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“Agreed.”
I thought about what to say. How to say it. And then went with the big guy’s advice. Dad always told me there was nothing as powerful as the truth. So that’s what I’d give her.
“I really want to buy that property. It’s a huge deal that I’ve been working on for six months. The thought of losing that much money, not to mention the time I put into it, kills me. But I also wasn’t lying when I said that was one of the best weekends of my life. It was fun”—I smiled—“but even beyond the great sex. I like you. A lot.”
More than a lot, but that could wait.
Natalie took a bite of her donut. I could see her thinking about what she was going to say, measuring her words. “I like you too,” she started. “And obviously have given this a lot of thought. There’s a huge part of me that wants to say, screw it. It’s just a piece of land. Take it. I’ll find somewhere else for the program by next spring. And it’s not mine to use for drinking wine with friends on a Friday night. That’s a nice perk, but that’s all it is. A perk. The land belongs to the Trust. Not to me.”
I’d start celebrating, but there was a big-ass “but” in there somewhere.
“However.”
But. However. Same difference.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve railed against the Trust’s decision to do something similar. Accusing them of selling out. It starts with a small piece of property or some supposedly unimportant piece of land and the next thing you know, you’re auctioning off all of the Finger Lakes’ natural resources to the highest bidder. The whole reason I got into this business was to preserve and protect. Like you, with our country. But with the natural resources.”
I had to admit, Natalie’s dedication to her mission was hot. Her conviction, something to be admired. But it was inconvenient too.
“I get what you’re saying,” I began, taking a bite of donut too. Damn, these things were good. Although not as good as those cannolis in Sicily. Smiling to myself, I pushed the thought from my mind. Now wasn’t the time. “And admire your conviction,” I admitted. “So we end where we started, at opposite ends of a problem with no easy solution.”
“Precisely.”
“You aren’t letting me out of the bet?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“Jax, if you had any idea how many times I replayed our weekend together, how badly I want you to snatch me up from this chair and rip every piece of clothing from my body, you’d be amazed that I’m sitting here so calmly eating this donut and drinking coffee like it was nothing. I honestly didn’t know I had this much willpower.”
I had to at least try. “If you knew how much I wanted to rip every piece of clothing from your body, bury my head between your legs and make you scream loud enough for my neighbors to hear, you’d be amazed I remained this far away from you for more than five seconds.”
“You don’t have any neighbors.”
“Exactly.”
Her lids hooded. Natalie was thinking about us. How could she not? I visualized doing exactly what I said I was going to, actually seeing her fingers close around the arm of the chair, her knuckles whiten as I worked her with my tongue.
“Jax, don’t.”
“Can’t help it.”
She looked away.
I took a deep breath and finished my donut. Hard as a rock and feeling as tortured as racing through my first Ranger school obstacle course, I looked out onto the lake.
“I didn’t say it lightly,” I added. “About moving to Kitchi Falls.”
“You don’t say anything lightly,” Natalie said, kicking off her shoes and tucking her feet under her. I loved when she crossed her legs like that, coffee on her lap as if she didn’t have a care in the world. It made me imagine that she lived here with me, and it was a regular weekend morning. A very domesticated vision, if I did say so myself.
“No,” I admitted. “I don’t.”
“You would move here?”
“For you? Yeah. I would.”
She blinked.There you go, Natalie. All on the line. Your move.
“We haven’t even dated.”
“Dated. Whatever that means.”
