Brazen Bossman: A Hero Club Novel, стр. 48

“It’s just everything with Mom,” I tell him.

“And… what else?” He pushes. “Did Mr. Fancy Pants upset you?”

I roll my eyes. “Don’t call him that.”

“That didn’t answer my question, Pipes. Kate told me what happened during the meeting today. She said you stood up for everyone when it seemed he couldn’t care less what he was doing. I’m proud of you.”

Kate. Yes! Perfect deflection.

“Speaking of Kate…” I say. “When are you going to fess up to what is going on between you two? She’s my best friend, Oliver.”

I place the knife on the cutting board then take handfuls of the sliced onion and dump them into a preheated, buttered pot with a delightful sizzle.

“That’s the thing, I don’t really know what to say about it. We are just enjoying spending time together. She’s a great girl.”

“She is, but I know your history with women, and if you hurt her, not only will I murder you, but she’ll have your balls on a platter. She doesn’t mess around. She may seem sweet and innocent, but she’s far from.”

“Oh, I am fully aware of how not innocent she is.” He smiles wide and wiggles his eyebrows.

“Okay, eww. Get out of here before I put YOU in this pot.” I nudge him with my elbow.

“Oliver! I need your help in the freezer.” We both turn toward the sound of our mother’s voice.

“Coming, Ma!” he says. “Pipes, I may not know what is going on with you and Nathanial, but make sure you are happy. No matter what happy looks like. Got it?”

He pinches my nose like he used to do when I was a little girl.

“Got it. You better go before she tries to do whatever she needs help with herself.”

“Save me a bowl of that, will ya?” He points to the pot then heads, making his way to the back of the kitchen to the freezers.

Over the next forty-five minutes, I stir the onions as they condense down and begin to caramelize, but my thoughts are on what Oliver said.

I know what would make me happy. Nathanial telling me how he really feels, that would make me happy. Being able to tell him how I feel, that would also make me very happy.

Holding him in my arms while he tells me what is really wrong with his father, because I know it’s not good, and he shouldn’t be navigating this alone, would make me even happier.

***

It’s nearing midnight on Thursday when I finally trudge up the stairs of my apartment building. I’m dead on my feet and absolutely exhausted, but what I see on my door sends a zing of energy into my blood.

There’s a piece of paper, folded in half, taped just underneath the peephole and a single flower stuck between to frame and the door handle.

I don’t even have to look at the note to know it’s from him, considering the paper looks creamy and luxurious.

I pull the flower from its home and press the bloom to my nose, inhaling the sweet, floral scent. It’s incredible, and maybe I’m losing my mind, but I swear I can smell him on it.

I tug the note from the door and unfold it. The paper is thick and soft… expensive. The note on the inside isn’t long, but it’s undeniably his handwriting.

Piper,

You’re right.

I want to let you in.

Come to my family home in The Hamptons with me this weekend.

Just you, me, the water, good food, and time alone to talk.

I hope you’ll consider it.

Nathanial

I’m still holding the note in my hand ten minutes later when I’m curled on my couch with a glass of warm whiskey on the table, begging to be chugged.

Nathanial hasn’t been in the office all week. He’s been working over at NCL Properties, and has left most of the day to day at our office for me and the rest of the staff to manage. That’s fine, though. We are good at what we do and have not missed a beat.

Even if I hate admitting it, I missed seeing him every day.

If I go with him this weekend, there will be no more hiding, on either side. The decision to go with him is a clear choice to rip myself open and bare everything to him, and that terrifies me.

It scares me because it leaves me vulnerable to being hurt, but even more than that, it scares me because I want to say yes so desperately. It’s like there is a siren buried somewhere deep in his chest that is calling to me, beckoning me to go to him, and say fuck everything else. Fuck all the consequences. Fuck the opinions. Fuck it all.

I open my email app and scroll through my message chain with Ida. If there is one glaring consistency in every piece of advice she has ever given me, it’s that I need to put me first, above everything else. Taking care of me matters. And right now, what “me” wants… is Nathanial.

I check the time on my cell. It’s nearing half past midnight, but if there is one thing I know without a doubt, it’s that whatever is going on inside of Nathanial’s mind and heart ensures that he is awake.

So… I slide my thumb over the screen of my phone and make my decision.

Nathanial

I’m tempted to make the drive back out to Brooklyn tonight to see that she made it home safely, even if she is going to turn down my offer.

There are so many outside sources putting strain on us separately that the only logical answer was to remove those things, even if just temporarily.

We managed to do that at my apartment the other night, and it was exactly what we both needed it to be.

The Hamptons will be that and even more. I’m already having thoughts of being in the ocean with her, kissing the salty water from her skin.

Don’t get ahead of yourself, Lennox. She has to say yes first.

My cell phone glides across my coffee