To Tempt A Stallion

“Where are you going?”

“Back to my hotel room.”

“I thought you wanted to go walk on the beach?”

“You just ruined the mood!” she said and with a dismissive flick of her hand and a twirl on her high heels she stomped toward the door and out of the restaurant.

Chapter 4 (#u82548bda-6917-53ad-aff7-912a1c047882)

Nathaniel hated when Rebecca was angry with him. It had been three days since she’d stormed out of the restaurant, pissed beyond measure. He still didn’t have a clue why she’d gotten so furious or how he could fix what he’d apparently broken. His calls weren’t being answered and his business dealings had been passed on to one of her associates. If he hadn’t checked, he wouldn’t have even known if she were still registered at the hotel.

He was barely listening to Naomi and Natalie who were both chattering away on the three-way call. When one of them, and he wasn’t sure which, called his name, pulling at his attention, he was genuinely surprised.

“Are you still on the line?” Naomi snapped.

“Yeah! I’m here. What’s wrong?” he questioned.

“We should be asking you that,” Natalie said. “You haven’t heard a word either of us has said for the last ten minutes. What’s wrong with you?”

“And we want the truth,” Naomi added.

Nathaniel heaved a deep sigh. “I just have a lot on my mind. Getting this restaurant open is just a challenge, that’s all.”

“And how is Rebecca?” Naomi asked, not bothering to beat around the bush.

“She is still working on the restaurant with you, right?”

“Does anything get past you two?” Nathaniel asked.

Both women answered simultaneously. “No!”

He chuckled softly. “She’s got an attitude about something and she’s not talking to me.”

“What did you do?” Natalie quipped.

“And why haven’t you fixed it?” Naomi interjected.

“Why is this my fault? I didn’t do anything. She’s just crazy! I’m sure all of it has something to do with that ex-boyfriend of hers. We ran into him at dinner the other night. He owns a restaurant not far from mine.”

“So did something happen to upset her?”

Nathaniel spent the next few minutes filling them in on the minor details of his time with Rebecca. He concluded, “Then she blew up when I told her I thought she still had feelings for him. But you should have seen how she was when he was hugging her all up. And he even kissed her! Clearly, she didn’t seem to mind that, right?”

Naomi laughed, noting the agitation in her brother’s tone. “When are you and Rebecca going to stop playing this game with each other?”

“What game?”

“Pretending you don’t have feelings for each other,” Natalie quipped.

“It’s not like that. We’re great friends and I care about her, but...”

“You love her, big brother. You’ve always loved her. You’ve just been afraid to admit it,” Naomi said, adding her two cents to the conversation.

“I’m not saying I don’t love Bec, I’m saying...”

“That you are a complete and total moron!” Natalie said. “You are such a man it makes my jaw tight!”

“What? I am not that bad.”

“You’re worse. You’re so busy telling Rebecca what you see between her and some other guy, but you’re blind to what’s happening right up under your nose with you and her.”

“I’m not blind. I...well...it’s complicated,” he said finally.

“So do you want us to tell you how to fix it?” Naomi asked.

Nathaniel hesitated. When he finally said, “Yes,” the two sisters laughed warmly.

“Start with flowers and an apology,” Natalie said.

“Definitely flowers,” Naomi cosigned. “Rebecca is very much a romantic. You’re going to have to pursue her. Flowers, candy and romantic dinners to start with.”

“And that’s only going to get her talking to you again. If you really want to take your relationship further, you’re going to have to get very creative.”

“Very creative. Noah is much better at that than you are so you might want to call him for some ideas when you get to that point.”

“I know how to be creative,” Nathaniel said.

“Says no woman you’ve ever dated!” Natalie laughed.

“I’m done with this conversation,” he finally said. “You two are about to drive me crazy.”

“Just keep us posted,” Natalie said.

“We’re here if you need us,” Naomi cosigned.

“I actually think we should call Rebecca, too. Feel her out for him.”

“You’re right,” Naomi agreed, the two women slipping into a conversation that didn’t include him.

“You know he’s going to mess it up, right?”

“Yes. But we really need to give him more credit than that. He might figure it out.”

“I cannot believe you girls,” Nathaniel interjected. “I’m hanging up now and do not...I repeat...do not call Rebecca. I will kill you both if you do.”

The sisters laughed, their voices echoing over the line at the same time. “We love you, too, Nathaniel!”

* * *