Page 47 of Beauty and the Bosshole
“I just knew you’d want to see Max, and when Leon offered to fly us both down…”
The mention of Leon elicits a growl from Reese. He hangs up the phone and turns to his mother.
“I told you to stay away from that man.”
Nina shrugs dismissively. “He’s the only friend who’s made the effort to visit me in that backwater town you moved us to.” She turns to me with a kindly look. “No offense, doll.”
“None taken,” I mutter, ignoring the slight to my hometown.
“He’s not your friend, Mother.”
Nina giggles and covers her mouth coyly. “You’re right, I didn’t get a chance to tell you. Leon’s asked me to marry him.”
She’s beaming and blushing like a schoolgirl, uncaring about the thunderous expression in Reese’s eyes.
“I trust you said no.”
“I said I’d think about it.”
The elevator opens and Nina floats out of it, unaware of the heart attack she’s giving her son.
“It’s an interesting prospect at my age, marriage. I don’t love him, of course; I’ll never love anyone the way I loved your father.” She falters for a moment and a hand goes to her brow as fleeting pain passes across her face. “But at my age, it’s about companionship. You don’t expect that giddy kind of love again.” She pauses in her stride and turns to face Reese with a wistful look in her eyes. “We couldn’t keep our hands off each other, me and your father. He used to…”
“That’ll do, Mother.” Reese cuts her off before she can tell us exactly what she used to do with his father.
I giggle at Reese’s discomfort, but one glance at his face brings me to a sudden stop. He’s rattled. Leon’s gotten to him with the battery supply issue. I’ve never seen him so serious, and I’ve seen him plenty serious.
I’m glad we’re back at the hotel where we can have some quiet time. The wedding party planning will have to wait. Reese is distracted in a way I’ve never seen him. He needs time to think,and I need to give him whatever support he needs. There will be a solution to this; we just need to find it.
“This is our suite,” I say firmly to Nina when we reach the doors. “We need to get Max settled and we’ll meet you later for dinner.”
Reese swipes the keycard and the door opens. But instead of the quiet private suite we left this morning, it’s full of people with tables set up and more waiters with champagne.
“What’s this?” Reese growls.
Nina puts a bony hand on his chest. “We’re wedding planning, darling. I rustled up a few suppliers to meet us. Ava and I need to do girly things. You can work in the bedroom.”
Nina’s excitement about the wedding quells the last of the anxiousness I had about the marriage. I’m glad she’s on board, but all I want to do is sort my cat out and de-stress my husband.
I turn to him but Reese is back on his phone, a deep frown creasing his forehead.
Nina glides into the suite and I follow her, tucking Max by my side and hoping it’s not too distressing for him.
A row of flouncy white wedding dresses adorns the clothes rack, neat rows of satin shoes are lined up, and all manner of accessories are scattered across the chaise lounge, ready for me to try on. One table displays a riot of colorful floral bouquets, while another table is filled with stationary samples.
Nina’s only been in town for two hours, and she’s arranged a welcome party and my own private wedding fair. It’s easy to see where Reese gets his business skills from.
“I took the liberty of unlocking the adjoining door between our suites.” Nina looks pleased with herself, but I can only gape in horror at the previously locked door that is now wide open to her adjoining sitting room and bedroom beyond, a mirror image of our own except for her ginormous antique suitcase in one corner.
Max meows in his cage and I set him down by the chaise lounge. There’s no way I’m letting him out amongst this chaos and with so much tuille around.
I try to catch Reese’s eye, but he’s back on the phone again and I hear something about solar charging.
“Are you okay?“ he silently mouths to me, his expression softening for a moment.
I’m overwhelmed, I’m anxious about my cat, and I’m worried about him and the company, but I don’t want to add me to the list of things Reese has to worry about.
If I can keep Nina busy and out of trouble while he comes up with a plan for Aurora, then I’ll be doing him a service. So, I give him a bright smile and a nod.