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“You don’t have it anymore. You don’t have the nose either,” he reminded her gently.
“I know,” she whispered, and he almost missed it. The topic of the accident was not one that came easy for either of them, apparently.
“Did you read about her?” He squished a little closer to her, so they both could see the computer without moving it.
“Yes. She’s married with two little kids. Lives in the town she grew up in. Has been a judge for around five years now. I got a letter from her once—must have been right before she became a judge. She was a lawyer and didn’t say anything about having kids or being married. Maybe she would have said something if I had written her back. I didn’t. She would have sent a picture too.” Natalie scanned the write-up on her birth mother.
“Can I look at something?” He opened another window on the computer and started to search for something else.
“What?” She leaned closer to him.
“The husband’s name is unique. Let’s see if anything comes up.” He hit enter on the screen. The top website was about a bed-and-breakfast in the town the judge was from and currently lived. “Look, it seems like her husband has a B&B. Okay, it says here that it’s been open for around four years and is owned and operated by Max Valentine.”
“No, it can’t be true. Why would he have a B&B? She’s a judge.” She took the mouse under his hands that were resting on the keyboard and pulled up some pictures, clicking through them. In order to stay balanced, she was holding on to his arm with the hand not working the computer.
Without thinking about it, he lifted the arm that she was holding on to and put it around her body, pulling her close to him. All his senses were alive with her being so close—she was practically sitting on his lap. Her hand had moved and was resting on his upper thigh. If she moved her hand only two inches, she would be able to feel his rock-hard erection, something he couldn’t control when she was so close and smelled so good.
Now all he saw was her hand wrapped around him with that sparkle in her green eyes. It didn’t help things when she squeezed his thigh and turned to him with the eyes he was just imagining.
“Look, Sam.” She took her hand off his thigh and pointed at the screen, but Sam was not able to concentrate on the screen anymore. “Look, the B&B is across from her law firm, Hart & Associates. It has to be her husband’s.”
“Should we go and stay there?” he asked, catching her excitement about the find.
“We?” She pulled away.
“I mean you; you should go stay there,” he corrected quickly.
“I can’t go alone. I’d be too nervous.”
“Maybe a friend? Let’s see if there are any openings.” He hoped there were more.
Opening the reservations box, he saw that they had openings every day; no dates were blocked out. After clicking the date, he typed her name into the name box and then put in two guests.
“No,” she stated quietly. “She’ll know my name. At least the Natalie part. She named me,” she whispered as she watched him type more.
“They kept the name she gave you?” He somehow managed to pull her even closer to him.
“Yes, they fell in love with it. They said it was perfect. Natalie means Christmas, and they thought I was the best Christmas present they ever got, even though I was not born at Christmas time. And my middle name is Hart, her last name. But Mom thought it was perfect. She liked to call me Natalie Hart before she died.” She wiped away a tear from her eye.
“Okay, do you want to wait?” he asked.
“No, I want to be there on Thursday.” She looked at her information on the reservation lines. Or maybe it was the two he had typed. “Can you come with me?”
“I don’t know, Natalie. We barely know each other.” He wanted to add he would never be able to keep his hands off her for days at a stretch.
Sitting up, she looked at him. “I don’t have anyone to go with. It’s my birthday on Thursday, and I want to see her on my birthday. It seems fitting. Please, Sam,” she begged.
“Fine, you spoiled brat. I blame your dad for this.” He pulled her back into his arms for a hug. Having her near him and in his arms seemed so natural.
“Let’s change the reservation name to Sam and Beckett Sullivan. You used to yell at me a lot with my last name, so it should come naturally.” Smiling, she moved his fingers off the keys and typed the words herself. She hit submit and wiggled beside him with excitement.
He centered the computer more on his lap, watching her do a little dance of excitement. Before he could stop her, she pushed the computer away and crawled on top of him , straddling his legs. The giggles couldn’t be contained when she hugged him and said, “Thank you, thank you.”
Her entire body was wiggling on his, and he had to grit his teeth to suppress a moan at the feeling. Quickly, he grabbed her hips to stop her from sliding up his lap and over his erection. That move would be too much for him to take.
Since she was so tall, she was looking down at him from her spot on his lap. Taking his face in her hands, she said, “Are you ready to be married to me?”
Then, to his surprise, she lowered her lips to his and kissed him lightly. Just a whisper of a touch with her warm breath washing over his skin. As soon as he registered what was happening, it was over. She pulled away with a grin.
