Nathan was largely silent throughout the meal, for when Graham didn’t have the floor it belonged to Cameron or her mother Elaine, who talked incessantly about wedding plans. Nathan watched his mother struggle to maintain a polite expression on her face throughout the evening, knowing how much she loved to talk herself. His father, on the other hand, wasn’t doing such a good job of hiding the irritation he felt as the Tollivers controlled the conversation. Nathan felt badly for his parents, knowing they were both too well mannered to interrupt, and wished the rather uncomfortable evening would come to a blissfully quick end.
As dessert and coffee were eventually brought out, he couldn’t help but wonder if Julia’s parents were much different than Cameron’s. He remembered Julia’s comment that they disliked going to the city and preferred to remain close to their home in Carmel. And then he wondered why in hell he was even giving a second thought to two people he’d never met, and likely never would.
His mother didn’t hold anything back during the drive back to his condo, going on and on about what a pompous ass Graham was, and how rude Elaine was and how Cameron hadn’t even asked her opinion about any of the wedding plans. His father, well used to Alexis’ little emotional outbursts, kept mostly quiet except to tell Nathan, “You need to be careful of that man, son. He’s the sort that likes to walk all over people and always get his own way. And I’m sorry to say this but I think Cameron takes after him in certain ways. Don’t let yourself be controlled that way, Nathan. I didn’t raise my boys to take orders from other men, or women for that matter.”
Nathan sighed. “I know, Dad. It’s a tricky situation is all. Cam and I need to hash a few things out sooner than later. Her overbearing father is only one of them.”
In the backseat, his mother was muttering under her breath, but Nathan didn’t miss part of what she was saying. “Don’t know what he sees in that girl. He’s too good for her in my opinion.”
He knew better than to argue with his mother when she started talking to herself so he tactfully said nothing.
His brother Jared had flown into town with the rest of his team the night before, and they had a full day off before starting a four-game series with the Giants. It was a welcome opportunity for the two of them to enjoy a leisurely lunch with their parents at a tapas restaurant near Nathan’s office.
The balmy late April weather was continuing so Alexis had begged to sit at an outdoor table on the expansive front patio. Back home in Michigan the weather was still too chilly to even think of eating outdoors, so she was enjoying this rare opportunity while in San Francisco. Over a multitude of shared small plates and a pitcher of Sangria, the pleasant conversation and relaxed atmosphere was a welcome relief from the stilted, uncomfortable dinner with Cameron and her parents last night.
Nathan knew he’d been lucky to have such terrific parents and the most amazing childhood a boy could want. He’d grown up in the affluent community of Bloomfield Hills, and even though Michael could have easily afforded to send his sons to expensive private schools, he and Alexis had been firm supporters of the local public school system. Alexis had been the perfect mother, volunteering at school events, chauffeuring her boys to and from athletic practices and games and play dates, and encouraging the boys to invite their friends over to their home. Their house – a big, sprawling place that his parents still lived in – had been filled with laughter and good times. He couldn’t ever remember his parents having a really serious argument, and though he, Jared, and Greg had certainly had their fights and disagreements, overall the three boys had been very close all their lives.
Athletics had been encouraged during their childhood and teens, and each boy had chosen a different pursuit. Nathan’s had been swimming and later on water polo, and he’d been good enough to get an athletic scholarship to Berkeley. Jared, of course, had always been crazy about baseball, and had played college ball at Arizona State. Greg’s passion had been cross country and track, and he’d run both at the University of Michigan.
Nathan missed his family – which included grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins – but kept in close touch with them as often as possible. He paid at least two visits a year back home, once during the summer and again at the holidays. In turn, his parents came out to California once or twice a year.
“I do wish Greg had been able to make the trip,” Alexis said wistfully. “Maybe we should have waited until June to visit.”
Jared shook his head. “I told you, Mom. The team won’t be back in San Francisco until August. Besides, you’re bringing the Gregster along when you come out to Colorado in July. I’m not sure I can stomach too much brotherly love.”
Alexis gave him a playful swat. “Oh, stop that. You know you love seeing your brothers. And I know we’ll be visiting you and Brooke and my darling little Damien soon. But Nathan isn’t certain he can fly out, so all of us might not be together.”
“I’ll try, Mom,” he assured her. “No guarantees, though, okay? I’ve got a bunch of projects going on right now, and I’ve already promised Cameron to spend the Fourth of July up at her parents place in Tahoe. I don’t know if I can take any more time off in July.”
She patted him fondly on the cheek. “I understand, darling. I just miss my boys, that’s all. And I’m so afraid when you get married next year that we won’t be seeing you as often.”
Nathan frowned. “Why do you think that?”
Alexis gave a little shrug. “Well, Cameron is obviously very close to her own family, so there are bound to be times when there are conflicting events. That’s all.”
He was saved from having to think of a suitable reply by the arrival of their waiter with several more plates of food. He was absorbed in making a selection from the various dishes spread out on the table, not paying the slightest attention to any of the people walking by on the sidewalk just on the other side of the patio. So he started in surprise when his mother exclaimed happily, “Oh, look, dear. Isn’t that Julia walking this way?”
Nathan glanced up automatically at the mention of that name, and gulped when he realized his mother was absolutely correct. Julia was walking down the street in her usual steady but measured pace, and once again every man in radius was staring at her in stunned admiration. She looked as breathtaking as ever, in yet another of her classy but sexy as hell outfits. Today’s ensemble was a sleeveless white silk dress with black polka dots and a black patent leather belt. Black buckled heels and a matching tote coordinated with the dress. Oversized black sunglasses obscured the upper part of her face.
As she walked closer towards the restaurant, Alexis called out to her and waved. Julia seemed as startled to see them as he had been to spot her, but she approached their table with a tentative smile.
Alexis reached over the low concrete wall that separated the dining area from the sidewalk and clasped Julia’s hand. “I knew that was you the second I spotted you,” she told her, smiling brightly. “All that beautiful hair, and the way you walk. I’m so happy to see you again, dear.”
Julia pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head, revealing the rest of her face, and Nathan heard Jared mutter under his breath, “Holy crap!”
“It’s nice to see you again, too,” replied Julia politely. “Hello, Mr. Atwood,” she nodded to Michael. “Nathan.” Her gaze rested uncertainly on Jared, who immediately surged to his feet and proffered his hand.
“Jared Atwood,” he introduced himself. “The middle and best looking of the brothers.”
Julia laughed and shook his hand. “A pleasure.” She glanced at their table. “Well, I’ll let you all get back to your lunch. Enjoy the beautiful weather.”
But Alexis wasn’t so easily deterred. “Why don’t you join us, dear? We’re just having tapas so there’s more than enough to go around.”
“Yes, please, have lunch with us,” urged Michael. “We’d love to have you sit with us.”
Nathan kept his face deliberately impassive, not wanting to give Julia any encouragement to joi
n them but also not willing to be scolded by his mother again for being rude. Fortunately, Julia must have sensed his reluctance and shook her head.
“Once again, I’m afraid I have to decline,” she said gently. “I’m meeting someone for lunch about a block from here.”
“Todd?” asked Nathan tersely.
She stared at him in bemusement, her green eyes wide. “Who?” Then she flushed. “No, not him. I’m meeting Angela, who I went to high school with. She lives in the flat above me.”
“That’s so nice that you’ve kept in touch and stayed friends all these years,” gushed Alexis. “Is Angela an interior designer, too?”
Julia smiled. “Actually, she’s a stockbroker. And I’m sorry to dash off, but I’ll be late to meet her if I don’t leave now. Enjoy your lunch. Nice to meet you, Jared.”
Jared stared after her, his jaw hanging open. “Holy crap,” was all he could repeat.
Nathan shook his head, putting a finger under his brother’s chin. “You’re drooling, little bro. Not to mention a married man. With a child.”
Jared pushed his hand away. “Don’t care. No law against looking. And, uh, wow. Who was that?”
“She works in Nathan’s office, dear, “volunteered Alexis helpfully. “Well, technically, I suppose she works for Travis. Isn’t she lovely?”
Jared coughed. “Uh, yeah. Lovely, very lovely.” To Nathan he whispered, “More like fucking hot. How do you keep your hands off all that lusciousness?”
Nathan gave a short, impatient shake of his head, silently imploring his brother to shut up. Jared got the hint quickly enough, but unfortunately Julia’s unexpected appearance had started Alexis off again on singing the girl’s praises.
“She’s the sweetest little thing, too,” cooed Alexis. “Nathan, dear, does she have a boyfriend? She’s so beautiful I can’t imagine that she doesn’t.”
“I’m sure she does, Mom, but I really don’t know any details,” he replied shortly.
Alexis laid a hand over Jared’s. “Maybe you should introduce her to one of your teammates, darling. Do you know any nice men who’d like to meet her?
Nathan spewed out the mouthful of Sangria he’d just swallowed, his eyes watering. Jared grinned, patting his brother on the back.
“Easy there, big bro. Nothing to get choked up over. As far as any nice men who’d like to meet Julia, I can probably think of at least twenty off the top of my head who’d love to do just that. Nathan, what do you think about Mitch Rivington?
Nathan was sorely tempted to give his brother the finger. “I think he’s a freaking manwhore who’s had more women than he can remember,” he retorted. “Not a good choice.”
“You’re right. Brandon Solomon is a much better choice. Think I could get a photo of Julia so I can text it to him?”
Nathan bared his teeth at Jared, knowing instinctively that his brother sensed his attraction to Julia and was jerking him around big time. “Drop it, okay? I’m sure she can get a guy whenever she wants without our interference.”
Thankfully the subject of Julia was dropped for the duration of their lunch. Jared had to attend some team press conference afterwards while his parents were going shopping at Union Square, allowing Nathan several hours to get caught up at work. With his family in town, he’d been away from the office more than usual this week and was behind on several projects.
As timing would have it, Julia arrived back at the office at precisely the same time he did, resulting in an awkward elevator ride. In a casual attempt to lessen the tension, he asked “Enjoy your lunch?”
She seemed surprised that he was even speaking to her, but nodded. “It was good, thanks. And yours?”
“Awesome. It’s always good when my family visits.” He hesitated before inquiring casually, “How was your date yesterday?”
She blinked. “My date?”
“With Todd.”
She frowned. “You seem awfully obsessed with him. Why do you even remember his name?”
Nathan shrugged. “I don’t know. I glanced at his business card and the name just stuck with me. So how was it?”
“Why do you want to know?” She sounded annoyed. “Frankly, I’m not comfortable discussing it with you.”
“Fine,” he said brusquely. “Date whoever the hell you want.”
Julia glared at him. “Now, that sounds like a great idea. I think I will. Not that I need your permission, of course.”
The elevator stopped on their floor, and she flounced off without a backwards glance. Nathan watched as she walked away, mentally calling himself ten kinds of an idiot for putting the idea in her head.
The balmy day had given way to a much cooler evening, but Nathan and Jared didn’t seem to mind as they sat outside on the balcony of the condo. Their parents had already turned in for the night, and Jared was getting ready to head back to the team hotel once he finished his beer.
“So, you seemed awfully touchy today when I was mentioning guys to introduce to that girl,” drawled Jared. “Any particular reason?”
Nathan tried to seem as nonchalant as possible. “Mom seems obsessed with her for some reason. I was just trying to steer the conversation away from her.”
Jared took a swig of his beer. “Bullshit. I can read you like a book. You didn’t like the idea of me introducing her to my whoring buddies because you want her for yourself.”
“Now you’re the one spouting bullshit. Don’t forget I’m engaged.”
Jared gave a hoot. “Hell, I’m happily married and have a baby at home. Doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the finest piece of booty I’ve ever seen. You’re only engaged, bro, plus you get to check out that smokin’ hot chick every day. Don’t know how you’ve managed to hold out this long.”
Nathan hesitated. What had happened between him and Julia in New York had remained a deep, dark secret between the two of them so far. But he’d longed to unload the guilt he’d felt for long months now, and he trusted Jared more than anyone else.
“Can I tell you something?” he began. “Something you have to abso-fucking-lutely swear is only and always just between us?”
Jared grinned. “Oh, this sounds like it’s gonna be juicy.”
“I’m serious, Jare. This is something big. It’s been bothering me for months now, and I haven’t had anybody I could talk to about it. Please.”
Jared instantly sobered. “Okay, sorry. Yes, you know I won’t tell anyone. Even Brooke. You can trust me, bro. Always.”
“All right, then.” He took a deep breath. “I first met Julia back in September. In New York. I was attending a conference and she was living there at the time.” He ran a hand over his face. “And so help me God, I’m pretty sure I fell in love with her the minute I saw her face.”
Jared’s light blue eyes, so similar to his own, widened.”Shit, not the L word. That’s pretty deep, Nate. So what happened exactly?”
Nathan related the series of events – seeing Julia twice before finally asking her out for a drink. He skimmed over the more intimate details of their night together, but Jared certainly got the picture.
“So let’s see if I’ve got all this. You see this woman a couple of times, develop some sort of fixation with her, finally ask her to have a drink with you, fuck her like an animal, and then say the next morning, ‘Sorry, babe, gotta run back to my fiancée now?’ That’s kinda harsh, Nate, especially for a nice guy like you. Now, my buddy Mitch I can totally see doing some douchebag thing like that, but you – what the fuck, bro?” asked Jared in disbelief.
Nathan hunched forward, his elbows on his knees, hands messing his hair. “I know, I know. I should have got the award for Asshole of the Year for what I did. Hey, I’ve had plenty of one-night stands before, but I never felt guilty about any of them. Not like this. And on both sides of the coin, too. I mean, of course I feel like a total shit for cheating on Cameron, but I really, really feel like a prick for what I did to Julia.”
“So why the hell after what you did to her would s
he willingly move out here to work in your office? Oh, shit, she isn’t like one of those crazy ass stalker chicks, is she? I mean, she seemed perfectly normal.”
“She isn’t a stalker. And she didn’t follow me out here. This is how fucked up the whole thing is – can you believe it was a complete one hundred percent bad, bad coincidence? First that she’s an interior designer, second that she already knew Travis? Both of us almost passed out when we saw each other again in January.”
“Maybe it’s like – what do they call it – serendipity?”
Nathan frowned. “Like I know what the hell that means. I call it a little black storm cloud following me around.”
Jared shook his head. “No, no. Didn’t you ever see that movie with John Cusack? I’m pretty sure it was even set in New York. He meets this hot chick but they’re both involved with other people and go their separate ways only to meet up again by accident. In fact,” he typed something into his phone and waited for the screen to load, “according to good old Wikipedia, serendipity means a happy accident. That’s what it was when the two of you met again like that.”
“Yeah, well, the accident part I’ll buy. Not so sure about the happy part,” Nathan grimaced. “My life has been a daily hell since she’s been in San Francisco.”
Jared frowned. “Thought you said she wasn’t in stalker mode. Or is she just pissed off and making your life miserable? She seemed so sweet, though.”
Nathan groaned. “She is. And no, it isn’t anything she’s said or done. In fact, she’s been a total pro about this whole fuckfest. What I meant was that it’s been hell for me to see her every day because she’s so fucking gorgeous all I can think about is jumping her bones.”
“Oh.” Jared waved a hand in the air. “Well, that’s totally understandable. Hell, I have a hot wife at home who’d castrate me if I even thought of cheating. That doesn’t mean she can stop what goes through my brain, and if someone as fine as Julia worked with me, I’d spend half of each day fantasizing about different ways to bang her.”
Serendipity (Inevitable) Page 22
