Read Online Charming You (Thirsty Hearts Book 1) by Kris Jayne - Free Book Online
Authors: Kris Jayne
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walked past Nick's door and hustled Tom away for lunch.
Nick picked up his cell phone and dialed Vivienne's number. When she once again didn't pick up, he left her a voicemail.
"Your father invited me to dinner and said that you'd be there. I'm sitting here in my office wondering what he knows about our relationship that I don't. Please call me back," Nick said before he hung up, feeling weary. A few months ago, his life rolled out before him in perfect synchronicity with his plans. His relationship had been effortless. Now, he didn't know what was going on.
Vivienne's dad could be overbearing, but he could manage that. Vivienne managed her parents like a pro. She'd once given him the best advice on that front, "The key is to make them think that what you want is what they want." That had seemed easy enough as long as he knew what he wanted.
Nick leaned back in his leather office chair. He'd strapped himself to this freight train, and it kept chugging toward its destination. He clasped his hands together and straightened up. The partnership at Winston Stratford entailed everything he wanted—status, wealth, influence—and proof that he deserved it all.
Chapter Eight
T he only message Nick received from Vivienne was a text answering none of his questions.
> Got your message. Can't wait to see you at dinner.
She couldn't wait to see him? He'd left her messages nearly every day with sporadic responses. In the past month, he heard nothing. Vivienne's text made even less sense than her enthusiastic welcome when he walked through the door of her parents' extravagant home.
The three-story mansion of cream stone sat imposingly in a wide clearing at the end of a long drive. The road to the house wound its way back from a gated guard station through a thicket of heavy-limbed oaks and maples. Nick took note of the Morans' small concession to water conservation—the large fountain ensconced in the circular driveway was reduced to a low trickle until later in the fall.
Vivienne closed the heavy wood door behind him and grabbed his hand to walk together under an arched stairwell to an expansive family room in the rear of the house. Her parents already sat on the huge brown leather sofa, holding cocktails. Vivienne snaked her arm around his. The sudden physical contact along with the brightness in her eyes and smile startled him. She leaned in and whispered, "I'm so glad you came," and gave his arm a tight squeeze.
Nick returned a hesitant smile. Her affection gave him hope for their future together, but he didn't understand its sudden resurgence. He suppressed his alarm and shook Tom's hand. If Vivienne was happy again, he would be happy again.
"It's lovely to see you, Nick. You two are such a striking couple," Vivienne's mother, Sheila, exclaimed. Nick walked over to her and leaned down to kiss her pale, powdered cheek. He looked from the older woman to Vivienne and back again.
Sheila didn't have Vivienne's height, but the two looked alarmingly alike. They both had pale blonde hair that almost read as silver even in the younger woman's shoulder-length bob. Both had an elegant length to their neck and limbs, and both moved their slender bodies with practiced grace. According to Vivienne, her mother preferred to sacrifice a more youthful plumpness in her face to maintain her size two figure. "When you get old, it's either your face or your ass," Vivienne had told him.
Jonah, Vivienne's brother, waved at him from the arched portico outside. He had the same tall frame and blond hair, though a darker gold than his mother or his sister. He likely didn't maintain a standing appointment with a colorist like the women in his family. At forty-one, he was Vivienne's senior, but his girlfriend looked like she couldn't be more than twenty-five or twenty-six.
"Nick! Good to see you. This is Emily," Jonah said, extending his hand. Nick shook it and then turned to the smiling woman with fine, light brown hair.
"Nice to meet you,
Nick picked up his cell phone and dialed Vivienne's number. When she once again didn't pick up, he left her a voicemail.
"Your father invited me to dinner and said that you'd be there. I'm sitting here in my office wondering what he knows about our relationship that I don't. Please call me back," Nick said before he hung up, feeling weary. A few months ago, his life rolled out before him in perfect synchronicity with his plans. His relationship had been effortless. Now, he didn't know what was going on.
Vivienne's dad could be overbearing, but he could manage that. Vivienne managed her parents like a pro. She'd once given him the best advice on that front, "The key is to make them think that what you want is what they want." That had seemed easy enough as long as he knew what he wanted.
Nick leaned back in his leather office chair. He'd strapped himself to this freight train, and it kept chugging toward its destination. He clasped his hands together and straightened up. The partnership at Winston Stratford entailed everything he wanted—status, wealth, influence—and proof that he deserved it all.
Chapter Eight
T he only message Nick received from Vivienne was a text answering none of his questions.
> Got your message. Can't wait to see you at dinner.
She couldn't wait to see him? He'd left her messages nearly every day with sporadic responses. In the past month, he heard nothing. Vivienne's text made even less sense than her enthusiastic welcome when he walked through the door of her parents' extravagant home.
The three-story mansion of cream stone sat imposingly in a wide clearing at the end of a long drive. The road to the house wound its way back from a gated guard station through a thicket of heavy-limbed oaks and maples. Nick took note of the Morans' small concession to water conservation—the large fountain ensconced in the circular driveway was reduced to a low trickle until later in the fall.
Vivienne closed the heavy wood door behind him and grabbed his hand to walk together under an arched stairwell to an expansive family room in the rear of the house. Her parents already sat on the huge brown leather sofa, holding cocktails. Vivienne snaked her arm around his. The sudden physical contact along with the brightness in her eyes and smile startled him. She leaned in and whispered, "I'm so glad you came," and gave his arm a tight squeeze.
Nick returned a hesitant smile. Her affection gave him hope for their future together, but he didn't understand its sudden resurgence. He suppressed his alarm and shook Tom's hand. If Vivienne was happy again, he would be happy again.
"It's lovely to see you, Nick. You two are such a striking couple," Vivienne's mother, Sheila, exclaimed. Nick walked over to her and leaned down to kiss her pale, powdered cheek. He looked from the older woman to Vivienne and back again.
Sheila didn't have Vivienne's height, but the two looked alarmingly alike. They both had pale blonde hair that almost read as silver even in the younger woman's shoulder-length bob. Both had an elegant length to their neck and limbs, and both moved their slender bodies with practiced grace. According to Vivienne, her mother preferred to sacrifice a more youthful plumpness in her face to maintain her size two figure. "When you get old, it's either your face or your ass," Vivienne had told him.
Jonah, Vivienne's brother, waved at him from the arched portico outside. He had the same tall frame and blond hair, though a darker gold than his mother or his sister. He likely didn't maintain a standing appointment with a colorist like the women in his family. At forty-one, he was Vivienne's senior, but his girlfriend looked like she couldn't be more than twenty-five or twenty-six.
"Nick! Good to see you. This is Emily," Jonah said, extending his hand. Nick shook it and then turned to the smiling woman with fine, light brown hair.
"Nice to meet you,
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