Easy This Time - JH Croix Page 0,43
more than a rebound, something to soothe my stinging pride. I tumbled into sleep, wrapped in his warm, strong embrace.
Yet, it felt so easy, so right. My tendency to worry things to pieces was subdued, if only because I simply couldn’t even bring myself to go there. The last thought flickering through my mind before I fell into a deep, comforting sleep was that I couldn’t recall ever feeling this good with someone. As restless and as unsettled as I’d been for weeks now, I slept better that night than I had in months.
The following morning, I had a relaxing breakfast and coffee interlude with Nash. In spite of the stressors I was facing—my financial situation, and the news that Brett appeared to have stupidly made arrangements with a loan shark that put me in direct danger—I actually felt good.
Once again, the connection I felt with Nash was just so natural and felt so right. I didn’t quite know what to make of it, so I decided not to worry about it. I certainly had a long list of other worries.
Nash had gone down to his office and returned with a laptop. He was presently working while sipping his coffee. I was busy compiling a list of inns I intended to visit. Using Gabby’s list of recommendations as a starting point, I expanded from there.
My phone chimed on the table where Nash was sitting across from me. Spinning my phone around to glance at the screen, an unfamiliar number blinked at me as it continued to ring.
“Who is it?” Nash asked, his gaze alert.
“I don’t recognize the number. Could just be a robocall. Like everyone in the world, I get plenty of those,” I said dryly.
Nash sipped his coffee and commented, “Let’s see if they leave a message.”
Another moment passed after the ringing stopped, and then my phone chimed with a voicemail. I put it on speaker as soon as I realized it was Brett.
Mari, it’s Brett. I need you to call me a soon as you get this. Use this number.
My eyes met Nash’s across the table. “Well, should I call him back?”
“Absolutely. If you don’t mind, I’d like to call him back.”
“Feel free. I’ve about had enough of talking to him.”
“Mind if I call from your phone?”
“Of course not.”
Nash immediately reached for my phone and tapped to return the call. He put it on speaker, so I could hear the whole thing.
After two rings, Brett answered, “Thanks for calling back so quickly. Look, Mari—”
Nash cut in immediately. “This isn’t Mari, it’s Nash Reynolds. What do you need?”
“Why the hell are you listening to Mari’s messages and calling me back?” Brett asked quickly. I could hear the frustration in his tone and had to bite the insides of my cheeks to keep from snapping at him. As if he had any claim on me, or any right to have an opinion about Nash hearing my messages.
“The better question would be why the hell did you put her at risk?” Nash countered swiftly.
“What the fuck are you talking about? Look, Mari and I are in a relationship. I don’t know why you’re involved in the situation, but it’s none of your damn business.”
Catching Nash’s eye, I arched a brow in question, and he circled his hand in the air with a proceed motion.
I interjected. “Seriously, Brett? It’s none of your business why Nash is involved. He’s helping me because you fucking left me in one hell of a situation. You ran up all my credit cards and opened new ones. In my name. You also fucked me over on the lease on my apartment.”
“Mari, you don’t understand. I need you to remove that credit freeze, so I can have access to those credit cards. They’re jointly in our name.”
He was blatantly lying, and I knew it. “Stop lying, Brett. They’re solely in my name because we've been doing a little digging, pulling my credit report and I saw them. And no, I’m not lifting the credit freeze. As for acting like we have something here—that there’s still a relationship between us—that’s total bullshit. We dated for less than a year. In the last few months, for all intents and purposes we were hardly dating, and you damn well know it. I don’t know exactly why you’re trying to claim differently but it’s perfectly clear to me that you were just using me. Now, I’m worried about some loan shark coming after me since you put me smack in the middle