exhibited a single piece, except for charity. Suddenly the only thing he’d ever wanted had a hundred-and-ten-pound blond albatross attached to it.

      But he’d made his bed, he had to lie in it. “My fault, Jilly. I trusted the wrong person. I’m not eager to do that again.”

      Jilly shook her head. “Nomi wouldn’t hurt you, Linc. That’s not her.”

      No, that wasn’t the Nomi he remembered, but he’d been wrong about people before. “I thought the same thing about Melanie once, too.”

      His sister put a hand on his shoulder. “Maybe this gig could put you back on the map again. Have you shooting. This is your chance to finally leave for good. Maybe go back to Europe. See more of Africa. You always used to talk about it.”

      “That was a long time ago, Jilly.”

      She pursed her lips. “Sooner or later you won’t have Dad as an excuse anymore. You’ll have to face the big bad world. You were destined for great things, little brother. Time to stop hiding.”

      Linc ignored the numb feeling that spread from his chest. With his father’s early-onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis two years ago, he’d come home to help out. They both had. But for him, it had also been a way to escape all the mistakes he’d made.

      Though, coming home hadn’t been any easier. His father had been a man’s man. Confident, a little brash, but fair and kindhearted. It had helped him get elected over and over again. It had helped people trust him. But that man was gone now. And it hurt. Some days weren’t so bad. The lucid days. Which were more than the non-lucid days. But the other days, the ones where his father couldn’t even recognize him, those hurt. It was the sole reason he stayed. Otherwise he’d have left, off for parts unknown by now, spreading his wings. At least that was what he liked to tell himself.

      “You wouldn’t understand.”

      “Whatever you say. What I do know is, all you have to do to get the girl of your dreams is to share a part of yourself. It’s not that hard, Linc. Now’s your chance to take a shot. Even if it’s just for a couple of days.”

      “First things first. I need to keep Nomi from finding Nolan Polk. Then I’ll worry about taking a shot.” Too bad his brain and his heart had different priorities.

       Chapter 3

      It was official. Hell had frozen over. And it looked an awful lot like Faith, Virginia. Nomi strode through the train station looking around at the white canvas outside. Of course it was snowing. This was Virginia, after all, and there were only a few days left till Christmas. What had she expected? The balmy seventy-degree weather in Los Angeles looked mighty good right about now.

       Get in and get out and you can go back.

      She was giving herself three days to get what she needed and be back at home in the safety of her apartment before Christmas hit.

      She turned on her phone and checked her messages. So far nothing from Linc. Hopefully he was already here. She was behind the curve as it was. Amber had used her miles to upgrade herself to an earlier flight and presumably had caught the afternoon train, so Nomi was playing catch up.

      She took the escalator down, choosing to walk rather than ride it. All the while she scanned the luggage area for Linc. Frowning when she didn’t see him, she craned her neck. Don’t be ridiculous. He might have changed in all this time.

      The last she’d seen him, his dark hair had dusted his shoulders and he’d been rail thin and barely taller than her at maybe five feet nine inches if she was being generous. She had no idea what to picture now. Maybe he’d gone extra emo like every other hipster she knew and had grown a beard or a mustache to be ironic.

      As she looked around, the memories of the last time she’d been home washed over her. When she’d left here five years ago, the plan had been to never come back.

      Thanks to her AP courses and the summer sessions she’d taken at the local community college, she’d finished all her high school credits just before the holiday and had planned to work from December through graduation and then head for UCLA in the fall. Brad was supposed to move out with her and had been planning on attending the University of Southern California. But that night had changed everything.

      When he’d picked her up, he’d taken her to the big lake by the country club. Over the summers there were usually parties out there, bonfires on the tiny beach. It was also the standard make-out spot. But he hadn’t taken her there to make out. Or, hell, propose like her idiotic seventeen-year-old self had thought.

      Just thinking about what he’d said made her blood boil. “Nomi, it’s been a fun two years, but we need to think about our futures. Or rather, I need to think about my future.”

      She’d been too shocked to cry in the moment. And since she hadn’t said anything he’d continued.

      “As great as you are, you’re not the right person to take into my future. I need to be with someone who complements me. Someone who has the same vision.”

      What he’d meant was someone with a rich family