TASTE: A Stepbrother Romance (11 page)

Chapter 6: The Brewing Of The Storm

I looked at Nick, and I saw that he had an expressionless face. The sex was great, mind-blowing even, but what was so wrong with love? Was sex just a mere bodily attraction? I didn’t quite know what to think from Nick’s reaction. It wasn’t like he had flown away or cursed me. He was still lying down beside me, but we were both quiet. There was a sense of awkwardness between us, and I knew I had to fix it.

“Nick, what happened? Was all this just sex for you?”

“Lacie, it’s not like that. You know how much I enjoyed the sex and I swear I would like to do it again. Like right now.” He gave me a smile or at least tried to but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Did it bother you when I confessed my love? I know we barely know each other, but it feels like we have a connection.”

“I feel it too, but these things take some time. We need to know each other a lot more before coming to such decisions. I am not looking for love at the moment; I am not the kind of person who is looking to settle down in life. I love my life the way it is, and somehow, the whole ordeal of love looks a little dangerous to me. Can we not just live in the moment and enjoy what we have? Why does love need to be thrown into the equation?”

I didn’t quite know what to say. If he was so scared of love, there was no way I could bring up marriage. I understood Nick when he said that he wasn’t looking to settle down, and I had no grudges, but sometimes you can’t help but get sad knowing that the feelings aren’t enough to make them commit in the long run.

Nick pulled me closer and kissed me again. “Lacie, you mean a lot to me. I am not ruling out the possibility of love, but I don’t want any of us to make a wrong call. You can give me some time, won’t you? However, the sex should go on, because frankly, I want to have my hands all over you.”

I half smiled, because to be very honest, I didn’t quite know what I felt. I played with his hair and was about to kiss him on the lips when my phone chimed.

I got up to collect it from the table and saw that it was Les. Immediately, reality crashed down on me. A week had passed and I hadn’t made any significant improvements. I tried to be cheerful and chirped with what I thought was a good mock of happiness.

“Hey Les, how’re you doing? How did Adam’s family treat you? All good, darling?”

“Hey yourself, beautiful. Everything is so freaking amazing. I might have gained some four or five pounds with all the food pampering I am getting here. His grandma is so sweet, and Adam seems to be one spoiled and pampered kid.”

“Ha! Tell his mom that I said ‘hi.’ When are you two coming back?”

“We had to delay the return by a week as his granddad is not feeling well. He wanted us to stay. Could you handle the orphanage hassle? Did things improve?”

I felt guilty for a while, and debated whether or not to tell her the truth. It wasn’t like I hadn't done anything, but if I was honest, I hadn’t tried as much as I could. I wanted to let her know, but I knew she would only worry and this shall worsen the matter.

“I am trying, Les, I don’t know if all of my plans will come through, but this orphanage means as much to me as it does to you. I won’t let it go without a fight. I am trying to arrange a meeting with the head of the firm that is demolishing it. I met someone the day you both left.”

“Aww. Am I missing something? Details, babe.”

I blushed. This was the thing about girlfriends. They knew things even before you said them.

I didn’t quite know what to say with Nick choking at the mention of the word ‘love.’

“You come back here, and we will share all the details.”

“Okay but what’s his name?”

I looked at Nick, and my heart somersaulted. We were at that crossroad where we didn’t know where we would head. Would this last, or was I just another dot on his map of conquered ladies? “Nick. His name is Nick.”

Les had to hang up because they needed to leave. She told me that she would email me the details of the orphanage. I sat on my bed and started to gather my clothes.

“Not so soon, darling,“ Nick said and rolled over me.

“Nick, I really want to save the orphanage. I can’t let Les down. I can’t let those children down.”

“Honey, don’t worry, I will talk about it and see what I can do. I don’t like the way you get sad.”

“Should I try to arrange a meeting with the CEO?” I asked him.

“Lacie, leave it to me. Let this man of yours work some of his charm now, will you?”

I gave him an endearing smile and wished with all my heart that he would fix this mess. Of all of the people I had met so far, I trusted Nick with all my heart, and when he said that he would do it, I really wished he would.

I explained the details of the orphanage to him and how we had all bonded over it. I told him about all the stories and I saw him listening to it with rapt attention. He promised to look into the matter and do his damn best to help me. Even though we had a little awkward silence, I believed him, and I knew that he would do every possible thing to help me out.

He promised to call me as soon as he had a talk and left. I had a feeling that he would soon greet me with some really good news.
 

***
 

Lacie, darling. Please give me a call as soon as you read my text. It’s urgent
.

I read Adam’s text and wondered what was bugging him.

I clicked on his number and called him up.

“Hey Adam, what happened? All okay?”

“Les just received a call from her attorney and they said that the orphanage has to be vacated by the end of this week. She has been in terrible shape, and we are going to come back to New York today. I just wanted to know one thing: will you be able to meet us? Les needs you. She is inconsolable.”

"Of course, Adam. I will be there. When are you both going to reach me?”

“11 AM. Our place. We will come up with a plan.”

I paused and then said with a soft whisper, “Adam, I am sorry for letting you both down. I really did try, but maybe I should have put in more effort.”

He assured me not to feel down and I was really thankful for how understanding he was. However, I did feel bad for not putting forth as much effort as I should have. Nick had asked me to give him a few days before he came up with a plan, but he was a man with too much on his plate. He already had a lot of businesses to run, so maybe, he couldn’t take on much time for my initiative.

Ever since the day I had confessed that I was in love with him, I could sense that he was a little off. It wasn’t like we weren’t dating anymore, but there was a stretch of awkwardness between us. Nick did come up with a few plans, but he wasn’t very upbeat on fixing a meeting with the CEO. He always came up with reasons why it was a bad idea. I decided to talk to Les about it and see if we could go together to talk to the CEO once and see if the situation could be salvaged.

I was at Adam’s place before they reached there. My heart broke when I saw her. She looked pale, and her eyes were puffy and red. She had obviously been crying all the way home. I immediately hugged her and kissed her on the cheeks. Les had a lot of memories with the orphanage, and she was not prepared to let it go. Neither was I.

I took out a hot chocolate cake from my bag and gave it to her. She looked at me with her tear-swollen eyes and smiled. “I love you, Lacie. Thank you for being there for me.”

“Don’t worry Les. We will find a way out. We will keep the children safe, if nothing else.”

As we entered the home, I sat with Les on the porch, and we started thinking of possible ways that could be used. I told her about the need to talk to the CEO once again and even told her the reasons Nick had been asking me not to do so.

When I mentioned about Nick, she remembered that I was seeing someone and she soon started to scoop more details. I knew that this topic was a welcome change and even though I was a little unsure about where we were headed, I decided to spill a few beans.

“Okay, so he is really hot, has the most magnetic green eyes, looks terrific in his suits and owns some four or five businesses in multiple countries. Most of all, he is a good man who helped me out when I felt that I was shattering a little.”

I went on to give a lot more details to Les and I saw her face getting tensed. “Is everything okay Les? What happened?”

“What’s his full name, Lacie?”

“Nicholas Jackson. Why, what happened?”

She got up from her chair and fetched her mobile phone. After a painfully long minute, she showed me a picture on her Facebook account. Is he the same guy?

I blinked my eyes and saw Nick flashing the same smile that he gave me.

I nodded my head and Les murmured, “Holy shit, that bastard. How could he!”

Chapter 7: The First Heartbreak

For a long time, I couldn’t quite believe what Les told me. There was no way this could be true. My life couldn’t shatter so quickly in such a short time. I wanted to believe that there was something which was missing in the whole puzzle.

“Lacie, please be strong,” Les kept on saying but it was like my heart had stopped responding.

Nicholas Jackson was a lying cheat, who was used to sleeping with multiple women. He was a bad boy who was used to having his way with women. He had once cheated on Les, along with his friend, as he had slept with the two of them together. Les had left him with hard feelings, and they had never been in touch ever since. However, Les’s friend Clara was still seeing him, only to find out later that Nicholas had been going out with four other women.

Clara had come back to Les and apologized to her because she had hurled abuses at her when she was with Nick. Nick was known to woo women and had quite a reputation. He was filthy rich and was known to have a weakness for women. Nick used to own the firm where Les worked as an intern, and there were rumors that Nick had slept with nearly every female staff member that he hired.

I was shattered as I heard all of it, and there was a part of me that wanted to believe that this couldn’t be true.

I remembered the way he had touched not just my body but my soul, the way he had held me close. But then again, I couldn’t ignore the way he had frozen when I told him that I loved him, and I felt sick for being another woman among his prey.

I wanted to make him feel bad for all that he had done. I wanted to make him see that I was stronger than all he did. Les told me that I should confront him and see for myself what a bastard he was.

I called Nick up, and he answered on the very first ring.

“Hi, honey, what’s up?”

I felt sick to my stomach at realizing how fake he really was.

“Nick, would you mind coming to Costa Coffee with me?”

“Sure babe. What time?”

“2 PM,” I replied in a stern voice.

“Everything all right?”

“Yeah. Just wanted to see you.”

“Okay, I can come to your house, and you can see a lot of me,” he joked, but I had no appetite for it, so I simply disconnected the call pretending I didn’t hear any of it.

As I hung up the call, we decided that Les would pretend to accidentally bump into him, and then we would see the way he reacted. While there was no way I could doubt Les, I wanted to see the way Nick behaved. I wanted to see my trust shatter in front of my own eyes.

“Lacie, are you sure you want to do this? This is only going to hurt you more,” Les chipped in.

“No, Les. This is important for me. I am strong. Thank you for helping me.”

With that, I got up and wiped away the tears on my face. I had to be strong.

I didn’t need a man in my life.

As we got ready to head for Costa Coffee, I kept waiting outside the entrance in my car. We saw Nick approaching, and Les got out of the car and straightaway bumped into Nick.

Nick was wearing a pale blue shirt and looked wicked hot. I couldn’t help but feel things for him, and I was upset that I did. His eyes were shielded under his costly sunglasses, and when he took them off, his first words were, “Is that you Leslie? Holy hell, you have grown so hot.”

I got the urge to throw up. This was a man who could literally flirt with anyone. The way he was ogling Les’s breasts made me feel like punching him.

“Hi, there. You’re Jackson right? You still haven’t changed much from the old days, I see. Ever the heartbreaker still?”

“You bet. Why change when you can play the same?”

“So, are you seeing someone Jackson?

“What! Of course not. Want to see me again?”

I had enough, and there was no way I would allow Leslie to go through that. I respected her and Adam, and I realized what a fool I was to date a scumbag like Nick.

I came out of my car, and even before thinking another thing, punched him in his face. Nick couldn’t understand what was happening, and he looked at the two of us in awe. He looked as if someone told him he had cancer and didn’t have much time left to live. “Newsflash, Nick. She is Les, the one who owns the orphanage. You’re not going to date any of us now. Enjoy your single life,” I said and walked away.
 

***
 

              I came back to my apartment and felt hollowness inside my stomach. How could he do this to me? I had trusted him with all my heart, and even though Nick had never really said that he loved me, I never realized that he was cheating behind my back because I was so smitten.

My phone chimed, and I saw that was a call from Adam. Although I didn’t really want to talk to anyone, I knew better than to not take his call.

I tried to sound firm and collected as I received his call.

“Hi, Adam.”

“Lacie, do you want me to come over?”

“No, Adam. I would like to be alone for some time.”

“You do know, Lacie, that you have Les and me with you. It was not your fault that you didn’t know that Nick was cheating behind your back.”

“I know Adam, but it just feels so wrong.”

“Dear, it will all come together. Give yourself some time.”

“I wish it were so easy Adam. Nick was the first guy that I gave my heart and soul to. It sucks, man, it sucks bad.”

“Can I do anything to make you feel better?”

“You’re sweet Adam, but sometimes, we need to fight our own battle.”

Adam tried talking to me, but somehow, everything looked wrong. I just didn’t feel like going on anymore. I sat on the same bed where I had made love with Nicholas Jackson, and I felt like throwing up. Why did I have to fall in love with someone who turned out to be such an asshole?

I heard a knock on my door, and I really didn’t want to talk to anyone. As I sneaked a look to see who it was, I saw Les standing there. I opened the door, and she came in.

Les didn’t say anything, but simply hugged me.

“Lacie, I think you shouldn’t jump too quickly to any conclusion. I mean it was wrong of Nicholas to talk the way he did, but after you left, he looked really sad.”

“Really, Les, are you saying this? Do you really think anything could make up for the way he was checking you out? I know he may not be in love with me, but to behave the way he did, he is never going to earn my respect.”

“I know, darling, I am so sorry you had to go through this.”

I nodded, because I didn’t know what to say.

“I do have good news though.”

The words ‘good news’ seemed to mock me, but I didn’t want to dampen Les’s sprits, so I asked her what it was.

“I have managed to get a stay order for the orphanage. We can look for a new place in the meanwhile, as it would be a lot easier to relocate the kids to a better place, maybe.”

I was glad at the news. A stay order meant that there was ample time to come up with the right plan.

“Lacie, I really think you should take a break. I have been through a few bad breakups myself, and I know how bad it hurts. As the times spent here in New York City will only remind you of Jackson—why don’t you take a vacation for a week, then come back and we can have a girl’s night out?”

The plan really did appeal to me. I wanted to let loose and go away, somewhere far away from any place that would remind me of Nick. It was suffocating to stay in this apartment where every nook and corner reminded me of him. I hugged Les again and decided to take a break.

I quickly wrote a letter to my boss and asked for ten days of leave. As I sat down to think of the places that I could go, my phone chimed again.

It was a text from my mom.

Lacie, I am so excited, baby. Call me soon. I have great news.

It had been a really long time since Mom had seemed so happy. I thought that maybe I would visit her, as this may be the break I was looking for. I immediately dialed her number and called her up.

“Lacie, you won’t believe the news.”

I could sense the genuine happiness in her voice, and even though I could barely take out much time to talk to her, I was really close with my mom.

“What's up, Mom? You sound so happy. Looks like you landed a jackpot or something.”

She laughed, but didn’t tell me what the fuss was about.

“Little girl, you have to take off from work and come and see me right now. Such news is not shared over phone conversation. Your leave is long due. I want to see my baby girl right now.”

It was the first time in ages that my mom was so excited, and I felt really happy for her. I was already thinking of taking a break, and it looked like God planned the right move for me.

I told her that I would leave for Kansas today, but I still wanted to know what the good news was. Mom acting so excited, she denied me the pleasure, as she wanted to see me in person and share the reasons for her joy.

I could barely wait to see her, and so I hugged Leslie and set out for yet another chapter in my life. Of course, the pain of losing Nick was still there, but maybe, seeing Mom and being a part of her happiness would make me feel a lot better.

That was at least what I was hoping for. Les looked better too with the stay order and asked me not to worry, as she would keep me updated about the details.

I hugged her again and started packing to see my mom.

Maybe, the good times were all set to roll again, I thought to myself.