The Billionaire's Best Friend (The Sherbrookes of Newport) (6 page)

Nate glanced back and forth between Lauren and Kevin. So far, neither had shown any display of affection. Not a hug or a kiss?
Strange. Either the two of them were only friends despite Lauren’s claims otherwise, or their relationship was still in its early stages. Both options worked for him, although the first could make his task much easier.

“
Nice to see you again.” Kevin extended his hand.

“
Nate was just leaving,” Lauren said before he could say or do anything. “Give me ten minutes, and we can leave too.” Lauren took a step toward him. “Thanks for stopping by. It was good to see you.” Lauren clasped her hands behind her back as she met his gaze. “Sorry we couldn’t talk longer.”

The confusion and apprehension in her eyes betrayed her true feelings. She obviously wanted him as far away from her as possible right now.

“That’s okay. We’ll catch up some other time.” He took a step back toward the door.
Retreat.
The word rolled through him along with disgust. He wasn’t the kind of man who retreated. Yet at the moment he had no other option. She’d made that quite clear.

***

The theater exploded in another roar of laughter when Lisa Jones, the comedian on the stage, delivered the punch line. Lauren, however, remained silent. She had missed the first half of the joke, so the punch line made no sense to her. Actually, so far that night, she’d missed most of the jokes. Sure, she’d heard the comedian’s words, but she hadn’t processed most of them. Instead, her thoughts returned time and again to her past two conversations with Nate.

When she
’d opened the door that night, her first instinct had been to throw herself against him and wrap her arms around him. But that emotion quickly changed, and the urge to slam the door in his face took over. Thanks to sheer willpower, she’d avoided doing both.

Who did he think he was just dropping by like that? He could have called first. His mother, also her boss now that she
’d become principal at the elementary school, not only had her address, but also her cell phone number. How could he think she’d believe his line about missing her? He’d been the one to end things all those years ago, not her. She would’ve stayed with him as he went through the Naval Academy and whatever else the Marines required from him.

A smooth warm hand settled over hers, and Kevin
’s breath spread across her cheek. “Did you hear me?”

Lost in her own thoughts, she
’d tuned out the rest of the room, including her date. “Sorry. I’m a little tired tonight.” She gave him a small smile. “I spent most of yesterday helping Kelly decorate the nursery, and then I worked on this week’s lesson plans.”

The house lights overhead came up, filling the refurbished turn-of-the-century theater with light.
“There’s a fifteen- minute intermission. The cafe probably has some decent coffee.”

“
Sounds good.” Lauren stood.

Kevin kept a hand at the small of her back as they weaved through the crowded theater. Judging by the long lines outside the restrooms most patrons were making a bathroom stop before doing anything else.

“Your sister is due soon, right?”

They
’d had this conversation twice already. How could he have forgotten again? “Three weeks.” Lauren sat down at a covered table.

“
What do you think of the show?” Kevin took the seat next to her and handed her a coffee.

“
Great,” Lauren said, although she didn’t have an opinion. So far she’d managed to miss the entire thing. “Lisa Jones is hilarious. I don’t know how she manages to keep a straight face.” At least the few times she’d seen her on television she’d managed to get out the most over-the-top jokes without cracking a smile. Why would tonight be any different?

Kevin draped an arm across the back of her chair, his hand brushing against her arm.
“I preferred Carl Patterson myself. I thought Lisa’s jokes bordered on redneck territory.”

Lauren shrugged. Truthfully, when she
’d seen the show performed on a cable comedy channel, she’d much preferred Lisa’s down-to-earth comedy to Carl’s politically laced humor. Yet it didn’t shock her that Kevin either didn’t or couldn’t appreciate Lisa’s jokes. Even before the last two comedians went on tonight, she could guess which one he’d favor. The four comedians had been touring for years together and had done many television specials despite their different styles.

“
Are you driving back to Providence tonight?”

Kevin sipped his latte.
“No, I’m heading to my parents for the night. I have a meeting in Boston tomorrow morning, so I figured I’d stop in to say hello and spend the night.”

Ah yes, his elusive parents. They
’d been dating for months now, and she still hadn’t met them, even though their estate in Weston was less than an hour from her house. She’d hinted at wanting to meet them, but so far he’d not caught on. Or maybe he didn’t want her to meet them. Every time she thought that, she pushed the idea away. Still, the more time that passed, the more it popped up.

Lauren once again pushed the unpleasant thought away. One of these days she
’d meet his parents. “Does that mean you’ll be around this week?”

“
Unfortunately, no. After my meeting, I’m flying to Dallas for a few days.”

Holding back a sigh of disappointment, she reached for her coffee. How did Callie do it? Dylan traveled a lot. Even early in their relationship when they
’d done the long distance thing, Callie hadn’t complained. Yet it drove Lauren insane. Trying to make a long distance relationship work was difficult enough, but adding in Kevin’s frequent travel made it harder.

“
But I’ll be back in Providence late Friday night. Why don’t you come down Saturday morning and spend the weekend?”

Something akin to giddiness swept through her. He
’d never before invited her to the city to visit him. Instead, he always made the trip up to her. “I’d love to.”

Leaning closer, Kevin kissed her cheek, the musky cologne he wore wrapping around her.
“Excellent. If they’re not busy, perhaps Callie and her husband would like to join us for dinner Saturday night. We could meet them halfway.”

Over the theater
’s intercom, a bell rang signaling the end of intermission. “I’ll check with her.” In all honesty, she didn’t want them to have dinner together. Sure she adored Callie and thought Dylan was a great guy, but considering the amount of time she and Kevin got together, she didn’t feel like sharing him. But as they headed back into the theater for the remainder of the show, she pushed all the negative thoughts away. Kevin had asked her down to the city. It appeared as though their relationship was taking a more serious turn.

Chapter 3

Nate rounded the corner of Main Street and Union, his feet pounding the sidewalk. At the end of the leash, Maggie, the Boxer-Lab mix he
’d adopted earlier that week, ran along beside him. He’d grown up with a dog in the house. During his time in the Marines he’d missed the constant companionship a dog provided and promised himself he’d adopt a dog as soon as he settled in back home. The night after he confronted Lauren, he’d stopped in the local animal shelter. After hearing the story of how Maggie had been abandoned at a truck stop, he’d taken her home. While the shelter workers claimed the young dog was leery of strangers and had possibly been abused by her previous owner, she’d immediately taken to Nate. Since coming home with him, she hardly left his side when he was around.

If only he could win over another female as easily. His last conversation with Lauren had been a disaster. She
’d made it clear she didn’t want him back in her life. Lauren had moved on without him. And while a part of Nate urged himself to fight for her, to not give up on them being a couple again, he saw no other option at the present time.

Continuing on Union, Nate waved back at Mr. Crooks, his seventh grade gym teacher, who pulled grocery bags out of his car. Like many in New England, it looked as if the former gym teacher had picked up some extra food in preparation for the rare late winter storm the meteorologists were predicting for tomorrow. A few houses down, he glimpsed Steven Fowler and his son tossing a football around in the front yard. He
’d run into his former high school buddy earlier in the week and had been shocked to learn that the guy had a son. Of all the guys he’d hung with in high school, Steven Fowler was one of the last he’d expected to see with a child.

With a throw reminiscent of his days playing high school football, Steve tossed the ball back to his son at the far end of the yard and waved in Nate
’s direction.

Nate nodded and waved but didn
’t stop as he approached the house.

“
I expect to see your ass here tomorrow night for the Celtics game,” Steve called out when Nate got within hearing.

Nate nodded again and turned the corner. In high school he, along with Steve Fowler, Ben Fitzgerald, and Mitch Johnson, had always hung together. They
’d played on the same teams and always gathered to watch their Boston sports teams on television. While he’d lost touch with his buddies, they had stayed tight over the years and still got together regularly. When he’d run into Steve, the guy immediately invited him to join them for the Celtics game as if no time had passed.

But time had passed.
A lot of time. Damn it. At eighteen he’d had it all figured out. Before he and Lauren started their life together, he wanted to accomplish something. Be a part of something that was bigger than himself. So he’d applied to the Naval Academy in Annapolis. In his mind he’d get a degree from the Naval Academy and then serve with the Marines before joining the reserves and coming back for Lauren. And in his self-absorbed eighteen-year-old mind, she would be waiting for him. Then 9-11 happened and destroyed his well-ordered plan. He couldn’t let his fellow Marines, his brothers, fight and die while he returned home. So he remained and convinced himself Lauren would still be there. That she would forget the past and welcome him back as if no time had elapsed.

How fucking conceited could I
be?
Maybe, just maybe if he’d let her in on his plan or had come back even a few months earlier he would have had a chance. He hadn’t, though, and now he had to live with his decisions. Anger raged inside him as he continued down Lincoln before crossing onto Fairview Street toward his parents’ home. Without pausing, Nate jogged up the wooden stairs to the apartment over the garage, Maggie panting heavily behind him. The run had been an excellent way to get back into his exercise regimen. Over the past week he’d slipped out of his routine. The need for exercise hadn’t been what had sent him out, though. Exercise in general and especially running usually helped calm him. Yet tonight it hadn’t. In fact, he felt angrier now than before he left because he realized that while he wanted to get past the wall Lauren threw up between them, he needed to respect her wishes. He couldn’t force her to let him back into her life. The best he could hope for right now was a change of heart on her part.

***

Lauren wiped her feet on the welcome mat and closed the door behind her. “Jared call you back yet?” she asked when she spotted her sister across the room.

“
He’s meeting us at the hospital,” Kelly said, her face contorted with pain.

“
Do you have everything you need?”

Kelly nodded as she gripped the back of a chair and groaned.
“My bag has been packed for two weeks now.”

“
Let’s go, then.” Lauren snatched her sister’s jacket off the coat tree and pulled open the door. “Is this your bag?” she asked, pointing to the small suitcase on the floor. When Kelly nodded, she grabbed it. “Be careful. The stairs are a little slippery,” Lauren called over her shoulder. The concrete stairs were coated with about an inch of snow. According to yesterday’s forecast, the rare late March snowstorm was only supposed to drop about three to four inches of snow, but judging by the way it was coming down, she expected the estimate to go up.

“
I cannot believe it is snowing. It’s almost the end of March.”

“
Yeah, well, it looks like everything is on its own time schedule this year.” Lauren opened the car door for her sister. “The baby isn’t supposed to be here yet, either.”

After Kelly made herself as comfortable as possible in the passenger seat, Lauren slammed the door closed and walked around to the other side.
“I hope you and Jared decided on names finally.” Lauren pulled out onto the deserted street that hadn’t yet been touched by a plow. The last time she’d asked, her sister and brother-in-law still had not narrowed down their original list of fifteen names.

“
We picked Patrick if it is a boy, and if it’s a girl it’ll either be Beth or Alexa.”

Lauren kept up a steady stream of chatter during the long ride from Kelly
’s to the hospital. Most days the ride from Kelly’s house to the hospital only took about ten minutes. Today the ride took almost twenty because it seemed as if every nervous driver in Massachusetts was on the road. “You would think these people have never seen snow. I could walk to the hospital faster than this,” Lauren complained, once again stuck behind a slow-moving car. In the distance, she could see the hospital. “There’s sand on the road already, it’s not that slick.”