“Trust is a good thing, I won’t let you down.”
He says it with such sincerity. “Good, let’s prove them wrong.”
“Them who?”
“All the doubters. Specifically my family, once they find out about us.”
He takes my hand and kisses the back, licking my middle knuckle with the tip of his tongue. “I can think of a thousand better ways to spend my last three hours with you, talking about your family isn’t one of them.” A smile tilts the corner of my mouth and he asks, “What do you want to do before I leave?”
He looks at me with smoky eyes and I know there’s only one thing he’s thinking about doing. I’m going to burst his bubble for a while. I lean into him and lick my lips, his eyes watching my mouth I slowly say, “I want to do the BBG.”
His forehead creases in question. “What’s the BBG?”
“The Brooklyn Botanic Garden of course. What did you think I was going to say?” I smile teasingly, knowing exactly what he wanted to hear.
“You little wench,” he whispers with promise in his eyes. “I’m going to let you have your way for now, BBG it is. After that I’m going to play with your garden and plant myself up in you, watching you scream my name endlessly when I plant my seeds.”
“I can’t wait, I know your promise is as good as gold.”
“Damn right.” He puts his hand on the inside of my thigh caressing my skin, pulling out of the parking spot.
“I can see why you wanted to come here.”
We hold hands looking up at the cherry blossom trees as we walk. I love the garden in the spring, May is the best time. I put my head on his arm and take in the beauty around me. Purple weeping trees hanging down over you when you walk by them. Looking around it is stunning to see the beautiful lush green grass against the vivid whitish purple Lilac Hues. It’s a real Garden of Eden. “My mom and dad would bring us twice a year when we were kids. I had good memories here, I felt like I was in a fairy tale. Like Alice in Wonderland. It was all so vivid and bright. It still is, nothing’s changed. Still peaceful and tranquil, you can forget about everything.”
“Is that why you wanted to come here, for the peace and quiet?”
I stop in the middle of the trees. I let go of his hand and turn around, looking at the blossoms. He stares at me and smiles. “Yes. I wanted to spend time with the man who has captured my heart, in one of the most beautiful and tranquil places nature has to offer in the city.” I stop turning and walk back to him. His arms go around my expanding waist, lightly rubbing his nose against mine.
“You belong in here, you’re just as beautiful and amazingly vivid.”
I rub my nose back against his, barely touching his lips. “That’s nice of you to say.”
“It’s the truth. Nothing in here can compare to you.”
He brushes my lips with his, nudging them apart, and I open for him. The kiss is deep, slow, and heady from the smell of the flowers. Turning me on with the touch of his hands skimming my ass. His tongue meets mine, wet and warm in the back of my mouth. Tilting my head with his intoxicating kiss, he sucks my tongue into his mouth, eliciting a soft moan and a sigh from me. The voices of an older couple passing by breaks the moment and I remember where we are. We pull back reluctantly, smiling at each other. He rubs his hand against my back and brings one hand up to pull at the collar of my trench coat.
“I like this coat.”
“Thank you. I bought it last week with Ava.” It’s an electric blue trench coat that ties in the front and comes down two inches above my knees. “This is what I bought with the card you gave me.”
“You went shopping with Ava and this is all you bought?”
“Yes.”
“She knew you had my card and tried to get you to buy the whole store, didn’t she?”
“How did you know?”
“Ava has a shopping problem. Did she try to wrestle the card out of your hand and shop for you?”
“How did you know?” I repeat.
“I’ve seen her do it before. She’s happy shopping even if it’s not for herself.”
“I had to be the voice of reason. I didn’t want her to spend all your money.”
“Our money.”
“Your money.”
“What’s mine is yours—it’s our money. If you wanted to max out that card I wouldn’t care as long as you were happy.” He rubs his nose against mine again. “Now that that’s settled, move your little ass over to the rose garden so I can take you home and give you the ride of your life! I desperately need to plant seeds of my own in what I know is very fertile soil.”
I laugh and he takes my hand, pulling me down the path over to the rose garden. He makes good on his promise after an hour of nonstop sex and making out, licking and touching every part of my body. I wanted to go with him to the airport but he wouldn’t let me. He said the baby and I needed the rest after the afternoon we spent in bed with him making me beg. That’s one reason he took a night flight—to spend more time with me and he didn’t want me out so late without him. He was right; I was wrung out from the garden, our evening of great sex, and making love. I could hardly keep my eyes open when he kissed me goodbye and left for the airport.
Nick
I can’t stop smiling like an idiot thinking about my afternoon with Cat. She has me, I’m all hers. I know I’m a goner since I don’t want to take a shower to wash the scent and feel of her off. Sick but true. If it wasn’t absolutely necessary I wouldn’t leave her to go on this trip. I miss her already. I told Ava to keep an eye on her and Chris to check up on her for me. I made her promise, again, not to go near her family or tell them about the baby until I get back. She’s afraid we might get into a fight if I’m with her when she tells them. Like I told her, it’s better that I’m with her if something happens. If something happens to her and I wasn’t there to protect her and the baby I don’t know what I would do. I would lose my fucking mind and kill someone.
I get to my hotel room late in the night and I’m tired. I would call Cat but I don’t want to wake her. I’ll send her a text letting her know I’m at the hotel. I can see her now, curled up under the covers on her side looking all sweet and cute with her baby bump. She’s five months pregnant but you still can’t tell unless she’s wearing something fitted. I love my girl so freaking much. Best thing to happen to me was her coming back to me and giving me a baby I love already. Having this baby with her is different from Kate. At first, I wasn’t sure how to feel about that baby, but after I heard its little heartbeat for the first time I started feeling more and more each day. Then it was taken away from me without warning. That’s my fear with this baby and Cat.
I love Cat and this baby more than anything or anyone I’ve ever known; they’re my heart. She’s my soul, I can’t live without my soul.
Nick
I push the card into the door and I see it. What the fuck is she doing in here? Lying on the couch sipping wine in trashy lingerie. I know she doesn’t think she’s staying. I drop my bags and close the door.
“Nick. I see you’ve finally arrived.” She tips her glass toward me, her feet propped up on the couch looking like the poisonous temptress she is.
“What the hell are you doing in here? Get your damn feet off my couch.” I pick her legs up and swing them off the cream couch. She makes an indignant face, champagne spilling down her chest; she jumps up, her bountiful assets bouncing up and down like they’re on springs. If I didn’t know her and I wasn’t completely in love and committed to Cat she would be a turn on for me.
“What the hell, Nick!” She shrieks, grabbing a towel off the table to dry herself.
“You need to get out.” I grab her arm and she quickly puts her glass of champagne down as I’m leading her toward the door.
“Nick, what are you doing? I’m not dressed, you can’t put me out!”
“Why not? This is my room.”
She grabs my other hand to stop me from opening the door, looking distressed. “This i
s our room. There are no more rooms available. Your assistant made a mistake, he booked us into the same room. He must have thought we had the same arrangements we used to have when we went away on business together.”
“Fuck! Fucking Steve!” My assistant would set it up so we were placed in the same room. I didn’t tell him the arrangement was over. No one knew about Paige and me, so he wouldn’t know we were over unless I told him directly.
“It’s the middle of the night, I have nowhere else to go. All my things are already in the room. I asked if there was another room available, but there’s none, they’re all booked. Please, Nick,” she pleads.
Dammit. I’m a fucking idiot for forgetting to tell Steve. “Stay tonight, tomorrow I want you out.”
“Thank you.”
“Put some goddamn clothes on. You can keep the room, I’ll sleep out here on the couch.”
“All right. Goodnight.” She walks past me to the room, fixing the little she’s wearing.
I watch her close the door and I slump down on the couch, running my hand over my face and through my hair. If Cat finds out I spent the night with her in a hotel room she’s going to freak the fuck out. I can’t tell her, if I do, she’s going to say, “Why didn’t you tell me she was going on this business trip with you? Hell, why didn’t you tell me she works with you?” All good questions. There was no reason to have her mind working overtime about something happening with me and Paige. We were only supposed to see each other during business hours, not sleep in the same hotel suite. I reach in my pocket and pull my phone out. I unlock my phone and Cat’s picture pops onto the screen. She’s so pretty, her almond-shaped deep brown eyes smile at me. I’m fucked if she finds out. I can’t tell her now. I’m going to look fucking guilty for something I didn’t do.
I fall asleep looking at Cat’s picture on my phone; in the morning I make sure I get up before Paige and head out to the L.A. offices of Alexander and Alexander, this way, I stick to the plan of only seeing her during business hours. The first thing I did was ask the front desk in the hotel if they had another room available. How the hell can they not have another room available in a five-star hotel for at least another three days? By then I’ll be flying back home. I’m sitting in my office when there’s a knock at the door.
“Come in.”
“Nick, I have some papers I need you to look over and sign.”
Paige steps in, closing the door behind her. I take the papers and give them a once-over while she stands and waits for me to finish. “Doesn’t my father have to sign these too?”
“Since it was a joint venture and you both have an equal share, on this particular document I only need one of your signatures. You’re here, he’s not.”
I look up at her with the papers in my hand. She knows my father. He wants to see everything no matter how insignificant one might think it is and I’m the same way. I’m not signing anything until he has a chance to look it over. When you’re investing millions in a company you have to make sure every t’s crossed and i’s dotted. I raise an eyebrow at her and she smiles at me, lips pressed together like she’s amused.
“I already sent a copy to your father, he looked it over. You can call him if you want. I’m sure he’ll be in touch with you soon. I know your father’s policy and yours. Nothing is too insignificant—t’s and i’s.”
I crack a smile before I sign the papers and hand them back to her, as if she’s reading my mind. She was good at that, knowing what I was thinking and wanted…for a time, then things changed.
“Nick?” she says with the papers in her hand.
“Yes?”
“We don’t have to be like this.”
“Like what, Paige?”
“You acting hostile toward me as if I’m going to attack you. It’s not my fault we ended up sharing a suite. The least you can do is be civil to me. You’re treating me like I intentionally set this up. I thought we were good from the last time we were together. You’re acting like you hate me. Did I do something wrong?”
I sit back in my chair rolling my pen between my fingers. If I didn’t know better I would say she was about to shed a tear from the look on her face. She’s in four-inch heels that match her fitted to every curve peach-colored skirt suit. Her long blond hair is pulled back at the side showing her high cheekbones and peaches-and-cream-colored skin. The first time I saw her I thought she was too beautiful for words to describe. Like my father said, she reminded me of a sweet Georgia peach I wanted to sink my teeth into, taking a bite out of while drinking in its luscious fragrant nectar, and I did many times. The peach was great, then it turned sour, leaving a bad taste in my mouth when she fucked one of my business partners.
“No, Paige, you did nothing wrong. I’m in a relationship. You staying in my room, she wouldn’t like it.”
“Oh…I understand. We’re mature adults, Nick, I think we can stay in the same room without having sex.”
“I know we’re not going to have sex. I’m not worried about that. I have no interest in having any kind of sex with you.”
She runs a manicured finger over her eyebrow. “Always so honest, aren’t you?”
“I try to be so there is no misunderstanding. You can stay in the room because there’s not another one available. I checked.”
“This girl, is she the same girl you were with before?”
“Yes, the same woman I was with before. She came back and gave me a second chance.”
“She must be some girl to tame you.”
I smile and nod my head. “She’s someone special.”
She pulls her lips together and lets out a breath, putting a smile on her face. “Okay, I have what I came for.” She holds up the papers for me to see. “I’ll see you back at the hotel later.”
She reaches the door and I call her name. “Paige.”
“Yes.” She turns her head with her hand on the knob.
“You need to keep your clothes on. You’re going to find another hotel if I see you walking around in another piece of whatever you had on last night.”
“Got you. You have to keep it clean for your new girl. I will put my goodies away but it’s not like you haven’t seen them before. They’re still as good as you remember.”
“See, talk like that will get you kicked out.”
“I’ll behave myself. I promise.” She winks at me over her shoulder before closing the door and I slump back into my chair.
“I hope I don’t end up regretting this decision.” I’m regretting it already.
When I get back to the hotel it’s late. I only take a shower and lie down on the couch. Before I came back to the hotel I spoke to Cat, I didn’t want to call her with Paige in the hotel room. She’d probably say something out loud so Cat could hear her. I don’t need that shit. And the less time spent with Paige the better. I turn the TV on to watch the news when Paige comes out of her room. She sits right next to me like I invited her to. I keep my eyes focused on the news with a bored expression on my face. I do notice she is fully dressed in silk pajama pants and the matching long sleeve shirt.
“You like? I’m fully dressed like you requested.”
“I didn’t know you owned sleep attire that provided you with this much coverage.”
“I don’t. I had to buy this before I came back to the hotel. Do you approve?”
“Yes.” I flip through the channels, not really interested. I’m wondering if I have to tell her to get the hell up. I’m ready to sleep and I can’t speak to the one person whose voice I want to hear. I’m getting irritated.
“Nick.”
“What?” I growl, not interested in conversation.”
“Can’t we talk without you snapping at me?”
“What do you want, Paige?”
“I just want to talk. You’re hurting my feelings. You’re treating me like I’m a parasite. We used to be able to talk before—”
“Before you screwed my business partner.”
“You’re still angry with me.”
/>
“I’ve moved on past that.”
“Have you?”
“I’m with someone I love, who loves me. I don’t spend time thinking about you and what we used to have. I’m in a good place and I want to keep it that way.”
“Love? I don’t think you ever said those words unless prompted by me first when we were together and lived together. Are you living with her?”
“Look, Paige, I’m not going to talk about my relationship. You know I like to keep my personal life separate from business. You of all people should know what happens when I don’t.”
“Nick, I said I was sorry for that. You hurt me when you said you weren’t sure you ever wanted to marry me. When you told me you thought we needed some time apart I was angry. I did something stupid I wish I could take back. We were good together, we could still be good together. We’re a match in the boardroom, courtroom, and in the bedroom.”
“Do us both a favor and forget about it. Move on, I have.” I put my head back on the couch and rub my hand over my eyes. I keep my eyes closed and turn off the TV with the remote in my hand. She’s so close to me I feel her leg brush against my thigh.
“What’s her name?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“It will make her seem more real, like you’ve moved on. Telling me her name isn’t giving away anything about your new private life.” I hear her voice soften and drop a little with her next words. “When you called me after the holidays and we were together…”
My eyes open and I see something in her akin to uncertainty or maybe insecurity before I close my eyes again. It’s not my job to reassure her anymore. “Paige, you knew what it was. It was sex. I didn’t make you empty promises of a life together and a happy ending. It was just sex for me.”
“You were using me,” she says, the tone in her voice going a bit flat. “Is she the same girl you were talking about the Sunday morning I saw you in the office?”
“Yeah.”
“So you were still with her when we were together in January?”
“No. We broke up right before that happened.”
Imperfections Come To Light (The Imperfection Series Book 2) Page 14
