CHAPTER 6
Shaundra’s right,Nathanael thought,I really am an asshole.
He had this eureka moment while parked in a nondescript rented Range Rover across from the home he had once shared with his wife, a position he had taken up two or three times a day for the past several days.
Now he could add stalking to his ever-growing list of sins.
He watched as an incredibly round, short, dark-skinned older woman rolled down the driveway pushing an expensive luxury pram, a pram that Shaundra had bought when she was about six months pregnant. Shopping for baby stuff on her own because he had refused to go with her. She’d come home, stowed all her new purchases in their freshly painted nursery, locked herself in their bedroom and cried.
Doubly an asshole,he thought.
Having followed Phylicia around for a couple of days, he knew that she had a fondness for sherbet, and after spending forty minutes or so in the park with the baby, she often toddled over to a nearby ice cream parlor to sit back and read celebrity magazines while the child slept in the pram next to her.
Nathanael knew he had more than enough time to put his plan into action. He walked confidently up the driveway, looking around to see if Shaundra’s car or driver were in view, but he could see the rear bumper of the car in the garage and knew it hadn’t been taken out for the day.
Good. She’d be alone, then.
He punched in the code to let himself in, almost surprised that she hadn’t changed it. Unlike him, she wasn’t the suspicious type, so he guessed it would never have crossed her mind.
He followed his senses unerringly into the kitchen, where he spotted her, standing there in nothing but a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, and for a second he stopped in his tracks to admire her. Her curves were accentuated since she’d given birth. Her hips and legs a mesmerizing series of elegant lines. Her short curls, tipped with platinum, tight and close to her skull.
It all reminded him of how much he missed her.
With swift, silent steps, his approach honed by years of martial arts training, he was upon her before she even knew he was there, one arm slipping around her waist as he pressed his lips to her bare nape.
Her scream ended in a choking sound, and a gasp. “Nathanael!”
“Shhh,” he soothed. “It’s okay.”
She spun around, leaping out of his grasp. “No, it’s not. How did you get in here?”
“You’d be surprised how easy it is to remember five simple digits when you’ve used them frequently over a four-year period.”
She slapped her forehead. “Gonna have that changed as soon as you leave.”
“And since I own the company that installed the locks, I’ll have the new code by afternoon.” He didn’t really mean it, but enjoyed the look of outrage on her face, just for a moment.
“Why are you here?”
He sobered. “I needed to talk to you.”
“Why? Ready to step up and be a father to your child?”
“If you give me five minutes of your time and listen to what I have to say, you’ll find out.”
She snorted. “What could you possibly have to say that I haven’t heard bef—”
“I’m sorry.”
She looked stunned, then recovered her voice. “Well,that’snew.”
He let the sarcasm wash off his back. He deserved it. “I haven’t been the best husband to you, Shaundra. At least, not recently.”
“You mean, not since I got pregnant with our son!”
He winced. “We both know that’s where everything went off the rails. Where our wonderful life together changed.”
“Yeah. We were doing great, weren’t we? Until you knocked me up.” She brushed her hand across her eyes, making him wonder if she was going to cry.