Page 53 of Heart of Stone
A moment later, my parents entered the room, and it wasn’t lost on them that I’d been holding Natalia’s hand right up until I realized they were there.
I couldn’t worry about it, though.
Natalia and I were just friends, and after what she’d been through, I wasn’t going to be the guy who rushed her into something she might not have wanted. But that didn’t mean I wouldn’t give her everything I thought she deserved.
SEVENTEEN
Reid
The last thing I needed now was a complication.
I’d decided to stay here in Ohio, in the town where I grew up, for one reason and one reason alone—to finally gain ownership of this property, tear down the retreat, and turn it into something worthwhile.
But things were getting complicated now, and it was all because of one woman.
Natalia had me questioning all my original motivation for staying here and agreeing to fulfill my father’s role at the retreat. The craziest part about it was that she’d done it before I’d even gotten on good terms with her.
I often recalled the night of the farewell dinner, when she’d stepped up to give a speech in my place, doing it without a second thought. When I walked out that night, I was already considering how my plan would impact her. It was the reason I stayed as angry, as distant, as I had. If I kept that wall up, I could pretend that what happened was of no consequence.
But a woman like Natalia wasn’t ever going to be easy to steer clear of. Not for long, anyway.
And now that I knew more about her, about her story, and everything that this place meant to her, could I really take it all away from her?
I wasn’t so sure anymore, especially when I found myself unable to think of anything much beyond her. I was constantly wondering what she was doing, if she was happy, whether she was thinking of me.
With each day that passed, Natalia was cementing herself in my life. She was making me feel things I didn’t want to feel, things I shouldn’t consider feeling, if I stood any chance at finally turning Sandstone Heart into what I’d always wanted to.
It seemed, in so many ways, that the goalpost had shifted for me. And it had taken barely a month for it to happen.
Now, it was just after lunch on Friday, a week after Thanksgiving, and I was on my way to her office in hopes of finding her there. But my visit didn’t have anything to do with work.
Nope.
Evidently, I’d decided that things weren’t nearly complicated enough as it was, and the only thing to do was make it worse for myself by taking a stand and letting Natalia see just how much things had changed for me.
I made it to her office and was disappointed to see that she wasn’t there. Part of me wasn’t surprised. With Natalia being who she was, it was a sure bet she’d have left her office to have lunch with someone, either guests or work colleagues.
Deciding to go in search of her, hoping I’d catch her on her way back, I spun around and took two steps in the opposite direction when I came to a halt as my eyes landed on her.
Though I had a love/hate relationship with the outfits—namely the dresses and skirts—she wore to work, it appearedshe’d decided to keep things casual today. Natalia still looked as stunning as ever. I’d seen her at what could’ve been considered arguably her worst in terms of physical appearance, and even then, I thought she was beautiful. What I liked now was that I wouldn’t have to worry about asking her to change for us to do what I’d planned for us to do this afternoon.
Smiling brightly at me, Natalia made her final approach and stopped just a couple of feet in front of me. “Hey, Reid. What are you doing here? We didn’t have a meeting scheduled, did we?”
I shook my head. “No. Not at all. I didn’t realize you were out of your office.”
Pointing behind her at nothing in particular, she explained, “Danielle and I had lunch together today. We were overdue for it.”
“I assume all is well there…” I didn’t want to pry for information. I merely wanted Natalia to know that I cared enough to ask.
“Everything’s great. We’ve both been so busy and…preoccupied with other things lately that we haven’t had a lot of time to connect. Anyway, to what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from you this afternoon?”
The corners of my mouth tipped up in a smile. “Well, if it’s taken you this long to be able to see your best friend, I’m guessing it’s safe to say that you’re working too hard.”
Natalia rolled her eyes at me before stepping past me and through to her office. “Oh, Reid, you’re being ridiculous. I’m just doing my job.”
“And everything else you put on your plate,” I noted as I followed behind her.
She made it to her desk and rounded it, but she didn’t lower herself to her seat. Instead, she pinned her amused gaze on me. “You say that like it’s a problem. Shouldn’t you, as the temporary man in charge here, be glad that I’m keeping myself busy?”
