“Hey, y’all.”
Cat bent to speak to Kayla’s tummy. “How’s my niece or nephew?”
“Great, now you speak to the baby before you speak to me? What kind of sister-in-law are you?”
“The best kind,” Cat said then air kissed Kayla. “You remember Vanessa Calhoun from high school, right?”
Vanessa felt her face turn hot. “It’s been a long time. Hello, Kayla.”
“Hey, Vanessa,” Kayla said as the girls moved inside and she followed them to the kitchen. Once Vanessa set her bags on the counter, Kayla grabbed her shoulders and turned her. “Now that your hands are empty and I have your attention, I want to apologize to you on behalf of the Gregory family. I should have befriended you in school, but I didn’t know what to say. And now I find out what someone with my maiden name has been doing to you. I-am-so-sorry. I hope we can be friends despite that situation.”
Vanessa’s mouth fell open. Never in a million years did she expect this. Tears stung her eyes as she nodded. “I’d like to be friends. I haven’t really had any since I was sixteen.”
Kayla hugged Vanessa. Once the shock had worn off, she hugged Kayla in return.
“What’s all the commotion?”
“Ginger, you remember me telling you about Vanessa, right?” Cat asked eyeing Vanessa.
“Hey, Vanessa. I’m sorry I wasn’t at the door with Kayla, but I still need a short nap in the afternoons, especially if I plan on staying up later.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“So, why exactly are you throwing Nathan a party?”
Vanessa cut her eyes toward Cat, and she nodded for Vanessa to continue. “Well, we’ve been spending time together for a while now.”
“I thought you couldn’t do that because you’re not divorced.”
“Sam is with us or Thomas and Cat.”
“I see. You know Nathan holds a special place in my heart, right?”
“Cat told me. She said he’s like a brother to you.”
“Yes, but he’s closer than my brother.”
“Oh?” Vanessa looked at Cat and saw her and Kayla holding hands. Is this her version of getting family approval to date Nathan, to marry him?
“How serious is it between the two of you?”
Vanessa took a deep breath and decided to just give them the whole story. “I don’t know how to explain this to you, all of you. Nathan came into my life like a hurricane. He was my protector with all the stuff that happened with Charles. He was my friend. Once I was away from here, we grew closer. We talked every day. He told me early on what he wanted.” She let a demure smile grace her lips. “He even researched how long until we could be together.” She looked up to see three sets of eyes with tears in them. “I told him I wouldn’t tell him that I loved him until it could be untainted, and I could show him as much as tell him. My divorce was final yesterday. I came to tell him that I do love him and want to be with him.”
Ginger caught the tear escaping from the corner of her eye. “You’re doing all of this just to tell him that you love him?”
“He’s waited so patiently for me. I had to do something special for him.”
Vanessa couldn’t tell if Kayla was laughing or crying. “Then why do we have all this food? As soon as you tell him, y’all are going to be out the door.”
Cat chimed in, “Speaking of not staying long, Sam is acting funny saying that he’s got someplace to be tonight, so he’s not staying long. It could be because he thinks what you just said is true, but y’all are babysitting Max.”
“Max? Who’s Max?”
“Max!” Vanessa ran back toward the car. She was roaming outside and calling his name when he came running from the barn with Mitchell behind him. “Oh, I hope he wasn’t bothering you.”
“Hey, I’m Mitchell Riverton. You must be Vanessa.”
“I am. Pleased to meet you.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you.” He stuck out his hand to shake hers and laughed. “I hear you’ve got Nathan tied up in knots.”
“I don’t know about that. It may be the other way around.”
“He’s a good man.”
“Yes, he is.” Vanessa tucked some of her hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry about Max. I can tie him up somewhere.”
“No, he’s fine. He can keep me company if that’s fine with you.”
“Thank you. He’s trained and listens very well to commands.”
“Go have fun with the girls. I’ve got him.”
39
“What time are you leaving?”
“I don’t know, why? Need me to look into something?”
“No, go home, shower, and be at the ranch at seven.”
“For what? I still need to go over everything Charles said in that interview.”
“I’ve got something at the ranch I need you to see. Plan on eating with us, and don’t be late.”
“Evan, dude…” Nathan spread his hands over the desk indicating all of the papers.
“It’ll wait, Nathan. I’m not kidding.”
“What the hell, Evan?” Evan knew how important this was. How could he even suggest he stop what he was doing?
“Be there,” he said as he turned to walk out of the office.
This something better be important.
As he walked toward his vehicle, he called Vanessa.
“Hey, handsome.”
“Hey, beautiful. What are you doing?”
“Oh, just putting some things on the table. You?”
Nathan blew out a breath. “Apparently, I’m leaving work early because Evan has something to show me at the ranch. I’m heading home now to shower and change clothes.”
“You don’t sound happy about it.”
“I’m not because the sooner I get all the evidence ready for the prosecutor, the sooner I get to see you. He better not be pulling my chain tonight.”
“I’m sure it’s important. He wouldn’t do that to you.”
Nathan laughed. “Yes, he would if he thought he was right. Anyway, I need to jump in the shower. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Sweet dreams. Love you.”
“You too.”
Nathan stomped toward his truck on his way to Riverton Ranch. The punching bag helped to tire his muscles, but his brain was still focused on needing Vanessa. When he pulled into the driveway, he saw several vehicles, including Sam’s bike.
Why would everyone need to be here for this? Damn Evan, he’s just trying to get me to relax.
Nathan knocked on the door before yelling, “Coming in!”
“We’re in the kitchen,” Evan called back.
“Why is everyone here? I thought you had something important for me.”
“I do.”
Nathan pulled up short when he saw all the smiles on the faces of his friends. “What the hell are you up to?”
Everyone parted like the Red Sea and there stood Vanessa. She’s here. How did she get here? When did she get here? His eyes slowly moved from her head to her feet. When they came back up he finally read the sign:
I LOVE YOU!
He walked toward her with a bright smile on his face and a sparkle in his eyes. “Ness, what’s going on?”
She blinked then tilted her head toward the banner.
His hands were balled into fists, and every muscle was tense as he shook his head. “Say it.”
The biggest smile he’d ever seen spread across her face. “I love you.”
He cupped her face with both hands and kissed her as if his life depended on it. When he pulled back, he whispered, “Say it again.”
“I love you.”
“Again.”
“I love you, I love you, I love you, Nathan Cox.”
He picked her up and twirled her around as she cupped his face and planted a gentle kiss on his lips. She pulled back and whispered, “I got the notification yesterday. It’s over. The divorce is final.”
He squeezed her tighter. “Why didn’t you tell me? I love these guys, but I
’d sure as hell rather celebrate this in private.”
She ran her fingers through his hair. “We will. You’ve been so wound up, I wanted to do something to surprise you just in case I overstepped here.”
“Baby, you’re the only person on this planet who’s allowed to overstep. I hope you weren’t planning on staying long.”
“That’s your choice. Kayla said that we’d leave as soon as I told you.”
He released Vanessa and let her feet touch the floor before cutting his eyes toward Kayla and winked. “I guess she’s been paying attention.”
Ginger walked up to them with her hands on her hips and cleared her throat. “When were you planning on telling me about Vanessa?”
“Hey, sugar, I thought Evan would have told you.”
“All I remember was you watching her while we danced at my reception. And you wouldn’t elaborate on your ill mood.”
Evan wrapped his arm around Ginger. “Darlin’, they hadn’t started seeing each other at that point.”
Ginger narrowed her eyes at Nathan. “I can’t believe you hid this from me.”
Nathan smiled at her. “Thank you for caring about me, but I promise you, I’m good with this.” He squeezed Vanessa then kissed Ginger on the cheek.
“I couldn’t wait for someone to knock him on his ass. It’s been fun to watch. I’ve never seen him this tightly wound up.” Evan grinned at Vanessa. “Thank you for coming up this weekend. The entire department may throw you a party next week.”
Mitchell called from the kitchen, “Can we eat while we give Nathan shit?”
Sam shook Nathan’s hand and kissed Vanessa’s cheek. “I’m heading out. I’m glad you two can finally have a normal relationship. Let me know if you need anything.”
Nathan narrowed his eyes. “You going to Charleston?”
“Not quite all the way there. We’re meeting halfway when she gets off work.”
“What the hell, Sam?”
“Look, she made it perfectly clear that she’s not looking for anything serious right now, and neither am I. We hook up when we can.” Sam shrugged.
“Like fuck buddies?”
“Exactly. It works right now.”
“And when one of you wants more?”
Sam smiled. “Then it’ll no longer work.”
Nathan shook his head. “Sam, don’t hurt her, man.”
Sam nodded and said his farewells.
Nathan walked Vanessa into the wall in the living room. His hands ran up and down her sides before resting on her hips. “I don’t want to stay here. I want to be alone with you.”
She ran her hand up and down his chest as she looked at him from under her lashes. “I want that too.”
He took a deep breath and rested his forehead on hers. “What did you do with Max?”
“Last I saw him, he was with Mitchell in the barn.”
“Let’s get him and go home. We can help them clean up tomorrow, but right now I need you.”
She smiled. “Okay.”
Nathan walked out leading Vanessa toward the kitchen. “Sorry, but we’re heading home. We’ll come by and help you clean up tomorrow sometime.”
Ginger and Kayla lifted bags of food from behind the island. “Gotcha covered. We knew you wouldn’t be staying.”
Nathan looked at Vanessa who was bright red. “Thanks, sugar.” He took the bag of food from Ginger and Vanessa’s bag from Kayla. “Mitchell, where’s Max?”
“I couldn’t let him ruin the surprise, so I left him at the barn. He can stay overnight so y’all can be alone.”
Nathan looked at Vanessa. “Up to you?”
“Let him stay. He’ll probably have fun.”
“We’ll get him tomorrow.”
Cat met Vanessa by the door and hugged her. “Thank you for all of the help,” Vanessa said.
Nathan helped Vanessa into his truck and headed home.
The closer to the apartment they got, the tighter he held onto the steering wheel. She knows I want my ring on her finger. Is it too soon? Thomas’s words came flooding back:
The sex will mean something because it’s with someone you love.
The next thing that ran through his mind was that Vanessa wanted the fairytale:
The first time you make love to me, I want to know it’s truly an act of love.
I have the ring, and she knows that I want a commitment. If I ask her before we make love, then she’ll know that I want her, not just sex—that it will be an act of love.
“Nathan, are you okay? You haven’t said a word since we left.”
“Ness, my mind is running a million miles an hour. How did you get here? Plan this?”
“Cat helped me. I was scared someone was going to tell you and ruin the surprise.”
“No one said a word.”
“I could tell. You seemed truly surprised.”
“You should have told me about the divorce. I would have come to you, no matter what.”
“I’ve got to meet with the prosecutor on Monday, and I’ve made a doctor’s appointment for Tuesday. I thought it would be better for me to come to you so you can still get your work done.” She turned toward him. “Plus, I’m ready to take my driver’s test.”
Nathan smiled. “Sounds like you’ve got a busy week planned for us. I just hope you can walk normally by Monday.”
“What?”
Laughter left him. “Baby, you’re probably not going to get much sleep tonight. I’m sure hickeys will happen, but I’ll do my best to put them where they aren’t seen.” He chuckled. “I’m glad the weather is getting cooler so you can wear your hair down.” He winked.
Vanessa gasped. “I’ve never had a hickey.”
“Baby, there’s a lot of things you’ve never had, but I’m going to help you experience them all.”
Vanessa giggled. “I hope not all in one night.”
“No, where’s the fun in that?”
Nathan pulled into the parking lot at his apartment. When he opened Vanessa’s truck door and helped her out, she was biting her lip like she does when she’s nervous. The closer they got to his apartment, the more she fidgeted.
“Ness, we have all the time in the world. We’re going to take this naturally. Whatever happens, happens. All I know is that I get to hold you all night, clothes optional. By the way, I didn’t know you were here, or I would’ve cleaned up more.”
Vanessa nodded and walked into the apartment.
40
Vanessa looked around and admired the apartment. It wasn’t spotless, but it wasn’t as messy as she thought a bachelor’s apartment would be. She admired the high-end feel of the space before she turned back to Nathan. “I love it.”
“It’s different from the beach house, but it feels like me.”
“It’s what I imagined you’d have.”
“It’s Mitchell’s. He didn’t want to get rid of it, and I needed a place to stay until I decided where I wanted to live. I haven’t really been looking because I like it here, but then you came along. I wasn’t sure what changes you would bring into my life, if any.”
“You didn’t think I’d divorce Charles?”
“I knew I couldn’t push you to divorce him. Then when you did, I didn’t know if you would want to leave the beach with all the drama that’s here.”
“But, you’re here.”
“And that matters?”
Vanessa bit her bottom lip as she stepped closer to Nathan. Her hands were shaking as she bunched the hem of his shirt in her hands. “I’m not good at this.”
“Baby, your hands are shaking.”
“You’re shaking, too.”
He smiled. “Because I’m trying to hold myself back.”
“I want you to know I’m in this a hundred percent.”
Nathan placed his hands on hers and lowered his shirt. “Breathe, Ness.”
She took a few steadying breaths. “I don’t know what to do.”
“I know. I’ll lead us but at your pace.” He ran hi
s hand down his face then entwined their fingers together. Her core tightened when he kissed the backs of her fingers. “You know what else I need from you.”
“You haven’t asked me for anything else.”
“Will I be wasting my breath?”
A teasing smile played on her lips. “You’ll have to ask to find out.”
Nathan dropped her hands but held her stare for a few heartbeats before he walked down a hall that she assumed went to his bedroom. She heard him plundering while she walked farther into the apartment and looked out of the front windows. The view was overlooking Main Street, and she wondered what people were going to think when everything that’s been done comes to light. Will I be able to stay here and not see pity in the eyes of everyone I pass?
Nathan wrapped his arms around her from behind and pulled her close. “What are you thinking about, beautiful?”
She tilted her head so he could kiss her temple before she rested her head on his chest. “Hmm, I like this.” A sad smile formed as she turned in his arms and draped her hands around his neck. “I was wondering if I’m going to be the girl that everyone pities. I don’t want that, Nathan.”
“You’re the strongest person I know, Ness. I’m sure others will see the same things I do.”
“I don’t know. You’ve been my champion since the first day I met you.”
“There was something about you. You called to me, and I couldn’t let it go. You have the most compassionate heart of anyone.” He lowered his forehead to rest on hers. “I want to give you the support and love that you should have had from the man in your life.”
“I’m so much stronger when I’m with you. You do that for me.”
Nathan released her and dropped to one knee. “Then give me what I need to be the happiest man alive. Marry me. Will you marry me?”
She nodded her head as a loving smile graced her lips and tears formed in her eyes. “How does next Saturday sound?”
Unbridled Passion: A Riverton Crossing Novel Page 19
