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“Like someone else would have taken in Hector? Don’t sell yourself short,” Lauren said. “Because from where I’m sitting, you’re pretty much king of the world right now.”
“Please, no Titanic references,” he said.
She remembered the night he’d proposed to Jessica that the violinist had played My Heart Will Go On. “Let me guess, it’s Jessica’s favorite movie?”
“You got it.”
She glanced down at her lap and smoothed down her skirt. Even with all the brouhaha with Kitty’s baby, her white dress had stayed immaculate. Nate, on the other hand, had gotten blood on his shirt cuffs, so he’d rolled back his sleeves to hide the stains, exposing his strong forearms. He wore a thick watch around his wrist and Lauren couldn’t help but stare as he gripped the steering wheel. Those hands had just delivered a baby. They’d brought life into the world. Watching him, so confident, so calm, so in charge… It had been the sexiest thing Lauren had ever seen in her life.
“I don’t want to talk about Jessica tonight,” she said quietly.
“I don’t want to talk about Jessica ever,” he countered.
They drove for a while in silence. It wasn’t awkward, though. But it did feel charged with electricity. Like someone had plugged in the air around them. They got to the outskirts of Whispering Bay and Nate turned onto the road that would take them into their neighborhood.
“Let’s go to your place,” Lauren said.
He turned to look at her. “We need to talk first.”
She knew what he wanted to talk about. She’d seen it on his face all night. They needed to stop pretending that they were just friends. She needed to stop pretending. “No, we don’t need to talk.”
He nodded slowly. “All right. As long as you understand then that you’re staying the night.”
“Absolutely.”
*~*~*
Nate’s place was sparsely furnished. A pretty typical bachelor pad. A big T.V., a sofa, and a kitchen that looked like it didn’t see much action except in the way of paper plates or a microwave oven. Hector sat in his crate, wagging his tail and barking. Nate opened the crate door and Hector came bouncing out. “I’m going to take him for a quick walk,” he said, clipping the leash on the puppy’s collar. Before going out the front door, he turned and said, “Don’t go anywhere.”
“No of course not. I’ll be right here!” She tried for a bright smile.
He smiled back and walked out with Hector.
Oh God. What was she doing? She’d been so sure just a few minutes ago, but now… She walked aimlessly from room to room until she got to Nate’s bedroom, where a king sized bed consumed nearly half the floor space. Nate had sex with Jessica in that bed. Good sex. He’d said so himself. Lauren tried not to picture it.
She remembered the overwhelmed look on Nate’s face in the hospital waiting room when everyone had congratulated him on doing such a fine job delivering Kitty’s baby. She felt that same feeling of being overwhelmed now, too. Like someone had pushed her head beneath the water and she couldn’t quite make her way back up to the surface to take a breath. She’d hadn’t had sex in nearly two years. And she’d never been with anyone except Tom. What if she was lousy in bed, and all these years she’d never known it?
She heard the front door open and close and the sound of Hector greedily lapping water from his bowl. Nate walked into the bedroom, took off his watch and tossed it on top of the dresser. “I’m taking a shower.” He turned around and glanced at her. “Maybe you want to join me?” He said it cas
ually, as if he invited women into his shower every day. Who knows? Maybe he did. There was an entirely different side of Nate Miller that she was just now beginning to see. A confident, sexy side that made her pulse race and mouth go dry.
“What about Hector?”
“I usually don’t let Hector in the shower with me.”
“Ha-ha. I mean, where does he sleep at night?”
“He usually falls asleep on the couch, or sometimes he’ll go back into his crate.”
“Oh, right.”
The idea of a shower was appealing, but shower sex seemed too…intimate right now. Plus it required a certain amount of logistical preparation that she hadn’t expected. “A shower sounds good, but maybe another time.” She sat down on the edge of the bed. “I’ll just wait right here.”
He smiled good-naturedly and went into the bathroom, but she noticed he left the door ajar. Because he was hoping she’d change her mind? She could hear his clothes drop to the floor, then the sound of water streaming through the nozzle and the shower curtain being pulled back.
If she was truly brave, she’d join him. After all, it wasn’t as if they wouldn’t see each other naked anyway. Before the night was over she would probably have a very thorough understanding of Nate Miller’s anatomy. And vice versa.
She took a big breath.
