by Eden Proctor
“Grandfather, we talked about this. We just wanted something small,” Nate said.
“As you wish, Nathaniel,” Gordon said.
“I didn’t take you as a traditionalist, especially not with wedding plans,” Mindy said.
“It’s not that. It’s just this is going to be my grandson’s only wedding. A little pomp and circumstance seems to be in order,” he said.
The surge of guilt hit Mindy hard and fast, and she looked over at Nate. He still looked at his grandfather, pleasant, seeming unbothered by what he’d said. Mindy tried to mirror his calmness, but she could hardly keep her mind off the deception she was engaging in. Only made her own excitement about this feel that much more ridiculous.
When warm, strong fingers closed around hers she started, but then relaxed, taking Nate’s moment of offered support.
“Try to enjoy yourself anyway,” Nate said.
Gordon looked anything but placated, but nodded and then left to approach a cluster of older gentlemen that Mindy recognized as business associates.
Nate, hand still in hers, led her to the front of the room. She was so nervous she thought she would faint, and it was only Nate’s hand squeezing hers that kept her upright.
She breathed deep, part of her mind trying to reject the idea that she was nervous, especially for an event that wasn’t even real. But the bigger part of her still felt dizzy with nerves, her heart pounding as she stood there.
Nate had asked a judge and friend of his family to officiate the ceremony, and when he started speaking, Mindy’s mind went blank. She was aware enough to know when to say “I do,” but the entire ceremony passed in a blur.
Except for one part.
When the judge said, “You may now kiss the bride,” Mindy instantly looked up at Nate.
They hadn’t discussed this part, but she guessed she wasn’t surprised because she’d known this would be coming.
Still, she wasn’t prepared when Nate slowly moved forward, seemingly in slow motion. He paused, lips hovering just above hers. Mindy had never been this close to him, and his intoxicating scent, the warmth of his breath against her face left her confused, needy.
When he made no move to kiss her, she realized that he was waiting for her permission. She nodded quickly and he leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers.
The kiss was over in a millisecond, but it rocked Mindy to her core.
In that split-second she had experienced the strength of his embrace, had at least a taste of what kissing him was like. Since the “engagement,” she hadn’t allowed herself to think of Nate physically, wouldn’t let her mind even go there. Now, she couldn’t do anything but.
She looked up into Nate’s eyes, and for just a moment, she saw an intense heat in his gaze, enough passion to sear her.
It was gone as quickly as she’d seen it, and she couldn’t be sure she hadn’t imagined it.
“Let me present Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Eaton!”
The judge’s voice made her blink, and Nate grabbed her hand and held it tight, and when she looked at him, met his smiling eyes, she knew she would love him forever.
Chapter 13
“So what did you think?” Nate asked after he had unlocked his front door and ushered Mindy in.
She’d suggested they take separate cars to the gallery, but Nate wouldn’t hear of it. He’d told her it would look suspicious to his grandfather if they arrived in separate vehicles. And that had been true, but that wasn’t his only reason.
This marriage wasn’t authentic, and he knew that, reminded himself of that constantly. And yet, the idea of his soon-to-be wife driving herself to their wedding and then driving herself home was one he hadn’t been able to accept.
He’d told himself it was just the principle of the thing, but he didn’t quite know if that was true. Hell, he’d have put Dahlia in a cab and not given it a second thought, but Mindy deserved better, and he’d see that she got it.
She wouldn’t make it easy. Over the last two weeks, he’d sensed a change in Mindy. On the surface, everything had been fine, normal, but there was some distance now. Nate had thought she wanted to change her mind, but when he’d asked, she’d insisted she was fine and that she was willing to go through with this.
But Nate hadn’t been sure. Something about her had changed, and she hadn’t been open about it. More than once he’d considered calling it off. But he hadn’t. The idea of Mindy being his wife had taken root in his mind, and for reasons he dared not contemplate, he hadn’t been able to let her go.
And now she was his.
The satisfaction he felt at that thought was almost overwhelming. A feeling that only intensified when he looked at Mindy standing in his foyer.
She shrugged. “It was okay, I guess,” she said, looking at him with mysterious eyes.
Nate chuckled. “Okay? Tough crowd,” he said.
She returned his smile. “What can I say? I call ’em like I see ’em,” she said.
He laughed again, and then walked closer to her, watching as she looked around.
“You’ve never been to my place?”
She shook her head quickly.
“Well take a look around, make yourself at home,” he said.
She didn’t move her gaze from him. “It’s lovely. But I should head home,” she said.
He wanted to scream no, but he kept himself calm and simply shook his head.
“Bad idea,” he said.
She frowned. “Why?”
“We just left the ceremony. Grandfather might come to check on us,” he said.
That was a lie, and a bad one, but Nate couldn’t afford to tell her the truth. And the truth was he desperately wanted her to stay.
Needed her to stay.
“I’ll order some dinner. We can hang out for a while. Seems like the appropriate thing to do on such a joyous occasion,” he said.
Mindy looked skeptical, but when she nodded faintly, the vise that had squeezed his heart relaxed a little.
“I’m taking off these shoes, though,” she said.
He watched as she gracefully eased her feet out of the heels she wore. There was nothing to it, no attempt to be sexy, but Nate could think of little else that compared to watching Mindy.
Her dress fell midway down her calves, leaving her ankles bare. And as she stepped out of the shoes, Nate’s gaze was glued to the graceful curve of her ankles and delicate-looking feet. Before he could even process, he pictured that delicate ankle on his shoulder as he pounded inside her.
Nate looked away from her quickly and breathed out hard as he tried to regain control. Mindy might be his wife, but she wasn’t his, and he couldn’t let himself forget that.
A moment later he looked at her, saw her standing in her fancy dress and bare feet. The rush of desire was almost overwhelming.
Keeping his hands off Mindy was going to be far harder than he’d thought.
* * *
Two hours later, Mindy lay back against the couch and sighed.
After a great meal of her favorite takeout Chinese, she and Nate had gone into his living room and had been talking nonstop. She sometimes forgot that behind his image, he was an intelligent person, but he’d shown her it again and again and reminded her of how caring he was as he’d shared his little stories about some of the guests.
“Hey,” he said after they had gone quiet for a moment, “would you like to hang out with my friend Simeon and his wife, Claire?”
“They were there tonight, right?” she asked, remembering the attractive couple, the wife friendly, the husband somewhat brooding, though Mindy knew he and Nate were good friends.
“Yeah. I usually go over to their place, and I’d love you to come sometime. I think you and Claire would get along,” he said.
“Umm…”
She hesitated, and Nate frowned. “No, don’t worry about it, it’s okay,” he said.
“I want to. I just…” She trailed off again, then looked at him. “Do they know about u
s?”
“What about us?” he said, looking genuinely confused.
“You know…” she replied, surprised he’d seemed to forget how all this had come about.
Nate nodded. “Oh, that. No, they don’t know,” he said.
“So they think this is genuine?”
Her voice went quiet over the last word, and she thought she saw some displeasure in Nate’s eyes.
“Simeon probably thinks something’s up, but he hasn’t asked me about it yet.”
“But he will?”
“Yes, he will.”
“Are you going to tell him the truth?” she asked.
She wasn’t sure what she wanted the answer to be. She didn’t like the idea of perpetuating this fantasy, but on the other hand, she would be mortified if they did know.
“What do you want?” he asked.
“They’re your friends. What I want doesn’t matter,” she said.
He frowned, reached for her hand. “Of course it does,” he said.
She paused, soaking in the feel of his touch, but then she pulled her hand away with yet another reminder that she needed to keep her distance. No matter how real this felt. How much she wanted it.
“Whatever you think is best,” she said a moment later.
He looked somewhat disappointed, but Mindy didn’t know what else to say. This entire conversation had put her on shaky ground. She was busily trying to keep up boundaries between them and Nate was steadily tearing them down.
She ignored the look of disappointment that crossed his face.
“Why did you pick me?” she blurted.
The question had come out of the blue, but Mindy hadn’t been able to keep it in. At least Nate didn’t pretend like he didn’t know what she was talking about.
“You’re a good person. Grandfather likes you.”
Mindy looked at him, frowned. “So that’s it, huh?” she asked.
She wasn’t sure what she had wanted him to say. She’d gone into this with her eyes open and felt pretty confident that his proposal had little to do with who she was as a person. But still, she felt a lingering sadness and disappointment.
“Well, truthfully,” Nate said, his voice breaking into her thoughts, “I picked you because I was desperate.”
She playfully punched his arm. “Gee, thanks,” she said sarcastically.
He smiled, the bright one that melted her heart, and she ignored the thud in her chest.
“I said I was being truthful,” he replied. “And, of course, convenience. Dahlia…” Nate trailed off and shuddered, and Mindy frowned. “Let’s just say that would have been a nightmare. But you, you’re not. You’re kind and good and honest. I can trust you.”
“That’s great. Just great. I’m the equivalent of a reliable sedan,” she said.
She laughed, but there was no humor in it.
“So…” Mindy trailed off and looked over to Nate, who had again gone quiet.
For a moment her breath froze in her throat. There was such a sense of unreality to this moment that Mindy could hardly comprehend it. She was a sedan, but Nate was a sports car. Yet for a few minutes here and there, she’d been able to forget how different they were, how this wasn’t even real.
Nate was so handsome, but even more, being with him had felt right, good, had been exactly how she would have wanted it to be. In fact, she couldn’t have dreamed of a better way to mark the day. A great meal, great conversation with the man she loved and would spend the rest of her life with.
It sounded perfect.
It was perfect.
So perfect that Mindy knew she had to leave.
She stood abruptly, or as abruptly as she could in the unfamiliar constraints of the dress. Purposefully, she didn’t look at Nate and instead focused on the shoes that were on the other side of the couch.
Her toes curled at the thought of being in the shoes again. Though they had looked amazing with the dress, they were most uncomfortable. But she had the pair of flats she always kept in her car, so as soon as she got to the car, she’d be out of them, so she could handle the discomfort. Later, she’d decide what to do with the dress, but first thing tomorrow, she’d drop it off at the dry cleaner and—
Warm, strong fingers on her shoulder stopped her spinning thoughts. “Mindy.”
Something in Nate’s voice, maybe the faint hint of pleading made her turn. When she looked at him, she saw the intent expression on his face. His dark eyes were warm, and his expression was determined.
Mindy shivered.
This, this was exactly what she’d hoped to avoid.
Nate’s fingers on her skin, his eyes imploring her. She was no match against that.
“I should…”
The words died in her throat when he slid his hand down her arm, gripped her elbow. She swallowed, ignored the thudding of her heart, and pushed on.
“I should go.”
Nate didn’t respond. Instead he brushed his fingers down her forearm, lingered for a moment on her wrist, then went lower, curving over the back of her hands, pausing on the finger that still held the ring he had put there earlier.
Mindy hadn’t forgotten about it, but she wasn’t as conscious of it as she had been before, the heavy weight almost comfortable.
She noticed it now.
Nate’s finger on the simple platinum band with a half carat stone created sensations Mindy didn’t really know that she could describe. And when she looked at him again, saw that that intensity in his expression had deepened, her thoughts scattered.
She should go. The calm, rational part of her knew that. But the other part, the one that she had fought so badly, wanted to stay. Which was insane, because there was no reason for her to. She understood the purpose of this, what it was all about, and muddying the waters, confusing things like this would do her no good.
“Nate, I—”
“You should go,” he said.
“Yeah, I should,” she replied.
She made no move to leave, though. Didn’t do anything but stand there frozen. Nate didn’t seem to have the same problem. He kept his fingers on hers and stepped closer, and then closer, so close that the front of their bodies brushed.
On instinct, Mindy breathed in deep, the scent of spicy cologne and Nate the most wonderful she had ever smelled.
She breathed then again, let her lids lower.
And Nate stepped even closer, his body fully pressed against hers. Briefly, he entwined their fingers, but then let her hand go.
Through lowered lids, Mindy watched as Nate lifted his hands, cradled her face with them. Mindy closed her eyes completely when she felt the first brush of his warm palm against her jaw.
She could hardly believe this was happening, that Nate’s warm body was against hers, the hardness of his chest the perfect contrast to the softness of hers. Could hardly believe the feeling of his gentle breath brushing against her face.
“Mindy,” he said.
Unable to resist his siren call, she opened her eyes, again met his.
“Nate.” The word came out as a plea, one Mindy almost didn’t recognize as her own voice. She never sounded like that, so needy, so desperate. She swallowed. Tried again. “Nate…”
The rest of the words clung to her tongue, the ones where she said she should go. But they didn’t come out.
Couldn’t.
Instead, she laid her hands flat against his chest, faintly felt the thud of his heart against her palm. She froze there, letting this moment seep in, the experience, the unexpected joy of touching Nate so intimately something she wanted to savor.
He tightened his grip on her face, and then moved even closer, so close that his lips hovered above hers.
She closed her eyes yet again, her mind still trying to process what was happening. Even this level of closeness to him was undoing her. Could she risk more? She felt Nate under her palms, the warmth of his skin burning her even through his suit jacket and shirt.
Could she not?
No, she decided. There’d be consequences, probably ones that she couldn’t even contemplate. But in this moment there was no way she could deny herself what she so deeply wanted, needed.
She opened her eyes, met his, and after a breath of a moment, he closed his lips over hers.
Mindy had fantasized about this more times than she could remember, had tried to conjure in her mind what it would be like to feel Nate’s mouth on hers.
But nothing, nothing, had prepared her for the reality of it.
His lips, warm, firm yet gentle worked against her mouth with a fevered precision that made Mindy melt.
And when he worked his tongue between her lips and into her mouth she knew she was completely gone.
He kissed her like no one else ever had, and in a way she suspected no one ever would. He seemed to know her, seemed to care. And when he worked one hand down her neck, over the patch of skin that was bared by her dress, down over her breasts, and to her waist, Mindy moaned. With the other, he deftly unzipped her dress, and after he pushed it down, she broke the kiss, kept her lids lowered as she tried to regain her breath.
A moment later she realized Nate was breathing just as harshly as she was. He hadn’t taken his hands from her waist, but suddenly, Mindy was embarrassed. Her dress was nice, but she didn’t have a small waist, flat stomach, any of the things that Nate was probably accustomed to. She moved to take a step back, but his hand anchored on her waist stilled her.
She looked up at him, saw that his eyes were still intense, his breath still coming out in heaved pants. And a moment later she felt that protrusion against her belly, harder than it had been before.
Seeing his reaction, feeling it, was a revelation.
She hadn’t contemplated this possibility, that Nate might want her. Even as he had kissed her so expertly and so passionately, that hadn’t been a consideration. But now, there was no mistaking his physical reaction.
She looked into his eyes again, saw that he looked at her with openness and honesty.
“Mindy,” he said, his own voice a plea, “I’d like you to stay.”
That simple statement was so touching, meant more than she could say. There had been little doubt before, but there was none now. There was no way she could leave.
