‘Are you just going to stand there all day or are you actually going to get in?’ Holly’s voice interrupts my thoughts.
‘Ladies first.’ I sweep her in front of me and drop my trousers, along with all those stupid niggling thoughts.
She hands me a glass and sinks down into the infinite bubbles with a tiny, satisfied sigh. ‘Heaven.’
It really is. Her skin is luminous under the starlight. Every creamy inch begs to be touched. ‘You’re so fucking beautiful, Holly.’
I sink into the bubbles beside her, and she fills up both of our glasses.
‘Any chance of Mariah appearing tonight?’ My lips lift in a smirk.
‘For you, I’ll be whoever you want me to be.’ Her pink tongue darts out over her lips.
Is it any wonder I’m smitten? I’ve got a serious case of the warm and fuzzies flooding through my arteries and not just to my dick. Holly is everything I ever wanted, but was too afraid to pursue. Loving her is as natural as breathing.
‘What are you thinking?’ Holly asks, her hand settling on my thigh beneath the water.
‘I was thinking it’s been a crazy month.’
‘What a meet-cute, right?’ she giggles.
‘One to tell the grandkids.’ I press a kiss to her button nose as the tiniest drop of snow touches mine. I’m drowning in emotion.
An expression of sheer uninhibited wonder lights Holly’s face as tiny delicate snow droplets descend from above. Our hands rise simultaneously to catch the first snowfall of the season. ‘Pure magic,’ she exhales with wonder, closing her eyes like she’s committing this moment to memory.
‘You’re pure magic.’ I swallow hard.
Our fingers interlock, and those thick black lashes flutter open. Our faces are millimetres apart. The words I thought I’d never say to another woman tumble out freely for the second time this week. ‘I love you, Holly Hazelwood.’
She slides closer, wrapping her legs around my waist beneath the water, her pupils pleasure-drunk, overflowing with emotion. ‘I love you, Nate Jackson. I thought I loved you since I was a teenager, but the man in the posters I pinned to the inside of my wardrobe has nothing on the real you.’ Her lips brush teasingly over mine. ‘You’re so much more than my celebrity crush. You’re my everything.’
‘The feeling is mutual, princess.’ My voice is low and gruff with need.
No matter how many times I have this woman, it’ll never be enough. I abandon my drink by the side of the tub, my hands landing on Holly’s bare hips.
When our lips meet, it’s with a tenderness that no Hallmark movie could capture.
ChapterTwenty-Nine
HOLLY
My skin is shrivelled like a prune. We finished the bottle of wine ages ago, but neither of us seem in a rush to get out of the tub.
‘Tell me about Beverly Hills. What’s it like?’ Will I be enough for him under the glittering city lights? When he can have his choice of so many other women?
Am I right for a man like Nate?
If I’m not, then why does it feel so natural being with him?
Nate’s eyes blaze with enthusiasm as he reaches for me beneath the water, and my insecurities burst like the jacuzzi bubbles.
‘It’s full of amazing architecture. Honestly, some of the houses look like they’re plucked straight from a fairy tale. There are loads of parks and gardens. I’ll bring you to the Virginia Robinson Gardens. It’s insane. Like the botanic garden of all botanic gardens.’ Nate takes my hand. ‘And the food is unreal. So much choice. There are hundreds of gourmet food shops. There’s even a store with over five hundred varieties of cheese.’
My mind wanders back to my parents and their healthy living food chain. I still haven’t heard from either of them and it’s freaking me out. We aren’t the closest family, but I expected to hear something. I thought after Dan appeared on the news, they might have called. I’ve deliberated ringing them a couple of times, but the coward inside me couldn’t bear their disappointment.
‘What’s your house like?’
Nate’s chin tilts up as he sucks on his lower lip. ‘It’s…. nice…’
