Free Utterly Yours (Book Three) (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) by Alexa Brookes Page B

shit.”
                  Nathaniel chuckled.  He was glad Tony bounced back so quickly.

Chapter 2
     
                  Nathaniel had a number of personal calls to make that morning, so he wound up hiding out in the shelter’s shabby little office in the back, locking the door behind him so that none of the volunteers pestered him with questions.  There was a reason he hired other people to run the shelter; he was just there to save face.  He called Eliza, the woman back home that his mother was trying desperately to hook him up with.  She had texted him three times throughout the night.
                  She answered in a peppy voice, although Nathaniel could tell she was slightly annoyed despite her attempt to hide it.  “Good morning!” she said.  “About time I heard back from you.”
                  “Hey, Eliza.  I’m sorry I haven’t called.  Things have just been crazy out here in Troy,” he said.
                  “You better watch out, or I might just have to come and get you.  When are you coming home to California?” she asked.
                  “Another couple of weeks,” he said.
                  “You promised me a date,” she chastised.  “When am I going to get that date?  You know, a real one?  One where you don’t have to run out halfway through it?”
                  Nathaniel chuckled.  “I promise you will get that date.  After our little video chat last week, believe me, I am looking forward to it.”
                  “You know, maybe we should do that again,” she said.  “I bought some new lingerie I wouldn’t mind modeling for you.”
                  Nathaniel grinned.  “Watching you on a computer screen while we’re on opposites sides of the country is just a tease.”
                  “Maybe I like teasing you,” she said.  “I want to make sure you’re ready for me.”
                  “Believe me, I’m ready,” Nathaniel said.
                  Eliza laughed softly.  “Listen, I got to go.  I’ll talk to you later.”
                  “All right.  Have a good one,” he said, and they hung up the phone.
                  He called his mother next, and the conversation was much less pleasant.  The woman answered the phone with her voice raised, already angry before the conversation even began.  “Where are you?” she snarled.  “You better tell me you’re about to get on a plane and head back to California.”
                  “I told you, Mom,” he said, “I have to spend a couple more weeks in Troy.  I am not just playing around, you know?”
                  “Sure,” she griped.  “You know, Eliza is not going to wait on you forever.”
                  “I’m sure she can wait a couple of more weeks,” Nathaniel said.  “I don’t know why you’re pushing her on me so hard anyways.”
                  “She’s a lovely woman, and you know it.  She comes from a good family,” his mother went on and on about Eliza for the next ten minutes, and Nathaniel was forced to listen.  Soon his mother ran out of things to say, and the conversation ended just as unpleasantly as it had begun.  He sighed as he hung up the phone, wondering why it was so difficult for the two of them to get along.  It had been that way for years –ever since his father had been killed.  His father had always been the mediator between the two of them; he had done such a good job at keeping the peace that Nathaniel hadn’t ever realized before how little he and his mother had in common.
                  One more phone call to make; he needed to call Adam.  Luckily, he caught Adam just as he was coming out of a board meeting.  “What’s up, freak?” his old friend answered.
                  “Hey,”