Inseparable

“Please, tell me why,” I said.

“Because you don’t know this woman,” he said loudly. “It is a huge mistake, and I don’t understand why you are making it.”

“I feel like the only mistake I have made thus far is confiding in you,” I said angrily. “Apparently, you weren’t sorry for how you acted at all. I am not a child under your care. Telling me you are sorry does not negate all the things you are continuing to do.”

“I was sorry for bringing it up the way I did, not for telling you the truth,” he said. “I have always told you the truth, and this was the first time I had to apologize to you. Maybe you should think about that. Maybe clear your head a little, and look at things objectively. I mean, how do you know that she isn’t some sort of gold digger? Did you check out her history or her past? Do you really know this girl like you think you do?”

“There you go, acting too big for your britches again, assuming any decision I made was going to be the wrong one,” I said. “I can promise you that Amanda is not a gold digger. She has never once given me pause about my money. My ex gave me red flags all over the place. I just refused to see them. Believe it or not, my eyes are open wider than they have ever been. She is not with me for my money. She was interested in me even before she knew who I was.”

“Nathan, think about it for one damn minute,” John pleaded. “You barely know this girl at all. You have spent a small amount of time with her. You don’t know what she is after at all. I think you are just as blind as with your ex, if not more. At least when you were dating her, you checked into it, ultimately finding that I was right. With this girl, you won’t even take two seconds to listen to an outside opinion.”

“Probably because outside opinion has no place inside of a relationship,” I said angrily. “Look, just go. I don’t want to talk to you about this anymore.”

“Fine,” he said, standing up and marching out of my office.

Who the hell did he think he was? He came into my office, talking about my personal life, and he hadn’t even given Amanda a chance. I was starting to think he liked to watch me struggle, having zero faith in the fact that I could make my own choices. I was fuming mad at that point, and I knew I couldn’t depend on John to be there for me anymore. I was going to have to make my own choices.

Chapter 13

Amanda

I laid there on the couch, having moved from the bed halfway through the day. The only thing I could assume was that I had the flu. It was going around, as usual, but it had been a long time since I’d caught anything. Maybe I was due for a sickness. Either way, I knew that I felt like total shit, not even being able to keep water down for very long.

I knew Nathan wanted to take care of me all day, but I was glad that he didn’t. I didn’t want him to see me huddled over the toilet puking my guts out. I still felt nauseated as hell, I was exhausted, and I couldn’t get comfortable in my own body. One minute, I was freezing cold, and the next minute, I was burning alive. I had taken my temperature, and it wasn’t much more than normal, which shocked me since I was totally expecting to be sporting a pretty bad fever with whatever viral plague had entered my body. All I wanted to do was sleep, but my stomach was so upset that it wouldn’t let me rest for even a couple of minutes.

Just as I calmed my mind down from all the sick thoughts, I heard the door open and shut. Nathan walked around the corner carrying a bouquet of flowers and a case of ginger ale. The man knew exactly how to get to my heart. I smiled and gave him my cheek as he leaned over to kiss me.

&nbs

p; “You feel warm,” he said, sitting down on the edge of the table.

“I took my temperature twenty minutes ago, and I only have a slight fever,” I said.

“Well, I came over to help take care of you and to make sure that you were doing okay,” he said. “I have been worried about you all day. I’m glad to see you got out of bed and made your way to the couch.”

“I had to have a change of scenery,” I said. “I was staring at the fan going around and around, and it was only making me feel worse.”

“Can I get you anything?” he asked, standing up. “I’m going to go put these flowers in water and put your soda in the fridge.”

“No, I’m okay,” I said. “I am trying to get that water down before I drink any more soda.”

“Good,” he said, smiling. “I’ll be right back.”

Nathan was extremely worried about me, and although it made me feel bad for him, I appreciated that he was there to look out for me. He was showing me just how good of a husband he was going to be. I had been thinking about his marriage proposal all day, and normally, all that time would have changed my mind, but not with Nathan. I knew that I wanted to marry him and to spend our time together living life. I finally knew what Lindsey felt when she met Jordan. I was pretty sure she would have married him after a week if he had asked her.

“So, I was thinking,” I said as he walked back in. “We should just get married at the courthouse. You can tell me if you feel differently, but I really don’t want a big wedding. I always thought they were so overblown and ridiculous. We are getting married because we love each other, and I want it to be about us.”

“I think that is a fantastic idea,” he said, smiling. “I don’t want a big wedding, either, though I would do it if it was important to you.”

“It’s not,” I said. “What’s important to me is being with you.”

“Me too,” he replied, kissing my forehead. “I don’t think anyone else really understands our relationship anyway. I don’t want people there that have doubts in their mind. It takes away from what the real purpose of all of it is.”

“I agree, though I haven’t told anyone yet,” I said. “I’ve been dying on the couch.”

“You are so cute when you get melodramatic,” he said, laughing.

“Wait fifty years, and see if you still feel that way.” I laughed.