Page 215 of Boyfriend of the Hour

My brain was already churning when I decided to go downstairs before dinner. Nathan was still showering off the remnants of our afternoon ride and bliss beside the pond, but after our discussion, I decided I needed to do…something…to improve my relationship with his parents.

I wasn’t expecting much. After all, what kind of relationship could I really expect with people who had seen me naked, having sex on the internet (or maybe just their son’s phone? A girl could hope)?

That said, I was hoping that, at some point, they would understand I was the victim of that particular crime. That I’d been recorded and put on video without my consent. Nathan had convinced me as much. There was no reason he shouldn’t be able to do the same with them.

But what really drove my desire to talk to his parents was the fact that Nathan wanted a relationship with them. I could see that as plain as day. Listening to him talk by the side of the pond, I could hear the yearning in his voice. Nathan didn’t wantthe kind of parents who manipulated him or forced him into decisions he didn’t want to make, but he wanted to get along. He wanted a family who supported him as much as he clearly wanted to support them. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be here in the first place.

While I personally thought his family could jump off a bridge, I had to admit that maybe their machinations came from a place of love as well, however misplaced. After all, his mother wouldn’t want him to be such an integral part of the family if she didn’t care, right? I didn’t know about his father, who seemed apathetic at best toward his sons, but Lillian Hunt obviously wanted her children around. There was maternal instinct in there somewhere. Perhaps I could appeal to it.

Nathan always said I was good with people. Maybe I could charm his parents into showing their best colors too.

And so, I put on my very best and most conservative dress for the evening—a light blue wrap dress that Lea probably would have loved, but before now, I wouldn’t have been caught dead in. I figured it was in my best interest to look more like a socialite than a dancer. To do everything I could to remind Lillian of herself.

I made my way to the dining room, hoping to catch them early. Nathan said his parents enjoyed cocktails before dinner and often took drinks in the library. But just as I reached the doors, I heard voices spilling out into the hall. Including one particularly unwelcome baritone.

“Well, she’s got some balls. I’ll give her that.” Carrick’s voice echoed off the tiled floors and molded ceilings of the house. “Nathan too. I honestly didn’t think he had it in him.”

“He’ll tire of her,” Lillian replied. “He has to. She’s unbelievably inappropriate for a man of his station. A man of his worth.”

“Come on, Mom. She’s not all bad. If you take away the dirty dancing and the Pornhub entry, she seems all right. Loves the hell out of Nathan, and you know that’s not always easy.”

I frowned. Carrick was defending me? Wasn’t he the one who sabotaged our relationship to begin with?

And easy for who? Nathan was one of the best people I’ve ever met. One of the easiest. At least for me.

“He could make things easier,” Lillian was saying. “Charlotte, for one, is very interested in him. What was the point of arranging for her to work at his silly little practice if it wasn’t so he could finally meet his match?”

I sucked in a breath. I knew Charlotte Mueller’s presence in Nathan’s life wasn’t by accident. But a puppet for Lillian? That was legitimately insane.

“I only regret giving him access to his trust that early,” Lillian went on. “God knows what will happen if he actually marries this girl like he said. Disaster. Could be billions down the drain.”

I covered my mouth in shock. Billions? I knew Nathan’s parents were that wealthy, and, yes, I knew he had a trust. But he didn’t actually live like I would expect of someone who had billions of dollars.

Xavier, for instance, bought real estate like trading cards, and Frankie often complained about his propensity for showering her with gifts even though she was married to the guy. Their townhouse that was currently being renovated in New York was the size of a hotel.

Nathan’s home, while very nice and, yes, containing at least one priceless work of art, was still no more than a two-bedroom, one-bath apartment. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility for most people who had a decent job.

At the same time, I realized quite clearly that I didn’t care if he had a secret bank account or if he ever shared it with me. Iwould have taken him if he had nothing more to sleep in than a cardboard box. And I was pretty sure he felt the same about me.

Just as I was about to walk in and inform Lillian of just that, she spoke again.

“It’s clear that something must be done.”

“Well, you got him down here,” Carrick said. “That was the first step. He still trying to play nice?”

Lillian grumbled, “He is. My good boy.”

“Then here’s a wild thought. Just give him what he wants. You might be surprised. He might just stick around.”

“You can’t be serious. If we gave him Isla’s guardianship, we’d never see him again. It’s like you scooting off to the townhouse. You never come home.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Carrick said. “My leash is plenty tight.”

There was something in Carrick’s voice I didn’t understand. Something dark. Something resigned.

“He might surprise you, though,” Carrick went on before I could consider it more. “Nathan’s always had a soft spot for family. That’s why he’s able to be controlled through the girl. He basically adopted her as his own, and now he thinks of her as a daughter. In his own cold fish way.”

“No,you’rethe cold fish,” I muttered. “A friggin’ flounder, you asshole.”