After Hurricane Nina, Reed's Resolution (Hot Hunks-Steamy Romance Collection Book 1)

by Natalie Ann

“I want to. I think I need to. It doesn’t excuse what I did days ago, but I need to get this off my chest so there are no secrets on my end.”

  “I can tell you right now the only secret I had was Angie and you know why it was. I’ve got nothing to hide.”

  “I realized that too. And I understand why you hid her once I thought about it more.”

  She’d always put her daughter first. All the times they’d gone out, she’d never talked about money or life being hard as an adult. She always said she had a great job and she just wanted a stable life for Angie and that she had it.

  She walked over and sat down on her couch and nodded her head for him to follow. “I’ve got all day if you want to spill your guts.”

  “It will probably feel like that when I’m done. I’ll give you the condensed version. Whitney was the it girl in school. When we started junior high, I saw her in English class and it was instant love. Massive crush, along with half the boys in our grade. She wouldn’t give me the time of day. All she wanted was older boys and that was all she ever dated.”

  “I know that type,” Taylor said.

  “Every class has one. She went through a lot of boys, and each time she was single, I’d hope she’d notice me.”

  “Please don’t tell me you never dated anyone else, just waiting for her?”

  “Hardly. But nothing was serious either. Anyway, I chose to forget all the people she dated or the fact that there were rumors that she’d never end a relationship before she started another one.”

  “So a serial cheater.”

  “Pretty much. She went away to college and came back a lawyer. She got a job at a prestigious firm and was working her way up. We bumped into each other in a bar one night and went home together.”

  She snorted. “Been there, done that.”

  He laughed. “Whitney didn’t end up pregnant. We used condoms at first and then once we were dating for about a year she’d said she was on the pill. I was so in love with her. That schoolyard crush just grew and I kept thinking, ‘holy shit, I got my girl.’”

  “But you really didn’t have her,” Taylor said. “Did you?”

  “No. She was good at lying. I asked her to marry me. I didn’t want her to slip away. She’d said yes. The funny thing is, we never lived together. I kept bringing it up, but she wanted to keep her apartment. I just never questioned it since she was always working so much. Fifty to sixty hours a week, leaving early, coming home late. She didn’t want to disturb me, she said.”

  “I didn’t expect you’d fall for that.”

  “Love is blind.” And now he was realizing that he never really loved Whitney at all. Not like what he felt for Taylor. “Little by little we were talking less to each other. She was working; I was working. It’d be days without communication. She traveled a lot too and time differences made it hard.”

  “Like when she was in Bali?” she asked.

  “Yeah. I’ll never forget that day. Rachel called me and asked if I knew what was going on there. I’d heard a bit on the news but wasn’t really thinking much about it. She wanted to know if I’d talked to Whitney. She’d been shocked when I said I hadn’t. Rachel never really approved of our relationship.”

  “I can see that. Your sister is a bit protective.”

  “She likes you though,” he said.

  “You told her about us?” she asked, her voice rising.

  “She’s seen us together. She knows we’re friends. All along she suspected something else, but I didn’t confirm or deny. No, no one in my family really knows anything other than we’re friends, though I get the feeling they are hoping for more.”

  She grimaced. “Your father has popped in a few times and made comments, but I brush them off. I just don’t want to be judged.”

  “Yet that is exactly what I did.” He reached for her hand. “I’m sorry I did that. I didn’t mean it.”

  She nodded. “Tell me more about Whitney and what happened.”

  “When Hurricane Nina hit, I panicked. I couldn’t get through. The lines were all down. I finally called her office to see what hotel she was staying at. They were shocked and said they’d been hoping I knew what was going on, that she wasn’t in Bali for work but went with a friend on vacation.”

  “Oh.”

  “I didn’t know who that friend was until the news broke that two local people had died there. It wasn’t hard to put it together. Not to mention I went to her apartment to look for anything to tell me where she was staying. I found condoms again. Flowers, cards. Little things from someone named Chad. Then when the guy that died was named in the newspapers and his name was Chad...that sealed it.”

  “That had to be hard. That everyone would have known and known publicly.”

  “It wasn’t just that she cheated on me. My ego suffered big time for that. Why wasn’t I good enough? What did I do wrong? Then I started to remember all the things about her when she was younger and realized that she’d never changed. That she never grew up. She’d probably planned on breaking things off with me soon. We hadn’t really even started wedding planning yet and had only been engaged a few months. But the worst part was—I got curious about this guy Chad. I started to dig into him and I shouldn’t have. I should have left well enough alone.”

  “I would think it’s only natural to want to know about him. What did you find out?”

  “He was an architect at my biggest competitor. We’d lost a few bids on projects to this company and I started to wonder if she was giving him information on things. She’d never talked much about my work or never really seemed all that interested, but months prior she’d asked me all sorts of odd questions. She’d say it was helping her with work. I didn’t think anything of it. ”

  “Was it about her work? Or was she really feeding him information?”

  “Both. She was representing their firm. She wanted them to get those bids. It was all about making partner in the law firm for her. She didn’t just make a fool of me by cheating on me, but she played me for her own personal and career gains too.”

  “I guess I’m confused why she agreed to marry you then.”

  “No clue and I never got a chance to ask her. It wouldn’t matter anyway. I went to her funeral and put on a good face. I pushed all my animosity aside and did what everyone would have expected. It was probably a good thing I didn’t find out about Chad and his job and their relationship until months later.”

  “It was the right thing to do. It probably gave you closure.”

  “Enough. But I was livid. Everyone knew she pretty much was screwing someone behind my back. No one wants to look like a fool. I turned to alcohol and women. I did it for years.”

  “Until the last year?” Taylor asked. “I remember you told me you were sick of it. Sick of that life.”

  “I was. At the heart of it, I’m a family man. I let my anger over one woman’s actions turn me on a different course. Then I had a hard time changing directions. Surprisingly though, you caught my eye. You were what I needed. After that first night at the Brittens’, you were what I wanted and I just had to find a way to get you to see that too. But I knew you felt the same way about relationships as I did. Or as I thought I did.”

  “Friends with benefits?” she asked. “That was all a ploy for more? Why?”

  He reached for her hand, threading their fingers together. “Because I started to feel emotions I’d locked away for years releasing when I was with you. When I thought of you. I’d do just about anything to get you to agree to spend time with me. It worked.”

  Her eyes were starting to fill with tears and he hoped that was a good sign and not a bad one. “You did wear me down. Then you tore me apart. I can’t do this again, Reed.”

  “I know,” he said. “I’m so sorry. I won’t do it again. I promise. I love you. Just tell me if you think you could ever love me back.”

  She pulled him into her arms. “I already do.”

  He held her tighter than he meant to when he felt her squirmi
ng and then giggling. “Then maybe we can stop having secrets and tell everyone about our love for each other?”

  “Maybe we should,” she said. “Maybe if the secrets end we can move forward.”

  “I want to do that. I want to move forward with you.”

  Epilogue

  “It looks beautiful in here,” Taylor said, looking at the twelve-foot Christmas tree that was lit up in Reed’s living room.

  Everyone at work knew about the relationship now and no one really said a word. She and Angie had even had a few family meals with Reed’s family and had been accepted into the fold.

  She’d never been accepted into any family like she was Reed’s.

  Jack knew she was dating Reed—she wouldn’t keep that information hidden—not that she thought Jack cared one way or another, but for Angie’s sake she was trying to make peace.

  “Thanks. It’s the first time I’ve had a tree up in four years.”

  “Since Whitney died?” she asked. Angie was running around in the kitchen looking for plastic containers to bring in and construct ramps for her trucks. She loved how Reed didn’t care if Angie made a mess and even made space for her toys.

  “I figured why bother after that. It was just me in the house and I’ve never felt like celebrating until now.”

  It was hard for her to believe that she was actually in love with someone and that person loved her back. She knew it with all her being that she was meant to go through what she did in life to find Reed.

  “It’s completely different having a kid around for the holidays. Are you sure you want us to spend the night tonight? I told Angie Santa would know to come here instead of our house, but she was nervous about it.”

  “Santa will be here. Matter of fact, I think he’s a little early.” He looked over and saw Angie playing with the trucks and crashing them into things. “I was going to do this with her, but it’s more between us anyway.”

  “Do what?” she asked.

  “This,” he said, getting down on one knee and pulling a ring box out. Her breath lodged in her throat and for a second she thought she might pass out.

  “Reed, what are you doing?”

  “You know what I’m doing. I know it hasn’t been that long that we’ve been dating and that we’ve both been burned, but when it’s right, you just know.”

  “Yeah,” she said, feeling her eyes fill with tears.

  “If I could, I’d adopt Angie, but I know that isn’t possible.”

  There was a bigger lump in her throat now. She couldn’t ask for a better man than Reed. She knew that. “Jack probably wouldn’t care, but his parents wouldn’t allow it, and they call all the shots.”

  “I know. I know they love her too and treat her well. Things are better with them too, right?” he asked her.

  “They’ve been much better since I allowed Angie to spend that week with them. We’re getting there. They adore and spoil her and that’s all that matters.”

  “I’ll always put her first. Both of you. And I want to be the father she’d never get out of Jack whether she has my name or not.”

  She was nodding her head up and down rapidly now. How did she get to be this lucky? “I know you will.”

  “So I’m asking you to take a chance and be my wife. Take my name. Make me into the man I always wanted to be. I was lost before I found you. I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to find my way and now I don’t ever want to be where I was before. I don’t ever want to be without you.”

  “Yes,” she said, getting on the floor and hugging him. “And if you lose your way, just take my hand and we’ll find the way out together.”

  “That sounds like a good plan to me.”

  “The best plan yet. Who would have thought hating the opposite sex so much would have been the thing to bring us together?”

  He grinned and kissed her softly. “Who would have thought it?”

  The End!