Page 10 of Nathan
“I’m living my dream.”
No matter how many times I said it out loud, it still felt like a lie. I took a second to focus on everything I was grateful for, like my mindset coach had taught me.
I must have drifted off because I was woken up by the ringing of the phone on my nightstand. Rolling on my side, I reached out and answered while noticing that it was darker in the room.
“Yes?”
“Hello, Ms. Star. We have a gentleman here at reception saying that he’s meeting with you.”
“Who?” My mind was confused as I sat up and looked around, trying to remember what day it was and what city I was in.
“Nathan Robertson. He says that you’re not answering your phone.”
“What? I’m sorry. Yes.” I scrambled to find my phone, which had fallen onto the floor. There were three text messages from Nathan and one unanswered call.
“Ehh… tell him that I’ll call him. I just lost track of time. So sorry.”
“No problem, Ms. Star. I’ll tell him.”
Getting off my bed, I rushed to the mirror. My make-up was a bit smeared, but I didn’t look too bad. My hands brushed through my copper-colored curls, trying to hide the flat side I’d been sleeping on. Reaching for my lipstick, I stopped myself. This was ridiculous. Nathan and River didn’t care how I looked. They’d spent days with me in the wilderness where all River and I had access to were a bit of mascara and lip gloss. We were just going to chill in my suite and catch up.
Pressing call, I waited for Nathan to pick up.
“Hello.”
“Hey, Nathan. I’m sorry, but I was, ehh… reading a script, and I had my phone on silent.”
“That’s okay. How about I wait for you in the bar?”
“Or you and River could come to my room. I have a large suite.”
“Right. Uhm, I’m afraid, River couldn’t make it. She wasn’t feeling well, but she insisted that I didn’t stand you up.”
“Oh…” My pulse sped up. I hadn’t seen Nathan since January, but I’d thought about him often. The thought of being alone with him in my suite made acute heat spread in my body. “I’m sorry to hear that River isn’t feeling well. That sucks. You wanna come up alone then?”
“Nah…” Nathan laughed. “I would feel safer at the bar. I’ve seen your movies and know what kind of damage you can do to a man if he says the wrong thing. Come down and let me buy you a pint of good Irish beer.”
I wasn’t stupid. Nathan was telling me that he was here to please his sister and that he had no interest in being alone with me. When I last saw him, he’d been single and flirtatious, but I would bet a lot of money that a man like him didn’t stay single for long.
“Sure. Let me just change into something else, and I’ll meet you in five minutes. Oh, and Nathan…”
“Yes?”
“See if you can get a table in a corner with a bit of privacy.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Puffing my curls up with my fingers, I moved to the closet and considered what to wear. It took me mere seconds to pick out the short blue dress that always made me feel sexy. It was petty of me, but I went out my door with lipstick on, and a need to make Nathan regret that he rejected an invitation to my suite.
