“I know you said your dad left when you were young, but does your mom help?”
I shake my head. “My mom has addiction issues, too. We left as soon as Benny turned eighteen. We don’t talk to her if we can’t help it. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if she helped feed his addiction at times.”
When Nate hugs me to him and presses a firm kiss to the side of my head, my eyes flutter closed. “I’m so sorry, baby.”
My hand finds his thigh and gives him a squeeze. “Thank you.” I shift so I can look at him more easily. “Why did your partner want to send someone else to finish the tour and bring you back?”
Nate has his sunglasses pushed into his hair, so I can see his eyes squint as he looks out across the boardwalk. “We got a contract for a big job yesterday. It’s a job that has the potential to take our business from very successful to beyond what we could have hoped for successful. This business is all about word of mouth. And if we do well at this job with Jenny and this new job we just got hired for, it’ll be huge for us.”
“What’s the job?”
He grins at me. “Well, I can’t tell you everything, but it’s a contract to take over the personal security of one of the biggest country music stars in Nashville.”
“That’s amazing, Nate. I’m so happy for you!” My hand is still on his thigh, so I squeeze it again in excitement. But then, a thought lodges into the forefront of my mind. “I know you told me you are the co-owner of the company. That seems like something that would be really important for you to be back in town for.”
He keeps his eyes straight ahead, silent for a few beats,until he says, “When my dad was twenty-five, he was working as a manager of a grocery store. They weren’t dating yet, but my mom worked there as a cashier. She had only been working there for maybe three months or so when he was offered a huge promotion, which would have required him to move to another state, but he turned it down.”
I roll my lips in and bite down slightly, hoping the pain keeps the emotion I’m feeling from coming out. I love hearing about how much his parents loved each other. It’s simultaneously breaking and mending my heart. I know how this story ends—they loved each other to the very end—but that kind of love also gives me so much hope. Even if I have no idea how to love like that, Nate does. He saw it every day until the day his parents died. It’s settling the remaining fears and doubts I have that this wouldn’t work. Because with each moment I’m with Nate, I’m finding it harder to continue that narrative and keep my heart locked away.
Nate continues. “He turned down the job so he could stay where he could continue getting to know my mom. He told me he already knew she was the one.” Releasing a breath, he finally turns so he can look at me. “He did eventually get another opportunity for that promotion, but he always told me that it was the best decision he ever made, and he never regretted not taking that job for one second. Even if it meant they didn’t have much money when they first got married.”
My chest tightens with my unshed tears, my response whispered. “That’s a really sweet story.”
He nods slowly. “It is. So, this is me not taking the job.” Searching my eyes, he tilts his head. “However, it’s a little different, because I own the company already, and the job isn’t dependent on me being there. And not to brag, but Ialready make a lot of money.” He frowns, shaking his head. “When I say it like that, it sounds much less romantic, but you get the idea.”
I bark out an emotional laugh as my fingers swipe under my eyes. I love how Nate has embraced his feelings for me as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. Which, for most people, it probably is. It scares me, but not necessarily in a bad way. “I get it.”
Nate pulls my lips to mine and kisses me until I’m breathless. He eventually releases me, and there’s so much emotion in his eyes that it takes me even longer to catch my breath.
In that moment, I know no matter what happens with us, I’m no longer the same woman I was a month ago. I’ll never settle for less than how I feel with Nate.
27
Olive
Sadness fills me as we walk through the lobby. I want to spend the rest of the evening with Nate after the perfect day we had together, but I know Nate needs to get to the show.
His arm wraps around my waist as we step into the elevator with a few other people. We’re shuffled to the back corner as more people push their way in. Nate shifts me so I’m in front of him, with my ass pressed to his groin. I smirk as I decide to use this to my advantage, and as subtly as possible, I tilt my hips back, rubbing myself against him. I know he realizes what I’m doing when his grip on my hips tightens. I’m not sure if it’s to keep me from doing it again, or to make me continue. But I assume the latter as I shift my hips a little more. He moves behind me, and his lips find my ear. “You’re playing with fire, Olive.”
I tilt my head and look up at him over my shoulder. “That’s good, because I’m cold.”
His eyes flare as he pulls me harder against him.
As soon as the elevator doors open, we’re down the hall in record time. Before the door even latches behind us, he’s pulled his shirt off.
I pivot, and my breath catches as he stalks toward me. With a sexy smirk in place, he grips the bottom of my shirt and pulls it over my head, tossing it across the room to join his.
“Sadly, I don’t have a lot of time right now. But there’s no way I’m leaving without fucking you.”
I whimper at his words as he kisses me deeply. Our tongues tease each other as much as our bodies do. I’ve always enjoyed sex, but with Nate, it’s so much more than physical. Even our first time. It was something much deeper.
My stomach muscles contract in desire as his fingertips trail down my skin to the button on my jeans. Before I can even take my next breath, he yanks them down my legs as he kneels in front of me, slowly lifting each foot out of my jeans. When he tosses them with the rest of our clothes, he stays on his knees and grips my hips. I sway toward him and place my hands on his shoulders. His fingertips dig into the skin at my hips as his nose brushes my panty-covered core.
He inhales deeply with a content sigh. “You’re so fucking delicious. Unfortunately, I don’t have time for that today.”
I let out a disappointed moan, which he answers with a chuckle.
“I feel the exact same way. Now get on the bed, head down, ass up.”
