With Me in Seattle Bundle One (30 page)

“Good.” 

Luke scoots back, and I sit on the desk in front of him, bracing my feet on the arms of his chair as he scoots in close and wraps his arms around my waist and buries his face in my belly.

I push my hands in his hair and lean down to kiss his head.

“You smell good,” I murmur.  “Did you shower without me?”

“Yeah, I got up early.  The morning after a release is always busy.  Plus, I had to get you coffee.”

I smile against his head.  “Thank you for the coffee.”

“You’re welcome.”

His phone rings.  He sits back and answers it, keeping one arm around my waist.

“Williams.” His voice is short and business-like, and I smile down at him.

“Hey, Channing, thanks for calling me back, man.  Just wanted to let you know that I saw the film last night.  You did a fantastic job.”  He listens for a moment and then laughs.  “I know.  I’m glad you survived it.  How is your beautiful wife?  Good.  Hey, I have another project I’m looking at for next year. Can I send you the script?  It’s pretty good.”  Luke nuzzles my belly again, and I can barely hear Channing—Channing freaking Tatum!—speaking on the other end.

“Okay, I’ll shoot it over next week.  Enjoy your weekend, you deserve it.  Bye.”

“He sounded happy,” I murmur.

“He should, the numbers are good this morning.”

“Did I mention last night how very proud of you I am?”

“You did.  I especially liked hearing it when you were naked.”  He flashes me a wolfish grin, and I laugh.

“I liked that, too.”

“In fact”—he cups my ass in his hands and pulls me more tightly against him—“you didn’t get permission to wear this shirt.”

“Gosh, I have to stop doing this.”

“I know.  You’d think by now you’d learn what happens when you wear my shirts.”

“But I like your shirts.”  I pout down at him.

“I like doing this.”  He slowly unfastens each button, and I shrug out of the soft shirt, letting it fall onto the desk behind me. 

He inhales sharply, his eyes level with my breasts, and he runs those beautiful blue eyes over all of me, like he’s eating me alive with his gaze.

“Sweet mother of God, you’re so beautiful.”  He leans in and rubs the tip of his nose against my right nipple, back and forth and around in a circle, and it puckers as he watches.  “I love how your gorgeous body responds to me.”

He pays the same attention to the left nipple, and I moan softly. 

He’s sitting in that chair, fully clothed, and I’m about to come unglued from just his nose.

Unbelievable.

He looks up at me as he takes a nipple in his mouth and suckles, then licks and kisses his way across my chest to the other side and does the same.  His hands are caressing and kneading my ass as he kisses down my torso.

“Lean back on your hands, baby.”

I do as he asks, and he kisses my belly piercing.  “So fucking sexy.  How long have you had this?”

“I got it on my eighteenth birthday.”

“It’s hot.”  He kisses it again and nibbles his way down to my tattoo.

He abruptly scoots me to the edge of the desk, making me lean back even farther on my elbows, exposing me to him.  He places a chaste kiss on the dark letters.  “Don’t lie back.  I want you to watch.”

Fuck.  That is maybe the sexiest thing he’s ever said to me.

“Okay.” My voice is heavy with need, and he grins up at me, his blue eyes molten.

He leans down and, with just the tip of his tongue, licks me from my clit down through my folds and back up again, and then settles his mouth right over my clit, rolling his tongue over and over it, and then suckling gently.

I throw my head back and moan his name loudly and then bring my head up to keep watching him.

It’s so fucking hot when his mouth is on me.

He glides one hand around from my ass, over my thigh and slides a finger inside me.

I buck up off the desk, my feet still planted on the arms of his chair, but he holds me tightly against his mouth.  His tongue slides back and forth over my clitoris, and that finger is working magic inside me.  His deep blue eyes are on mine as I explode, loudly. 

He runs kisses up and down my thighs and pulls his finger out of me. 

“God, you taste good.  I want you all the time, Nat.  I never get enough of you.”

“Inside me.  Now.”  I’m panting, and I need him.

He stands and pulls his jeans down around his thighs.  “Wrap your legs around me, baby.” 

He fills me as I wrap around him, leaning down to kiss me, cupping my right cheek in one hand and gripping on to the end of the desk with the other, as he pushes into me relentlessly.

“Oh God.”  My hands are on his ass, pulling him harder.  I feel my orgasm already working its way through me.

“Come for me, beautiful.”  He whispers in my ear, and that sexy whispery voice sends me over the edge into another amazing climax that has me digging my heels into his buttocks.

“Christ, Nat.”  He shudders as he comes inside me, raining kisses on my face, pushing his hands into my hair.

“I recommend desk sex,” I murmur and grin lazily up at him.

He laughs and pulls me up in a sitting position.  “Yes, let’s do this more often.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“Hey, Natalie!  Thanks for meeting me here, rather than having me pick these up at your place.”

I smile at Brad and give him a swift hug.  We are meeting at Starbucks so I can give him his finished photos to add to his portfolio before he goes on some auditions this afternoon.

We sit at a table with our drinks as he pages through them.

“Wow, you’re really good.”

“I had a good subject.”  I wink at him and take a sip of my coffee.  The days are getting cooler and rainier as fall approaches, and I’m thankful for the warm mocha.

Brad smiles shyly and continues to look through his photos. “You make me look good.  When can I schedule another shoot?”

“Well, Brad, that could be an issue.”  I grimace and think of Luke.  Hell, Luke wouldn’t even like it if he knew I was having coffee with Brad.

“Oh?” He raises an eyebrow.

“My boyfriend doesn’t like for me to shoot single men on my own.  It’s mainly a safety issue for him.”  I shrug and smile apologetically.

“I’d never hurt you, Nat.”  Brad frowns, and I feel like shit.

“I know that.  Maybe I could arrange for Jules to be there, too, so we aren’t alone.  Luke would probably be okay with that.”

“That’s fine.  You just do great work.  I’m sorry if I was too forward before.  You’re beautiful, and I’d be stupid not to try, but I understand that you’re not on the market.  It’s cool.  I’ll talk with him if you want.”  Brad looks so sincere, and I pat his shoulder.

“Thanks.  We’ll figure it out.”

“Natalie?”

I glance up into familiar blue eyes, and my heart sinks into my stomach. “Hello, Samantha.”

“I thought that was you.”  Her eyes shine shrewdly as she looks Brad over, then back at me and I want to shrink.  Fuck!  Of all the people to see me here with Brad!

“Will we be seeing you Saturday night at Mom and Dad’s party?” she asks, a fake smile on her pretty face.

“Yes, Luke and I will be there.”

“I’ll see you then.”  She saunters out of the coffeehouse, and I groan, hanging my head in my hands.

“Who was she?”

“Luke’s sister.”

“She sure doesn’t like you.”

I look up at him and chuckle.  “No, she doesn’t.”

“Why?”

“Long story.  I’m glad you like your shots.  I’ll let you know when I’ve had a chance to talk to Jules and Luke about setting up another appointment.”

“Okay, cool.  Hey, I mean it, I’ll talk to Luke if it will help and let him know that I’m not into you like that.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.  Thanks for the coffee.”

“My pleasure.”

***

Shit.

How in the hell am I going to explain to Luke about meeting up with Brad today?  I know Sam will say something to him, and I pray she hasn’t called him before I get home to tell him myself.  Luke’s really possessive where Brad is concerned, and I know I should have run it by him ahead of time, but it just seemed silly to have to ask permission to meet with a client in a public place.

I think I’m going to be in trouble.  Maybe I can distract him with sex.

“Honey, I’m home!”  I let myself into the house, using the key he gave me when we returned home from Tahiti.

“In the office,” he calls back.

I set my handbag on the couch and carry two large, heavy shopping bags back to his office.

He greets me with a warm smile and then he raises his eyebrows in surprise when he sees the bags. “What’s in there?”

“I did a little something for your parents’ anniversary.”  I smile at him, nervous.

“You did?”  He grins, delighted with me.  “What is it?”

“Well, I had some help from your dad this week.”  I begin pulling out frames.  There are eight of them.  “I asked him for photos of just him and your mom every five years they’ve been married, beginning with their wedding photo.”

Pulling the last of the frames out, I arrange them on Luke’s desk.  His eyes skim over them and then settle on the last one.

“I made their wedding photo and this one I took at my birthday party the biggest two, and the others can be arranged around them.”

He picks up the photo I took at the party, and he stares at it for a long time.  They had been posing for me, all stiff smiles and bodies, and Luke had made a joke about something, sending us all into giggles.  In this photo, Lucy is laughing into the camera, and Neil is smiling down at her, his face close to hers, and the love moving between them is touching.

It’s my favorite photo of the day.

“You’re so talented, baby.  They’re going to love these.  My mom will hang them in the family room.”  He sets the frame on the desk and pulls me to him, kissing me in that soft way he does that makes me all weak in the knees.

“I hope they like them.”

“You’re so sweet.  You didn’t have to do this.  I already put both our names on the gift I got them.”

“I know.”  I hug him tight and bury my face in his chest.  “But I wanted to do something nice for them.  I’ve grown very fond of your parents.  I put both our names on this, too.”

I feel him smile against my head.

“What did you get them, anyway?”

“We”—he stresses the word, and I smile—“got them a second honeymoon in the south of France.”

“Of course we did.”  I laugh and kiss his sternum.

“Is that funny?”

“No.”  I pull back and look up at his impossibly handsome face.  He didn’t shave this morning, and I rub my hand down his cheek, enjoying the roughness.  “I love how generous you are.”

He shrugs and looks uncomfortable.  “They deserve it.”

“Yes, they do.”

“Have you decided what you’re wearing Saturday?” he asks as I gather the frames back into their bags.

“Yeah, I picked something up the other day when Jules and I took Stacy shopping.  Thank you again for including Jules’ family.  They’re excited to go.”

“My parents really enjoyed themselves with Jules’ family.  They’ll be happy to have them there.”

“Do you have lots of work today?” I ask, steeling myself to tell him about Brad.

“No, I’m done.  You?”

“I just so happen to have a clear calendar for the rest of the day.”

“Hmm…what can we do with a whole day off in the rain?” He raises a finger to his lips and pretends to be thinking really hard, and I laugh, but then remember that there is somewhere I need to be, and my mood shifts. Brad and meeting with Sam are the furthest thing from my mind.

“Actually, I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but I do have to run an errand.”  I look down at my hands and then back at him, biting my lip.

“Okay. Do you want company?”

“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

“I always want to be with you.  Where are you going?”  He looks concerned, leaning back on his desk, his arms crossed over his chest.

“The cemetery.”  I shrug nervously.

“Why?”

“I only go twice a year. On my birthday, which I missed this year because my incredibly sexy boyfriend whisked me away to a tropical paradise.”  I grin sassily at him, and he grins back. “And on their birthday.”

“Their birthday?” he asks, confused.

I nod.  “They shared a birthday, exactly three years apart.  They always made a big deal of it, with a big party or a fun trip somewhere.  They always made sure to include me, and so I want to always remember it for them.”  The last few words are a whisper.

He crosses to me and kisses my forehead.  “Let’s go.”

***

Melancholy settles over me as we get closer to the cemetery.  We took my car since I know where to go in the large graveyard, and I just needed something to occupy my mind.

Luke will most likely drive home.

“I’m sorry, honey, but this might turn into a sad day for me.  I don’t dwell on this often, but I’m usually not good company after I’ve been here.”

He kisses my fingers gently and sighs heavily.  “I wish you never had to go through this, Nat.  It’s something I can’t fix for you, and I would do anything if I could.”

“I know,” I whisper.

I park on the single-lane-paved driveway a few rows back from my parents’ large headstone.  After getting out of the car, I reach in the back seat for two bouquets of flowers, lilies for my dad and sunflowers for my mom.  They were her favorite.

I walk over to where they rest. Luke walks just a couple paces behind me, giving me space.  He always knows what to do to comfort me.  I’ll have to thank him later. 

This section of the cemetery sits up on a hill with a great view of downtown, the Space Needle, and the sound.  I gaze around me, taking in their view, and then turn back to the large, black marble headstone.

I kneel before it, not caring about the wet ground, and brush leaves and grass off the base, cleaning it up, keeping myself busy and my eyes averted from their names and dates of birth and death.  I place the flowers beneath their names and then sit back on my heels and look up.

CONNER is written in big, bold letters across the top, their names and dates are below.  Written in script below that is:
I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.