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At first, he let her control the kiss. When she slid her tongue against his, though, he snapped and took over. His mind and body registered everything from the feel of her next to him, to the root beer that lingered on her breath, mixed with the scent of her favorite perfume. Heaven. Right here with Lauren was pure heaven. No other word did it justice.
Abruptly, Lauren pulled away. “I need to put this on hold,” she said with an audible sigh. “These progress reports are due in the morning.”
Nate leaned down. “Are you sure they can’t wait till later?” He locked his lips on her earlobe and sucked. When she moaned, he smiled. “They’ll still be here in an hour or so.”
“No, I need to do it now,” she said, her eyes still closed. “Maybe you can eat while I finish.”
Eating was the last thing on his mind. “Really? You’d rather work first.” He slipped a hand under the hem of her sweatshirt while he continued to suck on her earlobe.
“Later. I promise.” She gave him a tiny shrug. “Go eat. I can smell the pizza from here. Just save me a slice or two.”
Nate took a step back. “You got it. You know where to find me when you’re done.”
Both dogs still sat near the counter when he returned alone. At the smell of the pizza, his stomach growled, and the arousal pounding through his veins subsided. Since he couldn’t do anything about the desire he felt, he might as well take care of his body’s other demand. He hadn’t eaten anything substantial since breakfast.
“Sorry guys, you’re not getting any of this,” he said to the dogs as he pulled out a bar stool at the counter.
***
Her hands were still behind her back on her bra clasp when Nate walked into the bedroom Friday morning wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. Droplets of water clung to his hair and body, reminding her of the sexy eye candy pictures her friends posted on their profile pages.
Wow. Even after all the times she’d seen him naked in the past month, the sight of him took her breath away.
“Like what you see?” Nate shot her a smile when he met her gaze, and her heart rate spiked.
We have to work this morning. She forced her feet not to move toward him so she could lick the water droplet slipping down his stomach. “I’m glad you don’t let your looks go to your head.”
He graced her with another grin then turned toward the bureau. He let the towel drop as he pulled out clean briefs giving her a perfect view of his well-formed butt.
“Try to get home right after school.”
At his words, she pulled her eyes away from the excellent view.
“I have a surprise for you this afternoon. I plan to be home by three o’clock.”
He pulled the briefs up, and she thought she heard herself sigh. It was going to be one long day.
“What kind of surprise?” she asked, her curiosity piqued.
“You’ll see,” he answered, a glint of mischief in his eyes.
During breakfast she tried coaxing it out of him numerous times. Each time with no success. On her final attempt he silenced her with a kiss, keeping up his assault until she almost forgot he kept a secret from her. But not quite.
“Come on, Nate, just a little hint.”
“Just make sure your calendar is clear all weekend.” He tweaked her ponytail as he downed the rest of his coffee. “And I am serious about getting home as soon as possible. Don’t hang around and correct papers. They’ll still be there on Monday, sweetheart.”
From any other man the endearment would sound antiquated, but coming from Nate’s lips, it made her feel bathed in sunlight. It warmed her from the inside out.
“I’ll be here. Promise.”
***
Lauren stood next to the laminating machine in the teachers’ workroom later that morning. As usual, the obnoxious smell from the machine made her stomach roll. It amazed her. They’d invented 3-D printers, yet they still hadn’t created a machine that could laminate posters without making you nauseous. At least her pile was almost done. Only three more student pictures remained. After that, she had one hour left before school ended for the weekend.
Picking up another picture, she fed it into the machine, her thoughts on Nate’s words that morning. Her energetic students kept her mind engaged all morning so she didn’t have much opportunity to consider Nate’s plans. Now with her students at their music class, her brain focused on little else. What type of surprise did he have for her? Especially one that required him to come home early.
Come home? When had she started to think of her house as his home, too? Granted, he more or less lived there now, but neither had ever officially said they were living together. And she loved having him there. It felt natural, right. As if, despite their fifteen years apart, this was how it was meant to be.
The paper she inserted came out the other end covered in the protective plastic, and she tore it off then entered another picture.
“Just another hour until the weekend,” Christine, a first grade teacher, said, entering the room. Like Lauren, Christine had grown up in town and, although they hadn’t been friends as children, they got along well now.
“Any big plans this weekend?” Lauren asked.
Christine disappeared into the supply closet and reemerged with purple construction paper. “Nah, Nick and I are driving down to New Jersey. His mom had surgery this week. You?”
When the final student paper came out, she stacked everything up. “Not sure. Nate has a surprise for me.”
“I’m surprised you’d even consider getting out of bed on the weekend with him around.”
Lauren swatted Christine on the arm with her stack of papers. “You’re terrible.”
“I’m honest. If Nate Callahan was living in my house, sleeping in my bed . . . well, let’s just say you wouldn’t see either of us on the weekend.” Christine wiggled her eyebrows, a huge smile on her face. Just as quickly as it came though, Christine’s smile disappeared. “Don’t tell Nick I said that, okay? I’m only joking around. Although, I wouldn’t mind if he got some workout tips from your man. Since the wedding, he’s put on weight.”
Lauren had noticed that herself the last time she’d seen Nick at the store. Even before his and Christine’s wedding he hadn’t been a thin man, but recently he appeared much heavier. “My lips are sealed.”
“Whatever you do, have fun. I want all the details on Monday morning.”
Lauren gathered up her students’ papers as the bell rang. “See you on Monday.”
***
The sign on the highway announcing they’d entered New Hampshire gave her little in the way of information, and so far Nate had offered nothing. That afternoon she’d arrived home a little before him, and when he had walked in all he’d said was to pack a suitcase and that his mom would be by to pick up the dogs. Aside from that, he’d not mentioned where they were headed. Since they’d entered New Hampshire more than an hour ago and continued to head north, they couldn’t be going to the beach. Although in all honesty, a beach at this time of year in New Hampshire didn’t hold much appeal. Now if it had been a beach in Florida, that she could handle. At the same time, skiing was out. Not only was ski season over, but she didn’t ski. Nate knew that. They’d taken lessons together in middle school. Nate, his brother, and her sister had been naturals at it, but she’d spent most of the time on her backside. By the fourth day of lessons she’d given up and spent the rest of the joint family ski trip inside with hot chocolate and a book. Not once since then had she strapped on a pair of skis, and she didn’t think she was missing out on much.
“Are you going to tell me where we’re going or not?” Outside the window the White Mountains rose before them. Even through the rain and overcast skies, they were breathtaking. Instinctively, she searched for the state’s famous Old Man in the mountain, something she’d always done when her family and Nate’s had camped in the area. But then she remembered that it had fallen from the side of the mountain a few years earlier. The last time she’d come up to this part of the state it had still been visible. Had it really been that long since her last trip up here?
During her childhood and up until she’d turned seventeen, her family, along with Nate’s, had camped up here together almost every summer. Had she been here since then? Lauren thought back, but nothing came to mind. Had it really been more than fifteen years since she’d last come up here?
“You’ll know when we get there.” He threw her a don’t worry, you’re going to love this smile, but said nothing else as he continued on the Kancamagus Highway that cut a path through the White Mountain National Forest.
“Time to wake up.” Nate shook her, his voice invading her nap.
Lauren pulled her face off the window and rubbed the back of her neck. Outside the window stood a rustic wooden sign welcoming them to Middlebrooke Woods. Middlebrooke Woods. She hadn’t thought of that place in years. It was the place their two families had normally stayed in New Hampshire. Back then they’d come in either July or August, and most years both families had campers in tow. Nate didn’t intend for them to camp did he? She’d slept in a tent before, but it didn’t rank high on her list of favorite activities, not to mention it was raining out.
