Devoted to Her (Dream Date Book 2) (21 page)

“I didn’t order anything.”

“Excuse me, sir. This is a gift.”

Nathan looked confused.

“Who paid for this?”

“It was anonymous.”

Nathan pursed his lips. He lifted the bottle. It read
“Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque.” Maybe Amanda had wanted to send a little gift as
a signal that she was almost there.

“Okay. Thanks.”

“The miss says that she wants you to enjoy this while
she gets here.”

“So it was a woman,” Nathan said, his guess confirmed.
“All right. Thank you.”

The waiter bowed, and then left. Nathan proceeded to
serve himself a glass of champagne. He tasted it. Nathan wasn’t into alcohol,
but this one was good. He drank half a glass of it.

Nathan had everything planned. After dinner and the
proposal, he would take Amanda someplace else. There, she’d see the
other
surprise,
the song.

A short while later, Nathan saw his waiter walking
back to his table. None other than Erika followed the waiter. Nathan blinked to
make sure he wasn’t dreaming. It didn’t help that his vision was a little
blurry. She looked attractive in her dark red blouse, black knee-length skirt,
and expensive high-heels. Erika’s hair was also glossy, and she’d curled it.

“Erika?” Nathan asked, standing up. “What are you
doing here?”

The waiter looked dumbfounded.

“Sir, you requested to have Amanda Tilley brought to
your table when she arrived.”

“Erika’s my middle name,” she said. “Thanks.”

Erika dismissed the waiter. He looked toward Nathan,
who ignored him. Frowning, the waiter walked away. Erika sat down opposite
Nathan.

“How did you know where to find me?”

“All’s fair in love and war, sweetheart. I heard you
telling Ashton you would be here today.”

Nathan didn’t look happy.

“You need to leave before Amanda shows up.”

“I don’t think so. Nathan, I want you and I’m willing
to fight for you. Even if I have to spoil your date.”

Nathan walked toward Erika. He grabbed her wrist and
pulled her to her feet.

“Please leave. You can’t be here.”

“Thanks for meeting me here, baby. This restaurant is
perfect.”

“What?”

Erika smiled. In the next second, she kissed Nathan.
He leaned back, taken by surprise.

“Wow, Erika, stop. I—”

“Shhh. I want this to be our night.”

Nathan pushed Erika off of him politely. He looked
around. Luckily, no one was watching him, but the damage was done. Nathan
wouldn’t be proposing to Amanda in that restaurant anymore. It would have to be
elsewhere.

At least I’ll be more original
, Nathan thought.
Most guys propose at fine
restaurants. I’ll come up with a more creative place.

“You must leave, Erika. I don’t want you. I’m in love
with Amanda.”

Erika frowned, looking almost angry.

“But you kissed me! And not just now. You also kissed
me when—”

“I don’t care when I may or may not have kissed you.
There’s no us. Get that in your head.”

Erika looked as if he’d slapped her.

“Now, please go. If my girlfriend shows up, I swear
I’ll call security on you.”

Not pleased, Erika stood up.

“Fine. Have a good night, sweetheart.”

Nathan sighed. He watched Erika walk toward the
restrooms. Hopefully, she’d leave after that. Nathan pulled out his smartphone
and checked the time. It was a few minutes after eight.

Shaking his head, Nathan fought off his drowsiness. He
didn’t know what had brought that on. But nothing would stop him from proposing
to Amanda tonight. He’d spent a great deal of time planning for it.

A couple of minutes after Erika took off, Amanda
finally showed up. She walked toward Nathan’s table. He stood up and embraced
her when she reached him.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, my love.”

“Happy Valentine’s to you too,” Amanda replied. She
then felt Nathan’s lips on hers. They shared a short kiss, and then he pulled a
chair for Amanda.

“Thank you.”

Nathan sat down on his chair. Amanda set her purse on
an unused chair.

“Thanks for the champagne, by the way.”

Amanda’s eyebrow curled. She picked the bottle up.

“This one? It’s expensive.”

Nathan frowned.

“You didn’t send it?”

“Nathan, I’m nineteen!”

“Hmm. Then it must have been a bonus on the house.
I’ll save it for later.”

The same waiter from earlier walked up to their table.

“Are you ready to order your main course, sir?”

“Yes. Please give my girlfriend a menu.”

The waiter handed Amanda one of the menus that he was
carrying. She read it.

“I want the handcrafted pappardelle pasta,” Amanda
said. She gave the menu back to the waiter.

“Coming up. And you, sir?”

“Bring me the roast rack of spring lab.”

“Right away.”

The waiter left. Nathan and Amanda looked at each
other. He reached his hand across the table to touch hers.

“You’re magnificent tonight, sweetheart.”

On top, Amanda was wearing a cream-colored blouse that
showed a good amount of cleavage. She paired it with a reddish purple winter coat
and black skin-tight pants. Amanda’s hair was also combed differently than
usual. Large, elegant curls now framed her angelic face. She was breathtaking.

Amanda looked around the restaurant. She thought it
was perfect. Nathan had made a great choice.

“How was your trip?” he asked.

“It was okay. You made a good call having our date
here rather than in New York.”

“I’d considered it, but decided that it would take a
longer time to get there. I didn’t want to tire you.”

“That’s considerate. Thank you.”

Nathan nodded once. Amanda stood up.

“I’m going to the restroom.”

“Okay.”

Amanda looked around, stopping when she noticed the
signs indicating where the restrooms were. She started walking in that
direction. Just as she was passing an empty table, she felt a hand grabbing her
arm.

“Nathan, what—?”

Before Amanda knew what was happening, a pair of lips
met hers. She immediately knew it wasn’t Nathan. Amanda instinctively brought a
knee to the guy’s groin.

“Aargh!”

The guy doubled over, taking a few steps back. Amanda
looked at him with fury.

“Get away from me, you jerk.”

Nathan materialized beside Amanda. He grabbed the guy
by the collar.

“Touch my girlfriend again and I’m going to rearrange
those straight teeth of yours.”

Amanda noticed everyone had turned to look at them.
The guy who’d kissed Amanda cowered back at Nathan’s baleful glare. He walked
away. Nathan turned to Amanda, cupping her face in his hands.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes. I don’t know…what just happened? This dude came
out of nowhere.”

“Forget about him now. He won’t bother you again.”

Amanda nodded, sighing.

“You handled him perfectly, by the way.”

“Served him well.”

Nathan smiled at Amanda. She then walked to the
restrooms. Nathan returned to their table.

When Amanda came back, the waiter had already served
the food. Nathan opened her chair again.

“Thanks.”

They ate in silence, although Nathan was admiring
Amanda. She couldn’t help but feel flattered. She liked Nathan to ogle her.
Nathan, though, was thinking about the incident. It was getting to him. Amanda
was gorgeous, but did she have to get hit on
everywhere
she went?

When they finished, the waiter returned to take their
empty dishes. Nathan requested him to bring dessert next. Amanda licked her
lips.

“I’m getting a little full, but there’s always space
for something sweet.”

“You’ll like what I ordered.”

The dessert arrived in a few minutes. The waiter set
two plates on the table in front of Amanda and Nathan. They both contained flourless
chocolate oblivion and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

“What do you think, love?”

“Just perfect.”

Amanda took a bite from the chocolate. It was
absolutely delicious. She savored the bite, closing her eyes. The chocolate
tasted decadent in Amanda’s mouth. She followed with a bite of ice cream.

When Amanda opened her eyes, she noticed Nathan
looking at her. She blushed, which was a feat given that the inside of her
mouth was now cold.

“Delicious, huh?”

“Yes.”

Nathan and Amanda continued eating. She took her time
enjoying her slice of cake. Nathan smiled.

“You can always order some more.”

Amanda shook her head.

“I don’t think I can eat anything more. I’m tempted,
though, this is so good.”

As soon as they finished their food, Nathan asked the
waiter for the tab.

“We’ll be going elsewhere,” Nathan said to Amanda.
“For your
other
surprise.”

Nathan paid off the tab, giving a generous tip as
well.

“I’ll take a quick trip to the restroom. To rinse out
my mouth, you know,” Amanda said.

“Okay. I’ll wait for you at the car.”

Nathan walked outside. He saw Caldwell waiting next to
Kellan’s car.

A few feet from his car, Nathan clicked a button to
unlock it. Just before he opened the door, Erika appeared next to him.

“You’re still here?” he asked. “I thought you had
left!”

Erika smiled, placing her arms around Nathan. He
scanned the area nervously. Amanda wouldn’t be long.

“Did you honestly think I would give up so easy? No.
I’m serious about you.”

“Erika, we don’t know each other much,” Nathan said.
He grabbed Erika’s shoulders to try to push her away.

“That didn’t seem to stop you from kissing me. Don’t
deny it. You like me.”

“I admit you’re beautiful, but that doesn’t mean that
I love you.”

“Little by little. I have lots of patience.”

You’re making me lose mine,
thought Nathan. Erika was only a few inches away from
him. He could smell her perfume. Erika looked down at his lips.

“For you,” she said. Nathan suddenly felt her push on
the back of his head. His lips touched hers. Erika took further advantage and
moved his hands to her buttocks.

What the—?

“You brought her along?”

Nathan froze. He raised his head slowly. Standing a
few feet away was Amanda. She was looking at him with an expression of rage and
hurt.

“Love, this isn’t what you think it—”

“For God’s sake, Nathan, you dated a darned writer!
Can’t you be more original?”

“I didn’t bring her!”

“Come on, admit it,” said Erika. “Your little surprise
for tonight was to tell Amanda that you wanted me. I just thought it was cruel
to make her wait so long.”

“What?” Nathan asked. He looked at Amanda. She was
crying.

“How could you do this to me?”

“Baby, she’s lying.”

“Don’t you get near me!” Amanda warned. Nathan stopped
in his tracks. “I thought you were different. But you’re just like every other
guy. You only wanted me because of my beauty.”

“That’s not true! You know that.”

“You’re in love with my beauty, not with me. But I can
see it in your eyes. You’re tired about guys making a pass at me all the time.
I knew it would be too much for you sooner or later.”

Nathan tried to think of what to say. Amanda took his
silence as confirmation.

“I’m correct, right? You had no idea what you signed
up for when I became your girlfriend. This relationship was never going to be
normal.”

“Amanda, you’re seeing things the wrong way!”

“Your lover is right here! You were kissing her. Why
did you set up all this show just to tell me you’re leaving me? It was
completely unnecessary.”

“Nathan, just tell her. We’ve been…acquainted with
each other for months. Just a few weeks ago, he kissed me. Well, we made out.”

Nathan shot Erika an angry glare. Amanda didn’t see
it. She shook her head.

“Have a happy life with your new girlfriend.”

Amanda turned around and started walking away. Nathan
walked after her.

“Amanda, wait! I love you.”

Nathan grabbed Amanda’s arm. She looked at him, still
crying.

“Let me go! I swear I’ll turn my guards against you.”

“You love me.”

Amanda laughed.

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.” Amanda sobbed. “I
would have rather seen you back with Kayla. But you chose this puffed-up woman.
I hope you don’t regret it.”

“Baby, w—”

Amanda slapped Nathan. He released her arm.

“Don’t call me pet names. You and I are over.”

With that, Amanda turned, hightailing to Kellan’s car.
He was looking at Nathan with a disappointed expression.

Erika walked up behind Nathan. She put her arms around
him.

“Trust me, sweetheart. I just spared you from a lot of
pain in the future. You and Amanda were never going to last. She’s too much
pressure for a guy like you.”

Nathan was too angry and hurt to snap back.

“You’ll thank me. Mark my words.”

Erika walked away.
Nathan stayed rooted to the spot in the deserted parking lot. The love of his
life had left him. The only woman who owned his heart.

Rebecca was happy. Her revenge was almost done. First,
Amanda had lost her job. Now, she had likely just lost the love of her life. All
that needed to happen now was for Christopher to get closer to Amanda. That
would take time, but Rebecca was confident things would go as planned.

The next stop for Rebecca was to find out where
Hilbert had been buried. Strangely, she hadn’t received any word about that yet.
Rebecca assumed that the family would bury Hilbert in Chicago, his birth city.
There, she would tell him that she’d avenged him. Amanda finally paid for what
she did to him.

No one messes with me or my man. No one.

It was already dark.
Rebecca decided to get back home. She would call her contacts when she got
there. Hilbert deserved a proper burial.

Amanda focused on avoiding Nathan during the weekend.
She instructed her bodyguards not to let him near her. They weren’t too
surprised with their new orders. Both of them had seen Nathan cheating on their
charge. Kellan promised Amanda that Nathan will not play with her heart. He told
Amanda that she could move to another apartment. She told him that it would be
too much bother. Emmy would have to move too, and she was still recovering.

“I can’t believe it,” Emmy said when Amanda was able
to tell her what had transpired. It was Saturday afternoon. Amanda had been in
her bedroom for most of the day, reading books and listening to music. When
that became boring, Amanda finished some homework.

“For a moment, I almost thought Nathan was going to
propose to me,” Amanda confessed. She and Emmy were sitting on the sofa,
watching an action movie.

“I would have thought so, too,” said Emmy. Then she
frowned. “Wait a moment. If Nathan really did cheat on you, then what the heck
where all those gifts for?”

“Don’t even remind me. I threw them away.”

“What!?”