Page 5 of Nick's Secret Baby
“I’m serious. Don’t fuck this up.”
I nodded and reached for the door. Time seemed to fly by and before I knew it, I was pulling up to an old hole in the wall diner. The street was nearly empty at this hour, so I pulled my truck up and stared at the door. The hours listed were from 6AM to 3PM and it was dark inside. They had been closed for hours. What I had hoped was her home address must have been where she was working. I looked around the neighborhood, trying to figure out if there was any sign of her, which was insane. I was in New York City, not Whitewood. I pulled away, pissed off, and headed back to the apartment. With any luck Kane would still be out so I could get some sleep and not have to hear about his night. I loved my brother, but his partying was enough to drive me mad. As the youngest boy of the bunch, he had always been a kid at heart. The problem was that kid was in his thirties now and still acted like he was a teenager.
My phone buzzed as I pulled into the parking garage to our building. I looked down at a message from Beckett.
Beckett: I already regret this.
Nick: It’s fine. But you could have told me it was a diner. I went there, and it’s closed.
Beckett: Probably for the best. Sleep on it Nick. Figure out what you want from Ansley, then go find her.
I made my way into a quiet apartment, thanking my lucky stars that Kane hadn’t brought someone back here and went to my room, closing the door behind me. I had known Beckett for a while now, and he had never once warned me off a girl. Something about Ansley had him on edge, and it made me even more unsettled than I had been over the last few months. I knew what I wanted from Ansley. I wanted her back, I wanted her to be mine, and I wanted everything to go back to the way it was before she just disappeared from my life. Once I had that I could breathe easier, until then I’d spend more time tossing and turning in my bed, wondering what the fuck had gone wrong.
Chapter Three
Ansley
Ifeltlikeshitthis morning. Which wasn’t unlike yesterday morning, or the morning before that. I had never been an early riser and being at the diner by 5AM to set up was the worst part of the job. I was thankful for the work, and without a referral from Beckett I probably never would have gotten hired. I had served drinks at a kink club; it wasn’t the same as serving breakfast to a bunch of angry New Yorkers every morning. The first month I spent more time crying than I had in my whole life. Most of it was because I missed Nick, but the rest had to do with how rude everyone was. I came to New York City after college to escape the drama of my small Midwest town and now I was crying like a wimp every time someone cursed at me.
This morning we were slammed; the weekends were by far the worst. I had the smallest section because I was still low in seniority but it didn’t matter. Saturday was a money day. The problem was I was two hours into my shift and I was already exhausted, my feet were swollen and my head was spinning. This kind of work wasn’t for the weary but I was starting to wonder if it was for me at all.
“Ans, your order’s up!” Stacy yelled from behind the bar.
I made my way through the line of people waiting to pay and around the back to pick up four hot plates for table number seven. I was good, I had this, and then I turned and saw the one person I had done my best to forget. The look on his face combined with his presence caused me to come to a dead stop, dropping all four plates. I didn’t even realize it had happened until everyone around me started yelling and Vicky pushed a mop into my hands as she started to clean up.
His eyes ran from my face all the way to my toes and then the fury set in. I had never seen Nick Saint angry. In fact, even as a dom, most of his aggression in rough play was only for my benefit. Sure, he was grumpy as hell to most people, but never to me. But anger? No, I hadn’t ever seen him mad and there was no way I ever wanted to see it again. I let the mop drop to the floor and turned to run. Vicky was yelling my name, and I ignored her. I moved as quickly as I could through the mob of people crowding the kitchen door and burst through it, grabbing my purse that hung by the back door, I pulled it open and ran.
“It’s okay, we’ll be okay,” I chanted to myself as I moved through the crowded parking lot. I spotted his truck, and the tears ran down my face. I had so many amazing memories that we had made in such a short time and now he’d found me and I couldn’t even face him.
I slowed down when I reached the next street. It was hard to control my breathing and I had this awful feeling like I was close to passing out. Sounds were distorted and my vision was getting blurry, but I just shook my head until it went away. I had to find some place to stop, somewhere he wouldn’t find me and then I could backtrack to my apartment. I reached for my cell and dialed my roommate Max.
“Hey, babe, what’s up?”
“Can you come get me?”
“Yeah, you okay?”
“I don’t know. He’s here Max. Nick found me and I ran. I just ran.”
“Okay, take a deep breath. Where are you?”
“I’m at the park down the street from the diner. I can’t believe I ran like that. He looked so mad, Max, he’ll never forgive me!” I was crying so hard I had lost a sense of where I was. It wasn’t until I heard his voice that I ever realized I wasn’t alone.
“I looked mad because I am mad. Hang up the phone, Ansley.”
I looked up and standing over me was the only man I had ever loved. The voice he used wasn’t one I had heard before. It wasn’t the kind, caring voice he spoke to me in when we were just ourselves, or the demanding one when we were in a scene. It was some combination of the two and it made me wonder what would happen next.
“He’s here, Max. I have to go.”
“Ansley, wait! Don’t hang up, I can come get you. Don’t go with him if you’re afraid.”
“I’m not afraid. He won’t hurt me,” I said, looking straight into Nick’s eyes. It was more of a plea than a statement, but it was the best I could do.
“Give me the phone,” Nick said, holding out his hand.
I didn’t think twice as I reached out and gave it to him. “Who are you to Ansley?”
I watched as Nick went on questioning Max. Who was he? How did we know each other? Were we dating? How long had we lived together? When he was finally satisfied with the answers, he hung up and put my phone in his pocket.
