Page 74 of Suddenly Beck
I’m just picking up the glass of water and packet of painkillers when there’s a knock at the door.
‘Dammit.’ I frown, setting the glass back down and strolling into the hallway, I yank the door open in annoyance.
The first glimpse I have is of a woman with her back to me as she looks out at the view across the bay, she’s slim and curvy in all the right places, as far as I know. She’s wearing a conservative sheath dress in navy blue, and her tiny feet are tucked into a pair of nude Louboutin’s I note, as I catch a flash of the signature red soles.
She turns as I open the door, and I get a proper look at her. She’s wearing an expensive set of pearls around her neck to match the subtle ones at her ears, and she has a Hermes bag hooked elegantly over one wrist. I have two sisters, and as much as I hate to admit it, I know enough to recognise some serious labels.
Her long black, wavy hair is tucked into a neat twist at the nape of her neck without a single hair out of place. She’s beautiful, like could be a model kind of beautiful, but it’s her pale blue eyes that catch my attention. I know those eyes; an identical pair are currently in my hideous green coloured bathroom suite taking a shower.
My mouth falls open slightly, and now that I’m looking, I can see traces of my lover etched into her face. The same bee-stung lips, the same high cheek bones, and slim straight nose. They could be twins if it wasn’t for the three-year age gap, I know there is between them.
‘Hello.’ She gives a distant and polite smile. She has that same posh inflection to her voice that Nat does. ‘I’m looking for my brother, Nathan. They told me at the restaurant he might be here.’
‘You’re Pia,’ I say softly.
Her eyes widen, and she draws in a slow, shocked breath as if she hasn’t heard that name in a long time.
‘He told you about that?’ she says quietly in surprise.
‘Come in.’ I hold the door open wider as she steps gracefully into the hallway. I’m painfully aware that while she looks immaculate, I’m only wearing a pair of jeans. My hair probably looks like a bird’s nest, I have paint all over my hands, and I probably stink of JD and sex. ‘Um, Nat is just…’
‘Hey, I thought you were going to join me in the shower?’ Nat calls out in amusement, interrupting me as he heads down the stairs, rubbing his hair dry on a towel. ‘I was going to suck your…’ He looks up, and the words die on his lips, eyes widening as he freezes on the last step, blinking as if he can’t quite reconcile what he’s seeing.
Although he didn’t finish that sentence, thankfully, I’m pretty sure he’s just outed himself to his sister. I’m torn between amusement and concern.
I turn back to stare at Pia as her gaze trails over Nat’s damp naked body wrapped only in a towel.
‘I suppose I should at least be grateful you’re wearing a towel.’ Her mouth twitches, and her eyes sparkle with humor, and right there, in that expression, I see my Nat.
‘Pia,’ he breathes, and the look on his face is almost painful to witness. Hopeless love and longing.
She takes a hesitate half step toward him and smiles, and he must see something in that smile because he rushes toward her and wraps her in his arms tightly. It’s not ahey, happy to see youhug, it’s a tight, lung crushing,oh my god, you’ve just come back from war alivekind of hug, and I feel almost like a voyeur for intruding on such a private moment between them.
The air is heavy with so much unsaid between them, but even I can feel the love they have for each other. I can see it in Pia’s face, in the way she tilted her head up against his shoulder and closed her eyes.
‘What are you doing here?’ he whispers hoarsely.
‘You disappeared without a trace.’ She pulls back to gaze at him, her serious blue eyes searching his. ‘I know that we’ve drifted apart these last few years, but did you really think I wouldn’t come looking for you? That I wouldn’t worry?’
‘I didn’t think...’ His voice breaks slightly.
‘Nat.’ She frowns. ‘I know things between us haven’t been great but that wasn’t your fault, it was mine.’
‘No, it was both of us.’ He strokes her cheek gently, the way he has with me so many times.
Pia wipes a tear from the corner of her eye, and as she glances over to me, her eyes no longer polite and distant but curious.
‘Pia,’ Nat says shyly as he pulls her closer to me. ‘I want you to meet my…’ He pauses as he looks at me, biting his lip, not quite sure what label to attach to a casual summer fling that’s turning out to be not so casual. I know the word boyfriend is hovering on his lips, but before I can say anything, he gives me the most beautiful smile. ‘Beck,’ he finishes. ‘This is my Beck.’
Then he leans in and kisses me full on the mouth so Pia can be in no doubt whatsoever as to the nature of our relationship. Something lovely and warm in my chest unfurls and rolls over, and my stomach trembles.
He’s just claimed me right there in front of his sister, the one person in the world, other than their old cook Carmella, that he loves. No embarrassment or shame. He just announced it as if it were the most natural thing in the world for him, and just like that, I dive headfirst off that cliff.
Bloody hell, I’m in love with Nathan Elliott.
Chapter Twenty
Nat