Taming the VIP Playboy (8 page)

“I hope so. I'm a dancer not a baseball player,” she said.

“I think today you will be both,” Riley said.

“I will be,” she said.

“Remember how I showed you to move your arm. Get ready, Riley.”

“I'm ready, Nate. Come on, Auntie Jen, throw it to me.”

Jen wound up and threw the ball. This time it went all the way to Riley who caught it and then whooped with joy. Nate put his arm around her waist and pulled her back against him for a quick kiss. “Great throw. You have the makings of a real player.”

“I doubt that,” she said.

Riley tossed the ball back and he and Nate played while she watched. Jen didn't want to risk messing up her record after that perfect throw. She had so much fun that she forgot that she was going to be cautious around Nate.

Her cell phone rang and she glanced at the ID to see that it was Marcia.

“Hey, there,” Jen said by way of greeting.

“Hello. Where are you guys? Your car is here but you aren't.”

“We are at the park playing catch.”

“Catch? You stink at that.”

“Ha, that's what you know. I'm much better today.”

“Is Nate with you?”

“Yes, he came for lunch and then took Riley here to play.”

“Really? That doesn't seem like the man I met last night,” Marcia said.

“There's more to him than meets the eye,” Jen said, watching Riley and Nate toss the ball back and forth. “We'll be home in a little while.”

“Okay. Thanks for watching Riley this afternoon,” Marcia said.

“I enjoy it. I love him.”

“I know, but thanks all the same.”

“It's no biggie,” Jen said, hanging up the phone.

Nate led the way back over to her. “Was that your sister?”

“Yes. Mommy's home, Riley, you ready to go and see her?”

“Yes! I can't wait to show her how I can throw.”

“I'm sure she will be very impressed,” Jen said.

“Will you stay and throw with me, Mr. Nate? I don't think Auntie Jen will be a good partner for that,” Riley said looking up at Nate.

“I'd love to, bud. I can't stay long, though. I've got a busy night ahead of me.”

Riley tipped his head to the side. “Do you work at night?”

“That's when the club is open.”

“You work with Auntie Jen?” he asked. “Are you a dancer?”

Nate laughed. “No. I own the club with my brothers.”

Riley nodded. “Sounds like a good job.”

Nate patted the little boy on the shoulder. “It's pretty good but there isn't enough time for baseball or fishing.”

“But you are the boss,” Riley said. “You should change the rules.”

Jen laughed at the way Riley said it. That made perfect sense to him, but she'd love to see Nate tell Justin and Cam that they needed more time for fun. She was pretty sure those two would think he'd gone off the deep end since Nate's life was already one big party.

“I should do that,” Nate agreed. When they got back to the house Nate walked them to the door.

Jen watched her nephew go inside, then turned to Nate. She couldn't read his expression but he'd kept his keys in his hand and had almost turned to walk back to his car. It was as if he couldn't wait to get away from here.

“Nate?”

“Hmm?”

“Thanks for everything you did with Riley today.”

“No problem. I think he's the first kid I've been around since I was a child.”

“My life is so different than yours,” she said. But hadn't she truly known that from the beginning? They came from different worlds and that was part of why she liked him so much.

“Yes, it is. Well, I've got to go,” he said.

“Bye.”

She watched him walk away, realizing how good Nate was at making himself fit into whatever the situation was. Because it was only as he drove away that she
realized he'd been the perfect uncle figure to Riley the way he'd been the perfect date to her last night.

She thought he was multifaceted but now she was afraid he was simply a chameleon used to changing his colors wherever he was. No matter how kind he was to Riley, Nate hadn't really wanted to spend time with her nephew and that, more than anything else, should serve as a reminder that he wasn't the settling-down kind.

“H
ello, boys, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedules to meet with me,” Cam said as he joined Justin and Nate in the VIP lounge at the back of the club on the first floor.

The place was empty except for staff as they had an hour before it opened.

“Not a problem. What's up?”

“We need to start working on the tenth anniversary celebration in May. Justin, I'd like you to reach out to the local community and try to get them involved in this. They are bringing in some big-shot lawyer from Manhattan to oppose overexpansion so if you can make sure they aren't up to anything that's going to cause us trouble, I'd appreciate it.”

“I'm on it, big bro. There is a community open house tonight and I'm going to attend to see what's on everyone's mind.”

“Good. Nate, I need you to pull out all the stops and get us some big-name A-listers for this thing. Not just people who will stop by, but celebs to headline the street party.”

“I will hit the phone and see who I can get. What do you want them to do? Hutch will come and do a rap show I'm sure, but what else do you want?”

“I'm going to have Jen Miller choreograph a dance show that will run on Saturday night. I want to showcase everything the club has to offer.”

“Okay, that's not a problem,” Nate said. “I'll let you know in a few days who can make it. Are we still talking about Memorial Day weekend?”

“Yes,” Cam said. “I am meeting with an event planner next week to approve invitations and coordinate our print media for the event. It's important that the Latin community feels a part of this. When you are at that event tonight, Justin, will you see if you can get some volunteers to help with this?”

“I will do that. I talked to our merchandise department and they are going to go ahead with the commemorative cigars. I got the final legal wrangling taken care of so we can use the old labels from this place along with our logo.”

“That's going to be great,” Cam said. “Boys, I can't believe we've been doing this ten years.”

The rest of the meeting went by rather quickly and Nate found himself reluctant to leave. He wanted to talk to his brothers about their mom. For the first time in a long while he wanted to discuss her and figure out if his impressions and beliefs were the same as his brothers'.

Justin got up to go but Nate stopped him. “I…I went out on a date with Jen last night.”

“Our employee?” Cam asked, his eyebrows furrowing in a way that Nate knew from his youth meant trouble.

“Yes. I didn't do anything inappropriate like threaten her job security, so chill out.”

Cam stood up and leaned over the table. “Did you sleep with her?”

Nate didn't answer. Jen was private. What had happened with her wasn't for public consumption. “That's neither here nor there. I was letting you know because I might go out with her again.”

He wanted to say she was different and see if his brothers had any clue as to why she would be the woman to make him react like this. But he would never ask them about that. He would never really be able to talk about her because that wasn't the kind of thing a man did.

“Good for you,” Justin said. “I don't really know her, but if you are thinking of dating her, I say go for it.”

Nate glanced at his middle brother. Justin looked the most like their mom out of the three of them. “Legally that's okay?”

“As long as you don't put her job on the line I think you're fine. I can draw up an agreement for you both to sign…”

Nate shook his head. “That doesn't sound good to me. Jen's different. She lives with her sister and her nephew.”

Cam came around the table and sat down in the chair that Justin had vacated. “Family is important to her. She's not like the kind of girls you usually hang out with.”

“I know that,” Nate said. Cam was falling into big-brother mode. It didn't matter that he and Justin were
adults now; Cam still felt that he had to watch over them and give them advice. “I can handle this.”

Justin nodded. “He's a big boy.”

Cam shook his head. “I don't care too much about that. I'm more concerned with the fact that I don't want to lose a valuable employee. She took my dream for the rooftop club and made it viable.”

“You did that,” Nate reminded his brother. “She's just talented enough to know how to get people up on their feet.”

“Which is what makes this club so successful. Just play it cool, Nate. Don't let this get to be more than she can handle. I don't want to have to replace her.”

Cam walked away before Nate could say anything else and he just watched him leave. Justin stood there for a second but Nate got up and left as well. He walked out of the club and started down Calle Ocho. He stood on the corner and looked back at Luna Azul.

He wasn't going to do anything to ruin the success he'd found here. He was too old to find another new career, especially since he really liked this one.

And he refused to be the man who stole this from Jen. She had a life here with Riley and her sister and he didn't want her to have to move on. He saw how much not being a competitive dancer had affected her and he knew she was putting her life back together piece by piece. The very last thing she needed right now was a man who was just looking for fun.

No matter that he wanted to be more than just a casual guy in her life, he knew he couldn't be. Because even though what he felt for her was intense, he knew it would burn out eventually and they'd both have to move on.

 

Jen woke Monday morning to the sounds of Riley and Marcia getting ready to leave. One of the nice things about her job was that she didn't have to rush out of bed every morning. She got up and put on her robe before going downstairs.

She hadn't heard from Nate yesterday but she knew that she wouldn't. They were both feeling their way through this thing—she was reluctant to call it a relationship because she wasn't sure she was ready for it yet.

“Morning, Auntie Jen,” Riley said, giving her a hug.

“Morning, Riley.”

“Mommy, I'm ready.”

“Great. I need to talk to Auntie Jen. You head out to the car.”

Riley nodded and went out the front door. Marcia stood in the doorway so she could remotely unlock the car and keep an eye on Riley.

“I left the newspaper out for you.”

Jen glanced at her sister. “I don't read it.”

“You'll want to this morning. There's a picture of Nate in it with some woman—a Spanish royal or something.”

Jen nodded. She'd just said they weren't dating so why would this news hurt. “It's fine. We're just friends.”

Marcia reached out and hugged her. “I can come back after I drop Riley off if you want to talk. I'm not due in court today.”

“No, don't do that. I have a meeting at eleven at the club to talk about the tenth anniversary celebration. Besides, it was just one date.”

Jen didn't want to talk about this. She wanted to hide
away until she figured out why she felt so hurt. She knew he wasn't the kind of man who was going to give up his jet-set lifestyle for her after one date.

“I'll be fine. Have a good day.”

Marcia pursed her lips. “I know you'll be fine. But that doesn't mean this won't hurt. You didn't need this now.”

“Marcia, stop. I'm trying to get it under control in my head. Don't make me hash it out or I'll start crying.”

Her sister hugged her again and then turned to leave. “Call me if you need me.”

“I will.”

Jen closed the door on her sister and nephew and leaned back against it. She didn't want to go and look at a picture of Nate with another woman. Especially since she'd dreamed about his arms around her all night. She'd dreamed of them being on that yacht of his together and making love on the sundeck.

She put her hands in her hair and stood there for a minute trying to get her head around the idea. It didn't matter that she'd already thought he might not be serious about her. She didn't want to see the proof that the very next night he'd gone out with someone else.

But she wasn't a coward and she never ran away from anything. She walked into the kitchen and saw the coffee mug her sister had left for her next to the paper. There was a Post-it note on it in Marcia's handwriting warning her that there was a picture of Nate inside.

She poured herself a cup of coffee and then took the mug and the paper outside with her. She sat down on the bench next to the water feature and let the scents of the garden surround her. The sweet smell of jasmine mingled with the scent of hibiscus in the air. The sound
of the water flowing in the fountain soothed her troubled nerves.

She took a sip of her coffee and then set it on the ground at her feet before she opened the paper. The
Miami Herald
didn't have anything as lurid and gossipy as the New York papers but they did have a society page owing to how many celebrities made South Florida their home.

The picture was…she looked away and then made herself look back at it. Nate had his arm around the other woman and she was laughing and looking up at him. The same way that Jen had looked up at him. She'd been pressed to his side and she knew the weight of his arm on her shoulder…knew how it felt to be that close to him. And this hurt.

She tossed the paper aside and picked up her coffee mug. She walked around the garden wondering what to do. Alison had said that men who were fun liked to have fun. And that the only way to be successful in that kind of dating situation was to realize it was all about fun.

But to be honest, Jen had no idea how to do that. She wasn't a fun girl. She wanted it to mean something that she'd had sex with him. And that they'd talked about their pasts. She needed it to mean more than just a bit of fun.

And that wasn't Nate's fault. It was her burden. She was the one who'd been impulsive and jumped before seeing where she'd fall.

This was what her sister had tried to warn her about. But there was no way that she could have heeded that advice. There was something seductive about Nate. It wasn't just the sex, though, that had been earth-shattering. It was more the man behind the image.

If he'd just been the charming playboy then she'd
have expected this, but he'd seemed to be more than that. Now she was going to have to deal with the fact that he'd moved on. That was what he did.

She took another sip of her coffee. She couldn't hide away here or even quit and try to find another job. There weren't that many high-level clubs that needed Latin dancers. She just wasn't going to find another job like this and she didn't want to leave her home again.

She'd had a lot of time to think yesterday while she'd been watching Riley and it had occurred to her that not getting back on the dance circuit had been a good thing. It was time for her to start settling down and thinking about family.

Forget that at the time she'd spun silly fantasies in her head of Nate giving up his playboy lifestyle and settling down with her. The truth that she'd discovered yesterday still remained. She was ready to start looking for a home. To start making a life for herself.

And she didn't want to have to start again somewhere where she had no roots, no family and no friends. She refused to let Nate Stern drive her away from the job and the community that she'd started making her own. She'd just stay away from him and he'd never know how much that one night of fun had cost her.

 

Nate had reached for his phone to call Jen but stopped himself. If he'd come to any conclusions after meeting with his brothers, it was that he needed to break things off with her. And he had in the only way he knew. He'd moved on.

Countess Anika de Cuaron y Bautista de la Cruz was the sister of one of Nate's oldest friends, the Spanish Count Guillermo. Gui and some friends owned a string of European nightclubs called Seconds. So taking his
sister out for the night was the least that Nate could do. They were like family.

And last night that had been the best that Nate could do. Somehow none of the other women he'd been dating casually had seemed right. There was only one woman he wanted to spend the night with and it was Jen.

But he wasn't the right kind of man for her. She deserved someone who could give her more than he could.

So here he was at a meeting where he didn't want to be trying to figure out why she wasn't looking at him. They were seated in the executive boardroom at the club's downtown Miami offices. Justin sat at one end of the table with his assistant, head chef Antonio Caruso sat next to him and head of security Billy Pallson was next to him.

Jen had taken a seat two down from Billy on the opposite side of the table from Nate. Nate had enough “relationship” skills to know that she was pissed off at him. Though that was what he'd anticipated when he'd gone out with Anika and made sure that their photo had hit all the papers—local, national and international—he still didn't like it.

“Let's get this meeting started,” Cam said as he entered the room. His executive assistant, Tess, followed him along with another woman who Nate didn't know.

“This is Emma Nelson, the event planner I've hired to help us organize the party,” Cam said. He then introduced everyone at the table before giving Emma the floor.

She handed out action item lists for each venue and it wasn't long before Nate realized that he wasn't paying attention to anything except Jen. He watched as she took
notes, watched as she took a sip of her water and then looked away when she glared over at him.

He didn't understand it but it seemed that he wasn't ready to be done with Jen. Hell, he'd known that last night when he'd gone out with Anika but that didn't mean he could change it.

But Jen deserved a chance to have her dreams and he wasn't the kind of guy who could give them to her. He'd seen that at her home when she'd danced with her nephew, and in the park when she'd played baseball with him. He'd noticed the way her gaze lingered on him as he'd played with Riley. He'd have had to be a fool not to have been aware of the sexual tension there just beneath the surface when he'd taught her to throw.