Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 62095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
“It’s her,” I blurted out.
What was she doing here?
“Huh?” Darius’s amusement morphed into confusion.
“It’s her. She’s here.”
Natalie Nolan.
So it was true. She was Gray’s family.
Darius followed my stare and lifted his eyebrows when he saw her.
“I did wonder about her last name—if she was related to Gray,” I admitted.
My brother faced me again with a smirk. “Your new client is Natalie?”
I looked to him sharply. “You know her?” Why did that irritate me?
Darius laughed again. “It’s Gray’s aunt. I can’t fucking wait to tell him. And I’m gonna buy that woman a drink sometime.”
“Fuck.” I ran a hand through my hair and wondered if I should go track down Lias. He was probably hiding in the cabin. Maybe he could share his hiding spot with me. Him, hiding from Ma. Me, hiding from a force of nature. Jesus Christ, this wasn’t happening. “It’s possible I’ve come off as an ass to her.”
“Yeah. I take that for granted.”
Thanks.
Fuck.
I suddenly felt nervous, and I didn’t fucking do nerves. I glanced around us again, hoping the answer would come to me, hoping a hiding spot would appear—or a distraction—but it looked like I was out of options. I had to man up and talk to her. She was getting closer, about to cross the stream, so it was only a matter of seconds before she spotted me.
“Give her a fresh start,” Darius told me. I furrowed my brow. A fresh start? “Go over to her, apologize for whatever you’ve done, introduce yourself, and start over.”
Was he high?
“Where the hell did that come from?” I asked.
He took my beer bottle from me. “Just trust me when I say it works. Go over to her.”
All right, all right, all right, I was going.
I scowled to myself and walked off, but I wasn’t sure I could give his suggestion a go. I had to own my shit and explain myself, which was hard when I hadn’t made up my mind about what I believed in. Coaching others was a goddamn breeze compared to coaching myself, and now my mind was fucked. Was I ready to make changes? Consequences be damned?
Natalie spotted me, and what struck me was that she wasn’t surprised to see me.
She’d known I was going to be here. Or she had suspected.
Was I supposed to be annoyed she hadn’t told me she was related to Gray? I’d had my thoughts about her relation too, and I hadn’t asked her. I reckoned it hadn’t mattered enough to me who she was related to.
The careful sheepishness was clear on her face when we were less than ten feet apart, but I was more focused on the fact that she was in pain. She didn’t want to be here. She’d put on a nice blouse thing with flowers on it, and she wore another pair of those ass-hugging leggings that looked like jeans, but her posture screamed of discomfort, her expression was a little pinched, makeup was minimal, and she hadn’t done that wavy thing with her hair. She’d just pulled it back in a high ponytail.
My life would be much easier if I could form the right words around her. Something about her beauty tripped me up. It was in her eyes, the shape of her pouty lips—fucking everything.
I’d learned it was wrong to comment on a woman’s appearance if you wanted to express you preferred something else, but I couldn’t lie. The minimal makeup did it for me. No glossy glue on her lips, none of that smoky thing around her eyes, just long lashes.
“Hey, Gray’s aunt,” I said with a faint smirk. “My brother just informed me we’re kinda family.”
“Heh.” She shifted Jayden’s gift in her arms and came to a stop. “Yeah… I’ve been trying to come up with a nice explanation for why I haven’t mentioned anything—because I’ll be honest, I’ve known from the start, pretty much.” She cleared her throat. “Truth be told, I didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t want there to be anything that could come between our professional relationship. You’re the best PT I’ve ever had.”
I smiled. Flattery went a long way, but she had nothing to worry about. “It’s fine. I get it. PTs are like shrinks and hairdressers—once you find them, you need to have the right chemistry too.”
Relief flashed in her brown eyes. They really were something else. “Exactly. Thank you for understanding. I guess I’m…protective. Of what you and I have, I mean. I don’t want to muddle things.”
Ah. Message received, loud and clear. She didn’t want to get personal whatsoever. It stung a fuckload, but I had to see it from her perspective. She wanted to be a mother. That was her big goal. And she wasn’t gonna let anyone stand in her way.
I inclined my head. “I respect that. We’ll keep things professional,” I said. She tilted her head and was about to say something, but my next words were already tumbling out. “Speaking strictly as your PT, of course—should you be here today? I’ve learned your tells for discomfort, you know.”