Page 105 of For the Love of Art

CHAPTER

NINETEEN

The next morning, my nose led me down the large staircase to the smell of coffee. I heard voices in the kitchen and immediately felt on edge. I peered around the corner to see Nathan sitting at the counter, drinking from a to-go cup and listening to something intently.

When Nathan noticed me, he brightened and said, “Morning, baby. I got us coffee and donuts.”

“Sure.” I walked around the counter and sat beside him as he turned off whatever he was listening to. I pointed at his phone and asked, “What was that?”

“Oh, uh–” Nathan slid the other coffee to me as well as a pink box. “I like to listen to podcasts about American history.”

“That explains the repeated use of the words Waco siege.” I took a sip of my coffee. I smiled down at the cup. It was made to my liking. Of course it was. Nathan was always incredibly thoughtful.

I opened the pink box and took a glazed donut, biting into the sugary dough. It melted on my tongue, and I wondered if this donut tasted so good because it was simply a delicious donut or because I’d been up most of the night having sex with Nathan.

“You can keep listening if you want,” I offered, pointing to Nathan’s phone.

He shook his head. “Nah. I’d rather be here with you.”

I smiled.

Nathan looked over his shoulder outside. “It’s going to be a hot day. Do you want to go to the beach?”

I pressed my lips together. He had said it was a private beach, but I still felt nervous that someone would find us. Images of The Princess Diaries beach scene flashed in my mind—a helicopter circling, asking for pictures I didn’t want taken.

“Can we just hang poolside?” I asked.

Nathan nodded. “Sure.”

We finished our breakfast and coffee and then got ready to lounge. I didn’t own the sexiest swimsuit. It was a plain black one piece reminiscent of something a competitive swimmer would wear. I grabbed my book while Nathan had a newspaper tucked under his arm along with some towels as we headed out onto the extravagant patio.

It was peaceful. We weren’t on the ocean, but close enough to hear the waves crashing. It felt like a normal vacation morning between a couple, and I liked that. Sure, we were in some kind of grandiose house that the average person could only dream of buying, but it still felt normal, and something told me normal with a billionaire was hard to feel.

I finished the last sentence of my book and rolled my head to look at Nathan. He looked relaxed while reading his paper. A small breeze ruffled his hair, and I smiled because he was so damn handsome.

Nathan’s head slowly turned, and he smiled when he saw me looking at him. “What’s going on?”

He reached across the small gap and took my hand in his.

I shook my head. “Nothing. I was just thinking, this is nice.”

“It is.” His brows furrowed. “Did you finish your book?”

I looked at my lap and shrugged. “Yeah. I should’ve brought another one. I didn’t realize how much downtime there would be. I figured we would–” I stopped and blushed.

“I’d be more than happy to do that all day,” he teased, and I laughed. “I think I can help you with your book dilemma.”

“How?”

Nathan wiggled his brows. “Come with me.”

I followed Nathan back into the house, through the dining room to a set of sliding barn doors that took up an entire wall on the far side of the large table. Nathan slid the door open revealing floor to ceiling bookshelves. Light streamed in from a large window perfectly designed to sit and read in. A massive desk sat in the middle of the room with two plush white chairs facing it.

I walked along the shelves, running my fingers along the titles. I stopped at a copy of Tom Sawyer and smiled.

“I notice you have a few classics here,” I said, continuing along the books.

“I enjoyed some of them growing up.”