Page 43 of Nathan

I playfully bump his shoulder. “I’m good with moods, Nate. Look at who I work for. But don’t shut me out. I’m here to listen anytime you’re ready to talk.”

He gives me a wide-eyed look and then slowly shakes his head. “You know what, Titch? One of these days, I might take you up on that.”

Chapter 18

Nate

As the Manhattan skyline grows closer, my mood takes another nosedive. Dex remains silent, but I sense her buzzing with excitement each time a new sight comes into view. The contrast with my own pit of dread that increases with every mile the cab eats up isn’t lost on me, but fuck, can’t I put my own feelings aside for a few days? Doesn’t she deserve a fun-filled vacation, especially with all the shit going on with her mom?

The familiar black cloud has descended, though, dragging me to dark places I don’t want to visit. Somehow, I find it easier to forget back home in LA, but faced with my brothers, and the city I used to adore, the memories always flood in. If only I could gouge out the part of my brain that found the letter. The part that makes me so fucking miserable.

The Williamsburg Bridge looms ahead. I asked the driver to go this way so Dex could see a few sights as we travel through Midtown Manhattan, but as we edge closer to Declan’s place, my thoughts darken, and a band pulls tight around my chest.

“Oh, look, it’s the Empire State Building,” Dex enthuses, clutching my arm.

I force a smile. Her excitement is so contagious. Each day that passes makes me thank my lucky stars my actions got her fired that day. If they hadn’t, she wouldn’t have come after me at the club, and she wouldn’t be sitting beside me now.

I seek out her hand, threading my fingers between hers. “I’ll take you if you like.”

She turns to me, her face shining. “Oh, would you? It’d be like Sleepless in Seattle. I love that movie.”

I laugh. “Sure, Titch. Whatever you want. I’ll even see if I can get us a table at the Rainbow Room.”

A furrow appears between her eyebrows. “What’s the Rainbow Room got to do with Sleepless in Seattle?”

I stare at her in mock horror. “Call yourself a fan? It’s only the restaurant where Meg Ryan’s character sees the heart on the top of the Empire State Building, and she knows she has to break up with her fiancé to be with the man she truly loves.”

Dex gives me an incredulous look and then breaks into a fit of giggles. “Nate O’Reilly, I wouldn’t have taken you for a chick-flick fan.”

I clear my throat. “Well, I wouldn’t say that, exactly.”

“Oh, yeah?” She’s still smiling. “What would you say?”

I hitch a shoulder. “I had a crush on Meg Ryan, okay? When I was a kid.”

Dex presses a hand to her chest. “That’s so sweet.”

Fucking sweet?

I unclip her seat belt and drag her across my lap. I cut off her squeal with my mouth, ignoring the wide-eyed stare of our driver in the rearview mirror.

Drawing back, I nip at her bottom lip. “Nothing sweet about me, little Dex, as you’ll find out later.”

“Promises, promises,” she says with an over-exaggerated wink.

I kiss her again, because every time I do, the chaos in my head quietens.

The cab jolts to a stop the moment the damn driver slams on the brakes. My hand shoots out against the seat in front to steady myself and to stop Dex sliding off my lap. Fuck’s sake. I should have arranged for a limousine to pick us up, but as usual, I’d been too busy dreading the trip to even think about it. Now I’m cursing the missed opportunity to show Dex a good time.

“Jesus,” I hiss, glaring when the driver taps his forefinger against the red counter showing the fare. “Not the way to get a fat tip, buddy.”

I dig out my wallet and hand over the fare while Dex gets out of the cab, then I open my door and walk around the back to grab our luggage from the trunk. No point in waiting for the driver to do it. No sooner have I slammed the trunk than he’s driven away.

Dex cranes her neck, looking up at the skyscraper. “So, this is where your brother lives?”

“One of them, yeah.” I sling my bag over my shoulder, pick up Dex’s suitcase—the woman does not travel light—and slip my free hand inside hers. “Declan and my other brothers lived at the Manhattan hotel for a while until it was up and running. Now they have their own places.”

I’d rather have gotten a hotel, but Declan wouldn’t hear of it, and if there’s one thing I know about my oldest brother it’s that arguing is futile.

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