“You ready to go?” Henry asks. “I’ve been looking forward to this conference.” Nathan’s jaw ticks as he fights to control his temper.
“Me, too.” I laugh, trying to compensate for my rude pig of a boyfriend. Ooh God, please earth swallow me up now.
“Okay, got to go.” I turn to Nathan. “I’ll see you on Friday?”
His mouth twists as he glares at me.
“Don’t worry, Mercer, I’ll look after her.” Henry gives Nathan a cocky wink.
The blood drains from my face. Oh no.
Nathan steps forward and stands an inch from Henry’s face. “You touch one hair on her fucking head, Morgan, and see what happens to you.”
19
Eliza
“Nathan!” I snap.
Henry smiles broadly as Nathan glares at him, as if he’s excited by the challenge, “Down boy.” He chuckles and bends to pick up his bag, totally unfazed by Nathan’s threat. “See you at the gate, Lize.” He turns and walks off, and I close my eyes in disgust. How embarrassing.
I turn to Nathan. “I cannot fucking believe you just did that,” I whisper angrily.
“He baited me.” He glares after Henry.
“No, he did not.” I snatch my bag from him, but he hangs onto the handle, not letting it go. “He said he was looking forward the to the conference, nothing more, nothing less.”
He rolls his eyes.
“You know what? I’m actually looking forward to a break away from you.”
“What’s that supposed to fucking mean?”
“It means the whole world doesn’t revolve around you. I’m on a work conference, Nathan. Grow the fuck up.” I move to snatch my bag, but he still holds the handle, not letting me go.
“How do I think the whole world revolves around me?”
I shake my head in disgust. “Why don’t you go and ask fucking Stephanie the answer to that question? Isn’t she the Google you go to when you need to know something? I’m sure she will be happy to unzip your pants and oblige you with an answer.”
He narrows his eyes. “How long are you going to throw that in my face, Eliza?” He growls.
“As long as I fucking want.” I snatch the bag from him and storm off, adrenaline pumping through my veins. I have never been so embarrassed in my life. What must Henry think? Oh hell, the horror. My boyfriend gets in his face and warns him not to touch me on a work conference…. I cringe just thinking of it.
I get to the check-in gate, and Henry smiles as he waits for me. I smile, embarrassed as I approach him.
“I’m so sorry,” I splutter.
“That’s fine.” He smiles kindly. “If I had a girlfriend as hot as you, I’d be a pit bull too. Think nothing of it. It’s already forgotten.”
“Thanks.”
“Trouble in paradise?” He smirks.
I exhale heavily. “You could say that.”
“Next!” the girl on the desk calls.
Henry steps forward and hands over his ID. I glance back to see Nathan standing at the door watching us. His face is murderous. I turn back to the front and ignore him. I’m so mad at him, it isn’t funny.
Once cleared, we walk through the gates, and I don’t look back to Nathan. I don’t want to give him the satisfaction.
I wasn’t lying-I want to get away from him. He’s messing with my head.
* * *
The trip to Dallas was made in relative silence. Henry read and I watched a movie.
I’m still embarrassed by Nathan’s little caveman act, and my cheeks heat every time I think of it.
The car pulls up at our hotel, and Henry gets out with the driver. They retrieve our bags from the trunk. I get out of the car and look up at the signage.
The Ritz Carlton.
Well, at least that’s something. A week of luxury.
We check in and are given our keys. Thankfully, we are on different floors. We make our way to the elevator.
“Do you want to grab something to eat?” Henry asks.
I pause as I consider it. “I’m tired. I think I’m just going to grab some room service and have a hot bath.”
“Okay.” He smiles. “Call me if you need anything. I’ll be in the bar, drinking my tax deduction.” He winks.
I laugh. “Okay.” We ride up in the elevator.
“We have to be in the conference room at 9:00 a. m.,” he says.
“Do you want to meet for breakfast?”
“Yeah, sure. Call me when you’re ready.”
Another man gets into the elevator. Henry knows him.
“Hey.” They both laugh when they see each other. “I was wondering if you were going to be here,” says Henry to the other man.
They chatter as we ride up. I watch the dial over the door. “Okay, this is me.” The elevator arrives on my floor and the doors open. “Have a good night.” I smile.
“Bye.” Henry smiles casually.
“Goodbye,” the other man says.
I walk down the hall and shake my head. I wasn’t lying to Nathan; Henry doesn’t have the slightest bit of attraction to me. I don’t feel threatened or weird around him at all now.
I arrive at my room and let myself in. I’m pleasantly surprised. The room is big and nice. It has an oversized bath, and a view of the city. I go to the window and smile as I look at all the twinkling lights below.
I peruse through the room service menu and call reception.
“Hello, can I order some room service, please?”
“Sure, what would you like?”
I scan the choices. Give me all the calories. “I’ll have the prawn and chilli fettuccine, a bottle of white wine and the chocolate fudge cake.”
“Okay, it won’t be long.”
“Thank you.”
I unzip my suitcase and take my toiletries bag out. I put it in the bathroom and put my laptop on the charger for tomorrow.
I look in the fridge for something to drink while I wait for my wine. There’s a selection of mini bottles of spirits. I go through them and decide on a scotch and Coke. “This will do, I guess.”
I pour myself a drink and look out over the beautiful view.
I smile and sit back in the silent room, and for the first time in a long time, I feel myself beginning to relax.
It’s been a hectic month. There’s been a new job, finding out about Nathan, going away, getting my brains fucked out, falling in love… moving. Hell, moving house was huge, and I haven’t stopped working like a dog for two weeks. Every second of every day, I’ve been busy. No wonder I’m stressed out.
I get up and find my phone in my handbag.
10 missed calls: Nathan
I roll my eyes and switch the phone off. I’m not in the mood for him tonight.
I drink my scotch and stare out of the window, and I don’t want to think about a thing.
I can’t, there is too much to think about.
I just need to relax.
I lie in the darkness and watch the movie on television. I had a two-hour hot bath while I talked to April on the phone. Well, I didn’t really talk. I vented and she listened, and then I drank a bottle of wine. Now I’m in a state of bliss-a carbohydrate coma.
The phone in my room rings and I jump, not expecting it. I reach over the bed to answer it. “Hello.”
“Hi,” Nathan’s deep voice says.
I roll my eyes and lie back down. “Hi.”
“Not turning your phone on?”
“I’ve nothing to say.”
Silence hangs between us.
“You know, when he winked at me-.”
“I don’t want to hear it,” I cut him off.
“Look, I feel shitty enough about it, okay?”
I shake my head in disgust. It’s always all about him. “Okay,” I reply flatly.
“I apologize; I should have kept quiet.”
“Yeah, you should have.”
We fall silent.
“That’s it?” he asks.
“What do you want me to say, Nathan?”
He exhales heavily, and we fall silent again.
“Is your room nice?” he asks to try and make conversation.
I roll my eyes. “Yep.”
“You’re not going to talk to me?”
“I told you, I have nothing to say.”
“This is about the Stephanie thing, isn’t it?”
I shrug, is it…I don’t even know. “Maybe.”
“But we talked about it and you said you understood.”
“I didn’t say I understood. I acknowledged what happened. I also acknowledged that she’s your friend and you’ve been spending time with her since it happened.”
“Stop it.”
“Those are the facts, Nathan, are they not? Do you or do you not spend time with her?”
“At work, Eliza. I can’t help seeing her there.”
“At a ball, two meters from me, while you laugh at your secret jokes with her is not fucking work, Nathan. Stop insulting my intelligence.”
“But we spent all afternoon in bed. How can you still be going on about this?”
“I’m not going on about it.”
“You are.”