Contractual Obligation: The Contract by Lauren Keller Page B

oversaw multiple plants internationally. He’d been working on this deal for months, and the meeting finally came through. This could open doors.
    He’d deal with this marriage thing later. With plenty of time to think, he could wash his hands of Natalie and the engagement, or follow through and figure it out. He was attracted to the girl, sure, but pretty girls were a dime a dozen.
    He sent a simple text, “ Will be out of the country for a few weeks. We’ll talk later .” He didn’t have time to deal with feelings and garbage like that – it was time to focus on the future of Bowman Industries. He’d remind his father just how good he was at his job. Nobody could sell their product like he could. He let the staff handle the smaller jobs, but this was different. This could launch their profits into the stratosphere, breaking a new barrier.
    If he landed the deal, he’d have a word with his father about the future of his personal life – and it wasn’t going to involve marriage. He’d give Natalie a nice little payoff to pretend like the contract didn’t happen, and she’d be on her way.
    It had been a long first week overseas, and time flew by. Climbing into bed, Michael Davidson had exactly one thing on his mind – Natalie Cooper.
    Staring at the ceiling, it was obvious sleep wasn’t coming. It was stupid to think she’d answer at this point, but rolling toward the hotel nightstand, Michael picked up his phone.
    “Hello,” she answered, almost hesitantly.
    “Hey, it’s Michael.”
    She knew; she saw the caller ID.
    “Hey,” she didn’t know what to say. She’d been thinking about him a lot recently, more than she cared to admit. She hadn’t felt the rush of being with a guy in way too long, and when he looked into her eyes she desperately wanted to kiss him. They almost…well, anyway, not that it mattered.
    “I’m really sorry about what happened,” he said, his voice softening.
    “Yeah, life happens,” she said, trying to sound like it didn’t matter. The truth is, what it did was highlight just how much she wanted that night to happen, and it was rudely interrupted. She could pretend like she was glad, but lying to herself wasn’t helping anyone.
    Maybe she could fix things, change him, and make him see that being with one person was enough. She just wanted a chance – a chance to make it real. If they were going to do this, than why couldn’t they at least enjoy their time together?
    “What have you been up to?” He didn’t want to hang up; he just wanted to listen to her talk. He connected with her, knew there was something there, but he was so damn scared of falling for someone, anyone.
    “Not much,” she was so afraid of leading with her heart. But how could you spend years with someone and not care? Five years would be a long time, and it could be so much better if they connected.
    “We should talk when I get back,” he said, not even sure what he meant by that. He just wanted to see her, and didn’t even know why.
    “Sure,” she hesitated, and then started again, “Michael, about the other night…” she stopped before she could say the rest.
    “Right, I’m sorry.”
    “The thing is, I wanted to be there,” she finally got out.
    A small smile spread across his face. “I wanted you there too.”
    “I just don’t know if I can do this without getting attached. I thought maybe I could.”
    “Why don’t we just see where it takes us?”
    “Okay,” her voice was small.
    “I’d like to see you again.”
    “Okay.”
    “How was the weather there today?” It was a silly question, but he couldn’t hang up – not yet.
    “Fine, what about there?” She was searching her mind for something to say, anything, to keep him on the line a little longer.
    “Good, oh, I tried eel for the first time, that was interesting.”
    “Gross!”
    He laughed, “Yeah, it wasn’t my thing, but I’m glad I gave it a shot. What’s the most unusual thing you’ve