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“Okay, this is going back to Jim’s bullshit relationship advice,” Jake said. “That whole slow, no, and go, shit. Your ass is in the slow zone, as in slow the fuck down, and don’t ask the woman to move in with you. Give her fucking time. She’s probably got to tend to the life she’s had for years without your ass in it. Chill the fuck out and appreciate why some people shouldn’t get married just because they think they’ve found their soulmate.”
“True,” I said. I was shocked that I agreed with Jake, the least serious one of us all, and that was saying a lot when you put him up against Collin. “That’s what I’ll do. Just calm the fuck down and settle into the slow lane.”
“Which should be easy for you since you drive like a granny in that damn bitchy little Ferrari you own,” Collin said, always bringing cars and racing into the picture.
“Sure,” I answered, wanting this conversation to die.
“Don’t just go slow with all of this, though,” Jim added, “let her lead for a bit. That isn’t natural for you, but Nat has a bold personality. So perhaps, it’s best if she shows you what she wants for a bit, and you follow along like the sad little puppy dog you are.”
“Fuck, this isn’t going to be easy.”
“It won’t,” Cameron said. “You can bet your ass on that. Your heart will tell you one thing, and your mind will tell you another. It’s already written all over your face. You have to level those things down with each other. Don’t give too much power to each of them; you’ll be fine.”
“Look at all of us,” Collin interjected. “I swear to God, women don’t have shit on the relationship talk we pull off. Listen to us advising someone once they head down the rabbit hole of love. And we’re damn good at this too.”
“We should write a fucking book. Seriously,” Jake said, looking at me.
“I didn’t think you were not serious,” I said. “Why would I think the world’s leading heart surgeon wouldn’t want to write a book on relationships? It’s almost as if saving relationships is more important than saving lives.”
Jake chuckled. “Mark my words, dick,” he narrowed his eyes at me and grinned, “you’ll be begging me to save your life by saving your relationship by the time this is over.”
“Huh?” I questioned.
“A relationship is like a mountain you’ve got to climb. You’re at the base of it and haven’t even started climbing yet. You’ve just got your gear, and you’ve looked up at the beast and thought you’ll be fine. Trust me, you’ll want more advice soon enough.”
Once I managed to get two straight days of sleep and clear my head of the jetlag—admittedly checking my phone every few hours to check on the texts from Jim and Nat—I came into work and began to refocus my energy on the acquisitions I made while I was abroad. I hadn’t had much time to focus on them after I caught the embezzling CEO, but despite my lack of focus on the acquisitions, I was pleased to see that everything was still coming through strong. The emails I’d sent out to charm the small startups were also paying off, and I smiled with pride when I saw they were thrilled to know that Mitchell and Associates wanted to acquire them and give them an infusion of cash to help them get off the ground.
Everything in the office was going as well as possible, and Jim and I toasted with a well-earned scotch practically every day. Shit was going strong, and I felt fucking great about that. However, it didn’t feel as entirely awesome as it used to, and that’s because Nat clouded my mind throughout the day.
Since we landed, I texted her every day, asking her whether she’d be coming to spend the night with me or if she wanted me to spend the night at her place. I had to wonder if I was turning into a clingy son of a bitch. However, only seeing her two out of the ten nights since being home made it clear that it was normal for couples to want to spend time together after they discovered they were in love.
The worst part was that it wasn’t just the sex I missed. I missed things I never even noticed with women. I was drifting off in thought, missing all the smallest parts of Nat and having her next to me, having her fragrance on my pillows when I woke up and being able to reach out and touch her as the first thing that I did, seeing her in the kitchen as I made my coffee. Shit like that.
It wasn’t like me at all to be sentimental, so once again, I found myself in foreign territory and not knowing what the fuck to do.
It had been something too easy to become used to, and now she was flitting in and out of my life the way she’d been content to before Italy, before everything had changed.
Thank God I was going to see her tonight. I couldn’t get to Malibu fast enough. I didn’t just need to get laid; I needed this woman in my presence, so I would stop craving her. Nat planned to come over after work, and I decided to order in so I didn’t have to share her with anyone at a restaurant.
I could only sit here and stare at the ocean waves for so long without checking my phone every other damn second to see if my cameras caught her car pulling into my driveway. Yeah, I was beyond fucked. I had the patience of a two-year-old lately, which was another thing that was unlike me and my personality. Patience was something that came naturally to me. If I wanted something and didn’t want to wait, I just fucking got up and made shit happen.
Now, I had no power over what I wanted. Nat was in complete control, and I was riding backseat, and there was nothing I could do about it. So, I needed to find a way to create a healthy routine with consistent behavior in this so-called relationship.
The phone alerted activity on the driveway camera.
Fucking finally, she’s here.
I settled my strides into a casual step when I walked out to meet her at the gate. I walked to her car and smoothly helped her out of it. Then, I rolled in full Casanova style, pulling her in for a kiss and luxuriating in her and what I’d been missing for the last couple of weeks.
“I’ve missed your sexy ass,” I said, kissing her once again and pulling her inside by the hand. “It feels like it’s been forever.”
“Yeah,” she said, her voice noncommittal. “Yeah, it has.”
Fuck my life. This can’t be normal? Can it?
Inside, the two of us stood around my kitchen island, and I pulled out a bottle of wine as I took her in. She was just as beautiful as ever, but something about her seemed removed, as if her mind were across town.
“You alright?” I asked, pouring her a glass of wine and handing it to her. “Is everything okay with Shane?”
