by Alisa Mullen
My father obviously had ulterior motives. He wants Nick to invest in a software firm with my father in Austin, which he says will take care of our great, great grandchildren. He wants Nick to build me a grand house back in New Braunfels, Texas where we can hold lavish parties, and Daddy can show off to his friends that he is indeed Nicholas Sawyer’s father in law. I honestly don’t care what Nick invests in or the grand parties, for that matter. I want money in my account daily so I can spend it whenever and however I desire.
Sure, I want my house to be nothing less than exquisite. I want my own maid and a nanny. I want glorious trips with Nick, where we can pose like we are happy and in love. I know we won’t actually be in love because I had felt what being in love was like. It was instantaneous. I wanted to be by Conner O’Malley’s side every moment after we met.
In fact, I have never felt the electric charge with Nick like I did with Conner. When Conner and I were together, we sizzled, popped, rocked, and rolled. He loved me. He stuck up for me when his band members and other fan girls called me prissy and conceited. He called me his princess and basically told everyone to eat shit. I was forever his girl… well, up until he took his last breath. Our relationship creepily resembled the movie Titanic. I had my only love for a short time and I watched him die in a tragic way.
My own heart shriveled up and died right along with Conner’s so Daddy’s plan was perfectly timed. Nick Sawyer, his glorious body, and his money are the only goals I will focus on to be pseudo content for the rest of my life.
FIVE - NICK
On Monday afternoon, I walked inside my brownstone apartment on Walnut Street near the Boston Commons to find my beautiful fiancée and my soon to be stepson lying on the floor, playing with blocks. I threw my keys down on the counter and plopped down beside them. Lizzie was dressed in a beautiful pin striped suit that we had recently purchased. She wanted to dress more professional now that she lived and worked in prestigious areas of the city.
“You look stunning,” I groaned.
Lizzie beamed into the floor, looked up at me with glitter in her eyes, and placed a small kiss on my mouth. I squeezed Niall’s cheek. Both of them were so damn adorable together. I looked over to Niall and looked at what he was wearing.
“Lizzie? Where did Niall get that shirt?” It was so frigging weird. I didn’t even have words. A smiling donkey had vintage racing goggles on and was riding a rocket into a black sky. What the fuck?
“Sean sent it last week. I think it is one of his tattoo designs. It’s borderline creepy but Niall won’t let me take it off him though,” Lizzie smiled down and tickled him. “No, you won’t take off will you, big guy? You little cutie patootie,” she sang.
I felt Lizzie’s gaze on me as I continued to look at Niall’s shirt. I was clearly confused about the concept of Sean’s art. Creepy wasn’t really the word I would have used. Distorted maybe? Surreal? Was he on drugs when he drew this?
“How was work?” Lizzie inquired, drawing me out of my deep thoughts. She shot me another heart stopping smile.
We never went a day without talking about the ins and outs of our time apart. It had become a tradition that I looked forward to. Besides my mother, I had never had a woman ask me how I was doing…ever. Most women just wanted to talk about themselves. Lizzie was different. She listened to me with her whole body.
“Hectic. How about you?” I inquired as I took her hand and kissed every finger before I switched to the other one. Her hands were so small in mine. I relished in the beautiful amethyst and diamond engagement ring that was a permanent part of her hand forever.
“Meh. I talked to Mrs. Crayton most of the day. Did I ever tell you she took pole dancing lessons this year? I wonder what lucky guy gets to watch that grandmother swivel her hips.” She giggled and placed another block on top of the one Niall just had.
“You know, we do have room for a pole,” I observed as I whispered into her ear seductively.
“Oh really? So you like my dancing that much?” She spoke in an equally seductive tone.
We were immediately on top of each other, kissing and grabbing at each other. Lizzie was my drug. I was addicted to her mouth, her laugh, her ass, her brain. Damn, I even bowed down to her freckles when I count them while she sleeps at night.
Niall made a noise and clapped his hands. We both turned and laughed at him staring at us, drool making a long line down to the floors. Poor kid, if the passion Lizzie and I have never lets up, Niall would be scarred for life.
“Dinner?” I asked. Lizzie was pregnant. Of course she wanted dinner. Although no one knew quite yet, she had started to have mad cravings that would easily out her if anyone sat down for a meal with her.
“Burger with guacamole and onion rings,” she replied confidently. I laughed to myself. The girl hadn’t known anything about guacamole until I came into her life. It was basically a staple food in South Texas.
“Sounds good to me. Take out or eat there?” I smiled.
She was going to say take out. She hated sitting down to dinner with Niall. It stressed her out, bringing toys, and him grabbing at everything on the dinner table.
“Take out” she replied, still clapping her hands with Niall.
My cell phone rang and I went into the kitchen to answer it. I didn’t recognize the number but I picked it up anyway out of habit. My business colleagues always had someone calling me wanting me to invest in their companies. Day or night, the software I owned and the businesses I worked for required me for the most idiotic minute issues.
“Nick Sawyer,” I answered. My ear was blasted with loud background noise and an even louder female voice.
“Oh, thank God. Nicholas. It’s Samantha. I am at Logan airport and I don’t have a ride. Daddy didn’t set up a car for me and I don’t know where to go. Can you come pick me up, pretty please?” She whined.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. My mother had told me that Sam was moving back to Boston to work but I didn’t think it would be this soon after the car accident. I hadn’t even told Lizzie about it yet and now, I had to.
“Can you give me five minutes and I will call you right back?” I asked, darting looks over to Lizzie who was still engrossed in the block game with Niall. I didn’t want to do this right now. I was looking forward to eating cheeseburgers on the floor of the living room and tickling Niall until he passed out. Then it would be Lizzie’s turn.
I waited for Samantha’s response in sheer panic mode. This was bad. This was very bad. If I even upset Lizzie a little at this point of our relationship, would she run away? Would she start sleeping in her own room again? The last time I brought Sam up to her she freaked out so bad, I was even crying. This girl had me wrapped so tight that just the thought of her not beside me in bed was terrifying.
“Ok,” she grumbled. Lizzie was not only weary of trusting new people but she was still hurting from Conner’s death so for the life of me, I could not figure out why she would want to come back. I hung up and walked over to the leather ottoman to sit in front of Lizzie. I put my hands out to hers to gesture that I needed to talk to her. She turned to me and smiled. When she saw my face, the smile vanished.
“Is everything alright?” Lizzie asked dubiously. She put her arms over her knees in a protective hold I had grown accustomed to and looked up to me with a sobering gaze. I darted my eyes around the living room, trying to muster up what I was about to say. How do I start? What word starts off a conversation that you know will end up in a fight? I wished in that moment that she could read my mind and see how hard this was for me. She waved her hand in front of my face and gave me an expectant look.
“Nick, spill!” she demanded. “You are worrying me.”
“Um… remember I told you that Sam went back to Texas?” I looked into her eyes and I could feel my voice actually shaking. “Yeah well, she is back. She just called me from Logan and needs a ride,” I said quietly.
My head was almost turned down in shame. Damn it, I should have told her the day my mother
had called and told me that Sam was interested in moving back to Boston. I remember asking her why but she didn’t know. I was so caught up in reveling about Lizzie being pregnant that I dismissed the news, thinking I would have nothing to do with her return. This was so awkward.
“She’s back? Like back back? Wait, why can’t she take a cab? Nick, why is she here?” Lizzie fired off questions in quick succession.
She looked so perplexed and I just wanted to erase that look away with a magic eraser. I shrugged in defeat at the position I have found myself in. I didn’t know the answers. I didn’t know why she came back or why she couldn’t grab a cab. All I knew was that she had been suffering after Conner’s death and she had been my friend since grade school. I did feel obligated to help her in any way I could now that she had called. I couldn’t just leave her there.
“I honestly don’t know, baby. I just want to make sure if it’s alright with you if I go pick her up,” I said, taking her hands into mine.
Lizzie paused for a moment as she looked at me. Lizzie liked to observe behavior more than words. I know that hollow words never did much for her but she once told me that if she knew how to read body language she probably could have saved herself from years of heartache. She had worked on watching people and now had keen sense of knowing when things weren’t right. She didn’t like secrets and quite frankly, neither did I. Sometimes I just couldn’t help the need to protect her. Obviously, I had passed the test. She blinked and smiled half heartedly.
“Yeah, I guess you should go,” she resignedly answered. Panic quickly took over in her face.
“Wait! Is she coming to stay here with us?” She barked out the question.
Lizzie had never met Sam. Lizzie hadn’t known what to think about Sam. She never even knew Sam existed until after Conner died. She had been driving the car the night she struck oncoming traffic that killed her brother. We never talked about her but I was pretty sure Lizzie wasn’t ready to face Sam.
“No, sweetheart.” I rubbed the back of my hand along the side of her beautiful face to take the stress away.
“I believe she has a place all set up. If she doesn’t, I will get her to a hotel. I think she has a job lined up. Listen, I really have no idea what the hell is going on other than an old friend needs a ride,” I replied.
Lizzie kissed Niall’s orange fuzzed head and stood up. She took her long red curls out of an elastic band and immediately popped it back up in a ponytail. She nodded once as to say she was on board. I knew she wasn’t.
“Should I call the order in?” she offered, obviously trying to reel in her feelings. I clearly saw all of the hurt and confusion on her face. Her body language defied her. Within minutes, her mask was back up. I sighed in defeat.
“Sure, that would be great. Please use our joint credit card though. I know you haven’t used it at all,” I pleaded, going to her side and wrapping my arm around her waist.
She tossed me a sour look and shook her hair. Her red curls were already falling from her ponytail and I pushed some of them back behind her ear.
“If you really want me to, I will. It just makes me feel uncomfortable because I don’t even pay rent. I make good money and it just sits in my account. I thought until Niall or I need something outrageously expensive, I wouldn’t use that card,” she stated calmly.
I never wanted to throttle a woman so badly in my life. There was a hundred thousand dollar limit on that card and she hadn’t spent a penny in the months I had given it to her. I looked in her wallet once and saw she hadn’t even taken the damn sticker off to activate it. She just wasn’t high maintenance. She was no maintenance.
On our first month anniversary, I had to literally shove a Rolex watch on her one day after chasing her around the whole apartment. She was screaming “You can’t make me” and I just growled. Stubborn little brat. The next day, she returned the watch and bought a FOSSIL watch with a plastic band. She said Niall would want to chew on it and she would feel bad if it a real expensive one got ruined. Bull shit!
I wore my watch all the time and not once had he put it in his mouth. She appeased me by taking a long shower and showing me how the watch was water proof. She was so proud. I really didn’t give a shit because she was naked and wet. Except for the watch, of course.
“You are so inflexible, woman,” I claimed, trying to fake a serious look and desperately failing.
“Shhh. No bad mouthing me around Niall. You can tell me how flexible I am when we are alone later,” she smirked. I slapped her on the ass and grunted in agreement.
I changed almost immediately and called Sam back. I wanted to get there, get back, and have a night with Lizzie. With both of us working and taking care of Niall, our alone time was restricted. Sometimes we didn’t get to bed until the middle of the night. While we were still living our own lives, we were still getting to know one another. We wanted to make our nights a priority.
“So, I am going to take off. I will be back in a bit,” I assured her as I kissed her forehead.
Lizzie didn’t look up, but gave a slight nod. She was clearly disconcerted but I couldn’t do a damn thing about it. I needed her to think about something else while I was gone.
“Liz? We have that dinner this weekend with the partners. Are you going to go shopping for a dress this week?” I asked tentatively. She looked up in surprise.
“Oh, shit. That’s this weekend?” She asked.
“Babe, we talked about it several times last week. I thought you had started looking for a dress. Maybe you could take a spa day on Saturday to relax before you have to meet a bunch of grumps?” I urged with a grin.
“Sure. I would be happy to do that,” she replied unconvincingly.
I sighed. She did not yearn for a world of affluence. Some days I would come home to her vacuuming and we would argue in our regular banter. She claimed that cleaning calmed her down. I reminded her that we had a damn housekeeper three days a week and the place was spotless sans her therapeutic cleaning.
Besides that, the woman was pregnant with my child. I would carefully tell her that she didn’t need to clean at our apartment, but she always insisted that she needed to earn her keep at my house. I wondered when she would start calling it our house. Our home.
I thought to buy a home closer to her parents in Wellesley but the pregnancy and our professional lives took over. A new house took a back seat. I should have insisted more on that. People have told me that it can be difficult to move into their boyfriend or girlfriends’ home. It isn’t equally theirs. The way I see it? The apartment is more hers to do with than it is for me. The moment she stepped into it for the first time, it became alive. Before that, it was just a place for me to eat, sleep, and take my time on the john.
This night was certainly in the frigging toilet.
SIX - SAM
He didn’t call me back in five minutes. The man called me back in eleven minutes! At least, I had time to down two glasses of Pink Moscato at the airport bar before I got the call. I could be much sweeter when I had a couple of glasses in me and I was a little perturbed that he hadn’t called back when he promised he would.
“What terminal are you in?” Nick asked. I could tell he was driving. I wonder which car. I needed to check my shoes to make sure they matched. If he had the black Audi, I would go with the Jimmy Choo Stilettos. If he was driving the silver Benz, I would definitely wear the sparkling Prada shoes.
“I mean, I don’t know. It’s United. I think it’s A? What car are you driving?” I asked.
“It’s a silver Mercedes Benz,” he replied flatly. “I should be there in twenty minutes.” I already knew what car he drove. Why did he have to describe the car like I had never seen it before?
“Well, thanks for helping the little lady out, cowboy,” I cooed in my sweet accent.
“No problem, Sam. See you soon.” He clicked off before I could even say bye. How rude. I marched to the bathroom, threw off my dress slacks and sweater, and put on my go-to black dress wi
th the silver Prada shoes. He was just going to go crazy seeing me. I had lost so much weight since the accident and I knew he liked his girls thin. Well, except for her. I touched up my makeup and quickly ironed out my hair with my travel iron. Flying always made my hair fuzzy. I wanted to scream at the mirror every time I got off a plane.
I stepped out into the Boston air and for fuck’s sake, it was freezing. No one was looming around the load area but me. I felt out of place and I wished Conner were right beside me, cuddling me to keep me warm. No, I thought. Mission Marry Nick Sawyer. I saw the Mercedes come around the corner and I did a little wave that I had learned in beauty pageant training. He jumped out of the car in his pin stripped gray suit, a sky blue dress shirt, and converse sneakers? What the ever loving hell?
I smiled up at him. He rubbed my shoulder. “Are you doing okay, Sam? I have been worried about you,” he said with sincerity. He didn’t even look at my outfit or my thinned body.
Well, hot damn, so this was the game plan. Be sad and tragic. Yes, I could play this role. I flipped my hair out of my face and gave him a sad look.
“I am fine. I just wanted to be closer. Closer to you, I guess,” I said very dramatically.
He nodded his head and took my carryon bag. “Where’s the rest of your stuff?” He looked confused. Hadn’t Daddy even called him to tell him the plans? I guess I was all on my own to prove to my father that I could weasel my way in.
“Um, well, Daddy gave me money to buy all new furniture and clothes, so this is it until then. I think my apartment will be ready on Saturday,” I sighed.
“So which hotel are you staying at tonight?” he asked apprehensively. Shit, shit, shit.
“I was going to stay with you,” I urged him as I touched his forearm. He instantly looked uncomfortable. Holy hell in a hand basket, I wasn’t even allowed to go to his place? I was no where even close to being invited into his life. I needed into his apartment so I could get her out quick. This was going to take a bit longer.