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He rested his hands on her hips and drew her round to face him. ‘All right, Tess. I’ll let it go, for now.’ He brushed his thumb across her bottom lip. ‘We can talk about it again another time.’
She stifled a groan of frustration. Hadn’t he been listening to her? But before she could object further, he wrapped his arms around her waist, and slanted his lips across hers. She kissed him back instinctively, concentrating on the quick thrill, the heady shot of adrenaline.
She clutched his shoulders, lifting on tiptoe to give him better access, determined to remember it was just sex.
He drew back first. ‘Damn it. I’ve got to go. I wish I didn’t.’
She knew he meant it, the solid proof pressing enticingly into her belly, and bolstering her resolve. ‘That’s okay. Eva will be here soon anyway.’ She glanced down at the telltale bulge in his trousers, forced her lips to curve into a wicked grin. ‘So there’s no time to make good use of that anyway.’
‘You little...!’ he admonished. ‘Bringing that up when I’m going to be stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic for an hour.’
‘Bringing what up, exactly?’ she said saucily, slipping easily into the sexy banter.
Keep it light, keep it easy. They only had so long before this part of their relationship would be over. Why spoil the time they had left?
‘Stop!’ he said, chuckling as he gave her one final kiss. Was it wishful thinking on her part, or did his amused chuckle sound a little strained?
‘I’ll see you soon,’ he said, giving her the familiar pat on the behind before he left.
She heard the kitchen door slam, and crossed to the small bathroom window to stand on tiptoe and spy on him as he jogged through the ornamental palms, his briefcase tucked under his arm and the carefully placed tie flapping over his shoulder.
She unlatched the window, wanting to call after him and ask when she’d be seeing him again. Would he drop by again this weekend so they could skinny dip in the pool and then picnic on the fried chicken and coleslaw she’d made while the sun dipped low on the horizon like last weekend? Or would he be calling round tomorrow night for their now regular Friday film night, when they could bicker over whether they were watching an action thriller or a rom-com even though they both knew they probably wouldn’t see any of the movie because they’d be too busy making out on the couch?
But she resisted the urge to call, and slowly closed the window as he disappeared from view. Her grip on the window ledge loosened and she dropped back on her heels, pushing aside the stupid yearning.
She didn’t ask about his plans to come round again, and he never said, because this was casual. This was fun. She preferred it when he showed up unannounced, which was turning out to be five or six evenings a week. It felt more spontaneous, more... She struggled to find the right word. More sexy.
If they started scheduling their dates it wouldn’t be like that any more.
She was getting to know the man she had glimpsed in his Jeep. And more importantly he was letting her. And she had discovered she really, really liked that man. He was funny and charming and smart and sensitive. And even though she found his need to be in control all the time more than a little frustrating, this getting-to-know-each-other time would stand them in good stead when they were co-parenting their child.
She’d never considered herself the domestic type, had always secretly been terrified of becoming old and boring before her time. But that had been the old her talking. The old, insecure, reckless thrill-seeker from her youth she had never quite buried until now. She already felt settled at San Revelle—in a way she never had before and, in a lot of ways, what made her feel at home here was Nate.
She frowned, clearing Nat
e’s stuff out of the bathroom in preparation for Eva’s visit. Don’t go getting sentimental again. All her worries about missing Nate and the fun they were having had to be ‘the nesting instinct’ she’d read about in her pregnancy books kicking in, or maybe it was just a biological condition brought on by the changing demands on her body. This need to pin Nate down, to ask about what they were doing, where it was all going, wasn’t really anything to do with Nate.
Because they had already decided, as far as she and Nate were concerned, it was going nowhere.
* * *
‘Wow, this place is A-mazing!’ Eva spun round with Carmine anchored to her hip to take in the full effect of the living room’s huge picture window. The baby giggled and kicked his chubby little legs.
Tess perched on the sofa and grinned at them both, glad that Eva and her son had finally managed to make it down to San Revelle for a visit. She’d been living at the cottage for over a month now and had been itching to show it off to her friend ever since she’d moved in. And she could use the distraction today.
‘Just wait till you see the pool,’ she said. ‘It’s like something out of a silent movie.’ Having Eva here would take her mind off her silly overreaction to her disagreement with Nate this morning.
‘There’s a pool?’ Eva’s eyes went wide with wonder. ‘You’re kidding.’
‘No, I’m not. I figured we could have a swim before lunch.’
Eva laughed, nuzzling her son’s nose as he continued to giggle. ‘What do you reckon, Carmy? Fancy a swim?’ She walked to Tess and gripped her hand, squeezed. ‘No wonder you look so radiant at the moment. This place is beautiful. Idyllic. I really wish I’d made it down a bit sooner. And you’re staying here rent free? How cool is that?’
‘Well, I am at the moment,’ Tess said, her smile dying. ‘Because Nate’s being annoyingly stubborn about it.’ She wrinkled her nose, remembering their ‘discussion’ again.
When the day came that their play dates came to an end, they would have established a firm friendship, just like they’d planned. But only if he stopped trying to ‘handle’ her every chance he got.
Next time he came round she was going to have it out with him. She’d conceded on a lot of stuff, but she was drawing the line over staying at the cottage rent free indefinitely—especially now she could afford to pay.
