AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He pulled out and moved me so I was laying on my back on the lounge. He lowered himself beside me, leaning up on one elbow so not to crush me.
“I can’t believe that just gets better and better,” he smiled as he reached up to push a piece of hair out of my face.
I laughed. My orgasm was still shooting sparks through my body. “Neither can I.”
I was lying in his arms with my head on his bare chest. I could hear his heart beating against my cheek and his breath was coming out slow and steady as he started to drift off to sleep.
“Nathan, what happened to you? Why are you so against love?” I asked softly. I didn’t want to break the mood between us, but I just couldn’t let it go.
A long sigh escaped Nathan’s lips. “Are we going to go through this again? I don’t think I have the energy.”
“No. This has nothing to do with us. I just want to know why you stopped travelling and spend all your time at work. Why are you so against commitment? Most men your age want to settle down and have children.”
Nathan leaned back up on one elbow to look at me. “Nothing happened, Rose. I just don’t want to be tied down. My job is important to me and it’s really booming at the moment.”
“You’re lying,” I stated simply.
Nathan needed to talk about what happened, what caused him to be like this. I could tell it had been bottled up inside of him for years, eating away at his life. I could see it was becoming way too tiring and stressful. After everything he’d put me though, I still cared about him and wanted to be with him. Surely he could trust me with the truth?
Nathan reached down and trailed a finger over my skin, a gesture that always seemed to relaxed him. “Why do you care so much, Rose?”
“I told you, you’re starting to grow on me.” I smiled and Nathan playfully tickled me. “I don’t like seeing people I care about unhappy,” I continued my voice becoming serious. “I don’t think you’re happy with who you’ve become. There’s something you’re bottling up that is causing you to shut down and push away other people. Tell me about it, surely it can’t hurt?”
Nathan let out a long, sad sigh. He rolled over on to his back and looked at the ceiling so I couldn’t see just how painful this was to him.
“Four years ago, I met a woman in a café in Paris. We were inseparable the whole time we were there. She was Australian and on holidays, while I was in Paris on business. I guess we got caught up in the city of love because when we returned back to Australia two weeks later, I proposed to her. It was completely out of character for me, but I was smitten, I was completely in love. And you were right, the whole idea of kids and family was starting to appeal to me. We spent the next year planning the wedding.” Nathan paused, and I could see that he was trying to not let the memory upset him.
“My family tried to talk me out of marrying her straight away, but I have always been stubborn.” He shrugged. “I didn’t care what they said, I was in love. All I wanted was to marry her and raise a family, and Kylie said she wanted the same.” He drew a long breath before continuing.
“Kylie had always been a bit of a flirt, but I thought it was just her nature. She was just an affectionate person. So, when she met my best friend and my best man, Harrison, and started to flirt with him, I didn’t really take much notice. I thought it was just some harmless fun. Two weeks before the wedding I came home early from work. I thought I would surprise her and take her out to dinner...” Nathan went quiet for a moment and I could tell where this was going and my heart began to ache for him. I put a hand reassuringly on his stomach to encourage him to keep going.
“I found Kylie and Harrison together, in my bed,” Nathan said dryly, his disgust obvious.
“What did you do?” I asked quietly.
“I dragged him out of my bed and threw him outside completely naked,” Nathan laughed quietly at the thought. “Then I packed up all of Kylie’s stuff and kicked her out as well. Turns out Harrison wasn’t the first guy she’d been with since we were together. What makes me even angrier was the fact I gave her so much money. I paid off her mother’s house, gave her money to pay off her father’s gambling debts and I brought her everything she wanted. I could have dealt with all that, but then she had the nerve to turn around and try and sue me for more money. She claimed that we were in a de-facto relationship and she was entitled to half my assets.”
“Did she win?” I asked, leaning up on one elbow to look at him.
“We settled out of court. I gave her a small amount just so I could be done with her. I just wanted Kylie out of my life as quickly as possible.”
“You shouldn’t have given her anything. She sounds like a terrible person.”
Nathan shrugged. “I’ve learnt to be a better judge of character and not to be so trusting.”
“Is that why you dealt with Liam the way you did?” I asked, feeling even worse about what Liam had done. “He was someone you trusted. He told me once that the two of you got along and often stopped and had conversations.”
“I suppose so.” He stopped talking and gently touched my face. “You know when I made this offer for you to come and stay with me, I never really thought you’d actually do it. I thought I’d just be able to get a reaction out of your brother and he’d turn himself into the police. But then you popped up and said that you would do it, I didn’t know what to do, I had to follow through with it. I thought that if you wanted too, then I was going to let you.” Nathan looked at me and his face was serious.
“But trust me, Rose, I was never going to force you to sleep with me. I just pushed you, to scare you a little, to make you want to go home and let Liam deal with his own problems. And for being so sharp-tongued with me. I forced you to stay home all day hoping you’d leave, but also hoping that you wouldn’t.” He smiled. “You were just so damn irresistible. I didn’t care who got hurt as long as it wasn’t me. That’s why I haven’t had a serious relationship since it happened and I’m not ready to now.”
“Not all women are like that, Nathan,” I remarked gently.
Nathan smiled. “I know and part of me knows that you’re not the sort of person who would do something like that, but it’s just hard for me to let go of the past. It’s a heck of a lot easier for me not to let go of the past.”
“Surely you can’t live the rest of your life like this? It’s been four years. That’s a lot of your life to just waste and throw away.”
Nathan nodded. “I know and you’re right.” He leaned down and kissed me on my lips. “I want to say sorry for the way I’ve treated you. I want you to know that as soon as we get back home you are free to go. I do think your brother should finish his stay at the treatment centre before he comes back to work.” Nathan pulled me into his arms. “But you are welcome to stay with me if you want. I really do like having you around.”
