Chapter Forty
Bree
I worried into the mirror for a few extra minutes that morning. Not that Nathan’s desire for me was waning, but all the fast food and pizza was weighing on me. I turned around again then gave myself a wink. Finding a way to work in extra exercise was a fun challenge.
It felt good to have something to focus on. I wondered if that’s why Nathan had gotten up so early that morning. Now that we were focused back on finding Maggie, I hoped his mind was at ease.
I wrapped the skimpy motel towel around my body and slipped out to find Nathan.
Putting both hands over my mouth to stifle a scream made my towel drop to the floor. But Nathan saw none of that. For one terrifying moment, I thought he was dead, splayed out face down on the motel bed. Then he let out a soft snore.
I left the towel on the floor and got dressed, one eye on Nathan. It wasn’t like him to nap, and I was worried that he’d been up all night again. It was exhausting how he tried to force himself to remember and only pored over the little that he knew. He’d been going over and over it until the sun came up.
“Nathan?”
His eyes popped open before I pulled my shirt on, and I saw the instant fire in his gaze. “Good morning,” he said.
I shook my head. “It was morning about an hour ago. We’re almost past brunch time here. What are you doing?”
“Can’t I relax? Couldn’t you help me relax?” Nathan asked.
I swatted his hand away as I dug my shoes out from under the motel bed. “You were the one who told me we had to get going today.”
Nathan groaned. “Since when are you the morning go-getter?”
“Since you decided to be the lazy bed hog.”
He sat up and caught my hand. “What would your perfect morning be like?”
I kept my smile in place but it was a painful question. Our mornings had been the same for so long now, and there was no sign of them changing, so why would I want to tease myself?
“My perfect morning would be fresh coffee, a long run, a hot shower, and brunch,” I told him.
“A run?” Nathan looked horrified.
“Then how about we just stick to the morning we know. Get in the shower, and I’ll try to brew a decent cup of coffee out of the vending machine,” I said.
I heaved him off the motel bed and escorted him to the shower.
“Sure you don’t need to join me?” Nathan asked.
“I just showered.” I slipped out of his hands and waved on my way to the motel room door. “I’ll give you fifteen minutes and then I’m packing the car.”
When Nathan emerged from the shower, I noticed the dark circles his flirting had covered up before. He looked exhausted and worried.
“How about I drive?” I offered.
Nathan barely nodded as he settled into the passenger seat and pulled out our stack of road maps. “Do you care what route we take?”
“No.” I put our coffees in the console and shut my door. “Why do you ask?”
“I was thinking we should head west a bit. Go from there.” Nathan’s eyes were searching the maps and wouldn’t meet mine.
Now what wasn’t he telling me?
I drove us about twenty minutes down the road before I couldn’t take it anymore. Whatever it was had Nathan so worried he wasn’t sleeping, talking, or touching his coffee.
I pulled into the next turn-out and killed the engine. “What’s going on with you?” I asked.
Nathan blinked and looked up. “Why’d we stop?”
“Because I need to know what is wrong. We’ve talked about this, Nathan. You have to tell me everything.” I turned in my seat to face him completely. “Are you having second thoughts about digging into Maggie’s case?”
“No,” he said. “I know it’s the right thing to do. It’s just, I was thinking, maybe we should head west first.”
“Instead of El Paso? You’ve said over and over again that the only piece of hard evidence we have is this postcard from El Paso. Why do you want to head west now?” I asked.
“I can’t get it out of my mind,” Nathan said. He squeezed his forehead with both hands. “I just can’t get it out of my head.”
“What? Did you remember something?” I leaned closer to Nathan but the hot coffee was in the way. “Are you okay?”
Nathan’s eyes were squeezed shut. “I’m sorry, Bree. This is all so crazy. I should have told you to stay back at the diner.”
I hitched myself up, clear of the hot coffee, and slipped into Nathan’s lap. “You could have tried. I’m here now.”
Nathan released his forehead and laid his hands gently on either side of my face. He kissed me lightly at first, his hands a little shaky. I wriggled deeper onto his lap and kissed him hard enough to tip his head back against the headrest.
“It’s just crazy, Bree. I’m sorry.” Nathan pulled back my head and held me there.
“Just tell me, Nathan. Please.”
Nathan’s lips screwed up in a rueful smile. “I had a bad dream, and I just can’t shake it.”
“About Maggie?” I asked.
“All of it, I think. It was a dream, you know? All weird and people were animals and then not. We were at the San Diego Zoo,” Nathan said.
“At the zoo? Where Maggie was taken?” I asked.
Nathan hugged me close. “She was trying to protect us. She was a lion.”
“Good.” I stroked his hair. “That means she’s strong and brave. We can help her.”
“She said she had something she had to do. She didn’t want me to take her home until it was done,” Nathan said.
I kissed him, little seals to remind him that I was still with him. “We’ll find her.”
“Bree, why are you so good to me?” Nathan asked.
My fingers popped loose the top button of my sweater. I wanted to distract him, anything to not have to talk about my reasons. “I wasn’t good to you this morning. I should have showered with you.”
Nathan licked his lips. “See? This is exactly what I mean. I act all crazy and tell you I’m having messed up dreams and you’re still here.”
“I am.” I rocked myself over his lap and felt his response building. “I’m right here.”
“Don’t you want that perfect morning, though? The fresh coffee, the run, the brunch? All of it? I can’t offer you any of those things,” Nathan said. “You should be off finding a good man, one who can give you that every day.”
“What if all I want is you?” I asked. I hoped my sultry tone and buttons opening would soften the meaning of those words.
Nathan didn’t need a lovesick waitress right now. He needed support, comfort, and a little physical distraction. Something to help clear his mind.
He kissed me, his tongue insistent and doing the tickling twist that always elicited a lusty moan from my lips. “I’m glad you’re here, Bree. Thank you.”
“Too bad you can’t thank me here,” I said. A large van rattled by, and we saw three rows of curious faces looking in on us.
“I can fix that,” Nathan said. He reached an arm into the backseat and pulled out a towel. “Hang that in the window and then get back here.”
I leaned over, unrolled the window, and put up the makeshift curtain. Then I felt Nathan’s hands on my waist. He guided me back to his lap, his desire harder against me as I straddled him again.
“I’m here.” I kissed Nathan and whispered those words against his lips again and again.
His hands guided my hips back and forth over his lap, the friction heating us both up. Soon the towel didn’t matter because the windows were clouded with steam.
“Here is good but the backseat would be better,” Nathan said.
He helped me over the seats and then joined me. I giggled when he kissed me like a teenager. I peeled off his shirt and then I pushed him down on the seat.
“My turn,” I said.
I leaned down and dropped a trail of hot kisses down his chest all the way to his waistband. I tickled him with my fingertips and then pried open the button of his pants. I tugged them off and was about to kiss my way back up his thighs when he grabbed my arms and dragged me back against his hard body.
Between our pressing skin, Nathan popped open the rest of the buttons on my sweater. He moaned his approval when he saw I wore nothing underneath but my black lace bra. I raised myself up and brushed his lips with the lace, my nipples rising to meet his hot breath.
Nathan peeled off my jeans as he nipped at my taut nipples. Then he crushed his mouth to mine again. We tangled ourselves up in the backseat until neither of us could take one teasing caress more.
I arched up, and Nathan’s hands raised up to meet me. He dragged them down slowly, cupping my breasts, teasing my nipples with his thumbs, until his hands squeezed my waist. Then he plunged me down on his pulsing manhood.
The pleasure was so intense that Nathan bucked. I lifted my hands to the roof of the car and used it to ride his passion. The car’s suspension creaked but that only fueled Nathan’s arousal.
He sat up and wrapped his arms around me. We were so tightly intertwined that I felt the second he started to come. The warm throb set off fireworks inside me, and it was a long time before the sparks settled.
We collapsed on the backseat of the car. It was peaceful, with only the occasional car whizzing by us. When I finally had the strength to raise my head and look at Nathan, I saw that the worried crease was gone from his forehead.
I might not have had any suggestions for what route to take, but I knew now that Nathan needed me as much as I wanted him.