IMPULSE: Companion to The PULSE Series (16 page)

"You haven't met Hunter?" She tilts her head to the side.
"Not yet."

"That seems odd to me." Her lips purse together.

"Why is that odd?" I stare at my empty glass. I should get up and pour myself another. I don't have the energy for it right now.

"You know a lot of the same people he knows."

"I guess I do," I say under my breath as I watch her slide the jacket from her body revealing a plain white t-shirt. "You're not wearing a bra, Jessica."

"I know." She takes the glass from my hand and jumps to her feet. "I'll get you another. You look like you could use it."

"Why aren't you wearing a bra?"

"Sometimes it's uncomfortable when I'm working."

I take the now full glass from her hand. "You should wear a bra."

"You should lighten up." She bites on the edge of her fingernail. "Let's talk about Hunter more."

"Why?"

"I heard something else at work today." She's playful. She's hiding something from me. I recognize it in the sound of her voice. She's been sullen and withdrawn since we saw Jenna at the museum last week. I've given her the room she's needed to process that. I've let her let go in her own way and at her own pace.

"What was it?" I wish I wasn't as down as I feel. Rejection isn't a regular part of my life. Even if I wasn't completely sold on the idea of being partner, I didn't want them to reject me. This would feel a hell of a lot better if I was the one telling them that I didn't want the job.

"They're looking for a junior chef." The slight grin on her face is all the encouragement I need to snap out of my funk.

"A junior chef?" I cock a brow. "You have the qualifications for that now."

"I do." She brushes her hand across her shoulder. I can't focus. Her tits are bouncing under her thin shirt.

She stares at me in expectation. She wants me to say something that isn't related to how luscious her breasts are. How did this conversation fall so off course so fast? It's no wonder I didn't make partner. I have little focus.

"Nathan." She snaps her fingers in front of my face. "I can get the job if I want it."

"You need to take it, Jessica." I reach for her hand. "I want you to take it. I'm so proud of you."

She pulls the glass from my hand and places it on the coffee table. I want to complain. I should complain but she's so lost in her own accomplishments right now, that I can't.

"There's just one thing." The words trail over my forehead as she crawls into my lap. "It's not at Axel NY."

"What?" My hands glide over her thighs. "Where is it?"

Her hands jump to my face, tilting it up so she's staring right into my eyes. "I was going to turn it down because of the partnership."

"Fuck the partnership. I didn't get it." I inch my hands up her waist. "Where is it, Jessica?"

"We won't move unless you want to." Her lips hover next to mine. "We have to decide together."

I'll go anywhere she goes. I'd follow this woman to the farthest reaches of the earth if it meant I could wake up and look at her face every day for the rest of my life. "Tell me where it is."

"Boston." Her lips glide over mine. "Let's move to Boston."

"I'm starving." I reach to grab the soft pretzel from her hand. "Why didn't we meet at a restaurant for a sandwich?"

"You told me to meet you here, Nathan." She takes a drink of lemonade from the straw. "I have to get back soon. Today is my last shift."

I nod as I look into the distance. "Give me more of that pretzel. I haven't eaten all day."

She hands the rest to me and I shove a big piece into my mouth. "Did you flirt with the pretzel guy today?" I ask before I swallow.
"I do every time I get a pretzel."

"He likes you." I wink at her and she smiles back.

"He fucking loves me." She purses her lips together before moving her hand up to push the hair away from her face.

It's windy in Central Park today. I haven't told her how much I'll miss this bench. It's a special place for me. I'm not one to drone on about sentimentality but Jessica is teaching me that small moments can offer a lot of memories. I need those. I need to start focusing on our future together.

"I should get back soon." She inches forward on the bench. "Do you want me to bring something home from the restaurant for dinner?"
I shake my head. "Not tonight. I'll cook."

She giggles loudly. I stare at her, watching as she pulls her hand to her mouth. "Nathan, you can't really cook."

"You never let me try," I counter. "I want to cook for you tonight."

"Why?"

This is it. This is the moment I've planned in my mind for weeks on end. My life is going to change the moment I do this. Everything will be different. Everything will be perfect.

Her brow furrows. "I shouldn't be late getting back. I mean they can't fire me or anything, but I don't want to screw up anything with my new job at Axel in Boston….
I don’t think I …"

I don’t hear anything else she says. I can't. All I can hear is my heart pounding out a beat that is telling me to just do it. I have to do it. I turn towards her before I slide from the bench and onto my knee.

"Oh my God," she whispers the words through instant tears.

"Jessica." I look up into her face. "My beautiful, beautiful Jessica."

She nods over and over again.

I feel my own tears start. "That night at the club when you walked through the door, my entire life changed."

"Mine too," she says quietly. "Mine too."

"I told you once that the earth stopped that night so I could get on."

"I remember you saying that."

"It's the truth. I was wandering before that. I had no direction. Nothing in my life had any meaning. My heart was completely closed." My hand leaps to my chest. "I couldn't feel anything. I had no idea what love was."

She pulls the arm of her sweater over her small hand before she swipes it across her face. Her mascara paints a path across her cheek.

"You were made for me." I take in a deep, measured breath. "You were put here, on this earth, just for me. I don't doubt that. I've never doubted that."

"I know that too."

"I can't live my life without you. Half of my heart is in here." I pound my fist against my chest. "The other half is in there." I point at her chest. "You carry it with you always. Wherever you are, I'm right there within you."

"You are, Nathan." Her hand holds tightly to her chest. "You're in here with me."

"You taught me how to love you." I skim my finger over her cheek scooping up a tear. "You taught me how to love myself."

"I love you so much." She pushes her cheek into my hand.

"Jessica Roth." I reach into my suit jacket, pulling out the small blue box. "I love you more than there are stars in the sky. You are my life. You are my future. Please let me be your husband. Will you marry me?" I open the box to reveal a beautiful, emerald cut diamond ring.

Her eyes jump from mine to the ring. "Yes. I want to. Yes."

I fall into her kiss.

She pulls back slightly as her gaze darts down to the ring box. "It's the most beautiful ring in the world."

"It's your ring," I say softly. "It means you belong to me."

"I want that forever."

"Promise me it's forever, Jessica."

"Forever and always, Nathan," she whispers into my lips. "I'll never let you go."

A year later

"I think he looks like me." I push the blanket down to reveal his tiny chin. "He looks exactly like me."

"Nathan," Jessica reaches past me to cover Aiden back up. "You're going to wake him up."

"He's been sleeping for hours." I don't budge from my spot next to where he's resting on our bed. "He wants to play with his dad."

"He's three days old." She giggles. "He doesn’t even know what playing is."

"I'll teach him." I run my hand along the small amount of black hair covering his tiny head. "I'll teach him everything."

"You're a good dad, already," Jessica whispers into my cheek. "You taught him a lot when he was still inside of me." She pats her stomach.

I stare at her beautiful body. She's next to our newborn son, resting on her side. Her body covered in a thin, pink t-shirt and matching panties. I couldn't get enough of her when she was pregnant. She told me she was expecting our son the day we got married here in Boston. It was a small ceremony. The only people at city hall with us were my parents, my sister, her husband and their two children.

"I'm really happy," I say the same words I've been telling her all day. "I can't imagine being happier than this."

"Me either." Her hand rests over mine on Aiden's forehead. "I didn't know that we'd make such a beautiful baby boy together."

"I knew," I tease. "He's parts of each of us."
"He has your hair." She jokes. "I bet he'll be just like you."

"He has your heart." I tap his tiny chest. "He'll be loving, giving and kind."

She smiles sweetly as she leans back to rest her head on the pillow. "I want him to be a good person like you are."

The words mean more than she realizes. "He will be a good person. We'll both show him how."

"You'll take him to your office when he's older?"

She's so proud of me. She tells me every day when I come home from my small office. I got a job working for the same firm I was at before I moved to New York. The place is familiar, the people are friendly and they appreciate everything I bring to the table. It's calm, it's quiet and the cases are exactly what I need. The pressure of all the Wall Street mergers and acquisitions that plagued me in New York is gone. I come home from work happy every night.

"I'll do that and you'll teach him how to cook."

"I would love to teach him that." She closes her eyes briefly. "When I'm done maternity leave, we'll figure out our schedules, right? You'll be here more and I'll work the later shift."

I love how she's worried about that now. She's on maternity leave for the next few months. "My mother and sister will help us too. They've already promised."

Watching Jessica spend time with my family has been one of the most enriching parts of our move back to Boston. She's embraced them all and they love her as family now. There's no distinction between her and I. My mother loves her as deeply as she loves me. It's what Jessica needs. It's helped her heal and feel whole again.

"I'm falling asleep." Her eyes pop open briefly. "Will you watch him sleep while I take a nap?"

"I'll be right here beside both of you." I crawl into the bed next to my wife and son. "I'll be right beside you forever."

Dear Readers;

If you've read the Obsessed or VAIN series you know that I haven't been able to let the characters go. I feel the very same way about Nathan and Jessica.  I adore both of them. Their love is unique, their story special and filled with its own challenges.

I
want to share more about Nathan as a father and Jessica as she moves forward in her career. Her heart is still fractured. Part of her will always long for a relationship with her daughter and Nathan will continue to sense that void that consumes a part of her.

I'm going to pick up their story a year into the future. Aiden, their beautiful son, will be celebrating his first birthday and Nathan and Jessica's love will enter a new phase.

This book will not be available for sale. It is strictly a free gift given to my readers.

If you'd like to receive this novella, please join the mailing list here:

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Jessica and Nathan will be back on New Year's Eve in a story written just for you.

Xo

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