Chapter Seventeen

 

 

 

Perhaps I was only being thoughtful and conscientious by bringing in extra baked goods but really, they were more a cleverly disguised bribe. I tapped on Claire’s office door and pushed it open when I heard her welcome.

“Been busy have you, Jo?” Claire asked, lifting open one of the box lids to peer inside. “Ooh, red velvet. My favorite!”

“I thought I’d get a big batch done. There are extras if you want to take some home with you.”

Claire sighed and closed the lid. “How can I say no to that? The husband would pinch all of these though. I’d better think of a good hiding place. Like my stomach.”

I laughed and hesitated to speak.

“Something on your mind?”

“Well, yes.” I took a breath. “I wondered if I could possibly take some time off?”

Claire sat back in her chair, a frown pinching her forehead. “How much time are you talking?”

“Um, a week? Ten days would be ideal.” My palms were sweaty and I resisted from wiping them on my jeans.

Claire let out a laugh. “Jo! You had me worried you wanted an extended leave of absence or something! Call it two weeks, okay? When do you want to take it?”

“Is next week too short notice?”

“Strictly speaking, yes. But don’t worry. You’ve pulled more hours than anyone else covering the holidays.” She reached into the box and withdrew a cupcake. “So where’s he taking you?”

“Who?” I asked, scanning her face. If Nate thought I was reserved about my life at home, then it was nothing compared to what I shared at work, which was virtually nothing.

Claire’s face softened. “The tall dark and handsome I hear the other girls swooning over that likes to visit you here from time to time. Is he whisking you away?”

A blush warmed my cheeks. Of course I’d noticed the looks Nate received from my colleagues. He and his ego did not need to know. “America. He has to work but…”

“Fantastic! You get a well-deserved holiday and you aren’t obliged to spend every waking second with him!”

I smiled, relief filling my blood. “Thank you, Claire. I’ll make some plain cakes to freeze here, so all that needs doing is the icing. Do you think one of the others could do it?”

“If they can’t, I’d be worried. You’re a very considerate girl, Jo.” Claire waved a hand at the cake boxes. “I’ll sort the rota for next week so don’t worry about a thing. Take these away, would you? Before I fill my face.”

With a nod I scooped them up and practically skipped out of her office.

 

* * * *

 

After leaving the house at an ungodly hour for the journey to the airport, a thirteen hour delay once we arrived and a canceled connection flight on the other side meant it was a full twenty-four hours before my head met anything closely resembling a pillow.

Exhaustion fought the battle effortlessly over excitement and I was unconscious before I could even blink. When I woke, my watch and my body said it was two in the afternoon, but Nate’s phone insisted it was only nine in the morning.

The bathroom door opened and Nate emerged, a gust of steam behind of him.

“How in the hell are you so fresh looking? I feel like I died. And was brought back to life. And died again.”

He grinned. “You’re best just to get up. Don’t try and sleep it off.”

I groaned and hid my face in the pillow.

“Seriously. Go shower, then I’m taking you for breakfast.”

So, he may have been right. The shower was heavenly and the diner around the corner from the hotel smelled like bacon grease, pancake syrup and coffee. I could totally do America.

After breakfast—or late lunch, whatever the hell it was—Nate took me on a mini tour of the area. Bethesda was one of those cities that seemed at total odds with itself. Downtown the architecture was incredible, with large glass structures in shapes so foreign from the buildings back home. Trees lined the streets, lush and colorful with reds and golds streaking the leaves. Canopies hung above the shop fronts for cute little coffee places or independent shops.

Nate loosely clasped my hand in his and pointed out things—interesting buildings and scenery, shops I might like—a bagel place that was to die for. As we walked the streets of Bethesda, it felt like I was living someone else’s life—that I was watching this strange girl I didn’t recognize. I saw with fascination as she pressed closer to the man by her side, her eyes lighting up when he smiled at her and the tender return of hers.

“What do you think so far?” Nate asked, swirling the wine around his glass.

After walking around town for hours we’d gone straight to dinner, Nate steadfastly ignoring my pleas for a quick nap.

He sat back in his chair and smiled his thanks as the waiter cleared our dinner plates.

I rubbed my eyes. “I still can’t take it in. It’s the same but different. So pretty, though.”

He nodded. “You’ll experience it better tomorrow when your body has had time to adjust.”

“Yeah. I still think it’s unfair how bright eyed and bushy tailed you are. I feel like the walking dead.”

“I have done this once or twice. I’m used to it.” Nate reached across the table for my hand and pressed a kiss to my knuckle. “Come on then. You look as though you’re going to fall asleep at this table.”

Nate’s hand found my lower back as we walked out of the hotel restaurant and toward the bank of elevators. Inside, his hand crept around to my hip and tugged me closer to him. I let out a sigh and melted against him, my tired eyes closing as my head met his chest.

A chime sounded and the doors slid apart. Nate kissed my temple and fished the key card out of his pocket.

“Would it be terrible if I went to bed now?”

He smiled. “No, but you should try to stay up for a while.”

I kicked off my shoes and collapsed on the enormous bed. Nate turned on the TV and tossed me the remote. A yawn split my face in half as I settled back against the plump pillows, watching, but not really seeing, what was on the TV.

Nate bent and kissed me briefly. “I have some things to check before I go into the office tomorrow. Do you mind?”

Slipping my hand behind his neck I pulled him close for a longer kiss. “No, I don’t mind. It’s not a holiday for you.”

His lips twitched as though he was going to make a joke, but his features smoothed over and he stroked a finger over my bottom lip. The intensity in his eyes seared through me, his voice low and gravelly when he spoke. “I’m glad you’re here.”

I tried to smile but it felt wobbly. “So am I.”

Nate kissed me again, soft and lingering. “I won’t be long.”

“Good.”

He smiled and rose to the desk on the opposite wall. He pulled his jumper over his head, the muscles in his back rippling under the thin fabric of his T-shirt. He sat back in the chair, his fingers gliding over the track pad, a tiny frown creasing the space between his eyebrows.

I never did really watch the TV. My eyes never left Nate until I couldn’t keep them open for a second longer.

 

* * * *

 

The room was dark and silent when I woke. Beside me, Nate lay on his back, the sheet bunched around his waist, exposing his bare chest. I stretched and yawned, feeling refreshed and energized. My mind flitted over the sights we’d seen yesterday, shops I was excited to explore when I was left to my own devices whilst Nate worked.

I hovered over Nate, reaching for his phone. The screen lit up and said it was only four in the morning. With a groan I flopped back against the pillows. By the time my body got used to the stupid time difference, we’d be back home and I’d be struggling all over again.

As carefully as I could, I crept from the bed and silently closed the bathroom door behind me. I stayed in the shower for a long time, enjoying the hot water and scrubbing the last of the travel grime away. Nate was still sound asleep when I finished, even after blow-drying my hair. Lucky bugger. He slept through just about everything, where the slightest thing had me wide awake and on my feet.

I shed the towel and climbed back into bed. Nate still didn’t stir, even when I slid my hands through his hair. Inching closer, my breasts brushed his arm and my nipples hardened to a point. I kissed his lips, his jaw, his throat. Flicked my tongue over the flat disc of his nipple.

The sheet tented above his groin and I smiled when I pulled it back to see his glorious erection. I traced a line down him and back up again. Nate shifted in his sleep, his hips rising ever so slightly into my touch.

With a wicked smile, I kissed the tip of his hard length, keeping my eyes on his face. I teased it with my tongue, lapping up the bead of moisture. Nate made a noise low in his throat as I took all of him in my mouth. His hands fisted in the sheets, hips arching up. I worked him hard and fast and knew he was moments away from release.

Nate’s eyes flew open and he gritted his teeth as he spilled into my mouth, hot and furiously thick. I swallowed everything he gave me and Nate relaxed into the bed, his breathing quick. I kissed a path up his abdomen, sucking on his nipple for a moment. His arms banded around me as I laid my body flush against his.

“Jesus Christ, woman.”

“I couldn’t remember if you had requested a wake-up call. Thought I’d better give you one, just in case.” I kissed his throat.

A laugh rumbled in his chest. “I was having a fucking amazing dream. And then I woke up and the reality was even better.” Nate rolled me over so he pressed my back into the mattress, covering me with his warm body. He ran his nose up the length of my neck, planting a kiss just under my ear.

I hitched my leg over his waist, gasping when I felt his hard-on.

“You know that I’m more than ready, but are you?” Nate asked, sucking on my earlobe.

“Feel me and find out,” I breathed, my chest rising and falling faster as my arousal grew.

He dragged his hands down my body, kneading my breast and with the other he teased the small manicured thatch of curls on my mound. Nate groaned as he stroked between my folds and felt just how primed I was for him.

I grasped his cheeks and slanted my lips over his as he fucked me slowly with his fingers.

Nate moved his thumb in lazy circles over my clit and I squirmed beneath his touch.

“Nate,” I breathed. “I want you to come inside me.”

“I will,” he rumbled. Nate withdrew his fingers and raised them to his mouth and licked my lust from him. “I fucking love how you taste, so hot for me.”

I moaned at the sight and wrapped my legs over his lower back to urge his hips closer.

Nate grinned as he hovered with just his tip in my cleft. He covered my mouth with his own and I arched my hips to meet his erection.

My back bowed off the bed as he filled me, inch by delicious inch. I knotted my hands in his hair as he rocked into me, fueling my climax. Nate clutched me, held me close as my body shuddered and roared to life under him.

I panted his name as the orgasm hit and his thrusts pounded harder. Nate tensed and he came, burrowing himself even more fully into me. He pressed his face into the crook of my neck, his hard breaths warming my skin.

“Every morning should start like this. Every single morning,” he said.

My heart skipped a beat. “I think you would get sick of me after a while.”

“That’s what’s so great about role play, gorgeous. The possibilities are endless.”

I laughed and poked his ribs. Nate caught my hand and kissed my fingertips.

“So. Can I expect this kind of wakeup call for the rest of the trip?”

I grinned. “Depends on the tip.”

Nate rose onto his elbows. “I’m sure we can work something out.”

 

* * * *

 

Later, after we did indeed work something out in the shower, Nate took me for breakfast again at the diner then I walked with him to the office building where he would work for the week. People passed us where we stood, dressed to impress in their power suits, clutching their coffee flasks.

Nate pulled me against him, kissing me briefly. “You sure you’re going to be okay?”

I nodded and kissed him back. “I’ll be fine. There’s loads I want to see. Plus Barnes & Noble has three floors. I’ll probably be in there till dark.”

He smiled. “You’d better not be. You promised to meet me for lunch.”

“I’ll try my best.”

Nate kissed me one last time, gave me a wink then headed inside the building. I stood to the side, watching him pass through the entryway and wait at the bank of elevators. When the doors slid open he turned and saw me looking. I couldn’t see his face clearly enough to read his expression, but I thought I caught the ghost of a smile before the elevator doors closed and took him from my sight.

I waited another moment, ignoring the fluttering in my chest. With a breath, I turned to face Bethesda.