Um. Think Eduardo’s already taken care of the pants off department where Marie is concerned, dad.
I clear my throat, trying not to smile as I look across at Nathan, he looks worried too but for different reasons than my dad, I’m guessing.
He looks at his watch and I figure it’s like I already guessed. He’s a man with a billion things to do and I’m taking up his time with this stuff.
“I gotta go, Dad. Look, I’m fine, okay. I’ll be fine,” I tell him again.
“Your cell’s switched off,” he pipes in over me, then reminds me again how he only let me go because of the chaperone, who’s since run off with someone, leaving me alone and without a room for the weekend.
“Dad, I’m not a kid anymore. I’ll let you know if I get stuck, okay,” I tell him firmly, starting to sound annoyed once I notice Nathan’s mood changing.
I know who I’d rather be talking to, as much as I love my dad, he’s not where my mind is at right now.
There’s a painful silence, and I can almost hear the gears of my dad’s mind and mood shifting up and down before he finally yields.
“Alright then, I won’t treat you like a child, Lucy. But I am worried. Switch your phone on, please? And call me any time if you get stuck, okay?” he asks, pleading really.
I feel a little stab of guilt for brushing him off, getting cranky with him, but if only he knew…
“I will dad, I promise,” I tell him, meaning it.
“I’ll call you before I go to sleep, alright?” I offer, hoping it makes him feel better and it does.
“Okay, darlin’. Sorry to sound like such an old woman, but… Anyway. I’ll talk to you later,” he says, leaving me making a face before puffing air out of my cheeks.
Nathan’s moved closer, chewing on his lip before I apologize.
“Sorry, you had to hear that,” I tell him. “My dad, he’s a worrywart.”
“What is it?” I ask him, noting his look and suddenly worried I’ve done more than turn him off me in just the physical sense.
Five minutes with my dad and Nathan Cartwright would run a mile, I just know it.
But he breaks into a smile, reassuring me he’s fine. That we’re fine.
“Still up for a bite to eat?” he asks, changing the subject and ushering me away from the phone and out of the room.
“Starving,” I groan, realizing I haven’t eaten all day.
“My treat,” he adds, holding up a finger of warning. “And so’s the room. I’ll make sure you get your money back,” he adds, almost to himself. “Everything that’s due to you.”
I want to protest, to argue with him somehow, but I get the distinct feeling that Nathans made up his mind about a few things while I was on the phone and he doesn’t strike me as a man who takes no for an answer once he’s offered something.
“Thank you.” Is the best I can manage, blushing and looking down at my feet.
Feeling more like a fan again as Nathan seems to loom larger than ever, that aura, that thing he has that makes him special starting to show again.
It’s not until we’re on our way to the elevators that it occurs to me, it’s him alright, but a little bit like his overcoat, his outward appearance, and mood when he’s in public is something he’s carefully rehearsed.
It’s the man, the author. But it’s not who he really is deep inside.
I could wonder who the real man inside him is, but something in the way his hand gently touches my back as we get into the elevator tells me I might just find out if I play my cards right.
Chapter Six
Nathan
For all my telling myself I can take it as slow or fast as she wants(or maybe not at all if that’s how she feels). Telling myself I could just be friends with Lucy, I know as soon as we step out of our suite that I can’t.
I’m an all-or-nothing kind of guy, and with her, I feel everything all at once.
My whole body shifts once we’re heading out, once I know the world will be watching her as well as me, which usually happens whether I like it or not.
I feel protective of her, I don’t want to share her with the world.
She’s mine, nobody else’s.
But I can’t tell her that, can’t lay something that heavy on her within hours of meeting her, no.
I’ll have to bide my time, wait for the right moment. But how much longer?
Certainly not a whole night, I know that much. But at least over dinner, maybe.
While Lucy was in her bath and I was trying to distract myself from wanting to go to her, I made a reservation at the only place in town that knows me.