Rule's Property (The House of Rule Book 2) (15 page)

"I believe it has something to do with a tract of land."

Nick thanked the woman, went straight to the computer in his office and began going through the pending acquisition files, but he came up empty. He could find no reason for Courtney's presence in Houston. What the hell was his brother up to now? Nick took a deep breath and picked up his phone, preparing to contact Garrett for answers, but before he could make the connection his cell pinged with an incoming message. He slid the bar across and felt a sharp moment of relief, the text reassuring him that Courtney had gone to Houston on business and hadn't purposely run from him.
Your brother's a slave driver.

Nick keyed in a response, not even pretending he didn't know where she was
. Are you still at the airport? Turn around and I'll tell Garrett you're working for me now.

Lol, no. I can
't work for you. :)

No?

No.

Why?

Her answer came quickly
. After this weekend? I think you know.

The weekend was good.

Yeah, it was. I'm boarding my flight now.

Nick took a quick breath and keyed in his response
. Be careful and let me know when you land safely.

K. I love you.

Nick's heart constricted when he read those words.
I love you, too. Come home as soon as you can.

I wish you could come with me.

Nick couldn't resist the opportunity to tease her.
That'll happen, baby. We just need practice.

Omg!

At her response, he laughed out loud, the sound echoing through his office
. Get home as quick as you can or I'm going to beat my brother to a pulp.

I
'll be home in about a week.

Be safe.

You, too.

****

Nick was so impatient he felt like he was going to snap in two. Courtney's one-week trip had turned into a month, and about the same time that she'd wrapped up her business in Texas, he'd been called away to California again. So now, finally, after a long, tedious, fucked-up two months, they were finally back in St. Louis together.

Of course, he hadn't been able to stay away from her for the solid two months; he'd caved several times and caught a flight just to sleep in her bed and be with her for a few hours. Although those trips had managed to let off some steam, the short intervals together hadn't even scratched the surface of what he needed with her in his future.

So now, with the irritation, the
agony
of their forced separation blazing fire through his system, even if it had been for business reasons, Nick decided to put the wheels into motion to keep Courtney tied to him forever.

****

On Monday morning, Courtney suddenly felt goosebumps rise on her flesh. She glanced up from her computer screen to the door of her office, looking for the reason. Nick stood at the threshold, watching her intently. She took the pen from her mouth and set it aside, leaning back in her chair.
A lot of damn good a secretary did for protecting her privacy when the woman was faced with one of the Rule brothers.

"Are you busy?" he asked.

"You pay me to be busy," she retorted.

"I don't pay you. Garrett, maybe. Technically, the corporation pays you."

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Whatever."

"Seriously, can you get away for lunch? But fair warning, you're going to be gone for several hours."

She frowned as she studied him. It was unlike Nick to think of anything but work during business hours. "What's up?" she asked him now.

"Nothing, really. I've carved out some extra time and want to spend it with you."

"We can't start sneaking off while we're supposed to be working, Nick."

He stiffened minutely. "We won't. Today will be an exception. Things have finally settled down and I need some time with you; I need to know you're okay."

She felt his words hit her heart and her expression softened. "I'm fine, you know that."

"
Courtney,"
he said as his tone became short. "Get to a stopping point and meet me downstairs in half an hour." The words weren't a question.

"So, we're not just going upstairs?"

"For a quickie? No, I'm going to feed you at least," he said with a half-smile.

She smiled back. "All right. Downstairs, half an hour."

****

Courtney sat back in the plush leather seat of Nick's BMW. He was driving toward the riverfront, and she figured he was headed to a restaurant nearby. But as the car ate up the miles and Courtney saw the Gateway Arch as they passed the area, she realized that he was actually heading across the Mississippi River, into Illinois.

A couple of minutes later, she glanced over and studied Nick's profile as he drove. "Where are we going?"

"I don't know. I'm just driving."

"Why?"

He glanced at her for a second before looking back to the road. "I needed to get you to myself, babe. Is that so damn hard to understand?"

Pleasure rippled through her midsection. "I guess not," she smiled.

"Want to watch the eruption?" he asked.

Courtney knew he referred to the Gateway Geyser on the Illinois riverfront, the second tallest fountain in the world and a backdrop to the St. Louis Arch, which was on the Missouri side of the river. The fountain didn't run continuously, it only went off three times a day, during certain times of the year. "Sure, that sounds fun." She'd only ever seen the fountain go off a couple of times, and it was always amazingly impressive.

As Nick parked the car and they walked to the Overlook Platform, he took her hand as they strolled across the grounds. Arriving at the top, he stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her, lightly resting his chin on the top of her head.

The view from up here was amazing. The St. Louis skyline and the Gateway Arch with the mighty Mississippi River in front were incredible. When the eruption began at straight-up noon, Courtney gasped with pleasure and Nick's arms tightened around her. They watched in companionable silence, and when it was over, oblivious to the tourists around them, Nick turned her in his arms and kissed her as if there were no tomorrow.

Her legs trembled the entire way back to his car.

She swallowed hard, knowing that she'd have this memory forever. Nick reached over and buckled her in and then caressed her cheekbone with his fingers. "Want to drive into Belleville for lunch?"

Totally undone by the unexpected romance of the day, Courtney nodded her head. "Okay."

Nick smiled as if she'd pleased him and then tapped her on the nose before turning away and pulling away from the parking lot.

The drive to Belleville, Illinois took less than half an hour, and soon, they were sitting in a quiet restaurant with two glasses of wine between them. "Alcohol during the day, Nick?" she asked with a quirk, still a bit embarrassed because the waiter had carded her.

"It's a special occasion."

"Is it?" she asked, swirling the liquid in her glass.

Their food arrived and after the waiter left them, Nick touched his glass to hers. "It's always special when I'm with you."

Courtney's heart went into overdrive. Never in a million years had she thought Nick could be so charming and romantic.

After they'd eaten a leisurely meal and were in the car again, after a glass of wine and a nice meal, Courtney wasn't paying attention to where they were headed.

She glanced around when Nick pulled into another parking lot only minutes later. A large, imposing building stood in front of them. She sucked in a breath, a rush going through her brain, suddenly realizing that the entire outing had finally come to the place that Nick had been pushing toward. "Where are we?" she asked softly, trying to get her vocal chords to work as she looked at the huge government-looking building with suspicion.

"Courthouse," he announced just before he got out of the vehicle and walked around to her side.

He opened her door, and as if a fog had taken over, she unclipped her seat belt as he took her hand. She stood to her feet as if in a trance and lifted the strap of her bag around her torso as she stared at the huge building. He pushed on the car door and it slid shut with a gentle snap. He began ushering her forward but her feet stalled as she held her ground. "What are we doing here?" she asked more firmly, finally finding her voice.

He stopped and turned toward her, backing her up until her butt hit the car's gleaming fender. He crowded her back and stared down into her uplifted face. "What do you think we're doing here?"

She shook her head back and forth, refusing to answer, refusing to guess. If what was happening was what she thought was happening,
she was going to be upset.

He reached out and took her chin in his fingers in a grasp that made her want to submit but at the same time, made her want to jerk away from him in equal measure. As a compromise, she stood completely still and did neither. His thumb ran across her bottom lip producing a lick of fire. Those damn butterflies went off in her stomach even when she didn't want them to as she became light-headed. He opened his mouth and the words she'd been afraid he'd utter came spilling out. "We're getting a marriage license."

Chapter Seven

Courtney felt herself blink up at Nick as her emotions went into a tailspin.
Where in the hell was her marriage proposal? Was he announcing they were getting married without any input from her? Yeah, it had been a nice, romantic afternoon . . . but it wasn't enough. Where was her ring? Where were the words?
She continued to look at him blankly while she tried not to be hurt.

She glanced at the building and then back to Nick while a knot formed in her stomach. Very softly, she shook her head and at her action, a frown built on his features. "No?" he asked incredulously.

She shook her head again.

He took her hand in his, and for a moment Courtney thought she was going to get at least some of what she wanted, maybe a belated proposal. But abruptly, he turned her hand until it was captured to his side. He caged her in with his other arm until she was well and truly under his physical control. "What's the problem here, babe?"

Courtney really, really didn't want to tell him that her feelings were hurt, so she went down another path. "I'm sure we don't have the correct documents. Surely we need something more than a driver's license." It took everything she had to keep her words neutral.

"I've got your passport and birth certificate."

Bells started clanging in her ears.
"What?"
she asked, as anger began to blend with the hurt she was feeling.

His mouth flattened as he undoubtedly realized that his plan wasn't going the way he'd mapped it out. "Again, what's the problem?"

"I'm sorry, I'm trying to understand," she said as she gave him a withering stare. "You just helped yourself to my personal documents? Did you ask your mother for them?"

"No, I took them from the safe. No big deal."

"No big deal?" Her spine stiffened and she pulled on her arm, watching him with reproachful eyes. "Let go of me."

"Bullshit."

"Nick,"
she hissed in anger.

He didn't let go. His face came closer to hers, impatience emblazoned across his features. "I'm not getting this, Courtney. You didn't think this was about marriage? That's it's
always
been about marriage for as long as I can fucking remember?"

Seething with anger and pain, a single tear that she couldn't contain rolled down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly, not wanting to show weakness, but that ship had sailed. Obviously past the point where she could contain her hurt feelings, she knew there was no room left for her pride. "I've always guessed it was about marriage," she admitted.
"I've always hoped it was about marriage."
Her face fell from his and her eyes filled with tears as the knot of pain in her stomach exploded. "But I wanted a proposal, Nick. I wanted a ring," she mumbled. She swallowed and lifted her eyes back to his, her anger roaring back.

"But instead of a proposal, you steal my documents? That was a shit move on your part."

Nick froze but remained silent. A thousand different emotions crossed his face and she easily recognized a few: Torture, anger, remorse, passion, shock, impatience. She focused on the remorse and tried to get him to see what he'd done. "Don't you understand? You're the only one I truly have. You're the only person in my life who loves me for me." She stared up at him while he looked down at her in silence, listening intently as she spoke.