Best of Three (Counting on Love) (9 page)

Nate’s eyes slowly widened. She grinned. “No one forgot who
I
was after that. From there I kept working to stand out. I snuck out of my cabin at night and got caught kissing that same boy I’d tackled in volleyball. I started a protest against lima beans in the cafeteria. All kinds of stuff. By the end of the three weeks, everyone knew who I was.”

“And you’ve never stopped.”

She shook her head. “I love my sisters, I’m proud of them, but I don’t want to
be
any of them. I want everyone to know
me
. And I still love kissing and I still hate lima beans.”

Nate sat watching her and Emma let him. There was something in the way he was studying her that made her squirm—in a good way.

“Your turn,” he finally said.

Yes.
This was great. “Truth or dare?” she asked.
Please pick truth, please pick truth.
Though she did have a great dare in mind…

“Truth.”

“What happened with Michael’s mom?”

She knew he’d been expecting the question. He took a breath, then said, “I was head over heels. Stacie and I met when we were sixteen. We dated for a year. When she got pregnant, I thought it would be fine, we’d get married, it would all work out. Next thing I knew, she left for Phoenix, where her grandparents lived. She cut off all contact with me. Nine months later, my grandfather sat me down with his lawyer. A woman brought a baby in and handed him to me. My grandfather said that they’d made a deal with Stacie—they would pay for all of her college tuition, any grad school, books, living expenses, everything, if she signed over all of her parental rights and never tried to contact Michael or I.”

Emma bit her tongue. A thousand questions were trying to spill out of her mouth, but she knew she had to give Nate time to tell the story the way he wanted to tell it.

But holy shit.

“I tried to find her after that. Hired a PI and everything. He finally found her in California, I called, she said not to contact her again and hung up.”

Emma pressed her lips together, but couldn’t stop her foot from tapping against the floor. She couldn’t interrupt.

“I tried to call her again; she’d changed her number. I mailed her a package; it came back to me unopened. I went out there and she’d moved.”

Emma opened her mouth, then closed it without a word—something she was very proud of.

“My grandfather found out and he sat me down and told me that this was how it had to be. He couldn’t have me distracted from my path to med school and the family business. Before I even saw Michael, Granddad made sure he had the best pediatrician, the best nanny, the best…car seat. Everything was taken care of. I didn’t even pick out his name. I’d messed up by getting Stacie pregnant, but Granddad was fixing things and I needed to stop fighting it. Then he told me that
she
hadn’t fought. She hadn’t argued, hadn’t tried to negotiate, had never asked for a visitation arrangement, hadn’t even asked to talk to me. She’d given up. That’s what got to me and made me stop trying to contact her.”

Nate looked over at Emma. “My grandfather was a controlling, intimidating bastard. He essentially dictated everything in the family and I never saw anyone stand up to him. But, dammit, once I held Michael in my arms, I couldn’t understand how Stacie couldn’t have fought. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do, anyone I wouldn’t fight, to make sure he was okay.”

He stopped talking and Emma wanted so badly to respond, but wasn’t sure she should. The idiot woman had walked away from Nate too. She’d left when he tried everything to be
with
her.

Finally she couldn’t take it anymore. “Maybe that was what she was doing.”

Nate looked at her. “What do you mean?”

“Maybe she was making sure he was okay. Maybe giving him up, fighting with her own instincts to keep him and raise him, was the battle
she
had. Being with you, with your family’s money and advantages, had to be better for him than a single mom who was starting college.”

Nate stared at her. “Are you kidding me right now?” he finally demanded.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re defending her to me? Seriously?”

“Nate, I watched Dena raise Shannon. I know how hard that is. If someone had come to Dena and said, ‘Let me raise your kid in the lap of luxury, she’ll never want for anything, she’ll be safe and happy and healthy and
you
don’t have to give up your plans or your dreams. We’ll essentially give you anything you need to make those plans and dreams come true’, she would’ve jumped at it.”

He frowned. “What kind of motherly instinct is that?”

“He went to her before she’d even had the baby right? And she was a scared kid. She hadn’t formed any attachment to Michael yet when the offer was made. He’d given her a get-out-of-baby-jail-free card. She signed it all away before she even thought about it.”

Nate shook his head. “You are, hands down, the most difficult woman I know.”

“Me? I didn’t do anything to you.”

“I tell you the heart-wrenching story about Michael’s mom giving him up for money and you defend the girl to me. Figures.”

He didn’t sound mad though. Emma suspected that he knew what she said was true. Had even occurred to him before she’d said it.

“She was seventeen. Give her a break. And
not
keeping in touch had to be less
heart-wrenching
for her.”

“I was seventeen too.”

“But Grandpa didn’t give you much choice, did he?”

“None at all.”

“And you survived. Now it’s your turn, truth or dare me.”

“That’s it? No sympathy? No, ‘wow you did a great job, Nate. Michael’s a great kid’? Nothing?”

“You know Michael’s a great kid and you told me that he was raised by nannies, so why should I tell you great job?”

Nate shook his head. “There’s really no impressing you, is there?”

She gave him a smile. “It’s hard to impress me with single parenthood, Nate. I’ve seen it up close and personal and without money for private planes and private schools.”

“As soon as I was done with med school, I was hands on with him. As much as I could be.”

Emma regretted her quip. She’d seen Nate with Michael. He was a fantastic dad. Of course, the nannies and money helped, but there wasn’t anything that could replace a dad who was involved and cared about his kid.

“But yes,” he admitted before she could take it back. “Everything had to be easier for me than it was for Dena.”

Emma shrugged. “Dena had
me
. So, you know, it was a cake walk.”

He grinned and it did funny things to her stomach.

“You don’t think Dena would have traded you in for a private plane given half a chance?”

Emma grinned too. “Only if I took Shannon with me when I went. There were days she would have traded both of us for a good margarita and a guy who could find her g-spot.”

Nate’s eyebrows shot up. “Is that right?”

Emma chuckled. “Most women would give a lot for a good margarita and a guy who can find her g-spot.”

The air in the truck seemed to instantly heat a few degrees. Emma found herself breathing deep and fixating on Nate’s mouth.

“I didn’t realize we were so rare a species.”

That pulled her gaze back to his and a surprised laugh escaped her, even as
her
g-spot said
oh, baby
. “Cocky much?”

“I would think
you
would appreciate that about me. Being damned cocky yourself.”

“I appreciate a lot of things about you.” She smiled. “Especially things having to do with cock.”

She could tell from his smile that he’d been expecting the comment. “You don’t let guys get away with that, do you, Emma?”

“Being cocky?”

“Not finding your g-spot. There’s no excuse for that. You need to help point the way.”

“Oh, I’m not at all shy about telling people what I want,” she assured him. “Especially in the bedroom. I’m all for getting exactly what I want there.” She liked the direction of this conversation. If he wanted to prove that he was a pro at the g-spot-finding thing, she’d be happy to let him.

He hesitated, his gaze on her face like he was studying her or looking for something. Then he sat back. “Exactly.”

She blinked. “What?”

“We have a lot in common.”

“We do?”

“I like things my way too. In fact, I insist on things being my way. I have a feeling we might clash a lot.”

What the hell was he talking about? The conversation had been on a very nice course there for a minute. “Unless we want the same things.”

He didn’t say anything for a few seconds. When he did, he again surprised her. “Truth or dare?”

She studied his face as he had hers, but didn’t have a clue what he was thinking. “Truth.”

“How anxious are you to go to bed with Bruce?”

She felt her eyes widen. Her physical therapist? Was that bothering Nate because he worked with Bruce professionally? Or for another reason? She was tempted to tease Nate with a
very
, to see his reaction. But this was Truth or Dare. She had to stay true to the game. “Not anxious at all.”

Something flickered in Nate’s eyes but she couldn’t identify it for sure. “Who are you anxious to go to bed with?”

She didn’t have to answer. That was two questions on one truth, like he’d refused to do when she’d asked.

But, dammit, she wanted him to know the answer.

“You have no idea?” she asked.

He sat looking at her. His gaze went to her mouth, then came back up to hers. “That was a dumb question.”

“Because you know the answer?” Her heart was already beating faster.

“Because it doesn’t matter what the answer is.”

Well,
that
wasn’t true. “I think you should let me answer.”

“No.” He faced forward again. “Drop it.”

Yep, he definitely knew the answer. “Nate, we could—”

“Drop. It.”

His voice was low, but the command was so firm that she stopped without thinking. She blinked at him. Holy crap. “You use that tone of voice in the bedroom and I’ll drop whatever you want—my panties, to my knees—”

His hand was against her mouth before she could blink. “Jesus, Emma.” He looked pained as he stared at her.

She smiled behind his hand. Another reaction. A good one. He wasn’t resistant. At all. She lifted a shoulder and waited for him to move his hand.

Finally, he sighed and dropped it. “Knock it off.”

“What? It’s called
Truth
or Dare.”

“I’m calling Michael.” Nate settled back in his seat and pulled his phone from his pocket.

“What? No.” She reached out and grabbed the phone. “You need to relax.”

“It’s been forty-five minutes.”

Forty-five minutes of her making him sweat. She loved it.

“And the cops haven’t showed up, you haven’t seen any naked people running around the yard, and no one’s carried a keg in,” she said.

“The keg could already be in there. Along with the naked people.”

The keg was probably already in there, but at least they hadn’t brought in another. “Nate…”

“Give me my phone, Emma.”

He was using her name more. What did that mean? Anything? She was tempted to tuck the phone in her bra and tell him he had to retrieve it. Instead, she said, “Use that voice again.”

His jaw tightened for a moment. “I don’t know what you mean.”

She smiled. “Yes you do. That sexy, I’m-in-charge voice. I bet you use that in surgery all the time.”

“I am in charge in surgery.”

“And with Michael, right? You use that tone with him?”

“I’m in charge with him too.”

Yeah, clearly
, she thought. But wisely didn’t say it out loud.

“Do you use it in the bedroom?” she asked, dropping her own voice. “I mean, it doesn’t matter. I’m going to
imagine
you using it in the bedroom anyway.”

He frowned at her. “What do you mean you’ll imagine it?”

She felt a surge of triumph. She was getting to him. “I mean, I’ll think about you taking charge and saying things like ‘take your clothes off’ in that voice…later. You know.”

He was still frowning. “Later?”

“Yes. Later. When I’m at home. In bed. With my vibrator.”

He looked like she’d punched him in the stomach.

And now
he’d
be thinking about her with her vibrator thinking about him later. Mission accomplished.

“I’m going inside.” He opened the door and started to get out.

Her feeling of achievement disappeared instantly and she reached out to grab his sleeve. “What? You can’t go in there!”

He pivoted to look at her, one foot still on the running board. “Why not?”

“Because it’s nuts!” She looked toward the party house. “And geez, they’ll think you’re the dean of the college or something.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”