Page 70 of Be My Reason

I see Nate reach for a tissue and wipe himself up. Then he looks over at the screen and finds my eyes. “Wow, Brooklyn!” He smiles. “You’ve been holding back on me. That was incredible.”

My goddess within takes a bow and blows air kisses to the crowd.

Chapter Twenty-eight

“To us!”Ryan exclaims, handing me a glass of Cristal that he purchased right after our most successful client meeting ever.

I think about how nervous I was earlier today during our proposal with the suits of a local literary publishing house. But we pulled it off, thanks to Ryan, and all of a sudden, Brooklyn’s Bakery is on the map.

I almost jump out of my skin when I hear the door to my apartment slam shut and see Nate storm in and glare at Ryan and me, eyeing the champagne glasses in our hands.

“Nate, you scared me!” I look at the clock and smile. “You’re early.”

“Apparently not early enough.”I can see the hurt in his eyes. He turns to head back out.

I quickly hand off my glass to Ryan and run after him, catching him in the stairway. “Nate, I’m not sure what you think is going on here, but let me explain.”

“It looked pretty damn clear to me what was going on.” He peels my hand off his arm.

I squeeze around him in the small stairwell, blocking his exit and then I put my hands on his chest. “Hold on. We just landed a huge catering account. Bigger than I thought would ever happen—it will double my business. We are celebrating. Please come back and celebrate with us. With me.” I stand on my toes and plant a kiss on his cheek and run my hand over the stubble on his jaw.

I can feel him relax under my touch. He leans back against the wall and closes his eyes and mutters something to himself about not being like her, but his words are garbled and I can’t make out what he is saying. He grabs my hands, pulling me against the length of his body. “Of course I will celebrate with you. God, Brooklyn, I’m sorry. I thought . . . when I heard him say ‘to us’,I thought—”

“I know, Nate.It’s okay.” I wrap my arms around him. “I’m yours . . . always.”

He picks me up to give me a proper kiss hello then he carries me back up the stairs into the apartment where a confused and slightly pissed off Ryan is packing up his papers to leave.“Ryan, don’t leave,” I beg. “You were the catalyst for this job. Please, stay and celebrate.”

He looks at Nate and they must have some brief, silent, man conversation with their eyes because he shakes his head at Nate and says to me, “No, that’s okay. You guys enjoy the rest of the champagne. I know how much you look forward to your time together.”

I start to protest when Nate pipes in, “Thanks man, that means a lot. We’ll see you around then.”

The door closes after Ryan makes aquick exit. Nate walks over and grabs the two half-full glasses, tops them off and says, “You heard the man. Let’s make good use of this.”

My body is still high from the memory of last night and adrenaline is still coursing through my veins from my meeting.I don’t want to ruin this night by fighting with Nate over Ryan. Eventually he will have to get used to my being around him.

So, I do what I do best, I fling myself at him and lose myself in him for the rest of the night.

~ ~ ~

Saturday mornings are like Christmas morning now. Waking up in Nate’s arms after being apart for the entire week is a precious gift. Welie in bed exploring each other, regaling stories of our week and giggling under the covers. These are the moments I will cherish the most when he leaves again tomorrow. I try not to think about it, I simply want to live in the moment.

My phone chirps. So much for the moment.

“Really?”Nate stretches his head over me to glance at the clock. “It’s only seven o’clock in the morning, what could possibly be so important?” he says, yawning.

I reach for my phone and see that Ryan has texted me.I read the text and sigh, knowing that this isn’t going to bode well. “Nate,” I say sweetly as I turn to him, “it seems that I have to go into work for a few hours. Ryan was able to set up some interviews for this morning.”

“Of course hewas.” He gets up and pulls his boxer briefs out of the pile of clothes we left at the side of the bed last night. As he’s walking away to the bathroom I hear him mumble, “Douchebag is getting me back for last night.”

I shout at him through the door he just slammed, “I’ll be quick.I promise. A few hours tops!”

“Whatever,” he grumbles. Then I hear him turn on the shower.

Less than two hours later,Missy has become the newest addition to Brooklyn’s Bakery. On my way back up to the apartment it dawns on me that I now have three employees and a partner. I’ve come a long way from a year ago when it was only Kaitlyn and me. I’m practically bouncing up the stairs. I can’t wait to crawl back into bed with Nate.

But I come up to an empty apartment. Nate has left me a note on the countertelling me that he’s gone for a run. I decide, instead of counting the minutes until his return, that I’ll head down and give Kaitlyn a little break.

While restocking the cases after the morning rush, I look out front and see Nate stretching after his run. I’m getting ready to drool over his hot, sweaty body when I notice the woman standing next to him. She is also hot and sweaty.My eyes are glued to the front window as I watch her remove her headband, shaking her hair out seductively over her shoulders. They talk for a few minutes and when she puts her hand on his forearm and laughs, my entire body stiffens. He shakes her hand and allows his hand to remain in hers a little too long. Then I watch Miss Hair-flipper mentally undress my boyfriend as he walks away from her and into the bakery.

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