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“Do you do this sort of thing for all the women you date?”
“No.”
“Then why me?”
He reached for her hand and smiled at her. “Because you’re special.”
She worried when he said things like that. Their relationship was supposed to be casual. Pretend, not real. Friends with benefits, nothing else. But if she were honest with herself, she’d admit that she felt more for Nate than simple friendship. And it wasn’t all about the sex either.
She liked Nate. She always had. He got her. He understood what was important to her and why. Whenever her work had to take precedence he was good with it. He never made her feel bad if she missed something they were supposed to do. Maybe because his own work wasn’t nine to five either. Flights came up all the time when he wasn’t expecting it, so he’d learned to roll with it. Which was probably why he was so understanding when she had to cancel.
Although the sex was amazing, and she didn’t think that was only because she hadn’t had sex in years until she’d taken the leap with Nate. Rather than think too hard she put it out of her mind, like she’d been doing since…oh, hell, almost from the first of this new pretend relationship. But especially since they’d come to San Diego.
She consoled herself by admitting this had been the ultimate in romantic getaways. What woman wouldn’t be a bit starry-eyed after everything that had happened in the last few days? It didn’t mean anything. It couldn’t mean anything.
Nate slipped his arms around her waist from behind. “What’s going on in that beautiful head? You look concerned. Is something wrong?”
“No. I was just thinking how romantic this trip has been.”
“You say that like it’s a problem. What’s wrong with romance?”
“Nothing. Except it’s for show. Or it’s supposed to be.”
He was silent for a long time. “What if it isn’t?”
She turned around to look at him. Searched his face for clues to what he was feeling. “We agreed this whole thing was pretend, for your grandma’s sake.”
“I know.”
“Have you changed your mind?” Why was she asking him when she didn’t really want to know the answer?
“Have you?”
A part of her wanted to say yes. But another part, the one that remembered the past, the one that didn’t trust herself to fall for the right man, said no. Positively no.
Before she could answer, since she didn’t know what to say, Nate said, “Never mind. It’s time for dinner.”
“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”
“Nope. It’s a surprise.”
He’d reserved a table at CeeCee’s. The restaurant was gorgeous. It sat on stilts on the beachfront and hosted a terrific view of the San Diego skyline and the bay. The table settings were elegant with fine white tablecloths, beautiful china, and sparkling crystal. Each table held beautiful hibiscus blooms in varying colors. The table they were escorted to overlooked the bay and its flower was a beautiful white center blending to a deep pink on the edges.
She ordered a glass of white wine, but Nate stuck with water. “I’m flying tomorrow.”
“Speaking of that,” she said as she sipped her wine, “tell me some stories about your flights. You know, the people, the places you’ve been. That sort of thing.” They’d talked about his travels, but never in great detail. Another thing she felt guilty about. That wasn’t why she’d asked him, though. She really wanted to know more.
“Places I’ve been? I’ve been to every US state. Mexico, Canada, parts of South America. The Caribbean. Parts of Europe. I worked for a large private airline for a while and that’s where I did a lot of my travel outside the US.”
“Are there places you haven’t been that you’d still like to go to?”
“Sure. Scandinavia, Greenland. Australia and New Zealand. I haven’t been to the Far East either.”
“Do you think you’ll ever go?”
“Maybe. Depends on a lot of things, I guess.”
Their waitress brought their appetizers—marinated crab claws—and after that their salads—mixed greens with candied pecans and a Gorgonzola vinaigrette dressing.
