Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Noah
I thought about Nellie for the rest of the weekend. Under normal circumstances, I would probably try to play it cool, but circumstances weren’t normal. Nellie was pregnant, possibly with my child, and I had a lot of thinking to do.
I’d meant what I said, about how it didn’t matter to me one way or another because I was interested in her, first and foremost, and I had been since I woke up to find her gone from my bed after the night we spent together.
I wanted Nellie, and it didn’t matter to me that she was possibly pregnant with someone else’s child. It didn’t matter to me if the baby was biologically mine or not, I wanted everything with Nellie.
But because she was pregnant, that meant that I had to show her I was serious about her, and that meant a good morning text Sunday morning, and a good evening text Sunday evening, too—to let her know I was thinking about her.
She was consuming my every thought.
So was the fact that I’d have to come clean to Damien sooner rather than later. Keeping things casual between us was no longer an option. Not that it ever really was, with the Hartley sisters’ interest in us.
I got my chance early Monday morning, a half hour before Nellie was scheduled to start. Damien walked in after clearing the parking lot, when I was in the kitchen brewing a pot of coffee. I hadn’t slept well the last two nights, my mind too busy to truly shut off.
“The Rustic is officially up and functional, so you’ll be able to move all those bookings for the Sprucewood,” Damien said when he joined me in the kitchen. He grabbed a mug down from the cupboard and poured himself some coffee.
“Great, we’ll do that today,” I replied, leaning against the counter. Damien nodded and went to leave again. “Mind if we chat for a minute?”
“About what?” Damien scowled at me, taking a sip of his coffee.
“I wanted to let you know that I took Nellie on a date Saturday night, and we’ve decided to start seeing each other.”
“Okay.”
I kind of expected my brother to throw a fit, but Damien didn’t seem surprised in the slightest.
“Okay?” I repeated, confused.
“How did you want me to respond? By telling you it’s a stupid fucking idea to date employees? I’m pretty sure you already know that, but you’re doing it anyway.” He shook his head, taking another sip of coffee.
“You’re right. Normally, I wouldn’t have asked her out. But we have a connection, and we’ve had it since before she started working for us.”
Damien let out a hmpf and continued staring at me, like he knew I wasn’t finished with what I had to say.
Part of me wanted to blurt out the news that she was pregnant, and I might be the father. Mainly because Damien had experience as a father, and I could barely wrap my head around the idea of becoming one.
But I didn’t think Nellie was ready for that news to make the rounds yet, and I wasn’t either. I needed more time to come to terms with it myself, and I needed to figure out how she really felt about me.
The kiss we’d parted with suggested she was as interested in me as I was her, but this pregnancy thing added a whole other layer to it.
Serious relationships were already outside my wheelhouse, but serious relationships and pregnancy?
That was so far out of my wheelhouse, it was practically in another dimension.
“Hope it works out for you both, I guess,” Damien finally said, his voice gruff. “And not just for the sake of the resort, but because I haven’t seen you interested in seriously dating a woman in a long time.” He finished his coffee, setting the mug in the sink.
“Thanks, I think,” I frowned, not sure if I should be offended by that or not.
With a dip of his chin, Damien headed back outside—likely making himself scarce so I wouldn’t try to pull him in for anymore brotherly chats.
Shaking my head, I topped up my coffee and went back to the office, deciding to get a start on calling guests who’d booked the Sprucewood.
Technically, that was a task Nellie could do, but I found myself wanting to lessen her workload, and it also gave me the excuse to be near her.
She walked in when I was on the phone, sending me a shy smile in greeting, then she headed to the kitchen to put her lunch in the refrigerator.
“We’re sorry about any inconvenience this has caused you. We’ll be comping the price,” I said, my eyes tracking Nellie’s movements as she walked into the office, unzipping her coat as she headed to the backroom to hang it up and swap out her winter boots.
The door swung shut behind her, and I continued my conversation with the guest. They were the second booking we had for Sprucewood, and they’d taken the news rather hard.
“Isn’t the Rustic on the far side of the resort? We prefer to be closer to the main office,” the guest, Mrs. Whitcomb, was saying. I tried to give her my full attention, but I could hear Nellie in the backroom, switching the laundry over.
I shook my head to refocus, opening the reservation software to see what else I could offer Mrs. Whitcomb.
“We do have one availability in the main building, Woodview A. It’s a two-bedroom unit located on the top floor of our main building.
The primary bedroom includes a queen-size bed and a whirlpool tub in the ensuite bathroom.
The second bedroom includes a double bed and a twin bed.
There’s a full kitchen with a dishwasher, a deck with a BBQ, and incredible views of Hartwood Lake.
There’s also a woodburning fireplace and TV in the combination living room and dining room. ”
“Hmm, that could work,” Mrs. Whitcomb said thoughtfully. “Will we be comped for that as well?”
“Our Woodview units are actually more than the Sprucewood per night, but we could honour the Sprucewood prices for your weekend for the disruption to your plans.”
“Okay, I suppose that would work.”
Nellie walked in while I was finishing making the changes to Mrs. Whitcomb’s reservation. Once I confirmed she was okay with the changes, I told Mrs. Whitcomb we’d see her over the weekend and ended the call.
Swiveling in my chair, I turned to face Nellie. “Morning.” My gaze roamed, taking in the cute way she’d styled her hair in a thick twist over her shoulder, and the form-fitting black dress pants and flowy blouse. Walking past me to the other computer and pulling out the chair.
“Good morning,” she replied, her cheeks a little flushed.
“How was the rest of your weekend?”
“Peaceful,” she answered, shooting me a glance. “I mostly napped and read.”
“What are you reading?”
“The Complete History of Hartwood Creek,” her blush deepened when she caught my wide smile. “Sage got it for me as a welcome to town gift, but it’s pretty interesting. Your family is mentioned a lot.”
“I bet they are,” I chuckled. I hadn’t read that particular book, but it didn’t surprise me.
“What did you get up to?” Nellie asked, changing the subject.
“Mostly sat around. I had a lot to think about,” I answered, noticing when she tensed.
“Oh?” she didn’t look at me. She kept her focus on the computer in front of her, waking it up and typing in the password.
“Yup. I thought about how delicious you tasted, and how I wish I would have stayed a little longer.”
Nellie turned to look at me. “You can’t talk like that, we’re at work.”
“So? Nobody’s around,” I pointed out.
She bit her lip, deliberating. “Well, I wish you’d stayed a little longer, too. But it was probably for the best.”
“Why? It’s not like you have to worry about getting pregnant,” I teased. She scowled at me. “What? Too soon? I’m just saying.”
“Not helpful, Noah,” she giggled, despite herself, and rolled her eyes. “Ugh, I should have known you wouldn’t take this seriously.”
“Au contraire,” I scooted closer to her in my chair. “I’ve never been more serious about anything.”
“That’s not exactly saying much,” she pointed out, smirking. “You’re notoriously unserious.”
I grabbed the arm to her chair, tugging her closer to me. “I’m looking forward to proving you wrong.” I smirked as I leaned forward and capturing her lips in a kiss that wasn’t exactly office friendly.
Not that any kisses were really office friendly, but this one? Yeah. Probably shouldn’t have done it, but I couldn’t help myself. I needed to taste her.
Nellie had let out a squeak before our lips met, but once we started kissing, she all but melted into it.
“Noah,” she chastised, pulling back and looking around, as if making sure we were still alone. “We really shouldn’t do that here.”
“You’re right, I’m sorry. I needed to kiss you again, and I couldn’t wait for our next date.”
“We haven’t set a next date,” she replied dryly.
“Exactly. How am I supposed to wait for that, when I have no idea how long it will be?”
Nellie’s eyes narrowed. “You’re impossible.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m impossible,” I replied, lifting a brow. “But while we’re on the topic, when can I take you out again?”
“I’m free this weekend.” Nellie shrugged, fighting a smile as she clicked on the reservation software.
Nellie
It was strange, going to work the Monday after my date with Noah, after he declared his intentions and asked me out officially. Especially when he acted like a boyfriend when I arrived, all flirty smiles and stolen kisses.
I tried to put a stop to that. We were at work, after all—but Noah wasn’t concerned. I, however, felt like everyone else at work had opinions already, and that made me feel claustrophobic.
At lunchtime, Easton kept smirking knowingly at me, which was almost as disconcerting as Damien’s refusal to look in my direction.
Damien was always grumpy, and it frequently seemed like he was mad about something.
I had no reason to believe I was the cause of his irritation, but his refusal to even grunt a hello at me made me feel like I was the cause.
Especially because he was ignoring Noah, too. He sat at the usual table he and Charlotte usually occupied, eating his lunch in stony silence across from Easton, who’d sat there probably to annoy him more than anything.
Rhonda and Denise didn’t seem to treat me any differently. They kept to themselves at their own table toward the back of the dining room. Neither of them spared any conspiratorial glances in my and Noah’s direction.
Noah sat with me, as he usually did, save for that short period of time when I think he was attempting to avoid me.
He kept a respectable distance, keeping to his side of the table as he talked about mundane things.
Mostly what we could all expect from the next two weeks while we waited for the plumbing issues in the Sprucewood cottage to be dealt with.
Rhonda and Denise didn’t seem too excited about having to add The Rustic into their rotations, even though they’d be removing the Sprucewood for the time being. The Rustic was far enough away that they’d have to reorganize their cleaning schedules.
Apparently, it was a bit of a hike from the main office. The Rustic was one of the more private cottages on the northern side of the property. Noah said they normally kept it shut down during the winter seasons, opening it up only during the summer.
I half-listened to the conversations happening around me, distracted by the way Noah kept stealing glances and smiling at me. The feel of his lips earlier that morning hadn’t done anything to douse the fire he started Saturday night, when he’d kissed me at the door.
I felt wound up and I didn’t like it. I knew myself well enough to know that when I got into a certain state of provocation, so to speak, I could make some poor decisions.
Noah’s kisses and touches had activated that part of me that I thought was dormant. I’d honestly thought my libido had fled the building upon seeing those two pink lines on the pregnancy test—and it had, for a spell.
Until Noah awakened it.
I needed to talk to Sage, and STAT. But first, I had to get through the workday. And it dragged on and on.
When Noah stepped out to go deal with maintenance jobs or whatever else he handled during the day, two hours after lunchtime all but froze.
It was eerily quiet in the office. No pressing tasks to occupy my mind and make time pass quicker. I was caught up in laundry, so I found myself sitting at the desk, waiting for the phone to ring or a pressing email to come in that required my attention.
Noah’s absence and a lull in phone calls made it so I had no choice but to overthink everything. Mainly Noah’s lips on mine. Unable to handle the silence and lack of distraction, I picked up my cell and texted Sage.
Me: Help. I suddenly feel like I’ve been hit by the horny bus. I blame Noah, and his stupid kisses and smiles.
Sage: Hahaha! Well, that doesn’t surprise me…welcome to the second trimester.
Me: What do you mean?
Sage: Your libido is *the highest* during the second trimester, because nausea decreases, and energy levels increase. Lucky Noah. Nix is loving this stage, so far…
Me: TMI, Sage.
Sage: Sorry, not sorry.
Me: I can’t sleep with him.
Sage: Why not?
Me: It’s too soon. We just said we’d give things a go…I don’t want to complicate it with sex.
Sage: It’s already complicated, my friend.
Me: Ugh, don’t remind me.
Sage: All I’m saying is, you’ll feel *much better* when you jump his bones.
Me: You’re not helpful at all. ?
Sage: Hehe, sorry. Wanna meet at Tabitha’s after work for tea and chats?
Me: I guess so.
Sage: See you then!
The office phone rang, putting an end to the lull. I put my cell down and picked it up.
“Hello, Whimsical Woods Resort, Nellie speaking. How can I help you?”