Page 59 of Rescuing Nathaniel

“We’ll make a whole lot more progress that way,” she gushed, heading right into rambling mode because she felt a little self-conscious around Nathaniel. After all, he was drop-dead gorgeous, with a body to die for, and he was intelligent, witty, brave, protective, and a really good cook.

What girl wouldn't be weak at the knees in his presence?

“I might know how to source everything the internet has to offer to build a profile, but you’ll be able to bring that profile to life,” Ava continued. “After all, that’s your area of expertise.”

“Pretty sure I'm the brawn and you're the brain here, Aves.” Nathaniel threw in a self-deprecating smile that riled her up.

“Nuh-uh. No way. You are brain and brawn for sure.” There was no way Nathaniel wasn't both, the SEALs might recruit physically strong people, sure, but you also had to be mentally strong to endure hell week, and BUD/s, and everything else needed to be a SEAL.

“That’s sweet of you to say, but?—”

“No buts,” she cut him off firmly. “Unless you want to set me off into full-on ramble mode, and I must warn you, if you haven’t already figured it out, I don’t have an off switch once I start.”

Her teasing had him laughing, and when she patted the spot beside her on the couch, Nathaniel immediately moved to join her, setting his own laptop on his lap. There was a comradery between them that she didn't think was solely because of the time they’d spent together in Mexico. There was just something about them that clicked.

At least in her mind.

Now if she could just figure out where Nathaniel’s mind was.

Before she could bring anything up, because her motto was always to be as direct as she could be, but temper it with gentleness and tact, her phone rang. She might have ignored it, but it was the name of her jeweler on the screen, and she realized that while she was being held captive by the trafficking ring, the deadline to pick up a stunning diamond bracelet that had a broken clasp and was worth a small fortune had passed.

If she lost that bracelet, something she’d inherited from her grandmother, she’d be heartbroken. She’d had a great relationship with her grandmother growing up, and although her mom had tried to get possession of the bracelet, that had been her grandma’s favorite, she’d been unsuccessful. Her grandma had been Ava’s biggest supporter, and that bracelet was the only thing she had left of her.

“I’m so sorry, I have to take this. This jeweler is the best in the business, and she has a bracelet of mine worth almost fifty grand. I was supposed to pick it up weeks ago, but obviously, I couldn’t. I don’t know what I'm going to do if they got rid of it. It’s their policy, unclaimed items are forfeited after ten days, and I’m well past that.” It wasn't the cost of the bracelet, it was that it was her beloved grandma’s. It was irreplaceable even if she had enough money to buy another, which she did not.

“Ava, you’re rambling, and you missed the call,” Nathaniel informed her, which when she looked down at her phone, she realized was true.

With a groan, she shot him an apologetic smile and quickly opened the phone app to call the jeweler back. She would have sworn she saw disapproval in Nathaniel’s eyes, but she wrote it off as her being distracted. After all, what possible reason could he have for being disappointed in her?

* * *

March 7th

12:22 P.M.

His mood had only continuedto drop throughout the day.

It was to the point where he knew he was making it more than obvious that something was going on with him. Not that he’d ever been doing a good job at hiding it but now Ava had even stopped bothering to ask him what was wrong.

The phone call had been the final nail in the coffin.

This morning he’d resolved to do his best to put aside their vastly different upbringings and social statuses and just get to know Ava. When he’d been tossing and turning on her couch last night, so very aware of her all tucked up in her bed down the hall, he’d determined that he hated being judged on his past and shouldn’t do the same thing to someone else.

Then she went and talked about a bracelet worth almost fifty thousand dollars like it was nothing, just commonplace in her world, and he’d realized that no amount of wishful thinking was going to change the fact that they didn't belong together. She deserved someone who could drop tens of thousands of dollars on a single piece of jewelry, who could give her all the things she was accustomed to.

And that guy wasn't him.

“You want some help making lunch?” Ava asked as she breezed into the kitchen.

Her plan for the two of them to work together had kind of gone up in smoke after her phone call to the jeweler.

His fault.

Totally.

He hadn't been able to get past how easily she talked about such expensive jewelry, and he’d been belligerent and argumentative. They’d quickly drifted into silence, each focusing on their own work. Not that it had stopped him from sneaking as many unobtrusive glances at her as he could.

She was so pretty, so sweet, so hardworking, with that little furrow between her brow as she focused on her laptop. The bandage on her neck was a constant reminder of what she’d been willing to sacrifice for him.

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