Sweet Temptation (53 page)

Nate moaned when she did that, and when she pumped up and down, rubbing her thumb over the head. “Baby I can’t wait…” That’s all Nate got out when her door flew open.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

Looking over his shoulder, she saw Clint, Craig and Alex standing in her doorway. Nate turned to hide her and eyed all three of them. Clint walked in, ignoring Nate, and the other two followed, blocking the doorway.

What were they doing in her room? Craig and Alex both knew the rules; if her door was closed, it meant someone was with her or she needed time to herself. Skylar caught movement in the corner of her eye and watched Clint move closer to the bed. What was he doing?

Clint looked at her, “Are you all right? We heard you scream,” he asked.

“What the fuck are you doing in here?” Nate snarled. He pulled Skylar closer to him to shield her body from their prying eyes. Nate knew Craig and Alex had seen her naked before; Clint had, too, but Nate didn’t know and she wasn’t going to say anything about it now. Clint ignored Nate again, and she knew that was pissing him off.

“I’m fine, Clint,” she said with a smile.

Nate looked down at her. “Who the hell is he, Skylar?”

“That’s Clint, he’s…”

“What are you doing here, Nate?” Craig asked. All three were near the bed now.

“I came to talk to Sky.”

“If I knew what had happened yesterday, you wouldn’t be in here right now,” Craig answered.

Nate grabbed Skylar and moved off the bed, pushing her behind him. Skylar tried to get in front to tell them everything was good, but he kept pushing her back. She had enough of this, she moved quickly in front of him. “Craig, it’s all right. We’ve talked, and everything is fine.” She looked at all three individually, making sure they understood what she was saying.

Alex moved from where he was, “So what about…”

Skylar shook her head, knowing full well what he was going to say. As Clint moved closer to her, Nate grabbed her and pulled her against his chest, wrapping his arm across her exposed breasts, so he wouldn’t see.

Skylar looked up at Nate, touching his arm, “Nate, I’m fine. You can let go.”

“I’m not letting you go; you’re naked.”

“Nate, Jesus they’ve seen me naked before,” she hissed.

“Skylar,” his voice was firm and unnerving.

“It’s not like I haven’t seen it all before,” Clint smiled.

Why was he tormenting him with this
?

“What?” Nate said.

Skylar ripped out of his grip and faced him. “Nate, Clint is my brother-in-law.”

“I don’t care who the hell he is, you’re naked and that’s that.”

Removing his shirt, he wrapped it around her to cover her up.

“Whatever.” Skylar stormed out of the room and towards the kitchen.

“Skylar,” Nate yelled, but she kept going.

Why did men always act like that in front of each other, she could never get why they did that. Leaving that thought alone, she decided she needed caffeine, and badly.

* * *

All four of them were still standing in Skylar’s room. After a moment of complete silence, Nate spoke up, “Skylar and I have sorted everything out, so no need to worry.”

He watched as Clint sat down on the bed and both Craig and Alex stayed at the end of the bed, not looking happy. “So, you spoke about everything, did you?” Craig asked.

Nate slid down the wall onto the floor. “Yeah, we did. I told her why I left and I apologized for doing that and everything else I’ve done, too,” he said.

“So, why did you leave?” Alex spoke up.

“Do we really need to have this conversation now? Skylar has just accepted my apology, and I want to spend some time with her, if you don’t mind,” he answered. Getting up, he started towards the door, but was stopped.

“Sorry, but we all want to know why you left and until you tell us, you’re not going anywhere near her. I think you have done enough to upset her, and we all want to know your intentions now to make sure you’re not going anywhere any time soon,” Craig said.

Nate groaned. “I really wasn’t expecting this right now, maybe in a day or so. But I get how you guys feel.”

“Well?” Clint said.

“We aren’t leaving until you tell us, Nate,” Alex interjected.

He walked over and sat on the bed, ready to tell them what he had to. “The reason I left is ’cause I couldn’t handle what she went through, after seeing it happen. I keep reliving the incident everywhere I looked and every night in my dreams I saw myself standing there helpless. She was asking me to stop it from happening and help her. She kept calling my name and I couldn’t do anything. It took me a while to realize that it didn’t happen like that, and I explained that to her,” he said, waiting for what they had to say.

“Well, that explains why you left. I do get where you’re coming from, Nate. It was hell for all of us to see that, but you should have told her or me or Alex,” Craig said.

“I know, I just couldn’t tell what was real or my imagination.”

Craig sat down beside him and slapped him on the back. “Well, I think I can speak for us all when I say we all wished it was our imagination that made it up; but we know better. Nate, she needs you for this, okay? You both need to go through this together, not separately.”

He nodded; he understood where Craig was coming from. He hoped that one of them would come to him if the same thing happened to any of them. “As to the rest of your question, I’m not going anywhere, ever, unless Skylar is with me. My intentions with Skylar, well…” He rubbed his neck as he was unsure how to say the next bit.

“This better be good, Nate, or I’m laying you out on this floor on your ass,” Clint growled.

Shaking his head, he looked at Craig, “I need to ask you something personal.” He only wanted one other person to know other than him, and Craig was the one he chose. Nodding towards Alex and Clint, they left the room quietly.

“Okay, what do you want to know?” Crossing his arms over his chest, Craig waited for his reply.

“Okay, since I don’t know her parents, I’m asking you. I would like your permission.”

“Permission for what?” Craig frowned.

“To marry Skylar. I want to ask her on Christmas day, but only if you agree. You’re the closest one I know to her family.”

He shrugged. “Well shit, Nate. I wasn’t expecting that.”

“So, do I have you’re permission to do so?” Nate asked.

“Hell yeah, you do, Nate. But I’m telling you, if you hurt her again, you’ll deal with all three of us, at once.”

“Got it.” Nate laughed. “I got it…it won’t happen again, I give you my word.”

Craig stood up, “Well, let’s go have a beer with the rest of the guys and then you can spend some time with Skylar, all by yourselves.”

“Sounds good.”

Opening the door, they made their way to kitchen and the beer he deserved.

* * *

After storming out of the room and pouring her a coffee, she sat down and flicked through the channels, not finding anything interesting to watch on TV. What were they talking about in the room? It was frustrating; she wanted to walk back in there and find out, but she knew full well that one of them would just kick her out of her own room. If she needed to know what was going on, she hoped one of them would tell her. After what felt like forever, both Alex and Clint walked out and sat down beside her. Looking at both of them, she noticed that Clint had a frown, but Alex was smiling to himself.

Confused at what she saw, she asked Alex, “What are you smiling about?”

He shook his head and faced her, “Nothing.”

Before she could ask what he meant by that, Clint jumped in. “So, Sky when are you going to tell him about the baby?”

Skylar frowned. “Will you keep your voice down. Jesus,” she hissed, rubbing her hand over her face.

“Have you two spoken about what happened that day?” Alex asked.

“What’s with all the questions, today? No, we haven’t spoken about that day. And about the other thing, I plan on giving him the test I took as a present.” It was under her tree for him. That was the easiest thing she came up with on how to tell him, giving him the test and the first ultrasound picture as a present. At least she could see how he would react in front of everyone when he opened it, if it came down to that. Or she might just give it to him that morning before everyone arrived to open the presents.

“I think you two need to talk about what happened that day, Sky,” Clint said.

“I know that, Clint. But I’m not ready to do that.”

Nodding, he got up and walked into the kitchen.

“If you need someone to talk to about it, Skylar, I’m here for you when you’re ready, you know that right?” Alex placed his arm over her shoulder and pulled her into a hug.

“Thanks Alex, I really appreciate it.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Craig asked as he walked into the room.

She looked up and saw Nate standing against the main wall. Shaking her head, she turned and faced Craig, “Nothing that important. What’s the plan for today, anything interesting?”

Nate walked over and sat beside her, pulling her closer to him. Leaning down, he whispered, “I could think of several things to do.”

Skylar slapped him on his leg and Nate laughed. “You only think of one thing to do. I think we should just veg out for the rest of the day. It would be good to relax and not think of anything.”

“Sounds good, baby,” Nate replied.

Clint came back in and sat in the single seat near the window. Alex sat on the end of the couch that Skylar and Nate were on and Craig sat in front of her on the ground. It was good having everyone around and not worrying about anything right now. Snuggling closer to Nate, she looked up at him as he smiled down at her. He kissed the top of her head and pulled her closer to him. She grinned, feeling the happiest she has ever been in her life. With Nate beside her, and her close friends in the same room, nothing could ruin how happy she was right at this moment.

Chapter 33

Christmas Eve morning came. Skylar was so excited, and she couldn’t wait to give Nate both his presents. The first one would be arriving at his place sometime today; the other was for Christmas morning. She was still worried about that one, but everyone said it would all work out and that he would be excited about the news. Rolling over, Nate was sound asleep and snoring softly beside her. God, she loved him; he was everything she wanted. Smiling to herself, Skylar placed her hand on his chest, stroking her fingers lightly over his nipple. She loved how he reacted to her touch and loved it more how her body did the same to his touch and his voice. Slowly running her hand down his chest, she stopped when he moved slightly. She couldn’t help but giggle; he was just so cute.