Temptations

56. NEW PROMISES

ELLIE

It was a good morning, wonderful in fact. I was wrapped in Nathan's arms while his hot breath was tickling my skin. The room was drowned in darkness but I could see some faint rays of light coming from the closed window.

Nathan was usually at the gym at this time but today, he had slept in and I didn't want to wake him up. He looked really peaceful while sleeping and that's not a look you always get to see on his face.

We would have slept some more but the bedroom door was bombarded with small knocks. From the intensity of the sound, I could already imagine who was at the other side of the door.

Nathan shifted in his sleep and using this to my advantage, I got free of his hold. He frowned as he watched me get up from the bed and made my way to the door. I opened it, revealing little Aria waiting on the other end.

"Hey sweetie." I said, picking her up and bringing her inside. "Look Nathan, who's here."

"Daddy." She jumped on top of Nathan and he groaned at the sudden impact.

"Why are you dressed so early in the morning?" Nathan asked, looking at her Hello Kitty frock.

"You said you will take me to office today." She clapped.

"I said that?" Nathan's eyebrows scrunched.

"Yes. Remember, on Friday, you said not today. I'll take you next week." She said and I chuckled at this.

"Yeah, I remember you said that." I nodded and Nathan glared at me.

"Sweetie I..."

"No excuses, mister. You promised." I said, earning another glare from him.

"Fine. Let me freshen up first." He said and moved Aria from on top of him.

"I'll go pack my bag." Aria said excitedly and jumped off the bed while I went back to take a quick nap before I have to wake up.

An hour later, I was dressed in a floral frock, blowing my hair with the dryer. Nathan was standing behind me, spraying perfume on himself. Our eyes met through the mirror and the corner of his lips lifted a little. Stepping closer to me, he put his hand on my waist, making me gasp.

"What are you doing, Mr. Byers?" I raised my eyebrows.

"I'm just..... Checking my wife out." He said while his fingers created havoc in my belly.

"Is that so?" I said, gently pushing his hand away, making him frown. "What about our initial agreement?"

"Yeah, right. Agreement. Good thing we can cancel it anytime." He said and he was about to touch me again when I walked away.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Why don't we figure things out first? Okay?" I said.

"What's there to figure out?" He asked.

"A lot of things. Let's just go to work for now. I need to clear my mind a bit." I said and although he looked like he wanted to resist, he finally nodded.

Last few days were a disaster for my mental well being and I wanted to make sure I was thinking straight before jumping into any relationship. Also, I needed to make sure if Nathan was serious or it was just his jealousy speaking.

We took Aria and went to the car as she would be going with us today. It's only at her age would someone be excited to go to office so I let her enjoy the feeling.

We stopped on our way at a coffee shop to have breakfast. I ordered an iced Latte and a croissant while Nathan just got an espresso and an energy bar. Aria wanted a milkshake and a cookie although Nathan didn't want her to overload on sugar. At the end, Aria won, like always.

"Mmmmhmm." I moaned as I bit into the flaky croissant. "Who says money can't buy happiness."

Nathan chuckled at my actions as he ate his dry bar. "You're so childish."

"And you, sir, live a boring life." I pointed towards his bitter looking coffee.

"Too bad, you're stuck with me now." He winked.

Did he just wink?

"And I intend to keep it that way." He added.

"Are you flirting with me?" I whispered.

"Maybe." He whispered back. We both turned to look at Aria who was engrossed in eating her cookie. Once he noticed she wasn't listening to us, he added, "I can do more than flirting, if you let me."

I rolled my eyes and addressed Aria to catch her attention. "How's your milkshake?"

"It's yum." She said as she wiped the frothy moustache off her lips. "Let's go now Daddy. We are late for work." She said and stood up.

"Sure boss." Nathan said and we both walked behind her.

°°°°°

Next thing we know, all three of us were standing in the elevator to the office. And to make things awkward, someone else also entered the elevator, someone I wanted to avoid altogether for today at least.

As Drake saw Nathan and me leaned closer to each other, his Adam's apple bobbed up and down. He muttered Good morning and then shifted his attention towards Aria.

"Look who's here. Are we in trouble, Ma'am?" He said to Aria who giggled in return.

"No, sir." She giggled.

"Thank God." He said.

As we stopped at Drake's floor, I noticed him waiting for me to leave the elevator with him.

"I'll join you shortly once Aria is settled." I said.

"That's fine. Take your time." He said and walked out.

Nathan, Aria and I stopped at his floor and made our ways towards his office. While Aria got busy playing with the TV, Nathan and I sat on the sofa, facing each others.

"Poor Drake. I hope you weren't too hard on him." He commented, extending his hand towards me. Our hands gently touched as he interlaced our fingers.

"Hard? When?" I said.

"When you broke up with him." He said.

"I didn't break up with him actually. He himself asked me to leave when he realized I wasn't sure about us." I said and Nathan's eyebrows furrowed.

"So you didn't leave him for me? He asked you to go." He asked again.

"Why? Is your ego not satisfied now that you know this?" I asked, pulling my hand back.

"I didn't mean that." His voice became gentle as he held my hand again. "I'm happy, hows and whys don't matter."

"I'm still not sure whether you like me or you just want to get back at Drake." I raised my suspicion.

"What can I do to prove that I am really interest in you." He asked.

"I don't know. How about you start by being less of a jerk in front of others?" I shrugged.

"I can do that." He smiled sheepishly. "Anything else?" He batted his eyelashes at me.

"That's it for now. I'll keep thinking." I said.

"Sure, I'll wait for your tests." He kept looking into my eyes, making me flustered. I don't think Nathan Byers know the effect his fluttering lashes could have on a girl.

"I've work to do." I said and stood up.

"You'll have lunch with us. Okay?" He said.

"Okay, boss." I said tauntingly.

"Bye." He said.

"Bye." I unknowingly smiled. Damn.