“All right, do what you have to do to get it done, because as soon as I get the go-ahead from the insurance company, I want to get a crew started on the midtown club as soon as possible.”
“No problem. We’ve got you covered.” Jay rolled up the blueprint, stuck it under his arm and grabbed his yellow hard hat from the table. “Don’t worry too much. The guys we have are the best and I know they will knock out these issues so we’ll hopefully stay ahead of schedule. I’ll keep you posted.”
“Nash,” Nigel called from the back of the building. He stepped into view, standing just outside the staff lounge. “You need to take this,” he said, holding up a cell phone.
Seeing the phone reminded Nash that he needed to grab his from the car. He had plugged it in to charge it on the ride into town and had totally forgotten about it.
“It’s Tania. She couldn’t reach you on your phone, so she called me.” Nigel handed him the cell.
“Hey, sweetheart, what’s up?” Nash headed toward the back door to the parking lot, where he had parked his car.
“Uncle Nash,” Tania sobbed. “Something’s wrong with Iris.”
Nash slowed his pace as a wave of fear knotted inside him. “Something like what? Is she sick...hurt? Tania, what’s happened?”
“I hate Eve, Uncle Nash. I hate her so much. Now Iris might leave us and it’ll be all Eve’s fault.”
“Eve? What does she have to do with anything?” Nash stopped in the middle of the hall, afraid to hear anything that involved Eve. “Tania, I need you to calm down and tell me what happened.”
“Iris won’t talk to me,” she cried. “She’s been in her room since we got home and I think she’s crying. She was real upset when we got home, but I thought she would feel better by now. She still hasn’t come out of her room.”
“Tania.”
“I tried calling you, but when you didn’t answer, I called Aunt Macy, but she’s in North Carolina. When she told me to put Iris on the phone...Iris wouldn’t talk to her.”
“Tania, honey, what happened? What is she upset about?”
Tania relayed the conversation that took place at the mall and Nash thought he would be sick. He leaned against the wall, anger brewing inside his gut as he clenched the cell phone tighter. Iris was the sweetest person he knew and the thought of anyone mistreating her, especially Eve, made him see red.
“Uncle Nash, you have to do something.”
“I know, sweetheart. I’m on my way.”
“Dammit!” Nash yelled when he disconnected the call, wincing when he bumped his injured hand against the wall. When he realized he didn’t have his car keys, he headed back toward the lounge. The past forty-eight hours had been one nightmare after another. He could only imagine what Iris was thinking right now and it didn’t help that he hadn’t returned any of her calls.
“Is Tania okay?” Nigel asked when Nash stepped across the threshold. Nash handed him his phone back.
“Yeah. No. Oh, hell, I don’t know,” he said, leaning on the back of a chair. “She’s upset because Iris is upset. They had a run-in with Eve and words were exchanged.”
Nigel shrugged. “So talk to Iris. All women want is for you to be straight with them. You and Eve haven’t been together in months. I’m sure Iris will believe you if you tell her.”
Nash rubbed his tired eyes. After being missing in action for the past forty-eight hours, he wasn’t sure what Iris would believe. When he didn’t say anything, Nigel glared at him.
“You screwed up, didn’t you?” Nigel folded his arms across his chest. “Man, what did you do?”
Nash paced to the long table. He grabbed his keys and sunglasses from the top drawer, not in the mood for an “I told you so.”
“Okay, don’t tell me what’s going on, but I thought we agreed that you wouldn’t go anywhere without Ace.” He pointed at Nash’s keys. “Your ex is crazy and I wouldn’t put anything past her. If you’re not going to let the police know that she’s practically stalking you, then you need Ace to follow you around like your shadow.”
Nash released a noisy sigh and collapsed into his office chair. “You’re right, call him.” This time, Eve has gone too far.
Chapter 15
Iris lifted her heavy eyelids and glanced around her bedroom. The sun had set and the moon shined through her picture window, casting a stream of light about the room. She must have dozed off. She definitely hadn’t meant to stay holed up in her room, but the humiliation lodged in her heart wouldn’t allow her to go beyond the double doors of her bedroom.
Why did she think that she could actually have a relationship with Nash that went beyond sex? Eve had been right about one thing. Nash was definitely out of her league and she should have known better than to trust him with her heart.
She had a feeling Eve was baiting her by alluding to the idea that she and Nash had spent the evening together, but Iris couldn’t shake her parting words: Ask him where he was all night.
“Iris!”
She startled when Nash’s voice boomed on the other side of her bedroom door.
“Open the door. We need to talk.”
She wasn’t ready to see him, wasn’t ready to hear his excuses about why he hadn’t called or his explanations about where he’d been for the past two days. And poor Tania. Iris groaned and held her head. God only knew what she was thinking. Iris couldn’t even remember getting them home. The shock of Eve’s words had slammed against her like a two-by-four upside her head, leaving her hurt and disoriented.
“Iris.” Nash pounded harder.
Maybe if she ignored him, he would go away, leave her to wallow in her own self-pity. She didn’t know what bothered her the most, Eve’s condescending attitude and hurtful words or the fact that Iris didn’t stand up for herself and fight for the man she had fallen deeply in love with.
“Sweetheart, at least let me know that you’re okay. Tania is pretty shaken up... We’re worried about you.”
Iris sighed in resignation, thinking about how her behavior had probably affected Tania. “I’m fine. I just need to be alone.”
By the resulting silence, Iris thought he had walked away from the door until he said, “Eve lied about everything. As I told you before, she and I are not together and haven’t been for months.”
Tears burned the back of Iris’s eyes. Why did they have to have this conversation? She should have automatically known that Eve lied, but with Eve and Nash’s history and all that Iris had read in the paper about him over the years, there was doubt. In her heart, she believed him, but it still didn’t ease the hurt and humiliation she felt. Not knowing where he was last night bothered her more than anything else. He was her man and she had no clue as to where he’d been for the past twenty-four hours.
“Iris...we really need to talk.”
He was right. They did. She unlocked the door and let him open it while she trudged to the window, her legs as heavy as her heart. Staring out into the night, her gaze zoned in on nothing in particular, but took in the nighttime view of Buckhead. Lights from neighboring buildings bounced off each other in the darkness and the never-ending traffic below was bumper to bumper, as usual.
She knew the moment Nash came to stand behind her, his fresh scent assailing her nostrils. Yes, they needed to talk, but she still wasn’t ready. He had ignored her calls, making her feel as if she didn’t matter to him. As if what they had shared over the past couple of months meant nothing. She stiffened when his arm circled the left side of her waist, his hand resting on her stomach. He pulled her against his strong body and she should have resisted, but she couldn’t. She wanted—no, she needed—to be held, to feel his touch against her body.
Despite her best efforts, tears sprung to her eyes and before she knew it, deep sobs overpowered her and shook her to the core. Nash said nothing. Instead,
he held her tighter, placing a kiss in her mounds of curls and let her cry. Iris didn’t know how long they stood there, but by the time she had finished shedding her last tear, exhaustion wrapped around her like a two-ton coat. A part of her wanted to stay in the safety of his arms, but remembering why she was holed up in her bedroom in the first place suddenly came to mind. She pried Nash’s arm from around her and climbed back into bed. With her knees drawn to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs, she leaned back against the headboard.
* * *
Nash stood watching her from across the room, trying to decide what to say to make her feel better. He gathered his courage and moved to the bed. She had already built a wall between them, but it was up to him to at least knock some of the plaster away. He didn’t want her thinking she wasn’t good enough for him or that she wasn’t desirable. Both of which were far from the truth.
He turned on the lamp next to the bed and stared down at her when it emitted a soft glow around her. A sharp pain pierced his heart seeing the trail of tears flow down her cheeks. He never wanted to be the cause of tears on her lovely face unless they were tears of joy. She was the sweetest woman he had ever met and if anyone wasn’t good enough for someone, it was he who wasn’t up to par for her.
He had messed up big-time. With other women, when he disappeared or broke things off, it hadn’t bothered him. It was the natural course of their relationship. This was different. Iris was different. Hearing her sobs and feeling her body tremble against him, he felt her pain. She was a part of him, occupying a major spot in his heart. He knew before they had gotten seriously involved that she harbored insecurities and compared herself to women he’d been seen with over the years. He thought she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever dated, but after Tania’s recap of the afternoon’s events, he was pretty sure she had emotionally crawled back into that dark world. Eve’s hateful words alone were enough to make any woman have doubt.
“I am so sorry,” he said and sat on the bed next to her. “Tania told me what happened and I need you to know that Eve and I are not together. We haven’t been since way before you and me.”
She glanced at his hand, and then met his gaze. He could see the worry lines deepen across her forehead, but she said nothing.
“It looks worse than it is,” he said in answer to her questioning gaze on his bandaged hand. “After dealing with the fire and recovering from the initial shock of seeing my business destroyed, I rammed my fist into a wall. Fractured a couple of knuckles.” He lifted his hand slightly.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Her voice wavered and she swallowed before continuing. “I didn’t know you were physically hurt. Why did you shut me out?”
Nash turned slightly away from her and sighed. Hunched over, he rested his elbows on his knees, not able to come up with a good response. His reasons for not calling suddenly seemed futile in the big scheme of things. While trying to avoid a conversation about those two words that had slipped through his lips, he unintentionally pushed her away.
“What type of relationship do we have that you can get injured and not tell me? You dealt with the destruction of your jazz club alone instead of allowing me to comfort you, to help in some way. How do you think that makes me feel?”
Nash shook his head. “I don’t know.” He stared down at his bandaged hand, then turned to her. “Outside of Nigel, I’m not used to sharing business stuff with anyone.” And the only comfort he’d ever received from a woman was in the form of sex, and that was not what he needed that night. But knowing Iris, that wasn’t the type of consolation she was referring to. Most times, he felt content just being in her arms and talking about everything, or sometimes about nothing. How could he have let fear of his changing feelings for her keep him away?
“Why are you here?”
Nash furrowed his brows and he looked at her. “How can you even ask me that? I’m here because I care about you and I was worried.”
“Oh, so that’s where I went wrong the other night.” She threw up her hands as if finally understanding. “Since I was so worried about you that night of the fire, instead of me calling and expecting you to call me back, I should have just come and found you.”
Nash remained silent. What could he say? She was right. When you cared about someone or were concerned about their well-being, you sought them out. You made sure they were okay. Instead of returning her calls to ease her worry, he disappeared.
“Eve said some awful things to me earlier, but do you know what hurt me the most?”
He shook his head.
“I had no idea where you were that night or where you’ve been since then. I hadn’t heard from my man to know whether he was dead or alive or to know whether he was actually with her the night of the fire. When she told me to ask where you were that night, my heart sank because I shouldn’t have had to ask. I should have known.”
Nash turned completely to face her and reached for her hand, kissing the back of it. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry. I screwed up. I don’t have a good excuse for not calling you, but I can assure you that I wasn’t with Eve or any other woman. I dealt with the fire issue, hung out at the hospital for a few hours and then went home. Yesterday and this morning I had early morning meetings and then this afternoon I met with the contractor of the new club, which is when Tania caught up with me. You have to know that I never meant to hurt you or place doubt in your mind about my feelings for you.”
A long silence settled between them and Nash had no idea what she was thinking. He didn’t know what else to say. Yeah, he had screwed up, but he didn’t want her thinking that he didn’t care for her, that he would risk what they had to be with someone else.
“Iris, you have to believe me. I care too much about you to lie to you.”
She nodded slightly. “I know...and I believe you.” She slipped her hand from his. “But I think we need to take a step back and spend some time apart.”
“Why?”
“You have some things you need to work out,” she said simply.
He knew exactly what she was referring to. She knew that those two words he spoke the night of the fund-raiser had freaked him out, but instead of calling him out on it, she was letting him off the hook.
“I think you should leave,” she said without looking at him.
“But...”
I love you was on the tip of his tongue, but he held them in check. Those were the words that had started this mess in the first place. He wasn’t ready for them then, and he sure as hell wasn’t ready to deal with them now.
He stood next to the bed. He wanted to tell her how he really felt, but his mouth wouldn’t form the words. She was giving him an out. While he should have felt relieved, it felt as if his heart had been ripped out of his chest. She was the best thing that had ever happened to him, and he was about to walk away and risk losing her forever.
Chapter 16
Nash studied the sketches that were spread across the long mahogany conference table, taking in all that the clothing designer explained.
“I thought we would try the peak lapels for this suit jacket instead of the notched ones in order to give the suit a crisper, sharper appearance,” the designer said. “Now if you prefer the notch lapel, we can easily make the change...”
For the past hour, Nash found himself tuning in and out of the meeting. He appreciated the details that went into the drawings, but instead of deciding which lapels he preferred or what additional pieces he wanted to add to his new clothing line, he was thinking about Iris. He had hoped the trip to Los Angeles would give him some clarity about his feelings for her, but instead, he was more frustrated than ever. He’d been there for the past week and the only thing that was clear was that he couldn’t stand being away from her. And based on his daily conversations with Tania, Iris wasn’t managing any better.
“Give us a second,
will you?” Nash heard Nigel say to the designer. “Better yet, let’s break for lunch and meet back up in a couple of hours.”
Nash stood and stepped out onto the balcony of his apartment overlooking the Pacific Ocean, one of many things he missed about leaving L.A. In landlocked Atlanta, he no longer had the luxury of taking off in the middle of the day and walking along the beach, which was where he did his best thinking. He closed his eyes, appreciating the light breeze that kissed the side of his face and the familiar sound of waves crashing against the rocks, which transported him back to calmer times.
“So you want to tell me what’s going on with you?” Nigel said when he stepped out onto the private balcony and handed Nash a beer. Nigel had arrived a few days earlier to help finalize the acquisition of a small technology company that they’d been working on for the past year. Nash had known it would only be a matter of time before his longtime friend called him out on his funky attitude.
“You have been acting weird for the past few days and I have tried to give you your space to work out whatever is going on, but enough already. Either tell me what the hell is going on or, so help me, I’m going to beat it out of you.”
Nash smirked at his friend, remembering all the times they had joined forces to fight each other’s battles while growing up in Compton. But they had never fought each other, at least not physically. His best friend had been there through the good and bad times of his life and he didn’t know what he’d do without him.
“It’s Iris,” he said and took a swig of the cold liquid, feeling himself mellow after the first swallow. “We’re taking some time apart.”
Nigel leaned against the railing and ran a hand over his mouth and down his goatee. He drank from his beer bottle, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Taking some time apart, huh? I assume those are her words and not yours.”
Nash narrowed his eyes. “What difference does it make whose words they were?”
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