Made to Love (26 page)

“You awake?”

I opened my eyes.  We were now on the floor,
naked beneath a blanket, empty Chinese containers on the coffee table next to
us.  It was completely dark, and I realized I had dozed off.  I checked my
phone.  Brooke would probably be coming home anytime.

I yawned.  “I am now,” I mumbled.

Nathan bent his arms behind his head, and
stared up at the ceiling.  “I need to tell you something.”

My brow furrowed as I watched him in the dim
light.  “Okay.”

“Did I ever tell you that Thomas wanted out
of Elite?  He did.”

I said nothing, knowing this was not what he
wanted to tell me.  He was leading somewhere, and I shivered slightly as I
braced myself for whatever it was. 

“He wanted out,” he continued.  “He didn’t
want to spend the rest of his life playing politics with corporate suits and
under the thumb of our father.  He had other ideas, other dreams.  He never got
to see them, though.”  His voice hardened and I knew he was thinking of his
brother’s death. 

I moved closer and placed my hand on his
chest.  “I’m sorry.”

He rolled over to his side, taking my hand. 
“Anyway, I just wanted. . .what I was going to tell you, was that something has
come up with work.  I need to leave for a bit.”

The odd distance was back in his tone, and I
frowned.  What did this have to do with Thomas and his dreams?  “How long is ‘a
bit’?” I questioned, nervousness making my mouth dry and my tongue thick. 

“I’m not exactly sure, but I’m hoping no more
than a week, at most.”

I sat up, pulling the blanket up around my
shoulders.  “A week?  Where are you going?”  I could no longer hide the slight
tremor in my voice.  The uneasiness I had felt earlier had returned with a
vengeance.  Nathan traveled back and forth to Boston for work often, but this
was different.  Had he simply been going to Boston as usual, he would have said
so. 

“I have to make a few stops, actually.”  His
answer was vague, and didn’t tell me what I wanted to know. 

I pulled the blanket tighter.  “When do you
have to leave?”

“Tomorrow,” he sighed, as he sat up until we
were shoulder to shoulder.  “Believe me when I say I do not want to go.”

“Then don’t.  Can you get someone else to
take care of whatever it is?” 
Please don’t leave.

“I wish.”  He brought his knees up and rested
his arms on them.  I stared at his sculpted muscles, tattoos weaving their way
across his biceps.  “I’ll be back before you know it.”  He leaned into me, and
rested his head on mine.  “Miss me while I’m gone?”

He was leaving, and while he was doing his
best to pretend this was just like any other work trip, it wasn’t.  Something
was going on, something big, that he was intentionally keeping from me.  I knew
it with the same certainty I’d had when I’d opened my mother’s door all those
years ago to find her lifeless body.  I already felt him slipping away, and my
body filled with cold dread.   What wasn’t he telling me?

I traced a line of black ink on his arm with
my finger.  “Yes, I will.”  I locked my hands around his bicep and squeezed. 
“And you?”

He leaned back, and pulled me with him,
settling me on top of him.  “Baby, you have no idea.”

“Reagan, Mr. Preston would like a word.”

I had no chance to respond, and even as my
heart leapt at the thought Nathan had returned, it immediately shuddered to a
halt as Roger Preston barreled his way past Bailey and strode purposefully into
my office.

“That will be all, Mr. Cooper.  Thank you.” 

I stared up at Nathan’s father, and felt a
tingling at the back of my neck.  His presence was formidable, and I felt small
sitting at my desk while he hovered over me.  I stood and cleared my throat. 
“Mr. Preston, what can I—“

“The J & J account.  Are we all settled
there?” 

We were, and this man knew it.  He didn’t strike
me as someone who remained clueless about the status of Elite’s current
projects.  He was here for another reason.  He continued to stare at me from
eyes that were so much like his son’s, and I couldn’t dismiss the feeling that
he was sizing me up.  “Of course, Mr. Preston.”

“And you, Miss Andrews.  Are you settling in
here as well?”

The tingling increased and cold sweat
sprinkled my spine.  “I. . .yes, I am.  Thank you.”

What did he want?

He tilted his head slightly—again, so much
like his son—and smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes and was obviously
forced.  Outside of less than a handful of meetings, I had had no cause for one
on one contact with this man, and I had no idea why he was seeking me out
now.   “Excellent.”  He strolled over to a small bookcase that held a framed
photograph of me and Helen.  He picked it up and looked at it for a few
seconds, set it down and then turned back to me.  “Have you spoken to my son,
Nathanial?”

There it was.  This was what he was after;
the rest was just small talk.  I hadn’t heard from Nathan since he’d left my
apartment sometime in the night Tuesday, and yet I failed to see why this
mattered to his father.  Had something happened?  I heard the familiar buzz in
my ears and willed myself to remain calm.  “I believe your son is out of town,
sir,” I replied cautiously.

Roger Preston smirked.  “Of course he is, but
you didn’t answer my question.”

Deep breaths, that’s it.  Just calm down.  I
reached a hand up to smooth back my hair and saw it was shaking.  Refusing to
give this man the satisfaction of knowing he had me terrified, I crossed my
arms across my chest.  “I have not heard from him in three days.” 
I’ve
tried, but your son hasn’t bothered to respond to any of my texts or
voicemails,
I didn’t add.

He nodded, apparently satisfied.  “Well,
then.  I’ll leave you to your work.”

“Excuse me, Mr. Preston,” I called after him
as he walked toward the door.  “Have I done something wrong?”

“Why would you think that, Miss. Andrews?  Is
there something you aren’t telling me?”

NO! I wanted to scream.  There’s something
YOU aren’t telling ME!  “No, sir.  There isn’t.”

Again, that half-ass smile.  “Then I’m sure
you have nothing to worry about.  Have a good day, Miss Andrews.”

I stared after him, having no clue what had just
transpired.  Roger Preston’s visit, and his questions, left me uneasy.  Tears
burned at my eyes and I angrily wiped them away.   Whatever was going on with
Nathan and his father, I was being put in the middle and it was a place I had
no desire to be.  I didn’t even know where Nathan was, or exactly how long he
would be gone.  Was he even coming back, and would he even still want me when
he returned?  I knew nothing because he was telling me nothing.  I was being
kept in the dark, and the one person who should be putting my mind at ease was
MIA.  

I picked up my phone and dialed his number. 
Straight to voicemail, just as it had done all the other times I’d called in
the last three days.  I stabbed the end call button and threw my phone across
my desk, new tears welling up fresh in my eyes. 

Where are you?

Nathan

It had been just over four days since I’d
seen Reagan or heard her voice.  Roughly one hundred and ten hours, and it felt
an eternity.  It had taken every ounce of strength I still possessed to not
respond to any of her calls or texts.  There were things I had needed to do,
and I needed no distractions.  And I would give my father no reason to think
his demands were being ignored. 

Keeping her out of this, blissfully unaware
and unharmed, had been my greatest concern, and yet I knew that my actions were
doing the very thing I had wanted to shield her from.  My distance had to be
confusing her, but I had had to put into play the actions necessary to satisfy
the decisions that had been made.  Almost everything was in place, and the time
for explanations was near.  I only hoped I wasn’t too late and the damage to
our fragile relationship wasn’t already done.

Tyler Winston had been easy.  A few calls to
my personal attorney, a stopover in Vegas to meet with Winston’s board, and as
expected, he came to me at my hotel, restraining order be damned.  He’d already
dropped his cancerous lawsuit, courtesy of my father’s skills of persuasion,
and the hotel was back on track.  So what was I doing?  But this had become
personal.  He’d gone after Reagan out of jealous spite, and I couldn’t allow
that.  His threats and protests were futile; I now held the largest controlling
interest in Winston Suites.   And just in case he wanted to press it further, I
also held information proving his affair with a prominent city official’s wife,
which judging from the pictures,  relied heavily on S&M and huge amounts of
blow.   Pictures I was sure neither of them wanted made public.  The color had
drained from Winston’s face and he’d gone quietly.  He would remain the face of
Winston Suites, but would have no say in any of the decisions regarding it.

The other stops I’d made and things put into
place were still in motion, and I wished not for the first time that they were
done.  My father was being notified and I knew there would be hell to pay once
he realized what I had done.  But I was done worrying about or appeasing my
father.

I landed back in Manhattan and took a cab to
Reagan’s apartment.  I had to see her; it had been entirely too long.  Neither
she nor Brooke answered when I pressed the buzzer, and I cursed as I dug out my
cell.   She didn’t answer.  I fired off a quick text and hailed another cab
back to my apartment. 

I showered, and changed, and paced through my
apartment like a caged animal.  I had no idea where she was, and the need to
see her, to explain away the past few days and make it right again with us, was
overwhelming.   It was so great, in fact, that when I finally received a
response from George letting me know that a party was being thrown in Mr.
Cooper’s honor downtown, and perhaps Ms. Andrews was there, I almost wept in
relief. 

I drove like a maniac to the location George
had texted me, and after a substantial tip to the bouncer at the door, I was allowed
in.  Brightly colored strobes swirled in balls of light across the walls,
ceiling and dance floor, where masses of bodies gyrated in rhythm to the music
that was so loud I swore I could feel it pulsating in my chest.

Or maybe that was just my own rapidly beating
heart.

I scanned the crowd, but there was no sign of
her.  It was difficult to see anything in here.  I moved further into the club,
and found an empty spot along the wall, just off the main dance floor. 
Figuring it would be as good a spot as any, I settled in, my eyes continuously
searching for the only reason I was here.  

I wasn’t leaving until I’d seen her.

Reagan

“I have to get something to drink.  I’m
dying!”  I lifted my heavy hair away from my neck, cursing whatever fashion god
had convinced me leaving it down tonight had been a good idea.  Brooke waved at
me in response and continued her bump and grind against the blonde she’d zeroed
in on the minute we’d hit the dance floor.  He wasn’t complaining, and as he
bit his bottom lip before reaching for her waist, I figured it was a good
chance Brooke would be spending the night out. 

I clawed my way through the endless sea of
people, feeling as if I was swimming upstream.  I hadn’t made near as much
headway as I had hoped when I heard Bailey’s voice.  “Thank you all so very much
for coming out and celebrating with me!”

I turned and saw him up near the DJ, mic in
hand.  “And to James, who completely
surprised
me by putting this all
together.”  I smiled at his emphasis on the word surprised.  “They’re playing
our song.  Come dance with us.”  Bailey threw up his arms and hopped off the
stage as the first opening strains of Matt Cardle’s cover of “The First Time
Ever I Saw Your Face” began flowing from the speakers. 

Couples, whether they arrived here together
or were randomly formed once inside, streamed past me to flood the dance
floor.  I caught a glimpse of Brooke and Blonde Guy swaying gently in the far
corner, her face buried in his chest.  Good for her, I mused.  Lord knows she
needed the distraction.

My chest tightened as I watched them.  For
all my outward appearance at fun, I was a wreck inside. I missed Nathan
terribly and not hearing from him once in four days was taking its toll.  I
didn’t understand his sudden disappearance and my heart cracked further with
every day that passed. 

I heaved a heavy sigh and waved at Bailey,
who spotted me over James’s shoulder and broke out into a sly grin. 

It was then that I felt it.

It was as if the air around me shifted and I
felt tiny pinpricks of sensation as they spread rapidly across my neck and
lower back. 

Nathan was here.  I could feel it.

I drew in my breath and held it as a strong,
hard arm snaked around my waist, pulling me back against an equally hard body. 
My eyes fluttered shut as I relaxed against his chest, feeling his heart
slamming against my back.  I knew I needed to be furious with him, and I was,
but right now all I cared about was that he was here.  After four days of
unexplained silence, he was here.  Holding me.

His head dipped down and he pressed a hot
kiss in the curve of my neck, and suddenly it was too much.  Tears slipped from
my eyes and without speaking, I turned around and buried my face against his
chest, my fists gathering his shirt as I clutched at him .  He was indeed here,
and no matter where he’d gone or why, he’d come back to me and my relief was so
great I literally began to cry.

“Baby, no. . … no, please don’t cry,” he
whispered, tightening his arm around my waist, the other smoothing down my
hair.  “I’m here.  It’s okay.  I’m here,” he repeated.

I looked up at him, tears staining my
cheeks.  “Where did you go?  I didn’t hear from you and—“

“Shhhh, I know,” he interrupted. He leaned
down and kissed my cheek, before wiping tears away with his thumb.  “I had some
things I needed to do.  I hated every single second I was away from you.  You
can’t begin to know how much.” 

Tears fell anew at his words and not caring
who might see, I raised up on my tiptoes and kissed him on the mouth.  “Let’s
get out of here,” I breathed.

Two hours later, I lay facing him in the dim
light coming through his bedroom window, my body thoroughly sated from Nathan’s
attempt to make up for the last four days.  “Do you want to talk about it?”

His eyes clouded at my words, but then
cleared as he reached for my hand and inched closer.  “I am fully aware of how
these last few days must have appeared to you.  I truly didn’t see any other
way around it.”  He stared off in the distance above my shoulder, momentarily
lost in thought, before returning his gaze back to me.  “My father. . . .it’s
very complicated.  I need to see him first and then I can tell you everything. 
I promise.”

I ignored the annoying trace of anxiety that
had been my companion for the better part of the last week, and searched his
face.  “He came to see me, you know.  He kept asking me these questions about
if I knew where you were and if I had talked to you.”

He shook his head.  “Don’t worry about him,
Reagan.  This has nothing to do with you.  It’s about me and him; it always has
been.  Harassing my girlfriend is just another one of his shitty ways to get
back at me, and I will end it.  It’s not—“

He stopped suddenly, as if he’d only just
realized what he’d said.  Silence hung between us for several beats.  Anxiety
tried to rear her ugly face again, but I squashed her down with the tender wisp
of hope that caught in my chest.  I cleared my throat.  “Am I?”  I had never
been a girlfriend, anyone’s girlfriend.  The thought that I was Nathan’s
girlfriend, officially, was at once nerve-wracking and exhilarating.

He bit his bottom lip, appearing every bit as
nervous as I was, but pretending so hard to be otherwise.  “Sorry, I know you
didn’t want—”

“Am I?” I repeated. 

He swallowed.  “I think I have more than
amply proven I consider you to be.”  He squeezed my hand.  “It’s an official
title.  Boyfriend, girlfriend.  Are you okay with that?”

“I think I am.” 
I love you
, I wanted
to scream.  “I have a boyfriend,” I mused.  “Nathan Preston is my
boyfriend.
”

He laughed.  “Yeah, but have you seen his
girlfriend?  Chick is fucking hot!”

You’re gonna have to tell him, Reagan. 
About mom, the boys, Buddy. . .all of it. 

I pushed aside those depressing thoughts and  squealed
as he rolled over on his back and pulled me with him.  I lay on top of his
length, feeling giddy with a happiness I hadn’t felt in a very long time;
perhaps my whole life.  He reached up and cupped the sides of my face with his
hands, all teasing gone. 

I tilted my head.  “Promise me again that
tomorrow after you see your dad, you will explain these last four days to me.”

“I promise,” he vowed.  He lifted his head
and kissed me softly.  “We’re really gonna do this, you and me, right?”

I felt the familiar hardening against my belly
and I closed my eyes.  “Yes.  I think we are.”