Sweet Jealousy (6 page)

She shook her head. She was thirsty, but she wanted to defy him. Who the hell did he think he was, barging in there like that, punching Mr. Gold in the nose and carrying her out of there like she was some kind of child? It was ridiculous. Not to mention what he’d done earlier with poor Tyler. He was fucked up.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked.

“Back to my apartment. It’s not ideal, but you can spend the night there until we find you a more suitable living arrangement.”

“Until we find…” She shook her head. “No.” She yelled to the driver. “Let me out, please.”

But he kept driving.

“Addison,” Nathan said. “Please. You’re upset. You can stay the night at my place. And then tomorrow, we’ll figure this whole thing out.”

“I don’t want to figure it out,” she said, shaking her head vehemently. “I want to go home.”

“Really, Addison? You really want to go home? You want to go home, to that man who probably has a key to your apartment, and is probably looking for a way to get back at me for hitting him? That’s what you really want, Addison?”

“No,” she admitted. She raised her chin, challenging him. “But maybe I could stay with Tia or something.”

“Tia who lives in the same building?” He shook his head. “Come back to my apartment. You can stay in the guestroom. Just for one night. And then tomorrow, if you want to go back to your place, you can.”

Suddenly, she was too exhausted to fight. She leaned her head back against the seat. “What about work?” she asked. “I don’t have any of my clothes.”

“You can stay home tomorrow.”

“No.” She shook her head. “I’m not missing work.”

“Why?” A smile played on his lips. “Because you’ll get in trouble with the boss?”

She took in a deep breath. “No, because it’s my job. And I take my job very seriously.”

“Fine,” he agreed. “I’ll send someone out to get you a suitable work outfit.”

And just like that, it was settled.

Chapter Five

When they got back to his apartment, he led her to the guestroom. It was at the other end of the apartment, toward the back, and filled with a huge circular bed. The walls were painted a dark gray, the bedspread done in shades of deep purple and cream.

About a million pillows littered the bed.

Nathan moved through the room, turning on lights. He showed her the guest bathroom, which was even more impressive than the bathroom she’d been in before.

“Feel free to use whatever you’d like,” he said. “If you want to have a shower or a bath, please do.”

“Thank you,” she said.

He raised his eyebrows.

“Don’t get me wrong,” she said quickly. “That wasn’t right, what you did, punching my landlord like that. Not to mention poor Tyler outside of Circle.”

Nathan took a deep breath and shook his head, then looked down at the floor and ran his fingers through his hair. She glimpsed something in his blue eyes, something lurking below the surface.

“Nathan?” she asked.

But he didn’t answer, wouldn’t meet her eye. She had a weird feeling that he was thinking about something, something that he didn’t want to share with her, something that had to do with the fact that in the span of four hours, he’d got into physical altercations with two men.

“I’m a very jealous person, Addison,” he said, finally. “And the sooner you know that about me, the better.”

“Okay,” she said slowly. “But there’s a difference between being a little jealous and going around punching people.”

“Not to me.”

There was something about the guarded look on his face that made her think there was more to the story. But before she could ask him about it, he was moving across the soft cream-colored carpet toward the door.

“Good night, Addison,” he said.

He shut the door behind him, leaving her alone.

***

Addison took a bath in the big soaking tub and washed her hair with an expensive-looking bottle of mango-scented shampoo. Her skin burned where Nathan had spanked her earlier, and she could see a small bruise starting to bloom on her arm. She wasn’t sure if it had happened during sex with Nathan, or when Mr. Gold had grabbed her.

She dried herself with a soft green towel and then climbed into bed.

The silk sheets felt smooth and cool against her skin, and she was so soothed that she immediately fell asleep. She’d assumed she would be restless after the events of the night, but she slept soundly in a deep, dreamless sleep.

When she finally woke, it was because the sound of knocking on the door was echoing through the room.

She blinked sleepily.

The blinds were still drawn, and the room was shrouded in darkness. She groped for her cell phone on the night table next to her. 6:37 in the morning.

She slid out of bed and pulled on a white cashmere robe that she found in the closet. She opened the bedroom door and peeked out into the hallway. Sunlight streamed through the windows, shining brightness onto the polished wood floors.

“Nathan?” she asked softly. But there was no answer.

The knocking came again. For a moment, she was disoriented, but then she realized it was coming from the front door. She stepped into the hallway, not sure what to do. It wasn’t her house. She couldn’t just go and answer the door, could she?

But before she had a chance to make up her mind, the front door opened on its own and a woman stepped into the front hallway. She had long blonde hair and pale skin, and a pair of huge sunglasses swept her highlighted bangs out of her face.

She was carrying an oversized leather purse, the kind of thing that could fit a laptop, your wallet, makeup, and maybe even a small child.

She wore painted on jeans and a scoop-neck, sleeveless white shirt.

“Oh,” she said when she saw Addison. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know Nathan had company.”

Addison swallowed. Who was this woman? She hoped she was the maid, or a cook, some servant type that had a key to Nathan’s apartment so that she could take care of something. But this woman definitely didn’t look like the type who did manual labor.

“Where is Nathan, anyway?” the woman asked. She dropped her bag on the table in the hallway. The gesture, even though small, spoke of a certain familiarity with the place. Whoever this woman was, she felt comfortable enough to just toss her bag around the foyer. “Or, I mean, Mr. Sweet? Is that what you call him?”

Addison frowned. What was she talking about? Did this woman think Addison was a maid or something? She pulled the cashmere robe tighter around her.

“I don’t know where Nathan is,” she said, jutting her chin out. “Who are you?”

“I’m Belle,” the woman said. She pulled her sunglasses off and shook out her hair. For the first time, Addison noticed the huge diamond ring on her finger. “I’m Nathan’s fiancé.”

END OF EPISODE ONE

LOOK FOR SWEET JEALOUSY: EPISODE TWO,

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