“My parents? Cara and Austin?”
“Security remains on high alert and assigned for everyone,” Carter confirms. “We’re waiting for confirmation from your mother if they will fly in Wednesday afternoon or first thing Thursday morning. Initial plans are for them to remain at least through Saturday.”
“We’re going to have Thanksgiving at the cabin,” Nicholas explains, obviously sensing my confusion. “My mother is big on holidays for some reason; you’re not permitted to miss a holiday dinner no matter what the reason.”
“Gosh, I can’t remember the last time I had a holiday dinner,” knowing how loving the Parkers are, I can picture them all around the table on Thanksgiving and Christmas. I could easily also see Vivienne refusing to accept any excuse about missing dinner.
I look up and briefly catch a look of sadness in Carter’s eyes at my words, but before I can even second guess if that’s what I saw, he looks back to Nicholas.
“Security will fly in with your family and escort them to the cabin, at which point we’ll decide how many will remain through the weekend. It will likely depend on Ms. Parker’s plans for Friday—”
“She will have no plans,” Nicholas interrupts quickly.
“I agree that would be best, but you know how much she loves to shop especially the day after Thanksgiving—”
“I’ll give her my black card, she can shop until she drops online.”
“Understood, sir,” Carter nods. “If there are no major outings planned, I’ll probably just keep one or two of the men to remain on staff for the weekend. The others will be split between watching the properties in New York and staying in Montana in the event we need additional staff.”
“Whatever you think is best.”
The remainder of the flight is uneventful. Nicholas works from his laptop and phone; I read a book that was thankfully packed in my overnight bag for the trip. I’m not sure how much of the book I actually read during though—I couldn’t seem to keep my mind focused on it. My thoughts switch between worrying about the press and the fact that he is now somewhere in the same city as I am. Even though I trust Carter and Hunter to keep me safe, I still worry that he will somehow find me. He was so close the other night…
“It’ll be another couple of hours before we arrive at the cabin,” Nicholas pulls me from my thoughts, which is when I realize at some point we have landed. I can hear the flight crew preparing for our departure from the plane as we slowly taxi toward the terminal.
“Do we need to stop for anything?” I ask.
“Carter arranged for everything that we’ll need to be there by the time we arrive,” he confirms. “Once I find out when my parents are coming in, we’ll place another grocery order. I’ll have Carter find a restaurant that will provide a catered Thanksgiving dinner that we can pick up—”
“You can’t do that!” I interrupt.
“Why not? Julie isn’t able to make it out here—”
“You can’t have a catered Thanksgiving meal from a restaurant Nicholas!”
“Again… why not?”
“You’re supposed to have a home cooked meal for the holidays. Does your mom order a catered meal on Thanksgiving or Christmas?” I already know the answer before I ask the question. I cannot picture Vivienne ordering a holiday meal from a restaurant. Not after hearing how important the holidays are to her.
“Of course not but—”
“I’ll cook Thanksgiving dinner.”
“You will?”
“Sure, why not? I can google some recipes… I’ve never cooked a turkey before, but it can’t be that hard. I can call your mom too, I’m sure she would share some recipes with me.”
“Kenzie are you sure? That sounds like a lot of work…”
“It’s fine… it’ll keep me busy; I’m sure you’re going to have work to do while we’re there right?”
“Well yeah… but…”
“I’ve always wanted to cook a big family meal,” I shrug. “Just never had a family to cook one for. I want to do this, please.”
“If you’re sure,” he leans over and kisses me. “You have a family—”
“Ladies and Gentlemen, we have been cleared to disembark from the plane,” the flight attendant interrupts Nicholas. “Your security team is waiting at the gate for you.”
We gather the few items we brought onto the plane before Carter and Hunter escort us from the plane. Once inside the airport we are met by two large men dressed in all black, who simply nod to us before leading us through a quiet, private area of the airport. We’re immediately led out a private exit where two black SUVs are waiting for us. We climb into one with Carter and Hunter while the second SUV follows us. Nicholas’s arm remains protectively wrapped around me, as I rest my head on his shoulder, and watch the scenery change around us.
“Kenzie, baby, we’re here,” Nicholas’s voice pulls me from my sleep.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” I look out to see we are parked in front of a large log cabin. “Wow…”
“Come on,” Nicholas chuckles at my reaction before guiding me to the open door.
The cabin is like nothing what I imagined it would be; I guess I kind of expected a small cabin, but what stands in front of me is anything but small. The large two-story log cabin is like something out of magazine. An expansive deck wraps around the front, while a smaller balcony comes off sliding doors on the second floor. I glance around and see nothing but trees surrounding us: there are no other cabins to be seen and other than Carter’s voice in the distance there are no other sounds to be heard.
“Everything is set up inside, sir,” Hunter confirms, as I close the car door.
“Wonderful, I don’t expect to need you the remainder of the night,” Nicholas says.
“We’ll be patrolling the perimeter of the cabin all night; the security interior cameras have been disabled except for the ones pointing at the entrances. Be sure to call if you plan on leaving the cabin for any reason.”
“Will do,” Nicholas guides me onto the deck and then through the door that opens to a beautiful living room.
“This is amazing,” I glance around trying to take in everything. The floor plan is very open, obviously designed to make entertaining easier. The living room furniture is arranged surrounding a large stone fireplace with a fire already lit in it.
“There are two bedrooms down here and another three upstairs,” Nicholas explains. “There are two master suites up there, so we’ll take one and then when my parents arrive later this week they’ll take the other. Each master bedroom has a balcony that overlooks the property; the one that we’ll have overlooks the lake and has a small hot tub on it.”
“This is beautiful…”
“I bought it for my parents on their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary,” he shrugs. “We used to rent this little cabin not far from here, every summer for a week, when we were growing up. My mother loved getting away from New York for that week; my dad loved to take us hiking and fishing, while Mom and Cara went shopping.”
“You bought this for them?”
“When I started PFS, I promised myself that one day, I would buy my parents a place out here, where they could come anytime they wanted. I… I wanted to thank them for taking me in when they didn’t have to. There aren’t too many people who would have taken in a little boy whose mother tried to kill him,” he glances around the room, obviously uncomfortable with the conversation.
“Nicholas,” I’m not sure what else to say. The fact that he did this for his parents just amazes me; yet the reason he felt he needed to saddens me. Not knowing what to say or do, I wrap my arms around his waist and rest my head on his chest.
“There’s a small cabin just through the woods where the security team will be staying while we’re here. It was the original cabin on the property, but when I bought the land, I wanted something larger, as I knew my mother would expect all of us to still come here when we could. It’s far enough away to give us some privacy,
but close enough that Carter’s team can still monitor this house. The driveway has a security gate that can only be opened with a key code, which is changed every month. The perimeter of the property is outfitted with a top of the line security system that will go off if anything larger than an animal crosses the path. We’re safe here, Kenzie.”
“Thank you,” whether he knew it or not, I definitely needed the reassurance with everything else that had happened.
“Let’s get settled and then we’ll take a walk outside.”
He gives me a brief tour of the cabin, which is just beyond anything I could imagine, before we end up in the master bedroom where we will be staying this week. The room is only slightly smaller than our bedroom at Accord Towers, but the view from the deck is stunning. It overlooks a large lake, but other than that, the only thing that can be seen is the woods surrounding the property. Since I fell asleep in the car, I have no idea how far we are from civilization, but right now, I feel like we’re the only people for miles.
A large master bathroom and a small walk in closet complete the room. Like magic, the closet has been filled with more clothes than we could possibly need for a week away. I don’t need to check to know that they’re all in the correct sizes for both of us. I have no doubt that the dressers are also filled.
I take a long, hot shower while Nicholas catches up on emails that he missed. I let the water pour over my body, washing away the worry that has surrounded me most of the day. I push the thought of him and the press out of my mind. I try not to worry how the press finding out about what happened at Accord Towers might impact Nicholas’s business… and worse, how it could impact us, since it would be the exact opposite of what he intended when he signed the contract with Bridget. I try not to think that he might decide it would be better if—
“Baby, you almost done? It’s getting late, but I wanted to show you the view before it gets completely dark outside.”
“I’ll be right out,” I call back, washing the last of the soap off my body.
I quickly dry myself off and wrap the towel around me, before heading to the bedroom, where I find Nicholas has already laid out a pair of jeans, a long sleeve shirt and a zip up sweater for me. I quickly put on the clothes, confirming my earlier thoughts that they would fit perfectly before going in search of him.
“Everything okay?” I ask when I find him on his phone in the kitchen.
“What? Oh yeah, it’s fine,” he answers, but still appears… distracted.
“Did you still want to—”
“Yes,” he interrupts quickly. “I just spoke with Carter and let him know what the plans are.”
He takes my hand, squeezing it tightly, before we go through the living room to the front door where he pulls on a sweater. I hear him take a deep breath, before opening the door for me. Silently, he guides me down a slightly worn trail that leads around the lake before we finally stop at large outbuilding.
“Nicholas?”
Chapter 43
Kenzie
As the door closes, we are almost in complete darkness. The only light is coming from a small candle placed on a table next to a gift box.
“Nicholas?” I turn, reaching out for him; my hand quickly finds his as he moves closer to me.
“Kenzie,” his voice is shakier than I think I’ve ever heard it. “I… I...”
“What’s wrong? You’re scaring me.”
“Fuck… I’m not good at this type of shit,” he mumbles not giving me any idea as to what this might be. “The last few days, have really opened my eyes to a lot of things.”
He’s going to say that it’s not worth keeping up the charade of our marriage. I can’t… I –
“The… what happened at the bakery could have turned out very differently. I could have lost you to… her. My life has changed so much since I met you, Kenzie. The moment I saw you on the sidewalk, drenched from the rain puddle, I knew you were different. You changed my life that day and you’ve been changing it ever since. Just like when Carter and I left PFS that day to head home, I had no idea how one simple, brief meeting with Bridget would lead to my life being changed… forever.”
“Nicholas…” I don’t know what to say.
“When I met you, everything changed. You made me trust again, so much so, that for the first time in years, I was comfortable with a woman living with me. You’ve given me a reason to come home at night, to take vacations… hell, you’ve given me a reason to just put my phone down and leave it there at night. And you’ve done all of this… without asking for anything in return. Without intending to, you challenged everything I thought I knew about my life.”
“I…”
“I love you, Kenzie… more than anyone I have ever loved in my entire life. I can’t imagine my life without you, but I’ve been petrified that you didn’t feel the same way I do,” he pauses and I wish like hell I could see his face right now. Unfortunately, the room is so dark that even the little bit of light coming from the small candle isn’t enough.
“Nicholas, I love you,” I wrap my arms around his neck before slowly kissing his soft lips. “My life… nothing has been the same since I met you that day on the sidewalk. I had no idea what to expect, that first night, I walked into the restaurant to meet you. You were the last person I thought would be there, yet deep down, I had hoped it would be you. What I never expected, though, was to fall in love with you, yet I did… I very easily fell in love with the wonderful man that you are.”
“Kenzie,” he whispers my name against my ear as his arms tighten around my waist. “When we turned around at the bakery the other night and saw… my first and only thought was protecting you. Later, I realized how close I came to losing you; that realization rocked me to my core. I don’t want to ever lose you—I don’t want to go back to the way my life was before you. I don’t want to go back to barely living, barely existing. I can’t imagine my life without you and I hope I never have to.”
Without any warning, he drops to his knees in front of me, and I gasp, as my mind immediately starts to piece what’s happening together. I’ve been terrified that he was going to say that he needed to end things between us, that the added attention from the press wasn’t going to have the effect he wanted it to. Yet all this time, he was thinking the opposite. He is just as afraid of losing me as I am of losing him. I—
“Kenzie,” he takes a deep breath and I hear him slowly letting it out. “I think I fell in love with you that day on the sidewalk, but I was too scared to admit it. I’ve loved every moment that we have spent together. I love falling asleep next to you and waking up with your warm, beautiful body pressed up against mine. I love coming home at night and having dinner with you. I love sitting on the couch and doing nothing but watching movies with you. If you let me, I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to show you just how much I love you. Mackenzie, will do me the honor of marrying me… for real this time?”
“Oh God, Nicholas,” I sink to the floor and wrap my arms around him. He immediately catches me as I almost manage to send us both flying backwards. “Yes… Yes, I’ll marry you.”
“Thank fuck,” he mumbles just before his lips find mine. Our kiss is filled with passion and emotion—it’s as if I can truly feel how much he loves me in that moment.
“Shhhh,” Nicholas whispers as he wipes the tears from my cheeks. He takes my hand and I feel him slipping a ring onto my left hand. “I thought about getting you a whole new set, but… it felt wrong to do that. These,” he brings my hand up to his so he can kiss the rings that were already there, “represent where we came from; I want us to build on that.”
He slides the other ring down further so it rests above the others; I don’t need to be able to see it, to know it’s going to be beautiful. But nothing will be as beautiful as his words just were. I kiss him, trying to convey without words how much I love him. I’m at a complete loss for words, so I do the only thing I can think of: I pour my heart into kissing him. We’re both on our knees, our bo
dies pressed against one another when I feel Nicholas reaching into his pocket and taking out his phone. Just our lips part, the dark room lights up with a soft glow from what I can only assume are hundreds of Christmas lights.
He takes my hand and gently pulls me up so we’re both standing; I gasp when I take in the entire room. Lights outline a large blanket on the floor near us, complete with a bottle of champagne chilling and a small picnic basket instantly reminding me of the picnic together when he proposed. He managed to transform this outbuilding, complete with what looks like four wheelers hidden off to the side, into something completely magical.
“Nicholas… this is…” I stutter. “This is… amazing, beautiful and spectacular. I’ve never seen anything so perfect in my entire life.”
“I have,” he wraps his arms around my back and pulls me to his chest. “You’re perfect, Kenzie, and I swear I’m going to spend every day of the rest of my life trying to show you how much I love you.”
“Nicholas,” the finality of his words truly hitting me.
“Come here,” he leads me over to the small table where the candle and the gift box is sitting. “This is for you.”
I look at him puzzled; he just gave me a promise of a new future… what more could he possibly give me? I untie the red bow from the white square box and place it on the table before lifting the cover from the box. Pushing the tissue paper aside, I finally see what the gift is. I look up at Nicholas and find his unsure eyes watching my every move.
“This is my copy of our… arrangement. The only other copy that exists is the one that you have in your safe deposit box. I’d like nothing more than to destroy both copies of our contract, but that needs to be your decision. I’m giving my only copy to you—what you do with it is up to you.”
“I….” wow… talk about everything being completely unexpected today. “I don’t want either copy. Let’s destroy both copies together.”
“You’re sure? If you want to keep it, if you need to—”
On Her Terms (The Arrangement Duet Book 2) Page 38