Chapter Three - Sexy Times

Chapter Three

Nate flinched as if he’d been punched. When Alyssa Vauban had come to him last week, he’d told his secretary to refer her to one of the other partners. They’d dated off and on after grad school, but there were too many obstacles in the relationship.

Besides the lukewarm sex, which in Nate’s estimation was enough to pull the plug, Alyssa’s family had never liked him. The Vauban’s’ money came from trade agreements with the British merchants more than a century ago.

Originally from a small island, Singapore, off the Malay peninsula, Alyssa’s grandfather Bao Chang had brought his fortune and young bride to America. Having only one daughter, they’d pushed and encouraged Alyssa’s mother, Li Jing, to marry in her station.

An obedient daughter, Li Jing married Walter Vauban III, and combined the Chang and Vauban fortunes. It was said that they were richer than God. Nate had never stood a chance. He’d never have been good enough for her family.

When Alyssa and Nate had finally broken up for the last time, neither one was devastated, and they parted as friends. When they happened to cross paths from time to time, they were always cordial if not a tad bit distant to one another.

Alyssa turning up in his office out of the blue had been a surprise. When his secretary had returned, telling him that Ms. Vauban insisted on seeing him and only him, Nate took the appointment out of sheer curiosity. After all, he’d reasoned, with their history, it would have been rude to refuse to see her. They weren’t enemies. Hell, he really felt nothing for her—bad or good.

The first thing he’d noticed was that her dress was wrinkled and her long, satiny black hair was pulled up in a messy bun. In all the time that Nate had known Alyssa, he’d never seen her looking anything less than perfect.

Dispensing the formalities, he had blurted out, “What’s wrong?”

The story she’d told was both terrifying and alarming. Grieving the loss of her parents, Alyssa had gone to her paternal uncle’s home only to witness him murdering a highly ranked official in the living room.

Despite her uncle's attempt to stop her, Alyssa had managed to get away. After hours of wrestling with what to do, she’d gone back to her apartment only to find everything torn apart with a cryptic note from her uncle saying he would find her.

Alyssa had pleaded with Nate to help her. She hadn’t been able to access her funds, her credit cards were all coming back declined, and she didn’t have anywhere else to go.

What kind of person would he have been if he’d turned her away?

“Kim,” Nate said with a sigh. “I’m truly sorry. I want to tell you everything. I really do. But I can’t, it’s not my secret to tell. All I can say is that she’s in danger. I would never pick her over you.”

Kim held herself back from him. “My head understands what you’re saying, Nate, but my heart hates the fact that you’ve put her in an apartment in our building.”

When Nate tried to speak, Kim waved his concerns away.

“No, it’s not only the apartment. It’s the fact that we’re paying for it, plus I know you’ve been giving her other money to live on. Nate, how is that supposed to look to me? For all I know, she’s your secret arrangement to fuck on the side.”

Nate’s expression darkened. “I would never be unfaithful to you.”

“It’s hard to believe you when everyone I’ve ever known has lied and manipulated me. I know you aren’t Andrew, and I am not trying to make the comparison, but everything just feels wrong about this.”

Nate clenched his teeth shut. He wanted to blurt out of the truth, but Alyssa had been frightened to share what's happened with anyone. He wasn’t anything like Andrew, Kim’s ex-husband. The man had lied to her for years about his involvement in the seedier side of things. He’d also hidden a drug problem and slept with Mandy’s best friend, Shay.

Growing up in a similar type of home, Kim didn’t want to believe the signs of what Andrew was involved in. It had all come to a head when, in a drug deal gone wrong, Andrew killed Kim’s parents in cold blood. Both Andrew and Shay were arrested and awaiting trial.

Nate knew Kim was insecure about their relationship. While she wanted to be all-in, it was difficult not to see things in her current situation that she missed in the first marriage. The difference was that Nate would never cheat on Kim. Nor had he ever been involved with drugs.

Hell, he was raising this baby as his own, even though biologically it was Andrew’s child. Thankfully, Andrew had already signed papers releasing any and all obligations to the baby. This was Nate’s baby and Nate’s wife.

He just needed to get her to see that.

The situation with Alyssa was one of a kind, and because of client confidentiality, there wasn’t much he could say.

“I shouldn’t have brought her here,” he said at last.

Kim’s shoulders slumped. “You shouldn’t have brought her here, or shouldn’t have helped her at all?”

Nate’s jaw tightened. “That’s not fair.”

Immediately, Kim felt guilt for her waspish attitude. What was the matter with her? She’d never been so jealous and crazy with Andrew. And that idiot had cheated on her.

Moving into Nate’s arms, Kim hugged him as tightly as her growing belly would allow.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I know that isn’t fair. I just feel so crazy and out of control. I could blame it on my hormones or the fact that I’ll soon need to testify against my ex-husband in court, but I don’t think that’s it. I’m not sure how to explain it. I just felt like you were my safe space when I was living in a world of chaos. And now I feel like that’s slipping away.”

Nate’s large, capable hands cupped Kim’s face as he gazed into her eyes. “You are my world, Kim. You and this baby mean everything to me. If I have failed to prove that to you, I have some making up to do.”

Kim opened her mouth to respond, but Nate’s lips came down to cover hers in a tender kiss. Her stomach dipped, and she clung to the lapels of his suit. How could one touch of his lips on hers completely turn her to mush?

Nate deepened the kiss, crushing her against him. Kim moaned as she opened further, abandoning herself to the passion that welled up between them. Nate started walking her backward toward the small apartment where Kim had once lived.

Thankfully Freddy had already left, and the shop was closed, because Nate wanted his wife. He wanted Kim naked and panting beneath him, so that she would know beyond a shadow of a doubt she was his one and only.

Kim kicked off her shoes while shoving his suit jacket off his shoulders. They barely parted lips for a moment. Nate had a hold of the bottom of her dress and yanked it over her head. The chill of the room caused Kim’s skin to erupt in goose pimples.

“God, you are so beautiful,” he rasped.

Kim self-consciously wrapped her arms around her stomach. “I look like a whale.”

“You look like the most beautiful woman in the world,” he growled. Moving in again he unhooked the clasp of her bra and watched as it fell, exposing the gentle curves of her breasts.

They were larger than usual, and as if he couldn’t help it, Nate reached out and cupped them.

Kim’s hands went to his buckle and in moments she was sliding the leather free and unzipping his pants. His hot length strained against the fabric of his briefs.

Unconsciously, Kim licked her lips, and that was his undoing.