Page 46 of Nathan
Nathan’s hand rubbed his neck. “His pride is hurt, and he’s lashing out. It’s natural.”
“Why don’t you tell the world what you told me?”
“Because they aren’t listening. They already decided that you and I are the villains in this scandal. My friends and family know the truth, which is all that matters to me.”
“I still think you should tell your side of the story. If nothing else, it will makemelook better.”
“You? How will it make you look better?
“Right now, people think that I’m cheating on my fiancé with a violent lunatic.”
“Right, but in that sentence alone, there are at least three lies. You’re not engaged or cheating, and I’m not a violent lunatic.”
“I believe you.” My voice was soft and my shoulders lowered as my body relaxed. “I can’t blame you for standing up for your comrades. It’s just a shame that it ended so dramatically and cost you your career in the military.”
“I agree. There are days when I look back and regret that I didn’t report the incident, but there are things in my past that make it impossible for me to look away when people are preyed upon.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
“Do you mean about the army? That chapter of my life closed two years ago. It wasn’t by choice, and I still miss it, but it’s out of my hands.”
“No, I meant, what are you going to do while this media storm is raging? Are you going to hide and eat chocolate like me?”
Nathan yawned and stretched an arm in the air. “I’m leaving tomorrow morning. I just spoke to my friend whose family has a cabin up in Sweden. He said I’m welcome to borrow it. It’s by a lake in a forest, remote and peaceful, which is just what I need.”
I smiled. “That sounds nice.”
“Yes. Different from your tropical island, but nice. You’ve seen how happy I am in a tranquil forest. I don’t need much luxury.”
“How big is the cabin?”
“Hmm… not that big, but last summer, we went on a guys trip, and there were five of us.”
“So it has more than one bedroom?”
“Yes. Why?”
I looked down with a small smile before I pushed myself to say the outrageous thing that I was thinking, “Maybe I could come with you.”
Nathan’s eyebrows lifted. “You want to come with me to a small cabin in the woods?”
“Why not? I love nature too.” My neck was on fire, and I hoped the quality of his camera was low, so he couldn’t see how flaming red my face probably was. Nathan had suffered the wrath of the media after just one night with me. There was a big chance that he wouldn’t want to come near me again.
“Are you sure? There wouldn’t be much to do except run in the forest, read, and relax. There’s no TV or Wi-Fi. It’s an old hunting cabin with board games, and there are no neighbors.”
“Sounds perfect.”
The smile on Nathan’s face made everything lighter inside me.
“I’m planning on driving, though. River says the press has contacts that help them track plane tickets.”
I smacked my tongue. “That’s an old paranoid rumor… although sometimes I wonder if there’s truth to it.”
“How are we going to do this?” Nathan said, sounding like he was talking to himself.
“I’m in London still. Maybe I could rent a car and meet you somewhere. No, wait, I forgot… you people drive on the wrong side of the road.” I thought about it. “How about we charter a small private plane and fly to Sweden together? I’ll have my assistant organize it. She’s a wizard with that sort of thing, and it won’t be in the large database of airlines.”
“That could work.” Nathan gave two fast nods. “I’m taking the ferry to Liverpool tomorrow morning. That’s three hours from London, so if the plane leaves after one, I can make it. The nearest town to the cabin is called Mariestad, so once we know which airport is the closest, we can hire a car and drive the rest of the way.”
