Page 85 of A Little Bit Uncertain

His brow furrowed in confusion. “They had no issues. If I’m happy, they’re happy.”

“Are they rich?”

“I … this feels weird, seeing as I don’t even know your last name.”

“My last name is King. Did you grow up rich?” I was fully aware of how absolutely unhinged I was being. Poor Nathan had no idea what he was walking into. The questions were so, so inappropriate, but there was no stopping me.

“I have lived a privileged life.”

“And they’d be okay with whoever you married?” I pushed. “Even if they weren’t rich?”

I couldn’t believe this man was still standing here.

“I’m gathering your night went to pot when you met your boyfriend’s parents tonight?” He guessed.

“Yeah. They were horrible to me. It was the worst I’ve ever been treated in my life,” I admitted as the tears welled in my eyes again.

“Audra, I’m not sure what your deal is and why you ended up at this lobby bar. But I have three younger sisters, and if they were in the state you were in, I’d want someone to give them a hug. When I came over, I was hoping to hit on you and see where the night took us, and while it’s clear that you don’t need that right now, it does look like you need some love.” And he held his arms out to me. I let myself fall into them. “This is the oddest night I’ve had in a long time,” Nathan laughed.

“Can I just say that I’ve never done anything like this before?” I laughed back. “I bet you didn’t know the shit show you were walking into when you asked to sit down. You’re a good guy, Nathan. Thank you.”

“My intentions were not hugging a woman for comfort, but alas,” he laughed. “Now that we’re best friends, can I buy you a shot?”

Jules interrupted the moment when she put her hand on my shoulder and pulled me out of the hug.

“I’m Juliette, here to rescue my friend. What’s going on?”

“This is Nathan. Poor Nathan just got subjected to a lot of questions about his wealth and if he would marry a nurse, and then I started to cry. He hugged me because he has three younger sisters and said that if someone saw his sister out looking like I looked, he would hope someone would comfort them. Did I cover it?”

As I regurgitated those words, I couldn’t believe it was an actual replay of those last few minutes. Nathan just smiled at her and shrugged. Because honestly, what else was he going to do? At that point, this man was in for a penny, in for a pound.

It took a lot for Juliette to be shocked into silence. She looked between us with furrowed brows and shook her head from side to side to try to process what I had told her.

“Are you … are you serious?”

“Yup,” Nathan took over. “One minute, I’m finishing dinner with some friends who are staying here, and the next, I’m consoling a stranger at the bar. New York is always full of surprises.” He tipped his drink into the air.

“I’m going to take my friend now, Nathan. But do you live here?”

“I do, over in Hell’s Kitchen.”

“I’m here for a couple more days for work. Let’s meet up.”

Freaking Juliette. Take no prisoners. I bet she was going to have rock-star sex with the super-hot guy and not even give it a second thought. Not worry about whether they’d marry her. Not worry if his parents approved. She was just going to enjoy the ride. I needed to start living my life like her. Maybe I just needed to stop falling for rich men.

“You’re not weirded out that I…?” Nathan trailed off as he looked at me, then Jules.

“That you were hitting on my friend? No. If I swung that way, I’d hit on my friend, too. She’s freaking gorgeous. But she’s taken and I’m not, so what do you say?”

A grin overtook Nathan’s face. “Point taken. You are quite gorgeous as well, and I’d love to take you out, Juliette.”

She pulled out her phone and got his number. Only she would come in to manage my crisis but still also manage to pull the number of the super hot guy that was hitting on me with the intent to fuck him later. She should write a book.

Jules led me out of the bar and towards the elevator.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“This is my hotel, Audra. You picked a good one to run to because Roscoe Media has good taste. And for the second time tonight, fate was looking out for you. Come on up. Donovan is looking for you.”