Ship of Dreams (Dreams Come True Series Book 2)

by Rebecca Heflin

  Ignoring the lights, she walked through her dark apartment straight to the bedroom and a nice hot shower. Before she could even slip out of her shoes, her buzzer sounded. “Oh, good gravy! Who could that be?”

  “Yes?” Whoever it was would hear the annoyance in her voice.

  “It’s Nathan. Can I come up?”

  Nathan? What was he doing here?

  “Everything okay?” she asked.

  “Yeah. I just . . . I need to talk to you.”

  “Come on up.”

  She walked back through the living room, flipped on some lights, and opened her door.

  The usually cool and calm Nathan looked harried as he stepped off the elevator, tie loose, hair mussed as if he’d been running his fingers through it.

  He strode up to her, cupped her face in his hands and drew her in for a kiss so soul-searing she felt it all the way to her toes. Wrapping her hands around his wrists, she met his kiss with everything she had. Only one night apart and she craved him like a dieter craves a gallon of ice cream.

  He finally broke the kiss. “This is going to complicate matters even more than they already are, but . . .” He took a deep breath. “I’m in love with you.”

  She took an automatic step back. “No you’re not.” Her heart jackhammered in her chest.

  “‘Fraid so.”

  “You don’t even know me.” She took another step back.

  He didn’t try to close the space she’d created between them. He just stood in the same spot. “Oh, but I do.” He spoke softly, his sexy Southern drawl sending tingles along her spine. “I know that you walk around with this cool, I don’t give-a-fuck cloak around you, but underneath is a woman who cares deeply for her friends.”

  “I know that you have a reputation for being a hard-nosed business woman, but that you also use your incredible talent to help a worthwhile cause. I know that you’re loyal, that you have a strong work ethic, and that you appreciate beautiful craftsmanship in everything from stilettos to cinnamon buns. That you have the grace and poise of a princess, but you lick your fingers when you eat fried chicken.”

  She couldn’t take her eyes off his face. How could he see these things? Things not even her family could see?

  “But I also know that you have a difficult, contentious relationship with your father, and despite that you’re successful, generous, and steadfast. That in your apartment you have no photos of your family, but that the photos you do have are of the people you love. And who love you. And I know that when your grandmother disinherited you, it wasn’t the loss of the money that upset you.”

  “Why are you doing this now?” she whispered. Tears stung her eyes.

  She looked down, but he reached out, lifted her chin to his gaze. “Because I know you think you have something to prove. To your father. To the world. To yourself. But you have nothing to prove to me. And I wanted you to know that.”

  She tore away from his grasp as the tears blurred her vision. Nathan stepped back. “I want you to know that win or lose the Imperial account, I’ll still love you, and I’ll still be proud of you. Good luck tomorrow.”

  He skimmed a finger along her cheekbone, then turned and left.

  What the hell was she supposed to do with that? She angrily swiped at the tears that ran down her cheeks. Laura Armstrong did not cry. She didn’t become a puddle of mush because some guy confessed his love for her.

  Laura Armstrong stood on her own two feet. She ate her competition for lunch. And she lived her job. It had been everything to her for so long. Her family, her significant other, her child. It was who she was. She’d had no room in her life for a man, a commitment, love.

  Her shoulders sagged beneath the weight of her sudden revelation. Because the truth was, there was nothing in her life but room.

  For the first time in her life, she was scared. Scared she’d come to rely on Nathan. Something she swore she’d never do. But also scared that she’d be alone. Left behind. With nothing but her career accomplishments to keep her company.

  She always thought the next account she’d landed, the next promotion she’d achieved, would be the one to bring her happiness. That her life would be complete when she’d achieved her Life Plan.

  But that wasn’t enough anymore. The joy in her job wasn’t fading, but something else was taking precedence.

  Dammit to hell. Frustrated, she headed for the shower. She couldn’t think about this now. She had an account to land.

  Late Wednesday morning, the Giddings-Rose offices were a hive of activity with the pitch less than two hours away, and the team making last minute changes to the proposal, which they still had to print and bind. All hands were on deck, standing by to jump in and assist with compiling the final pitch packet. With their offices only blocks from Imperial’s, they could tweak and perfect right up to the last minute.

  Laura paced from creative, with their giant desktop Macs, to research with their spreadsheets, back to creative, all the while relaying questions, ideas, changes. She lived for this! The exhilaration, the adrenaline rush. The hunt. And hopefully, the kill.

  Setting aside her worries for Nathan, whose team was presenting at that moment, she focused with laser-like attention on their pitch.

  “There’s alcohol at the end of this day,” she shouted to her team.

  Long nights and weekends worth of work would be boiled down into a one-hour pitch. Confident in their approach, Laura only sought to fine-tune the message.

  Dante called her over to show her the latest revisions to the app graphics.

  “Yes. Just maybe move this”—she pointed to an icon on the screen—“here.” She watched a minute as he worked his magic. “Perfect.”

  Striding down the hall, she popped her head into Katie’s office. “Do we have the final numbers for the demographics page?”

  “In three seconds . . . here.” She handed Laura a printout. Laura then walked back down the hall to creative.

  “Who’s working on the demographics page?”

  Raoul shot up his hand. “Me.”

  Handing off the printout to him, Laura paced over to Celeste, who was putting the finishing touches on the cover page with the pitch tagline, ‘Imperial Cruise Lines, Where unparalleled freedom meets incomparable luxury.’

  “We almost there?” Laura asked.

  “You tell me.” Celeste leaned back so Laura could get a look at the screen.

  “That’s it! Let’s print this baby.”

  Shouts and clapping exploded around the office.

  Glancing around the table as he concluded his presentation, Nathan felt good. Damn good, in fact. The presentation had gone very well, with lots of discussion, lots of questions, which showed his audience had been paying attention.

  Jack and his father sat among other members of the board, taking notes, casting glances at one another. They’d seemed very intrigued by the Braniff Airways-inspired campaign, and with the name for the new line Hawk Media had proposed: Halcyon Cruises.

  “Ladies and gentleman,” Nathan concluded, “thank you for your time and your attention. I appreciated the interaction and the opportunity to present to you today.”

  “Thank you, Nathan. We’ll have our decision to you in about a week,” Jackson said, receiving nods from the other board members. “Great job.”

  Nathan looked over at Hawk, and received a subtle nod of approval. Releasing a calming breath, he gathered his documents as his audience stood and left the room for a much-needed fifteen-minute break before Giddings-Rose presented. He knew Laura would be outside with her team, feeling the same jitters as he’d had over an hour ago.

  Hawk clapped him on the shoulder as they left the room. He leaned in and whispered, “You nailed it.”

  Nathan’s smile of relief froze when he saw Laura standing with her team. She appeared every inch the polished professional in a navy suit and creamy blouse that managed to appear both conservative and sexy at the same time. A pair of snakeskin stilettos graced her feet.

/>   She must have felt his eyes on her, because she glanced up. She lifted her brows as if to ask, ‘How’d it go?’

  He replied with a short nod.

  As he and Hawk proceeded to the elevator bank, he gave himself a mental headshake. Who would have ever thought that he’d be wishing his competition good luck?

  As the board members filed back in for the Giddings-Rose pitch, Laura had Celeste place a proposal at each seat.

  Jack came into the room, nodded her way, his father behind him. This was it, she thought. This was the account that would earn her a VP position. The next step in her Life Plan was coming together.

  When she took her phone out of her purse to turn it off, she saw a text from Nathan.

  I KNOW YOU AND YOUR TEAM WILL GO OUT AFTERWARD TO BLOW OFF SOME STEAM, BUT GIVE ME A CALL LATER. WE’LL BLOW OFF SOME STEAM OF OUR OWN.

  She thought about his confession last night and she wondered, Could Nathan be part of my Life Plan?

  That Friday evening, Nathan escorted Laura up the sidewalk to Darcy’s house for a party she had no desire to attend, but Nathan seemed set on going.

  “We only have to stay an hour,” she said, as they climbed the steps to the front door.

  “Whatever you want.”

  Laura opened the door and entered.

  “Don’t you knock?” Nathan asked.

  “Please. It’s Darcy.”

  She stepped into the foyer, Nathan right behind her, and glanced around for Darcy. She saw her talking to Gloria, her agent. To her left stood Josh talking with his in-laws. Darcy’s brother, Brandon handed a plate of food to his partner. Millie stood in the shadows as was her want. She’d yet to see anyone who might be one of Josh’s clients.

  Just as confusion began to set in, all the guests turned in her direction and yelled, “Surprise!”

  “What the—”

  Nathan’s hands grasped her hips as he stepped up behind her and whispered, “Happy Birthday, sugar.”

  That was when she saw Katie, Celeste, and Curt from the office.

  The next few minutes were utter chaos with hugs from Darcy and her parents and siblings. Even Gloria gave her a pat on the back.

  She blinked back tears, wondering when she’d gotten so sappy.

  Josh followed suit with a kiss to her cheek. “Maleficent.”

  “Prince Humperdinck.”

  “Wait.” Josh held up his hand. “How many account executives does it take to change a light bulb?”

  Laura blinked in confusion.

  “How many would you like?” Josh replied.

  Laura shook her head. “I don’t get it.”

  “Were you surprised?” Darcy asked as she pressed a glass of champagne into her hand.

  Gratefully she took the bubbly and threw it back, hoping to calm her nerves. “My birthday isn’t until Wednesday.”

  “I know. But who wants to celebrate on a Wednesday?”

  “No one, that’s who. Let’s party!”

  Nathan watched as Darcy and Laura entered the living room. Laura didn’t realize how many people loved her. Him included.

  Though her parents were noticeably absent.

  The night he’d met with Josh, Josh had enlisted his help to get Laura to her birthday party. Nathan was more than happy to join the conspiracy.

  True to form, when he’d picked Laura up, she’d knocked his socks off. Dressed in a dark-blue drapey jumpsuit that brought out the blue in her eyes and left lots of luscious skin bare, her hair flowing down her back. Her designer fragrance wreaking havoc on his libido. He already anticipated getting her out of the jumpsuit and into bed.

  Josh approached. “Thanks for joining in the conspiracy. Darcy was stressed trying to figure out how to get Laura here, and with the baby, she doesn’t need the stress.”

  “No problem. When is she due?” Nathan asked.

  “April.”

  “Congratulations.”

  “Thanks. We’re both very excited.”

  “Josh, are Laura’s parents coming?”

  A grimace passed over Josh’s features. “No. They, uh, had a previous engagement.”

  “I see.”

  “Do you?” Josh turned to Nathan. “Do you see that she deserves so much better than she thinks she does? That she’s worth what it takes to dig beneath that prickly exterior and see her for who she is?”

  Nathan considered Josh’s astute observation before answering, “Yes. I do.”

  The party was in full swing when the doorbell rang. Standing closest to the door, Laura opened it to find Jack and another hot hunk standing on the stoop.

  “Jack! What are you doing here?”

  “Sorry we’re late, but I didn’t want to miss the party.”

  Stepping inside, he pressed a kiss to Laura’s cheek, and glanced behind him at his friend.

  “Laura, this is my friend, Novak Hunter. Novak, Laura Armstrong.”

  As she shook Novak’s hand, she got the distinct impression he was more than just a friend.

  She shot a glance at Jack, who gave her an imperceptible nod.

  Happy for Jack, she led the couple into the room and began the introductions.

  “Jack,” Nathan said, “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

  “Well, I just stopped by for a few minutes to wish my girl here happy birthday.”

  “I see.”

  Laura looked up in time to see the frown on Nathan’s face, and she had to smile. Clearly, Nathan was still jealous of Jack and what he thought was their affair.

  “Nathan, this is Novak. Jack’s friend.”

  “Novak.” Nathan nodded. “Can I talk to you a minute?” he asked, lips tight.

  “Sure. Please excuse us.”

  Nathan steered her into a tidy office. “Why is he here?”

  “Since I didn’t send out the invitations, I can only surmise that Josh or Darcy invited him.” Her voice had gone cool. Jealousy was one thing, rudeness another.

  “I thought you weren’t seeing him anymore?”

  “I’m not.” She sighed. “I never was, actually.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means, Nathan, that Jack and I were never having an affair.”

  “What? Why did you leave me to believe you were?”

  “First, you jumped to your own conclusions that night at the fundraiser. Then I did it just to piss you off. But then . . .” Laura hesitated.

  “But then?” Nathan prodded.

  “But then I did it to protect Jack.”

  “What do you mean, ‘to protect Jack?’”

  “Jack’s and my family have been friends for a long time, but beyond that, I consider Jack my friend.”

  “And?”

  She blew out a breath and seemed to be wrestling with something. “Nathan, that man out there, Novak, isn’t just Jack’s friend.” At Nathan’s continued confusion, she clarified, “You know, his partner. His lover.”

  She watched as comprehension dawned, and his brows shot up. “No, way.”

  “Yes, way. Jack is gay.”

  “Well, I’ll be damned. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “It wasn’t my secret to share.”

  “Woman. You are something else.” Enfolding her in his arms, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Loyal to the bone.”

  Chapter 25

  As soon as Nathan and Laura got back to her apartment, she stepped out of her heels. “You are a sneak,” she said, as she waggled her finger in his face. “How long have you known about this party?”

  “Since the night Josh and I first met. He enlisted my help to get you there,” he said with a grin.

  Laura shook her head, as he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her nose.

  “I like your friends.”

  “Yeah, me, too.”

  He swayed with her in his arms, “And you know what, they really like you. In fact, they love you, you know that?”

  “Pfft.”

  “And so do I.”

  S
he grew still in his arms, so he withdrew, and reaching into his pocket pulled out a box.

  “This is for you. I bought it in Florence, but we had . . . well, you know.”

  Her heart jackhammered in her chest.

  He reached out for her hand and, turning her palm up, placed the box there. “Open it.”

  Laura looked from the box to his face, her breath shallow.

  Lifting the lid, she saw a pair of delicate silver earrings, set with sapphires.

  “They reminded me of your eyes,” he whispered, as he pressed his forehead to hers.

  “Oh, Nathan, they’re beautiful.” She brushed a finger over them as if they were the most fragile thing she’d ever seen. No one had ever given her such a thoughtful gift. Ever.

  “I’m glad you like them.”

  “I don’t like them, I love them.” She encircled his neck, drew his mouth down to hers.

  “Laura Armstrong,” she said into the phone. She sat at her desk on Wednesday morning, her birthday, going over emails.

  “Ms. Armstrong, this is Melinda, Mr. Jack Jeffries’ assistant.”

  Laura’s heart plummeted like an elevator with a broken cable. “Yes,” she could barely get the word out around the knot in her throat.

  “It’s short notice, but he would like to know if you’re free for lunch today.”

  “Yes.” She didn’t look at her calendar. She’d make it work.

  “Perfect. He’ll meet you at Fred’s at noon.”

  “Did we get the account?”

  “I really can’t say.”

  “Right. Thank you.” She hung up the phone, and pressed her hand to her stomach to still the butterflies that had suddenly taken flight. Her face split into a grin so wide it hurt.

  Then she sat back with a groan. “Oh, God.” If Giddings-Rose got the account, that meant Hawk Media didn’t. Which meant no bonus for Nathan. What would Nathan do about Amanda and the farm? And her?