by P. Roper
“All set?” Noelle eyed me.
I nodded and took a seat across from her. “Does he know I’m joining you tonight and going with him?”
“Of course he does. Nate knows everything,” she scoffed. I suppressed a laugh, she wasn’t wrong.
“Is dinner ready?” He stepped into the room, checking his watch. He met my eyes and smiled. “Glad you could join us tonight, Deliah.” That smile, I wasn’t going to make it through a week in close contact. After my conversation earlier in the week with Noelle, my heart and mind were at odds. It was a good thing I was sitting down in that moment; because my heart clearly controlled my knees that felt suddenly like Jell-O, bearing witness to the dimples that never failed to frame his sincere smile.
“I was ready earlier than I had anticipated,” I attempted to return his smile but it felt off. “And who can pass up Ellen’s cooking?” I added, attempting to remedy my awkwardness.
“No one I know. We’re all set for departure tonight? Helipad at what, nine?”
“Yeah. Audrey had everything arranged. We should land in New York before eleven, and a car will be waiting for us at the Heliport on East 34th. It’s supposed to only be a 15 minute drive to the hotel but who knows, with Manhattan traffic.” He nodded and turned his attention to Noelle.
“You’ll be good while we’re gone? Check in on Audrey for me?”
“Of course,” she mumbled around the forkful of food she had just put in her mouth. I smiled at seeing her behave with less than proper etiquette, having forgotten so often that she was just a teenager.
The rest of our meal was mostly quiet other than Nathaniel asking Noelle about the paper submissions. Then double checking that the editor appointment wasn’t scheduled to be made until after he returned. We both made attempts to reassure her that she was a shoe-in for the job, but were also very aware of the girl’s insecurities. Especially those involving her writing.
A couple of hours later, I sat in a helicopter for the first time in my life. I wasn’t normally a nervous flier but something about the small space and the volume, unnerved me. Donning the headset that was handed to me, I strapped in as instructed. The moment we lifted off my hands flew to the armrests, my nervousness evident in my white knuckled grip. I watched out the glass in an attempt to distract myself with the dotted lights of neighbourhoods and a lot of darkness.
Warmth eventually covered my hand, still engaged in a death grip on the armrest. Startled, I looked over. Nathaniel’s hand covered my own and as his thumb stroked gently across my knuckles, my grip loosened slightly. He smiled at me and nodded encouragingly. I could almost hear his voice in my head; you’ve got this, pretty girl. I’m right here with you. The softness of his eyes made me return his smile with a meek but thankful one of my own.
Nathaniel held onto my hand for the entire flight, only letting go to exit the aircraft when we landed in New York. He offered his hand again to help me down from the helicopter but didn’t let go once my feet were on the ground. As Audrey had indicated, a black town car was waiting. After sliding into the plush backseat of the car, I checked my phone. She said that she’d send the itinerary for the week but it still had yet to arrive.
We maintained silence in the car, the drive not taking long at all. Nathaniel kept glancing over at me, his dark blonde curls sweeping over his forehead. I tapped out an impatient message to Audrey as we pulled up out front of the hotel. I tried to look up at the building out the window, but there was too much of it to see from inside the vehicle.
The Carlyle was a marvel. I had taken many pictures of the exterior of the building during my time in New York but, like most, I had never seen inside. A concierge assured us that our bags would be brought up when he opened the door for me, pulling a smile from me in acknowledgement. Stepping through the storied revolving door, my breath caught at the iconic lobby. The floors looked like glass and, in startling contrast to the bustling world on the other side of that door; it felt like time stood still in that space.
“Mister Halstead! It’s so lovely to see you again,” the man behind the desk began jovially, at the sight of us. Nathaniel led me forward with an almost imperceptible touch to the small of my back. “Audrey, diligent as ever, timed your arrival impeccably. I have your key here, if you’d like to head up. I’ll have all your things sent after you. As always, please don’t hesitate to let me know if you need anything during your stay.”
“Davis, it has been far too long since I’ve been in the city.” The two men shook hands before Nathaniel took the key. “The adjustments to my usual stay have been made, I trust?”
“Of course, sir,” Davis assured. “Every detail of your upcoming week has been arranged, per the provided instructions.”
“Thank you Davis.” Nathaniel turned to me, asking, “Belgian waffles and coffee for breakfast?” At my nod in agreement, he returned his attention to the concierge momentarily. “Nine am? And a fresh fruit platter, please?”
“I will make the call, sir. Have a pleasant evening.”
We made our way into the elevator and an attendant selected the 33rd floor. My eyes widened and I looked up at Nathaniel’s face. He was watching the numbers tick up with his hands in his pockets, studiously avoiding my gaze. When the lift came to a stop all he said was, “After you.”
He reached past me to open the door in front of us before following me inside. The moment the door closed on us, I gaped at our surroundings. “Nathaniel! A full suite on the thirty-third floor? Really?” I sighed when he didn’t respond and pulled out my phone. Still nothing from Audrey, so I made my way through the rooms, exploring the suite.
“Does everything check out,” he asked from the doorway of the room I stood in. The whole suite had floor to ceiling windows, but I noted something else more prominently.
“There is only one bedroom.” I tilted my head and assessed the man sceptically. “Why am I here, Nathaniel? What was I not told?”
He chuckled, stepping toward me. His hands reached out and framed my shoulders. “There are no meetings,” was all he told me, some semblance of guilt dusting his features.
“Seriously? Audrey and Noelle conned me into coming here and it’s not even for business?!” My heart hammered in my chest but I couldn’t bring myself to step back.
“Please don’t be mad at them. I asked them to get you here, whatever it took. My only condition was that the week be kept a secret.” His fingers kneading my shoulders lightly relaxed me more than it should have.
“Nathaniel...” I began. It felt a lot like a warning as his name rolled off my tongue.
“Let me do this for you? I didn’t want you to leave, still not speaking to me. If I’m being honest, I didn’t want you to leave at all. But if you were going to anyway, I couldn’t let your departure be filled with so much hurt. I needed to give you some good too.”
“You don’t think there was good before? This,” I gestured around us, “was absolutely unnecessary.”
“I knew you’d say that,” he laughed softly. “But nonetheless. This trip isn’t entirely selfless either.” His hands shifted up, to frame my face. “I needed just a little more time. Time with you, pretty girl.” We stood there, breathing the same air and blinking at each other a moment. He drew infinitesimally closer to my face. Glancing at my mouth then back to my eyes, his tongue ran over his bottom lip. “May I,” he asked as his thumb ghosted over my cheekbone.
My nod was almost unnoticeable, but his hands felt it. And almost immediately his mouth crashed to mine. A stampede hurtled through my stomach and I gasped into his mouth, returning the kiss in kind. One of his hands threaded into the hair at the nape of my neck and his other wound around my waist, pulling me flush against him. In a single moment, I felt everything shift. I was falling again, so I grabbed onto the tower of a man holding me steady. Maybe, just maybe, I thought. If I let him back in, this time we’d free-fall together? And perhaps land safely, instead of broken.
Chapter 17
It was the first time that we had touched one another in six weeks. The air around us felt charged. After a lot of thought that week, it had occurred to me that I may actually be in love with Nathaniel. I desperately wanted to deny it, but the way my whole person reacted to him would make a mockery of my denial. He affected every facet of my body, mind and soul.
I pulled back from the kiss, needing to get a read on him. Where is his head? I thought.
“Constantly thinking about you. Wishing I could figure out how to fix all this. Or turn back time to New Year’s Eve.” He answered the question I thought had been unsaid and a sad sort of smile touched his mouth. “Even if you choose to walk away after this week here with me, I wanted to give you this experience. Because a girl like you deserves to be floating through this lifetime, graced by a thoroughly charmed life.”
My brows pulled together. The longer he spoke, the more I relaxed into his arms. “No one deserves to do anything they haven’t earned, Nathaniel.” I don’t know why I argued, I knew that wasn’t his point.
“That is true, pretty girl,” he proved me right. “But you have more than earned the opportunity to have this life. Even if you don’t believe it, you fit better in my world than you think. Perhaps not with the staid older generation,” he laughed to himself. “However, in mine? You belong more thoroughly than many I know, who were born with silver spoons in their mouths.”
I shook my head. “You can’t say that, Nathaniel. I’m the salacious girl from the proverbial wrong side of the tracks. I mean, I was a showcase by choice.” He gathered my hands with his own.
“Except for being the way I met you, your past holds no consequence to me. I planned this trip for you. Will you allow me to give you this before choosing to run?”
I huffed a laugh. “I’m not running, Nathaniel. I gave you six weeks’ notice of my departure. But my six weeks isn’t technically up yet. So show me what you’ve got, I guess.” I shrugged. What would it hurt to entertain him for a few more days? I mean, it was technically still my job. All means of personal assisting and companionship.
Bringing one hand up, he tucked some curls behind my ear. Letting his fingers graze along my jaw as they passed en-route to ghost over my shoulder and down my arm. Goosebumps followed the trail his hand took. I caught myself closing my eyes and leaning into his touch. My tongue darted out to wet my lips as my eyes opened again. His gaze tracked the movement and mimicked it.
I could see he wanted me to be present in the moment with him. He had asked permission to kiss me before but I knew that anything more than that one would be on me. My brain told me that he needed to earn my trust back, but my heart and my body wanted to throw themselves at him. I had never been more at war with myself as I had been as we stood there.
In the stillness of the room, all I could hear was our breathing. I brought a hand up to his chest, feeling his heartbeat under my palm. I pulled myself up onto my tiptoes. “Please be kind,” were the words that whispered out of my mouth with my lips a hair's breadth away from his.
He nodded, framing my cheeks with his hands and following through with the kiss I had almost initiated. I swayed, still on my toes, and his hands left my face to meet my thighs. Hooking around them, he pulled me up into his arms as my own arms linked around his neck. He spoke, kissing me between words. “Unless you’re agreeing to us being naked on that bed, you need to tell me to stop, pretty girl.”
I linked my ankles behind his back and returned his kiss. I wanted this too. He carried me toward the bed, easing both of us down on top of the cloud-like linens. He kissed me, limbs and tongues tangled, for what felt like hours. No part of my body was left untouched. We got lost in one another, moving with a natural synchronicity. Eventually, we were skin to skin and he was moving inside me. My back arched and he swallowed my moan with his starved mouth on mine.
Nathaniel and I had undeniable chemistry from the beginning. It had been tangible since the moment I met his staggeringly blue eyes from my place on that stage. But this? This felt different. Though I couldn’t put my finger on it, something had changed. We came apart together over and over until the sky started getting lighter. As the very early morning hours fell over New York City, we fell asleep wrapped up in each other.
“Pick up the phone, so it will stop ringing,” I demanded as I rolled over covering my head with a pillow.
“It’s time to get up, pretty girl,” he said before picking up the receiver. “Hello? Yes, the salon is fine. Thank you.” He hung up the phone and I felt his hand run from my shoulder to my elbow. His mouth pressed against my shoulder and the pillow was lifted off my head. “Deliah,” he whispered, “Open your eyes.”
I reluctantly did as instructed and my breath caught. The sun was out and the curtains were open. A snow-covered, city sprawled below the window. Central park glittered as thick frost clung to the branches of the trees. I knew that at street level, even a snowy New York didn’t really sparkle like that. But from this vantage point, it was beautiful. “That’s a view,” I said, the awe in my voice still laced with sleep.
“It’s even better with you in the forefront.” He smiled at me, caressing my cheek.
A snort escaped me as I shook my head, “That was cheesy, even for you.”
He laughed, before sitting up straighter, “They just delivered breakfast, hungry?”
“Famished,” I said, rolling onto my back but not making any effort to move further. He drew himself from the bed and disappeared around a corner. I closed my eyes, rubbing the palms of my hands against them. The moment my hands left my face, a heap of plush fabric landed on it. I sat as the bedding and what I came to realize was a robe, pooled at my waist.
He groaned from the doorway, “You need to put that robe on because your bare skin is calling to me and I don’t want your waffles to get cold.” I smiled, and stood. Stark naked, I stretched before walking around him and out of the bedroom. The smells of bacon, waffles and coffee assaulted me. “Seriously, if you want to eat, use the robe,” he held the plush white robe out to me. It matched the one he wore as he strode in my direction, “or you will end up still hungry, while I have you for breakfast.” His eyebrows rose.
I rolled my eyes, taking the robe from him. I tied it loosely around myself before grabbing coffee and a plate of waffles, piled high with strawberries and whipped cream. I sat on the edge of the dining table, setting my coffee beside me. A moan fell from my mouth as the first bite melted in my mouth. “Damn. This is amazing,” I said around my second mouthful. He watched me, bemused, a coffee cup in his hands.
The loose robe had slid down my shoulders while I ate and I had brought my feet up to sit cross legged on the table. As I set my empty plate to the side, I noticed his approach. “If you’re done eating, pretty girl, is it my turn?” He almost growled with a tilt of his head as his hands found my knees. I glanced down, noticing I had bared my entire self to him while I ate. I licked my lips, meeting his hungry eyes as I recalled his earlier comment. I felt myself nod.
One of his hands came up to press between my breasts; the other untied the belt of the robe that was no longer doing its job. I leaned back on my elbows, as he unfolded my legs and lowered himself between them. My head fell back and I gasped out his name, as his tongue made contact with me. My heels rested on the very edge of the table as he brought his arms around my thighs, one hand pressing on my stomach, the other pulling one of my nipples between his forefinger and thumb. Fuck, I missed this.
I felt him smile against me as my breathing picked up. His mouth continued to ravage me before he added the use of his hand. I came twice before I was flipped and bent over the table. We missed the rest of our plans that morning, but spending the time inside the hotel suite was better.
We spent the next few days in the city, with private tours of libraries and museums. He held my hand when we walked and wrapped his arms around my waist often when we stood still. Nathaniel had thought of every detail. He showed me w
hat his world looked like in the city, and I walked him by the 4 story walk-up where my studio apartment had been when I lived there. We saw Wicked from the front row of the mezzanine and The Phantom of the Opera from breaths away from the orchestra. We spent hours one day, letting our inner children loose in the Ice Cream Museum. Then at the end of each day, we returned to The Carlyle. Sometimes food would be brought to us, others, we’d bring takeout back with us. And late into every night, I fell asleep in his arms. The whole week felt like a dream. But our last day in the city, Saturday, Nathaniel pulled out every stop.
Fingers trailed down my spine, drawing delicate circles. I wiggled slightly causing him to chuckle. “Morning, pretty girl. When I opened my eyes, I was met by a pair that resembled the colour of summer skies and a dimpled smile. It all felt a lot like a dream. Patting my ass, Nathaniel said, “Go shower. We have places to be.” And then he rolled out of bed, padding out of the bedroom with only boxer briefs hugging his ass.
I smiled, stretched and checked my phone. The screen read 9 am on the fourteenth. I went through the motions of a shower, but actually showering took the least amount of time. An hour and a half later, my dark curls were diffused and bouncy. I had on eyeliner and my lashes had been redone for the trip, specifically. When I exited the bathroom, there was a large, flat box on the bed with a red bow.