“First, your thoughts were definitely not dirtier than mine. I guarantee it.” My cock tried to join the chat then, but I ignored it. This was too important. “Second, I’ve also put a fair amount of thought into it and I would like to have a family one day. No pressure, though.”
“No pressure. Okay. I feel the same way. We’ll get there when we get there?”
“Yep.”
She smiled, then started talking to me about other things. Work. Funny stories about her friends back in New York. At one point, she stretched her legs out and nudged my foot with hers.
“Are you going to start training for the New York marathon with me when we get back?”
“Sure,” I said. “I actually didn’t know you were training for that.”
She grinned. “Well, not all of us insist on parading our sweaty, half-naked bodies around for our neighbors to ogle after a run.”
I laughed. “Fair enough, but I wasn’t doing it on purpose. I do like that you’re finally admitting you were ogling me, though.”
“Who wouldn’t?” she asked innocently, batting her eyelashes before explaining her training schedule to me.
When we finally landed, she glanced out the window and frowned. “This isn’t Chicago.”
“No, it’s not.”
She looked back at me, whiskey-hued eyes widening. “Nate, where are we?”
“Trust me.”
She sighed. “Historically, that phrase has gone very poorly for me.”
“Just come on.”
A car was already waiting for us when we deplaned. A driver collected our things and loaded them in the drunk while we got comfortable in the back. The privacy shield was up, so we were essentially alone as the car took off.
Kate kept looking out the window on the way, trying to piece together where we were from trees, stretches of road, and the occasional glimpse of water in the distance. Eventually, she turned back to me.
“Are we being kidnapped?” she asked.
“No, when you’re an adult, it’s called being abducted. And yes.”
“Okay, good. Just checking.”
I chuckled just as the roads started narrowing gradually, civilization thinning out into long stretches of forest and open land. By the time we turned onto the private road, she’d gone completely silent. Tall trees lined both sides, thick, green, endless canopies overhead. The property was remote enough to guarantee the kind of privacy you couldn’t buy unless you boughta lotof land.
The house came into view slowly as we crested a gentle rise. It was big but not ostentatious. All wood and stone and wide windows. It sat tucked into the land instead of towering over it, surrounded by trees that had probably been there longer than any structure ever would be.
Kate stared at it as the car rolled to a stop. “Nate? I feel like now would be a good time to start explaining.”
“For real?” I smiled a little. “What, you don’t like it?”
“I don’t even know whatitis yet, so, uh, what is this?”
“My place,” I said.
She looked back at the house, then at the trees, and finally, at the open land stretching out in every direction. “This isyourplace?”
“Yeah.”
We climbed out of the car. Gravel crunched under our feet and the wind sighed through the trees. The driver quickly moved our things from the trunk to the wide front porch, then nodded at me.
“Mr. Westwood, it’s been a pleasure. As always.” He tipped his cap at Kate. “Mrs. Westwood.”
