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After seeing her being sick, he’d done some research on the Internet, deciding it was probably a good idea if he got up to speed on how the pregnancy was likely to affect her in the months ahead. The pre-natal appointments he got invited to only seemed to focus on how the baby was, all the stuff to do with Tess’s health and well-being she handled on her own with her doctor. And whenever he asked her about it, all she ever said was that she was fine.
Once he’d started reading, it hadn’t taken him very long to realise that there was no way he was going to allow her to be living in the cottage on her own when she went into labour. And while that was still several months away yet, she was already in the second trimester. Plus he knew how stubborn she was, which meant it made sense for him to move in now, and take the flak sooner rather than later.
But first he had to get her used to the idea, which meant being subtly persuasive, not flying off the handle and letting her get the upper hand because he couldn’t get a grip on his own frustration.
He’d somehow let his sexual needs become more than that, to the point where his emotions were threatening to get in the way. Just as if they had when he’d been a kid and had wanted a commitment from two people who had never been capable of giving it to him. That had nearly destroyed him. The solution had been to make sure he never needed anything like that from anyone ever again. Spending the night away from Tess would prove that this wasn’t about his needs, it was actually about hers.
The only reason it had been so damn hard was because he had become a little addicted, to the sex and the intimacy and her company as well. Once he’d gone to live with his grandfather, and gotten over Zane’s rejection, he’d learned to become a solitary guy—who was happy enough with his own company. But there was no getting around the fact that he’d rather spend time with Tess these days, than spend it alone.
And unfortunately, he didn’t just want to be with her because he wanted sex with her the whole damn time. Sure she was so sexy she made him ache, but she was also witty and smart and completely unpredictable. He never quite knew what she was going to say or do next—and whereas before Tess, he had always found that kind of aggravating in a relationship, with her he found it challenging and stimulating, and exciting.
He huffed out a humourless laugh as the doorbell buzzed again. No wonder he was so addicted to her. She had the same effect on him as a class-A narcotic, which would explain why sweating away in the gym for an hour to take his mind off Tess had felt more like going cold turkey than the endorphin rush he normally got from good, healthy exercise. He punched the button on the intercom, and the grainy picture from the entrance camera appeared on the display. ‘Tess?’ His heart kicked his larynx like a junkie who’d just mainlined heroin. ‘What are—?’
‘Hi, Nate,’ she interrupted his shocked exclamation. ‘Sorry to catch you by surprise, but you didn’t come round tonight and I have something I needed to talk to you about. Can I come up?’
‘Sure.’ He pressed on the button to let her in, and tried to hold back the intense high—that intoxicating mix of adrenaline and arousal—at the thought of seeing her again.
* * *
‘Hi, Nate.’ Tess pressed a quick kiss of greeting to firm lips, inhaled the familiar scent of soap and man, and then shifted past him before he could draw her into a more intimate greeting.
‘I hope you realise you’re staying here tonight,’ he said with that frustrating but oddly endearing tone of command in his voice as he closed the door behind her. ‘You’re sure as hell not driving back down Highway One on your own at this time of night.’
‘What a lovely invitation,’ she teased, waving her hand behind her as she heard his bare feet pad on the tiled floor as he followed her.
She felt the flicker of nerves and anticipation skitter under her skin as she strolled into the main living area of the penthouse apartment—the black onyx breakfast bar, spotlessly clean stainless steel kitchen and dark leather sofas were just what she would have expected of the Nate Graystone she’d first met.
Stark, stylish, prohibitively expensive and superficial.
But so unlike the man she had come to know. There were so many warm, wonderful, intriguing layers to Nate Graystone and she’d only begun to scratch beneath the surface. She just hoped with all her heart that what she had driven up here to tell him, to ask him really, wasn’t going to make him want to cover all those intriguing layers up again and hide them away for good.
She took a quick giddy breath to bolster her courage and whisked round to face him. ‘I accept,’ she said. ‘As long as I get to be on top.’
He sent her a rueful smile, looking deliciously rumpled and surprisingly cute in faded denim, an old UCLA sweatshirt with what looked like a new stain on it and bare feet. ‘You didn’t actually have a choice about accepting,’ he said wryly. ‘But I don’t mind being flexible about the details.’
‘I’m sure we can have fun with the negotiation,’ she said, letting the bubble of laughter burst out.
If everything went as she hoped, tonight would be the first night of a whole new phase in their relationship. A phase without caution and evasions and limitations. A phase of exploration and expectation and hope. She’d spent the day talking it over with Eva and she knew without a doubt now how strong her feelings were for this man. So strong in fact that she hadn’t been able to hang around and wait for him to come to her.
Yes, they had some crucial differences, but those differences didn’t have to derail their relationship; if anything they could make it stronger, if they both had the guts to reach for that gold ring together.
Oh, please, let it be so.
He circled her waist with strong arms and eased her into his embrace, his eyes dark with passion but sparkling with what she hoped was so much more.
‘I’m glad you came over,’ he said,
touching his forehead to hers. ‘I’ve missed you.’
‘Ditto,’ she replied, wrapping her fingers around muscular forearms, and stroking the fine hair, so pleased at the tender acknowledgement she thought she might die of happiness.
Had his feelings been as strong as hers all along, and all she’d needed to do was make him admit them? What fools they’d both been, avoiding the obvious.
‘Let’s go to bed,’ he said, his lips fastening on the pulse point in her neck, nuzzling a spot he knew would drive her wild. ‘We can talk tomorrow.’
She braced herself against him. ‘No, I have to say this now, before I lose my nerve.’
He sent her a puzzled grin, but straightened away from her. ‘What did you want to say?’
