Felicia's Fling, page 15
He could tell she was uncertain. “Please? Give me a few days to think about what I’m going to say to them.”
He studied her carefully before walking toward her to pull her back into his arms. “All right. But soon. You owe it to me. We owe it to one another. This is not something I’m ashamed of. Hell, I’m so happy I could scream it from the rooftops.”
“Oh, Nate.” He saw the quick smile that lit up her face.
“I want to be there when you do tell your sister. I realize there might be some unpleasant moments. But we’re going to do this together. Agreed?”
“Agreed.”
“And you’ll come with me to tell my dad.”
Understanding the expression that crossed her face, he gave her a little shake. “It’s going to be okay, baby. I promise you. Everything will be fine.”
Chapter Eleven
Nate pulled into the driveway of Felicia’s sister and brother-in-law’s house. If he hadn’t promised his father that he would come to this barbeque, he would have skipped it. It had been a week since Felicia had agreed to tell her family about them, and she still hadn’t said anything. Nate was rapidly running out of patience. His temper had gotten shorter and shorter, to the point where even his men at work had commented on it. Usually very even-keeled, he had begun snapping about every little thing that went wrong on the job site. Dammit, he had to get himself under control.
The strain was beginning to tell on his relationship with Felicia, as well. Oh, the lovemaking was still hot as hell, but whenever Nate tried to talk to Felicia about when she was going to tell everyone the truth, it always ended up in an argument. He knew she was afraid. He understood it … sort of. But he also knew that waiting wasn’t going to do anyone any good. It was making things more difficult. Last night, he had really blown up at her when she’d told him once again that she didn’t think it was the right time. Hurt and angry, he had stormed out of her house. He had not spoken to her since.
After he left her, he had gone to Digger's. He’d shot pool and gotten a bit of a buzz from several beers. Hell, he had even danced with some of the chicks that always seemed to be hanging around. A couple of them had asked if he wanted to leave with them, made it very clear that they were available if he was so inclined, but he couldn’t do it. He didn’t want to pick up some anonymous body to take home and fuck. He wanted Felicia.
All night, whenever his cell phone had rung, he had ignored it. He was afraid of what he would say to Felicia if it were her calling, afraid he would really fuck things up. So he had thought it best if he completely avoided her until he could get himself under control. When he had eventually made it home, he had not been able to sleep, tossing and turning all night. He must have finally dozed off around three or four, and this morning he had awakened with a killer headache. No, he definitely was not in the mood for a party.
“Nate!” He looked up when he heard his name. Adam stood on the front porch, waving him in. He heaved a heavy sigh and got out of the car.
“Back again? I thought you didn’t get home much. Aren’t they treating you right in Athens?”
“Nah … everything’s fine. Mom just wanted me here for the party. And there wasn’t anything going on this weekend. So many people had gone home for Labor Day.”
After they shook hands, Adam quirked up an eyebrow. “You look like shit, Evans.”
His mouth curved up into a little half smile. “Thanks so much, bud.”
“I just call 'em like I see 'em. So what’s up?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t sleep too well last night, and I have this godawful headache that won’t stop.”
Adam grabbed his arm and tugged him around the side of the house, following the footpath that led toward the back deck, where the noise of the party could already be heard. “Come on, and I’ll get you some aspirin. Maybe we can find you a quiet corner.” Smiling at him, he added. “I’m not too keen on this party, either. Maybe we should ditch it and go somewhere else. A nice quiet bar and some uncomplicated female companionship sounds just about right. What do you say?”
“I don’t think so, Adam…”
“Why not, Nate? Is it that lady you were talking about the other night?"
Nate didn’t say anything, but Adam must have seen something because he laughed.
“Damn. You really are serious. Why didn’t you bring her tonight?”
Nate shook his head, wishing he were anywhere but here. “It’s complicated.”
Adam's eyes narrowed. “Complicated? Complicated how?” Moving around in front of him, Adam blocked his path as Nate tried to walk around him. “Oh, crap. Is she married, dude? Please tell me you haven’t gotten involved with a married woman. That is asking for trouble.”
He laughed and shook his head, not surprised at the assumption Adam had made. With as much hiding and secrecy that surrounded his and Felicia’s relationship, she might as well have been married. “No, she’s not married. It’s nothing like that. Look, it's just something I don't want to talk about … can't talk about.” Nate added when he saw the skeptical look his friend was giving him.
Adam nodded. "Right. Let’s join the party and forget all this heavy stuff. Oh, look,” he gestured toward the left. “There’s Aunt Felicia and Sam.” He waved, and Sam saw them and eagerly waved back, a big smile on her face when she saw him with Adam. “Come on over and say hello.”
Reluctantly, he allowed Adam to lead him along to where Felicia and her daughter stood talking to Meg and some of their friends, including his father.
She looked at him uncertainly when they walked up, and he could tell she didn’t know exactly how to behave around him. Hell, she acted like she thought he was going to blurt out the truth right this second. And actually, that plan did have something going for it. At least this limbo that they were living in would be finished. He was tempted to do it. She must have seen something in his eyes because hers grew round with apprehension. With fear. She was afraid of him? Fuck.
He knew he could never do it, could never betray her trust like that. This whole situation continued to piss him off. Why couldn’t she just admit to everyone that they were together? Why did she keep putting off telling her sister the truth. Was she having second thoughts?
“Hello, son. I’m glad you came.” His father’s voice cut through his thoughts.
Nate smiled at him. “Now, you know I would never miss a chance to eat some delicious barbeque.”
Jonathan laughed and Nate turned to Felicia.
“Hi, Felicia.”
“Nate. It’s good to see you again. How are you?”
“Fine, ma’am.” He added that “ma’am” to annoy her, and he apparently succeeded because her mouth pursed into a pout. Smiling grimly, he turned his attention to the hand that was tugging at his jeans.
He looked down. “Well, hello there, Princess Samantha. And how are you this afternoon?” He noticed something squirming in her arms. “Ahh … I see you brought Fluffy to the party.” When she held out the squirming furball, he stroked a finger across its head and the kitten gave his finger an inquisitive lick. Samantha giggled.
“Momma said he’d be nuttin’ but trouble, but finely she said he could come but I has to watch him real good and not let him get in the food or under nobody’s feet.”
Nate laughed. “Sounds like good advice.” He wanted to pick her up and give her a big hug. She’d come to mean so much to him as his love for her mother had grown. One day, hopefully, she would be his stepdaughter. Of course, it all depended on Felicia. “Well, you take good care of him. Lots of people with big feet here. We don’t want him getting squashed.”
“Oh, I’ll take vewy good care of ’em, Mr. Nate.”
He looked back up at Felicia where she stood stiffly before him, a tight little smile on her face. With a quick pat on Sam’s head, he turned back to Adam. “I'm going to grab something to eat.”
Adam agreed and they said goodbye to Felicia. After he and Adam had filled their plates, they found a place to sit with a few other friends.
Adam tried to talk to him while they ate, but Nate knew he was getting irritated at his monosyllabic responses. Finally he said, “Why the hell are you here, dude? You're acting like an ass.”
Nate knew he was acting like a jerk. He apologized. “I’m sorry, Adam. I guess I have a lot on my mind.”
“Nate, really, if you need to talk to someone, you know I’m willing to listen.”
He saw the concern on Adam's face and forced a smile. “Thanks. I … don’t think that would help a helluva lot. But I appreciate the offer, man.”
“Well, whoever she is, you'd better get things straight before you become a complete dickwad.” Adam's gaze was drawn to something over Nate's shoulder. He rolled his eyes. “Good grief. Aunt Felicia’s going to be pissed.”
Nate jerked his head up. “What?”
Adam nodded toward the deck where Meg stood introducing Felicia to a man Nate recognized as Henry Cruise, a local realtor. Nate knew that Henry was recently divorced and was pretty close to Felicia’s age.
“Mom’s matchmaking. She’s been worried about Aunt Felicia being alone so much. You know she tried to set her up with your dad, but apparently it was a no-go. I warned her to lay off. Aunt Felicia told her that she wasn’t interested in dating yet. But Mom is determined. She thinks Aunt Felicia is keeping to herself too much. All she does is teach and play with Samantha. Hell, you’re the only man she sees on a regular basis.” He took a sip of his beer, not really looking at Nate. “Hey, how are the renovations coming anyway, Nate? Nate, are you listening to me?”
Nate stared harder at Henry Cruise as the man smiled down at Felicia, Adam’s voice a low buzz in the back of his brain. His hands clenched into fists, and he barely stopped himself from storming over and laying claim to his woman. But he couldn’t. He didn’t have the right. Not until Felicia made it clear to everyone that she belonged to him. He struggled to control the impulse to sock the lecherous stare off Henry’s face. He tore his gaze away, and his eyes met Adam’s. His friend looked back and forth between him and Felicia with a look of dawning awareness on his face, and Nate knew the jig was up.
“Nate? Are you kidding me? Are you fucking kidding me? Aunt Felicia? You and my aunt? Is that who you’re involved with? I thought there was something at the ballgame the other night, but I decided there was no way…”
Nate grimaced but was unable to force a denial to his lips. Instead, he met Adam's gaze with a resigned one of his own.
“Well, son of a bitch.” Adam shook his head, looking like he was trying to wrap his mind around the idea of Nate and Felicia. “Well, well, well.” A smile appeared on his face. “Well, who would’ve guessed.” Adam's eyes narrowed. “So … is this a fling or something more serious?”
Nate contemplated lying. But why? Adam had guessed what he had been unable to hide. Why not tell him everything? God knows he needed someone to talk to about it. Someone who knew the truth. Someone who was outside the situation and could possibly offer him some advice.
“It’s damn serious. At least on my part.”
Leaning back, Adam crossed his arms. “Serious as in…”
He sighed. “I love her. I want to marry her.”
His eyebrows rose. “Wow! So … how does she feel?” He looked over where Felicia stood. “Does she love you, too?”
Nate shrugged. “She says she does.”
“So, why all the secrecy? Why haven’t you told anyone?”
His mouth tightened. “She wanted some time to tell Meg first before we went public, and so far she hasn’t worked up the nerve to do it. She’s a little … concerned … about our age difference and how my dad will react. Because … well…”
Adam gave a double take. “Oh. Yeah, I can see that might be a little hard. But hell, you’re all adults, right?”
“I thought so.” Nate's tone was annoyed, and he knew it. He looked away.
Adam moved in front of him so that Nate was forced to look straight at him. “Is that the problem? The fact that she won’t tell everyone about you two? Look, Nate, give her some time. I know it’s hard to be patient. But I’m sure it won’t be long.” His gaze cut back to Felicia.
Nate knew Adam was right, but he didn’t like it. “I’m trying to give her time, Adam, but it’s hard. Do you know how it feels for me to have to sit here and pretend there’s nothing between us while your mom parades every eligible man in town in front of her like some damn pimp?”
Adam chuckled. “A pimp? My mother? Oh, that’s priceless.” He slapped Nate on the back. “Come on, Nate. Look at Felicia. Does it look like she’s interested in other men?”
Nate’s eyes shot back to where Felicia was standing, shaking the hand of another unattached man her sister had dug up for her. And he knew right away what Adam meant. It was easy to tell from her body language that Felicia was uncomfortable with the whole situation and was trying not to offer the man any encouragement. When the man moved off, she tugged her sister’s arm and furiously whispered something in her ear. She turned on her heel and walked over to where Samantha sat on the ground playing with Fluffy, sending a gaze shooting over to Nate. She looked … hell, she looked pissed. He smiled.
When he turned back to Adam, he laughed.
“Liked that, didn't ya?” Adam’s eyes held a knowing look.
“I’m not gonna lie. I liked it a lot.”
“Well, like I said, don’t give up on her yet. I know my aunt. If she said she loves you, she means it. She’s not gonna change her mind. But I can understand her concern. As a guy…” he punched him lightly in the arm, “…well, it’s different. No one would say two words if you dated someone younger. But a woman … well, it’s good old double-standard time.” Nate could see Adam was serious. “Show her that you will stand by her. That you will support her decision. I promise you, she’ll eventually come around.”
“Eventually?” He questioned. “When I’m sixty, you mean? Yeah, that’ll be about right. When I’m sixty and she’s … what seventy-one, nobody will give a damn how old we are, will they? They’ll just be glad we’re still breathing.”
Adam laughed and shook his head. “Trust her. She’ll know when it’s the right time.”
Nate thought about what Adam had said for a minute. "When the hell did you get so smart, punk?"
Adam just grinned and got up to go throw their empty plates away. Nate knew it was a difficult position for a woman to be in. He’d heard the talk before whenever there had been an older woman in town involved with a much younger man. The “robbing the cradle” jokes and the “cougar” titles. Shit! It didn’t make for a very pleasant atmosphere. Maybe he had been out of line when he’d gotten so mad at her. He really needed to talk to her. To apologize.
Nate became aware of a commotion coming from the side of the house. Suddenly the neighbor’s dog, a big mutt with a bad temper named Rufus, came streaking around the corner and headed right for Samantha where she was playing with her kitten. “Shit,” he muttered, and began running toward the little girl.
As soon as the kitten spotted the dog, it sprang free of Samantha’s loose grip and raced across the yard. With a high-pitched, “Fluffy,” Samantha jumped up to follow, obviously anxious to protect her baby from the threat.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion for Nate. Before anyone could react to help the child, the animal had launched itself at the hissing cat. Samantha threw herself between the animals, screaming, “No, no. Fluffy.” She threw out her arm to protect her pet, and the dog bit down on it. She let out an ear-shattering scream.
For a moment, everyone seemed frozen, and then Felicia yelled and ran toward where the animal held her daughter in a vicious grip. “Sammy, oh God, Sam. Get that dog off my baby.”
Several men ran forward and tried to get the dog to release the child, but it did no good. The dog just growled. Nate was afraid that if the animal released Sam’s arm he might go for her throat instead. He looked around, eyes desperately searching for something to force the dog to turn loose and leave the girl alone.
Spying a garden hose curled up next to the flower bed, he dashed across the yard to grab it. He twisted the spigot so that the water was turned on full force. Sprinting back toward where the dog held the little girl, he raised the nozzle high and aimed it right at the dog’s face. The spray startled the dog into releasing Sam, and he yelped, backing up in surprise. As Nate moved closer, he kept the spray directed fully into the dog’s muzzle so that it continued moving away from Samantha. When the dog was a safe distance away, Felicia immediately moved in to scoop her daughter up into a tight grip. The rest of the men herded the dog out of the yard. As soon as the danger passed, Nate dropped the hose and shouted for someone to turn it off. He rushed to see if Samantha was all right.
The little girl’s arm hung down at an awkward angle, and Nate knew right away it was broken. There were also several puncture wounds that were bleeding badly from where the dog had held on to the girl with his teeth. She was crying brokenly as her mother crooned to her. “It’s okay, baby. It’s okay.”
Nate heard Samantha say, “Fluffy.”
Glancing around, he spotted the ball of fur huddled beneath the deck, hissing and spitting in a defensive posture. He walked over and picked up the trembling kitten.
“Here he is, Princess. See him? Don’t worry. He’s fine.” Samantha managed a weak smile.
Felicia looked at him, a stricken expression on her face. “What should we do?”
A hand touched him on his shoulder. “Nate? Let me closer. I’m a nurse, remember?”
He slid sideways as one of his father’s friends knelt down next to Samantha, gently checking out the wounded arm. After several minutes she turned to him. “If you’ll get me a towel or something to bandage it with, we’ll get her transported to the hospital as quickly as possible. She really needs a doctor to check this out.” Her voice lowered, “Nate, we also need to find out if that dog has had its shots. Rabies…” Her voice trailed off.
