Free Made to Love by Heidi Medina Page A

subject, by an elbow to the ribs.
    “Nathan, buddy, how are you,” the voice, and
elbow, belonged to Tyler Winston, both business associate and family friend. 
    I turned and smiled, hoping that his visit
was brief.  I did not want to be preoccupied when Miss. Flighty chose to make
her reappearance.  “Tyler, good to see you.  Enjoying the party?” I asked.
    Tyler grinned and nodded.  “Always.  Just
trying to figure out which one, or three, of these lucky ladies gets to
accompany me back to my hotel.  You know I like to share the wealth,” Tyler
laughed loudly as he clapped me on the back.  I raised an eyebrow as I drained
the rest of my glass.  I would blame his crude comment on too much alcohol, but
sadly that wasn’t the case.  Tyler Winston was, in every sense of the word, a
player.  And when he spoke of things like ‘sharing the wealth’, he was not
talking about money.   As crass as he was, the women seemed to like him and I
had no doubt he would indeed leave tonight with no less than the three women he
planned on. 
    “I actually already had my eye on someone,
but seem to have lost her in the mix.”  He craned his neck, scanning the
crowd.  “Rumor has it she’s new; Isaac’s team,” Tyler continued. 
    He had my full attention. 
    I’ll be damned. 
    I stood straighter, and nodded to the
bartender for another drink.   “Ah yes, the new girl.  Seems I heard she’s
spoken for.”  I shrugged apologetically.
                    Tyler threw me a knowing glance.  “Already
struck out, huh?”  If he only knew.  I kept silent, clenching my jaw as my
anger at his condescending tone grew.  Anger that was irrational, but there all
the same.   “That’s too bad, buddy.  She is freaking hot!  I might have to sniff
that out anyhow to see just how serious this spoken for thing really is.” That
he truly believed he would succeed in any area I had failed made me rethink our
acquaintance. 
                    I took a calming breath and changed the
subject before I did anything rash.  “I saw the contracts for Nevada.  They
look good.  You’ll be flying out this week right?”  If he wasn’t, he would be,
I determined.  
                    Thankfully Tyler turned his focus from his
dick to business. “Yeah, Wednesday morning.  We should be breaking some ground
on Friday.” Tyler explained.
                    I brought up more work, keeping him engaged until
I was satisfied he was done thinking about Reagan.  Still no sign of her.  I
had a feeling it was about to be a long night. 
                    I pushed back my keyboard and stared aimlessly
out my office window, as I replayed the events of the weekend in my mind.  My
conversation with Tyler Winston had been interrupted by the arrival of my
mother on the dance floor.  Her weaving in and out amongst the other dancers
had been innocent enough, until she’d knocked into a passing waiter, sending an
entire tray of cocktails all over herself and the unfortunate man who had been
carrying them. 
                    It was then that I caught the angry stride of
Dad from near the back of the house as he stalked toward her.  Appearances were
everything to my father –everything—and it was best I intercept before he
reached her.  He’d just get her inside and berate her for her carelessness,
which would do nothing but drive her to look for any of the countless bottles
she had stashed away throughout the house.  I’d made my excuses to Tyler and
reached Mom just as she was realizing she was wearing the dress of her dreams: 
one soaked in alcohol.  I grasped the arm which she’d drunkenly began to raise
to her mouth, and pasting a smile on my face, guided her inside.  The party was
already back in full swing as if nothing had occurred.  For all my Dad’s
attempts to maintain dignity in the Preston name, people were not idiots, and
Mom’s