“Hi, may I help you?” the receptionist from the other day with short dreadlocks, friendly eyes, and a bright smile, greeted when Liberty walked into the building.
“Hi, I’m Liberty Stewart. I’m here to see Nathaniel Moore…uh, I mean Jenkins.”
“Okay, I’ll let him know you’re here.”
Liberty strolled to the end of the receptionist’s counter, her attention on the wall of photographs that she had missed the other day. She had just acquired the assignment the week before, but what she’d learned of the company impressed her. Family owned and operated, they were one of the largest construction companies in the city, fourth to LCA. She took in the architectural photographs, impressed by some of the work they’d done in the state. According to her supervisor, LCA didn’t often partner with other construction companies, but due to stipulations in the State’s request for proposals, they were making an exception. The State wanted the project to be as inclusive as possible, insisting any company that submitted bids have a certain number of minorities.
“Ms. Stewart.”
Liberty whirled around, rocking unsteadily on her heels at hearing the sound of Nate’s voice.
Good, Lord. Give me strength. This man…
He’d been a sight the other day, but today he looked like a sexy, powerful executive ready to close on a deal. Gone were the casual polo shirt and dress pants. Today he sported a dark-blue suit with faint pinstripes, a gray dress shirt, and a tie that pulled the whole ensemble together. If dressing to kill wasn’t enough torture, his heady scent of soap with a hint of sandalwood floated the short distance between them and was sure to do her in.
How the heck was she going to focus on work when he looked and smelled so good?
“Tammy, is anyone using conference room D?” Nate asked the receptionist.
“Not at the moment, but Liam has it reserved for 11 o’clock.”
Nate glanced at his watch. “That only gives us a half an hour.” He turned to Liberty. “Let’s start in there.”
Snapping out of her trance-like state, Liberty realized what he’d said. If he thought thirty-minutes would be enough time to go over all that they needed to cover, he was sadly mistaken. Not wanting to voice the thought in front of the other woman, Liberty followed him. With a confident swagger she didn’t remember him having in college, Nate moved down the hall like a man in charge.
“In here,” he said extending his hand in the direction of the open door to a small conference room. Liberty entered before him.
“Nate, we’re going to need more than thirty minutes.” She set her laptop bag on the floor next to the closest chair.
“You might be right, but for what I want to discuss right now, it won’t take that long. Have a seat.” He pulled out the chair for her, and then he unbuttoned his suit jacket before joining her at the small table. “I owe you an apology.”
Stunned, Liberty sat up straighter. Though she felt he owed her one, she’d never expected him to apologize. All her years of marriage to Isaac, enduring his evilness and not once did he say I’m sorry. He made it seem as if every negative situation they experienced together was prompted by her. This was another reminder of how he and Nate were two very different men.
“About the other day,” he started, but paused.
Nate ran his hand over his mouth and down his goatee. Liberty wasn’t sure what the hesitation was about. Maybe he was trying to find the right words. His steady gaze held hers for the longest time until he continued.
“In representing this company, I have carried myself in a professional manner at all times. The other day my behavior and attitude toward you were deplorable, and for that I apologize. Though my personal feelings toward you remain the same. I don’t trust you. But since J & S has decided to work with LCA, I will do my best to keep our interactions strictly professional.”
Well, damn. He’s not going to make this easy.
That wall he’d built to protect himself from her was strong and unyielding. And the coldness in his tone had her rethinking her decision to return. In hindsight, maybe she should have talked with her boss about reassigning the project.
No. I need this opportunity to show LCA what I can accomplish.
She also needed to prove to herself that she wasn’t a failure, and that she still had what it took to be a success in anything she set out to do.
Liberty stared down at her hands as she gathered her thoughts. A bit torn by his reception, she wasn’t quite sure how to respond. She was there to do a job. Yet, a part of her had hoped they could make peace and then create the best proposal the State ever reviewed.
One out of two wasn’t bad.
Returning her attention to Nate, she straightened her shoulders and said, “Thanks for that half-ass apology. Let’s get started.”
Chapter Five
Nate almost smiled at her fake bravado. She wasn’t fooling anyone. His words hit the mark. He wasn’t trying to make her uncomfortable but... Okay, maybe he was trying to get under her skin. He wanted her to experience a little of the hurt he still felt from the way she’d ended things between them. If that made him a jerk, oh well. Yes, he was sorry for the way he’d treated her the other day, but he meant what he said. He didn’t trust her.
“We can discuss next steps in my office,” Nate said.
They walked up the stairs in silence, but Nate was very much aware of Liberty’s long, sexy strides and the hypnotic sway of her hips. He wanted to maintain some emotional and physical distance from her, but she wasn’t making it easy. How the hell was he supposed to ignore the way the low-cut blouse revealed just enough cleavage to capture his attention. And those damn pants. She had the perfect, curvaceous body for snug fitting pants and these highlighted her firm thighs and round ass. But it was the arousing scent of lavender radiating off her that had him tempted to do something stupid. Like press his nose against her long, graceful neck to get a better whiff.
Dammit. Why’d he have to still be attracted to her? Why couldn’t everything about her disgust him?
Temperature rising along with his frustration, he pushed open his office door, ready to hurry this along. “We can work at the table in the corner.”
Nate growled internally as she strolled across his office, adding more hip action to her walk. Suggesting they work in his personal space was turning into a bad idea, but it was more convenient. He wasn’t totally sure what information he’d need access to, but anything they could possibly need was in reach.
After closing the door, Nate took a seat at the table and studied her while she organized the paperwork. The shadows under her eyes were more pronounced than they were during her last visit. Had she lost sleep the last couple of days the way he had?
“So tell me,” he started, “why the name change? I didn’t really know Isaac Culpepper, but I would assume someone like him would want you to carry his name.”
Lips thinned in annoyance, she met his gaze. “Nate, I think it best we stay away from personal questions and focus on the job at hand. My name has no bearing on us getting this project done.”
“Why so secretive about the name?” Seeing her the other day had totally caught him off guard, but it was the new identity that had him puzzled. Not knowing why she didn’t go by Kayla Jackson any longer was driving him crazy.
“Why do you want to know? You’ve made it clear that this is a working relationship. Nothing else.” She went back to shuffling paper.
“I don’t know if I can stop calling you Kayla,” he admitted.
“That’s too bad because I’ll only be answering to Liberty.”
This time Nate did smile, not that she would’ve notice since the paperwork had her full attention. In college, she’d been one of the sweetest people he’d ever met, and she had a dry sense of humor that peeked out occasionally. One of many things he once loved about her. Shortly after they had parted ways, there were times when he could still hear her laugh, or recall one of her sassy retorts. It was those small things that had
made him miss her all the more.
She turned the top page of the stack of papers around and pointed. “I’m thinking with the overview section we’ll each come up with a description for our companies. Then I’ll combine the two to make them complement each other.”
“So how is married life?”
“Tell me about Jenkins & Sons,” she said without missing a beat.
“That good, huh?” Nate didn’t miss the way she balled the fingers of her left hand into a fist. “You should be able to find information about the company on our website.”
He picked up the thick proposal packet wondering how many hours and days of torture he’d have to endure working with her.
“But I’m asking you. Tell me something that I wouldn’t find on the site.”
Nate flipped the page over to peruse the other side and didn’t have to look at Kayla to feel the intense heat of her stare.
“How long have you and your husband been in Cincinnati? And how did you get Mr. Deep Pockets to leave Chicago?”
“Nate.”
“Kayla.”
She huffed and typed something into her laptop. For a moment, he thought she would ignore him for the rest of their time together.
But then she asked, “Besides you, will anyone else be overseeing the project at Jenkins & Sons?”
“Probably,” Nate said simply, folding his arms across his chest.
“Who else should I list?”
Nate shrugged. “I don’t know who’ll want to be listed. Just put me down.”
“What about Nick? He’s excited about the venture. Actually, maybe I should be working with him. At least then we could be making some progress, and I wouldn’t have to deal with your negative attitude.”
Nate fumed, but kept his mouth shut, not wanting to say anything that would have him apologizing again.
For the next hour, they worked through the first few sections of the document and Nate could feel the tension bouncing off of the new Kayla. His half-ass answers were getting to her, but he couldn’t help himself. At first, he found perverse pleasure in challenging her at every turn, but the more time he spent with her, the more irritated he became. There was no way he’d be able to work with this woman without them addressing their issues. Now that she was back in his life, he needed an explanation of why she had walked away from him.
While she typed information into her laptop, Nate stood and moved to the front of his desk. He leaned against it and folded his arms across his chest.
“I have a question for you. Instead of LCA partnering with a minority company, why don’t they just start hiring more minorities?”
“Unfortunately, I haven’t been with the company long. I don’t know their hiring practices yet. I think that’s a good question th—”
“What do you know, Kayla? Every other question I have asked you, you say good question or I’ll find out. Why are you even on this project?”
“Don’t call me Kayla.” She pursed her lips and gripped her pen tighter. Instead of answering his question, she jotted down something on the notepad next to her laptop. “I think we’ve done enough today. We should coordinate a few more meetings over the next two weeks. What’s your schedule look like?”
Nate released a long drawn out sigh. “Why don’t I just call you when I’m avail—”
“Dammit, Nate!” She threw her pen across the room and lunged out of the chair. “Quit acting like an ass. I’m sick of it! Are you going to be a jerk every time we meet?”
Anger crept through Nate’s body. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me! First you give me that lame-ass apology, and for the past hour, you’ve been acting like a two-year-old. If your organization doesn’t want to partner with LCA, just say so. Don’t keep wasting my damn time!”
“Hold up.” He pushed away from the desk. “My apology was sincere, but you’re right. I don’t want to be here with you. Just because we have agreed to work on the Unity Tower project doesn’t mean that I have to enjoy our time together.”
“What do you want from me?” she pleaded, some of the fight leaving her.
“All I want is for us to finish this proposal as soon as possible so that I don’t have to be in your presence.”
She shook her head and started shoving items into her bag. “I can’t do this. I’ll let LCA know that you guys aren’t interested in working with us.”
“Now you wait a minute. You’re the one who’s getting all sensitive about everything I say. Why is that? Is your conscience bothering you? Are you feeling guilty about being a lying bitch?”
She spun on her heels and her hand ripped across his face, the sound echoing throughout the room.
Fury roared through Nate. “Don’t you ever put your hands on me again!”
“And don’t you ever call me a bitch,” she rasped, emotion clogging her words as her chest heaved up and down. “This project might not mean anything to you, but it means everything to me. I would rather us finish it successfully, but since that doesn’t seem possible, let’s just end this now. I’ve been fighting for most of my life and I don’t have the energy to fight you too. More importantly, I will not stand here and let you call me out of my name.
Some of Nate’s anger subsided as he thought about what he’d said to her and took in her reaction. A shimmer of tears shone in her eyes, but she hurried and looked away.
Shit. I’m an idiot.
He had definitely crossed the line, but the asshole inside of him wouldn’t apologize. And what did she mean about fighting for most of her life?
Without looking at him she said, “You’re rehashing something that happened over a decade ago. You need to let it go and move on.”
“I have moved on,” he lied, “but trusting you is something I’ll never be able to do.”
Liberty brought her hands to her face and growled into her palms. “Why can’t you just let it go?”
“Because…” He rubbed his forehead in frustration. “I—I can’t.”
*
Liberty’s heart squeezed in anguish as she realized she had hurt him more than she originally thought. Unfortunately, nothing she could do or say would be enough to express how sorry she was for walking away from what they once had.
Pushing down the emotion threatening to explode within her, she hurried to pack her belongings.
“Nate, we both have a job to do,” she finally said but kept her head down hoping her voice sounded stronger than she felt. “What’s it going to take for you to put the past behind us and focus on the here and now?”
“I need answers,” he responded quietly.
Liberty raised her gaze to his. The hurt in his eyes sliced open an old wound and shattered the last shred of her control. The anger and fight in him had dissipated.
“What do you want me to say?” she asked, unable to catch the slight whimper that slipped through. “Do you want me to admit that walking away from you was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made? Do you want me to tell you that my life has been one huge failure after another? Do you want me to say that my world has been hell without you in it?” Her breaths came hard and ragged as her chest tightened. She didn’t want to break down in front of him, but revisiting that painful time in her life was never easy.
Nate opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Stuffing one hand into his pants pocket, he used the other to rub the back of his neck.
“You want to know why I walked away?” She searched for the right words to give him some idea of her frame of mind when they went their separate ways. “Marrying Isaac was the only way to save my family. It was the only way to keep a roof over their head and food on the table,” she choked out. Her heart ached as she remembered her parents’ struggles. “While I was growing up, I can’t tell you how many cans of Pork & Beans I was forced to eat. Or dry tuna sandwiches that I had to choke down if I didn’t want to go hungry. Or maybe you want to hear about the evictions or how many days we sat in the dark. I had to do my homework by candlelight because m
y parents couldn’t afford to keep the lights on.”
“Kay—Liberty.” Nate moved closer and she took a step back, tears blurring her vision. If he touched her, there was no way she’d be able to say what she needed him to know.
“Do you honestly think I wanted to leave you? Walk away from what we had? Leave the only man I’ve ever loved?” Liberty covered her mouth, trying not to yield to the sobs clawing their way up her throat. She swallowed hard, fighting to pull herself together. “No one, Nate, and I mean no one has ever made me feel as loved and cherished as you did. There hasn’t been a day that has gone by that I haven’t regretted my decision to leave you. Is…is that what you want to hear?”
Her heart raced and ached at the same time. And to her horror, tears rolled down her cheeks faster than she could swipe them away. God, the last thing she wanted to do was cry, but the ache in her chest was overwhelming. She had so many regrets and it was as if all of them were coming to the forefront and strangling what little peace she had.
“Stop…baby, just…don’t cry.” Nate reached for her and Liberty held her hands out in front of herself to halt him. That same compassion she used to feel from him, and see in his eyes during their tender moments, radiated off of him. But she needed to keep some distance between them in order to finish before the memories suffocated her.
“Was it bad that I believed Isaac when he told me that if I was his wife, my mother’s enormous hospital bills would be paid in full? He promised me that my family would never have to worry about being evicted again. If that weren’t enough, he told me that I’d never want for anything ever again. It might sound shallow, but was I wrong to go after the one chance I had to help me and my family dig out of poverty?”
Liberty blindly grasped the top of the chair and used her free hand to wipe her eyes and face. She hadn’t broken down like this in a long time. Finding it hard to catch her breath, her hand went to her chest as if that would help get air into her lungs. The harder she tried to calm down, the tougher it was to breathe.
Proposal for Love Page 4
