How He Really Feels (He Feels Trilogy) (35 page)

He sighed and I listened to his end of the conversation. “Yeah, I can, but I’d prefer to wait a week or so… No, I just have some things I need to take care of… I understand. Okay. See you then.”

He ended the call and sighed again. “What’s going on?” I asked.

“I have to go to New York for some training, and Brennan wants me to meet the owners of BKG.”

“When?”

“We leave Sunday night.”

“How long will you be gone?”

Nick slowed to a stop at a red light. He looked over at me.
“Just for the week. We’ll get back in late Friday night. Baby, I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?”

“Because. I asked you to move in with me, and then you got in this accident, and I just want to be here, to be with you, to take care of you.” He ran his knuckles against my cheek.

“I know, Nick,” I said, leaning into his hand. “And you’ve done a wonderful job. I was thinking I’d be fine to return to work on Monday, anyway, and since I’ve got to finish out my whole two weeks, the sooner I get back, the sooner I can get the hell out of there so I can move to BKG.”

“You can’t even use your hand,” he said, pointing to the cast that wound around my thumb and up my arm.

“Good thing I’m right-handed,” I replied.

“Julianne, you can’t go back Monday. The doctor said you needed to wait.”

“He said a week, and Monday is a week since I woke up in the hospital. I’m fine, Nick. I could go back today.”

“You tried yesterday and you weren’t ready for it.”

“But all of the good sleep and great sex has really helped.”

“You’re not going to listen to me, are you?”

“Psh. Nope.
You’ll be out of town, so what are you going to do about it?”

“Good point.”

“I have to keep myself entertained while you’re out of town. Work seems like a better idea than having an affair.”

He laughed. “You’re too much sometimes.”

“I know. Love you, sweetie.”

“I love you, too,” he said, putting the car in park in my apartment complex parking lot.

I saw how much Nick had already packed for me when I entered my apartment. I watered my plants and threw out the rotting veggies in my vegetable drawer while Nick moved boxes and packed as much as he could into his BMW. This round took care of the rest of my clothes as well as my bedding, rugs, and bath towels. We didn’t really need my old, worn towels given that Nick had brand new, high-quality products, but I had to clear everything out of the apartment by the end of the next month anyway.

We headed back to his place with the load, and Nick did the majority of the work since I was limited with my cast. I was ready to get it off; it was a hindrance to moving out of my apartment, and it was starting to get itchy and bulky and just plain annoying. But I had to wait a few more weeks before my wrist would be healed.

We made a plan for my furniture; Nick had a friend who had a truck, so we would use that to move the remaining stuff out of my apartment, most likely the weekend after he returned from New York. We had plenty of time, though.

Before I knew it, it was Friday night and Nick said he had planned something special for me. The last time he had
planned something special over a weekend, he had taken me to a very romantic dinner after he had gotten the job at BKG and then he had asked me to move in with him.

“Are you still taking your painkillers?” he asked me.

I shook my head. I really was trying to get off of them, and I was dying for a glass of wine.

He grinned. “Put on something nice and pack an overnight bag.”

I wondered where he was taking me, and I was excited for the distraction after sleeping so much of the previous week away while I healed.

I took my time getting ready, partially because of the cast and partially because I wanted to look sexy for my man. My wrist was still sore, especially without the aid of painkillers, but I did my best with curling my hair and applying my make-up. Again, it helped that I wasn’t left-handed.

I searched my closet for a dress suitable for Nick’s surprise, and I settled on a short black dress that had a sparkly silver beaded jewel top. I paired it with sparkly silver pumps that glittered in the light, and I found the perfect complement of tiny diamond stud earrings that my parents had given me for my high school graduation gift and a simple rhinestone bracelet. I checked my reflection in the mirror and with my long hair curled and my make-up perfected, I was ready to go.

I headed down the stairs and into the kitchen, where I found my handsome man waiting for me. He was pouring us each a glass of wine when I appeared in the doorway. I couldn’t help but pause and stare at him. How did I get so damn lucky? He was gorgeous in a black suit jacket and gray shirt unbuttoned at the collar. His dark hair was perfectly mussed, and he focused on his task of pouring wine into two wine glasses, his lips pressed together in concentration. He glanced up mid-pour and then stopped, placing the bottle on the counter. Lust gleamed in his eye as he headed toward me. I held my cast behind my back so as not to ruin the effect of my
outfit, and between his rugged good looks and the effort I had put into my appearance, we made a gorgeous couple.

“How is it that every time we get ready to go out, all I want to do is stay in with you?” he whispered close to my ear, his breath tickling me.

I giggled.

“You are gorgeous,” he said, pulling back and motioning for me to turn around.
“Perfection.” He kissed my neck under my ear, sending tremors of delight up and down my skin.

“You look very handsome,” I said.

“No match for your beauty.”

I blushed all the way to my toes.

“Sorry, you distracted me there. Glass of wine before we leave?”

“Please.”

He handed me a glass and held his up in a toast. “To tonight,” he said simply. I clinked his glass and then took a sip. It was, of course, delicious, the perfect complement to the delectable man standing before me.

He leaned in and kissed me. “How did I get so lucky?” he asked.

“I was just wondering that myself.”

He grinned and we both took a sip of our wine. I couldn’t wait to see what he had in store for me.

I didn’t have to wait long, because soon we finished our drinks and he led me out to his car.

We drove for forty minutes, and I wondered the whole time where he was taking me. He pulled off the highway and we drove on toward our mystery location, listening to the radio and chatting the whole way.

He pulled into a long driveway, and I saw a Four Seasons sign before me. When we got closer, I saw that it said, “Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North.”

The valet opened my door for me and Nick got out and said something to the valet on his side. He came around to my side of the car and offered me his arm as we walked inside the lobby. He led me to a restaurant called Talavera, and we were immediately seated outside on the patio. It was a little before 5:00, and the sun was bright in the sky, but I could see that it was preparing itself for a gorgeous sunset.

Our waiter appeared and brought Nick a glass of wine. He took a sip and nodded, and then the waiter poured me a glass as well. Nick toasted me. “To my lovely Julianne. I love you, and I want to spend every second of my life showing you how much.”

I
clinked his glass and took a sip. It was, quite possibly, the most fantastic wine I had ever tasted in my life. “Nick, that was really sweet,” I said. “And so is the wine.”

Nick flashed me his grin, the special one he reserved just for when I was being cheeky with him, and the waiter appeared a moment later. “Sir, your lobster and corn bisque will be out momentarily.”

Nick nodded, but his attention never left me. “I pre-ordered our meal. I hope you don’t mind.”

“I wouldn’t have a clue what to order at a place this fancy.”

He chuckled. “I think you’ll be happy with what I’ve ordered.”

“The bisque sounds delightful.”

“This is fancier than we’re used to, isn’t it?”

I nodded. “Why so fancy?”

“I just wanted to treat you to something really special.”

“You’re succeeding.”

Our bisque arrived, and it was perfect, as was the main course (a New York Strip for him and a Filet for me) and dessert, a ridiculously decadent peanut butter and jelly chocolate cake.

After dinner, we took a walk through the mountains on paved sidewalks. The path was clear, but all around us were desert plants: all sorts of saguaro cacti, barrel cacti, and prickly pears, and ocotillo trees and Palo Verdes. I was still wearing my heels, but I loved how they looked on me so I didn’t care that we were hiking the sidewalks; the sun was just starting its descent into the mountains before us, and the view around us was so gorgeous that I didn’t even have a chance to focus on my feet. We stopped to watch the beauty of nature as the sun dipped behind the mountains and we were left with the light reflecting on the few wispy clouds in the sky. There were brilliant golds, deep pinks, and glowing oranges that I couldn’t even put into words. It was simply the most stunning scenery I had ever had the pleasure to witness. And with this attractive man by my side, I couldn’t have asked for anything more breathtaking.

He pulled me into his arms and kissed me gently, just once.

“Do you remember our first date?” he asked, pulling back but holding his hands flat against my back. I loved when he did that; it made me feel safe and warm and protected and loved.

I nodded. “How could I forget?”

“Do you remember what I told you?”

“You told me a lot of things. For one, you told me that you owned your own company, which turned out to be a total lie.”

He chuckled and winked at me. “I did say that, didn’t I?”

I smiled. “You also said that perhaps you found reasons to be near me at work, as I recall.”

“Yeah, that’s true. But there’s something else.”

I looked at him, puzzled.

“I said that it’s only been you since the day I met you. And you told me that it had only been me for you, too.”

“It’s true,” I whispered.

Our eyes met, and all I could see was love reflected back at me.
“For me, too. And it was then that I realized how much time we had wasted, Julianne. I had loved you for a year, but I never did anything about it. When I finally mustered the courage to be with you, I almost lost you forever first because of my own foolishness and then because of my jealousy and a third time because of your accident. And now that we’re together, now that we’ve come through all of that, I know that I could never live without you. Life wouldn’t be worth living without you in it.”

Tears pricked behind my eyes at his words. “I could never live without you, either,” I whispered, trying desperately to hold back the sudden wave of emotion I felt for this man.

His lips curved into a smile, and he placed another gentle kiss on my lips. He pulled back and gazed into my eyes, and then he brushed his knuckles against my cheek ever so softly, and I leaned into his hand, closing my eyes to his touch. I only opened my eyes when my cheek felt cold because his hand was gone, and he was down on his knee.

My heart sped up to an alarming rate as our eyes met and what he was doing finally dawned on me.

He took my hand in his, carefully and gently since he was taking my left hand, the one with the cast on my wrist. His eyes burned into mine. He spoke, and I was too stunned to do anything but listen. “It will always be only you. Everything in my life was insignificant until I met you, and now you are all that matters. No relationship I’ve ever had in my life can even come close to comparing to what I feel for you. You are my reason for living, for breathing, for being. And I will spend every day for the rest of my life trying to be good enough for you if you’ll let me. I want to be your husband. I want to call you my wife. Julianne, marry me.”

I couldn’t think. The world was spinning around me. Did I hear him correctly? He was still down on his knee, awaiting his answer, and apparently I had, in fact, heard him correctly. And I felt exactly the same way that he did. Every relationship I had ever been in flashed through my mind in a
second, and I knew that I would never, could never love like I loved with Nick. Everything before him had been totally insignificant, and I knew in my heart that this was the most important relationship in my life. This was my forever.

“Yes,” I whispered. “Yes, of course I’ll marry you.”

He stood, grinning, and pulled me into him. He kissed me hungrily, his mouth opening to mine, claiming me and everything I had inside of me. This was the last man I would ever kiss for the rest of my life. And I couldn’t be happier about it.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a box. He flipped it open, his eyes never leaving mine, and my eyes nearly popped out of my head at the size of the diamond he held out before me. It had to be at least three carats, and it was an Asscher cut with smaller round diamonds surrounding the big diamond and making their way down the band. It was the most gorgeous ring I had ever seen, and it sparkled brilliantly in the little light that was left in our day.