Obsessed

"Of course not," I snap back. "Have you forgotten what he did? He... " I stop myself before blurting out that it wasn't just one woman Mark slept with, there were three. My pride, to this point, has stopped me from sharing that juicy bit of Mark gossip with anyone, even Liz.

She rushes over to hug me. "I could never forget."

"Can we please talk about something else?" I turn back around to wash the paint brush, hoping Liz will let the subject of Mark rest in peace.

"Brighton?" Her voice takes on a lighter tone.

I glance back over my shoulder at her. "Did you spend the night?"

"Ivy Marlow!" She pulls her hands to her chest. "I barely know him."

I laugh heartily. "This is Manhattan. If you've spoken to him once, you know him well enough."

"Never mind me." Liz's face flushes crimson. "What about you and Brighton's brother?"

I completely turn to look at her. "Brighton's brother?"

"Jax." A small smile pulls at the corner of her lips. "Technically they're half-brothers. They have the same mother, different dads. His last name is Walker, or Walters…something with a W."

I stand in silence trying to process this news. I flash back to the moment in the gallery when I referred to Brighton's so-called-masterpiece as Confusion and my flippant remark last night about Leonardo da Vinci.

"He asked about you after you left." There's excitement in my best friend's voice.

"What did you tell him?"

"I said you were the most remarkable woman I knew." Liz's eyes start to well with tears.

I'm surprised by her emotional reaction. "You're so sweet to me."

She looks down at the cement floor of her studio, slowly shaking her head from side-to-side. "I'm not. You've always been the better friend."

"That's not true," I say gently. I'm hoping that my words will comfort Liz enough that she'll bounce back to the topic of Jax.

She smiles weakly at me. "He seems taken with you. He talked non-stop for ten minutes about you and your jewelry."

"Really?" I know I sound overly excited but I'm completely enthralled with the man. "What do you know about him?"

"Let's see," Liz pauses as she settles down on a stool next to the canvas. "He's twenty-six, single, and no kids. He moved back here from Los Angeles a few months ago. He just bought into a business here, I think."

"Wow," I say, taken back by the biography of Jax I've just been handed. "Single is good, although I did see him leaving the opening with a gorgeous woman the other night."

"Celeste Gladu," Liz reveals. "She's a model."

I feel my heart sink at that announcement. "That's not surprising," I say under my breath.

"No." Liz holds back a chuckle. "They weren't together. Jax is friends with her beau, Jeremy. Jax was seeing her home that night as a favor."

"How do you know all this?" I ask in bona fide amazement.

"I saw Celeste at the opening. I was coming to fetch you to meet her when we got sidetracked by Brighton." Liz rambles on, "I met Celeste years ago when we lived in the same walk up in So-Ho."

"And you saw her with Jax at the opening?"

"Yes." She continues, "after you left Brighton's last night I mentioned Celeste to Jax and we started talking and before you know it, I had a fistful of information to give my best friend."

"Very helpful information." I grin widely. "I like him."

"I could tell at the opening." She winks at me before turning back to her painting. "I should get back to this. Brighton is coming by later to see more of my work."