Read Online London Bound by Jessica Jarman - Free Book Online Page B

his face up, and managed to look cute while doing it. Which should be a crime. He was already too good-looking.
    “My first day here,” she started. “I was hauling my luggage up the stairs, and you basically pushed right past me. Didn’t even say anything, no offer to help. Nothing. You ignored me when we passed each other in the hall. You let me in that morning and just walked away. You were definitely asshole-ish.”
    “That’s not even a word.” Nathan narrowed his eyes, and his mouth twitched.
    “And yet it describes you perfectly then,” she shot back.
    He threw his head back and laughed.
    “Honestly, love, I don’t even remember that first time. I’m sorry.” He sighed and shook his head. “I got back to London a little over a week ago, after spending several weeks in the States. Several weeks that were brutal. So, if I was...‘asshole-ish’, I can only plead temporary insanity due to stress and exhaustion.”
    The carefree happiness that had been on his face moments before was replaced by an expression of sadness that made her ache for him.
    “Were you there for business?” she asked, even though she had a feeling that only something personal could cause such a drastic change.
    “No, though I was trying to keep up with my work during that time, which only added to the stress,” he explained. “I was there for my sister. She found herself in trouble and needed sorting out.”
    “And that fell to you?”
    “Until my mum and sister could get there, yes.”
    “What kind of trouble?” She immediately held her hand up. “No, sorry. That’s not my business. Never mind.”
    “Open book, remember?” He gave a small smile. “Maddie got caught up in things, with the wrong people, which is horribly clichéd, isn’t it? The boy—because damned if I’ll call him a man—she was involved with was abusive. I didn’t know that until I was there, though. No, the reason I was called was she’d OD’d. She almost died and was in hospital.”
    “Oh, Nathan.” This time, she tightened her grip on his hand. God, his sister’s story was one every parent feared. “I’m so, so sorry. How is she doing?”
    “When she was discharged, she went straight into treatment, and is there now. Mum and Lara—my other sister—are there, and I came back to...”
    “Take care of things here,” she finished when he trailed off.
    “No point in my staying. Maddie isn’t speaking to me.” He chuckled humorlessly. “Probably because I threatened to kill the twat she was seeing if he showed his face. Though, last I heard, he’d been arrested for dealing and assault, so with any luck, he won’t be an issue.”
    “How horrible. For all of you.”
    “She’s in good hands with Mum and Lara. It’s fine,” he said a bit thickly.
    Meg recognized the gestures of a man wanting the subject changed—the clearing of the throat, straightening his back, squaring of his jaw.
    “Well, I’d say, under the circumstances, I can forgive your asshole-ish-ness.”
    “ Definitely not a word,” he protested though he visibly relaxed.
    She chuckled then quietly added, “We don’t have to talk about it anymore, but thank you for sharing that with me.”
    “It’s not a subject you have to avoid or anything. There’s just nothing more I can do, at this point. But, I hope she can turn things around, now that she’s getting the help she needs. She’s so young, barely twenty, and has her whole life ahead of her if she doesn’t throw it away.” He drained what was left of his pint. “Now, moving on. Ask me something fun, this time, yeah?”
    She felt as if all the air had been sucked from her lungs and, as hard as she tried, she couldn’t replace it. His poor sister wasn’t even twenty, he’d said. Basically, the same age as Aaron. Oh, God...
    “You didn’t answer me when I asked the other night,” she forced out. “How old are you?”
    “I said fun , Meg.” He laughed, but when he met her gaze, he instantly sobered.