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Nate was leaving. She was staying. The end.
Chapter Eighteen
The wedding rehearsal ran late. It was a rather large affair, with five groomsmen and Nathan as best man, five bridesmaids, and a woman named Poppy Fairbanks acting as maid of honor. A lifelong friend of Jess’s, she’d been out of town for the last few weeks on a buying trip for her shop, Bella & Hooch, and was the main reason the rehearsal started thirty minutes late. She’d literally gotten back to town, dropped her luggage, and hightailed it over to the church, apologizing profusely.
Her plane had been delayed on departure from LA, so it wasn’t as if it was her fault, but Nathan was annoyed anyway. Not at Poppy, but at the fact that it was nearly nine o’clock, they wer
e back at Jess’s parents’ after eating a casual dinner, and he hadn’t been able to get Molly alone.
Not for lack of trying either. She was definitely avoiding him.
He stood at the back of the dining room, watching Molly as she sat with Jess and Poppy. The three women were huddled together, talking about God knows what, and Nate was done being ignored. He strode toward them and successfully sidestepped at least three conversations along the way with a quick smile and handshake. He had no interest in talking sports, which was probably a first for him, but he had other things on his mind.
Like Molly Malone. Like getting her naked. Like spending what little time they had together, alone.
He stopped when he reached the women, gave that smile and polite nod he’d just used to blow off those other folks, and then turned to Molly.
“Can we talk?”
Her eyes fell away from his, which made his gut tighten, as she looked to Jess before getting to her feet. Slowly, as if she’d rather be plucking nose hairs or visiting Estelle’s again. He put his hand at the small of her back and guided her toward the large French doors that led to a three-tiered deck out back. Soft lighting threw muted shadows from the top to the bottom, and they continued down to the bottom level. Out here, the air was crisp with a hint of fall, and the water looked like glass. Along the beach, fog crept up the embankment, ghost fingers that stretched long and thin, and under his palm, Molly shivered.
She wore a sleeveless blue dress. He doffed his sports jacket, placing it over her shoulders without a word. The two of them stared out over the lake for a good long while, Nate searching for the right words but at a loss as to how to describe the turmoil inside him.
“We don’t have to do this, you know.” Molly turned to him, those beautiful eyes of hers wide and shiny.
He remained silent, letting her take the lead. Probably because he didn’t have the words, mostly because he was afraid to open his mouth and say the wrong thing.
“We don’t have to talk about the last two weeks. Analyze what it means, how it changes things.” She exhaled. “How it changed us, because…I don’t want us to change, Nate.”
“But we have,” he replied slowly. “Everything’s changed.”
“Has it?”
“Of course it has. Nothing is the same.”
“I don’t agree. We’re in control of how we look at this, and the only thing that’s changed is that you know what I look like naked and I know that the rumors are true.”
“What rumors?”
A ghost of a smile touched her mouth. “Rumors about you and some of the special talents you have.”
“If you’re trying to stroke my ego, it’s working.”
He was trying for humor, but she didn’t bite. Molly pursed her lips and looked out over the water. “We dipped our toes into something we didn’t plan on, and it was really good.”
“It was more than just good.”
She nodded. “You’re right. It was a lot more than good. It was amazing and exciting and kind of taboo because of our friendship. We’re like kids running mad after curfew, hiding from our friends and parents. But it’s not our reality, Nate. Our reality is that Sunday morning, you’re headed to the airport to fly back to the city where you live and have a life, a job you love, and more women waiting for you than you know what to do with.”
He opened his mouth, but she held up her hand, a soft smile on her face. “It’s okay, Nathan. Do you honestly think I expect you to go back there and live like a hermit? Do you think I’m going to live like a hermit?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked gruffly.
She moved closer to him, so close the subtle scent of her shampoo teased his nostrils. “It means that we only have a few hours of running mad after curfew.” She placed her hands on his chest. “Earlier tonight, I didn’t know how I felt about that. I thought the easy thing to do was to avoid you and let it all slip away without any fuss. But we can’t overthink things, or get all knotted up because we don’t know how to act around each other. When Sunday night rolls around and you’re back in your loft—”
“Brownstone.” He caressed her cheek. “I’ve got a place in the Bronx.”
“When you’re back in your brownstone in the Bronx and I’m in my home, there will be no regrets.” She shrugged. “Nate, you’re my best friend, and that’s not something I’m willing to give up. Ever. But the other part, this thing we got tangled up in over the last few weeks, that’s a fantasy. Outside of this time frame, it’s not real, and I’m not willing to give it legs because I don’t want our friendship to change.”
