Taming the VIP Playboy (15 page)

She brushed past Cam and walked down the hallway and then out of the club. She stopped under the streetlights and looked back toward the rooftop. She thought she felt Nate watching her but she knew that couldn't be right. He had already moved on.

 

Nate watched Jen exit the club and walk slowly up the street to her car. He'd done this every night since they'd been apart. He couldn't stand the thought of anything happening to her. On the nights that he couldn't be here he asked one of his brothers to watch out for her.

Even though they'd broken up, he couldn't let her go. He couldn't get her out of his mind. She haunted him constantly and it was all he could do not to run back to her door and beg her to forgive him. To tell her he'd give her everything he had even though he couldn't love her.

He heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Cam walking toward him. “What did she say?”

Cam just shook his head and leaned against the railing at the edge of the rooftop area. “I think you need to talk to her yourself.”

Nate pushed his hands through his thick hair. “Do you think I don't want to? I want to go to her but I'm afraid I'll say anything to get her back. And I don't want to steal her future the way that jerk Carlos did.”

“You aren't going to do that. That young woman knows exactly what she wants. She's staying here, I suspect, to be near you.”

“What?”

“Yes. She knows that she'd have a different life if she took the job that Russell offered, but that's not important to her. In fact, she told me that the only thing important to her is family and building a life here in Miami.”

Nate turned away from his brother. He was tempted to go after Jen right now. But he knew that he couldn't. He knew that if he went now he would have no idea what to say.

“I want her back, Cam.”

“Then get her back, Nate. There is no reason for the two of you to be so miserable apart.”

“She's miserable?”

“I doubt she's slept in the entire time since you broke up. She's thinner than she was before and she spends every waking hour here at the club rehearsing for the anniversary celebration even though now we aren't sure we are going to be able to have it since the community board is throwing every legal obstacle in front of us that they can.”

She was pouring herself into dancing again but this
time the ones to benefit would be the Stern brothers and Luna Azul. “I didn't want that for her.”

“What did you want?”

Nate tipped his head back and looked up at the starry sky. “I want her. I need her in my life, Cam.”

“What's stopping you from having her?”

His own stubbornness, he thought, and the fact that he was afraid to admit the most important thing of his life.

He loved her.

That was it. He'd known it for a while but had been afraid to define what it was he felt for her. He wanted to pretend that he could control his emotions. Could control how he felt about her but now that they were apart, he'd come to realize he wanted her even more than he'd thought he could.

It wasn't just the physical side of things, though he did long to hold her naked in his arms again. He wanted to make love to her over and over again to reinforce the bonds of love between them. But he also just wanted to sit quietly with her in the morning as they started the day.

“I need your help,” he said to Cam.

“Um, what the hell do you think I'm doing by talking to Jen at midnight?”

“Shut up, Cam. This is serious. I need to get Jen back and the only way I'm going to do that is to prove to her that I love her.”

Cam nodded. “Tell me what you need.”

“I think I need to do this right. I'm going to ask her to marry me. I want to make up for the way I acted when she told me she loved me.”

“Again, Nate, what can I do?”

Nate didn't know. He was still trying to figure
everything out. And he was operating from a place of fear. What if it was too late, and she'd already decided he wasn't worth her time? What if she'd fallen out of love with him?

He needed to stack the deck in his favor. “I need her sister and her nephew on my side.”

“I don't think I can help you there.”

“I know you can't. Will you ask our party planner, Emma, to help you plan the perfect dinner up here under the stars?” Nate asked. The event planner would know what a woman wanted. “Tell her I want the perfect romantic fantasy that every woman has for the night she gets engaged.”

Cam didn't seem too happy about the request, but he nodded. “I'll do it.”

“Great. Now I have to do everything else.”

“When is the dream night going to take place?” Cam asked.

“Tomorrow night. I think…will you call Jen tomorrow and tell her to take the day off. I'm going to arrange for a day at the spa for her…to make up for all the long hours she put in here at the club.”

“Okay. Anything else?”

“No, that's it. The rest is up to me.”

After Cam left, Nate stayed there on the rooftop garden area making notes and a long list of all the things he had to do. When he had the list finalized he got in his car to head home but found himself in Jen's neighborhood sitting in front her house.

He knew it was crazy but he needed to be closer to her. Now that he'd admitted to himself he loved her, he wanted to go to her and tell her. He needed to try to fix everything that he'd nearly let slip away.

He hoped he could fix it. Prayed that he hadn't
ruined everything by letting her walk out of his life. Because he'd just realized that his mom had been wrong about men and weakness. Sometimes, Nate realized, something like love could make a man weak in one sense but having the right woman love him back could make him stronger in his entire life.

J
en tried to relax at The Boutique Spa at the Ritz-Carlton in Coconut Grove. She'd been surprised when a courier from Cam's office had arrived at her home at ten this morning and told her she was taking the day off. He wanted her pampered and rested before she arrived at the club at five o'clock tonight.

She'd almost turned down the offer of the day off but the courier had told her she had no option. He was to take her to the spa and stay with her to drive her home when she was done relaxing.

She had been massaged and pampered like a princess and she loved every second of it. She had a manicure and a pedicure and a facial and that made her a little sad because she was going to be glowing and beautiful when she left the spa but the only man who she wanted to see—Nate—would never know.

She had to stop thinking of him all the time. But that
was hard. She still had the picture he'd taken of the two of them on his yacht stored on her phone and she found herself looking at it more and more often as the days went by. It was exactly two weeks today since they'd broken up.

She wished she could report that she no longer loved him, but that wasn't about to happen. Her heart was stubbornly sticking to Nate as the man for her. And she didn't know how she was going to keep going until she fell out of love with him—if she ever did.

Her phone rang as she was finishing up at the spa. “Hello, Marcia.”

“Jen. I have the afternoon off and thought we could meet up and go shopping,” her sister said.

“Meet up where? I have one of the Luna Azul employees who is driving me around today.”

“I'll come pick you up and we can go to Nordstrom's and do a little dress shopping. I need something nice to wear to a dinner with the partners next week. I think they are going to offer me junior partner.”

“Really?” Jen asked. “I'm so excited for you, sweetie. All of your hard work is finally paying off.”

“Yes, it is. And yours will, too. I want to have a girls' afternoon.”

“Okay,” Jen said. “I'm so relaxed from my massage and treatments. That sounds like the perfect way to continue my day off.”

“Good. I'll be there in fifteen minutes.”

“Okay. Do we need to get Riley after school?”

“No, Lori is picking him up. The boys have a project they are working on.”

Twenty minutes later, Jen was seated in Marcia's Audi convertible driving toward Nordstrom's. They spent the rest of the afternoon trying on dresses and both walked
away with two new purchases. She had fun with her sister just laughing and for a few moments she forgot her heart was broken.

That was an eye-opening thing because for the first time, she realized she could still have a good life without Nate. It wouldn't be as happy as it could be if he'd loved her back, but she wouldn't be a miserable woman with her broken heart.

Her cell phone pinged just as they got home and she glanced down at the screen to see it was a text message from Nate.

She hesitated for a moment then opened the message.
I need to see you tonight. Please meet me at the rooftop club at five-thirty.

“Nate wants me to meet him tonight. Why do you think he wants that?”

Marcia shrugged. “I'm not sure.”

“Last night, Cam tried to convince me that I should have taken the job with Russell. Do you think that Nate is going to try now?”

“I don't think so.”

“What if he does? What if Nate doesn't want me around anymore and he tried to get Cam to let me go…”

“
Stop.
That's just crazy talk. Get dressed, then see what Nate wants. I think you should wear that red dress you got today and make him realize all he's missing.”

Jen glanced over at her sister. “You think so?”

“Yes. Let him see everything he gave up when he walked out on you.”

Technically, she'd been the one to walk away. But she didn't argue with her sister. Instead, she sent Nate a text telling him she'd meet him later that night for dinner.

She didn't let herself hope that he might have changed
his mind. Maybe her talk with Cam had convinced Nate's brother that she was sticking around for a while and Nate wanted to make sure they had no hard feelings between them.

She had no idea what he wanted. She only knew that the thought of seeing him tonight excited her. She had missed him. And even if this was the last time they were alone together, she wanted to make the most of it.

She took her time getting dressed. Made sure her makeup was flawlessly applied and then she did her hair. She let the long thick length stay down and when she put on her slim-fitting red dress and the killer stiletto heels she bought to go with it, she knew she looked good.

In fact, she thought she looked as beautiful as Nate had always told her she was.

She walked out of her bedroom and Marcia whistled. “You are going to knock that man on his ass.”

“He's used to sexy women,” Jen said. She'd never been in this situation before. “I'm almost afraid to go tonight.”

“Don't worry. Everything will work out okay.”

“Are you sure?” Jen asked.

Marcia laughed and shook her head. “No, I'm not, but I want it to work out for you, Jen. One of us deserves to be happy with the man we love.”

She took those words with her as she drove into Little Havana and to Luna Azul.

 

Nate was beyond nervous as he waited for Jen to arrive. The rooftop garden had been turned into a mini-paradise. There were flowers everywhere and Emma had pulled out the stops by bringing in fountains and trees adorned with twinkle lights and brightly colored Japanese lanterns.

The path from the rooftop entrance to the place where they would dine had been carpeted and rose petals sprinkled to lead the way to him and the table. Nate wore his tux and had a bottle of champagne chilling.

In his pocket was an antique engagement ring he'd found after spending several hours going from jewelry store to jewelry store searching for the one ring that seemed made for Jen.

Now he had everything in place. He'd made this area as perfect as he could and the only variable left was the human factor. The one thing he couldn't control.

In his mind he'd rehearsed what he'd say to her. But he always hesitated when he got to confessing his love. He had no idea how those words were going to sound when he said them and he was a little afraid she'd throw them back in his face.

But he wasn't going to let those fears stop him. Tonight he was going to ask her to marry him. He was going to tell her he loved her and they were going to have a chance at having a life together.

He'd invited his brothers and her sister and nephew to join them later in the evening for dessert and he really hoped they'd all be celebrating.

His phone pinged and he glanced down at the screen. The text message was from Cam.

She's here.

Wish me luck,
Nate texted back.

He cued the music on his iPod and had Dean Martin ready to go as soon as she arrived. There was little to do but wait.

As soon as he saw her, he forgot to breathe. She was beautiful. No, she was the most beautiful woman in the world. He couldn't do anything but stare at her. And
when she stopped walking and just looked at him, he was afraid she was going to turn and leave him.

“You are gorgeous,” he said. “Come over here.”

“Thank you,” she said, but stayed where she was. “You are very handsome in your tux.”

He bowed his head to acknowledge her compliment. “Please come to me, Jen.”

She shook her head. “I think I'm dreaming, Nate. I'm afraid to take another step and wake up and find…that this isn't real.”

“What would convince you that this is real?”

“You.”

He understood what she meant. He went to her and took her hand in his, brought it to his lips and brushed her knuckles with his lips. “Does this feel real?”

“Yes. Why are you doing this?”

He put his fingers over her lips. “I have everything planned. Come over here and sit down and I will tell you.”

“You have a plan?”

“Yes, and it's very important to me that this night go right.”

“It is?”

“Yes. I want to make up for the pain I've caused you.”

He led her to the table and seated her and then turned back to face her. But she was so beautiful he couldn't really think of the words he'd rehearsed. He wanted to be calm and cool but the thought that she wasn't really his was paramount in his mind. He needed to tell her everything.

“I love you.”

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said. “Damn. This isn't what I'd planned.
But I want you to know that I have loved you for a long time and I was just too afraid to tell you.”

She licked her lips and he groaned wanting to taste her mouth under his.

“Do you still love me?” he asked.

“Yes, I do. I have come to the conclusion that I will always love you.”

“Good. I want…” He stopped talking and got down on one knee in front of her. “I want you to marry me. Will you do that, Jen? Will you take a chance on me and go on the best adventure of our lives by spending the rest of yours with me?”

She just stared at him and he realized he'd forgotten to get the ring out. He reached in his pocket but she stopped him by putting her hands on his shoulders. “Are you sure about this? If you ask me to marry you, I'm not going to let you change your mind later.”

“I've never been surer of anything in my life. Losing you hurt me in ways I didn't know I could be hurt. The past two weeks have been like trying to live when I can't catch my breath. I need you, Jen. I love you.”

“Oh, Nate. I love you, too. I…but will you stay out of the papers with other women?”

“Yes!” he said.

“Then, yes, I will marry you.”

He took the box from his pocket and removed the ring from it. He slowly slid it on her ring finger and then drew her to her feet and into his arms. He kissed her slowly and held her close to him.

“Thank you for loving me. You've made my life so much richer by being in it.”

She laughed up at him. “You've done the same for me.”

They dined together under the stars and talked about
their future. He didn't let go of her hand the entire time and realized he didn't want to let go of her ever again. And when their families joined them for dessert, Nate realized how full his life was. They discussed Luna Azul's tenth anniversary, and their wedding plans.

The future that had seemed uncertain when he'd had to leave baseball now looked so bright. He was positive with Jen's love in his life that he had it all.