by Diana Currie
Nathan nodded and let her escape down the hall without an explanation. He’d never had a woman run out on him in the morning before, but he reminded himself that Maddie was still skittish about their new relationship. He vowed to make her feel more secure before he left that afternoon. Nathan was already dreading the moment Stanley knocked on the front door to take him away from his angel.
Freshly showered and dressed, Maddie set to the task of cooking a big breakfast for Nathan. If it were to happen that Nathan never returned to Amarillo she wanted his memory of her to be a good one. She scrambled eggs, fried up some bacon, and baked biscuits from scratch. Maddie used her mother’s fancy plates and set all the food on the island buffet style. Nathan could smell the food cooking as he showered and shaved. He smiled to himself thinking how nice it was for someone other than Lupe to be cooking for him.
Nathan found Maddie by the kitchen sink washing strawberries. He quietly snuck up behind her and nuzzled her neck. She shivered at the feeling of his wet hair brushing her ear and could smell his combination of aftershave and soap. It made her thighs clench. How had she managed to resist this man the night before?
“You smell amazing,” he said just before kissing her cheek.
“I was just thinking the same about you,” she replied turning around to look at his eyes. She studied his expression and found only a look of contentment which soothed her nerves.
Nathan smiled happily as he leaned down to kiss her. “Do you need any help? The food looks amazing.”
“I’ve just finished. You can make yourself a plate. I just need to put these berries in a bowl.”
They ate breakfast together at the kitchen table; the bright Amarillo sun streaming through the large kitchen windows. Nathan asked her questions about her parents; when they would be home and what she planned to tell them about his visit. Maddie agreed with him that it was time to tell her parents the truth, especially if they were serious about pursuing this new aspect of their relationship. She couldn’t keep telling them Nathan was just a friend from California when it was becoming clear he wanted to be much more. If she was going to think of Nathan as her boyfriend, then she felt she must be honest with her family about who he was.
“It’s a shame I’ll have to leave before they get back. I would have liked to be here when you tell them,” Nathan said.
“Why, so you can see my mother having a heart attack?” Maddie joked.
“Do you think she will be that shocked? I’m sort of more worried about your dad’s reaction.”
“My mom won’t be surprised at all when I tell her you came to see me or that we’re together now. I’ve told her a little bit about us already. It’s the little detail of your fame that will knock her over with a feather. My dad on the other hand might not even recognize your name.”
Nathan responded with a sarcastic scoff. “I’m a household name, Maddie,” he teased.
She rolled her eyes. “Not to fifty something Texas police officers. If I brought home Ezekiel Elliot then he would faint.”
“Who’s he?” Nathan demanded.
“He plays for the Dallas Cowboys,” Maddie answered giggling.
“Well, okay then. I was about to cancel my trip to Shreveport if you were going to say he was another guy from your school interested in you.”
“Is Nathan Foster jealous?”
He frowned, seeing how much she was enjoying this. “Knowing you were out with Marty McFly on New Year’s made me crazy. I didn’t even recognize the feeling at the time; I just knew you weren’t supposed to be with him.”
“I knew I wasn’t supposed to be with him either, but coming to realize that my heart wanted me to be with you was so frightening. I fought it so hard.”
Nathan pushed his empty plate aside and reached across the table to take her hand. “Are you still worried about getting hurt, Maddie? I don’t know how to make you believe that I’m not going to do anything that hurts you. I know Los Angeles intimidates you and I obviously don’t have the best track record being out there alone, but I’m not a bad boyfriend,” Nathan exclaimed. “I’m not going to cheat on you. I won’t forget about you while I’m shooting this movie, or laying around that big house in Beverly Hills. The separation is going to be hard, but I promise to do everything in my power to make you trust me.”
Maddie didn’t doubt Nathan’s sincerity or his promise to do right by her, but still she couldn’t shake the feeling that somehow or another she would be the one getting her feelings hurt in the end. Someone always did in every relationship, right? Until you find the one that sticks forever. With his money, fame, and good looks Maddie felt like the odds of keeping Nathan for happily ever after were not in her favor. Despite all those worries, she couldn’t keep herself from wanting to try this.
“I believe you, Nathan. And I trust you. It’s forces beyond our control that I worry about.”
“Well, I don’t want us thinking about negative things right now. We only have a few hours until I have to go.”
“I’ve been trying not to think about you leaving,” she admitted.
Nathan stood up to clear their plates from the table. Then he reached for Maddie’s hand and pulled her into his arms. “Let’s not think about the hours on the clock. I’m here. What do you want to do?”
Maddie thought for a minute. She knew they were limited to her house; going out in public would be too risky. “Why don’t we hang out downstairs in the rec room?” she suggested thinking it would be a good place to relax and talk. And if they wound up making out on the big comfy sofa down there then so be it.“Oh, and get your movie script. We had a deal, slugger.”
Nathan couldn’t say no after she used her nickname for him. Truthfully, Nathan was going to let her read through his Tomorrow and Forever script whether she cooked for him last night or not. But she had and it was amazing, so he was more than happy to give her a sample of a few scenes. He grabbed the papers from his bag and followed her down the stairs to the basement. The scenario reminded him of high school when he would hide down in the basement with a girlfriend while her parents weren’t home. He hoped this meant he might get a little lucky with Maddie again. She was obviously holding back from him and Nathan was brought up to respect a girl’s boundaries, but he had to get another taste of her before he left.
In the basement Maddie turned on a few lights and flipped on the stereo. Nathan didn’t recognize the music playing but recognized the distinctive country sound immediately. She smiled at him and sat down on the sofa. Nathan joined her, pulling her body against him.
“What’s the singer’s name?” he asked.
“Luke Bryan. It’s probably not your style but my iPod is upstairs.”
“No, this is good. I want to hear your favorite musician. He’s still your favorite, right?”
Maddie smiled and tilted her head to look at Nathan’s face. “Yes. I’m surprised you remembered.”
“I have to have a good memory to remember all my lines,” he explained simply.
“Speaking of lines, give me that script,” Maddie exclaimed. She sat up, turning her body towards him and held out her hand.
Nathan rolled his eyes but surrendered the script. “Why don’t you help me read lines? I could use a brush up before tomorrow.”
“Really? You don’t think that would be weird if I read Abigail’s lines and called you Caleb?” Maddie asked skeptically. Twelve hours ago, Nathan had been fearful that she was having trouble separating the fact from fiction. Now he was suggesting she insert herself into the movie role?
“Believe me, if you just read a few lines you’ll see it takes a lot of movie magic to make this look sexy. Besides, there are no intimate scenes in here.”
Maddie quirked her eye brow but her curiosity won out. “Okay. Let’s see here… how about scene twelve, the apartment?”
“That’s good. Okay, you read, and if I mess up anything, correct me as we go along,” he said standing up and walking towards the stairs.
“Where
are you going?”
“I have to enter this scene. See the stage notes at the top?”
Maddie looked at the papers more closely and saw what Nathan was referring to. “Oh, got it. Okay. Abigail is sitting at the table nervously tapping her fingers. Door opens and Caleb enters.” Maddie watched as Nathan walked down the last two steps into the basement and slowly crept closer, glancing up at her with surprise. She realized he was acting the part and a little giggle slipped out of her mouth.
“Caleb, is that you?” Maddie read. “Where have you been all night?”
Nathan shrugged and his eyes looked down at the carpet. “Sorry. I left work and some of the guys were going out for drinks. Have you been waiting for me?”
“For hours. Why didn’t you call?”
“What are you, my mother?” Nathan said sarcastically.
Maddie checked his line and saw it was written to say something different. “Your line is actually ‘Who do you think you are, my mother?’”
“Who do you think you are, my mother?” Nathan recited.
“What happened to you, Caleb? You never used to act like this before you met those guys. You promised me that it was all behind you, that our life together would mean something.”
Nathan took a step towards her with an angered expression on his face. Maddie was surprised to see how serious Nathan was taking their line-reading. It made her feel a little silly. “Our life does mean something, Abigail. But I told you I wasn’t going to change overnight. The life I had before I met you is still in me; it’s part of who I am. I can’t just change everything about myself because you fell in love.”
Maddie was shocked. “Why is Caleb being such a dick?” she asked momentarily forgetting the script. She was more concerned about her favorite love story beingjeopardized.
She was supposed to read Abigail’s line of ‘Didn’t you fall in love too?’ Nathan knew the line and continued, ignoring her break from character. “You know I did, baby. But all of this is hard for me,” Nathan said gesturing to the room around him. “I can’t just become the man you think I should be.”
Maddie looked back to the script to find her place while Nathan walked closer and closer. Her heart started pounding and she felt like they were really having an argument. She read aloud, “You already are that man, Caleb. Stop trying to prove that you aren’t good enough for me because I fell in love with you just the way you are. I’m not letting you ruin this.”
Nathan reached out his hand and cupped Maddie’s cheek. She was good at reading Abigail’s lines, much better than Garrett, that’s for sure. He knew it wasn’t in the script but he was determined to kiss her anyway. Maddie realized what he was planning and quickly looked down at the papers.
“Wait, cut! Cut! There’s no kiss in this scene,” she said.
“Don’t you think there should be?” Nathan asked in a low seductive voice. Then he grinned at her and Maddie knew she was blushing.
“Who do you want to kiss more, Maddie or Abigail?” she asked, playfully throwing his words from last night back at him.
“Oh, definitely Maddie,” he whispered while removing the script from her hand. “All I can think about is kissing Maddie Sherratt.”
“Then do it, tough guy. Kiss me,” she breathed.
Nathan tossed the script to the floor and pushed her shoulders back against the cushions of the couch as he lay down on top of her. He pressed some of his weight against her, reveling in the feel of her body against his again. He should have never let her leave the bed earlier that morning. He kissed her lips eagerly, pushing them apart and tugging on her bottom lip. Maddie wrapped her arms around him, digging her fingernails into his back. It thrilled Nathan to feel her respond to him so positively.
Maddie’s mind was clouded with lust and many other feelings; excitement, joy, and fear to name a few. Nathan’s mouth was all over her lips, face, and neck. She held on to him closely as he lavished her skin with kisses. At some point her fingers worked their way under his t-shirt and the feeling of his warm skin against her fingertips was maddeningly erotic. She slid her hands up his back and over his shoulders gripping him tightly. Gaining a little confidence, Maddie bucked her hips into his and delicately nipped the skin of his neck with her teeth.
Nathan groaned in pleasure and let his mind take a backseat to his emotions. When Maddie wrapped her foot around his thigh and pushed his shirt even further up his back, Nathan reacted immediately. He reached one arm over his shoulder and tugged the t-shirt completely off his body. Maddie gasped and bit her lip. He purposely lifted his torso up so she could see his chest better. He was surprised when her hands moved to his chest and pushed him up to a sitting position. Maddie’s eyes were wild and she bit her lip as she lifted her own shirt up and over her head.
“Oh, Maddie,” Nathan moaned as he buried his face in her neck.
He kissed his way down to her shoulder, over her collarbone, and brazenly down between her breasts that were covered in a lacy pink bra. He kissed and licked her cleavage as his hands roamed over the sides of her abdomen. Her hands were in his hair now and Nathan knew how easy it would be to divest themselves of the remaining clothing that separated their bodies. He desperately wanted to make love to her; he had resisted the night before but now their time was running short and Nathan didn’t know for sure when he’d have another opportunity to see her.
Something stopped him before his mouth reached her navel and it wasn’t his conscience. “What is that?” Maddie breathed.
“My fucking phone,” Nathan groaned. “It’s Stanley.”
Maddie let her head fall back against the couch. “How do you know who it is?”
Nathan pushed up on his knees and reached into his jeans pocket to retrieve the phone. “Special ringtone. Hey Stanley, you couldn’t have worse timing. What’s up?”
Maddie smiled at Nathan’s expression as he answered his driver’s call. He was obviously frustrated by the distraction, but for Maddie, it gave her precious time to gain a little mental clarity. She hadn’t wanted to move so quickly with Nathan and this interruption might be a blessing in disguise. She didn’t think she would be able to resist him if he continued kissing her the way he had been.
“You think it will take how long? Melissa gave you the address for the hotel, right? Okay. What time is it now? Yeah. Yeah, I’ll be ready. Thanks, man. Bye.”
Nathan ended his call and looked down at Maddie to see her slipping her shirt back on. He sighed knowing that Stanley’s call had ruined the moment between them, which may have turned out to be a blessing. He would have allowed himself to get carried away with Maddie had they not been interrupted and he knew that Maddie deserved better than for him to put the moves on her after meeting less than twenty-four hours earlier. He’d made promises to Maddie about not taking advantage of her or letting their relationship hurt her in any way. The fact that she was getting redressed signaled to him that he was right to let the moment of passion and lust pass.
Still, it made him angry that their time was about to be cut even shorter because of some big traffic accident outside Dallas. “Stanley will be here in an hour and a half. He said traffic is really bad around Dallas because of a highway accident and he wants to make sure I get into Shreveport on time.”
“That soon?” Maddie replied.
Nathan nodded as he reached for his shirt. “Yeah. I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” Maddie said as she stood up and reached out to place her hands on Nathan’s naked chest. She ran her hands through the smattering of hair across his sternum and up to wrap around the back of his neck. Nathan closed his eyes as he memorized the feel of Maddie’s hands on him. He was already preparing himself to say goodbye. “I want you to know how happy I am that you decided to show up on my doorstep yesterday, Nathan. I didn’t have the courage to confront whatever this is between us, so I’m grateful that you did.”
“It was selfishness on my part, Maddie. I couldn’t stand living another day without knowi
ng if I was right about us; that we are meant to be something more.”
“And you’ve decided that you were right?” she replied anxiously.
“Aren’t I?” he countered.
Maddie smiled wide and took the opportunity to feel his muscular chest beneath her fingertips again. “Yes, I think so. It doesn’t mean I’m not still frightened of what will happen after you walk out the door today. Will you be able to call me more than once a week now?”
“I’m going to be calling you every day, Angel,” he promised. “Now, are you going to let me put my shirt back on or am I going to have to throw you back down on this couch?”
Maddie grinned but reluctantly let her hands fall away from his body. She didn’t want their first time together to be a quickie. “Let’s go upstairs. I’ll make you some lunch to take with you.”
As they sat on the sofa holding hands and waiting for Stanley to ring the doorbell, Maddie wondered how she would feel after Nathan left. She promised him and herself that she would tell her parents the truth about him when they returned home. The hard part wasn’t going to be admitting she somehow got involved with a high-profile celebrity; Maddie knew what she feared more was what would happen after a lot of people in her life knew the truth. Would people say she was crazy for thinking a relationship with Nathan could ever possibly work? Would they pity her if the media falsely announced that Nathan was romantically linked to another celebrity out in Hollywood while Maddie sat home in Texas telling people Nathan Foster was her boyfriend? She feared a lot of ‘I told you so’s’ and feeling like a complete idiot if it ended badly.
“What are you thinking about?” Nathan asked while his thumb traced little circles on the back of her hand.
“Just wondering how it will sound when I tell people I’m dating a movie star.”
Nathan rolled his eyes. “You worry a lot, you know that?”
“Yeah, I know. But hey, if I didn’t worry about everything and everyone then I might not have written you that letter. And we wouldn’t be here together right now.”