Bared: A King's Hart Novel Book 3 (BWWM)

IX. Happy times and Bad News.

Nuri.

Nathaniel held his phone to his ear with one hand and cigarette in the other. He was pacing back and forth along the balcony. From the vanity mirror in his impressive bathroom, I followed his movements as I twisted my hair for the night.

After his quick phone call to Ambrose, he was a ball of energy, moving from one task to the the next. I was exhausted just watching him.

He's happy.

I knew this because there was a light in him that was different from his usual personality. It both excited and terrified me. The man just told me he was still married and might have a son. Utter relief moved over him and he became the carefree man I knew him to be.

He's confessed his love for me, and I believe him. Thoughts danced through my head and I'm sorry to admit that I entertained them.

What if Emma had a sound reason for leaving him? They didn't leave things mutually and Nathaniel was obviously affected by all this, what if there were still sparks between them? I suddenly lost interest in my nightly routine.

She's still his wife- - and has his child. I'm just the new woman in his life that he's known for a hand full of days. He might love me now, but he's loved her for years. Nathaniel came to stand behind me and captured one of my twists him between his fingers. He observed it for a while and took ran the pads of his fingers at the roots of my scalp.

It was strange. He loved my hair, especially my roots for some odd reason.

I gave him a peck on the cheek before packing my products away and heading back to the spare bedroom where the rest of my things were.

Nathaniel's loft was exceptional. It was spacious and the decor simple and masculine, any man would give one of his crown jewels to live in it. Right now, it was hard to see myself fitting into his space, as hard as I tried to. I kept seeing the beautiful woman from the coffee shop, with her son and him.

I stood before the mirror above the dresser just staring at myself. Why me? What have I done to deserve his love and devotion? Why me?

I dipped my finger into the cold cream and smoothed it up and around my cheeks and forehead. Nathaniel was in there the next second, still on the phone. He stood beside me, carrying on about reports and other business things while he took the cap to my lotion and gave it a sniff.

His nose was at my neck placing a kiss there and he winked at me in the mirror.

See. Happy.

"This is a good update. We'll sort this out tomorrow."

The phone clicked off and Nathaniel engulfed me in a bear hug from behind. "Baby, you won't believe how much work I got caught up in such a short time. I am damn good. That's why they call me King."

I snorted. "Cause they sure don't call you modest."

He gave me a scowl and I teasingly stuck my tongue out a him. Nathaniel bent his head to my neck and I could hear him inhaling my scent as he kissed along my neck. His hand went to my twists again and he inspected them curiously.

"Do you uh- -," he pulled on the end of my twist. "Do you do this to your hair every night?"

"Not every night no," I said screwing the top of my lotion bottle back on. "I do it when I want to get the most out of my curls."

"Why don't you use one of those roller things or those iron things?"

"Different kind of curls King." I took the bobby pins from their small container and pinned each twist up and away from my neck. Nathaniel was amazed which was sweet. . . and odd. It was so obvious that he wanted to know more, the way his eyes flitted around taking in all as if he didn't want to miss a moment.