Chapter 26 #2
I’m just going to let it do its thing. If this goes badly, it’s Nate’s fault anyway.
Instead of all the fuss, I worked a little styling cream through my hair and let it air dry while I finished my makeup, pinning sections back into a deliberately messy bun once the curls settled into their usual chaotic, bouncy compromise between straight and wavy.
Somehow, I didn’t hate it. In fact, there was a fraction of excitement in my chest over how Nate would react when he saw me like this. He did say he wanted to see my natural curls.
I was slipping on my heels when I heard the other bedroom’s door creak open.
When I turned, the smile that had already been forming on my lips disappeared instantly.
Jane looked like death warmed over, her face pale and her skin slightly gray.
Her hair stuck to her temples. Her eyes were glassy with exhaustion.
“Oh my God,” I said, crossing the room toward her immediately. “I’m calling Alex. You’re not okay.”
“You can call him, but only because you promised you would and he’ll never forgive either of us if you don’t. I’ll be fine but there’s still no universe in which I can go to this party tonight.”
As if to prove the statement, she suddenly slapped a hand over her mouth and bolted for the bathroom. I winced at the unmistakable sounds that followed and grabbed my phone, dialing Nate instead of Alex.
He answered almost immediately. “Hey, is everything—”
“Jane is really sick,” I said quickly. “Like, really sick, Nate. She only just woke up, but neither of us think she’s going to be able to make it to the party tonight.”
There was a muffled shuffle on his end. Alex’s voice burst through the speaker, loud and panicked. “What? What do you mean she’s really sick?”
“I mean she’s currently in the bathroom and it doesn’t sound like she’s going to be coming out anytime soon,” I said dryly. “She’s pretty green around the gills.”
“I’m on my way,” Alex said, sounding like he was already moving. “We’re coming back right now. Can you try to get her back to our suite? It’s the one next door to yours.”
The call ended in a rush of overlapping voices and what sounded suspiciously like Nate telling Alex to try not to die of a heart attack on the spot.
It brought a slight smile to my lips, hearing him with his brother when he was unguarded, thinking they were alone, but the call cut off when Alex started cursing at him to hurry.
Once things quieted, I went over to the bathroom and rapped my knuckles gently on the door. “Are you okay in there?”
“Yeah. You can come in.”
I opened the door just a crack, seeing Jane leaning against the counter, breathing like she’d just run a marathon.
Relieved that I hadn’t interrupted her in a position she might’ve felt embarrassed about, I went inside and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“Come on. Let’s get you horizontal before your husband murders me for neglecting my duties. ”
She groaned but didn’t argue. The trek to the door and the few steps down the corridor to their hotel room felt like a mile even to me.
We reached their suite and I eased her onto the bed.
Then I remembered the emergency stash in my clutch and I pulled out the small pack of pretzels I’d stolen from the private jet.
“Try one,” I said, offering her the bag.
“I will throw that at you,” she mumbled, her eyes already fluttering closed.
“No, you will eat it,” I countered, tearing open the bag and holding one out toward her. “You need to soak up all that churning stomach acid.”
Her eyes snapped open and she glared at me. “Please don’t mention my churning stomach acid. It’ll make me sick all over again.”
“Sorry,” I said. “Have a pretzel as a peace offering. Now you have to accept it.”
Jane shook her head with a little laugh and finally took the pretzel from me. She eyed it reluctantly before finally popping it into her mouth. A small noise of satisfaction came out of her. She glanced at me and held out her hand.
I fed her like a toddler, handing her pretzels one by one, waiting between bites until the color in her face shifted from alarming to merely miserable. By the time she’d swallowed the last one, she curled onto her side and smiled up at me.
“Thanks. That was a good idea.”
Her eyes were just shutting again when the door into their suite burst open. Alex rushed in like he was fleeing a natural disaster, his focus entirely locked on Jane. He dropped to the edge of the bed, brushing hair from her forehead and murmuring her name like it was the only word he knew.
Behind him, Nate stepped into the suite, but then stopped, openly staring at me. Gawking, really. It wasn’t a glance or a polite acknowledgment. His gaze dragged slowly from my pinned curls to the neckline of the gown, down the length of it, then back to my face.
Several seconds ticked by before he cleared his throat and shifted his attention to his brother and Jane. “Are you guys going to be okay here?”
“Yeah,” Alex said quietly, glancing at Nate over his shoulder. “Go. I think it’s safe to say that it’s just going to be the two of you tonight. Sorry.”
Nate shook his head at him. “Nothing to be sorry about. We’ll be fine. Just keep my little niece or nephew safe.”
“Thank you,” Jane said, while Alex nodded.
Nate inhaled a breath deep enough to make his chest rise, then turned to me. “I just need to change into my tux and then we should get going.”
I nodded, murmuring a goodbye to the others before following him back down the hall. Nathaniel Westwood in a tux was going to be the death of me—but as long as I got to see it before I went, I had a feeling I would die happy.