| Isabella |

I giggled at the sight in front of me.

Nathan was currently trying to cook us breakfast and it had very immediately become clear to me why he had a personal chef. All this time I'd thought he was was just too busy to cook for himself or, was just enjoying the perks of being able to have gourmet food everyday. But now I realized, it was because he couldn't cook anything- even pancakes. The batter had turned out alright, after I'd helped him but then he insisted I sit at the bar while he cooked. He didn't even want me to offer advice. So here I was, sitting in a cushy bar stool, drinking fresh coffee and watching this powerful business mogul fail at something for once in his life.

He huffed, flipping yet another burnt pancake over. You'd think this man who worked with charts and graphs and numbers all day would be able to figure out just how long it took to cook the pancake, but alas, he couldn't get it.

"I think this one's a little less burnt." he says, the honesty in his voice so endearing that I had to laugh. He looks up, pouting and I immediately stop, feeling bad.

"Oh, no, no. I think you're right. A little less burnt." I say and he rolls his eyes, smirking. "You know, if I could just help-" but he holds up the spatula intently.

"No, you stay there and drink your coffee, I am going to get this right." he says, pouring another couple scoops of batter into the pan. He watches them, so concentrated that I can't help but take a picture for Snapchat. He looks good in it too, shirtless- grey sweatpants low on his hips. All things considered, this wasn't a bad sight at all.

We'd spent the past weeks moving back and forth between each other's apartments. Granted, we didn't spend every night together, but more than half the time, I was at his place or he was at mine. All this past week though I'd been here every night, sometimes staying or going out with Rachael and Hunter. She'd been just as absent from our apartment as I'd been recently. Always with Hunter or planning their wedding. I was helping with it too and it was turning out to be a very grand event- nothing less than what I'd expected of course.

It made my heart flutter every time I thought about how much fun it was playing house with Nathan. And it hadn't occurred to me until recently but I realized I was falling in love with him. I'd never say it out loud because I knew it would scare him, but I thought about it all the time. I'd never really loved a guy before, I'd never really connected with past boyfriends I'd had. There was always something missing and it appeared I'd found it in the most unlikely place.

"Fuck." he swears, burning yet another batch and shaking me from my thoughts. He finally seemed to be giving up, so I decided now I would help him.

"Okay, here." I slid off the bar stool and walked over to the stove. I grabbed the bowl as he backed away and let me take over. I poured new batter and then grabbed the spatula. "So you have to watch it and a trick my mom taught me was that when the pancake looks kind-of dry and not shiny around the very edges, it's ready. Also sometimes it bubbles a little."

"Okay." he huffs, nodding and stepping closer again. We watch the pancakes and at just the right time, I flip them, all of them perfectly golden brown. "You are so much better at this than me."

"I am the master chef." I say, winking at him and he nods, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me back against him. He presses a kiss to my neck, brushing the my hair off my shoulder with his fingers. I sigh a little, trying to focus on this one task was becoming very difficult with him and his lips distracting me. "I am going to burn them too if you keep this up." I whisper and he chuckles against my skin, lifting his head up.

"Let them burn." he says softly, his lips brushing the shell of my ear. I breathe in sharply, his hands trail lower now, slipping beneath the hem of my shirt. I take the pancakes out of the pan, shut the stove off and turn, reaching up to kiss him.

It's crazy how fast we go from hanging out to sex. Just like this morning we went from a nice, sweet moment to me on the counter and him above me. Our lips hungry for each other- and possibly also hungry for some whipped cream we were supposed to save for our burnt pancakes.

"You know, this is the first time Nathan and I are going to a party as a couple." I muse and Rachael makes a noise from across the room.

"This is cause for celebration." she states and suddenly there is a champagne flute in my hand, given to me by one of the many people her father had hired to get us ready for tonight's company event. I sip some as the girl working on my hair begins to curl it. "I'm just happy you two are working out so well."

"I know." I sigh. "Me too."

"I feel bad because we are literally never together anymore." she says and we both pout.

"We need to have a nice girls night soon." I say and she nods enthusiastically.

"You can tell me all the cheesy details of your relationship." she hums, sipping some champagne. "Do you love him?"

The questions came so easily to her, but to me, the second I heard it I flinched a little. Knowing I wouldn't be able to lie to her and that now my secret would be out. She knows immediately from my response. "Omg Isabella."

"I know, I know." I sigh. "It's a little crazy."

"Have you told him?" she asks, and I shake my head. "Why not?!" she's incredulous.

"I don't know how he'll react." I mutter, looking down at my freshly done nails and sighing. "Plus, we've only been dating for a few months now."

"But you two have been into each other for way longer than that. Since the beginning of the summer. It's nearly Thanksgiving now, you're bound to fall in love at some point." she reasons and I nod, she was right.

"I guess." I say. "I just need the right time to do it and that time never seems to present itself."

"Trust me the right time will come." says Rachael, smiling slyly and I laugh a little rolling my eyes. "With Hunter and I, it just kind-of happened naturally you know? You'll see, one day you'll just kind-of say it."

"Okay." I sigh.

After my hair was curled and my makeup done we got dressed. My dress was a pinkish nude color with a plunging neckline, made out of the kind-of silky material that hugs you in all the right places. I had gold bands around my wrist, shiny drop earrings and layered gold necklaces. And to top it all off some nude-colored stilettos. Rachael's dress was black, paired with a flashy diamond necklace and sparkly high-heels. She was never subtle in anything- in fact I knew she would be waving her hand around an unnecessary amount tonight just so everyone would notice her ring.

We took a limo to the venue where we were meeting the boys, as soon as we pulled up I was shocked by the flashing lights of paparazzi everywhere, lighting up the inside of the car and making me turn to Rachael with a raised eyebrow.

"I pretty sure my dad hired them." she shrugs. "Or there here for any number of rich people showing up here tonight, probably Nathan too."

I nod, feeling nerves spark inside me as an usher opens the door to our limo for us. I step out, Rachael close behind me, nearly blinded by the flash from the cameras.

"Hey! Babe!" we turn and see Hunter approaching, as soon as he has Rachael in his arms the two of them put a show on for the photographers, groping each other and kissing for all the world to see. There is a bit of a commotion near the entrance for the cars as a sleek, white Ferrari rolls up and I smile, knowing who it is.

Nathan steps out, handing the valet the keys, before spotting us and heading over.

"Hi." I say, pulling him tightly into a hug the second I can get my hands on him.

"Hey sweetheart." he says, grinning as he pulls back to look at me. "You look so beautiful."

"Thank you." I smile, I reach up, tugging on his tie. "Not so bad yourself.

He surprises me then, kissing me deeply, in front of everyone and causing more butterflies to erupt in my stomach. He pulls back, smiling in a way I hadn't seen from him before . . . it was more genuine than I could ever remember his smile being. And in that moment, I fully knew and trusted that I was helping him be that happy.

"Shall we pose for some pictures?" I ask and he nods.

"I want everyone to see how beautiful you are and that your mine." he whispers, leaning in closer again and pressing a chaste kiss to my lips.

Then, he steps back, holding his arm out and I take it, joining him on the walk into the venue. There weren't a ton of photographers, but enough to hold us up a few minutes as we paused and turned towards the flashing light. When we were finally inside the party I wasn't surprised to see that it was decked out in all the most expensive and luxurious decorations. Everything from the food to the twinkling lights was arranged perfectly.

"Come on, I need to introduce you to a few people." he says. He leads me towards an older looking man, whose grey hair was balding slightly at the front. Thick glasses framed his eyes and I stifled a smile of surprise at the woman on his arm. Let's just say she hadn't hesitated the join the plastic surgery trend. She'd done everything from a boob to a lip job- not to mention it was obvious that she'd spent an above-average amount of time in a tanning bed. A flashy diamond necklace glinted on her chest, a red dress cloaking her leathery skin.

"Mr. Price!" booms the man the second he sees us, stepping forward with a hand outstretched.

"Hello Mr. Rogers." says Nathan, taking his hand and shaking it firmly.

"How are you doing? It feels like ages since we've talked." says this Mr. Rogers, and Nathan proceeds to tell him he was doing well. I glanced to the side and see the woman eyeing me, looking me slowly up and down. I look back, narrowing my eyes and raising an eyebrow.

"And who is this beauty?" asks Mr. Rogers, calling my attention back and I see Nathan smile brightly.

"This is Isabella Smith." he says, and I smile, reaching out my hand to shake Mr. Roger's.

"Hi." I say softly and he grins at me. I resist the urge to gag.

"She is my girlfriend." says Nathan and Mr. Rogers raises his eyebrows.

"Well I'll be damned, I never thought you'd settle down." he says and I laugh a little. Nathan shakes his head.

The first half of the evening passed like this, him introducing me to various friends of his family, investors and business partners. They were all polite, all happy and so was Nathan. For the first time since I'd known him, he was actually enjoying a party.

Eventually dinner started and we all took our seats. The rest of the night was filled with good food, dancing and talking with more important looking people. The pride that rushed in my chest didn't falter once- no matter how many times he introduced me as 'his girlfriend'. Those words were the best ones I'd heard in a long time. He was also sweet with me all night, and it wasn't just tonight either, it had been recently in general. He acted in a way I'd never expected from him. Gentle touches, chaste kisses, and most of all, the look I'd catch him giving me- his whole face would be lit up and happy and it was all for me.

His parents ended up stopping by, his mother instantly engulfing me in a hug.

"Isabella!" she says happily, squeezing me tightly while I tried to return the hug but had to settle for an awkward pat on the back.

"Hi!" I gasp, wheezing as I began to run out of air.

"You look simply gorgeous." she says, pulling back and making me spin slowly in a circle for her. She clasps her hands together. "So, the talk of the party is that you two are official."

"Yes mom." says Nathan, and even though he tried to sound neutral about it, he couldn't stop the smile on his face. And neither could I.

"Oh!" she cries and she proceeds to hug me again. Then she moves to Nathan, who was stiff at first and I titled my head at him, raising an eyebrow. He saw the look I was giving him and he rolled his eyes, smiling before returning the hug. She and his father talked with us for a while, his mother especially interested to know all the details of how our relationship came about. Then his father stole him away, needing to talk business and parade Nathan around to his friends. That left Rose and I to ourselves and I offered to go get us some drinks.

I was standing at the bar, waiting for our champagne, when I felt someone approach from behind me. I look to the side slightly and see a woman who'd often followed Nathan around at other parties in the past- I remember Rachael telling me her name was Danni. I think she was an old ex-fling of his and judging by the look she was giving me, a jealous one at that.

"Hello." she says slowly, her lips pursed. I raised an eyebrow, also looking her up and down, just as she was doing to me. She was dressed in a tight blue silk dress, her wrists and neck decked out in glittering jewelry. Blonde hair tumbled around her shoulders and her face was coated in makeup.

"Hey, you're Danni, right?" I ask and she nods, smiling at me but it came across like more of a grimace.

"And you're Isabella." she says crisply. "Nathan's girlfriend . . . or would it be more appropriate to refer to you as his current . . . distraction."

"I think girlfriend works." I say, the polite smile from before vanishing from my face and instead I choose to glare subtly at her. She nods, sighing a little.

"Well, it won't last long I hope you know." she says. "He drops everyone eventually. And when he drops you he'll come back to me. I am what he likes in a woman . . . you are new and exciting, different. But not permanent, like I said, a distraction."

I stare, narrowing my eyes. "If you're what he likes in a woman then why did he drop you so quickly?" I ask. "And why did he never introduce you to anyone as his girlfriend? In fact I believe you were following him around at parties before this, not the other way around." Her mouth drops open and I pick up the champagne the bar tender prepared. "Honey, desperation isn't a good look on you, that's probably why he traded it up to me."

And with that I turned, but not fast enough to stop her grabbing my arm. She moves swiftly in front of me. "He'll come back to me you'll see. And then we'll see who the desperate one is."

I roll my eyes, refusing to dignify that with an answer and heading back to where Rose sat waiting for me. She and I talked the rest of the evening until Nathan came to get me. Then I said good bye to Rachael and it was finally time to leave.

As we stood and waited for the valet to bring up Nathan's car he pulled me closer, his hands sliding to my hips and his mouth dangerously close to mine.

"Come back to my apartment." he says darkly, and I can see in his eyes that he wants me. "I've wanted you out of this dress all night."

"Awe, I liked this dress." I tease and he grins, kissing me and then pulling back.

"I like it too, but it's torture watching you and not being able to touch you." he whispers and I giggle, reaching up to kiss him again.

Hello Readers!

I hope you are all having a lovely morning, afternoon or night (depending on when you are reading this)! Tell me what you think of the new chapter in the comments below. Nathan and Isabella's relationship is blossoming (haha) and there will be more

XX,

- Keara Rose 🌹