Confessions of a Girl-Next-Door (16 page)

“It looks good,” he said.

She rinsed her brush and shrugged. “It’s been a long time since I last dabbled.”

“But you’re enjoying yourself.”

She beamed a smile at him. “Immensely.”

That was all that mattered.

“Relaxation looks good on you.” He meant only to squeeze her arm, but his fingers failed to release her and instead he found himself pulling her close.

“I am relaxed. I’ve slept like a baby the past couple nights,” she had to go and tell him.

He settled his hands on her waist. “I haven’t been sleeping at all.”

She set the paintbrush aside. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Probably just as well. I think I know what I’d be dreaming about.”

“Those are called fantasies, Nathaniel.” She slapped his chest and tried to look insulted.

He merely grinned. “Which explains why I’ve been having them while I’m awake.”

Her breath hitched. They both grew serious.

“What are you doing for dinner tonight?”
she asked just before he could lean down and kiss her.

“I hadn’t thought that far ahead.” In fact, he wasn’t thinking at all at the moment.

“I have two steaks, as you may recall.”

“And my favorite beer.” Nate nuzzled her cheek.

“Uh-huh.” That sexy hitch was back.

“So, is that an invitation?” he managed to ask.

“It’s actually more like the solicitation of a favor.”

His brow crinkled in confusion.

“I don’t know how to work the grill.” He opened his mouth to reply, but she put her hand over his lips. “If you’re going to say I told you so or make some sort of comment about my being helpless, you can save your breath.”

He pulled her hand from his mouth, kissed the palm.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Indeed, Nate couldn’t help thinking that if anyone were helpless here, it was he.

He was back that evening just after six o’clock. He didn’t question his decision, though he did question his sanity. Phillip or
no Phillip, he kept reminding himself there was only one way this could play out once Holly’s time on the island came to an end. Long-distance love affairs were hard enough to manage without all the baggage theirs would come with, assuming that was even what she wanted.

But he decided he didn’t care. Bottom line: he wanted Holly. And if he could only have her for a brief time, then he’d have to be content with that. So, he’d showered, shaved for the second time that day and then slapped on some cologne.

His parents called just as he was heading out, both of them on extensions so they could all talk at once. When he’d casually mentioned that Holly was on Heart, his father had sighed. His mother, meanwhile, had grown oddly quiet. He’d expected her to pepper him with questions. The only thing she said after regaining her voice was, “Be careful, son.”

He’d laughed. “Be careful. Mom, she’s a princess, not an ax murderer.”

His mother hadn’t laughed. “I know how you felt about her before.”

“We both do,” his father had added.

“Just … be careful.”

“You don’t have to worry about me,” Nate had assured them. Now, as he followed Holly out onto the deck, he wasn’t so sure.

She’d changed into a sleeveless, pale yellow dress whose ruffled front was set in perpetual motion thanks to the breeze. The wind had kicked up since the morning, as the weather forecasters had predicted. The bay was now dotted with whitecaps, and waves crashed at the shore rather than gently rolling onto the sand.

He felt a bit like those waves, set into motion by forces outside his control. Tugged and pulled by fate and the beautiful woman who was now handing him a cold beer that she’d pulled from the bucket of ice on the deck.

“I trust you don’t need a glass.”

“Nope. Straight from the bottle’s fine.” He unscrewed the top and helped himself to a long swallow.

She followed suit. “For me, too.”

Because he wanted to kiss her, he took a step back instead. “Did you finish your painting?”

She shook her head. Her hair was clipped back at her nape, so the movement of a pair of drop earrings caught his attention.

“Some things take time,” she said.

And patience, which had never been Nate’s long suit, especially where Holly was concerned. He was a grown man, yet he felt just as he had all those summers ago, desperate to kiss her, wanting to make love to her.

“Are you hungry?”

“Starving.” And steak was going to have to do. He set the beverage aside and eyed the huge, stainless steel gas grill. “That’s some monster.”

Holly looked alarmed. “Does that mean you don’t know how to work it, either?”

He laughed, and the sexual frustration he was feeling ebbed to a tolerable level. “I’m a guy, Holly. Guys are born knowing how to grill. I think I read somewhere that it’s hardwired into our genetic code.”

A couple of minutes later, he had the thing fired up. He found Holly in the kitchen making a salad to go with the steaks.

“I’m afraid this won’t be much of a meal. I didn’t think to buy any rice or potatoes while I was at the market. And the truth is I wouldn’t know how to prepare them either. Apparently the rudiments of meal preparation are not hardwired into my genetic code.”

“The rolls you bought are fine.”

She pulled a face. “You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”

He grinned. “Is it working?”

“Somewhat.”

“The salad looks good.”

“Yes, well, it doesn’t require much skill to shred a head of lettuce.”

“You had to dice up the tomatoes,” he pointed out.

She smiled at that and her hands stilled. She leaned her hip against the counter after she turned to face him. “You know, I think I would enjoy cooking.”

“So take it up.”

Nate half expected her to shrug off the idea. The woman who had arrived on the island mere days ago would have. She’d seen herself as powerless, a prisoner of fate. The confident woman standing before him now replied, “You know, I think I will.” Her expression turned thoughtful. “I could hire someone to teach me or even ask the head chef for some lessons. The palace has excellent kitchen facilities.”

Nate’s heart sank a little as he pictured her in a great, cavernous kitchen with a Cordon Bleu-trained chef offering instruction, so far away from him compared to the woman
who now stood barefoot in this kitchen with a dishtowel wrapped around her waist and an open beer sitting within arm’s reach.

“Nate?”

He realized he must have been frowning and shook off his sudden melancholy. “I’d better get those steaks on the grill.”

They dined on the deck, taking care to keep track of their napkins, lest the breeze carry them away. As it was, it had made off with a couple pieces of lettuce from Holly’s plate, pushing them across the glass tabletop before dumping them in Nate’s lap. They’d both laughed.

Holly finished off the last of her steak and sat back on a satisfied sigh. Oh, how she wished she could bottle up this contentment.

“This is what I missed the most,” she said quietly. “This … this normalcy.”

“We’re nothing if not normal around these parts,” Nate teased. He grew serious then, set his knife and fork aside and gave her his undivided attention. “What constitutes normal back in Morenci?”

She exhaled slowly. “Well, I don’t have an actual job, but I do have a full schedule most days. Awards to present, public appearances
to make, ribbons to cut, that sort of thing. Three days a week I make time for my pet projects.”

“The charities and causes you’ve chosen to champion.”

“Exactly.”

“It sounds like you’re very busy.”

“I don’t mind. At least I feel useful, like I have a purpose. But I rarely get to be myself. To sit beside a lake with a handsome … friend and just relax.” She shook her head. “It’s ironic.”

“What is?”

“My mother was a small-town girl who dreamed of wearing a crown. I’m a princess who dreams of being a small-town girl.”

Olivia’s dream had come true. She’d made it work despite the obstacles in the beginning that threatened to doom her relationship with Holly’s father. Holly remembered her grandmother once saying that neither Morenci nor the king knew what hit them after Olivia arrived for a pageant there three decades earlier.
Indomitable
—that was the word the media often used in reference to the queen. Now, Holly was realizing the apple hadn’t fallen very far from the tree.

“I can be myself here.” She reached over
to cover his hand with hers. “I can be myself with you. I think that is what brought me back here in the first place.”

“I’m glad you’re here.”

She swallowed, felt the need to ask, “Will you still feel that way when Hank comes to collect me in a week?”

It was the great white elephant between them. Yet she was relieved when he chose to ignore it.

“Let’s not talk about a week from now.” His expression clouded, but the corners of his mouth rose in a wry smile. “As I said before, let’s just deal with the here and now.”

“I’ve never been much for living in the moment,” she admitted.

“Neither have I. I’ve always set goals, made plans.” She watched his Adam’s apple bob just before he said, “But sometimes you just have to take what you can get when you can get it. So, I’m going to sit on this fabulous deck this evening, with an especially beautiful woman, drink another cold beer and enjoy the present.”

Her heart rejoiced, even as it broke a little. The future was too much to consider. The here and now was within reach. Holly intended to grab it and hold on tight.

“So, you’re going to sit in that chair and enjoy another beer, hmm?”

“I did mention that I would be doing so in the company of a beautiful woman.”

“Especially beautiful is, I believe, how you phrased it.”

“Glad to know you were paying attention.”

“So, you’re just going to sit?” she said again.

One of his brows rose. “Is there something else I should be doing?”

She couldn’t resist teasing him. “Well, the plates need a scrub. Back home, I have people to do that for me.”

“We’ve already established that you’re not back home and that on my island, you’re just plain old Holly.” He pushed his dirty plate toward her on the tabletop. “I believe I saw a dishwasher in that fancy kitchen, so your manicure is safe. It will do the heavy lifting for you. All you’ve got to do is load the thing, add a bit of detergent and push Start.”

“Hmm. It sounds rather complicated. Maybe you could show me? I’m a visual learner. I can read or hear instructions a million times and not understand, but if I see
something demonstrated just once, well, I’m a natural.”

His eyes narrowed. “You don’t say?”

“Truly.”

“Then, by all means, let me demonstrate.”

They both rose and went inside, carrying their plates and utensils with them. But the demonstration Nate had in mind had nothing to do with the pedestrian chore of loading a dishwasher. Thank God! As soon as they reached the kitchen and their plates were on the counter, he pulled Holly into his arms.

“I’ve been wanting to kiss you since I arrived,” he confessed.

“I’ve been wanting you to kiss me since then.”

“Then we’re of a like mind.”

“I would say so.”

Gone was some of the awkwardness they’d experienced before. Holly had come into her own. She wound her arms around his neck and pressed her mouth to his before he could say another word.

Their mouths met, their bodies molded tightly together. Perfect, Holly thought. No one else could fit her so perfectly. His mouth was hot against her. His need and seeming desperation rivaled her own.

I love you,
she thought.
I’ve always loved you. I always will.

But she reminded herself to live in the moment. No planning. No future dreams. Just right now. And right now she was feeling not just needy, but greedy.

She had his attention when her fingers began working the buttons on the front of his shirt. He pulled back enough to look down at her hands and then back at her in question.
Are you sure,
those gorgeous dark eyes asked.

“I want you, Nate.”

With those simple words, everything changed, including their positions. Somehow she wound up underneath him on the living room’s plush sectional. His mouth was hot against her throat, his hands tugging at the dress’s sash belt.

“Let me,” she said. But the strip of fabric was good and knotted. “I think I saw kitchen sheers in one of the drawers. Or a butcher knife,” she panted. “A butcher knife could slice through this silk.”

Nate’s laughter rumbled low. Holly felt its vibration more than she heard it. “I take it you’re not concerned about the outfit then?”

“Let’s just say I have other things on my mind than fashion,” she managed to reply.

“Good.” A moment later she heard a rending of fabric. The belt gave way. “Problem solved,” Nate said, helping her up so he could push the dress off her shoulders.

Holly became suddenly shy. She’d never been with a man. Not like this. She’d fooled around some. She was human, after all. But she’d learned early that boys could kiss and tell. And not just their friends and classmates, but any reporter eager for a story about Princess Hollyn. Even with Phillip, she’d held back, mostly because his touches and kisses had done little to ignite her passion. Indeed, for a while, she’d wondered if maybe she was just one of those women who didn’t feel much passion. Not frigid exactly, but, well, indifferent.

Well, she wasn’t feeling indifferent now. Desperate, needy, maybe even a little depraved given the direction of her thoughts, but definitely not indifferent.

“Something’s wrong.”

“Nothing’s wrong,” she disagreed.

“You’re quiet.”

“Am I supposed to be loud?” she asked.

Nate frowned. “Have … have you ever …”

Embarrassed, she pushed him away so she could sit.

“I’m not completely inexperienced.”

“Okay.” He settled onto the cushion next to her and grabbed her hand. “But have you done … this?”

“I’m twenty-five, Nate.”

“Answer the question, Holly.”

“If I say no, is it going to change anything?” she asked.

His answer was an emphatic, “Hell, yes!”