“I know I’ve been busy since our return to the States, but my schedule won’t always be like that. Once work settles down in New York, I won’t have to travel as much, and I’ll have more time. Then I can help with your projects here, like feeding the hungry, building homes, or whatever you have going on. I want to do those things. I want us to raise our children with that type of awareness and desire to do good.”
He pushed all the right buttons, said everything she wanted to hear.
“Keep that in mind?” Andy said.
“I will.”
“And keep in mind how much I miss you, and how much I love you, and how much I need you. You’re my rock. When my mother passed, you were there for me in a way no one else was, and I still need you, Nina.”
Her face crumbled as she fought back tears.
“Don’t give up on us yet, okay?”
Nina held the phone to her chest and took a breath that shook with emotion, and then she placed it back to her ear. “Okay,” she said softly.
Andy sighed with relief. “I’m gonna let you go. Have a good night. I miss you.”
“Good night.” Nina hung up but kept her gaze lowered, eyes resting unseeingly at the floor.
Reese or Andy? Should she throw away her steady, safe relationship with Andy for the emotional highs she experienced with Reese right now? Should she forego the possibility of marriage and children with a man who wanted to give her both, for a man she was too afraid to broach the subject with, for fear his answer would be the same as before and crush her spirits?
She still had seven days to go before she had to make a decision. She stood and let out a cry of surprise at the sight of Reese filling the open door, bare-chested and in boxers. Shadow covered his face, which made it impossible to read his expression.
“Who was that?” he asked.
Nina clutched the phone to her chest. “Andy.”
“What did he want?” The lack of emotion in his voice chilled her.
“He wanted to check on me and see how I was doing.”
“In the middle of the fucking night?” No mistaking his anger.
Reese walked closer, and she saw his face better. He shot a furious glance at the phone in her hand. “How about this? The next time he calls, give me the phone. I’ll tell him how you’re doing.”
He pulled her closer and kissed her hard. She tasted fury and jealousy in the kiss, and although she knew it was his way of placing a stamp on her, she enjoyed it. He grabbed her ass with both hands and lifted her from the floor.
His hard length nudged her core, and as the kiss deepened, she let out a soft sigh.
In the bedroom, he took her hard. The curly hairs on his thighs rubbed against the sensitive insides of her legs, creating the most delicious friction as the full weight of him pressed her into the mattress with each deep stroke. He kissed and sucked on her neck with ruthless vigor and would surely leave hickeys on her skin, but she didn’t care. She wanted to be marked by him.
Their frantic pace harkened her orgasm that much sooner. Her loins erupted with pleasure, and her fingers sank into his tight ass. Shuddering through the climax, she sank her heels into the bed and launched her hips faster and upward to grasp every ounce of pleasure he offered.
Reese trembled above her, his head dropping to her shoulder as his own orgasm claimed him. He drove deeper, breath coming in short, desperate pants that beat against the tops of her breasts.
After a long exhale, he lay still and spent on top of her. Nina closed her eyes, thoroughly satisfied after one of the most intense orgasms she’d had in recent memory.
Nina rolled over in the empty bed. “Reese?” she called.
No response and no light under the bathroom door. The apartment was completely quiet.
“Reese?”
Still no response.
She slipped from the bed and found her discarded clothes from earlier. She put on the cami top and her boy shorts and went in search of Reese.
She found him in what he called the workroom, and she watched him work, mumbling to himself as he tapped the keyboard in front of him at a long table littered with computer parts and laptops in various stages of disassembly.
Standing in the doorway, she had the answer to the question that had tortured her the past few days. She wanted Reese, even if she couldn’t have every item on her wish list.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t sever the rope that tied them together. She broke off contact with him for over a year, but he roped her back in. She ran from him for three years, terrified by the power of a single kiss, yet here she was—in his apartment, sharing his bed, loving him in a way she loved no one else.
She loved Andy, but what she felt for him didn’t compare to what she felt for Reese. She fell for Andy slowly, without drama and fireworks. But Reese was a pyrotechnic display on the Fourth of July, a raging river with twists and turns that kept her guessing and excited.
She couldn’t call that love. Love was insufficient a term to sum up the extent of the marrow-deep emotion that consumed her. It was deeper than love.
And as much as she hated to hurt Andy, she couldn’t go through life without Reese. Because for so long, there had been a hole in her heart that never healed, and opening herself to the possibility of a future together had finally fixed it.
Nina walked on quiet feet across the carpet and placed her hands on Reese’s shoulders.
He glanced back at her. “Hey,” he said.
She pressed two soft kisses to his freckled shoulder and flung her arms around his neck so they were cheek to cheek. “I don’t want to bother you,” she said, though that was exactly what she was doing.
His fingers encircled one of her wrists. “You’re not. I need a break anyway. Come here.”
He pulled her around in front of him and across his lap. Nina wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m sorry about earlier. It won’t happen again,” she said.
She dreaded the talk she needed to have with Andy, but she would set one up between them as soon as his schedule allowed. She didn’t want to hurt him. She knew what it was like to bear the brunt of someone else’s rejection and didn’t want to be that person, but it was time for her to move on.
Reese’s jaw clenched. “Talk to him. Or I will.”
“I’ll talk to him,” she said. His shoulders relaxed, and she moved on to a topic he’d enjoy much more. “What are you working on?”
A smile broke out on his face. “Honestly, it’s top-secret, but I’ll share it with you.”
“Oh, my, I feel special.”
He laughed. Rubbing a hand up and down her bare thigh, he launched into a detailed explanation of the proprietary software he was working on for SJ Brands. “Right now, it’s in the beginning stages, and I’m only able to work on it in my spare time, but the idea is to have one piece of software that seamlessly incorporates inventory management, channel management, and forecasting.”
“Doesn’t software like that already exist?”
His smile broadened. “Yes, but mine will be better.”
He explained the technicalities, the drawbacks of using other software, and the benefits he anticipated coming from his own. He tried to simplify the jargon, but much of the explanation went over her head.
When he finished, all she said was, “Oh, okay.”
“I lost you, didn’t I?” he asked.
“Kinda,” Nina admitted.
Reese laughed. “I still have a lot of work to do. Might take another year or so, but it’s definitely coming.”
“I don’t want to keep you from your work. I know how much you enjoy your problem-solving, so I’ll leave you alone now. I just wanted a quick snuggle.” Nina pulled in close to him again, inhaled his skin, and then kissed him briefly on the lips.
“Good night,” she said.
“Good night.”
She stood and went to the door but paused before walking out. Reese was already engrossed in his work, and knowing him, he would be there f
or a few more hours, probably not coming to bed until he saw the light of dawn outside.
This was their future. This type of normalcy—the warm, fuzzy feeling that broke through the hard shell of her heart.
No doubt about it. Her future was with Reese.
Nina looked across the breakfast table at Reese, who frowned at his phone.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I received a message from the IT team that the system is down. I need to go in there early. Crap.”
“Duty calls.”
He smiled wryly at her across the table. “Unfortunately, that means I need to leave now. I hoped for a leisurely breakfast with you.”
She reached across the table and interlocked their fingers together. “It’s fine. I’ll see you later tonight.”
“I have to stop by Ella’s tonight after work, so I’ll be a little late.”
“No problem. I’ll see you at my place later when you get through.” In a short period, she’d gotten used to them bouncing from one apartment to the next.
Reese stood and gave her a lingering kiss. He cupped her jaw gently, like holding fragile glass. “I could get used to this,” he whispered against her lips.
Then he was gone, and Nina sat there reminiscing on his words.
She could get used to this, too.
Chapter 24
He couldn’t lose her again. This time, their relationship had to work.
Reese rocked back and forth in his leather chair, staring with unseeing eyes at the buildings laid out before him. Andy’s call angered him. He represented a problem that Reese hadn’t resolved.
Reese hadn’t asked Nina about her relationship status with Andy, and she hadn’t offered an explanation. All he knew was that she no longer wore her ring, and she and Reese spent all their spare time together and regularly made love.
He had assumed she and Andy were finished, but he wasn’t so sure. She had history with him, recent history that could prove problematic. Reese needed to strengthen his position by taking a step he’d considered for some time, but it was now imperative to do. He couldn’t let that snake shimmy his way back between them, so he’d do what he should have done years ago.
Reese took the hall to Ella’s office. Being Friday, half the employees had already left, and he was on his way out, too.
He knocked on the doorframe, and she looked up. “I’m leaving a little early,” he informed her. “I’m going to stop by and say good night to Mother before I go.”
“She already left.” Ella set down her pen. “Where are you headed?”
“I have an errand to run.”
“Errand? You’re being very evasive.” Her eyes came alive with curiosity.
“Don’t worry, you’ll find out the details soon enough.” His family would be ecstatic when he and Nina became engaged.
“Now you’ve really piqued my interest, but I’ll be patient.”
He laughed, in the best mood he’d been in since…since he couldn’t remember when. That’s how he knew this decision was the right one. “See you later.”
He took the elevator to the first floor where a private car sent by Klopard Jewelers waited for him. The unmarked vehicle took him through the streets of Atlanta and dropped him in front of the high-end jewelers’ main retail store.
When Reese stepped inside, the host greeted him, chief gemologist Casper Jones, a slight man with a wiry build and an almost meek posture.
He extended a pale, thin hand and shook Reese’s hand firmly. “Mr. Brooks, nice to meet you in person.”
“I’m excited to see what you have to show me,” he said to Casper.
“I think you’ll be pleased. Follow me.”
This was not the first time Casper had worked with the family, but it was the first time he’d worked with Reese.
After Andy called last night, Reese knew he had to move quickly to show Nina he was serious about their relationship and eliminate Andy from her life for good.
He was going to ask her to marry him, a man who at one time doubted he’d ever get married. He wanted to wake up next to her every morning, just like he had every morning since they first made love. All he could think about was the two of them raising a family together, and it didn’t terrify him.
They took the elevator to the top of the building and stepped out onto a floor made of Belgian marble. The private salon was located behind two large doors covered in fake gemstones, which Casper pulled open. Reese followed him into the quiet residential-looking interior decorated in a white-and-cream-color palette. A few signature pieces of jewelry were on display beneath glass, but for the most part, the choices were locked away.
“Can I get you something to drink?” Casper asked.
Reese shook his head. “I’m good.”
The jeweler took a seat behind a white desk, and Reese sat down in the armchair opposite him. Casper flicked on a lamp and then removed a tray from the desk. Three diamond rings rested on the black fabric.
Casper went through a brief explanation about each and then asked, “What do you think?”
They were huge, as Reese had requested, because he wanted a gemstone larger than the one Andy had given Nina.
“This is the biggest one you have?” he asked, pointing at the one in the middle.
“We can go bigger, but based on your description of your future fiancée, this might be the better piece for you.” Casper held up the first one.
Reese took the ring and studied it under the light. It was a beautiful ring, exactly the type of jewelry Nina deserved, but the diamond wasn’t big enough. None of them were.
“I want you to go bigger,” he said, setting it down.
“Bigger?”
He looked steadily at Casper. “Bigger. Of course, I can go elsewhere if you can’t accommodate me.”
Casper laughed softly. “I assure you, Mr. Brooks, we can accommodate you. If we don’t have what you’re looking for here, we can certainly acquire it for you. But please, give me a moment. I believe I have something that you’ll like.”
Casper disappeared and left Reese alone. He returned with a satisfied smile on his face. Inside a glass box, nestled in white silk, was the largest diamond Reese had ever laid his eyes on.
“What do you think about this?” Casper opened the box and set it in front of Reese before taking a seat. He went into the specifics, detailing the origin of the stone, the cut, and the number of carats.
Turning it over in his hand, Reese admired its radiance and clarity. “Perfect. How much?”
“Three and a half million.”
“I’ll take it. This stone, with that setting, with one change.” They went over the details for Nina’s ring and the wedding bands, and Casper promised they’d start on the designs right away.
At the end of the meeting, both men shook hands, and Reese exited the building, knowing he’d made the right decision.
He declined Klopard’s offer of a ride back, opting to go nearby and pick up dinner to go. Then he’d order a car to take him back to Nina’s tonight.
He pulled out his phone to call her and see if she wanted him to bring her something to eat.
“Hi, Reese.”
He turned in the direction of a woman’s voice.
Chelsea was standing on the sidewalk. He hadn’t seen her since he left her in the suite at the Ritz Carlton, but she had called once and informed him that she and her boyfriend had reconciled.
“Hey, you.” He gave her a hug. “What are you doing in Atlanta?”
“Apartment hunting.”
“Are you leaving New York?” he asked, surprised.
Chelsea sighed heavily. “I need a change of pace. Things didn’t quite work out with me and my boyfriend.”
“Damn. I’m sorry to hear that.”
She shrugged, though he saw pain flicker in her eyes. “My biological clock is ticking, and I don’t have time to waste on him anymore. What are you getting into?”
“Headed home,” Reese replied.
/>
“Can you spare a few minutes to have a drink with a friend?”
“I, uh…” Reese glanced at his watch. Nina expected him to be late, so he could afford to kill thirty minutes or so by having a drink with Chelsea. “Yeah, I could do that.”
“Good. You’re buying, and I’m whining,” she said, slipping an arm through his.
“I feel like I’m getting the raw end of this deal.”
Laughing, they walked off in the direction of a lounge nearby where they could grab a drink.
The door creaked, and Nina’s eyes popped open. She had dozed off with a management book on her chest.
“Hey,” she greeted Reese, stretching her hands above her head.
“Hi,” he said.
She glanced at the bedside clock. “I didn’t know when you said you were going to be late, you meant this late. It’s after nine o’clock.”
“Sorry about that. Had a million things to do.”
“Everything okay with Ella and Tyrone and the girls?”
“What?” Reese looked confused.
“You said you were going over to Ella’s after work, right?”
“Oh, yeah. Everything is fine with them,” he said dismissively.
He walked toward the bathroom.
“Hey, don’t I get a kiss?”
He paused. “I would, but I smell bad from running around with the kids, getting sweaty with the dog and all that. Let me take a quick shower, and I’ll greet you properly.” He flashed a grin and winked, but the whole exchange seemed forced.
Sensing something amiss, Nina watched him go into the bathroom.
A few minutes later, she swung her legs off the bed and walked to the door. She eased it open and listened to the sound of the shower running, and saw Reese behind the beveled glass of the stall.
She entered, casting a cursory glance at the clothes piled on the floor—jacket, shirt, slacks, and undershirt. A small wet spot near the left pocket of his pants, which had been hidden by his jacket when he came into the bedroom, caught her eye. She nudged the pants with her toe, revealing a larger spot than she originally thought.
Deeper Than Love (Brooks Family Book 6) Page 15