Salvation (68 page)

“Think we’ve run our course,” Mai muttered dejectedly. She had no concern for the mango yoghurt she was poking with the tip of her spoon melting and spilling over the sides of the cup. Her eyes were staring off into the distance, her mind lost in troubled thoughts.

“What do you think he was doing?” I pulled a napkin from the dispenser to wipe the mess from the table.

“Honestly?” She licked her spoon, shoved it back in the yoghurt and pushed everything away. “Probably got loaded and passed out on someone’s couch.”

Once I’d cleared up and deposited the rubbish in the bin, I returned to my chair and took her hand. “You don’t think he cheated?”

Mai shook her head but said nothing as we stood. I linked my arm through hers and we set off for the short stroll back to the office. The sun was beating down and the pavement busy with a mix of tourists and professionals on their lunch breaks.

When we first met, Mai was deliriously happy in her relationship. Her free spirit and zest for life was infectious. It was gut wrenching to watch her grow so despondent and sad. “Sorry I haven’t been around much lately,” I offered, feeling my heart leap when the NTB Building came into sight. “It’s bad timing I’m going away Friday, too.”

“Not your fault.” She shrugged. “It’s only taken me ten months to get you laid. I sure as hell aren’t dragging you away from the sun now.”

“The sun?”

Mai glanced up and grinned. “So hot your retina’s burn if you stare at it for too long?”

I laughed loudly, shaking my head.

“To taming Nate Blake.” Mai clinked her bottle of iced tea to my water bottle. “Told you he was the one.”

“Talking of your talented eye for hot men, guess who’s paying me a visit next month?”

Mai yanked me to a stop outside the revolving doors and lifted off her Jackie O sunglasses. Her deep brown eyes were wide and hopeful. “Not your hot-ass of a brother?”

“Got it in one.” I pushed the door and entered the cool lobby. My eyes scoped the open space the way they always did, eager for any opportunity to catch sight of my man.

“Gah, what I wouldn’t give to do a bit of Tarzan and Jane with him. He is seriously hot. Those bulging arms could throw me around like a rag doll.”

“Don’t need to hear this,” I whined, covering my ears.

“Has to be fate. No other explanation.” With a wave of her hand, she followed me through the security turnstiles towards the lifts. “Break up with Mitch, then hello Liam.”

My poor womanising brother didn’t stand a chance. I wouldn’t exactly call Mai a man-eater, but being witness to her flirtations whilst in a committed relationship, I could only imagine what she’d be like as a single woman. “Do you really think it’s over between you two?”

We were the only occupants of the car and headed straight to level eight. Mai leant back, shoulders slumped against the glass, her shocking pink belted dress all the more vivid under the bright spotlights. “Who knows? We’ll see what the next few weeks bring. It’s not what I want, but I’m not hanging around if I’m not what he wants. Simple,” she stated, lifting a shoulder.

Except things were far from simple for her. She lived with Mitchell, and together, they shared almost two years worth of memories. That had to be considered.

“Just remember I’m only a phone call away. You’re welcome to stay at my place anytime, too. If you need me, call me. Okay?”

Mai gave me a tight smile, exposing her not-as-strong as she liked to appear nature. “Sure.”

We turned right out of the lifts and headed to the bathrooms. I admired the grown-up attitude she’d adopted to handle the demise of her relationship. If it were Nate and me, I’d be a quivering mess, utterly devastated after only a few short weeks. We’d gone through a lot in that short time and come out better and stronger because of them.

I followed, counting my blessings at how fortunate I was to have met Nate, and how happy and enriched my life was because of him.

NATE and I arrived at the condo not long after 7 p.m. Neither of us bothered to change before we sat on the barstools at the counter and ate the delicious meal Maria had left warming in the oven. I’d cancelled all gym visits and social activities for the remaining few nights. Nate had done the same.

I glanced sideways, catching him watching me as he ate. The sparkle in his eyes, shadowed with stress and fatigue, still made my pulse leap. No words were required as his hand settled on my knee. The small but purposeful squeeze, followed by a gentle sweep upwards all I needed to understand his intentions. Once our meal was over, we’d be heading upstairs and wouldn’t be coming back down again until morning.

I moaned quietly and shifted in my seat. His phone started ringing, breaking the building tension between us. “Clark,” he answered shortly.

I remembered the name from the conversation in the car when Nate had arranged security for me. “And that’s confirmed?” Nate asked, setting his cutlery neatly down on his cleared plate. I took it over to the sink and rinsed it off with mine, then stacked the dishwasher. “What actions do you suggest I take?”

He was beginning to get agitated, the tone of his voice carrying a slight hint of frustration. Nate liked control, needed to understand and be conversant with every incident to enable informed decisions to be made. He was reasonable, but asking advice from someone else in business matters wouldn’t have been easy for him.

“I have the information in my office.” He stood and came over. Eyes that seconds before had glittered with sexual desire had now cooled, even as they gazed at me. He nodded to whatever Clark said, pressed a kiss atop my head then turned away. “Let me get the paperwork in front of me,” he muttered, disappearing into the breakfast room and out of sight.

It had been quiet on the security front for a few days. Carl and Joe had been AWOL since last Thursday lunchtime, mostly because I hadn’t been apart from Nate since then. I’d thought it was all behind us, but the niggling doubt creeping into my thoughts made me reconsider my assumptions.

I took a long shower. Afterwards, I slipped into a thigh-skimming rose-hued camisole, sexy but demure. I dried off my hair, brushed my teeth, then went on the hunt for Nate. Approaching the home office, I heard him talking. My entire body tensed, my instincts switching to high alert. I paused in the hallway, taking a minute to regroup and understand the strange reaction that had come over me.

After a few deep breaths, I took a couple of steps nearer to the half-open office door.

“Goddamnit,” Nate hissed. “Just back the fuck off and leave me alone.”

My spine stiffened and my legs turned weak.

“This is a private number. Who the fuck did you bribe to get it?”

Still riddled with unexplainable tension, my legs gave way and I slid down the wall until my bottom hit the parquet floor. Hugging my knees to stop my legs shaking, I was too wrapped up in my own bubble of confusion to notice the conversation had ceased. Or that the door had opened and two feet were now standing beside me.

“Baby?” Nate crouched to eye level. His dark winged brow was drawn in, furrowing above his nose. In the half-light of the hallway, he combed his fingers through my hair before brushing a thumb over my cheek. My gaze fell from his face to the mobile phone clasped in his other hand, the screen still illuminated, the call still connected.

I allowed him to pull me up when he straightened. I allowed him to lead me into the office. The daze I’d been in cleared. I let him lift me onto his desk before he reclined back into his leather swivel chair and rolled it closer to fill the gap between my spread thighs.

Nate placed the phone back to his ear. “Let me be clear,” he said, calm but assertive. “I won’t be taking any more of your calls. You have business issues? You raise them with the appropriate Execs. I don’t need to hear any of this bullshit. That’s what I pay them a small fortune for.”

He ended the call without waiting for a response, and tossed it onto the desk beside me. The paperwork he’d mentioned earlier littered the surface and his digital camera was connected to the computer. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pressed his cheek to my chest. “You smell delicious.”

I locked my ankles behind his back and began massaging his shoulders. “You’re tense. Is everything all right?”

He sighed and rolled his shoulders and neck. “Turns out those guys we assumed were reporters are actually PI’s.”

“Private Investigators?” I pinched an especially stubborn knot of muscle between my thumb and finger, easing the stress away. “What do they want with you? With
me
?”

Nate reclined back in his chair. “Clark has already run you through the system. No red flags have come up to suggest you’re the target. He’s determined you’ve just been collateral damage, caught in the crossfire. A failed attempt at using you to reach me.”

“That’s only half a reassurance.” And it was, in so far that I was in the clear, but Nate was still being targeted. I leant back on my hands for balance. His gaze drifted from my face, setting a blaze of heat on my skin as he crossed my chest and stomach, settling on where the camisole was barely covering the tops of my thighs. “Why you?”

“I have no fucking clue.”

I did my own bit of eye-fucking, sliding my gaze over his shirt, still as crisp as when he first slipped it on this morning. The tie had gone, tossed onto the iron bannister with his jacket when we passed the stairs after arriving home. I scooted forward and dropped into his lap. “You really have no idea?”

He shook his head and rocked my backside forward and back in a slow, seductive rhythm intended to make me forget my line of questioning. Fighting the sparks alighting in my groin, I pressed on. “No skeletons in your cupboards someone wants to unearth? Business associates holding grudges, wanting to drag your name through the mud? No—”

His head snapped back. “Fuck,” he muttered, running both hands through his already messy hair before clasping them at his nape. “How the fuck did I not see it?”

A burst of excitement filled me. Something I said had jogged his memory. “What is it?”

“I have to call Clark.” He stood, lifting me with him as he straightened, and set me on the desk again before grabbing his phone. “This may take a while.”

“Take as long as you need.” I kissed his jaw and slid off. “Just don’t burn yourself out.”

Nate already had his call to Clark speed-dialled through and the phone to his ear. He didn’t release my hand until I was the other side of the desk. “I love you.”

My heart filled with devotion. I kissed the fingertips of both hands, mouthing I loved him as I blew him a kiss. With a sweet act only Nate could kill me with, he caught it mid-air and pressed it to his chest.

“I’LL COME GET you at twelve-thirty,” Nate told me on my office phone Wednesday morning.

“I’m looking forward to it.” I hung up and immediately set to work on moving some meetings to accommodate our impromptu lunch date. Nate was a changed man after talking with Clark last night. I hadn’t realised how heavy the burden he’d been carrying was until that light of realisation had switched on in his head. Part of me felt guilty for not understanding, but he’d hidden his worries from me how he always did. With skill and the innate ability to put me and my welfare and happiness in the centre of his world. Having his attention solely on me made it impossible to think about anything outside of our world.

Ross ensured we were at the restaurant in time for our 1 p.m. reservation. Nate breezed us through the busy indoor dining to the quieter patio outside, turning more than a few heads. Not so long ago, I might have hated the attention he was receiving. Now, as I joined the female diners in their admiration, it was pride more than jealousy that filled my conscience. The Prada suit from the first time we met adorned his gorgeous body. I’d determined long ago, navy was by far my favourite shade on him. The darker hue drew out the cool blue of his eyes and made them shine.

With our hands firmly clasped together, I felt a rush of heat through my body. Knowing he really was all mine brought a large smile to my face as we reached our table.

“That’s a beautiful sight,” Nate said, holding the back of my chair as I sat. He gathered my hair off my shoulders and kissed the hollow of my collarbone.

“What is?” I asked through a long exhalation of air. Even that innocent display of intimacy had skyrocketed my heart rate. Nate hung his jacket on the back of his chair then sat.

“This.” He touched the corner of my still upturned mouth.

“You make me so happy.” I kissed the tip of his finger then settled our joined hands on the pristine white tablecloth covering the round wrought iron table. The chairs matched and were cushioned in white for comfort. The tableware was white, the small posy of roses in the centre were white. Only half of the tables were occupied, mostly by couples.

We ordered, then relaxed in the shade of the ivy-strewn pergola. I couldn’t tear my eyes from Nate. Every word he said, gesture he made, I was reminded of how dreadfully I would miss being around him. I was looking forward to seeing my father, but struggling to reconcile the excitement and happiness that brought with the sadness and empty feeling over leaving Nate.