| Isabella |

I heard the laughter from downstairs in a sleepy daze before I actually woke up and realized I was alone. Nathan must have gotten up before me, but then again I shouldn't be surprised, I know he is a very early riser. Clearly, the rest of his enormous family had woken up before me too. There were so many of them. There were his grandparents, his mother and father, his brother and his fiancé, his uncle, his wife and their two adorable children. I thought, in particular, that his relationship with them was completely adorable.

After they had woken up yesterday morning and realized he was there, they ran to him shrieking, tackling him. He was the most affectionate, and I use that word loosely, with them than with anyone else. It made me wonder if he had a secret soft spot for children.

I didn't understand how he could be such a cold and calculated man if he had grown up with all that light, love and laughter surrounding him. I desperately wanted to ask him these things, question him about him, his past. I wanted to know so much.

Sure, he'd been adopted from what was most likely a poor excuse for a family, but shouldn't what he came into be enough to heal him? Wouldn't he begin to realize just how lucky he was to have all these people around him?

Whereas I had grown up in a cold, empty home which was only occasionally filled with the sounds of shouting and violence until my father finally left.

I sit up and stretch, yawning from being up late. But it wasn't like I had regretted staying up late, especially with what I had gotten out of it.

Sure, I'd been with other guys, but never like that before . . .

I get out of bed and go to the bathroom. I tame my wild mane of hair until it sat in soft waves around my shoulders and wash my face. I decide that my grey t-shirt and black night shorts were decent enough. Then I go downstairs, hoping everyone would still be in their pajamas and that I wasn't the only one who waited until at least noon on vacation days to get dressed properly.

I nearly got lost in the vast home, the many hallways confusing me but the sound of talk and laughter was all I needed before I walked down the grand stair case and into the beautiful kitchen.

"Isabella!" cries Rose happily, and she flutters toward me, still in her nightgown. In my mind I sighed, relieved to see everyone else was in their pajamas still too. There was a loud chorus of 'hellos' and 'good mornings' as I entered the kitchen.

"Good morning!" I say and Rose engulfs me in a hug. I laugh.

"How did you sleep?" she asks and I smile at her as she releases me.

"I slept really well thank you." I say. "How about you?"

"Oh . . . I slept wonderfully." she says. I glance around the kitchen, Nathan's Uncle Drew, his Father Derek, younger sister Sarah, Lucy and Jackson all standing around the large room.

"Would you like some coffee?" asks Derek from across the room.

"Oh, I'm more of a tea drinker." I say declining politely and he nods before going back to his conversation with Drew.

"Would you like some tea?" asks Lucy, who seemed to have a mug full of tea herself.

"Sure." I say, walking over and she heats up some water. Soon I held a mug of peppermint tea, which was warming my hands.

" So are you liking Florida so far?" asks Sarah and I nod.

"Yeah, it's really warm here, which I like and the beach is amazing." I say.

"You know, to be honest, I am surprised your with my brother." says Sarah and I laugh a little.

"Oh, we're not together." I insist and its her turn to laugh. She shakes her head.

"Well, if you did get together, I approve." she says.

"Nathan's out on the deck if you want to see him." says Lucy, pointing outside, I nod and walk out onto the deck, where sure enough, he sat typing furiously away at his computer. He was dressed in jeans and a polo t-shirt that did nice things for his strong arms and chest. I find myself remembering the image of his glorious, shirtless body from last night. Complete with sculpted chest, shoulders and wash-board abs; this was an image which would be permanently burned into my memory forever.

"What are you doing?" I ask loudly, shaking myself from my thoughts, and trying to get his attention. He doesn't even turn to look at me when I come to sit next to him, he just continues to stare daggers at the screen.

"I'm working." he snaps, clearly focused.

"Right now? Seriously? Of all the days, of all the moments? You choose now to work?" I ask and he pauses, looking over slowly and I giggle at his pissed expression. I roll my eyes at him.

"Well you didn't have to come out here and see me working, but that didn't stop you." he snarls and I feel a flash of hurt, but it was short-lived. I glare back at him.

"You don't need to be an ass." I hiss and then I sigh, he was so hard to read. One moment he was being civil, kind even, the next we were in bed together and he was blowing my mind and now he's here, being a complete asshole and I've got no idea how to handle it.

"What are you doing any way?" I ask and he makes a face.

"I'm writing an email . . ." he pauses as I raise an eyebrow at him. "It's a very important email, a man is trying to steal information from my company, I need to make sure it doesn't happen."

"Oh so this man hasn't actually ever stole anything from you or your company yet?" I ask and he shakes his head. "Then what exactly is the point of this email?"

"To stop something I suspect may happen, from actually happening." he tells me, as though it should be obvious.

"So then it's not that important then is it?" I continue to question and he lets out a deep breath of exasperation.

Then, I had an idea. I eye him for a second, taking a moment to see how close I was to the stairs from my seat. In a sudden movement, I reach forward and snatch his surprisingly light lap top from the table and I jump up, running towards the stairs.

"Hey!" he roars and I laugh wildly, taking off down the beach and running up a sandy hill. I turn back and see him still standing at the edge of the deck, looking completely shocked.

"Get back here!" he shouts and I shake my head, laughing at the enraged look that was on his face.

"You'll have to come get me." I call and then I turn, running down the other side of the hill and through the soft sand, carrying the laptop the whole way. Suddenly two hands grabbed me, picking me up.

"I got you." he growls, though if I wasn't mistaken, I could hear humor in his tone. I am surprised he caught me so quickly. I giggle, still clutching the computer as best I could while he tosses me over his shoulder.

"Put me down!" I cry and he laughs at me, actually laughs at me.

"Nope." he says. "That's what you get."

I kick around violently and drop the laptop by accident, it lands with a soft thud in the sand. He turns, swinging me around and the puts me down gently, to go and grab it.

"Isabella, you need to be careful with this." he says, though he didn't sound too angry. He shuts it down and then closes it, turning back to me. I smile at him, biting my lip.

"Oops." I whisper and he narrows his eyes at me. I walk to him swiftly, standing close, not quite positive what I am doing.

"You're something you know that?"

"Yeah I know." I giggle and I reach up, slinging my arms around his neck, he flinches, obviously surprised I was touching him. "Last night was really fun."

"You think?" he asks.

"Mm . . . definitely. I've never- that was the best I've ever had." I say, feeling heat rise in my cheeks at the words I had just said.

"Good." he tells me and after he escapes my arms, we walk back up to the house together. I didn't know what our relationship was, and I definitely didn't know what he thought about me, but I did know there had to be reason he invited me to come with him on a family vacation. Maybe we weren't dating, not even close, but there was something there, I just had to find out what it was. I had to talk to him, to find out what he was doing and what he wanted when we got back to New York.

_

The rest of the vacation passed so quickly, it might have been in the blink of an eye. Nathan didn't warm up to me as much as I thought he would after that morning on the beach. He had shocked me in a good way, but it had been fleeting, like catching a glimpse of something you're dying to see and then having the door slammed in your face. As soon as we got back to the house, he locked himself away for an hour or so, finishing his work. He even insisted that he stayed on the couch the rest of the nights we were together, but I couldn't say that I minded all that much.

We did all sorts of things during the day with his family, we would go to the beach, we went to the zoo, we went to a fancy water park and we also visited a place full of different kinds of gardens. It was really very fun, and I felt really happy I had been invited and that his family had welcomed me with open arms as though I was one of them.

But all too soon, it had to end and we were standing in the entrance to the home, with a tearful Rose hugging us goodbye. Derek had taken Drew, Heather and their children to the airport already, Lucy and Jackson were heading home on a plane and everyone else was packing and had said their goodbyes.

"You must come spend time with us again." insists Rose, hugging me again and I laughed a little.

"Mom." mutters Nathan coldly from beside me.

"You be quiet young man, you cannot bring a girl this nice around to meet us and expect me not to want her back." snaps Rose and I felt surprised, that was the most sassy I had ever seen her before.

"Bye mom." he groans and she flings herself in his arms as well, crying about how she never gets to see him. He eventually got himself untangled from her clutches and after another hug and a wave goodbye, we were out the door to the limo.

Our bags had already been loaded up and it was now I felt a little bittersweet about leaving. It had been an amazing time, and though part of me wanted to go home, of course I didn't want to leave either. I think some of it had to do with what would happen between Nathan and I when we arrived back to the real world. Would he want nothing more to do with me? Was I just another tryst? Since I'd let him touch me, be intimate with me, was he done with me now? Maybe he realized I wouldn't sleep with him unless I thought he was serious . . . I wasn't sure.

"Thank you for inviting me again." I say to Nathan as the limo sped along the high way to the airport.

"Hm. Just glad you could come." He responds, not looking up from his phone, focused as always.

"You are so absorbed by your work." I comment and that got his attention.

"You think that's a bad thing?" he questions harshly and I just shake my head, turning away from him, even though I was burning to tell him everything I was thinking. The flight home was uneventful, he was working the whole time so I was left to sleep and watch movies on my computer. He drove me home, music playing softly in the car and I was soon lulled off to sleep again.

"Isabella." he murmurs, shaking me awake and I opened my eyes. His delightfully blue ones were watching me intently and I found myself wondering how long he'd been watching me. "We're home."

I shift in my seat, turning and look out the car window at my apartment building.

"Okay." I sigh and get out silently, he follows getting my luggage for me and insisting that he took my things up, even though I tried to tell him I was in fact strong enough to carry it all. When we were outside my apartment door, I turned back to look at him.

"Well, thanks again, for everything." I say and he only nods. "I know you probably- no, that you definitely don't do that for any other girls, but I had a really fun time."

"Of course."

"I will see you again?" I ask.

"Yeah, sure, why not." he mutters. "I still- I'm not looking for a relationship or a girlfriend, but you know that."

"I do." I say sighing, then as I am about to turn away and go to bed for the night, I look back at him. "But then why did you bring me home with you Nathan? Why did you kiss me like that? Why did you- I don't know . . . its just all very confusing for a girl. One minute your hot, then your cold and the next I don't even know what to think."

"Isabella." he huffs but I continue despite the look on his face and the way I was suddenly aware just how much he towered over me.

"Plus you are always working- you don't have time for your amazing family? They're all sweet and caring and-"

"Enough." he says sternly and I snap my mouth shut. "I have- I'm not sure why I did all those things you mentioned and I will not tell you about my relationship with my family, but I am sorry if I confused you."

"Yeah well sorry isn't good enough!" I say, loud enough to echo through the hallway, and I stomp my foot a little.

"Please don't act like a child." he groans. "All the girls I- well they all end up like this." he gestures to me. "They are all confused and wanting more, but I don't want that. You know this, just like you said before. I don't do relationships. I'm not the man you think I am and I'm not the man for you."

"But we're friends at the very least." I say my voice barely a whisper because even though he hadn't directly rejected me, I felt more rejected than I ever had in my life.

"Certainly."

"Good night then Nathan." I say, unlocking my apartment door, leaving things simply at that and not responding to everything he had said before.

"Good night Isabella."

______

Hey Guys!

I know, I haven't updated in a while, but with the holidays and finals, I was fairly busy. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, if you celebrate, and a Happy New Year and if you celebrate something else, I hope it was also good. Happy 2016! tell me what you thought about the story!

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xoxo

-Keara Rose