AllFreeNovel
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The restaurant is tiny, with brick walls and dim lighting. She scans the room. Finds the Whitfords seated around a long rectangular table by the window. The men brood silently while Delaney and Claire are animated and chatty. It seems a little spa and shopping day worked wonders. Her gaze finds Nathaniel, whose mouth is a flat line as he listens to Don. As if her attention is a physical caress, he senses her. His head swivels. His entire face changes. His eyes widen and a crooked grin tugs at his lips.
Then he’s standing, crossing the room, moving toward her.
A hook snags Ash’s heart. He looks achingly handsome in pressed khakis and a black T-shirt stretched tight over his muscular chest. His golden hair is ruffled from his day on the golf course. If she could craft herself a blueprint of the perfect man, it’d be Nathaniel.
Eyes locked on her, he comes to a stop. “Ash.”
“Hi,” she breathes, suddenly shy. “I’m late. I just—”
“It’s not that.” He runs a hand over his mouth. His blue eyes are wide, startled, dazed as he gives her a thorough once-over. When he zeroes in on her face, warmth pulses through her. “Your dress—”
“Was an impulse purchase.” Her laugh is awkward. “I know it’s not me. It screams virginal beach prom queen, but I saw it on a mannequin in a window and thought it was pretty.”
“I think you’re pretty,” he says, and all her objections fall away. He slides a finger along one strap and stops at her neck. Thumb caressing her throat, he dips closer, his voice low. “No matter what you wear. Stomping boots. Vampire garb. White dresses that fuck up my heartbeat. I love it all.”
“Even more than your rock collection?” She keeps her tone cool, controlled to hide her emotion. What his words mean to her.
He closes his eyes, and when he opens them again, there’s something heated and raw there. “Even more than that. Although igneous is a pretty close second.”
A warm sunset blooms inside her. But a heartbeat later, she remembers where she is, and the sensation fades.
Nathaniel studies her face. Frowns. Asks, “Are you okay?”
“Peachy,” she lies.
“Thank God you’re here,” he mutters. “Don’s espousing the virtues of flat earth theory.”
“He is not.”
He grins. “Guess you have to come sit by me and find out.”
The hand that goes to the small of her back as he guides her to the table has little fires building inside her heart. Those damn thorns twitch.
He pulls out the chair between his and Augustus’s, waiting. Ash lowers herself, smooths her dress. Don eyes her like she’s a fourteenth century rat with a bad case of the plague.
“I ordered a piña colada for you,” Nathaniel says, as he settles in his own seat.
Her gaze goes to the creamy white drink in front of her place setting.
“I had them make it with sugar-free syrup and go light on the juice. I hope that’s okay.”
She opens her mouth. Closes it. There’s a fucking rockslide happening behind her ribcage.
He drags a hand through his hair, his face suddenly tentative. “It might not be as good,” he says abruptly, all business. “But—”
“No.” She grabs the icy glass and locks her lips around the straw. Sucks a mighty sip of rum and lime juice. Hopes he can see how much his thoughtfulness means to her. “It’s delicious.”
“Delaney, Ash, and I had the loveliest day,” Claire tells the table.
Ash perks up, says, “Can we all please take a moment to acknowledge Claire’s nails. Because they are fabulous.”
Claire stretches out a hand. Everyoneoohsandaahs. Except for Don.
Dinner’s delicious and insufferably long. But thedrinks—bottles of wine, too many to count—cut the sting. The conversation ranges from the injustices of the housing market to today’s golf game. Claire and Augustus get to talking business, whispering softly about Fox Hotels.
Through it all, Ash’s entire body is tense. Not because of where she is. But because of Nathaniel, sitting beside her. One long arm stretched out across the back of her chair. Her body heats at the slow sweep of his thumb across her shoulder. The boneheaded man isn’t even trying to play hands off. It’s infuriating. She loves it.
They’re always moving for each other. Reaching. Touching.
