“I thought it’d be hard, seeing you together.” His eyes narrowed. “It was worse. It was a damned revelation. Because I saw you look at him. Watched him kiss you. And that’s when I knew.” He looked grimly triumphant and somehow I hadn’t caught up.
“What?”
“That whatever you feel for him, it’s not love. Not your love. Not steals-your-breath, strips-you-bare, indie-makeout love. So don’t sit there and call me out for being unromantic.”
His words sucked the oxygen out of the car.
I’d known there was something between us but had no idea he’d thought that much about me and Josh. That he’d remembered our conversation that rainy night.
As much as part of me wanted to give him something, I had nothing to give.
Except for one thing.
“I ended it. With Josh.”
Nate’s eyes roamed my face. “When?”
“Sunday.” After you left the bar.
He studied me with an unreadable expression. “Good.” Then he slipped the sunglasses back on and turned away, leaning his elbow on the frame.
What the hell just happened?
Guys always complain that girls get in their heads. This time Nate had gotten in my head, set up shop there, and was proceeding to pull my brain to pieces from the inside out.
At a loss for anything else to do, I put the car in gear and pulled back onto the road.
We drove through beautiful country, the city giving way to wineries, quirky antique shops, and cafés I could only half appreciate because of everything running through my mind.
Eventually Nate directed me off the main road, and we stopped in front of a brick home with a big driveway a few streets back.
“We’re here,” he said ominously.
I helped Nate out, and together we walked and hobbled from the car to the house.
Chapter 19
Ava
Who knocks at their own house?
Apparently Nate Townsend.
After a long pause, a striking blond of about fifty wearing a cream pantsuit answered the door. “Nathan.” Her lean, unlined face showed relief as she stepped back into the foyer. “Thank goodness you’re here.” She glanced at his leg, eyes widening. “What have you done?”
“It’s just a sprain, Mom. It’s fine.”
Mrs. Townsend turned her blue gaze on me. Though her expression was reserved, I could read some version of Abby’s Who the hell are you? Only this one was more refined and practiced.
Damn. These women were seriously protective. Or possessive.
“Mom, this is Ava.”
She looked me over. “I was expecting Abigail.”
“Abby told me about Dad,” Nate explained. “I’m sorry you couldn’t reach me. Ava drove me. She’s—we’re—” he frowned “—dating.”
Stop the bus.
He glanced at me and blinked, like he had about as much idea what’d just happened as I did. As the inventor of the word bomb, I had to admit it: Nate was a natural talent.
Then his mother leaned over to kiss my cheeks. “I’m Celeste. Won’t you come in.”
Celeste led us through a modern hall decorated in taupe and white and into a living room with wide windows that overlooked a garden and what I assumed was the backyard. Nate maneuvered awkwardly, given the crutches.
“Your father’s home now,” Celeste explained, turning to face us. “The doctors think it was an isolated incident, but they’ve run every test under the sun. They said he would do best to recover here, out of the city. Dr. Anderson is on call in case we need him. I’ll see if your father is ready for company.” She disappeared out another hall on the far side of the room.
The moment she left, my eyes bugged out like they’d been dying to since we walked in.
“Nate, what the hell is in those pain pills of yours? You said we were dating?” I stage-whispered in case his mom hadn’t gone far.
“I panicked.” Nate brushed past me to survey the room, inspecting the furnishings and pictures. He touched the wood of the fireplace mantle with his fingertip. “Besides. You’re the one who said take responsibility for my social life.”
I gritted my teeth. “I meant that you should stand up for yourself. Not make me a … a …”
“Co-conspirator in my overdue rebellion?” Nate offered helpfully.
“Yes!”
“Well, you didn’t stipulate,” he said easily, rounding on me. “The way I see it, this is on you. You empowered me to make my own choices and here we are.”
My heel was about to make a stipulation in his—
Celeste reappeared in the doorway. “Nathan, your father can see you. Ava and I will get acquainted. Let me fix some tea.” She retreated to what I assumed was the kitchen.
Nate headed slowly for the second doorway. I caught up with him. “What do I tell your mother if she asks how we met?” I hissed. “That I followed you home from a club in a moment of weakness?”
His eyebrows drew together. “It wasn’t weakness. You were bowled over by my charms.”
“I was bowled over by vodka.” Nate started to disagree. “The point is, I can’t tell her either of those things. What should I say?”
He looked at me blankly. “Improvise. You’re good at that.”
Dammit, Suit.
“Ava, how was your drive?” Nate’s mother reappeared with a tray. I’d run out of time.
“Fine, thank you, Mrs. Townsend.” I took a seat on the couch across from her as Nate vanished down the hall. I glared at his disappearing back. Unfortunately, it was hard to wish bad things on someone whose father had just had a brush with death.
“Call me Celeste. The scenery is lovely this time of year.” She smiled, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “We’ve had this home since five years after Alistair and I were married. Nathan was just a baby when we bought it. He and his friends were practically raised here.”
“It’s beautiful.”
Looking at her, I felt underdressed. Thank God I’d changed out of yoga pants and into dark denim shorts, coral pumps, and a green sleeveless top. I’d have done better if I knew we were leaving midtown.
“Have you met Abigail, Ava?” She poured tea for both of us and pushed mine across the table. I took it. Tea wasn’t my thing, but I figured I should make an effort.
“Just this morning.”
“Abigail and Nathan grew up together.” Celeste glanced toward the window, a faint smile on her lips like she was thinking of better times. “They spent holidays playing here and at her home. I have photos of them fishing in the pond up the road. Both the tallest children in their grade until high school.” She looked back at me like she was waiting for an answer to an unasked question before lifting her teacup.
Was it hot in here? I looked around for a vent or air conditioner and resisted the urge to scratch my collarbone.
“Nate and Abigail were always well matched,” she said. “They’re both intelligent, ambitious, philanthropic …” She paused.
“Er—nice.” I didn’t know what else to say. Maybe he’s just not that into her probably wasn’t the best response.
“What can you tell me about yourself, Ava?”
I couldn’t dazzle her with my philanthropy. When I was sixteen I’d volunteered for two weeks at the animal welfare center but lost my “job” after accidentally leaving two cages open. The cats didn’t go far but, just my luck, it turned out they were male and female and hadn’t yet been spayed and neutered.
Honest mistake.
“I’m from San Diego. I’m in the fashion industry.”
Her eyes ran over me critically. “Many young women do seem to model for a time. But I would have expected your size would prevent that.”
I frowned.
“Something wrong?”
“I wasn’t sure if you were calling me short or fat,” I admitted.
Celeste’s mouth fell open.
Good one, Ava. She probably didn’t mean it like that.
After a few more minutes that
felt like the social equivalent of getting my cuticles dug out, Nate came back, looking tired but relieved.
“Dad’s resting, but he should be up to talking more tomorrow.”
Celeste looked toward him hopefully. “So you’ll stay for a few days?”
He glanced at me. “That’s up to Ava.”
“Now Nathan, do you really think—?”
“She’ll stay if I do,” he said firmly.
I jumped in before more things could be decided without me. “Nate? Er—honey?” God, that sounded weird. “Let’s talk about this.”
“Kitchen.” He led the way.
The room was huge. All silver appliances, an island the size of the moon, and beautiful finishes.
I didn’t have time to appreciate the custom cabinets. I turned on him, taking in all six-feet-plus of infuriating male. “Did you happen to fall on your head and not just your ankle?” The urge to clobber him with one of the cast iron pans hanging from a bar over the stove was almost overwhelming. “Nate, I’m so glad your dad is going to be all right. You have no idea how relieved. But what’re we going to do now that you’ve presented me as your lie girlfriend?”
Nate let out a sound of disbelief. “My what?”
“Your lie girlfr—”
“OK, keep your voice down,” he grunted.
“Nate, you don’t get it. Lying gives me hives. I can’t do it.” I thought about the secrets, even in the past year, and how much they’d hurt me and people I cared about. It made my breath get shallow.
“Well, I can’t tell them, not with everything going on.”
I sighed. “Fine. I won’t tell your mother the truth but I’ll catch a bus home. You can get a ride back in a couple days. Hell, you can probably drive yourself then.”
Nate was shaking his head before I could finish. “They’ll never buy it. My new girlfriend ditching me isn’t very loving behavior.”
“Then tell her we broke up!” The anxiety was starting to build.
“Too convenient.”
“Stop! I see what you’re doing, and you’re not going to logic me into staying. Or bully me. I’m telling your mother this was a big mistake.”
I turned to head back to the living room. Almost made it, too, before his hand closed over my arm. Nate pulled me back to the counter.
Before we left he’d changed out of sweats and put on slacks and a black sweater. Aside from the crutches, you’d have never known he wasn’t 100%. But what got to me most was his face. Like he was genuinely surprised to find himself in this situation and helpless to resolve it.
“I know this seems … unorthodox,” Nate started. I raised my eyebrows. “All right, it’s crazy,” he admitted. “And I can’t explain why it matters so much. But please, Ava, do this for me. When we get back to the city, we can go our separate ways. I’ll tell my parents we broke up. You’ll be off the hook. No more trick visits to the Hamptons.”
When he put it that way, it didn’t sound so terrible. It wasn’t like he was asking me to camp in a gutter with him. Just be there for a couple of days, smile and nod, and eat good food.
I thought about Celeste’s sharp stare.
Who am I kidding? There was no way I could go through with it. But my gut was heavily swayed by alert, earnest blue eyes.
In the end what did me in was that even though I didn’t owe Nate Townsend a thing, he looked like he desperately needed a friend. Because apparently money couldn’t buy the ones he wanted.
“Nathan Townsend,” I started. “I agree to stay in this sham of a relationship for a period of no longer than two days. But let it be known that I object,” I said in my most lawyerly tone, “and that Thursday morning I’m leaving, with or without you.”
The relief in his eyes eased my doubt. Nate looked at me like I’d just saved his life. “You’re the best. I mean it.” He took my hands and squeezed them. I pretended not to feel anything when he did.
Nate glanced in the direction of the living room, remembering other people were here. “Dad’s not having dinner tonight and Mom will probably take care of him. We can go into town to eat.”
“The doctor’s idea of resting that ankle probably doesn’t include you running all over East Hampton,” I reminded him.
“All right, Nurse Ratched, let’s get takeout. Something new and different for you.” His voice was stern but his mouth quirked at the corner.
As Nate predicted, Celeste seemed content to keep her husband company for the evening. She assured us we’d have a family meal the next day.
Nate and I found a takeout place that made killer lobster rolls and ate on the “porch,” a giant back patio overlooking a swimming pool surrounded with plants. There was a swing on the patio with enough room to seat four comfortably.
After polishing off his dinner and making a play for some of mine, he put his feet up. “Work with me. We have to look cozy.” He inclined his head toward the picture window. The sitting room had a perfect view of the yard.
“Huh?”
“Someone’s always watching.”
I snorted. “All right, Fox Mulder.”
“I’m serious,” he said, frowning. “Lean into me.”
“But we just ate! I might burp.”
“Wow. I’m really not attracted to you right now.”
The familiarity made me smile. “Good thing we’re not really dating.” I shot him a look before curling into him.
We’d spent the last two days together, I realized. Aside from being annoyingly talented at getting his way, Nate was good company. Really good company.
Nate shifted, tugging his leg to the side. “Sorry. Cramp.”
The movement made me more aware of him against me.
Distraction, please.
I ran my eyes along the gardens, the pitched roof, the blue siding. “This is a great house.” My eyes stopped on a shed in the corner and widened. “Wait, is that where you—?” My finger traced his eyebrow.
Nate let out a bark of laughter I felt through his chest. “Yeah, that’s the one. I forgot I told you about that.”
“It’s one of the things that attracted me to you.”
“Really?”
I’d meant it as a joke, but it was partly true. “Yeah. What made you jump?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Try me.”
He shot me a skeptical look. “I decided that when I grew up I was going to be Superman. When I asked Dad about it, he said all the Townsend men were lawyers and that’s what I should be.”
I surrendered to Nate’s deep voice, tinged with humor.
“So, I decided I’d be Superman’s lawyer. Which meant I’d need to fly in order to keep up with him. I figured I could learn the law from my dad, but I was on my own for the rest. And I’d better get to work.”
Nate chuckled and I felt myself smile in response. I could totally picture it. Nate, determined and resourceful.
“I found it, you know. Your comic collection.”
“Huh?” He sounded startled.
“Mhmm. The one on your top shelf. It was cute.”
“You mean manly.”
“Let’s go with cute.”
“We’ll revisit.”
I loved that he was into something nerdy like that. “Most guys have a secret porn stash. But you have a secret comic stash.”
“Who says I don’t have a secret porn stash?”
“Well, I’m glad I didn’t find that.” Thinking about Nate and sex, in any way, was a bad idea. New subject. “What else did you do growing up here?”
“Dad used to set up a course after Jamie and I learned to ride our bikes. We’d spend all day racing. Mom hated it.”
In my mind I saw two little boys with dark hair and their mother’s blue eyes. “Who won?” I asked.
“Jamie.”
It was hard to imagine Nate losing at anything. “But you were older.”
He shrugged a shoulder, and I felt the movement under me. “When we first got the bi
kes, I did win. I was bigger, stronger. Until one time we were racing our bikes. There’s a turn in the road where we always slowed down because you can’t see the traffic coming. But Jamie was just behind me. Rather than lose time he took it blind.”
My chest tightened in anticipation.
“He missed the car coming the other way, but skidded. Scraped his leg from ankle to knee. He needed thirty stitches.”
It would’ve been awful. For both of them.
“How old were you?”
“Nine. That’s when I realized that he’d do anything to win. Including hurt himself. And it wasn’t worth it, so I started letting him win.”
It was strange imagining a nine-year-old being so careful. But somehow, picturing a nine-year-old Nate, it fit.
“You must have a lot of memories.”
“I’ve spent half my life here. Every summer since I was four and Jamie was three.” Nate stroked my arm absently with a finger, still looking out into the distance.
A piece clicked into place like a tumbler in a lock. I pushed off his chest so I could look him in the eye. “Nate. Is this your first time since the accident?”
He didn’t have to say anything. I could tell.
Leaning back against him, I processed. Nate hadn’t faced this place in a year but he’d wanted me to bring him?
Yeah, because he didn’t want to end up the prime rib in the middle of an Abby and Celeste sandwich.
Maybe that was all there was to it.
Still, it was starting to feel more complicated. Nate’s mother wanted me gone. Abby wanted Nate.
Nate wanted …
Well, for some reason, Nate wanted me here. At least for now.
We watched the sky darken, the lights around the pool and yard becoming the focal points. Me lost in my thoughts and him in his.
I’d never been one for quiet moments, but with Nate it worked. It was peaceful, grounding.
“It’s after ten,” Nate said abruptly minutes or hours later. “I should check on my dad.” He glanced down at his phone, which he’d switched off. “And I’ll let Abby know everything’s all right.”
His words triggered something in the back of my mind. “Shit! I need to call Lex. She’ll think I’ve died if I’m gone overnight.”
Stripped (Travesty Book 2) Page 14
