28. Dex
Chapter 28
Saying goodbye to Nate’s family has a bittersweet taste to it. He arrived thinking he didn’t belong, and left having not only repaired his damaged relationship with his brothers, but he’s discovered a half- sister he didn’t know he had, either. They offered to come wave us off, but Nate refused. He’s putting a brave face on it, but I know he didn’t let them come to the airport because he didn’t want to show his vulnerability. I can’t blame him. The last few days have left him pretty raw.
When we’ve negotiate security and are airside, I let out a deeply satisfied sigh. “I’ve had the best time.”
Nate wraps an arm around my waist and kisses my temple as we set off for the first-class lounge. “We can come back soon.”
I try to keep the smugness out of my smile. “What a difference a few days makes.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he says, his eye roll telling me I failed on the smugness stakes. “You’ve had your money’s worth, Titch.”
I tap my forefinger against my bottom lip. “Hmm, I reckon I can get a few more days out of it yet.”
We find a seat close to the window where we can watch the planes taxiing to the runway. I go to sit in a chair, but Nate catches my arm and tugs me down beside him. He tucks a lock of hair behind my ear, then caresses my lobe, and shivers of delight creep down my spine.
“I want to say thank you,” he says.
My eyebrows almost disappear into my hairline. “Apologies and thank yous.” I glance around theatrically. “Who are you, and what have you done with Nate O’Reilly?”
A glimmer of a smile briefly dances on his lips, but it doesn’t break into a full-on grin at my teasing.
“I owe you everything. If it weren’t for you, I’d still be all bitter and twisted inside, mourning the things I’d lost. But you pushed and pushed. You wouldn’t give up, even when I said some pretty horrible things and treated you pretty badly. Because of your tenacity, my little Dex, instead of losing it all, of destroying my family, I now have everything I’ve ever wished for. I’ve rediscovered a closeness with my brothers that was smashed into smithereens seven years ago, and I’ve gained a sister, too.” He bends his head and picks up my hand, his thumb rubbing gently across my knuckles. “And I have you.”
I hold my breath, with my gaze fixed on watching him caress my skin.
His head comes up. “I know we rushed into this thing so quickly, and I don’t regret it for a moment, but after we get home, I want to take time to get to know you without the shadow of my secret looming over us. Romantic walks along the beach at sunset, picnics in the park, bike rides…with cooter-safe saddles.” He grins, and so do I. “I want to know every single thing about you.”
Bringing his hand to my face, I press it against my cheek. “Promise me something?”
“Anything.”
“If you get lost inside your head again, talk to me. Don’t keep things all bottled up inside. Let me help give you some perspective. We can fight and argue. Hell, I hope we do because I kinda like the making up part, but please don’t keep things from me. Don’t shut me out. That hurts most of all.”
He turns his head and kisses each of my fingertips. “I promise.”
Four Months Later…
It takes every ounce of strength within me to close Bernard’s office door without slamming it, but I get my revenge by flipping the bird once it’s closed. He won’t see the gesture, but still… I feel a hell of a lot better. He’s been in a foul mood all week, and I can’t wait for the clock to tick over to five o’clock so I can get out of here. Nate has promised me a weekend to remember, and I hope that starts and ends in his bed.
I file away some emails and mark a few for Bernard’s attention when he’s gotten over his snit. With little to occupy the rest of my day, I flick aimlessly through a celebrity magazine, pausing when I come across a picture of Nate and me. It still shocks me every time I spot myself in the press, but it’s something I’ve had to get used to. In a way, I find it comforting, because the only girl Nate is ever photographed with is me. Despite what those two assholes had gossiped about the night I’d gone to the set with Nate, he’s never once given me any cause for concern.
I’m about to give the plants a quick watering to see them over the next two days when the elevator pings to signal someone’s arrival. I groan. Please don’t let this be one of Bernard’s clients hoping to see him without an appointment.
I peer down the hallway in time to see Nate strolling toward me. My breath catches on an inhale. He’s so beautiful, so graceful, so mine. I never get sick of the sight of him. Today he’s worn a pair of black fitted pants and a white shirt, open at the neck with the sleeves rolled up, revealing his strong, tanned forearms. A simple outfit, yet my tummy does several somersaults, and I get the urge to press my thighs together to relieve the ache between my legs.
Almost a year has passed since I first watched him stroll toward me a week after I’d started the job as Bernard’s personal assistant. I spent six months drooling over him before that fateful day when his actions resulted in Bernard firing me, sending our relationship spiraling in a direction I couldn’t have imagined in my wildest dreams.
Nate plunks a bag down at my feet and bends over to give me a kiss.
“Get changed, Titch. I’m taking you somewhere special.”
I glance at the clock. “I’ve still got thirty minutes to go.”
“No, you haven’t.” He takes me by the arm and pulls me upright. Pointing his chin at the bag, he says, “Dressed. Now.”
Excitement buzzes through me. As much as I’m a feisty, independent woman, I secretly love it when Nate brings out his dominance to play. I unzip the bag and frown at the contents as I take out a gorgeous ivory dress that has somehow remained crease free.
“This isn’t mine.”
“It is now, as is everything else in there.”
I narrow my eyes, then delve back inside the bag. Inside is a pair of ivory pumps by a well-known designer, my makeup bag, an emerald necklace with matching earrings that I think might be real gemstones, and a couple of straps of material that, I guess, is supposed to pass for a bra and panties.
“Why do I need all this?”
He rolls his eyes. “I told you. I’m taking you somewhere special.”
“Nate,” I say in a tone meant to chastise. “You know I hate those pretentious places.”
“Who said it was a pretentious place?”
“Well, if you were taking me to a diner, I’d hardly need this get-up, now, would I?”
Nate’s nostrils flare as he huffs. “Fuck’s sake, Titch. Just get dressed.”
I lay the dress over my arm, pick up the bag and, sticking my tongue out at him, slip away to the restroom. I return a half hour later to find Nate sitting in my chair, with his feet up on my desk, and Bernard looming over him. His eyes bulge in response to something Nate must have said, and I groan. I think Nate enjoys pushing Bernard’s buttons, but he isn’t the one who has to soothe his tattered ego.
As I get closer, they both turn to me. Bernard, furious. Nate, mischievous. He unfolds his tall frame, gets to his feet, and slides his gaze over me so intensely that I actually feel my body temperature increase.
“Bernard’s given you a week of vacation time, Titch,” Nate says with a wink that Bernard doesn’t see. “Isn’t that good of him?”
My eyes widen. “I haven’t got a vacation planned.”
“Sure you have,” Nate says as he comes toward me, snatching up my purse on the way. He takes the bag from my hand and brushes a kiss against my temple. “Ready?”
Mute, I simply nod.
“She’ll see you in a week, Bernard,” Nate says with more than a hint of glee in his tone. “Unless I manage to persuade her to jack in this shitty little job before then. She’s worth so much more.”
He clasps my elbow and steers me toward the elevator, leaving an apoplectic Bernard behind us.
“What have you done?” I hiss as the elevator doors close and Nate presses the button for the lobby. “I still need this job, Nate.”
“For now, maybe,” he says. “However, I meant what I said about trying to persuade you to leave.”
I narrow my eyes. “What would I do instead?”
He shrugs. “Me.”
I giggle again. “You’re something else.”
“You love it.”
“I love you.”
He presses closer, murmuring in my ear, “And I burn for you, Titch.”
Nate helps me into his car, tossing the bag in the trunk. He may not be the type to utter the usual three little words, but it doesn’t matter because I’m confident in his love.
He climbs in the driver’s side and filters into the traffic.
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
I pout and fold my arms. “Spoilsport.”
Nate doesn’t react, though, so I settle back in my seat and wait for his surprise to reveal itself. After what seems like an age, but in reality isn’t very long at all, Nate pulls off the highway and parks in front of one of the best hotels in LA.
“What are we doing here?” I ask as we get out of the car and Nate tosses his keys to the valet.
He ignores me, linking our fingers together and leading me inside the hotel. Once inside, he crosses the lobby and heads toward the conference rooms at the rear, eventually pausing outside a set of double doors that has The Connaught Suite embossed in gold over the door.
“Do me a favor, Titch. Think before you speak.”
I don’t get a chance to respond with “What the hell are you talking about?” before Nate opens the doors.
My mouth falls into a perfect “O” shape as I’m greeted by a roomful of people who all begin clapping when they spot Nate and me standing in the doorway. Nate’s brothers and their partners are sitting to my left, along with my high school friends from back home in Wisconsin who I haven’t seen since I moved to Los Angeles. Elva, her husband, and the kids are here, too, their faces shining with happiness. Then my gaze falls on Mom, sitting in a wheelchair at the end of a row of chairs, a bemused but excited expression on her face. There isn’t any recognition in her eyes, but for once, my heart doesn’t clench in pain.
I turn around to question Nate about what the hell is going on, but instead of finding him standing beside me, he’s down on one knee, holding out a diamond the size of my fist in the palm of his hand.
“I’m so sorry to spring this on you, Titch, but I was worried if I asked you in private, you might say no, and I couldn’t risk that. So, selfish bastard that I am, I thought I’d put you in a difficult position.” He clears his throat while I continue to stare at him, my jaw unhinged. “You set me on fire from the moment you yelled at me across the street. Every night since, I’ve yearned for you and only you. I don’t deserve you, but if you let me, I will spend every single day of the rest of my life earning your love. I know I said I wasn’t the marrying type, but you, Titch, are my everything. You changed all that. So, in front of all these people, Dexter Nolan, will you marry me?”
Hot tears rush to my eyes as I’m drowned in a rush of emotion so strong it pushes all the air from my lungs. I sink to my knees, fist my hands in his shirt, and yank him to me.
“Where do I sign?”
Thank you so much for reading Nathan. This character stole my heart and he won’t give it back. Has he stolen yours too?
Next up is Draven. After all, it wouldn’t be the Brotherhood series if there wasn’t a book or two on found family.
I make no secret of how difficult my relationship is with this character, but everyone out there seems to love him. And so, I give you…. Draven