The Upward Ripple

Chapter 9

The gala had gone on without a hitch except meeting the man who made Cynthia a different woman. The man who made her recoil. He had barely dealt with that when he once more had to handle the pressing matters of business that were a little more difficult than a simple gala. He had to travel to Las Vegas for a meeting with some developers, a move that had been set in motion by his father. A developer in Utah had approached his father about a piece of idle land in Utah that would set up a modern shopping Centre, housing units and a solar energy farm that was later to spread out to neighboring states. It was a multi-billion-dollar project that had stalled for long enough. Now that he had assumed responsibility of his birth right, it was about time the project went ahead. Leaving Cynthia was the hardest thing he had to do, even though it was only going to be for a day. The two might have been under the same roof, sharing meals being as far as the intimacy between them went. He ached every time their meals ended, and they had to retire to bed. It had already been a week and Cynthia had already worked out a few potential buyers for the Brownstone as well as a person willing to sign a five-year lease as soon as possible. She had made too quick a job and Nate was beginning to feel frustrated. He knew that she was going to want to go back to Colorado, but he preferred her being in New York especially since he knew that New York was going to be his home for the foreseeable future.

Nate had not known a woman who ignited a flame inside him as much as Cynthia did and now that he had felt what being in love was like, he was not ready to let go yet. He was afraid that if he told her how he felt, he would push her away, make her run back to Colorado. At the same time, he knew that not saying anything would not give her a reason to stay. What he was feeling was the literal definition of being caught between a rock and a hard place. Every time he was near her, he wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms. To stroke that smooth skin. He wanted to lift her in his arms and lower her in his bed. He wanted to make love to her and show her just how much he felt about her. It was not only what his heart wanted but it was what his body wanted as well. He loved her. He lusted after her and he did not know how he could tell Cynthia all that without freaking her out. For starters, he knew that having her in his bed was not in the cards. At least not for a very long time thanks to Alistair Vale. The thought of that man walking free made his skin crawl. He would have loved to know about him back when he was still an Outlaw. The Outlaws had quite the creative mind when it came to punishment and for Alistair, what he really wanted to do to her was exactly what had happened to him. String him up and have his back whipped until there was nothing but a twisted work of crimson art in its place.

He had just been informed that his town car was read to take him to the airport when his housekeeper came in.

“Lola, I am off to Las Vegas. Make sure Cynthia has everything she needs. She might need to hold an open house, make that happen. Cookies and everything.”

“Open house?” Lola asked and Nate nodded. “Are you selling this house, sir?”

“No.” Nate shook his head. “I thought about it, but I could not bear the thought of someone else owning it. So, I am thinking of a long-term lease. Maybe five years. By then, I think I will have figured out if a family is in the cards for me.”

Lola smiled.

“Of course, they are, Mr. Duncan. You would be a wonderful husband to some lucky woman and an even better father.”

Nate smile. He wanted to say that he didn’t think he could say the same thing with so much confidence. Not after he had been such a terrible son to his father. Surely, fate would have him pay for that mistake for the rest of his life, wouldn’t it? At the back of his mind, she wondered if that was what made him so cautious when it came to how he was handling things with Cynthia.

“I should be back by tomorrow evening, but should anything change, I will let you know,” Nate went on just as Cynthia walked in. Nate went completely quiet when he saw her. She was just in a bathrobe, her hair held up in a bun. Her face was clear of any makeup but even then, in all her natural glory, she looked radiant.

“Were you going to leave without so much as a goodbye?” she asked, and he exhaled loudly.

“I tried delaying everything… I didn’t want to wake you up,” he admitted.

She shrugged.

“I wouldn’t have minded.”

“I’ll let the driver know you will be a few minutes,” Lola said before walking out.

“I know that you have not been getting enough rest since the gala…. I hear you walking down to the kitchen in the middle of the night and the TV in your room blares on till morning.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cost your sleep as well,” Cynthia said apologetically.

“No, I was just checking up on you and I heard the TV was still on.” He smiled. “Were you watching a Westerner or something?”

She grinned.

“Honestly, I don’t know… I was watching something last night, I think CNN but when I woke up this morning, it was some weird forties movies. Or was it thirties?” she shrugged. “I honestly don’t know.”

He laughed.

“I don’t blame you. I have found myself in the same conundrum a number of times before.”

“So, where to?” she asked as she looked at his bag.

“Las Vegas. I have a meeting there to close a deal that my dad had gotten started.”

“Oh, wow. That’s good.”

“Yeah, right now I am still juggling playing catch up without necessarily dropping the ball,” he said exhaustedly.

“You sound tired,” she said, and he nodded.