Page 44 of Keep My Heart (The Haydon Falls #1)

‘Don’t you care about me and what I’m going through?

’ she says, pretending to cry. She does this all the time.

She fake cries, hoping it’ll make me do what she wants or talk to her for hours.

She thinks I’m her therapist and is willing to pay the firm’s huge hourly fees just to have someone listen to her.

She can easily afford the bills, but I’m not a counselor and shouldn’t have to pretend to be one.

I’m only going along with it because my boss told me I had to so we can keep billing her.

It feels unethical, and is another reason I’m unhappy with my job.

‘Of course I care about you,’ I tell her. ‘But I can’t be with you right now. We’ll talk when I get back to New York.’

‘Can we meet in person?’ she asks, sounding desperate. ‘I don’t want to talk on the phone. It’s so impersonal and I need to get out of the house.’

I sigh, not wanting to do this but knowing my boss will make me. ‘I’ll see if we can meet for dinner next week, but I might have someone coming into town. I’ll let you know if I can get away.’

‘Oh, Nick, thank you! I’m so relieved. When I kept getting that boy, Doug, on the phone, I thought it meant our relationship was ending and I just couldn’t accept it,’ she says dramatically.

‘Our relationship is not ending,’ I assure her. ‘I just had somewhere to be this weekend. But when I’m back, we’ll resume where we left off. Iris, I know you think I’m not giving you all that you expect from me, but I’m doing my best. And I can’t be with you all the time.’

‘I know that, Nick, and I’m sorry to be so demanding,’ she says, her angry tone turning sweeter now that I’ve agreed to have dinner with her. ‘You’re a good young man. I’m so fortunate to be working with you. So where is it you are right now? Doug didn’t say.’

‘I’m home, visiting my family,’ I tell her, not wanting her to know too much about my personal life. I like to keep my personal and work life separate.

‘You’re up rather late for a Saturday night. Are you out with a girl?’

‘I’m not with a girl,’ I lie, knowing she’d ask me more questions if I told her the truth. ‘I’m at my parents’ house. Iris, I really need to go. I promise we’ll talk when I get back.’

‘And we’ll go to dinner?’

‘Yes, I will take you to dinner. We’ll go to your favorite place that makes those soufflés you like.’

‘Oh, that would be wonderful!’

‘I need to go. I’ll call you when I’m back in New York.’ I end the call before she starts talking again. I feel bad for her. She’s a lonely old lady who’s so desperate for attention that she’s paying her lawyer to talk to her and take her out.

‘Hey, Nick,’ a guy says.

I look up and see Chris coming down the stairs from the hotel.

‘What do you want, Chris?’ I say in an angry tone .

‘Sorry about earlier. I was just surprised seeing you with Lyndsay.’ He extends his hand to me. ‘Are we good?’

‘Yeah. Sure.’ I shake his hand, just to end this so he’ll go away.

‘You going back to the reunion?’

‘No, I’m done for the night.’

He nods. ‘Well, it was good seeing you.’ He goes back up the stairs and into the hotel.

A car pulls up and Diane races over to it. Where did she come from? Has she been waiting here the whole time? The sidewalk is dark, so maybe I just didn’t see her.

‘Bye, Diane!’ I tell her.

She must not have heard me because she doesn’t look back. She gets in the car and it drives off.

Going back inside, my anger about work quickly disappears as I think about what’s waiting for me upstairs. When I get to the room, I find Lyndsay on the bed wearing only a towel, a glass of champagne in her hand.

‘What took you so long?’ she asks.

‘It doesn’t matter,’ I say, taking my tie off. ‘I’m here now.’ I lean down to give her a kiss.

‘Why don’t you take the rest of those clothes off?’ she whispers over my lips.

They’re off within seconds and I join her on the bed.

‘Want some champagne?’ She turns to me and offers me her glass.

‘I’d rather have you.’ I take the glass from her and set it on the nightstand, then I kiss her as I undo the towel that’s around her. I lay her back on the bed, then kiss every inch of her, from her head to her toes, paying extra attention to her most sensitive areas.

‘Nick.’ She breathes out my name, her chest heaving, her hips rising, as I make my way back up her body. I’ve got her right where I want her, worked up to the point she can’t wait any longer .

I position myself over her and push inside her.

I kiss her neck, then her cheek, then her mouth, while moving in and out of her at a slow, steady pace.

I’m forcing myself not to rush this, wanting to remember this when we’re apart.

I’m hoping we won’t be apart for too long, but I really don’t know how long it’ll be. That’s something we need to talk about.

‘Nick,’ she whispers.

I open my eyes and look at her, feeling the connection between us, the one I felt all those years ago but wasn’t sure was real.

Now I know it is, and I know it’s not just me.

Lyndsay feels it too, which makes me believe we can make this work.

Whatever obstacles are ahead, we can work through them if it means we’ll be together in the end.

Our eyes remain locked as I pick up my pace, sensing she’s close. I lean down to kiss her, then speed up even faster. Her breaths become ragged and her body trembles as her fingers rake down my back.

‘Oh God!’ she screams.

I’m right there with her, the sight of her coming sending me over the edge. I pause a moment to catch my breath, then slowly pull out of her and collapse back on the bed.

‘I’ll take that champagne now,’ I say.

She laughs and reaches across me to the nightstand to get it. She takes a sip, then offers me some.

‘I was kidding, but okay.’ I sit up and take the glass from her. I down what’s left of it and set the glass aside.

‘Thirsty?’ she jokes.

‘I was.’ I pull her into my arms. ‘This was a great idea, getting a room for the night.’ I kiss her forehead. ‘I love being here with you.’

‘I wish we didn’t have to leave tomorrow.’ She rests her head on my shoulder and runs her hand over my chest. ‘When will we see each other again?’

‘I don’t know. We need to talk about that.’

‘My lease isn’t up until September, but I could try to sublet my place for the rest of the summer.’ She looks up at me. ‘What do you think I should do?’

‘I can’t tell you that. You need to decide. I want you to be with me, but I also want to make sure you’re ready to leave your old life behind. You’ve been in LA a long time. Leaving there means leaving your job, your friends.’

She frowns. ‘Why do I keep getting the feeling you don’t want me to move to New York? Are you having second thoughts?’

‘No, of course not. But this is moving really fast. We just started dating. We might need more time before you decide to move your entire life across the country.’

‘I don’t need more time. I know what I want. I think you might be the one who needs more time.’

‘Lyndsay, I want us to be together. I just don’t want you having any regrets.’

She lays her head back on my shoulder and gets quiet.

I feel like we should talk more, but I don’t know what to say.

I want to be with her, but I admit I’m worried we’re moving too fast. I don’t want her moving to New York, then saying I work too much and wanting to leave.

My job is a major concern when it comes to us.

I don’t want to be one of those couples that doesn’t spend time together, but how do I make time for her when my job keeps piling work on me?

She falls asleep in my arms. I watch her sleep until I fall asleep myself. In the middle of the night, I wake up to her kissing me, which leads to us making love again. Afterward, we fall asleep and don’t wake up until morning .

‘It’s after nine,’ Lyndsay says, racing out of bed. ‘I’m going to be late!’

‘Your plane doesn’t leave until noon. You have plenty of time.’

‘If I was going straight to the airport, yes, but I still have to go home and pack.’ She hurries to get dressed.

‘What can I do to help?’ I ask, yanking my pants on.

‘Can you check the bathroom? See if I left anything?’

I go in there and look around. ‘I don’t see anything.’ I return to the bedroom and finish getting dressed. ‘I guess we should’ve got up earlier. I was hoping we could have breakfast in bed.’

‘Maybe next time.’ She smiles at me as she tugs her dress into place. ‘Ready to go?’

‘Not really, but if we have to.’ I gather up my keys and wallet and we head downstairs to check out.

On the drive to her house, I already miss her, even though she’s sitting right next to me.

‘Let’s talk when you get back to LA,’ I say, reaching over to hold her hand. ‘Continue our conversation from last night.’

She nods. ‘What time are you back in New York?’

‘I think around four. I’ll have to check.

’ I pull into the driveway at her mom’s house, feeling a sense of panic at having to say goodbye.

It’s too rushed, and something feels off.

We should’ve kept talking last night. We should’ve figured out what to do next, but because we didn’t, things feel awkward between us, and unfinished.

I feel like Lyndsay is angry at me, or frustrated.

I was just trying to do what’s best for her, but I think I screwed up.

‘Bye, Nick,’ she says, stopping me at the door. She gives me a kiss, but it’s quick.

‘Hey, are you okay?’ I ask, holding her arm as she turns to the door.

‘I’m fine. I just need to hurry or I’ll miss my flight. ’

‘I’m sorry if I didn’t say the right thing last night. This is all just happening really fast and I don’t know what the right answers are or how to do this so we don’t mess it up.’

She gives me the same frustrated look she gave me last night. ‘You think too much, Nick.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘It means sometimes you need to tell your mind to be quiet and let your heart make the decision.’ She gives me another kiss. ‘I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.’

She goes in the house, leaving me standing on the porch, confused by what she meant. Let my heart make the decision? What decision? The one about her moving to New York? That’s not my decision to make. It’s hers. I already told her I want her to move there, but I’m not going to force her to.

I don’t like leaving things this way. Something doesn’t feel right.