All Chapters of HER BULLY'S REGRET: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

I’m not quite ready to face Nathan, so I keep my attention on Kiera. “How long have you liked dinosaurs?”“Since last month,” a woman’s voice says.I turn to see a woman with the same soft face and freckles as Kiera. Only she’s got gorgeous red hair, and no hot chocolate on her designer clothes.It only takes me a second to recognize her from the social media images I saw. This is Nathan’s ex-wife.“Nathan spoils her,” she says with exasperated fondness. “I’m Bridget.”“Nicole,” I say.“I’m going to be a paleon-tho-lol-ogist,” Kiera contributes.“Paleontologist,” Bridget corrects. She looks me up and down. “Kiera, go get your coat and say goodbye to your dad.”Kiera hands me one of her stuffed dinosaurs and runs off, presumably in the direction of Cole’s office.Bridget waits until Kiera’s footsteps have disappeared into the vast apartment. “So. You’re the woman who agreed to fake an engagement with Nathan.”I blink. “He told you?”“Of course he did. You’ll be spending time with our d

“I know, right?” Nicole gushes, purposely misinterpreting my dad’s words. “How often do you get a second chance with the love of your life?”Something like pain flashes across his face, and he instinctively touches the place where his own wedding ring used to be. Like he thinks he has the right to regret how his marriage ended.I refuse to feel sorry for him. He chose gambling over us.And yes, I know addiction is a sickness. I know it’s not black and white. I know sometimes addicts need to hit rock bottom before they can find the strength to get help and change their behavior.But the truth is, the threat of losing his wife and son wasn’t even my dad’s rock bottom. No, his rock bottom was all but driving the company into the ground. That’s the thing that made him change.I think of that old cliche about people telling the truth when they’re drunk. For my dad, he showed the truth about what mattered most to him every time he sat down to gamble. And in the end, it wasn’t me or my mom.

Instead, I say, “Nicole, if there’s anything at all you want while you’re here. Anything you need...”“Could you pick up some cookie dough when you’re at the grocery store?” she asks. “Oh, and grapefruit.”I shoot her a glance over my shoulder, trying to tell if she’s messing with me. Does she really think I do my own grocery shopping?And is that really all she wants?“They’re normally my treat foods,” she explains. “Raw cookie dough for dessert. Grapefruit for breakfast. But I guess if I’m living with all this...” she gestures at the casual extravagance that fills my apartment. “I don’t need to ration my treats. I could have grapefruit for breakfast every morning.”She says it like it’s an unimaginable extravagance.And my heart aches a little.She could have demanded more from our original deal. She could be seducing me now, trying to make my wealth hers on a more permanent basis. Hell, she could have asked for something big just now. Something expensive and unforgettable.Iwantto

Instead, she just goes back to her work, smiling like she knows something about Nathan I don’t.Whatever it is, I don’t have time to worry about it.I need buy plane tickets for Atlanta.NATHAN“So,” I say, as I readjust my legs on the tiny plane for the millionth time. It turns out Nicole’s not just from Atlanta. She’s from small-farming-town-Atlanta. Like we got to Atlanta, and had to transfer onto an even tinier plane, because normal size ones don’t fly anywhere close to where she lives.At least the weather is supposed to be in the sixties. It will be nice to get a break from New York’s harsh winter cold.Nicole looks over at me nervously. She’s sitting by the window. The morning light makes her face look radiant. Like an angel up in the clouds.I ignore the pull to reach out and touch her, just to see if she’s still as soft as she looks.“Is there anything I should know about your parents, Nicole?”“They don’t like city boys,” she says.I bite back a smile. “And I’m a city boy?”

I’m about to pull back when Nicole murmurs, “Don’t make me leave, Nathan.”My heart trips over itself.She’s dreaming about me. And in the dream, I’m turning my back on her.“I won’t,” I promise, stroking her hair. “I won’t, sweetheart.”“The purple dinosaurs will get me,” she says. And then she mumbles a string of truly unintelligible words.So maybe it doesn’t mean anything that she’s dreaming about me. Maybe it doesn’t mean anything at all.But I don’t pull away. Instead, I fall asleep, cradling her against my chest.NICOLEI wake up with a heavy masculine arm draped over my waist, and the drowsy warmth of someone strong and solid at my back.Nathan.The memory shoots through me as I remember where I am and who I’m in bed with. I give myself one moment to savor all that luxurious, masculine heat at my back. I’m only human.Then I try to slip away.It doesn’t work. Instead, Nathan tightens his arm, pulling me flush against him, instinctively nuzzling into my neck. I shift against hi