He responded by wrapping an arm around her waist, pulling her into him.
“I’ll just have to distract you from washing dishes,” he said, leaning down so that his lips were only a breath away from hers.
“Oh, really?”Thea asked, her voice high.
Nathaniel answered by closing the distance between them, his lips pressing into hers gently as her wet hands wrapped around his neck.Nathaniel did his best to ignore the cold water dripping down his back to focus on the woman in his arms.
Kissing her was worth the discomfort.
But then she pulled away, smirking at him.
“You shouldn’t distract me when I’m washing dishes,” she said, “or I’m likely to leave you alone with the job.”
Nathaniel took a step back, shaking his head, then picked up his towel again.
“Are you willing to go to dinner with me tomorrow?”he asked.“At the tavern?”
Thea took a deep breath and let it out, her eyes firmly fixed on the plates in her hand.
“I don’t know,” she admitted.“Even if I’ve forgiven him for withholding our letters, I don’t know that I’m ready to have dinner with him.But I would like to get to know him, for your sake, so I think it’ll be best to push through the discomfort and join you.”
“I think it will go a long way toward mending our relationship,” Nat admitted, “and I’m hopeful that having Abigail there will put him on his best behavior.”
“He seems entirely smitten with her,” Thea said, the corner of her mouth turning up.“I remember what the early days felt like, and I’m glad that your brother will get to experience that, too.”
“I’m excited to get to torture him relentlessly,” Nat said, grinning, “the way he did for many of my first—”
He broke off, glancing at Thea out of the corner of his eye.She had simply raised her eyebrow at him, as if to ask if he was really going to bring up other girls in front of her.
“I—I mean,” he said hastily, “I can’t wait to tease him about being head over heels for someone.”
Thea’s lips twitched as if she was hiding a smile or a laugh, but she only nodded her head and continued washing dishes.
They finished the rest of the day’s work in comfortable silence, stealing kisses nearly every time they passed each other.
This was everything Nathaniel had missed for ten years, and he could hardly believe that this was really happening.Surely this much happiness couldn’t really be his.
But all too soon, the work was done, and Nathaniel looked outside to see that it was quickly growing dark.
“I should go,” he said reluctantly.“I think I’ll go home to sleep tonight and see if Roan is there.If he is, perhaps we can talk more before dinner tomorrow.Or at least, maybe we can have a conversation without hating each other.”
“I’m so glad that you and your brother are working to put your differences aside,” she said gently, slipping her hand into his and squeezing it.“You know how much I’ve always wished that for you.”
“Because despite how much you like to pretend you’re a grumpy bear with no heart, you do, in fact, have one.”Nathaniel kissed the tip of her nose.“Good night, darling.”
“Good night,” she said with a smile, standing up on her tiptoes and wrapping her arms around his neck to give him a goodnight kiss that was well worth remembering.
“I will see you tomorrow at some point,” he said when she finally pulled away.“If I don’t see you before, then I’ll see you at dinner.”
“I’ll see you at dinner,” she promised.
“Good night,” Nat said, brushing an errant curl out of her face and tucking it behind her ear.“I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she added, leaning forward for one more kiss.“Now, get out of here so I can lock the door before we get distracted again.”
“But getting distracted is so much more fun,” he said with a grin.
“Yes, it is,” she said, laughing a little as she ushered him toward the door.“But I need to sleep.”
