by Taylor Hart
Putting up his hands, Nathan put on an innocent look. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Seriously!” She splashed him.
He splashed back and laughed. “You’ve got to quit doing that, Goodman.”
Storm sighed. “Now I feel like an idiot. I had a billionaire out in front selling my stuff and nobody knew! That probably would have sold even more stuff.” She pointed at him. “Marketing strategy.”
Lifting and lowering a shoulder, he looked dubious. “A good sign of a true salesman is someone who doesn’t have to use gimmicks to sell.”
“You told everyone I won the silver at the Olympics.” It was a feat that she hated and loved, truth be told. Of course, she wished it had been the gold.
“I wanted to showcase how amazing you were as the developer of the product to establish your credibility. Not just to brag.”
She couldn’t help but be grateful. “Well, thank you if I didn’t say that already.”
“You didn’t.”
Remembering what he’d done for her, and what he’d seen of her so far, she squirmed. “I’m sorry. I guess you’ve caught me at a pretty bad time in my life.”
“I already told you. I don’t believe in bad timing.”
His words resonated in her soul, and she stared at him. Neither of them spoke for a few seconds.
Thoughts whirled through her mind. What was happening? She was about to marry Sky, and now …
“I don’t know why we met right before you’re getting married.”
She scowled. “Don’t do that.”
He splashed her, triggering a brief water fight. Before she could process how this man could read her thoughts, he charged through her attacks and took her into his arms. He pulled her in, his eyes intent on her lips. Then she was kissing him again, feeling the hardness of his chest pressed against her, his hands pulling her waist closer. His lips were soft, and all she wanted was to kiss him more.
He deepened the kiss, and she found her hands in his hair, loving the way the scruff of his beard tickled her face.
Without warning, Sky’s face flashed into her mind. She pushed back, putting her hands on his shoulders.
His grip slackened. When their eyes met, she saw something wild in his gaze.
“I can’t.” Shaking her head, she disentangled herself from him, moving to the opposite side of the hot tub and sucking in a breath.
“Storm.” His voice was soft.
She whirled back, putting up a finger. “This can’t happen.”
“I know. I know. I’m sorry.”
Wanting to both kiss him again and run away, she sat back down.
He sat too. After a few seconds, he grinned. “I told you I can handle it.”
“I don’t know if I can handle it.” She confessed.
Nathan cupped some water and poured it over his face. “Let me help at Sagewood tomorrow.”
“No. Why do you even want to?”
His eyes danced in the moonlight, and she felt the heat from the hot tub catching up to her. He shrugged, and once again, she felt the way he looked at her, the intense way he seemed to want to be with her. “I want to.”
“Because you’re a do-gooder?” she asked, giving him a way out. The butterflies in her gut made her wonder what she was getting herself into.
He nodded, playing it cool. “Yeah, that’s right. Just a do-gooder. That’s me.”
Not knowing whether he was serious or not, she changed the subject. “Sky is supposed to meet me there tomorrow before he flies to Aspen for two days for a snowboarding shoot.”
He grinned. “Perfect. Text me when he leaves, and I’ll come then.”
Unable to keep a straight face, she splashed him.
“Hey, I’m just the friend.”
She shook her head. There were both silent for a few moments.
All she knew was they were definitely not friends, yet she didn’t want to send him away. Maybe it was selfish, but all she had was tonight. She wouldn’t do anything stupid, but she didn’t want him to leave yet.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“No.” He shook his finger at her. “You were thinking something.”
“Oh, you mean you can’t just take my thoughts out of my head at the moment? That must be difficult for you, Edward.”
A strange look washed over his face. “Are you calling me Edward, as in the vampire in Twilight?”
“Yeah, I know it’s crazy, but I am.”
He splashed her suddenly. It stunned her for a moment and led to a no-holds-barred splashing war.
“I can’t believe you watched Twilight!” He laughed.
She splashed him. “I can’t believe you watched Twilight.”
He sighed.
“A girl you were dating.” She filled in. When he glanced away coyly, she snapped her fingers and laughed. “It was.”
They were both laughing hysterically by the time they finished their water battle.
Every time they met each other’s eyes, she found herself laughing with him. She could not stop thinking how funny it was that he had watched Twilight.
When she got cold from all the splashing, she dunked herself deeper into the hot tub, and so did he. They resurfaced and stared at each other again. “This is weird,” she said.
The side of his lip tugged up. “It is weird.”
“What’s happening between us?” It was like they were at that late hour where all is revealed and nothing can be kept a secret. All she could think about was how handsome he looked, how very movie-starrish himself.
“I don’t know.” He confessed. “I’ve been wondering the same thing. I mean, it looks bad for me. You’re engaged. You … frankly, you’re rude.”
She laughed and sighed, thinking about their first encounter. “I admit I was rude.”
He scoffed. “Yeah, and then you got ruder.”
Giving him a pointed look, she asked, “Why did you stick around, Pennington?”
He moved closer to her, closing the gap between them “I don’t know, Goodman. I guess I just can’t stay away from you.”
She held her breath, wondering if he would try to kiss her again. Wondering if she would let him.
Reaching out, he took her hand. “Would you marry me?”
She did a double take. “What?”
His blue eyes sparkled with amusement.
She didn’t know if he wanted an answer, but she wouldn’t give him one. Instead, she tugged her hand back. “You’re not the commitment type.”
Another smile. “True.” He turned away from her. “I think it’s time for me to go.”
Chapter 10
After Nathan changed back into his regular clothes, he came out of the bathroom, trying not to let the heavy chemistry in the air between them make him do something he would regret.
Not like he hadn’t done a million things tonight he would regret later. The simple fact that he was letting himself get wrapped up in her life, knowing it was impossible to be anything more than a friend, was enough to torture him.
Or maybe he would never regret any of this. Offering to take on a case was not something he ever did. Selling for someone would have been something Nathan would have laughed his butt off if someone would have told him he was going to do that a week ago. Eating at Denny’s—not his style either. Basically following a woman around all night like a puppy was definitely not his style. Neither was begging to go to the charity where she volunteered.
She stood in the kitchen, the sides of her hair wet and her face flushed. She’d put on some sweats, and even though she was probably at her most casual and messy, he still wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her. She was a natural beauty.
This was all getting sticky and messy too fast. “Do you have the paperwork for the land trust I could look over?” Yes, stay focused on the work. On something real, something he could control.
Handing him a glass of water, she rushed over to an office off the side of the kit
chen. “I have the file right here.”
Sipping the cool water, he was thankful. He hadn’t realized how thirsty he was. Truthfully, he doubted he would register any kind of physical unease at the moment.
She picked up the file and came back quickly. He noticed her toes were painted pink, which he found strangely cute. She handed him the file. “Thank you for doing this.”
Now that she was close to him, his senses were filled with what must be a laundry detergent scent. He couldn’t deal with the fact that this woman was probably getting married in three days, so he handed her the glass and stepped back, reaching for his coat on the couch. “No problem. I’ll see what we can figure out.”
She walked him to the door, but it felt like there was suddenly so much between them. “Thanks.” She brushed a wisp of hair out of her face. “I had a really great time.”
“Definitely the most interesting date I’ve ever had.”
She let out a light laugh.
“Truth be told, I think it was like four dates in one evening.” He looked at his phone. It was two-thirty in the morning.
Frowning, she shook her head. “No.”
He counted them out on his fingers. “Selling. Dinner. Skiing. Hot tubing.” He didn’t know why he wanted her agreement so much, but he did.
She blushed. “I guess. Well, we should probably say goodnight.”
He didn’t want to leave, so he reached for the last thing to keep himself near her longer. “I need your phone number.”
She frowned.
“To be able to chat with you about the paperwork.” He lamely held up the folder.
“Right.” She rattled off the numbers, and he put it into his phone.
He flashed her a grin. “I just texted you, so you have my number.”
“I don’t need your number.”
It stung, but he kept his smile in place. “Ya never know.” Putting his hand on the doorknob, he wondered if he could kiss her again.
When she stayed anchored to the spot, he did what he knew was the right thing. “Thanks, Storm. Have a good night.”
The next morning, Nathan woke with a start. There was something important about the dream he’d just had. Someone. Closing his eyes, he tried to go back to sleep but couldn’t. It wasn’t unusual for him to have weird dreams. He’d had them his whole life at different times.
Scrunching up his eyes harder, he tried to get all the dreams from the past few months out of his mind. The ones where his father was sitting in the hospital, giving a last squeeze to his hand.
He sat up, checking the neon alarm clock in the hotel. Ten a.m.
Weird. He pushed back the covers and stood, not remembering the last time he’d slept until ten.
He smelled like chlorine. When he’d gotten back from Midway, he’d suddenly been so tired he’d just fallen into bed. Now his mind was clear, and he saw the file on his desk. Sitting at the table, he opened up his laptop and called his secretary.
“Hello. You’re supposed to be on vacay, boss.”
“I know.” It wasn’t unusual for Nathan to say he was on vacation and unavailable and then get bored and be unable to not look at all the work coming in. “It’s not about the usual work right now though. It’s about something else.”
“Okay.” She sounded like she was typing, and he could picture Stella, in her impeccable suit dress, sitting at her desk, the headset in place to answer calls and work at the same time. She was one of the most efficient women he knew. About ten years his senior, she was married with three kids and was more like a big sister than anything to him, always telling him what he needed to hear and giving it to him straight. Even when he didn’t want to hear it. It was one of the reasons he kept her around. She wasn’t a yes-person. He was surrounded by enough of those.
“I came upon a case here on vacation. A land trust issue. Who do we have at the firm that deals with this all the time?”
Within thirty seconds, she answered. “Bill Higgins. Best land guy in the place. Just won a big case. You want a direct line to him?”
“Please.”
“Okay, but boss, don’t work too hard, okay?”
“Thanks, Stella,” he said, dismissing her admonition. If she really knew the ins and outs of the case, she would be plaguing him for every minute detail about the girl.
A few seconds later, the phone rang. “Bill Higgins.”
“Bill, it’s Nathan Pennington.”
“Hey.”
Bill didn’t have the best personality. He wasn’t good at working with partners, that was for sure, but he kicked butt in court.
“Bill, I have a situation. A girl I met is stuck with a land trust issue for her grandfather’s ranch. I need you to look at this ASAP and let me know if there’s any way for the girl to inherit the land without getting married.”
“Married?” Bill belted out the word.
“Yeah.”
A rippling laugh escaped Bill’s lips. “What’s this business, boss?”
He sighed, wondering at the fact he’d gotten himself into something like this. All he knew was that even if she wasn’t interested in him, he did want to help her. More than he’d wanted to help anyone for a long time. “Bill, look, if you could keep this on the down low and just let me know if you can do anything to break it.”
Bill let out a long breath. “Okay, boss. I can do that.”
“Great. I’ll email it over.”
Getting off the phone, Nathan rushed through taking pictures of each page. Then he attached them to an email for Bill.
After taking a shower, he realized he was a bit hungry. He thought of hitting the slopes after breakfast, but he just didn’t feel like skiing today.
He recalled Storm had mentioned volunteering at Sagewood. He wanted to go and see her. Then he thought of Sky. Would he be mad if Nathan just showed up? Maybe it was better if waited until after Sky left.
Of course, he could call her.
It excited him to think of seeing her today. He knew if any of his work associates knew he was going to an assisted living center to help out, they would wonder if they should check him into the crazy bin. He wasn’t known for being generous for anything without some political gain.
He found himself whistling as he got ready. It would be fun to get in the Christmas spirit and help decorate or whatever else the place needed. He thought of some of his philanthropic money he needed to donate before the end of the year for tax purposes. Maybe he could do something for these people.
As he examined himself in the mirror, he shook his head. Who was he? Thinking of donating money and making time to help out? This was not him.
There was more facial hair on his face than there had been in quite a long time, and he liked it. He grabbed some of his cologne and dabbed it on. Maybe he would get close enough to Storm that she would smell it.
He laughed as he left the room. What was he doing? It was like he was back in high school, waiting for the popular girl at school to notice him.
The door shut behind him, and he moved down the hall. He thought of the way she had put her hand on his face last night and reciprocated the kiss. Then he thought of the hot tub kiss. Man, she was driving him crazy.
It drove him even crazier to think they might not have a chance. She really would do whatever it took to keep this land, even if it meant marrying Sky.
His cell phone buzzed, and he tugged it out of his pocket. Sterling. Warmth surged through him. “Hey, bro, what’s up?”
“Hey …”
He frowned. “Is everything okay?”
“Uh, yeah.”
Nathan knew something was wrong. He waited.
“Listen, there’ve been some problems with the end of shooting. They’re going to have to extend through Christmas. The company needs to get this done or it will lose funding and all the work will be scrapped. I’m sorry.”
Nathan stopped walking, disappointment flooding through him. “It’s fine,” he said quickly, resorting to his political voice, the
one that never let any setback get him down.
“No, it’s not.” His brother let out a loud sigh. “I was really looking forward to having some time together. Why don’t you stay longer in Park City, and we’ll come there when we’re finished?”
Nathan didn’t know what to say because even though he knew it wasn’t Sterling’s fault, he didn’t like the fact that he felt so vulnerable at the moment. It was the kind of vulnerability he’d been feeling since their father passed away.
Still, he did what he always did—he soldiered up. “No, it’s fine. You’re married and have a life now.”
“Bro.” Sterling’s tone told Nathan he understood.
“What?”
“What’s wrong?”
“You’re ditching me for Christmas.” Nathan sputtered, sounding exactly like he didn’t want to sound.
“I’m sorry.” Sterling did sound sorry. “I was really looking forward to seeing you.”
“Me too.” He gave in to being an adult again and gathered his political shield around him. “Don’t worry. It’s fine.”
“What about New Year’s instead?” Sterling offered.
“Sure.” Nathan wondered if he should even stay in Park City. Maybe he should just go home, but that felt so empty at the moment. Storm’s face flashed through his mind.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Are you really?”
“Man, you’re patronizing.” He scoffed, wanting to tell his happily married movie star brother something good. “As a matter of fact, I went on a date last night.”
Sterling let out a low whistle. “Really? Do you even remember her name this morning? Did she just leave?”
“Ha. Ha.” It ticked him off Sterling was kind of right. “As a matter of fact, all we had was an innocent kiss, or maybe two innocent kisses. She’s not like that.” He didn’t know how much he wanted to tell his brother, not understanding anything he was feeling about Storm.
“Really? What is she like?”
Nathan let out a breath. “She was in the Olympics and won a silver medal, but then she hurt her knee. Now she does magazine covers and sells a line of products she developed.” Man, she did sound amazing.