Natalie deliberated for two days and stayed away from every place she knew she'd run into Levi. She needed to make up her mind with a clear conscience, and her decision could not be influenced by her desires.When her deadline came around on Wednesday, she was still nowhere close to making a decision. But, with the contract held close to her chest, she took the elevator to the tenth floor.Angela nicely asked her to take a seat and wait. Levi was on a conference call with the game distributors.While she waited to strike her biggest deal yet, Natalie played Candy Crush on her phone for a few minutes just to still her nerves. But her anxiety, mounting the longer she waited, made it hard for her to focus on the game.Sighing loudly, she slipped her phone back in her blazer and stared at the watercolour painting behind Angela.She'd seen far better paintings at the museum back home, but she knew that this uninspired, moody landscape must have cost a bundle and some change.Everything at

It had been hours since Natalie left him with the contract, but Levi was still troubled by their meeting. She'd looked completely gutted as they'd wrangled over their terms, and he would have given her anything she wanted, but she'd asked nothing for herself, and it bothered him deeply.He expelled another heavy sigh as he turned away from the window, picked up his Ironman figurine and listlessly twirled it in his hand. It was one of the few things that survived his carnage almost two months ago when he found out about Natalie's connection to Dreams."Are you going to tell me what's bothering you, or do I have to beat it out of you?" Mark looked up from his laptop briefly, a million questions shining in his dark eyes."Nothing!" Levi crashed back in his seat and gazed up at the ceiling. They were supposed to be going over the budget for the marketing promos, but if he had to look at one more spreadsheet and pie graph, he'd lose his mind. He wondered now how Natalie did it. She not onl

When the attack on a famous plastic surgeon in Rock Castle hit all the major news networks late Wednesday night, Natalie hit Tate's Bottle Store opposite her apartment building and bought not one but three bottles of cheap champagne.She opened one of them—something white and sparkly with a name she couldn't even pronounce— and drank it straight from the bottle when she got home while she danced around to Bellsaints's Karma in her living room.Happy didn't even come close to the state Natalie was in at that moment.She was super thrilled—no delighted—no, no, no, the right word was elated— that karma had not only finally paid Paul a visit but had also given him a good taste of his own medicine.Natalie would never wish the pain of brass knuckles on anyone, but Paul deserved every punch he'd gotten and then some. She was so happy, so grateful to his assailant for taking matters into his own hands when the wheels of justice seemed to be going nowhere fast. If she could meet him, she'd de

With one hand draped on her hip and the other holding a wooden spoon dripping with something red and gooey Levi could only assume was tomato paste, Natalie turned from the stove and flashed him a smile. "You eat hot food, right?"Dazzled by her beauty and the savoury smells already wafting through his kitchen, Levi would have eaten anything she placed in front of him. So he nodded, even though he couldn't handle hot food to save his life."I love hot food!" he lied as he got up from his seat, strolled over to the stove and peeked over her shoulder. "But how spicy are we talking about here? What are you making?""Hey, no peeking!" Natalie spun around and poked him lightly on his chest with her index finger. "It won't be a surprise if you keep watching over my shoulder.""Spoilsport!" Levi grumbled, but even if he'd wanted to, he wouldn't have been able to stop the bemused smile lighting up his face as he returned to his seat. He thought he knew happiness when he saw Natalie for the fir

When Natalie pried her eyes open, and all she saw were unfamiliar surroundings, confusion, unlike anything she'd ever felt before, flooded her still fuzzy brain.But then everything— Paul, Levi's mob justice and her spur-of-the-moment decision to rock up at his place—slowly came back into sharp focus."What did you do?" Natalie yelped into the pillow. "Why, oh why would you do that? Why would you just show up at the man's house unannounced?"Her phone vibrated, putting an end to her one-person conversation.She sat up and snatched it from the bedside table. But, before she could even read the text from Emily, her friend's name was already flashing on the screen, announcing her call."Chick, where are you? I'm at your place, and I've been knocking like a madwoman for a few minutes now. Crazy cat lady from across the hall's threatening to call the cops on me—""Sorry, Em," Natalie quickly cut in, ending her rant before it had even begun. "I'm in Green Point.""Green Point? What the hell