Mirage - Alice Tribue Page 0,31
better believe for damn sure that I’d be finding out who the fuck he was. I would not automatically assume the worst.”
What can I say; he’s right. I should have asked, but I’m so used to men being jerks that I let my mind automatically think the worst.
“I don’t know what happened to you in the past, and you don’t have to tell me, but don’t let your past dictate what happens to you and me. I’m not them.”
“I don’t know what to say.” It’s the truth. I’m a little disappointed and a lot embarrassed by how I handled this.
He smiles. “You can say ‘I’m sorry for thinking the worst of you, babe.’”
“I’m sorry for thinking the worst of you, babe,” I repeat sweetly.
“You called me babe.”
“You told me to.”
“I like it.”
“I like it, too.” I reach up and touch his cheek. “Please don’t be mad at me. I’m not used to adult relationships, okay? I’ll try to do better.”
“I’m not mad at you.”
“You were pissed.”
“Can’t stay pissed at you, baby. That’s going to be a problem for me.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re probably going to pull a lot of shit like this, and I’m probably going to let you get away with it.” He lets out a sigh of mock horror.
“I don’t see the problem.”
“You wouldn’t,” he says with a grin. His eyes turn molten. “Come here.”
Normally, I’d never respond to a man telling me what to do, but with Nathan, I don’t hesitate. Maybe it’s because I realize how close I came to ruining this. I get up and walk around my desk and right into his arms, resting my forehead on his chest. He wraps his arms around me and kisses the top of my head.
“I’m sorry, Nathan.”
“It’s okay.” He wraps his fist in my hair and tugs, forcing my head up so that I can look at him. Our lips touch, and almost immediately, it turns from sweet to heated. His arms around me squeeze tighter and his kiss grows more intense. I’m about ten seconds from stripping bare for him when he pulls away. “I’m getting out of here and letting you get back to work before we get a little too carried away.”
“I’ve been known to get carried away a time or two.”
“No. You? I don’t believe it,” he teases.
“When will I see you again?”
“I promised Jennifer that I’d take her around the town tonight. How about tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow’s good.”
“Good.” He lowers his head to mine and kisses me again then pulls away and heads to my office door. He takes a quick look around and turns back to me. “You know you should really consider having a security guard here. It’s just you and Ivy, and it would be really easy for anyone to storm in here like I did.”
He has a point; I contract with Kyle on occasion when I need to make a statement, but he doesn’t do full-time security. It definitely wouldn’t be a bad idea to have someone in the front office to make sure it’s safe.
“That sounds expensive.”
“It can be, but you know me, remember? I can set you up with someone, and I’ll waive my fees. You’d really just be paying his salary.”
“You would do that?”
“For you? Yeah.”
“Okay,” I reply, thinking that I need to broach this carefully. Letting him get this close is not the way I normally operate, so regardless of how I feel about him, I need to protect myself. “The only thing is that anyone who works here signs a non-disclosure agreement.”
He cocks his head to the side looking at me with curiosity. “Why would they need to do that?”
“Well, because I deal with a lot of clients on the holistic end and with me having some of their medical records and private information on premises, it’s just easier that way.” Liar! I scream at myself internally.
“I see.” His eyes haven’t lost the curious gleam they had a moment ago, but he nods his acceptance. “I’m sure that won’t be a problem.”
“Okay, great.”
“I’ll call you later and let you know who I’m sending over. You let me know if you like him, and we’ll go from there.”
“Thank you for this.”
“It’s my pleasure, baby.” I get one last smile before he walks out, leaving me hoping that I haven’t just made a big mistake.
CHAPTER NINE
A few hours after he left my office this morning, Nathan called to let me know that he was sending Rick, my new potential security guard, over. He showed up a little bit after