Читать книгу Desire Collection: October 2017 Books 1 - 4 - Джанис Мейнард, Maureen Child - Страница 19

Ten

Nathaniel had never meant to be so honest. But his moments with Dani were slipping away. He couldn’t afford to waste a single one.

Tonight seemed like an ending—bittersweet and momentous at the same time. He was damned tempted not to let her go. Her openness and caring were the antithesis of the way he lived his life. Keeping her would be not only dangerous, but selfish. He couldn’t imagine a future without her, but he knew he wasn’t equipped to be the man she needed.

He undressed her carefully and then removed the athletic pants he had donned after his shower. They climbed into bed without speaking. He pulled her to the center of the mattress and wrapped his arms around her. “I don’t want to hurt you, Dani.”

Dani went rigid in his embrace. “I can take care of myself,” she said, the words tart. “Maybe you should worry about me hurting you.”

He smiled in the darkness. She was reminding him that their relationship was a two-way street. What she couldn’t know was that he had gone years without letting women get close enough to penetrate the walls around his heart. If anyone had the power, it would have been Dani. But he was in no danger. He held all the cards.

As long as he remained in control, everything would go according to plan. He could assign Dani to a new division and gradually wean himself from her allure.

He hadn’t allowed himself to fall in love with her. That was how he knew everything was going to be okay.

For the next hour, he lost himself in the pleasure of her body. The sex was as good as it had ever been, but something was a little off. His Christmas elf wasn’t as open with him as before. She held something back. Put up a few no-trespassing signs.

Her reticence might have been infuriating if he hadn’t been balls deep in making love to her. Not loving her. There was a difference.

Each time he made her come, he was jubilant. She might have other lovers after him, but he was determined she wouldn’t be able to erase the memories of tonight.

Beyond that testosterone-fueled goal lingered a strange mixture of elation and terror. His body was sated, lax with bone-deep pleasure. He held Dani close and buried his face in her hair.

It was only sex, he told himself desperately. Only sex...

* * *

Morning came far too soon. Peaches had given them a good six-hour stretch, taken a bottle and then gone right back to sleep until almost eight o’clock. Even so, Nathaniel wanted to spend the morning in bed. With Dani.

As they took turns getting ready, his lover was quiet. It was just as well. He had nothing witty to say, no funny quips about melting snow or holiday blues or poopy diapers.

Dani’s mother was preparing Christmas lunch for the midday meal. Dani and Nathaniel were instructed to arrive no later than eleven in order to have time for opening presents and taking official family photos.

The Meadows family owned fifteen acres of land outside of town. Their property ran alongside a rich river bottom and up the side of a small hill. Dani had told him stories about running barefoot through fields of cotton and catching fireflies on hot summer nights.

He was charmed in spite of himself. Such rustic, simple pleasures were a million miles away from his own upbringing. Oftentimes as a kid, he’d spent hours at the kitchen table, figuring out homework on his own and listening to the ticking of the mantel clock as it echoed in their elegant, lonely home.

Shaking off the maudlin thoughts, he concentrated on maneuvering the Hummer around Gainesville. “Nice town,” he said.

“It was a fun place to grow up. I love Atlanta, though. I’m a big-city girl at heart. I even thought about moving to New York at one time.”

“But?”

“It’s expensive. And I would miss my family. Atlanta is home.”

At a red light, he braked and glanced in the rearview mirror. “Is she doing okay?”

“Almost asleep. I wish we could drive around long enough for her get a good nap. Mom expects promptness, though. My siblings and I learned that the hard way. If we came in late from a date or a party, we’d be grounded for two weeks. It was effective punishment.”

“Don’t take this wrong, but it sounds like the Meadowses are a typical American family. It’s nice.”

Dani shrugged. “You could say that. Still, even typical American families have problems, Nathaniel. Normalcy doesn’t exempt anyone from pain and tragedy.”

He mulled over her odd answer as they drove ever closer to Dani’s childhood home. Was she trying to tell him something, or was he reading too much into her words?

When they finally made it to the other side of town and out into the country, Nathaniel thought they were home free. The sky was gray and the trees bare, but it was warm—fifty degrees already. He hadn’t counted on the scenic creek that ran through the Meadowses’ property.

To ascend the drive that led to the house, it was necessary to cross the creek on a narrow concrete bridge. Today, the creek was a raging river...and rising rapidly.

Dani’s hands gripped the dash and the door, white-knuckle. “I don’t like this, Nathaniel.”

“Hummers were meant for situations like today,” he said. “There’s barely any water over the bridge yet, so I’ll take it slow and we’ll be fine.”

They inched their way forward. The water was still rising, but certainly not fast enough to sweep the Hummer off the bridge. For a brief moment, it occurred to him he might be getting stuck with Dani in another weather-related situation, but he ignored the thought. He tightened his grip on the wheel and pressed the gas pedal carefully.

The vehicle kept a gratifying grip on the road surface. “See,” he said. “You were worried about nothing.”

In the next second, he saw a large section of creek bank in front of them crumble into the muddy water. With a loud, groaning crack, a corner of the concrete bridge gave in to forces it was never meant to withstand.

“Hold on,” Nathaniel yelled. They were six feet from safety. More of the concrete could give way at any moment. He gunned the engine, floored the gas pedal and made the unwieldy vehicle lurch forward like an elephant released from a slingshot.

Everything happened in slow motion. Dani screamed. Another chunk of the bridge sheared off. But the Hummer came through for him. They landed on firm ground, inches away from the disaster they had so narrowly missed.

He shifted into Park with a shaky hand and reached for Dani. “God, I’m sorry. Are you okay?” They glanced at the back seat in unison, reassuring themselves that the baby had slept through it all.

Dani nodded, her face milk white. “I’m fine. It wasn’t your fault.”

It was, and he would kick himself for that later, but now all he wanted to do was reassure himself they were alive. He cupped Dani’s head in two hands and turned her face up to his for a frantic kiss. His heart still beat in sickening thuds. “Your parents will shoot me,” he said hoarsely.

Dani’s arms were wrapped so tightly around his neck she threatened to strangle him. It didn’t matter. The fragrance of her skin and the tremors that shook her body were killing him bit by bit with guilt. She might have been hurt. He could have lost her.

“We’re fine,” she insisted, though it was clear she couldn’t stop shaking. “You saved us, Nathaniel. If we’d been on that bridge and it collapsed, we could have ended up nose first in the water. I don’t even want to think about it.”

“Me, either,” he said. He rested his forehead against hers. “Damn it, little elf, I nearly ruined your storybook Christmas.”

She laughed softly, her fingertips caressing the hair at his nape and making him shiver. “There was never anything storybook about this holiday. I suppose today is more of the same. Come on. Let’s go get some lunch. Adrenaline makes me hungry.”

* * *

Dani moved through the next hours in a dream. She’d done her best to reassure Nathaniel that their near disaster wasn’t his fault. The experience shook her to the core. Personal danger wasn’t at the heart of it. What if Peaches had come to harm? Or Nathaniel?

The terrifying moments on the bridge replayed in slow motion in her brain, even as she greeted her family and introduced Nathaniel and Peaches all around. It had been a long time since the Meadows clan had an infant in the house, so the baby helped defuse any awkwardness about Nathaniel’s presence.

Nathaniel himself rolled out a generous helping of charm, complimenting Dani’s parents on their home and their view. Lunch was delayed when the men decided they needed to check the status of the rising creek. The four males donned rain boots—some borrowed—and trudged down to the bottom of the hill while Dani and her mom and sister put the finishing touches on the meal.

Dani held the baby and snitched a piece of ham. “This looks amazing, Mom. You must have been up since dawn.”

“Angie helped a lot. Why don’t we go hang out in the den until the boys get back? No sense standing when we can sit.”

Dani knew what was coming next. Jared hadn’t brought a date. With only her mother and sister in the room, the confrontation to come was a given.

Angie played leadoff. “So tell me, little sis. Since when are you and the head of NCT so chummy?”

“I explained that already. It was a weird situation. He was going to drive me to the train station, but the snow got too bad too fast.”

“And that’s when you found the baby.” Angie rolled her eyes. “Give me a break. This sounds like an episode of a really bad soap opera.”

Dani’s mother intervened. “Don’t be rude to your sister, Angie.” She pinned Dani with the kind of look parents perfect when their kids are still toddlers. “Are you sleeping with him?”

“Mom!” Mortification flooded Dani’s face with heat.

“That’s not an answer.”

“He’s my boss,” Dani said, desperately wishing she had never initiated the idea of Nathaniel coming with her. “That would be entirely inappropriate.”

“Danielle...” Her mother’s voice went up an octave.

Dani clutched Peaches and straightened her spine. “There’s nothing going on between us. Nathaniel doesn’t trust women. He’s a confirmed bachelor.”

Angie pointed across the room, sympathy on her face. “Too late, kid. Give it up. Mom was worried about the creek. She and Dad have been scouring the valley all morning.”

Dani looked over at the cushioned seat in the bay window. There were the high-end binoculars she had bought her dad last Christmas. For bird-watching. “Oh?”

Her sister put an arm around her waist and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “They saw the kiss, Dani. Every passionate second. You’re busted.”

“I can explain. We were scared. It was adrenaline.”

Her mother frowned. “Is this serious, Dani?”

“No,” she cried. “I swear it’s not. Please don’t make a big deal about nothing.”

Fortunately, the men returned before her mother could continue the inquisition. Dani was temporarily saved from further embarrassment. Everyone was hungry, so presents had to wait.

Over lunch, the adults teased each other with old stories about Christmases past. The year Jared opened all his presents in the middle of the night and tried to rewrap them before morning. The time Angie cried when she didn’t get a doll she had actually forgotten to ask Santa for. And then Dani’s most embarrassing Christmas. The one when her high-school boyfriend gave her a kitten because he didn’t know she was allergic.

Jared finished the tale. “Oh, man, Nathaniel, you should have seen Dani. She was covered in red welts from head to toe. It was the quickest breakup in the history of teenage dating.”

Nathaniel grinned. “It’s hard to imagine. The Dani I know at work never gets flustered by anything.”

“Okay,” Dani said. “Enough family stories. Pass the sweet potatoes, please. Mom, why don’t you and Dad tell Nathaniel about your trip to Hong Kong last summer.”

* * *

Nathaniel was actually having fun. He had expected to sit back as a spectator while Dani enjoyed holiday rituals with her family. Instead, he had been pulled into the fray with a vengeance. The Meadows clan swapped jokes and debated blockbuster movies and argued politics passionately, including Nathaniel at every turn.

The only subject completely off-limits was Peaches. He knew Dani had explained the bare bones of the situation. Dani’s siblings and parents handled the baby’s presence with sensitivity. They didn’t ignore her, but they also didn’t say or do anything to make Nathaniel feel uncomfortable.

In the unlikely situation in which he found himself, his hosts’ kindness and generosity were extraordinary. “May I propose a toast?” he asked as Mrs. Meadows brought out a ten-layer apple stack cake and a bowl of freshly whipped cream.

“Of course,” Jared said. “But do it quick—before we all fall asleep. The tryptophan in the turkey is doing a number on me.”

Nathaniel raised his glass of wine. “To snowstorms and spontaneity and hospitable families. Thanks for including me.”

“Hear, hear,” Dani’s father said. “Now, about that Hummer...”

As Jared and his father argued over who would get first turn behind the wheel, Nathaniel followed Dani into the den where a mound of beautifully wrapped presents was piled beneath a real Fraser fir Christmas tree. The room smelled amazing, a cross between Alpine ski weekends and the comfort of home.

For a moment, Nathaniel felt a keen sense of loss for something he had never known in the first place. Shaking off the odd feeling, he took the baby from Dani. “You’ve been holding her forever. My turn, I think.”

It was eye-opening to watch how the siblings and Dani’s parents related to her. At New Century Tech, Nathaniel knew Dani as sharp and capable and goal oriented. In this setting, she was the “baby” of the crew. They petted her and teased her. Perhaps it was so ingrained in the family dynamic they didn’t realize how much they underestimated her.

Nathaniel had done nearly the same on a more personal level. At work, he kept such rigid boundaries he never allowed himself to fully appreciate Dani’s qualities as a woman, though the physical awareness had been there all along. It had taken a massive snowstorm to make him see what he was missing.

Dani was funny and warm and sexy. Brains and beauty in one appealing package.

Not for the world would he have embarrassed her in front of her family. Despite his hunger to be with her, he kept his distance physically, never touching her arm or tucking her hair behind her ear. He and Dani played the role of business associates perfectly. No one would ever guess they had spent the weekend making love at every turn.

He was touched and surprised to know that Dani’s mother had somehow found a couple of things to wrap for him. He opened a navy-and-burgundy silk tie and a pair of sterling silver cuff links.

In the midst of the pandemonium of wrapping paper and boxes and bows, Nathaniel found himself trying to imagine what it would be like if he were a real member of this family. Heart pounding in his chest, he looked across the room at Dani and found her gaze on him. Her beautiful blue eyes shone bright with happiness.

The truth hit him without warning. A tsunami of feelings tightened his throat and glazed his eyes with moisture. He loved her. He was in love with his executive assistant.

This was a hell of a time for a personal epiphany. His head spun. The conversation swirled around him. He must have participated in appropriate ways, but he felt clumsy, his faculties impaired.

“Excuse me,” he said, when he could form the words. “Peaches wants her bottle. I’ll be right back.”

He fled the family celebration. In the kitchen, he clutched the baby and searched for the premixed bottles of formula Dani had ordered, the same kind they had used that first night. With shaking hands, he uncapped and heated and tested. The routine was not so intimidating now. Against all odds, he was learning how to deal with a baby.

Once the bottle was ready, he went in search of a quiet bedroom. The house was very nice, but not all that large. Even with the door closed, he could hear echoes of the festivities from down the hall. He sat on the edge of the bed and cradled the little girl in his arms. She smiled up at him as she gripped the bottle.

Damn it. Dani was right. He didn’t want the complicated situation, but it was going to break his heart if she weren’t his flesh and blood.

Females were trouble. That was the truth. How was he going to let either one of them go?

Immediately after the formula was gone, Peaches fell sound asleep. He tugged the bottle from her hands and set it aside. Carefully, he lifted the small, limp body onto his shoulder.

He wanted to be alone. He needed time and space to process everything that was happening to him. Unfortunately, he was smack-dab in the middle of a good old-fashioned family Christmas.

When he made it back to the den, Jared cornered him. “It’s not going to be safe to get across that bridge. At least not until the water goes down and Dad and I can see how much damage was done. There’s an alternate route off the back side of the property, but it will add almost an hour to your trip.”

Dani’s mother joined them. “I know we’re crowded, but I would feel better if you stayed the night, Nathaniel. I don’t want you taking my daughter and the baby across the bridge today, Hummer or no Hummer. And that other road is terrible. We have all sorts of blankets and sleeping bags, more than enough to make comfy pallets here in front of the fire. I thought about kicking Jared out of his room, but his is a twin bed, so not much help.”

Nathaniel swallowed his misgivings. “Dani can have the sofa. I’d be happy to stay, Mrs. Meadows, but I definitely will have to get on the road first thing in the morning to make it back to work.”

“Of course,” Dani’s mother said. She turned around and looked at her daughter. “You don’t mind camping out for just one night, do you, sweetheart?”

Dani had a deer-in-the-headlights look. “It’s okay with me, Mama, if Nathaniel agrees.”

Mrs. Meadows beamed. “Then it’s settled.”

For Nathaniel, the torture was only beginning. His plan had been to leave around four in the afternoon and hightail it back to Atlanta. He would drop Dani off at her apartment, and he and Peaches would go to his condo to wait for Ophelia.

Now he was going to spend another night with the woman he wanted more than his next breath. In her parents’ house. With a baby as chaperone. God help him. It was everything he feared and everything he couldn’t have.

The warm, loving family, the precious baby, the woman who tempted him beyond reason. How could he keep a rein on his hunger if the two of them were trapped in this house?

Despite his inner turmoil, the day passed quickly. As Dani had warned, the men were eager to try out the Hummer. Even Angie’s husband went along for the excursion across snow-covered fields.

Nathaniel enjoyed the outing far more than he expected. Angie’s husband possessed a dry wit. Dani’s father turned out to be a good old country boy at heart and Jared was, as Dani had told him, brilliant. The four men took turns behind the wheel, tackling hills and whooping it up when the Hummer conquered all obstacles.

Before returning home, they went as close as they dared to the raging creek and assessed the conditions. According to the National Weather Service, the rising waters had finally peaked. With no rain in the forecast and only the melting snow to feed the torrent, the outlook was good. By morning it was possible that the usually placid brook might be near normal levels.

Back at the house, the women had whipped up another batch of mouthwatering food for dinner. Nathaniel was amazed the whole family managed to stay fit and trim. Maybe they burned it off because no one ever sat still.

The evening was devoted to charades and card games. Nathaniel cleaned up at poker but was lousy at charades. Even Angie’s husband, the other outsider, was better at guessing clues than Nathaniel. They all teased him, but it was good-natured.

How could he tell them his focus was shot to hell because he was fixated on the prospect of another night with Dani?

At long last, the day drew to a close. One by one, family members disappeared to shower and get ready for bed. Dani’s father dragged out all the extra bedding and helped make a comfortable sleeping spot for Nathaniel and Peaches. Dani tucked a sheet around the sofa cushions and added a blanket.

“We’ll be fine, Dad. Thanks for everything.”

Nathaniel nodded. “Thank you, sir. It was a great day.”

Was it his imagination, or did Dani’s father give him the stink eye before walking out of the room? Then it dawned on Nathaniel. The den had no door. A double doorway, yes. But no way to secure privacy with lock and key. Hell’s bells.

Dani didn’t bother with the nightwear he had bought for her. She was wearing borrowed sweatpants from her sister, topped with an Atlanta Braves T-shirt. With her hair up in a ponytail, she could have passed for a teenager.

Nathaniel excused himself for a turn in the bathroom. He opted for soft athletic pants and a thin cotton shirt, leaving it unbuttoned in deference to the fact that the fire made the den very toasty. They wouldn’t have to worry about Peaches getting cold.

When he returned, Dani had turned out all the lights. She was tucked into her temporary bed on the sofa with the covers pulled up to her chin. She had taken the rubber band out of her hair, and now the thick, caramel tresses fanned out across her pillow in an appealing tumble. Her eyes were closed, but he’d bet a thousand dollars she was wide awake.

Peaches was asleep in her usual position.

He sat down on the end of the sofa and put Dani’s feet in his lap.

She opened one eye. “I just got comfortable,” she complained. “Shouldn’t we get some sleep if we’re getting up early?”

“It’s ten thirty,” he pointed out. “You and I are usually good for another several hours at this point. You know, when things get cranked up.”

Her gaze was wild. “Nathaniel! Hush! Are you out of your mind? Somebody could be standing outside in the hall listening to us.”

“They’re not. I checked.” He slipped his hand under the covers and played with her ankle bone. “I’ve barely touched you all day.”