by R. T. Wolfe
"Ouch. And?"
Brie turned around to look at him. "I can't stay at Liz's forever. Whoever these people are could wait another six years before they decide to come after me."
"Let's go out."
"Out?"
"On a date. Tonight." He didn't approach her. "We'll go to your place. That way I can check through your house while you get ready. I just need to make sure my folks are free to keep the boys."
* * *
Brie dried her hair until every strand was straight. She hadn't asked where they were going and hoped slacks and heels with a buttoned cashmere sweater would be appropriate. The pants were pinstriped gray and the sweater matched the color of her eyes. She nodded with approval in the mirror as she clicked off the hair dryer. Down the hall, she could hear Nathan pleading with the dogs.
She walked to them and leaned against the jamb of the door to her room. He had on black pants and a crisp gray shirt. He was trying to pull the dogs from her bed. They thought he wanted to play. Reluctantly, Brie whistled for them to jump down. The show was almost worth any rips in her comforter.
He pulled at the crumpled cover. "They don't listen to me."
As she watched him, it occurred to her she wasn't hungry anymore. "Nathan."
"Hmm?" He walked around to the other side and picked up a pillow that had been tossed.
"Macey's okay."
"I'll say."
"I'm okay."
He stopped and looked up. "All right," he said slowly.
She slithered around to him and placed her hand on his chest. "I want you." She smiled at the feel of his heart as it picked up speed.
Shit, shit, shit. He took her wrist and pulled her hand from his chest. "You'll get your job back." Was she trying to throw him into cardiac arrest? "The board meeting is coming up."
"The pictures, Nathan. I think the cat is out of the bag to anyone that matters." She unbuttoned the top of her sweater with her free hand. "How many more times do you think I'm going to try and seduce you if you keep rejecting me?"
He stepped forward and closed the distance between them. "Point taken."
When she reached for the next button, he took both of her hands and caged them within his, shaking his head.
"Me," Nathan said and pressed their foreheads together.
A shallow, throaty purr rumbled low in her throat enough to sink him into a deep puddle of want.
He took his time traveling his hands up her arms, over her shoulders, along her neck before braiding his fingers through the back of her silky hair. Keeping the narrow distance between their mouths, he looked into the soft green. He wanted to remember every second of this, every second of her.
Brushing his lips to hers once, twice, he then dipped into the warm and moist. She tasted like raspberries. As he finished with the buttons of her sweater, he traveled his lips along her jaw and settled at the spot on her neck just below her ear.
Taking a wrist in each hand, he held them out, keeping hold as he stepped back, looking at the glimpse of cleavage and smooth stomach through the spread of cashmere. His gaze met hers as he lowered her arms and used both hands to spread her sweater, exposing lace and the generous swell of flesh above. For a painstaking moment, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
When he opened his deep blue to her, Brie saw a new determination. She bit her bottom lip and braced. Nathan grabbed both the back of her hip and behind her head, breaking their fall.
Their lips crashed. Their teeth grazed. The taste of him. The feel of him. His weight, his warmth, his need.
She tugged with the buttons of his shirt before giving up and yanking it over his head. Running her hands inside, she found his back strong and lean. Grappling with skin and muscle, she ran her hands around to the planes of his stomach.
Possessive lips trailed a line of warmth down her neck and over shoulder, taking her straps with him as he went and spilling flesh into his hands. She combed her fingers through his thick, black hair and guided him to her. Her head flew back as he took her in, moving his tongue to circle before carefully using teeth to pull.
Grappling with the rest of his clothes she ran her hands up to find him. Nathan clasped her wrist. "Not yet.' They rolled, flesh on flesh, gasping and exploring until she found herself over him. His eyes were glossy with a drunken blue haze. The awe was humbling.
She sat over him, heat to heat, with her long waves of auburn draping over her shoulders. Nathan released the button at the top of her slacks. Her gaze became sincere and focused as she trembled. He ran his fingertips inside the exposed stringy lace. A small, female whimper escaped.
He understood that her utter pliancy beneath his touch was more than physical. The protective bubble she kept so carefully tucked around her melted away, leaving him with great responsibility. Her head rolled back as she shuddered, invited. He lifted to her and used his teeth to graze the line of her jaw. Taking her by the waist, he slipped her around and beneath him, tossing the rest of her clothes to the side.
He lifted her arms above her head before traveling his hands down the soft of her inner arms, down the sides of her breasts and down her flat stomach, learning every inch of this complicated woman.
He groaned when he found her. Her hands flew to his shoulders and he felt her nails as they dug in. Pushing her to the edge, Nathan whispered, "Let go."
The release was more than Brie was prepared for. She cried out as she hung onto his shoulders. Nathan dipped his head to her neck as she trembled and gasped. Moving her lips close to his ear, she pleaded, "Now, Nathan."
He slid over her body, damped with sweat. His eyes tightened as they joined before they came back to her. Brie and Nathan moved together, racing, flying, desperate to get closer. Refusing to lose eye contact, she held his face as she went over to a place she'd never been before. Of heart, of body, of mind.
She watched the blue haze turn opaque as he held on and released, holding, savoring. Dropping his head into her hair, Brie linked the backs of her feet together. Nathan collapsed lifelessly over her, the weight of him keeping her on this planet.
While their bodies twined, they came back to the present and her stomach growled.
She felt his cheeks swell next to her face.
"I'm crushing you," he said.
"You're not. Don't move." The feel of his warmth and of his weight left her staggered.
He shifted next to her, pulling her partially over him as he recovered. She looked up at him. He must have sensed her gaze because he opened one eye and smiled. He took her hand and kissed it before laying it on his chest. "You're hungry."
She lifted on an elbow. "I'm not that hungry." She looked at his mouth and bit her bottom lip.
"And I'm not nearly done with you, but we should get up and find something to eat first. Our reservations are long gone."
* * *
They spent the next evening eating Chinese delivery with Dave and Amanda, Rose and the boys. Brie thought about how she didn't feel any day-after jitters. She did spend the day, however, feeling wonderfully weak and unhinged.
They played an entire Uno tournament, Amanda keeping meticulous score. Brie lost. Duncan won. Brie squinted at him playfully.
"You have to say 'uno' when you have one card," he told her.
"So you keep reminding me." She mussed his head as he maneuvered the deck back into the box.
Dave and Nathan helped the kids clean up and took Rose with them to read stories before bed. Amanda and Brie hauled paper plates to the kitchen.
"I'd help you with the dishes, but there's no kitchen sink." Amanda looked around.
"I heard that, and I'm working on it," Nathan yelled from the stairs.
"They live in paper and plastic around here, and you're having sex," Brie said while tying a garbage sack.
"Just." Amanda turned and put her hands on her hips. "How the hell can you tell? We haven't so much as brushed up against each other all night."
Brie walked out the mudroom door to toss the garba
ge in Nathan's dumpster. She came back with the dogs and answered, "I'm a woman. I can tell. You move differently around each other, even without touching. So, are you happy?"
"For someone who never kisses and tells, you're nosy." Amanda smiled when Brie lifted a brow. "Let's just say he can walk and chew gum at the same time."
Brie stopped what she was doing. "I meant are you happy to be dating him."
"Oh. This is embarrassing." Amanda stood for a minute. "So happy that I'm afraid whether or not he'll still be here when I get back from an assignment."
"Have you talked to him about it?"
"I think it's too early for that."
"He's planning a trip with you and Rose to Disney World, and you think it's too early to talk about it?"
Amanda sighed. "I'm tired of leaving, of having no place to call home. It was great when I was younger, but Rose is putting down roots here. She's making friends at school, loves Duncan and Andy. I told him I'm going to get a place. I'm looking for a steady job, then Rose and I are getting a place of our own. Scary, huh?" She clasped her hands on top of her head. "What?"
"You've changed. I guess we both have."
Nathan walked in and looked back and forth between the two of them. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything too important, but he wants Mooncake and he wants you to read it," he said to Brie.
"Which means Rose is still up there," Amanda said. "That's one of her favorites."
Nathan nodded. "Duncan is just glad he didn't have to share his bed with two little kids. He's sound asleep."
When she walked into Andy's room, he and Rose were sleeping, too. The book was stuck between them and their mouths were hanging open.
She laughed to herself and put the book on Andy's desk. Picking up Rose, her miniature body snuggled into Brie's shoulder.
"No story?" Dave asked as he took Rose from her at the bottom of the stairs.
"They didn't make it. Sleeping like a rock," she said.
Waving as the content trio pulled down the drive, Brie leaned against the jamb of the front door, then turned to Nathan. "I need to get going, too, if I'm going to make it here bright and early. I want to take the dogs for a short walk before I get started, before we get started."
He shut the door and wrapped his arms around her. "I like the sound of that."
Chapter 21
"Hmm?" Nathan was completely confused by the stranger in his doorway.
"I said I'm here to grade your yard." The man pulled out an order invoice. It had Brie's name on it.
"Oh, right. Sure. What is it you're going to do?"
"I'm going to make a really big mess," the man said as he headed to his white box truck and lowered a ramp out the end. He backed out what looked like a combination of an end-loader and a small tank. Another man with tripods circled the yard and house, shining lasers at the ground.
He barely had time to comprehend before Brie pulled up in her truck. He noticed her look at the men, then wince. She jerked her head up once to the crew as she lowered her tailgate and pushed up her wheelbarrow, the dogs running at her side, toward the porch.
Site boss hat.
When she was close, she smiled at him like she'd discovered something secret. "You have puffy sleep eyes. Very cute."
Girlfriend hat.
Speaking louder, she offered introductions, then explained. "These guys are here to survey and grade the yard. They make sure the water travels away from your house, even during a hundred-year rain. Depending on the lasers, the tiller there will grind up and move the soil around to prepare for the sod." She kissed him on the mouth. "And all at a wholesale price. Pull out your checkbook, Reed. They'll be done in a few hours."
Whistling for the dogs, she walked past him toward the house. "First, I'm going to make you some puffy, sleep eyes coffee."
The girlfriend hat was definitely his favorite.
* * *
Nathan worked on sanding down the floors, preparing them for stain. Most of the floors still had the original wood. Even through his custom-fitted dust mask, he recognized the rich, clean smell from the boards that had to be from at least the 1950s. Hardwood floors hadn't been made with fine old growth wood for decades. Some boards needed to be replaced, but Nathan was pleased there weren't many. The previous owners had laid carpet in most of the rooms, and it served as handy protection.
He wanted to get the house to a basic, finished state. Then, he could start work on the projects he really enjoyed, like wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling bookcases in the would-be library and wainscoting under the stairs.
He would check on his landscaper at break time.
* * *
Brie had the sod delivered early the next day. It was warm already that morning. Odd for early April. She stood next to the scattered pallets in her favorite rubber boots that reached her knees, a pair of denim shorts and a tattered NYU sweatshirt. Her hair was tied in a tail and stuck through the clasp of her worn Giants' cap. She felt rested and where she belonged.
Using spools of thick orange yarn, she created a pattern where the line of brick edgers would frame the landscaping plots. She placed the yarn in a curved, flowing pattern, walked back to look at it, moved it and looked at it again. Sitting on the ground with legs crossed, her bare thighs rested on the sun-warmed soil.
While Brie contemplated the northwest corner of the house, Nathan came out carrying two steaming mugs.
He handed her the one with the cover.
"Is that coffee? You are the man of my dreams."
"And you are sitting in dirt." He stood with his free hand in his front pocket. "The dogs don't like being stuck inside."
"They'll have to live for now. I'd invite you down, but it's dirty." She stood instead, brushing the dirt from the backs of her legs.
Nathan's gaze dropped to her bare thighs.
"I'm thinking of adding tiered plots at this corner and under your bedroom window." She waved her hand in front of his face. "My eyes are up here, Reed."
"Yeah, but your legs are down there."
She tried her best wise-ass smile. "You keep telling me to decide what to do back here. I need you to tell me what you want."
"That's like you telling me what color to stain the dining table. Not your thing. I trust you."
"There's no small something you'd like for your own yard?"
"A pond." He tucked a lose piece of hair behind her ear.
"A pond? That's not a small something."
"A pond with those jumbo goldfish and a waterfall I can hear from my bedroom window."
"That won't work."
"See? Not my thing. Why not?"
"Great Blue Herons."
He lifted an eyebrow. "Not following you."
"We have Great Blue Herons that would think of your pond as a food dish. If they didn't get to your goldfish, there is plenty of wildlife around the creek that would. Fox, raccoon, muskrat."
"I would notice a heron. I've only seen a million Canadian geese and a few dozen mallard ducks."
"They'll be migrating back here any time now. You won't miss them. How about a small pond with floating plants and a waterfall up here under your window so it's close enough to hear at night?"
"See? Your thing."
"It will attract frogs," she warned. "They're noisy."
"I like noisy frogs. I'm a camper."
Interesting. "Me, too."
"There's a lot I don't know about you." He reached down and kissed her under her ear.
In her head, Brie had a small argument with herself about work first, then play, before she came to her senses. "The first thing is I'm on a roll, and I need to go to my house and pick up extra sprinklers from my garage."
"I'll get them." His face was set.
She shook her head. "Okay, I need the timers for them that are on the shelves next to the back door."
She watched him meander toward the creek sipping his coffee and wondered how he ever got anything done moving at that pace all the time.
* * *
After Nathan finished spraying the last of the base cabinets, he found Brie sitting on his workbench, her legs crisscrossed, waiting for him.
"I thought you'd never come out of there. Where are your boys?"
"Why do you always ask me that?" Before she could answer, he told her. "At my folks for the night making homemade pizza."
"The last set of pallets will be here first thing in the morning. I'll have to use seed that will tolerate the shade under your trees and along your drive."
He thought she looked amazing sitting there covered in dirt on his workbench. "There's Italian in the fridge, and I've got a bottle of Chardonnay. Microwave and a card table?"
"I have a better idea. Give me fifteen minutes. I've got a change of clothes in the car. I just need to clean up."
They brought the dogs and a paper bag full of food his mother had left and they had warmed. They sat in Brie's Adirondack chairs on her brick patio. The fire pit blazed in front of them. Nathan added treated pinecones that caused shoots of flames in brilliant greens and blues. The air was chilly, but the wind was calm and the night was clear. Smells of spring mixed with the smoke. Ducks and geese made an occasional noise from the lake and from Black Creek. They ate and talked of growing up in Northridge.
"Birthday?"
"July."
"Mmm. Older woman. I'm September. What day in July?"
"The fifth."
"My brother's was the fourteenth. We still celebrate. My folks decided not to commemorate their deaths, but their birthdates."
She rotated her head against the tall back of the chair and faced him. "That's smart. I've never known how to ask about how they died."
Nathan watched her face flicker in the light of the flames. "Just ask. You know it was a plane crash. There was no foul play." Their feet rested together on the only wooden foot stool. "Andy acted out for a while without completely understanding why. Duncan didn't understand at all for a long time. We sat on our couch one evening, and Duncan asked for the thousandth time when his parents were coming home. I tried to be gentle. I don't know if I did it right, but I explained for the thousandth time they weren't coming home. Out of the blue that night on the couch it hit him. He screamed and tossed the room around until he fell asleep in my arms from exhaustion."
