Dark Perception: The Corde Noire Series (5 page)

“
Melinda, are you
hurt?”

A rush of tears flooded her eyes. “No.
I’m … I’m …”

Nathan placed his arm around her
shoulders. “Come with me.” He guided her through the double french
doors that led to the dining room. “Let’s get you a
drink.”

Melinda stopped, refusing to go any
further. “I must be interrupting your dinner plans. I can’t barge
in like this.”

“
Not to worry.” He gave her
shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “I was finished with my dinner
meeting, and was just about to leave when I saw you and that ox you
were with.”

Melinda wiped away a stray tear. “His
name is Mike Johnson. He plays outfield for the
Zephyrs.”

“
I thought he looked
familiar. Are you two dating?”

“
Not anymore,” she said,
half-laughing.

“
Glad to hear
it.”

Melinda relaxed against Nathan,
relieved to have someone to support and comfort her. She liked the
way his arm felt around her. So many of the men she had been with
over the past few years had never made her feel so reassured. If
anything, the men she had dated leaned on her for support, or for
knowledge about where their lives were going.

“
Are you hungry?” Nathan
inquired.

Melinda halted in the dining room and
marveled at the opulent white-linen tables, glistening with
silver-trimmed china and set against scenic windows overlooking a
red-bricked courtyard. Brown leather upholstered chairs stood out
against the tables, white-paneled walls, and intricately inlaid
white ceiling. Ornate crystal chandeliers hung at opposite ends of
the long room, while a towering floral display of gold, red, green,
and purple filled the entrance with its exotic perfume.

“
Wow.” Melinda moved out
from under Nathan’s arm. “It’s beautiful.”

“
You’ve never been here
before?”

“
No, but I’ve always wanted
to come.” Melinda caressed the floral arrangement to see if the
flowers were real. “Mike was bringing me here to celebrate his new
contract with the Zephyrs.”

“
I would have assumed …”
Nathan left his sentence unfinished.

Melinda sensed his unspoken thoughts.
“No, Nathan, I don’t have wealthy patrons or boyfriends to take me
to these kinds of places. I’m not one to use what I have to raise
my social standing in the world. I simply pay my bills with
it.”

Nathan clasped his hands, bowing his
head to her. “Forgive me, but you could do better,
Melinda.”

“
Whose definition of better
are we talking about, Nathan? Yours or mine?”

He held out his hand, urging her
further into the dining room. “I think my definition would suit you
more than yours.”

Melinda wanted to come back with some
smart comment, but her mind went blank. She silently cursed her
inability to think fast on her feet. It was the one attribute she
had always admired in others, the ability to make witty
repartee.

“
Is that baseball player
the kind of man you usually date?”

She was astounded by the suggestion.
“I wouldn’t say he’s typical of the kind of man I date.” She shook
her head. “Who am I kidding? He’s a lot like the guys I’ve ended up
with lately.”

Nathan pensively frowned. “How much
longer do you plan on associating with men like that? You’re what,
twenty-five?”

“
What has my age got to do
with anything?”

Nathan guided her to a table set in
front of one of the scenic windows at the end of the dining room.
“I’m just saying I think it’s time you found a man who treated you
well.”

“
My problem is the men I
date are not older and sophisticated, like you.”

“
I’m not that much older
than you, Melinda.”

“
How old are you,
Nathan?”

“
Thirty-eight.” He waved to
the table next to them. “Here. This is my table.”

Melinda took a seat close to the
window at the white linen-covered table as Nathan held her chair.
She became distracted by the romantic triple-tiered fountain in the
courtyard outside.

“
So tell me why you keep
dating the same kind of man?” Nathan probed from his chair. “You’re
a beautiful woman who needs to be more aware of her
self-worth.”

Melinda tried to think of a reply, but
all that registered was he had called her beautiful. “I guess I
never met anyone who made me feel beautiful … until
now.”

He sat back in his chair, tapping his
finger on the white tablecloth. “Why don’t you talk like you’re
from Mississippi? I know you grew up on a farm there, but you don’t
sound like a simple farm girl. If anything, you remind me of a
refined woman from the city.”

Melinda tried not to
laugh.
Me? Refined?
“My grandmother is the reason I speak the way I do. Grandma
Teresa was from England and raised me never to sound like a poor
girl from rural Mississippi. She taught me a great deal about
manners, social graces, and how to act like a lady. Growing up with
four brothers may not have always allowed me to put her guidance
into practice, but I’ve never stopped hearing her voice in my
head.”

“
How did she get from
England to Mississippi?”

“
Her father was a cattle
rancher and did business with my family’s cattle farm in
Mississippi. When she was twenty, she came to the U.S. and married
my grandfather. The marriage was arranged, but my grandmother said
it eventually turned into love.”

A spindly waiter with a bald head
approached their table. He quickly began replacing china, crystal,
and silver utensils.

“
Mel, why don’t you bring
us a bottle of La Grande Dame Brut, and an order of Chef Kristin’s
Gulf Coast Shrimp to start for the lady,” Nathan said.

The waiter replaced the last crystal
water goblet on the table and dipped his head. “Right away, Mr.
Cole.”

Melinda watched as the waiter’s black
slacks and black shirt darted into a recessed door several feet
away.

“
What’s the champagne
for?”

Nathan’s eyes danced with interest.
“How did you know I ordered champagne?”

“
Grandma Teresa taught me
about all things French, including champagne. She adored the
country and the culture.”

Nathan’s alluring eyes seemed to
become two small points of dark fire as he studied her. “What about
your mother? What did she teach you?”

Melinda stroked the stem of her
crystal water goblet. “She taught me never to settle.”

Nathan furrowed his brow. “I don’t
understand. How did she teach you that?”

“
My mother was the kind of
woman my grandmother loathed … a naive farmer’s daughter from rural
Mississippi who sounded as ignorant as she acted. Momma got
pregnant at sixteen, and spent the next fifteen years of her life
regretting her children and her marriage. After she died, my
grandmother came to live with us. I guess that’s why my grandmother
fought so hard to make me different from all the other girls in our
town. She wanted to make sure I didn’t end up like my
mother.”

Nathan’s eyes took a turn of the
dining room. “Then I’m sure she would be very proud of
you.”

“
She wouldn’t be that
proud. There’s a lot I’ve done to disappoint her.”

Intrigued, Nathan leaned into the
table. “I don’t see it that way. You got out of Mississippi, went
to college, and are living in New Orleans and making your
way.”

“
I’m not making my way
anywhere, Nathan. Playing piano in hotel lobbies and reading people
on the Square wouldn’t be her idea of success.”

“
Things could be different
for you, Melinda.”

Melinda sensed his intentions creeping
into her head. “Working for you wouldn’t be my idea of
success.”

He rocked back in his seat, surprised
by her response. “Tell me, do you read all my thoughts, or only the
ones pertaining to you?”

Melinda carefully took a moment to
compose her words, trying to find just the right way to explain how
she interpreted her gift.

“
I’m not reading your
thoughts. I’m mostly clairvoyant, which means I see things in my
head. Sometimes I just know what you’re thinking … that’s called
claircognizance. But with you, I think it’s a little of both. I see
what you want for me. I see me working for you, wearing fine
clothes and living in some Warehouse District apartment filled with
furniture I didn’t pick out.”

Nathan clapped his hands together and
gave a rumbling chuckle. “God, you don’t know how refreshing you
are. For years, I’ve had people who are always claiming they know
how I think, or that they can predict my moods … at least as far as
my business acumen goes. But you, the one person who can truly see
what I’m thinking or feeling, have no interest to use it against me
or to further your desires.”

“
People who can see know
not to use it for personal gain.”

“
Who told you that?” he
demanded.

“
My grandmother. She called
what I have the dark perception. She taught me never to use it for
bad, and never to use it for personal gain. It’s a gift, and all
gifts must be shared.”

“
But you have people pay
you to read for them. How is that any different?”

“
I’m not cashing in on what
I have. I’m using it to help people, but not fleecing them in the
process. I think what I charge is fair. If I were driving a
Mercedes and living in a big house, then I might feel I was
capitalizing on what I do.” Melinda shrugged. “I guess I would
rather have that Mercedes and expensive house because of my music,
not my gift.”

Mel appeared with a bottle
of La Grande Dame Champagne and a silver ice bucket. He
respectfully showed Nathan the bottle label, and after a
loud
pop
, he
filled two crystal flutes with the golden liquid.

“
Your shrimp is coming
right out, miss.” Mel set the bottle in the ice bucket. “Do you
know what you would like for your main course?”

Melinda turned to Nathan. “What would
you suggest?”

“
I had the Gulf Coast
Snapper, and it was wonderful.”

Melinda kept her eyes on Nathan as she
spoke. “Then I’ll have the snapper, too.”

Just as Mel was about to go, Nathan
stopped him. “Please bring two orders of the dark chocolate crémeux
tart after the snapper, Mel. I’ll join the lady for
dessert.”

“
Certainly, Mr. Cole.” Mel
backed away from the table.

Melinda picked up her glass of
champagne and closed her eyes as the cool liquid touched her
lips.

“
If you came to work for
me,” Nathan’s voice intruded. “I could offer you many evenings like
this: drinking champagne and dining on overpriced food.”

Melinda opened her eyes and set her
glass on the smooth white linen tablecloth. “But then I might get
as bored as you’ve obviously become with places such as this. I’m
surprised you come here at all to eat.”

Nathan caressed his glass of
champagne. “My clients want to go to expensive restaurants. Makes
them feel important. I prefer a plain old steak and a good bottle
of red wine to snapper and champagne.”

“
I guess I’ve always been
more of a beer girl.” Melinda tried to hide her giggling by
covering her mouth with her napkin.

“
That’s the Melinda I like
seeing. The bubbly woman with the contagious laugh and bright
smile.” He took a sip of his champagne. “You were getting way too
serious there for a moment.”

Melinda noted the change between them.
It was as if the formality had lifted and a flirtier mood had
replaced it.

“
Do you mind if I make a
request?” Melinda whispered across the table to him.

Nathan arched closer to her and
grinned. “Go right ahead.”

“
Can we skip the snapper
and go straight to that dark chocolate tart? It sounded awfully
good.”

It was Nathan’s turn to laugh. Still
chuckling, he raised his hand and waved Mel down from across the
room.

Melinda noticed the difference in his
laughter. It was no longer dark and bereft of emotion. Instead, the
sound that echoed inside her was warm, heartfelt, and almost
musical.

While Nathan informed Mel of the
change in menu, Melinda took another gulp of champagne. Perhaps
Mike showing up at her door was meant to be, after all. Her
grandmother had always told her that fate speaks to you through the
actions of others. You have to pay attention to the signs;
otherwise, you might never learn your destiny. Melinda began to
wonder if the attractive Nathan Cole was meant to be part of her
destiny. Perhaps this evening was to mark a turning point in their
relationship. As Melinda considered the possibilities, the slight
tickle she always attributed to Nathan began to grow, and soon it
was no longer a tickle, but a smoldering flame.

Chapter 4

The sidewalks of St. Ann Street were
empty when a black Jaguar XK parked in front of the townhouse where
Melinda lived. She kept her eyes on the bright red door, afraid to
face Nathan, unsure of how she would respond as the warmth of all
the champagne she had consumed flowed through her.