He chuckled. “Anytime. Now, let’s get you inside.”
“Nate, you don’t have to walk—”
“I want to. Let’s go,” he said, his hand at the small of her back guiding her forward and sending a wave of lust shooting through her body. It was hard enough being close to him again, but each time he touched her, heat set her nerve endings on fire.
He stayed close as they strolled up the walkway. Liberty nodded a hello and flashed a small smile to the women sitting near the door, but they only had eyes for Nate. Their gazes checked him out from the top of his head down to the white Nikes on his feet. But who could blame them? The man was a walking billboard for everything tall, dark, and sexy as hell, especially with the sun glasses on.
Nate greeted the women with a slight nod, but didn’t stop moving and followed Liberty inside. They walked up one flight of stairs before reaching her apartment.
“Would you like to come in?” she asked, sticking the key into the lock.
“Sure.”
She pushed the door open and took a cursory look around, glad the place was neat. The apartment came furnished and was easy to keep clean since she didn’t have a lot of personal items.
“Make yourself comfortable.” She turned on the old-model, 19-inch television more out of habit than her desire to watch TV. Living alone, she preferred having a little background noise even though the volume was usually low. “Can I get you something to drink? I have water and apple juice.”
“Apple juice sounds good,” Nate said absently as he stared out the single window in the living room. She didn’t have a view, unless he considered a brick wall and an alley something to look at. There was a time she might’ve been embarrassed by her meager living space, but the struggle she endured after the divorce was a humbling experience. Now she was grateful for everything she had, including her tiny apartment.
If her home was below Nate’s standards, he didn’t show it. He roamed around, taking it all in, but said nothing.
Liberty walked over and handed him the glass of apple juice. She placed her glass of water on a coaster on the cocktail table in front of the love seat before sitting.
"We’ve discussed me and some of the drama that was my life, tell me about you. Why go by Moore instead of Jenkins-Moore?”
Nate smiled and sipped his juice, but didn’t sit down. Instead, he leaned his shoulder against a nearby wall and crossed his legs at the ankles. Liberty wondered if their closeness outside shook him the way it had shaken her. She was okay with him being on the other side of the room. The distance gave her heart a chance to settle down.
“When Nick and I were growing up, kids used to ask us why we had two last names all the time. It didn’t bother Nick, but for some reason it bugged the heck out of me. I didn’t want to be different. Most kids had one last name and that’s what I wanted.”
“I’m surprised it was a big deal to you.”
Nate shrugged. “Looking back, I’m surprised too. When I was in middle school, my mother told me that if it bothered me that much, once I turn eighteen I could change my name. I had planned to drop Jenkins and just keep Moore. But by then, I had grown to appreciate what the Jenkins name and family meant to me. So, I kept it hyphenated.”
“Why didn’t you talk about your family much in college?” she asked.
Nick hesitated and stared into his glass of juice. “For years, I went through life in the shadow of the Jenkins name,” Nate finally said. “When I left for college, I had immediately decided that I was going to go by my dad’s last name, Moore. Don’t get me wrong. I was proud to carry both names, but the Jenkins family is huge. It seemed everyone in Cincinnati knew at least one, and they especially knew my uncles and all of their shenanigans growing up.” He chuckled. “When people found out Nick and I were related to the Jenkins clan, it just got to be too much. We attracted good and bad attention. I know this is going to sound crazy, especially since the name is very common, but I felt that by not using the name in college, it gave me a bit of anonymity that I didn’t have here. Living here, I couldn’t do anything that didn’t get back to someone in the family.”
A slow smile crept over Liberty’s lips. She bet he was adorable when he was little. “Were you a bad kid growing up? Did people report back to your family because you were cutting up?”
Nate grinned and then started laughing. He pushed off the wall and strolled across the room. When he approached the love seat, he stopped and removed the cell phone from his pocket and set it on the table before sitting down. There was a little space between them, but Liberty’s body still responded to his closeness.
“Nick was the bad one,” Nate finally said. “He didn’t care if people reported anything to our family. Even at a young age I didn’t want people in my business. You couldn’t do anything wrong. Otherwise, my grandparents found out and then my parents. And then we’d get one of my grandfather’s famous speeches. ‘Your actions don’t only affect you. They affect the whole family. Everything you say and do is a representation of this family.’”
Liberty laughed at the way he changed his voice to a deep, gritty tone. “So did it work?”
“Did what work?”
“Did you feel like you were your own person while you were in Chicago?”
Nate nodded. “As a matter of fact, I did. I grew up a lot. It felt good to find my own identity and not be compared to my brother, cousins or uncles. I had a chance to just be me and I liked the person I was.”
Liberty smiled. “Me too.”
Before either of them could say anything else, Nate’s phone vibrated against the tabletop, and he glanced at the screen. “Excuse me for one second.”
“Take your time.” Liberty stood with her glass and went into the kitchen to give him some space. The small size of her apartment didn’t allow for much privacy. Though she could only hear one side of the conversation, she could tell Nate was probably leaving soon when he glanced at his watch.
It was just as well. Getting too comfortable having him around wasn’t a good idea. He had a life and just because they were on speaking terms didn’t mean that they could ever be more than friends.
Liberty jumped when someone pounded on her door. With her hand over her heart, as if that would slow how fast it was beating, she glanced into the living room. Nate was standing, a frown on his handsome face when the knocking became frantic.
“Hold on, Jerry,” Nate said into the phone and then covered the mouth piece. “Are you expecting someone?”
“No, but it’s probably my neighbor from across the hall.” Yvonne and her husband were an elderly couple that had welcomed Liberty to the building the first day she moved in. They were some of the nicest people she’d met in a long time.
“Check the peep hole before you open the door,” Nate said, concern on his face.
“Really, Nate?” She couldn’t hold back a smile. “I’ve been on my own a long time. I’ve got this.” He was overprotective to a fault, still, but she loved him for it.
Nate shrugged and told whoever he’d been talking to that he would call them back, and then was right behind Liberty as she moved to the door.
She confirmed it was indeed Yvonne and swung open the door. “Hey, what’s going on.”
“Oh, thank God you’re…” Yvonne’s panicked voice trailed off as she peered over Liberty’s shoulder. “I—I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you had company.”
“It’s okay,” Liberty touched the woman’s arm, noting how hard she was breathing. “What happened? What’s wrong?”
“It’s my husband. He’s fallen again. Can you help me lift him?”
“Of course. Let me get my keys.” Liberty tried to move around Nate, but he caught her by the waist.
“I’ll help her husband up.” Then he turned to Yvonne. “Just show me where he is.”
Seeing the concerned look on Yvonne’s face, Liberty assured the older woman that it was fine. Nate went ahead and Liberty grabbed her keys and hurried to lock the door. B
y the time she made it across the hall, Nate had introduced himself and helped Arthur into his favorite chair.
Liberty approached Yvonne and placed her arm around the sobbing woman’s shoulders. “Why are you so upset? He looks fine, and he’s already back to fussing about the baseball players on TV.”
Yvonne shook her head. “I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to care for him by myself. Our son thinks it’s time we put him in a nursing home and I agree, but Arthur is fighting it. Saying he can take care of himself. I don’t know what to do.” The woman sobbed.
Liberty made eye contact with Nate across the room. She couldn’t read his expression, but she didn’t want to leave Yvonne in this condition. This was the second time Arthur had fallen since Liberty moved in, and according to his wife, it was getting more frequent.
“Here, have a seat. I’ll make you a cup of tea,” Liberty said to Yvonne and pulled out the chair. She knew where the woman kept everything since she visited Yvonne and Arthur often.
“Did Arthur finally agree to go to the doctor?” Liberty asked quietly.
“Yes. He has an appointment Tuesday. Hopefully, we won’t have any more incidents before then.”
For the next twenty minutes, she and Yvonne talked and the woman was back to her smiling self. Liberty glanced at Nate again and when he gestured with his head toward the door, Liberty stood.
“Yvonne, I’ll be right back.”
Nate said his goodbyes to the couple and followed Liberty into the hallway.
“I’m so glad you were here,” Liberty whispered the moment he pulled the door closed. “Thank you so much for your help.”
“Of course, but Liberty that man is too heavy for either of you to be trying to lift. If he falls again, call 911.”
She nodded. “I will.”
“I need to get going. Are you going to be all right?” They were standing so close. All Liberty would have to do is lift up on her tip-toes and their mouths would be joined. But she didn’t. No way would she do anything that could possibly ruin any progress they’d made to becoming friends again.
“I’ll be fine. They both seemed a little shaken, so I’m going to sit with them for another hour or so.”
Nate smiled. “I see you’re still a softy, but I’m serious when I say don’t try to lift Arthur. Call for help if needed all right?”
“And I see you’re still overprotective,” she said instead of answering him.
He chuckled. “Maybe a little.”
She’d been back in his life for less than a week and already he was reminding her of why she had fallen in love with him in the first place. It also made her feel like an idiot all over again for not confiding in him about her family all those years ago.
“Don’t worry about me and Yvonne. We’ll be fine.”
“You always did have a big heart for helping others.”
During college Liberty had volunteered every other week at a nursing home, and helped served meals whenever she could at a nearby homeless shelter. Despite what she had gone through growing up, or how worried she’d been about her family while in college, she always reminded herself that there were others who were worse off.
Nate’s hand moved to the nape of her neck and pulled her close, his gaze steady on her mouth. When he slowly lowered his head, a streak of excitement tumbled through her. He hadn’t even kissed her, yet it was as if she could already feel his delicious mouth on hers. But one look at the uncertainty radiating in his eyes and she reigned in her eagerness.
Instead of Nate’s lips touching hers, he placed a lingering kiss against her temple. It might have been an innocent kiss and maybe even a little chaste, but the gesture meant more to her than she could ever express.
He lifted his head but didn’t remove his hand from the back of her neck. Worry lines marred his forehead. She had no idea what he was thinking but he seemed conflicted.
Nate dropped his hand and took a step back. “Let’s talk Monday so we can identify some days to work on the Unity Tower project.” The man she had spent much of the last twenty-four hours with was gone. In his place was the business man who wanted to keep their relationship professional.
For just a little while she had been able to enjoy the man who had once meant the world to her. Oh well, she’d rather have him as a friend than an enemy.
“Okay. Until Monday then.”
Chapter Eleven
Nate pounded the palm of his hand against the steering wheel. “What the hell is wrong with me?” he growled, pulling away from Liberty’s apartment complex.
He had almost kissed her. What had he been thinking? It was as if his mind had blocked out what she had done to him. The last couple of hours with her, all he saw was the woman he had once loved. The woman he had planned to marry. The woman he wanted to protect. But how could he have forgotten why she was off limits, even for a moment?
“It was those damn eyes…and those frickin’ pouty lips…and that curvy-ass body. Shit. I am so screwed,” he grumbled, unable to push aside the vision of her. The wall he had built where she was concerned started crumbling even more seeing the way she took care of Yvonne and Arthur. She had always been the type of person to step in whenever she saw a need, but she seemed to especially have a soft spot for this elderly couple. Nate hadn’t realized it before, but she and his sister-in-law had some of the same characteristics.
He had to laugh, thinking about the hard time he had given Nick when he fell for his wife. He already knew that if his brother knew how messed up he was over Liberty, he would never let him hear the end of it.
Liberty. Damn. I’m even calling her by her new name.
Nate switched the radio to a hip-hop station, turning the volume up as loud as he could stand it. Maybe listening to Jay Z rap about having ninety-nine problems could drown out the thoughts of the one woman who could bring Nate to his knees. After all this time of hating her from afar, it had taken spending most of the day with her to wipe away some of the animosity. Was he crazy? Or was he just a glutton for punishment? He wasn’t sure, but he needed to do something to take his mind off the woman.
A short while later, Nate pulled up to the security gate of the housing community where his cousin, Jerry, lived. He punched in the code, and when the visitor’s gate opened, he drove through and followed the main road around to Jerry’s street.
Summer was definitely different than the fall and winter months in Cincinnati. Seemed everyone was outside taking advantage of the warm weather. Even as the sun began to set, some residents, young and old, were hanging out by the large pool area in the middle of the complex. Children playing and screaming on the nearby jungle gym also snagged his attention.
Nate parked in front of Jerry’s two-car garage and climbed out of his vehicle. Jerry had called earlier, reminding Nate that they’d planned to shoot pool. Initially, Nate had thought about canceling, but when he realized he was falling for Liberty again, he thought better of it. Otherwise, who knew when he would have left her place. He had already messed up when he held her hand while driving her home. He still didn’t know what possessed him to touch her. Maybe it was the pensive look on her face or the tension bouncing off of her as they drove. Whatever it was made him forget to keep his distance.
Nate strolled up the short walkway that led to Jerry’s door and knocked. Instead of Jerry’s door opening, the one behind Nate opened. He turned just as a nice-looking woman in her mid-thirties along with a cute little girl walked out.
The woman gave a shy smile and said hello. While she locked the townhouse door, the little girl, who Nate assumed was her daughter, walked up to him. The long ponytails on each side of her head bounced with every step.
“Are you Jerry’s friend?” she asked, her gorgeous brown eyes bright and innocent.
“Stormy, what did I tell you?” the mother scolded.
Stormy. Interesting.
Nate was sure there was a story behind the name. He didn’t even know the little girl, but already he could tell sh
e had a vibrant personality, opposite of any type of storm.
Stormy pouted, lowering her head. “You said I can’t talk to strangers, but he’s not one. He’s Jerry’s friend.”
“Actually, I’m Jerry’s cousin, Nate.” He held out his hand and shook hers. When she smiled up at him, Nate knew she was going to be a heartbreaker when she got older.
Jerry’s door swung open. “What’s up, man? I see you met my future wife and my ladybug.”
Nate’s brow quirked up, surprised at his cousin’s words. The same cousin who vowed he’d never give up his player’s card for any woman. A quick glance at Stormy’s mother and Nate caught her rolling her eyes. If her annoyed expression was any indication, his cousin had his work cut out for him if he planned to win this woman’s heart. So far, she clearly hadn’t fallen for his infamous charm. Unlike the mother, Stormy squealed in delight at seeing Jerry.
“Hi, Jerry!” Excitement bounced off of her like fireworks lighting up the sky. She leaped into his arms.
“Ladybug, did you meet my cousin?”
She nodded vigorously. “His name is…um,” she frowned before grinning, “Nate!” Nate and Jerry laughed at her enthusiasm.
“Wait, I thought your name was Stormy,” Nate said, aware that the mother hadn’t acknowledge Jerry, but stood in the walk-way fiddling with her keys.
“That is my name. Jerry said I’m his ladybug.” She placed her short arms around Jerry’s neck and gave him a noisy kiss on the cheek. Anyone looking in from the outside would’ve thought the pair were father and daughter considering she favored him a little. Clearly, they were fond of each other which was no surprise since all the Jenkins men loved children. “Do you know why he calls me ladybug?” Stormy asked Nate.
“No. Why does he call you that?”
“Because I like ladybugs.”
Nate also noticed that Jerry’s gaze kept drifting to the mother. She was definitely his type, pretty, stylishly dressed with full breasts and big hips. He loved thick women, claiming there wasn’t a thing he could do with a sack of bones.
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