Chapter 23 Worlds Were The Same
WORLDS WERE THE SAME
With an enormous sigh, Arik opened the door to his hotel room the next day. It was late morning on Saturday. Natalie had things to do and he’d meet up with her later, then spend the night.
“How did you find out where I was?”
His mother moved right past him into the suite, the powerful scent of Dior chasing her to keep up.
“Your father mentioned it,” Erin Brown said. “I saw him at the courthouse.”
“And the police weren’t called to intervene?”
“Don’t be childish. Now you’re sounding just like him. Though he’s gotten worse with the girl he’s spending time with.”
“What are you doing here then?”
“I wanted to spend a holiday with my child. Is that so horrible?”
“It is without notice,” he said. “I had my fill of family gatherings.”
Which made little sense considering how willing he was to spend tomorrow with Natalie’s family.
“It’s only me and Rylie. We arrived last night and are leaving on Monday.”
He sighed. “You’re staying here? At The Retreat?”
“I am. I booked lunch for the three of us.”
“Change it to two,” he said. “I’ve got plans.”
“How is that possible?”
“Very possible. I’m sure Dad told you I’m seeing someone.”
Natalie was absolutely his girlfriend now.
Last night was wonderful. Beautiful. Breathtaking.
Yeah, maybe he was a sap to think that, but it didn’t make it any less true.
“He mentioned it. I thought I could meet her.”
“But you made the reservations for three,” he pointed out.
“Tonight,” his mother said. “We can go to dinner somewhere else.”
“I’ve got plans tonight and tomorrow. You wasted your time coming here as I told you you would.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m here and I can meet this woman that your father says comes from a good family.”
Fuck.
He should have corrected that assumption when he had the chance.
He was laying money down—and he had a lot of it—her family was great. But in his parents’ eyes, a good family meant wealth.
He’d never cared about any of that. Not then, not now. What he felt for her had only grown, intensified tenfold from the days when they were just broke college kids figuring things out.
And thinking he’d ever been a broke college kid was another stupid thought.
He’d never worried about money as Natalie had. Didn’t have student loans either.
Oftentimes he had to remind himself that they came from different worlds. But the worlds were the same when the two of them were together and that was all he cared to focus on.
Not the woman in front of him who already made snap judgments.
Natalie had enough of his family dramatics. Shit, he had enough of them.
“Tomorrow is out of the question,” he said. “I’m meeting her parents and you’re not invited.”
“That’s rude.”
“So is showing up unannounced. Which is the first offense of the weekend. I’m positive more will build.”
His mother’s perfectly applied peach lips pressed together. She didn’t look her age. Never did.
Years of cosmetic work would keep anyone looking young.
Just more of the competition his parents had going.
Which made the bell ring in his head.
“Did you come here because I just saw Dad and now you’ve got to say you saw me too? To give your opinion of my girlfriend?”
“You’ve brought no one to a family holiday or function before.
This has to be serious. I want to meet her and get a feel for her.
I worry that she’s looking for a free ride even if her family has the same or more wealth.
Some people make their living amassing fortunes through men. Just look at your father.”
“Or you,” he said. “We know you made out well in all your divorces.”
His mother smirked. “And I’ll make sure when the time comes my son is covered just as well.”
He threw his hands in the air. This was getting out of control.
“Out.”
“Don’t be that way,” his mother said. “Love and attraction don’t last. It never does.”
“For you and Dad. I’m not like either of you.”
His mother looked around the hotel room. “You’re not that far off.”
“Not a good way for me to want you to meet Natalie.”
“But you’ll do it anyway,” his mother said. “Because you won’t want me to think I won by getting under your skin.”
He turned and walked to the glass doors hoping the bright sun over the ocean would soothe the storm building inside of him.
She didn’t used to get under his skin as much as his father. Not until recently.
This impromptu visit was adding to the historical tally fast.
“I’ll be in touch,” he said.
“I know you will. Rylie is looking forward to meeting you.”
He held back the snarl, and would have slammed the door if it didn’t have a soft closure.
How the hell was he going to explain this to Natalie?
The last thing he wanted was more pressure on her.
She’d already done him a huge favor with the trip last weekend, asking her to come to her place of employment when his mother assumed something about her that wasn’t true would not go over well.
He picked his phone up to get this over with, sent her a text to call him when she had a minute, that there might be a change of plans tonight.
He wanted to be a dick and leave his mother hanging, but deep down he’d always longed for a relationship with one of his parents.
Anything. Something that he could call normal.
This was far from it, but his mother wasn’t nearly as outrageous as his father was in a one-on-one setting.
He could make ground rules and he would.
Fifteen minutes went by before his phone rang. He picked it up, saw Natalie’s name flashing and slid his finger across the button.
“What’s going on?” she asked. “Did you get called into work? Have a new puzzle you’ve got to put together? The stock market is closed today, so I know that didn’t crash.”
He laughed. “I’m glad you’re in a good mood. None of those things. I had a surprise visitor not that long ago who is going to shake up my plans again.”
“Who?” she asked.
“My mother and her younger boyfriend, though I didn’t see him. She knocked on my door.”
“Did your mother know you were here?”
“No,” he said. “She ran into my father at the courthouse earlier in the week. God only knows how that conversation went. But he’d said he met you and since they’ve met no woman I’ve been with before, she had to say she could meet you.” There was silence on the other end. “Natalie?”
“I’m here. How did she find out what hotel you were at and your room number without you knowing?”
“Good question. She had your name, I’m sure she found out where you worked and assumed. No clue how she got my room number. Probably slipped someone money.”
“That’s a problem,” she said. “A big problem I’m going to have to deal with.”
“Oh boy. I just gave you a problem from my problem.”
“Arik, we pride ourselves on privacy here. Somehow she found out your room and I’ll have to get to the bottom of it.”
“She won’t confess.” His mother would take privileged information, regardless of how she acquired it, to the grave with her.
Natalie huffed out a breath. “I’ll deal with it on Monday. She’s here and she wants to spend time with you, right?”
“She wanted to have Easter dinner with me and I told her no. I had plans I wasn’t changing. She offered dinner tonight. I told her I had plans.”
“We don’t. Not specific ones.”
“But we are spending it together and I was going to stay at your place.”
He didn’t last night despite how much he craved holding her in his arms all night. This time knowing it was allowed and not just an accidental action they’d done in their sleep then woken up mortified over.
Not him. His body was only telling him what his heart had been screaming for weeks.
“You still can.”
“She wants to meet you. Dinner tonight. Anywhere we want to go because I’m positive you don’t want to eat here. You spend enough time here during the week.”
“I’d rather not eat there,” she said. “Though Hunter knows we are dating and you’re staying there, I’d prefer the rest of the employees aren’t privy to my business.”
“Agreed. I don’t need to walk through the lobby getting looks.”
“Oh, you get looks,” she said. “It’s hard not to look at you.”
“Are you flirting with me?” he teased, a grin tugging at his lips. “Do you think your boyfriend’s sexy?”
“I think my boyfriend is very sexy. And flirting is good for the soul. Don’t you know that?”
“We’ll have to keep it up after dinner tonight if you’re agreeable to it.”
“I wouldn’t say no,” she said. “Just let me know the time and place. I’ve got a few more things to finish up today, but then I’ll be ready.”
“I’ll be in touch,” he said and hung the phone up. He texted his mother that he needed to talk to her.
Thirty minutes went by before she replied and then told him her room number.
One floor up.
He approached the stairs with the heavy steps of someone heading to the electric chair, every movement weighed down by dread.
It was the last thing he wanted to do or deal with, but it was best to get this over with. If she didn’t play by his rules, it wasn’t happening.
She was right. He wouldn’t let her win, so that meant not acting the way he was feeling.
He knocked on the door, and his mother opened it with a smile on her face. She was still dressed as if she were spending a casual day in the office rather than being on an island for a brief vacation.
Did his mother ever wear a pair of jeans? Yeah, she had to have, years ago.
Now it was all about image.
The guy sitting on the couch stood up. He had no problem with his faded ripped jeans, snug black T-shirt, and slicked back hair resting on his shoulders.
“Arik, so glad you came up so quickly. This is Rylie. Rylie, my son Arik.”
Anyone looking at the two of them might not think there was an eight-year age difference. Hell, they could think Rylie was younger than him.
“Hi,” he said. There was no reason to lie and say it was nice to meet the guy that wouldn’t be in his mother’s life for long.
“Come in,” his mother said. “Did you talk with Natalie?”
“I did. We can do dinner tonight. Not here. I’m sure you know she works here. That’s how you assumed I’d be here.”
“Yes,” his mother said. “I’ve got people who can find out what I need.”
“How did you find out what room I was in?”
His mother smirked. “Does it matter?”
“It does to the reputation of The Retreat. If someone did something they shouldn’t have they should be held responsible. How would you feel if the roles were reversed and you were discovered somewhere you didn’t want anyone to know?”
His mother waved her hand. “Don’t make a big deal out of this. Tell me about this woman you’re seeing so I know more.”
“I’m not having a long conversation. We’ve got rules and you’re to adhere to them or we’ll leave.”
His mother lifted her chin. “I’m not your father. I’d never make a spectacle of myself in public.”
His eyes shifted to Rylie sitting on the couch again in his teenage attire. Could have fooled him.
“Natalie’s family is off limits in the conversation.
Her last name is Bond, but she’s not from some of the wealthy sides like you think she might be.
” The narrowing of his mother’s eyes told him she was ready to start in, but he held his hand up.
“Don’t even think of it or you won’t see me for the time you’re here.
I’ll go stay somewhere else. What she and I have is between us. We went to college together.”
“So your father said.”
“And we were friends. I wanted it to be more, she was focused on school, then I moved. We reconnected and here we are.”
“Did she make the first move once she found out about your wealth?”
His mother turned to Rylie who was looking at his phone. He was positive that his mother’s boyfriends didn’t know nearly how many zeroes were in her account, let alone Arik’s. That’s where discretion came into play that his father lacked.
“No. She knew nothing about me until we reconnected, and I made the first move. End of story.”
“How do you know she isn’t interested in more?”
“Because I know and if we don’t drop this now, dinner and everything else is off.”
His mother knew when to hit, fold, or hold her cards close to her chest.
“Your father didn’t mention how long you’ve been dating.”
“Does it matter?” he asked. He could play the same word games as her.
“I suppose not. What other rules do you have?”
“No talking about Dad or anyone else in the family. No bringing up Natalie’s family or comments on my career.”
“Lack of it.”
“Do I need to work?” he asked. “Nope.”
“But you’re just sitting around doing nothing.”
“You don’t know that. You know little about my life because you pop in and out of it when it’s right for you.”
“I’m here now,” his mother said.
Which was why he gave in to give her a tiny sliver of a chance.
“What time do you want to do dinner? I’ll text you a place to meet.”
“Seven works,” his mother said.
“Fine, see you then.”
He turned and left. That gave him eight hours to prepare and he’d need every minute of it.