WE MADE HOMEMADE pizza for dinner, both relishing the simple routine as we chopped vegetables and drank bottles of beer. At one point, Nate took me in his arms and spun me in the kitchen, dancing in time to James Morrison who sang about not letting go. When the song finished, he dipped me back and rewarded me with a luscious kiss.
After dinner, I stood alone on the deck and watched the sheet lightning flashing through the clouds, illuminating the swell of surf. Nate’s hands settled either side of mine on the glass perimeter, caging me in when he joined me. “Think the storm’s heading back out,” he said, nuzzling my ear.
“Hmm. What have you been doing?” I asked, my hands settling over his.
“Arranging your surprise.”
“Ooh, I like surprises.” Grinning, I turned to face him.
“C’mon then.” Nate ushered me back inside and secured the doors before leading me upstairs. Excitement rushed through me, eager to discover what he’d been up to all the time he’d been gone.
When we reached the closet, Nate shrugged off his sweatshirt. “Get naked,” he instructed with a challenging raise of his brow.
I smiled and obeyed, removing my sweatshirt and leggings. “I love this kind of surprise.”
Nate cocked his head and smirked, his brow still raised, no longer in challenge but with wry amusement. I reached for the waistband of his sweatpants. “Nah-ah,” he said, backing out of reach, “not me, only you.”
Now I was really confused. I hurried out of my clothes and handed them over. Large eyes turned hot as they travelled up and down, his lips parting to accommodate increased breaths. My spine straightened proudly, thrusting my breasts forward. I wanted him to look at me. Feel his desire prickle every inch of naked flesh as he drank me in.
“Kara, you’re incredibly beautiful,” he growled, reaching for my face as his mouth hovered over mine. “I want you so fucking badly right now.”
“Take me.” I stepped forward, straddling his thigh as he nudged between my legs, and slid my hands into his hair. “I need to be fucked.”
His head snapped back. “Jesus! What happened to the shy woman too afraid to tell me what she wanted?”
I took his hands and moved them to my arse. He didn’t take much persuading, his palms sliding over me, cupping and squeezing. “Think your earlier confession sent her packing.”
His neck rolled, giving more of his flesh to my mouth. “If I’d known that was all it would take to set the siren free, I’d have told you a hell of a lot sooner.”
I stilled. When had Nate realised he loved me?
“I’ve known for a while,” he said, leading me into the bathroom.
My eyes widened when I took in the scene. The bath was full, bubbles almost spilling over the rim. Ylang-ylang and vanilla scented the room from the many lit candles, and towels were warming on the heated rail. “You did this? For me?”
“It didn’t start out as quite the romantic weekend I had planned.” He turned to me. “I’m hoping it will finish that way.”
“What’s the occasion?”
He looked taken aback. “You don’t know?”
I shook my head as I took his hand and stepped into the bath. All my worries and stresses literally washed away as I sunk into the warm water.
“You’re really not joining me?” I asked when he crouched beside the tub.
“This is all for you. Let me take care of you.”
I scooped up a handful of bubbles and playfully dotted some on the tip of his nose. Nate blew them off with a grin. “Lay back.”
I obliged, drawing a deep breath of heavenly scented air. Using gentle pressure, he began massaging my shoulders. “When you sat in my kitchen and admitted how frightened you were, the enormity of how deep my feelings ran suddenly became apparent. You made me reassess all my priorities. I knew I had to put my own fears and desires aside, and be strong for you. How easily I could do that confirmed the truth of my feelings.”
My mind drifted, lost in wonderful dreams of this loving man attending to me. A man who’d placed more importance on what I needed from him and given us a chance. I’m not sure how much time passed before Nate spoke.
“It isn’t all about sex for me,” he murmured, “not with you.”
My spine stiffened. My vicious accusations were still eating away at him. “I know.”
“But I love making love with you. You’re so tight and warm, I can’t help myself. When I slide inside you…”—he pressed his lips to my shoulder—“it’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced. It’s so right, the perfect fit. We were made for each other.”
Nodding, I remained quiet, leaving it open for him to talk some more. “I can’t be sorry for wanting you,” he said, “and I refuse to refrain from touching you every goddamn chance I get.”
“I don’t want you to,” I breathed, my pulse quickening. His fingers were moving deftly over my décolletage, and my nipples were erect and occasionally peeping through the bubbles, begging to be caressed. “I shouldn’t have said that. I apologise.”
“Forget it.” Nate waved a wet hand in the air, dismissing its importance. “I know you were upset and angry. The same way I know you’ve been flying under the radar for far too long, hoping no one would notice you. But I did. I noticed you, Kara.”
I stilled his hands and twisted to face him. His eyes were focused, so blue, radiating pure love and commitment. It pushed words and thoughts I never believed possible to have again to the forefront of my mind.
I tried saying them, but they refused to come out of my mouth. My heart had been armoured against attack for too long, fearful of being hurt, of loving again. I cupped his nape, urging his mouth to mine, desperate to show him another way. The kiss started gently, but like a wave approaching the shore, it gradually built, gaining strength with each passing second. God. My heart swelled so much I had to pull away to catch a breath.
“That’s for making me realise that I’m not the woman I thought.”
“Kara.” Nate hugged me close, showing no concern for how wet he got. “Don’t you see? The sweet-natured, smart, funny, gorgeous woman you are has always been there. Your star has always shone so brightly.” He shifted to kneel beside the tub, arms still around me. “A broken heart and mistrust blindsided you. I simply encouraged you to open your eyes and use that inner light to sear through the darkness.”
Never had I felt as alive and free as I did right now. This bath was a cleansing of the soul, a ritual to wash away all the bitter memories and start over. I pulled back and clasped his hands tight. “Can I tell you something?”
“Anything, baby, you know that.”
I chewed my lip and took a deep breath. “Stuart hated blow jobs. At least, from me anyway.”
Nate’s brows lifted. “O-kay, that was so not what I expected you to say.”
I chuckled. “I want no more secrets. Let me explain what happened.”
“No need. As I said, Mai told me.”
“She doesn’t know the half of it,” I admitted. Mai was only aware that I’d been cheated on. No dirty details. “We met at university. Stuart was a bit of a bad boy, used to smoke and drink. I watched him work his way through dozens of women before he targeted me in our final year. During the summer he underwent an entire transformation, cleaned himself up. Dating me was all part of his game-plan to get ahead. I was just being used.”
“Which is why you had trouble accepting I was being genuine,” Nate murmured, using his thumbs to work over my palm.
“Hmm,” I agreed. “Six months in, he started telling me how to dress, who I should be friends with, where I could go. We would argue, and sometimes…” My mind drifted to a dark place, where images of his fury flashed like lightning in my mind. “He wanted me a certain way so no other man would be interested.”
“His insecurity,” Nate muttered gruffly, “not yours.”
“I see that now.”
“Anyone who got to know you would see how enchanting you are, regardless of your outer beauty. That’s all a bonus.”
“People rarely got the chance. I’ve always been a little socially awkward, so it was easy to stop going out. When I did, he was with me.”
Nate frowned. “Your family must’ve noticed you were becoming so introverted?”
“I didn’t live at home so it wasn’t always apparent, but they did. Liam especially. He told me to leave numerous times, said it wasn’t healthy.”
“He was right,” Nate snapped. “Why didn’t you?”
I lifted a shoulder. I’d asked myself the same question many times before, and never found an answer. Until now. Staring into the piercing translucent eyes of a man who worshipped me unconditionally, I finally confronted it. “Stuart didn’t care about me. I latched onto the nearest person, trying to fill the void my mother had left, hoping to find the love I’d lost and missed. It was all completely for the wrong reasons, but I was drowning in grief. He took advantage of my weakness.”
“Bastard.” Nate moved around the tub, massaging my other arm with a touch more aggression than before.
“I agree.” I drew my knees up and rolled my neck. Reliving my past was making me tense, even with Nate trying his hardest to relax me. “Fast forward to last year. We both worked for Morgan Sanders. We were at a hotel with colleagues, celebrating our exam successes. My best friend was there, the third wheel in the house we shared—”
“You lived together?” Nate’s hand stilled, his grip on my upper arm squeezing hard.
“More by circumstance than by choice.” I covered his hand with mine, encouraging him to release me. When he did, it took a second for the colour to return to my skin. “I’ve never lived with a man, not properly,” I assured him. His shoulders relaxed, his attention returning to my fingers, careful not to let the ruby band slip off.
“We had a room booked for the night.” I tipped my head back, my brow furrowing. “It was odd he’d left me alone. When I couldn’t locate him I went upstairs, thinking he’d got drunk and passed out. I stumbled into our room looking for him…” I laughed bitterly. “Boy, did I find him. Standing, trousers bunched around his ankles and his dick in her mouth.”
Nate winced. “There’s really no need for this,” he said, cradling my face and pressing a kiss to my lips. “I wish you hadn’t been fucked over, but I don’t care about the rest. Hearing it only makes me appreciate you more.”
“Please let me finish. I want closure. Let me get everything off my chest so I never have to talk about it again.”
His eyes held mine for a long time. Eventually, he sighed. “Okay,” he murmured, “if it’s what you need.” Then he completely stunned me by stripping off and slipping into the bath at the other end.
Finding the strength I always did from the deep pools of love gazing back at me, I continued. “I didn’t see the busty brunette’s face because she didn’t have the decency to stop. But I knew it was her. I’d seen that dolphin tattoo on her arse enough times to know it was my best friend.”
“Jesus,” Nate muttered harshly, placing my right foot on his chest so he could massage my calf.
“Sometimes, I still see his face. The lazy drunken smile curling lipstick smeared lips when he invited me to join them in a threesome…the wild eyes when he attacked me a few weeks later.”
“The fucker did what?” My foot landed with a splash back into the water as he straightened.
“You don’t get to decide when this ends,” I mimicked Stuart’s snarl. “I’m the one who controls this relationship.” I stroked my neck with both hands. “Just as his fingers pinched hard around my throat and his fist made contact with my cheek, Liam barged in.”
“He hit you?” Nate bit out.
“Once,” I confirmed quietly. “He got really mad.”
His fingers were rigid, almost pulling his hair as he pushed them through the glossy chocolate strands. With my hands either side of the tub, I pulled myself upright and caught his forearms, lacing my fingers with his. “There were other times he came close but never did.”
Nate took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Anger wasn’t the right way to deal with this. My beautiful lover always knew what to do or say in any given situation. “Did you report him?”
I shook my head. “I just wanted to forget everything.”
His lips thinned in disapproval. “Physical abuse, verbal and mental abuse, it’s fucking abuse whichever way you look at it.”
Hearing Nate say it didn’t make it any easier to acknowledge. “The rest is a blur. Yelling. Struggling. Liam dragged me out whilst Stuart nursed a bloodied broken nose on the floor.”
“Liam should’ve fucking killed him.” I’d never seen the harsh gleam of vengeance in Nate’s shimmering, almost navy eyes, darker against the paling of his skin. A chill chased up my spine.
“Stuart decided he was the injured party and took his revenge by spreading malicious rumours at the office, calling me a slut behind my back, rubbishing my work. He sent me threatening text messages, saying if I didn’t go back to him he’d kill himself and I’d be to blame.”
“Jesus fucking Christ. The man was one fucked up son of a bitch.” He pulled me forward, sending a wave of foamy lukewarm water spilling onto the tiled floor, and cradled me in his lap.
“He threatened Liam with assault, that’s why I didn’t go to the police. I couldn’t put it on my dad.”
It felt like an age before Nate spoke again. “No one will ever touch you like that again. Never make you feel that way. I’m making that promise to you now,” he vowed, his voice choked with hard-edged emotion.
“I knew he wouldn’t do it. The bastard was too selfish.”
I waited a while before continuing, a little shaken by the rage still coiled in his tense frame. In a much quieter voice, I said, “They’d been at it behind my back almost the entire two years we were together. Our relationship was built on lie upon dirty lie. None of it was real. I hate how I allowed myself to get trapped in that situation and not be strong enough to get out.”
“Ah, God.” His head fell back to rest on the lip of the oval tub. “Fucked over by two people you’d invested your trust in. It all makes sense.”
I nodded. Finally, he understood why I’d been closing myself off, the reasons for my overreactions and jealous behaviour.
Staring at the ceiling, he quietly said, “At least now I know your resistance to opening up wasn’t because of me.”
God. For a man sure of himself in so many other ways, when it came to us, he was just as at risk and scared of being broken. Until now, I’d never appreciated that I held as much power over him as he did me. “It’s never been you,” I reassured, kissing his chest where his heart beat rapidly beneath.
I gave him time to digest everything. I’d done a lot of talking, but there was a lot of unspoken explanations for Nate to absorb that were equally as important. At the most inappropriate time, I began to laugh. “You know what the stupid thing was? The only thought I had when I saw them together was, why did he never let me give him one?”
Nate lifted his head and held my gaze. The one eyebrow he had drawn in with bemusement straightened. Then the corners of his delicious mouth lifted. “I can’t answer that,” he murmured, smudging a thumb over my mouth. “Having these bee-stung lips wrapped around my cock is something I’d happily allow all fucking day long.”
I splashed his chest, laughing. “Oral sex is such an intimate act. I often felt we were missing out, not having that connection. He never went down on me, either. Having that intimacy with you is something I cherish.”
Nate’s mouth closed over mine. I revelled in the purity of his lips, the tender way they caressed mine, the unqualified expression of devotion they conveyed as he set the fireworks off in my belly. “Listen,” Nate murmured, arms wrapped around me, one hand stroking my hair, “about what happened in New York.”
“Let’s not talk about it.” I knew there were things he hadn’t opened up about. Still secrets behind his smile. Whatever happened in New York was only a small chink in a bigger story. Now wasn’t the right time to hear it. There’d been enough confessions already for one night, and I truly believed when the time was right, I’d learn more.
“To be honest, I don’t think I require an explanation.” He gave me an uncertain look, like he wasn’t sure where I was going with this. “You love me. You told me it wasn’t important and I accept that. Right now,” I said, linking my fingers with his, “all I want to do is curl up in bed, lay my head on your chest like this, and fall asleep with your hands in my hair.”
And that’s exactly what I did, safe in the knowledge I was exactly where I should be. In the right frame of mind, and definitely with the right person.
MY feet wouldn’t budge when I tried moving them. I was well and truly riveted to the spot. Nate had his back to me, pummelling a punch bag swinging from the ceiling in the centre of the home gym in the basement.
After waking without him beside me, I’d followed the sound of music playing throughout the house and found this treasure at the end. Wow.
The muscles of his bare back rippled, taut skin glistening with sweat, the veins in his arms and neck throbbing from exertion. His concentration was so focused, he had no idea I was there as I leant into the doorjamb.
Watching his lower body move, hearing the sounds he made, I fidgeted with a restless desire for him. He bounced lightly on his feet in perfect time to the R&B beat. I imagined dancing with him in a hot, sweaty nightclub, grinding against me, moving with me. He was the type of man that would get women flocking to the dance floor to be near him. Not just because of his looks, but because you’d know he’d be great in bed from the confident way he moved.
I could’ve stayed and watched this performance all day, but I had an idea and dashed upstairs to dress.
“You sound like you’ve been having fun down there,” I called out when I heard Nate coming up the stairs forty minutes later. I stopped chopping fruit and glanced over my shoulder, catching sight of him wiping his face with the towel slung around his neck. All sweaty, out of breath and flushed skin. “Thought I was your favourite way to wake up?”
He grinned wickedly. “You are.” He kissed the back of my head when I turned to chop some mango. “I wanted you to rest, so it was either a workout or a cold shower and my left hand.”
I bit my lip and kept my eyes on the knife slicing close to my fingertips. Nate stole a slice and popped it in his mouth. “I’ve made you blush again,” he murmured teasingly, the backs of his fingers brushing my cheek.
“Go take that cold shower.” I nudged him with my hips. “Brunch is almost ready.”
My timing was perfect. Carrying our coffee to the dining table, I cast an appreciative eye over Nate as he stood perusing the display. Fresh from the shower, smelling so good my mouth watered, sexy as anything in jeans and a t-shirt, his usual state, I concluded.
“You’ve been busy.” He pulled out the chair at the head of the table for me.
“Toast and fruit I can manage. That bakery in town has a great selection of pastries,” I offered casually, stifling a smile.
“You walked into town?” Nate sat and handed me the plate piled high with warm baked goods.
With an innocent expression, I took a chocolate croissant and said, “The Bentley drives like a dream.”
“You took my car?” His brows rose as he tried and failed to hide his delight.
Nonchalantly, I lifted a shoulder and blew the steam from my coffee before taking a sip. I’d terrorised myself to death driving his car, the powerful engine much stronger than I was used to in my own. I thanked God when I pulled into the small car park and found it almost empty. “That okay?”
His amusement increased. “What’s mine is yours.”
We ate brunch, sharing the sort of comfort and easiness that came from years of being a couple, but with the sparkle and excitement of a new relationship. I thought about how far we’d come in such a short space of time. “That first night, outside the wine bar, why didn’t you kiss me?”
Nate sat back in his chair. “I wanted to. Desperately.” One side of his mouth started to curl up. “I thought I’d ruined my chances.”
“By not kissing me?”
He shook his head. “Nothing went as planned.”
“Because you didn’t get me into bed?”
“No.” The blue of his eyes gave way to the growing black as he raked the length of my body, much like they had back then. “I think I knew before then I wouldn’t be taking you home.”
“Liar.” I stood to fetch some more juice from the refrigerator. “Don’t think I didn’t notice the eye-fuck.”
Nate threw his head back and laughed. “God, I love when you curse. That accent gets me every time.”
“That’s another thing,” I said, making my way back. “Why the English obsession?”
“It’s a Kara obsession,” he corrected. “The rest? Merely a country dear to my heart. England was my haven when I needed to get away from here. I have a lot of fond memories from my time there.”
“You moved there seeking solace, I came here.” I topped up our tumblers. “Do you think we were drawn to each other without realising?”
“You mean like fate? Destiny?” He grabbed my hip and stopped me from returning to the kitchen.
I shrugged. “I believe everything happens for a reason, even the bad stuff. At the time, we might not understand why things are as they are. But, I believe eventually a lesson will be learnt.”
Nate nodded in agreement, eyes sparkling, his lips curving. “Wanna know a lesson I learned the first time you spoke to me?” His hand slid under the hem of my t-shirt, around to my lower back, skin on skin. My legs went weak from that simple, innocent caress. “That hearing the simplest of words from your mouth is the craziest turn on. Watching those luscious lips shape vowels is incredibly erotic. Makes me instantly hard.”
Smirking, I set the carton on the table then nudged his legs apart with my knee. I settled onto his lap, hands at his nape for balance. “Let me think about this for a second.” I looked over his shoulder at the kitchen counter, covered with the mess I’d made. “How about…yoghurt?”
“It’s working.”
I moved my mouth closer to his. “Oral.”
“Ooh, good one.” His grin flashed against my mouth, but I saw it in his sparkling eyes.
I angled my head and kissed him with everything I had. He returned it with as much enthusiasm, absorbing me into his kiss so expertly, knowing precisely how firm I needed it. The strength of his hands sliding up and down my spine and rocking me so my clit rubbed against the seam of his jeans made me moan.
“I adore you,” he breathed, “you’re my world. I can be everything you need.” Nate grazed down my neck, the gentle bite into my shoulder making me shudder.
“Talking is great foreplay,” I breathed, “but how about some visuals?” My t-shirt flew in the air as I tossed it over his shoulder. He hummed his appreciation as my breast filled his hand, my nipple pebbling against the white lace of my bra.
“This surge of confidence you seem to have developed is sexy as fuck,” he muttered gruffly. Dextrously, he snapped the catch and launched it in the same direction. He licked at my breasts, sucking and kissing, cupping and caressing. Desire shot through me, muscles twisting and tensing, contracting, a silent call from my body to his.
“I want you, Nate,” I whispered.
A lazy, sensuous smile crept across his face. With his thumb, he freed my bottom lip from between my teeth, then kissed me hard. His tongue invaded my mouth, sliding forcefully against mine, bruising my lips until they felt swollen.
He stood me quickly and peeled my yoga pants down my legs. “Special occasion?” he rasped, his nose burying into my panties, his breath hot on me.
“What?” I lifted his chin, unsure what he was referring to.
He grinned. “You’re wearing underwear.”
I loved when he got playful. “May I suggest you take them off? Quickly.”
He obliged, eagerly stripping me until I stood nude before him. Hiding my body—the body that demonstrated how deep my feelings ran for him, that had been concealed behind real and emotional barriers long enough—was pointless. Nate knew me from the inside out.
Lounging back in the chair, his tongue darted out over parted lips, his breath heavy. Need consumed me. I yearned to experience the hotness of his skin against mine, the thickness of his cock inside me.
Bending forward, knowing I was giving him an eyeful, I loosened his belt and lowered the zip on his jeans. I grinned when I freed his cock, stiff and ready with such little stimulation, and lifted my gaze to meet his.
A wicked smile spread across his flushed face. “You want me, you got me.”
I straddled his thighs until we were merely inches apart. Instinctively, he reached down, running both hands the length of my legs from ankle to thigh. He straightened, inhaling as he brushed his cheek over the small strip of my pubic hair. Dizzy, my head fell back, eyes closing as my hands found their way into his hair. Struggling to decide what I wanted more, the urge to make love outweighed the craving for his mouth on me. I shoved him back, tipping his chin up to look at me.
“Your mouth between my legs is so good,” I murmured, dragging his full lower lip between my teeth. “But right now? I need this.” I lowered until I’d taken the entire length of him inside me.
“Christ, Kara!” His fingers dug sharply into my arse. My muscles clenched, flexing and drawing his cock deeper, stretching me to the hilt. He hadn’t prepared me for the sheer size of him, so I’d anticipated the sting. “That’s it, baby. Take it all in.”
I moaned and rose again, sliding back down easier than before. I’d missed this connection. The desire, hunger, and the fact Nate could satisfy me in every possible way.
He lured me into a deep kiss as both hands cupped my breasts, fingers working the nipples until the urge to taste me became too strong for him to resist. I arched my back, moving my hands behind me to the table for support. The heat of his mouth as he covered a nipple sparked the familiar tightening low in my stomach.
I dropped forward until I looked him in the eye once more. My chest constricted with love. I stroked a finger down his cheek and ran it over his lips. Everything I felt for him choked in my throat.
“I love this,” I murmured, brushing my lips over his. “Promise you’ll never stop making me feel this good.”
His hands came to my hair, holding me against his mouth. “You’re mine,” he growled, his hand diving between my legs. “I promise I’ll never let you forget that again.” Finding my clit with his thumb, he circled me.
Once, twice, then I was gone.
“HOW did you know I was different to all the others?” I asked Nate as we got ready for bed after our lazy day. He continued brushing his teeth, white Armani briefs his only item of clothing.
“What’s with all the questions today?”
“I don’t know.” I took off my bra and tossed it into the concealed laundry bin in the closet. I was fully nude and didn’t care. “I suppose I’m still adjusting to the enormous change in our circumstances. Just gathering all the pieces of the jigsaw.”
“Well,” he said, drying his face, “other women tended to take whatever they got offered, no questions asked. You were completely upfront in letting me know you wouldn’t settle for anything less than you deserved. I admired your inner strength and fearlessness.”
“I’m not strong,” I snickered, exiting the closet and rounding the corner into the bedroom.
“You are. At the time you didn’t know, but you held all the power. Everything between us happened on your terms. I was so certain you were right for me…you made me break all my rules.”
“What rules?” I tugged back the bedcovers and slipped between the luxurious high thread count sheets.
“Never mix business with pleasure. Never let my guard down. Definitely never set myself up for a second knock back,” he said lightly, “or fourth, in your case.” He settled beside me. “The list is endless. I sacrificed it all.”
From the beginning, both of us had recklessly broken rules that had served us well in the past. The immense magnetism between us was too strong to ignore. I tugged his arm around my shoulder and raised his hand in front of me. His fingers laced with mine, playing and stroking.
Nate cleared his throat, his voice deepening. “After spending the night with you, then fucking it all up, you were unbelievably strong enough to give me a second chance. I have immense respect for you, more so after learning of your past.” He shrugged and adjusted the pillow behind his back. “You made me work harder than I’ve ever had to before.”
“Was I a challenge?”
“Sort of.” Nate had the grace to look embarrassed by his admission. “I admit, I thrived on the chase, but I respected you for not just laying down and opening your legs. Immediately, I knew you saw past the face and hefty bank balance.”
“It’s never been about the money, Nate.” I twisted towards him. “And as for this face,” I said, palm pressed to his cheek, “I hate to burst your bubble, but you’re really not that attractive. I’ve definitely seen better.”
A lie and he knew it. His eyes flared, a wide smile quickly chasing across his face when he caught my playful grin. He pinned my arms above my head, throwing one leg over mine. “Why, Miss Collins, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you enjoy playing games with me.”
“Me?” I grinned. “Never.”
“I’m not sure you deserve the gift I have for you now.”
“Gift?” I wanted my fingers in his hair and flexed them in his grip. When he released me, he sprung off the bed so fast I didn’t get a chance to do it.
“Close your eyes and hold out both hands,” he ordered, walking away. A minute later, he reappeared, one hand tucked behind his back. His eyes sparkled impishly as he waited by the closet. “I said close them.” My heart beat a little faster as I complied, nervous but excited. I pushed up the bed, grinning from ear to ear.
The bed dipped beside me, then a small box dropped into my upturned palms. “Open them.”
A duck egg blue box tied with white ribbon in a perfect bow sat in my hands. I blinked from it up to Nate. “Something from Tiffany’s?”
“Take a look inside.”
A delicate chain threaded through a platinum starfish pendant studded with diamonds slipped from the pouch into my hand. Its simplicity was breathtaking. “It’s a starfish,” he pointed out.
“I can see that.” I giggled, meeting his bright eyes.
“Do you like it?”
“It’s gorgeous.” I caressed the charm with my thumb. “I’ll treasure this. Thank you.”
“Here,” he said, taking it from me. “Let me put it on.” I lifted my hair so he could reach around my neck. His breath next to my ear, and the small kiss that followed sent a shiver across my skin. “Happy Anniversary,” he whispered.
“I’m sorry?”
“One month ago, we shared what I hope was our last first dates in the wine bar. This is to mark that momentous occasion.”
Whoa. I was astounded he’d remembered the date, and chosen to commemorate the milestone with such a romantic gesture. But I didn’t get why the starfish.
“Estrella de Mar—star of the sea.” Nate fingered the delicate pendant against my chest. “A mysterious creature of delicate beauty. A symbol of healing, regeneration, longevity, but above all, infinite love.”
I thought my chest might explode. I crawled into his lap and curled my arms around his neck. The clarity and devotion in his eyes brought a lump to my throat. Nate had a heart of pure gold. “I’m longing to give you the words you deserve to hear. It’s just…I—”
The breath he’d been holding released. “I’ve heard I love you many times,” he pointed out with quiet resignation. “They should’ve said I love your car, I love your condo. Words mean nothing if they’re not substantiated by actions. You show it. I feel it.”
The stubble on his jaw tickled my fingertips as I trailed them along the cut line and across his lips before I pressed mine to them. “You’re incredible, Nate. My heart is so full of you. You know that, don’t you?”
“I know, baby.” He shifted us both beneath the covers and switched off the light. Shrouded in darkness, only the faraway sounds of the surf and wind outside penetrated the gentle whispers of our combined breaths as we drifted into sleep.