Page 25 of Nathan
Leaving Dublin
Serena
I used to consider swimming boring, but that was before I got a waterproof audio player. Today I’d listened to a podcast that made me almost forget I was swimming. The topic of the podcast was how to solve dilemmas. Five opinionated experts gave their take on impossible dilemmas listeners had shared. One anonymous listener had slept with his brother’s girlfriend, and now she was pregnant. He wanted their input on whether or not to tell his brother.
Another listener was attracted to a guy from work, but with a no-dating policy, she was afraid of losing her job if she asked him out.
The expert's go-to answer was honesty, and I was fascinated by how easy they made it sound. As I listened, I thought about the web of lies and deceit that I’d come to accept as part of the Hollywood package. My identity had become a role I played with a fake name and a fake fiancé.
After an hour of swimming, I indulged in the Jacuzzi and saunas.
I didn’t talk to anyone except an Asian woman who didn’t speak much English but still encouraged me to jump into the polar pool, which was basically ice water. After a fast count to ten, I hurried out of the freezing water.
“Good, yes?” she asked with a friendly smile and bowed her head.
“Yes, but very cold.” I grinned and moved into the Finnish sauna to get warmed up after the ice plunge.
Sitting alone in the dry heat gave me a chance to reflect on what had happened last night. My mind battled over what part of the night to focus on. The last part had been shocking and disappointing. I was still trying to catch up to the fact that Storm had never told River about the agreement we had with the film studio. It made me feel awful that I’d caused another woman pain like that. Anger coiled in my stomach from thinking about how Storm had lied to my face when I’d specifically asked him if River was okay with it.
Last night had been more than the horrible ending, though. From the moment I walked into the bar and saw Nathan waiting for me, my body had vibrated with desire. Nathan had so effortlessly delivered the flirting and laughing that I’d craved. I’d always found him good looking with his delicious blend of dark and white that made for beautiful chocolate skin with puffy lips and brown eyes. But Nathan was more than just handsome. He had several qualities that attracted me to him. Not only was he tall, strong, and athletic, but his years in the military and his love for extreme sports had made him tough and taught him to push through physical pain and emotional distress.
When the film studio sent Storm and me on a survival trip to Spain in preparation for our roles in our upcoming movie,Beyond Tomorrow, I’d seen first hand how skilled and badass Nathan was. My comment that if the world went under, I’d want to be around Nathan, hadn’t been a joke. And yet, my favorite thing about him was the sweet and tender side of Nathan I’d seen come out whenever he was around his sister, River.
Thinking about the awful way last night had ended made my chest ache with regret. I wasn’t a fool, and I knew that with our living in two different countries, the chances of a real relationship were slim, but damn it, Nathan was the first man in a year whom I’d wanted to be intimate with. He’d made me so hungry for him that I was still left with a strong sexual longing. If only being intimate with Nathan hadn’t felt so incredible.
Once I realized he held resentment against me, I’d become defensive. His harsh judgment had felt unfair and hurtful.
Still, the way my night with Nathan had ended was driving me insane. Nathan wasn’t a man who threw compliments around, so for him to say that he found me irresistible had to mean something. He’d sounded so sincere.
I sighed from the overload of conflicting thoughts in my head and found it unbearable to stay in the sauna any longer.
Ninety minutes later, I walked into my hotel room and checked the time on the alarm clock. It was ten past eleven, which meant I had less than an hour to pack and get ready to go to London.
I was picking out an outfit when my phone rang.
“Hello.”
“Serena. Oh, hon, why haven’t you answered any of my calls? You had me so nervous,” Denise exclaimed.
“I’m fine. I spent the morning in the spa swimming, and then I got a facial and a deep tissue massage.”
“Have you talked to any journalists yet?”
“I’ve talked to hundreds of journalists. I’m on a press tour, remember?”
“Don’t be smart about this. We need to do some serious damage control.” Denise kept talking to me at a fast pace. “I’ve already prepared a statement, but you need to tell me right now who that man is and what he put in your drink to make you kiss him.”
I stiffened. “What man? What are you talking about?”
“There are pictures all over the Internet of you making out with a man in a bar in Dublin. What did you do?”
Putting Denise on speaker, I started scrolling through my emails and quickly found one from Denise with a link that I opened.
I stared at a photo of Nathan and me kissing in the bar last night. “That’s… ehh… that’s Nathan.”
“Nathan who?”
“Nathan Robertson.”
