A second later, Kiera pops up. She gives me a thumbs up to show she’s ok. And then she goes back to crossing the field, this time more carefully.I glance at Nicole. “You’re good with kids.”She shrugs off the compliment. “I used to babysit my little cousins back in Texas. Girls Kiera’s age want to test out being a little more independent. And they’re normally tougher than their parents think.”“You mean tougher than their dads think,” I say.“Nicole slides her gloved fingers between mine. “I like that you want to protect her from everything, Nathan. And I think Kiera does too. It’s one of the things that helps her be so brave.”“You think?” My voice sounds gruff, even to my own ears.Amelia smiles up at me. She double checks Kiera isn’t watching, then sneaks a kiss. It’s sweet and chaste. Like freshly fallen snow.Then she pulls back, and we both start walking after Kiera, holding onto each other to avoid slipping on the packed snow.My chest feels weirdly warm over Nicole’s words.I
“Yes,” Nathan answers.“Are you ever going to for-real marry someone new?” Kiera asks. “Like how Mom married someone new?”I stop walking. I know I shouldn't eavesdrop. But I can’t make myself walk into Kiera’s room before I hear Nathan’s answer.At last Nathan answers in a low, soft tone. I can hear the smile in his voice. “I don’t need to ever get married again, Bug. I’ve got all the family I need right here.” And then Kiera’s giggling and shrieking, like Nathan’s tickling her.I stand in the hallway and make myself take deep breaths until I’m sure my face looks normal.Rationally, I know that’s the right answer for Nathan to give. Kiera and Nathan are a unit, a perfect little family in their own right.I’m glad Nathan has that.But a tiny part of me feels disappointed. I know it’s ridiculous to feel that way. Casual sex isn’t going to magically turn a fake relationship real.But the way he looked at me tonight...No, I tell myself sternly. I need to stop seeing things that aren’t t
Finally, I can talk to someone else about this hot, sweet, confusing thing that’s happening between me and Nathan. Also, she can give me an opinion on what to wear to the gala tomorrow night. Nathan’s mom’s stylist sent plenty of dresses over. They were sleek, sexy, sophisticated.But none of them felt like me.It probably shouldn’t matter if I feel like myself when I’m already pretending to be someone else’s fiancée. Living in someone else’s apartment. Working a corporate job where I don’t fit in, and plan to leave as soon as possible.But all the lies are having the opposite effect. I’m finding myself clinging to anything that still feels like the real me. Maybe if I can hold on to who I am, I won’t get swept up in Nicole.Ria holds up a silver column dress. “What about this? You have the legs for it.”“Eh. The stylist already sent me something like that. I want something more...” I wave at the slouchy sweater dress I’m currently wearing. “Something more me.”Ria wrinkles her nose.
Ellie snags one off the salesperson’s rack. “Sorry, we need this.” She turns back to me, holding up the dress. “What do you think?”It’s a beautiful dress. Delicate layers of peach, yellow, and orange tulle swirl and layer over each other so it looks like a sunrise. It’s got a fitted bodice, off-the-shoulder long sleeves, and a flowing A-line skirt that falls down to the ankles. It would be a conservative, modest silhouette, except that the whole dress is layers of sheer fabric. It’s dense enough around the breasts and butt to keep me decent, but everything else is subtly sexy.“How much is it?” I ask, a little breathless.“Girl, you have a billionaire’s credit card,” Ellie scolds. “Time to have somefun.”Kiera would love it. So would Nathan.More importantly, it looks like me.“I’ll try it on,” I say, and Ellie all but whoops in triumph.Maybe caring about Nathan does scare me. But I can still enjoy the ride as long as it lasts.“Nicole,”Nathan calls from somewhere outside my bedroo
“Of course you weren’t,” Nathan says dryly. He meets my gaze.His mom definitely has our number. But unlike his dad, she doesn’t seem to mind the deception.She spends the dinner asking me about myself. Where I went to school, whether I’m close with my family, whether I’ve been married before. Her questions are so briskly confident, I answer them automatically, even the nosy ones.Nathan barely has a chance to get a word in edgewise. Not that he’s trying very hard. He’s spent the meal with his hand on my thigh, twisting and toying with the fabric of my skirt. The casually possessive gesture is comforting and arousing at the same time.We’re halfway through the dessert course a rich chocolate mousse I could swoon over when Jackie finally runs out of questions for me.She watches me and Nathan with a wistful smile. “You really are quite lovely, my dear. He’s finally met someone ambitious enough for him.”“Thank you,” I say, unsure why she seems sad about that.Jackie shifts her focus to
Mine, the gesture says. It’s the same thing I’m saying with the custom jewelry in her ears.But it’s as much a fantasy as the ring on her finger.“Tell me about your favorite painting here,” I say, wanting to hear her talk.“My favorite? It’s this one.” She nods to a small pale-yellow square. At first that’s all I can see, but the longer I look at it, the more different shades I see. The yellow is so pale in some places, it’s almost white. In other places it’s rich and warm like honey. The diagonal slants of yellow fall across a deep, dark green background. Or maybe black? The paint on the dark green part is layered so thick, it’s like I want to reach out and touch it.“What’s it about?” I ask.She leans back into me. “Check the title.”I do. “Arden. What’s that mean?”“It’s the forest in a Shakespeare play.”I look at the abstract painting again. Now I can see it, the way the yellow looks like sunlight, slanting through a deep, dark, old forest.Nicole’s voice is soft and content. “I
She half rises, leaning forward and squinting until she can read the writing. “On loan from the collection of Hart Coleman. Oh.Oh.”She looks at me, guilt flashing across her face. “Is it bad if I still love it?”I laugh. “Not at all.” I capture her hand and tug her toward me, so we’re sitting facing each other, legs tangled, faces close enough to kiss. I raise the back of her hand to my lips and kiss her softly. “If this painting brought you to New York” brought you to me“I could even love it too.”Something hesitant fills her brown eyes. “Nathan. Can I ask you something?”“Anything.”Still, she hesitates. I wait.“Why do you hate your dad,” Nicole asks.I sigh. “It’s not one thing. It’s just him. Who he is.”Now it’s Nicole’s turn to wait. I realize I owe her more.“You know he’s got a gambling problem?”“I heard rumors,” Nicole says. “No specifics.”I nod. I feel like I’m dragging the words out of a deep pit inside me. “He gambled off and on my whole childhood. It was embarrassing,
“Oh, Nathan.” Nicole lets go of my hands to adjust the jacket, which has started slipping off her shoulders. “What happened to your friend?”I let out a sigh. “He lost his scholarship, lost his student visa, and got sent back home. But he was smart, and without us all dragging him down, he ended up graduating early from a top university back home. He fell in love, founded a nonprofit. He’s ok.”Nicole raises an eyebrow. “If he wasn’t ok, I’m sure you would have done something about it as soon as you could. How much do you donate to his nonprofit?”“ How did you know?“I see the new grown Nathan” She said. I smile hapilly.Her instincts are right, not that I’ll admit it. I stand up, restless. “Anyway. I swore then that I’d never ask my dad for anything ever, ever again.” I look down at her. “Now you have the whole dirty, messy story.”Some part of me is holding my breath, waiting for her to call me out for selfishly ruining my friend’s life, or naive for thinking I could trust my dad i
"I don't know what to think anymore Nathan. This is all just like a nightmare. I may never see her again, or my child. The thought scares me more than anything.""Don't lose hope my friend. I am certain that we will find Nicole eventually. Nothing bad has happened to her. Nicole is a strong lady; she can survive anything. I have a very good feeling that she's doing well. We will find her soon."NICOLE"Ash! Are you leaving already?" Claudia asked, coming into the house. She carried a bag with her, containing some items. Claudia is my close friend from college."Yes Claudia, my presentation at work starts in an hour." I was packing my bags, ensuring that I'm not missing anything. I checked to make sure that my health insurance card and phone are in the bag. I was going to visit the hospital right after work for my prenatal care. The hospital was just a few miles away from where I work.Four months have passed since I had met Claudia at the O’Hare airport as soon as I got into the city.
"He left? Where did he go to? Did he say where he was going?" I asked frantically."No, sir. He didn't mention where he was going. He only packed up his stuff and started leaving in a hurry, he was trying to call someone on the phone as he left"."Are you Ok, sir?" One of the employees asked. I ignored her and thought of what I could do next.It had been 3 months since Nicole disappeared with no trace and I hadn’t been able to get hold of Justin, either. He also left IM Corp after taking a few days off after that day.I received Justin’s contact information and tried to have face to face conversations with him several times, but there was no response from him. Eventually, I hired a private investigator to help me find them. One day, they informed me that they had found Justin working at another tech company, Sinews and living in a new apartment in the city.I cancelled my meetings for the rest of the day and hurried over to see Justin at Sinew with Nathan."Welcome to Sinews. How may
"How official!" He mocked, shielding his body from another violent hit from me."You're just crazy. Please don't forget to get me the plane ticket. I'll be all packed up and waiting for you to return this evening"."Alright. I'll be leaving now. I made you breakfast. Try not to throw up, please. It took me an hour to make those waffles.""An hour? Just to make waffles? Did you use sunlight to cook them?" I rolled my eyes at him. "All for some tasteless waffles."“Hey, if they were tasteless maybe you should save some for me. I didn’t want all that effort to go to waste.” He left the room while I laughed. I was certainly going to miss Justin. That is for sure!NATHAN"What happened? I heard Nicole resigned.” Nathan stormed into my office. I was totally in shock."What are you talking about? You informed me she was feeling unwell yesterday and asked for a sick leave. Isn't that why she still didn't turn up for work today? I checked her office today, but she wasn't there"."Yeah, yeah. I
“You are the most amazing man in the world. Do you know that? Wait. Don’t answer. I already know what you’re going to say.” A smile fell upon her lips.“Damn right, I am.” I kissed her.Our wedding was a blast. Between the alcohol, great conversations, and all the dancing everyone did, we all had a great time.I was talking with my brothers and cousins when Henry and Aunt Barb walked over.“Boys. I’m happy you’re all together. There’s something I need to tell you.”“What’s up, Mom?” Stefan asked.“Henry asked me to marry him, and I’ve accepted his proposal.” She held out her hand.“WHAT?” Simon spit out his drink.My brothers and I looked at each other and didn’t say a word.“Mom, are you serious?” Sam asked.“Very serious. Do you not see the diamond on my finger, Samuel?”“You haven’t known each other that long,” Sebastian said.“It doesn’t matter if we knew each other for a week. When you know you’re meant to be with someone, you know. Isn't that right, darling?" She kissed his chee
“Good. Then I’ll be connecting your credit card to my Amazon account.”“Now, now, Nicole. Let’s not get all crazy.”She laughed as I pulled her into me.“Shall we go greet our guests and thank them for coming to our wedding?” she asked.“Yeah. Let’s go.” I grabbed her hand. “I can’t wait to introduce you to everyone.” I smirked.“Very funny.”NICOLEAfter the DJ announced us, we stepped into the ballroom while all of our guests shouted and clapped.“I’m going to grab a drink. Do you want a water or something?” Nathan asked.“Water would be great.”“I’ll be right back.” His lips met mine.“In case I haven’t told you. You look gorgeous.” Jackson smiled as he kissed my cheek.“Thank you, brother-in-law.” I grinned.“Hey, bro.” Conner walked over and handed me my drink.“This place looks as beautiful as it did when Georgia and I got married,” Jackson said.“Thanks. I did a good job, didn’t I?” A grin crossed Conner’s lips.“Excuse me?” I laughed.“What?” He cocked his head. “You were stil
“Thank you.”“Gabriel. Grayson.” She walked over and hugged them. “It’s good to see you both again.”“Good to see you too, Barb.” Grayson smiled.“So, Mom.” Simon walked over and hooked his arm around her. “We’re going to have a little chat once the wedding is over.”“A chat about what, Simon?”“About you and what’s going on.”“Nothing is going on, darling. Put your detective instincts away.” She patted his chest. “I’ll see you boys in the Gardens.”“Your bowtie is crooked.” Nathan walked over and straightened it. “Are you ready?” He gripped my shoulders."Are you? Your day will be here before you know it.”“Speaking of,” Jackson spoke. “Have you and Sofia set a date yet?”“No. Not yet. We’re discussing it.” He smiled.“It’s time,” Christian said as he glanced at his watch. “Let’s go get you married.” He patted my back.* * *I stood there with my brothers and cousins and wasn’t nervous. This day almost didn’t happen for two reasons. One was because we weren’t sure if Nicole was going
I think about it for a moment and realize that I really should focus on building my relationship with my Fiancee and baby daddy. We can do all of that later but now we should focus on knowing each other.Even though we should think of focusing on our upcoming project. He cocks his head slightly. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?I love you and I want to be with you and who knows? I could die before you.”Nathan glares at me. “Don’t talk about dying,” he replies angrily.“But it’s the truth, anything can happen so the age difference doesn’t bother me.”Nathan exhales. “What about your parents then? We should meet them again ?”Laughing, I shake my head. For what?. But I stopped letting them tell me how to live my life a long time ago. They are just going to have to accept you and love you like I do.” I smile at him and lean forward to kiss him.The kiss grows deeper, but Nathan pulls away before it can turn into something more. “If you weren’t so sore right now, I would take you right h
Her back bows,body quivering and thighs clenching as our bodies grow slick with heat and sweat. Soon enough, she stiffens and shatters in my arms, reaching that desired peak for the second time in minutes.I watch her with adoration,marveling at how extraordinary she looks right now as she rides her pleasure. Groaning loudly now, with her name on my lips, I follow her swiftly, thrusting with careless abandon until we are both riding that high.Later that night,after whipping up something for us to eat, I feed it to Nicole with one hand while grazing her hip with my other hand.After chewing and swallowing,she clears her throat and stares at me curiously. “What made you change your mind?” She asks.“What do you mean?”I reply, handing her another bite which she takes in her mouth.“Well,maybe you cast you spell on me, I am not doing al of this because of the baby alone but because I believe you will be the best daughter to Kiera and our unborn and I love you so much.”I drop the plate o
Slowly,my hands trail her upper body and settle on her breasts. Gently I squeeze both just as my mouth peppers kisses along her neck. She quivers, moaning loudly as my mouth descends on her nipple. Never before have I felt this way with any woman, not even Bridget whom I once loved.Although everything is happening so fast,I make sure to remain gentle with her and I take my time caressing her body, learning every inch of it. I am just as eager to pleasure her as much as I am pleasured, if not more.Suddenly,I pick her up and rise from the couch with her thighs wrapped around me. I carry her towards the bedroom she slept in the last time we were here. Once we’re in there, I place her feet gently on the floor and drop a kiss on her forehead before proceeding to pull off my own clothes and underwear.I guideher to the perfectly made bed and help her lie on it before going to lie beside her. “You are an enigma, Nicole, so beautiful,” I whisper into her ear as I begin to trail my mouth acr