“Not at all, Ang.”
“Okay,” she sighed, resting her forehead over his heart. He held on to her tighter. “I can’t believe you’re really here,” she whispered again against his tee. He squeezed tighter.
“I am.”
“Where do we go from here?” she asked, pulling away, holding his hand as she led them to her couch. Sure enough, it was comfortable. They sat together and it was great. He would never take small, simple things for granted. Especially being snuggled close to one another, his arm around her shoulder, her head rested perfectly on his chest. This was what life was about.
“Where would you want this to go?” he asked her, knowing where he wanted it to go but needing to know her feelings.
“I don’t know what we can have,” she answered, and damn if that didn’t make him fall deeper.
“We can have whatever you want,” he responded, knowing he would figure out a way to give her anything her heart desired, especially if it meant being together.
“Even on opposite coasts?” He knew what she was saying but didn’t want to let that be a road block. He could figure out a way to make this work. He was the guy people hired to fix issues. He was known for it. Hell, he had built a very lucrative business around it.
He couldn’t not come up with a way to make them work. He had to.
“How about we take it day by day?”
“Day by day?” she repeated, searching his eyes.
“Yeah, day by day.” He smiled.
“Bi-coastal day by day friends with benefits?” she asked. He shook his head.
“Hell, no,” he growled before moving her so she was sitting on his lap.
He liked how she didn’t fuss or complain about him settling her there. If anything, her hand went around his neck, while the other mindlessly stroked his chest, telling him she liked it. “I’m yours. You’re mine. Might be the whole being the only boy in a crowd of three sisters, but I don’t share, honey.”
“I like that.” Her eyes sparkled. He knew what she was talking about, but he couldn’t help himself.
“That I have three sisters?” he teased, and she shook her head.
“That you don’t share.” She shifted and straddled him. “Something we have in common.”
“Baby, if I remember right, we have a lot in common.” He grinned.
He wanted to feel her lips against his again, but something inside him told him to be patient. He wanted her to come to him. He wanted to make sure she wanted him as badly as he wanted her. He also needed her to know this was a hell of a lot more than just sex.
“I think you’re right, Nate.” She smiled, her lips a whisper away from his. The sound of his name in that sexy little tone made his dick strain against his jeans. She kissed him softly, sweetly, and he let her set the pace. All too quickly, she pulled away. The smile she gifted him warmed something deeper than his heart. It hit his soul. “How long are you here for?”
“My flight leaves Sunday night,” he shared. He had a meeting he couldn’t cancel or else he would have prolonged his trip till mid-week.
“Okay.” She shocked him by not complaining. Instead, she was smiling like he had somehow handed her everything on her Christmas wish list.
“You going to show me around Hope Falls?” he asked, and she beamed.
“Yes!” Then, almost as quickly as she had responded, her smile faded away and she was suddenly serious. “But you need to be prepared.”
“Okay…”
“It’s close to impossible not to fall in love with Hope Falls,” she shared, and somehow, he didn’t doubt her. From what he had seen, the small town was charming.
He was more worried about how he was pretty sure he was half in love with her already.
Chapter Four
Angie - December 2nd
“Ang.” His nose nuzzled my neck and I smiled while I continued to pretend I was asleep.
“Baby, I can see you smiling. I know you’re awake,” his voice rumbled as he kissed my bare shoulder. Damn, the beard on his face feels good.
“Mmm… it’s too early,” I playfully complained.
“It’s not.”
“It is,” I groaned.
“You promised to show me Hope Falls,” he reminded me.
“Mmm…” I groaned. Turning around, I opened my eyes slowly, my breath hitching in my throat. I still couldn’t believe he was here. With me.
“We fell asleep,” I pointed out. The edges of his eyes crinkled in a smile.
“Sleeping like shit for a prolonged time will kick you in the ass,” he answered wisely. He wasn’t wrong. Thinking about how we got into our current predicament of being fully clothed, his shirt lost sometime in the middle of the night, I couldn’t help but smile.
We had made out for a little while on the couch before he’d pulled away. I had pouted, wondering why he had stopped. But when he’d filled me in, telling me how we were more than sex, how he wanted something so much more than getting one another off, I had almost melted into a puddle of goo at his feet.
Which was funny. I wasn’t the type to melt. But it was the way he spoke and the way his eyes reflected the truth behind them that made it impossible not to fall deeper into whatever it was we were doing.
He’d suggested lunch and a movie at my place and then heading into town for drinks and dinner later. Wanting to spend as much time alone with him, I had easily gone along with it. He had been adorable to watch as he looked around my kitchen and prepared sandwiches and chips for us. Then, as if him making himself at home in my kitchen wasn’t enough, he let me pick the movie.
As we’d lain cuddled side by side on the couch, the fatigue I had been feeling off and on kicked in and I’d dosed off. From the way we had woken up, it seemed we hadn’t moved to my room. If anything, we had sprawled out and spooned all night on the couch. When I turned to face him, my hands had a mind of their own. I held his face with familiarity and confidence, as if I had done just that countless of previous mornings. The thought struck me and made me almost take my hands off his soft beard. Almost. The way he looked at me, obviously welcoming my touch, made it impossible to keep me hands to myself.
“Good morning.” I blinked slowly, watching him. My eyes on my hands on his face, smiling at the way his lips tipped upward.
“I want this,” he declared. I tilted my head, my mind still groggy with sleep.
“Want what?” I asked, lifting my gaze upward toward his beautiful lagoon-blue eyes.
“This.” His voice was raspy and deep, and just like that, my heart melted a little more when it came to him.
“Nathan,” I whispered his name, and he stroked my face.
“Every morning.” Wow. I couldn’t help but swoon.
“Every morning,” I repeated. It was a crazy thought. We hardly knew one another—well, other than in the biblical sense and a week of vacation.
“I know I sound a little crazy.” My lips twitched at how his words reflected my thoughts.
“A little.” I smiled. It was absolutely crazy to feel the way we did. We had spent one week together, a month ago. A mere blip of time. Yet there was something inside of me that couldn’t deny what I felt.
“I’m not. I don’t do things rashly. I’m not a spontaneous kind of man. I think every possible detail and possibility through. But with you, I just—” He was explaining himself, but I put a finger on his lips and helped him out.
“I know what you mean. I wouldn’t mind waking up like this… well, maybe in a bed.; this couch will kill your back. But you know what I mean.” I knew I was rambling, but I didn’t care. “I like this, too. I… You…. It’s… I don’t know, different.”
“It’s everything,” he replied, and before I could think or ask what he meant, he kissed me. Obviously, he had no qualms about morning breath, and at that moment, I didn’t either.
Kissing Nathan was amazing.
There was a reason his kisses and hands had haunted my dreams. The way his lips felt against mine.
The taste of his mouth. The way he held me. It had felt right in Hawaii and it felt right now.
Like two pieces coming together. I just prayed I wouldn’t somehow mess it up.
Nathan
“Breakfast at Sue Ann’s and then we can figure out what to do before you have to leave.” Her eyes flashed a sadness he knew she was trying to hide.
“Sounds good.” He didn’t want to leave. If he didn’t have an important meeting the next day he couldn’t miss, he knew in his soul he would stay right where he was until she kicked him out. “I’ll drive, you navigate,” he offered, keeping his thoughts to himself.
“Okay.” Her hand went in his as he walked with her to his rental. “Are you sure you don’t want me to drive?” He shook his head. Opening the passenger side door of the black sedan, he kissed her temple.
“Let me take care of you,” he told her, the need to do so heavy in his veins. “You drive all the time.”
“I do, but so do you, don’t you? In Miami?” she asked, and he shrugged.
“I like the idea of making your life easier,” he told her honestly before pulling her in closer, his hands splayed over her denim-covered hips. He took her in in her chunky, knit, chocolate-brown sweater that hugged her breasts perfectly, paired with her faded jeans and brown leather ankle boots. She looked warm and cozy.
The weather was a hell of a lot cooler than he was used to in Miami. Hell, he had always lived with year-round gorgeous weather. But standing in front of her house, with a chill that clung intensely to the air while the sky was the most particular shade of gray and overcast, he didn’t mind it. He could love this weather.
He could love anything if she was with him.
***
“I can’t believe you ate all that.” She giggled. He winked at her, settling back in the diner chair.
“What can I say? I’ve finally gained my appetite back.” He didn’t miss the way her cheeks flushed slightly. A blush he was familiar with and knew exactly how it spread throughout her body when in the throes of passion. Shit. He didn’t need to think about that right now. Not in the middle of a diner.
“I’m glad one of us has,” she muttered as she moved her scrambled eggs back and forth on the plate.
“You haven’t been feeling well?” he asked, concerned for her.
“I think it’s just from lack of sleep.” She shrugged, putting her fork down and taking a sip of her tea. Looking at her in the natural light the diner, he could see her features even better than in her home. She had dark circles under her, and from the look of it, she had also lost some weight. She had been just as affected by him as he had been by her.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly and genuinely, covering her free hand on the table with his. “I fucked up.”
“It was an accident. Right?” she asked, and he nodded.
“Worst accident I have ever made,” he told her honestly. “You have no idea how damn angry I was at myself when I couldn’t find your information.” She watched him and finally nodded. He knew she’d believed him the day before, but seeing she hadn’t changed her mind, he was thankful. When she looked away, he wanted to have her eyes back on him.
“I should have stuck to my gut instinct when it came to you,” he kept sharing. Her head popped up from looking at her plate, their eyes meeting.
“And what was that?” she asked softly in a tone he knew. A tone that had haunted him in his dreams. Soft and breathy when she was turned on. The way she squirmed in her chair, he knew he wasn’t wrong.
“Never letting you leave that island,” he confessed. Her lips twitched upward.
“I don’t think we could have gotten away with that.”
“I don’t know. I was up to the challenge,” he teased, and she laughed. He watched her take a couple of bites of her pancakes and was happy to see her eating. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“You’re staring,” she pointed out, as if she could read his thoughts. Her eyes glittered with humor.
“I’m scared if I don’t, this will be some daydream I’ll wake up from in my office.” She licked her lips, placing her fork down on the plate.
With a strong squeeze to his hand and a look on her face he knew, she put her mug down. “Nathan, we should probably talk about—“
“Angie!” a feminine voice called out behind her, and he turned. Two pretty brunettes stood behind him smiling, looking back from Angie to him.
“Lily, Amy.” Angie smiled and stood as the women approached, each giving Angie a hug. They were obviously friends. “Would you guys like to join us?” Angie asked them, and even though it would cut into his time with her, he was glad she felt comfortable to have him around her friends. He knew that meant something. He stood and smiled at the women who looked at him with wide eyes.
“I am so sorry we interrupted,” the woman with darker hair and brandy colored eyes spoke, “I’m Lily, and this is my sister-in-law, Amy.”
“Nice to meet you.” He shook both their hands and stepped to stand next to Angie, his hand wrapping around hers. He didn’t miss the way the two women’s eyes widened and their lips twitched at the sight of him holding Angie’s hand.
“Umm, Lily, Amy, this is Nathan Sharpe. Nathan, meet Amy and Lily. We are in a book club together.”
“Nice to meet you! Well…” Lily’s eyes danced as he nodded at both women. “Are you new to town?” the other woman asked gently, and before he could respond, Angie let go of his hand and spoke.
“We actually met in Hawaii.” She crossed her arms in front of her.
“Hawaii?” Amy repeated, surprise in her voice.
“That was, like, what? A month ago.” Lily pointed out, and he felt Angie stiffen.
“Keeping secrets, huh, Ang?”
“No. Nothing like that—“
“We’re just playing. It was great to meet you, Nathan.”
“Are you sure you guys don’t want to join us?”
“No. We’re getting food to take back to Nikki’s. We’ll see you for the next book club meeting, yeah?” Amy asked softly, and Angie nodded.
“Oh! Maybe you two will go to the winter festival?”
“Winter festival?” Nathan asked, looking at the women.
“It’s a Hope Falls tradition. You won’t want to miss it,” Amy shared.
“Best mulled wine and holiday cookies you will ever have!” Lily grinned before hugging Angie good-bye and waving good-bye to him. “You should bring him.”
“I—“
“That sounds like fun,” he cut in, throwing his arm around her shoulder. The women gave both him and Angie huge smiles before walking away. “You okay?” He tipped his head down to look at her.
“Yeah.” She gave him a tight smile. “We should go,” she suggested, and his stomach tightened. He didn’t want to go.
He caught the way she glanced at the huge clock on the far end of the diner and found himself wishing like some kid who believed in magic that somehow, time would hold still. But he knew it wasn’t possible.
“Okay.” He bent and kissed the top of her head, letting the soft scent of her hair invade his senses before pulling away to settle the bill.
***
“I’ll be back Friday night, at the latest,” he promised. She nodded without looking directly at him. His feet felt nailed down to the ground and he couldn’t get himself to move in either direction. Not toward the door or toward her. “Ang?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you want me to come back?” he asked.
“Yes,” she answered immediately, closing the little space that separated them. With her hands around his waist and her head on his chest, he found the ability to hold her and wrap her up in his arms. “I don’t want you to go.”
“I don’t want to go.”
“I know. I know I’m being silly. It’s just that…. last time we said good-bye—“ she started to say, but he pulled her back and leaned his face down to hers.
“Baby…. I’m coming back,” he vowed, ha
ting how glassy her eyes were, filled with unshed tears. Nathan wanted to take her tears and whatever pain and worry she was feeling away. “I’ll be back. And while I’m in Miami, we can text and call and email”
“Facetime,” she sniffled her suggestion and gave him a watery smile.
“We will figure this out,” he reassured her as he watched her blink furiously.
“You should go. You don’t wanna miss you flight.”
After breakfast at Sue Ann’s Diner, they had walked quietly, hand in hand. Angie had obviously been deep in her own thoughts, and usually he would fight to get his way. In that case, for her to talk to him. But his own thoughts had run away with him as he’d looked around, enjoying everything she’d pointed out in Hope Falls. It was like a light bulb had turned on, finally figuring out how he was going to make it work between them.
Now, standing in her living room, her sweet, curvy body in his arms, he didn’t want to leave even though he knew the moment he got back to Florida, he would be able to get the ball rolling on how to make their long-term relationship work.
Long-term. The word made him shake his head. Who would have thought he would get shot in the heart by Cupid’s bow on an island and then plan on settling down in a picturesque mountain town across the nation from what he considered home?
“I’ll text you when I get to the airport.”
“Okay, and let me know when you land in Miami.”
“I will.” He leaned down and stole another kiss. Keeping it gentle and sweet was torture and he had no idea where he found the self-control, but he did. His body was hungry for her in ways he didn’t know was possible, but he wanted her to know what they had was more than sex. It was IT.
She was his and he was hers.
And he wasn’t thinking a fling or a halfhearted relationship. At his age, he’d had those. It wasn’t anything to brag about, and honestly, looking at her, feeling the real thing in his arms, he couldn’t believe he had wasted his time like that in the past, with the kinds of relationships that only filled the lonely bits of time when he was out of the office and not busy establishing the career he now enjoyed.
Though, how could he regret whatever broken and misguided road he had been on, since it was the one that had led him right to her?
Hope Falls: Cookies & Kismet (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 3
