“Me?” he gasps. “You’re the one with the butt plug in your ass.”
We both laugh.
I could pretend that Nate corrupted me, but by now I think it’s safe to say he only helped bring out a side of me that I never would have known existed.
“Thank you,” he whispers into my shoulder. “For always knowing what I need.”
I shimmy my body so he allows me to turn, and I hold his face in my hands.
“Never thank me for taking care of you, Nathaniel, no matter how unconventional our ways may be sometimes. All that matters to me is knowing that I did my best to make you happy.”
“I love you, Mads.” He kisses my lips tenderly.
I kiss him right back. “I love you, too.”
30
Maddie
“Ugh!”I aggressively scribble with my pencil over my drafting paper. My mind is so full of nerves that I can’t get anything right.
The Pink Tiger project has been approved, and we break ground next month. In the meantime, Leo has brought me on to a new project involving three identical residential buildings in three different cities.
The Triplets are what he’s calling them.
These are the buildings he’s working on with the very talented international interior designer, Evelyn Taylor.
The same woman I met at the gala, who bid on and won my decanter.
Before I was brought on to the project, an idea for some kind of green space, both indoors and out, was floated, but it wasn’t implemented, and I’m here to bring it back to life.
Something fresh and unique that can work with all three cities.
New York, Miami, and London.
But my creative block is on, in full force.
I throw my pencil down in frustration, and Addie laughs from where she lies on the couch. Her hand is thrown over her eyes, trying to nap while I wait for Nate to be done with his work call with Amara.
It’s Saturday, early morning, and Nate and I are having a day date before he leaves for London tonight.
Addie slept over last night. We watched movies and had too much wine, celebrating the new art studio that I signed a lease for yesterday.
Addie found it through another artist she knew, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity; it’s within walking distance from home. And next week, when Nate is back, I’m going to tell him all about Cherry, and I can’t wait to see his face.
Now that I have a space to call mine, it feels monumentally more real, rather than a hobby.
Plus, I now have the best manager in town, Adelaide Sinclair.
She’s slowly stepping back from her parents’ art business to make something of her own with me. I’ve given her free rein to handle business however she sees fit.
And I can’t wait to spend more time with her.
Life has been so crazy lately; talking on the phone and texting her just aren’t cutting it, and I miss our early-morning cuddle seshes when I would work at the studio at five in the morning.
Suddenly, I have an idea. “Do you want to go to London next month for the weekend?”
She lifts her arms, eyebrows raised, clearly interested.
