That Thing You Do (A Crystal Lake Novel Book 2)

by Juliana Stone

  But then she heard the telltale strains of her favorite Backstreet Boys song, and she all but melted into him. She rested her cheek against his hard chest and closed her eyes as he pulled her even closer. He didn’t say a word. He just moved slowly, and she followed suit, their bodies fitting together perfectly.

  You are my fire. My one desire. Believe when I say. I want it that way.

  They shuffled together in the dark, moving slowly, sensually, and when the song played out, they didn’t stop. The tremors in her body were gone. The fight all but left and, suddenly spent, she knew that if Nate’s arms weren’t around her, she’d be a puddle of flesh and bone.

  “I guess we’re done fighting?” she whispered, looking up at him.

  “I don’t want to fight. Molly, I’m being straight-up honest with you. Chess means nothing to me. Not in that way. And here’s the truth. We hung out in New York City when she was there and a few other times. But she’s not you. I’m not interested.” He cupped her chin and pressed a kiss to her mouth. “Let’s get out of here. I’ve got big plans for tonight.”

  “But…” She turned back toward the Coach House. “I can’t just leave.”

  “Yes.” He winked at her and pulled her along with him. “You can. I’ve got a cab on the way.”

  “But what will they think? Jess and the girls are probably wondering where I am, and I’m sure Zach has noticed the two of us are missing.”

  Nathan waited a heartbeat and then whispered, “I don’t really give a damn. Do you?”

  Did she? Could she deal with their friends knowing they’d moved on to something more than whatever it was they were? That they were sleeping together?

  She hesitated. There was a part of her that always held back, the part that was big on self-preservation. But then something broke away. And maybe it was the self-preservation piece, or it could have been the I-don’t-give-a-crap piece. Whatever it was, she surrendered to it and took his hand.

  “No,” she replied. “I don’t care what they think.”

  Molly decided to ignore that little slice of her heart that did care. The slice that said she was treading on dangerous ground and if her friends knew, they’d tell her. Zach would tell her. She pushed it aside and took Nate’s hand.

  There was no turning back now.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Molly’s fridge was pathetic. Nate stared at its contents long enough that his vision blurred and then grabbed the egg carton that housed only three eggs, one lonely red pepper that was a little too soft, a chunk of cheese that needed mold scraped off it, and milk that was a week old. He was hoping it wasn’t sour. There was no butter, the bread was stale, but at least the girl had coffee and cream.

  He could have opened that fridge door and stared into a black hole for all he cared. The sun was out, the birds were singing, and Nathan was as happy as a pig in shit.

  He got busy preparing the best omelettes he could muster with the contents he had and made a mental note of all the things she needed to stock up to fill her fridge and cupboards. Lord knew Molly needed some help, because he had no idea what she fueled her body with. It sure as hell wasn’t home-cooked food.

  He whistled as he worked, and his mind wandered back to those hours spent in Molly’s bed. He thought the sex before had been mind-blowing, but as it turned out, mind-blowing was the bottom of the barrel in this house. Holy hell, last night had been a grand slam out of the park. She had no inhibitions and responded to his touch in such a way, it made his body hard thinking about it. She was fresh and real and didn’t play games or make those fake noises a lot of women do, the ones that sounded as if they were shooting porn in some rented mansion on the beach. Seriously, what was with that shit? Guys knew fake noises from the real ones.

  Or at least, Nathan did, he thought.

  With Molly, there was nothing but the very real attraction between the two of them, and for the life of him, Nathan couldn’t believe this had simmered beneath the surface for years. Untapped and unacknowledged.

  Sex was hot and exciting again, and it wasn’t just because it was new. It was because of Molly.

  He set the heat on low and scooped up his cell from the kitchen table. He’d turned it on when he came downstairs, and it had been buzzing like crazy a few minutes earlier. He quickly scrolled through his messages and saw that his boss, Tucker Simon, had called the night before. Nate had muted his cell so he wouldn’t be disturbed by Zach or Jess or any of the gang, but he hadn’t figured on Tuck wanting to get hold of him.

  Shit. What had he missed? Nathan couldn’t remember the last time he’d taken more than a few days off, and when he did go away for an extended period of time, he always worked. But this trip had been different. When he saw the number of unopened emails, text messages, and missed calls, it took the shine off what had been, so far, a relaxed morning. Stress snuck up on him and his body tightened. Tuck probably wanted an update on the steak house situation and Nate was more than happy to tell his boss he’d defused the matter from the golf course—the steak house was happy, and his client had a new appreciation for the power of social media.

  Tucker used to call New York City his home base but had moved to the Keys with his wife, Abby, and they’d just welcomed a set of twins a few months back. Normally, Tuck flew to New York every few weeks for meetings, but he’d been absent since the birth of the twins, and Nathan couldn’t take a guess as to how busy that would be. Nate was Tucker’s go-to guy and ran the New York office, while Tucker worked from home.

  He picked up on the first ring.

  “Tuck, how are things?”

  “About as hectic as you can imagine.” There was a muffled voice in the background, but after a few seconds, it got quiet. “Seriously, all these kids do is eat, poop, and pee. I gotta hand it to Abby, though, she’s handling it like a champ.”

  “Good to hear. I can’t wait to meet them.”

  “That’s kind of what I was calling about. Looks like we’re hunkered down here for a while. I don’t know when I’ll make it back to the city. The majority of my clients are fine doing business over the phone or coming out here to Florida. But I’ve got the Mason kid in New York for training camp, and his parents need a face-to-face.”

  “The new rookie for the Rangers?”

  “Yep. I need you to hand-hold him and his parents through these first few weeks. Probably the year. I can’t commit the time. Abby needs me here.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ve got it covered.”

  “When are you back in the city?”

  Nathan rubbed his jaw, eyes on a large blue jay preening on a branch just beyond the kitchen window. His flight home was scheduled for Sunday morning, but he’d been thinking of pushing back to Monday or even Tuesday. He wasn’t ready to leave just yet.

  “The wedding’s Saturday,” he said.

  “Good. So you can be back Sunday? I was supposed to meet with the kid and his parents. They’ve just started training camp, and, like I said, they’re small-town folks and nervous about everything. Can you cover it? Take them to dinner and put a clamp on any of the anxiety they have?”

  Fuck.

  “Sure. No problem.”

  “Thanks. I appreciate this. Any news on Link Major?”

  “No,” Nate replied. “He’s incognito at the moment.”

  “Okay. I know you’re on it. It would be great to lock that guy down. Look, I’ll be in touch next week. I gotta run before Abby loses her mind. When the wife isn’t happy, no one is.”

  “Go. Look after your wife and kids.”

  The phone went dead, and Nathan tossed his cell onto the table. The lightness he’d felt earlier faded as reality set in. He had less than forty-eight hours with Molly.

  “This smells real good.”

  He turned as she walked into the kitchen wearing nothing but a pair of blue panties and a white tank top. Her panties weren’t particularly sexy or even revealing, but the sight of those long legs, bare shoulders, sleepy eyes, and all that hair did something
to him.

  He strode over, picked her up, and set her on the counter. Immediately, she wrapped her legs around his waist and bent forward for a kiss.

  “Good morning,” he murmured against her mouth before tucking a thick swath of hair behind her ear. “I hope you’re hungry.”

  “I am.” She licked her lips and giggled. “So damn hungry, I could eat a cow, and I don’t even like steak.”

  “There’s this problem?” He nipped at her neck.

  “Yeah? What’s that?”

  “You don’t have any bacon or meat of any kind in this damn house.”

  She angled her head back and looked down, a soft grin on her face. “That is a problem. But I think I might have to disagree with you on that analysis of the situation.”

  His dick sprang to life instantly like a soldier standing at attention. This woman was going to kill him. “You know what the other problem is?”

  “Tell me.” She flashed a playful smile.

  “If we don’t eat these omelettes right now, they’ll go cold, and then they’ll taste like shit. And like I said, you have no food in this house.” When she dropped her eyes again, he chuckled. “Real food, that is. And I don’t know about you, but after last night, I need fuel.”

  She kissed him one last time and slid off the counter. “Whatever you say, boss.”

  She made a pot of coffee while he finished up with their breakfast. They decided to eat outside because it was a gorgeous morning, with sunlight reflecting diamonds across the lake and fresh air that slid over them on an invigorating breeze.

  They ate in silence, each seemingly lost in thought, and when Molly pushed her plate aside, every bit of her omelette gone, she sipped her coffee and stared at him over the top of her mug.

  “Who was that on the phone earlier?”

  Nate tossed his napkin and sat back. “My boss.”

  “Oh.” Her gaze slid from his, and she played with the edge of her napkin. “Everything okay?”

  “It’s all good. We’re just busy right now, and my boss is laying low.” At her questioning look, he smiled. “They just had twins.”

  Molly rose and reached for his plate. “That is something I can’t imagine. Two for the price of one.”

  Nate followed her into the house. “Why? You got something against twins?”

  “I’m a twin, so that would be a hell, no.” She turned and faced him. “I’ve never given much thought to having one baby, so the thought of two makes my brain hurt. You’ve seen my fridge. I can barely keep on top of that thing and keep it organized.”

  Nate grabbed the dishes from her and loaded them into the dishwasher. “If that’s what you call organized, you’ve got bigger problems.” He stacked the dishes. “So you’ve never thought about it?”

  “Thought about what?” She was up on the counter again, legs swinging back and forth.

  “Having kids.”

  “Oh.” Her brow furled, and she shrugged. “Not really? I’ve been so focused on the clinic and work, and since I’m…single, no, I haven’t really thought about kids.” She kicked out her foot, a nonchalant gesture, but Nate felt the air change or thicken or something, because he was tense again.

  “What about you?” she asked.

  “Guess I’m in the same boat as you. Too busy to think about that kind of stuff.”

  “And you’re single.” She said the words lightly, but her eyes were serious.

  He didn’t know how to answer that. On one hand, he sure as hell didn’t feel single. Not with Molly in the picture. And that was where the problem lay. His picture was going to change in about forty-eight hours.

  Molly slid off the counter and walked over to him. “When are you headed back to New York?” Molly asked. Nate felt her words as if a sack of stones had just been draped across his shoulders.

  “My flight’s early Sunday morning.” In the space of forty-five minutes, things had changed between them. He saw it in the way Molly’s eyes were too shiny, her voice too bright, her smile too wide.

  “Right. Okay. We’ve got a lot to do today, with the rehearsal later, and I need to check on the puppies, and I know you’ve probably got stuff to do.”

  “I told Link I’d drop by to chat, but that’s about it until tonight. I could come with you to check on the puppies. I bet Petal misses me.”

  “That would be nice.” Molly pressed herself against him and slid her arms around his waist. “I told Raine I’d drop by around eleven, so that means we have about an hour.”

  “To do what?” He groaned when she began to move her hips against him.

  She didn’t answer because he didn’t give her a chance. Nate had her on the kitchen table and then once more in the shower. By the time they got to Raine Edwards’s, he was hungry again—and it wasn’t for food.

  The old Wyndham estate had been snatched up several years back by Jake Edwards. Not far from Molly’s place, it was a historic home set back from the lake, not unlike the place his brother had just finished restoring. Surrounded by trees thick enough to ensure privacy, with exquisite grounds meticulously kept, it was beautiful. An old carriage house had been converted into a guest quarters, and a fancy BMW was parked in front of it as Nathan drove past to the main house.

  Jake was a few years older than Nathan, so the two men hadn’t socialized all that much, but he’d been friends with Beck. Jake and his twin, Jesse, had gone overseas to fight the bad guys. Sadly, only Jake returned.

  “I love this place,” Molly said.

  “It’s impressive.”

  “It’s not just the size or the grounds. It’s the history, you know? They don’t make homes like this or the Manchester place anymore.” She turned to Nathan. “Is Beck really going to sell it?”

  “It’s kind of what he does. Fixes them up and then turns a profit.”

  “I wish…” Her voice trailed off.

  “What?”

  She shook her head and laughed. “It’s not like it would ever happen. I love the Manchester home and if I could afford it I’d snap it up. I could run the shelter from that property and I could…”

  The front door flew open, and a petite woman with inky-dark hair and big blue eyes smiled down at them widely. She was obviously pregnant and rubbed the small of her back. “You’re just in time. They’re all awake and wanting to eat, and Jake had to run up to his father’s place for something, so I’m here alone.”

  She stood back, let them inside, and, after Nate introduced himself—he’d never met Raine personally—she led them to the great room at the back of the house. The puppies moved around, rolling this way and that in one big ball of fur, yipping and nudging each other, looking for food.

  “I’ve got the formula ready.”

  Nate grabbed a bottle and found Petal almost immediately. “There you are, little girl,” he murmured, cuddling her close as she nudged around looking for a nipple. He had the bottle ready, and she began to suckle, making content little noises. Her eyes still weren’t open, but Nate was pretty sure she knew him. Or he liked the thought of that, anyway.

  When Raine found out he was a sports agent, she asked a lot of questions. Turned out she was a huge fan of the Rangers and was interested in the up-and-coming superstar Chad Mason. They spent some time discussing sports and music and the cravings she had for fried chicken and pork rings. The chicken he understood, but the pork rings? Hell no.

  Molly was noticeably quiet, but Nathan figured she was tired and had a lot on her mind with the wedding and all the last-minute stuff that entailed. When she nodded and said they had to get going, he gave Petal one last cuddle and put her back with her littermates.

  “You should keep her,” Raine said with a smile, staring down at them. “She’s adorable.”

  Nate flashed a smile and shook his head. “That would be a disaster. I’m pretty busy in the city with the job, and I’m not home a lot. Pretty sure I’d have next to no time for a dog, and they’re a lot of responsibility.”

  “I get it,” Raine repl
ied with a chuckle. “A good-looking guy like you, I’m sure you’re out every night with a different woman.”

  “Not every night.” He winked.

  She followed them to the front door. “Do you miss Crystal Lake? Seems to me a lot of folks who leave end up back here.”

  “No.” His reply was automatic, like muscle memory or something, his go-to answer whenever anyone asked him about where he came from. As soon as it was out of his mouth, he wanted to snatch it back. First off, it wasn’t true. He hadn’t realized how much he missed Michigan and Crystal Lake until these past few weeks. But more importantly, Molly wasn’t able to hide the flash of pain that shadowed her eyes, and he knew, however inadvertently, he’d just hurt her.

  They said their goodbyes, climbed into her truck, and he turned to her. “Molly, what I said back there. I didn’t mean it.”

  “Which part would that be, Nate?” She eased her truck onto the road that led to town. “The fact that you date a lot? Or the fact that Crystal Lake means nothing to you.”

  “None of it.” How had he managed to screw things up when the day had started out so amazing? “Look, we were just talking about nothing, really.”

  Molly came to a stop sign and, with no one behind them, put her truck in Park. She turned to him, a small smile on her face, but one that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

  “Nathan, it doesn’t matter. You have a life in the big city that’s an entire world away from this little corner of the planet. And I know that. Just like I know you’re single and I’m single, and what we’re doing, what we’ve been doing these last few weeks, is like a fling or something.” Her forehead scrunched. “Is that still a word people use? Fling?”

  “We’re not a fling.”

  She sighed and then checked both ways before putting the truck back into gear and accelerating through the intersection.

  “We may not be a fling, Nathan, but we’re nothing more than that either. It’s been nice, but it’s almost over. Let’s enjoy the time we have left, and then…”