Page 88 of Secrets in Love
Nate here again. Have you heard any news from Cheryl at the tennis club? It’s been days, and you’ve given me nothing.
I’m really keen to get a hold of the hall before Christmas, Brenno. I need this. Don’t make me remind you that I am the one that got you and your lovely wife together.
You owe me this.
Nate.
Surprisingly, my phone pinged with a reply almost immediately.
To:Fucking Nate
Subject:Fuck Off
Since you’re emailing me at 4am on my personal, not work address, I can safely tell you to fuck right off, you arrogant prick.
Also, I’m not sure how sleeping with, then ditching Dee on her 19th birthday is getting us together, but whatever. I have her now, lying naked next to me, and you have nothing but an apparently tiny dick and a six-month lease and option to purchase on a filthy old hall that smells like mouse shit.
Also, you’re a fucking asshole, and Evie is right to fuck you off back home alone. She can do better.
Also, Dee isn’t next to me. I just got home from the pub. I’m pissed as a fart and smell twice as bad. Dee is making me sleep on the couch. She was naked, though. I miss her.
Also, call me when you get home, and we’ll go out for a beer. Hopefully, Evie will be with you.
Brendan.
A massive fist pump heralded my success. With this hall, I was handing Evie exactly what Finn said I needed to…a purpose. Her very own dance studio.
This was it. This was the golden ticket that would have Evie’s ass in a plane seat before I could sayItoldyouso.
I had it all planned. As soon as we arrived home, we would begin renovations. The bones of the building were good, but the floors were old, the colors dated, and the bathrooms hadn’t been updated since the ‘50s. Brendan had warned me the tennis club wouldn’t foot the bill, and if they agreed to only lease and not sell, any work done was my cost—and loss—when the lease expired. The money meant nothing to me. I had enough saved to cover it all, and there was nothing in the world I would rather spend it on than securing Evie’s happiness and keeping her by my side. Mum squealed with delight when I first shared my idea and instantly promised the help of the CWA gals to organize a grand opening that everyone would be talking about. Even Dad was in on the act. Apparently, the minute I was off the phone, he was out in the shed, working on a hand-carved sign to hang above the door.
Miss Evie’s.
It was going to be perfect. I just had to convince Evie of that, and I was fairly positive…almost certain…kinda…that this was going to work.
Maybe.
That was where the next step—or person—in my plan came in.
After a short search of the house, I found Jocelyn in her study, trawling over the latest Tarrytown house plans Scarlett had sent her. Suddenly nervous, I hovered by the door. Not many women flustered me. I trusted my abilities to charm my way into and out of most situations, and I’d known Jocie for years. But the woman was incredibly intimidating and was rightly protective of Evie.
“Are you just going to just stand there and watch me, Nathaniel, or is there something I can help you with?” she asked briskly without shifting her gaze from the laptop.
“Sorry, Jocie. I just… I need to ask you a favor.”
“Does this favor involve my darling girl?”
“Very much so.”
“Hmm. Figured as much. And a ring?” Her eyes shot to mine as she pushed her glasses to the tip of her nose where they dangled precariously. “Because I’ll tell you now, she’s not ready for that, Nate. You pop the question now, and you’ll have her running for the hills.”
Taking the brutal blow to my ego as well as I could, I approached her desk with caution.
“Don’t stress. I’m not planning on proposing…not yet, anyway. I wanted to ask if Evie and I could stay at your place in Tarrytown for a few nights?”
Jocelyn closed her eyes and sighed while pinching the bridge of her nose. The woman thought I was an idiot. Just like Evie. However, Jocelyn’s patronizing eyerolls were much less of a turn-on.
“Nate, there is noplacein Tarrytown. There’s an empty block of land and a half-completed image on a screen. Scarlett is designing my home, remember?”
