“Geez.” Heidi laughed, shaking her head. “I’m surprised you didn’t show up with the main dish—the turkey.”
“I almost did,” Scott admitted with a shrug. “But the ham looked so much more impressive. And it is different.” He turned to Anna as he sat back down. “The woman is evil. I wasn’t being competitive, just a little shrewd. And I’ll have you know,” he addressed Nathan, this time with a smug smile, “my ham went long before hers did. It was a huge hit.”
“That’s ’cause it wasn’t your ham.” Sam laughed, rolling her eyes playfully. “All you did was put it in your own pan and cover it with foil.”
“Hey, I paid for it. It was my ham.”
“You and my brother’s fiancée would probably get along great,” Nathan said, putting his arm around Anna’s chair. “My brother swears he’s never met anyone more competitive.”
“Does she play Scrabble?
That surprised Nathan, but he smiled. “As a matter of fact, yeah. She and my sisters were just playing that on Thanksgiving.”
“She any good?”
“Pretty sure she beat my sisters.”
“It’s on, then,” Scott said a bit bright-eyed. “I’m the master at Scrabble.”
“Oh, here we go,” Anna said as they all laughed and reiterated Scott’s competitiveness by sharing more stories about it.
By the end of the night, Nathan was sold on her friends and sister, including the idea that Scott was absolutely gay with zero romantic interest in Anna, despite how not gay the guy acted. Nathan knew it was stupid, but the fact that Scott was so into sports—watching and coaching not playing—and that he’d gotten so excited about Nathan offering to take them all to his brother’s home games in their family suite when the season started up, was so unexpected. His “being the master at Scrabble” comment was probably the gayest thing he’d said all night. But then the guy started talking about how much weight he could bench and even offered to change the oil in Sam’s car if she’d take his next turn at making dinner. He was a football coach for crying out loud. Built like one too.
Still, the night Nathan spent with her friends had gone too well for him to start obsessing about Scott like he had most of the week. His living with two women was probably a gay thing too, considering most single straight guys would likely have male roommates. Either that or he was a fucking genius.
Heidi and Gordon were out of there fairly early. They were having breakfast with her mom and stepdad the next morning to give them the news of their engagement. Anna and Sam said since Scott had made dinner they’d clean up the kitchen, but Nathan said he’d be happy to help Anna. Sam thanked him and headed to her room while Scott took a call outside.
“You were a hit.” Anna smiled as Nathan leaned in from behind her at the sink and kissed the side of her face. “But then I knew you’d be. Scott, Sam, and Mom already had nothing but good things to say about the first impression you’d made on them in Colorado.”
“Well, they were a hit with me too.” He smirked as she turned to look at him. “Even Scott.”
“I told you, you had nothing to worry about.” She glanced around a bit sneakily then frowned, lowering her voice. “He’s still so not over Josh. He hasn’t said it in a while, but I can tell he isn’t. I feel so bad for him. I really thought he was going to be with Josh forever. They always seemed so in love and perfect for each other.” She shook her head, turning back to the sink. “Stupid Josh. He completely blindsided Scott.”
Nathan wouldn’t ask her now for details because he was afraid Scott might walk back in, but he was curious now. How could someone be completely blindsided? In Nathan’s opinion, there had to be signs the party who got cheated on chose to ignore.
They were nearly done clearing up the kitchen. Nathan took advantage of Anna putting something away in the cupboard to come up from behind her and wrap his arms around her again. He’d since stopped trying to hold back. At this point, it felt impossible, and he didn’t see any reason why he should. So he continued to shamelessly kiss her every chance he got.
“I can’t decide if I’m more disgusted or jealous.” They both turned at the sound of Sam’s voice as she pulled a box of cereal out of the pantry. “I just can’t believe you two have known each other for less than two weeks and you’re already this gaga.”
As crazy as it sounded, it was damn true. Even crazier was how not ashamed Nathan was of admitting it. “Guess there’s no sense it trying to deny it,” Nathan said with a smirk as he pecked Anna.
Sam pulled a bowl out of the cupboard and the milk from the fridge. The whole time she peered questionably at Nathan. “What?” Anna asked, laughing.
“I’ll be watching you closely, sir.” Sam pointed her spoon at Nathan. “So far you do seem too good to be true.” She winked then smiled. “I’m gonna watch some TV before hitting the hay. Or did you guys want some privacy in the front room?”
Anna told her she was fine and that they still had a little more to finish up in the kitchen. As soon as Sam was out of the kitchen, Nathan was all over Anna again. “Let’s go back to my place,” he whispered in her ear. “I can hardly wait to have you all to myself.”
The very thought had his cock hardening already, and he pressed it against her ass. Anna gasped, turning around to face him. But he shushed her giggling because of Sam in the next room. Then he explained, “Even if I hang out a while longer, I still won’t be ready to say goodbye so soon. I’m off tomorrow and so are you. I planned on seeing you again then anyway.” He shrugged. “Why don’t you just come home with me tonight?”
The sudden twinkle in her eyes had him smiling like the lovesick sap he’d begun to feel like, something he wouldn’t even try to hide now. He hadn’t planned on introducing her to his family so soon. The last time he brought a girl around for them to meet and introduced her as his girl he’d jumped the gun way too soon. Only this time it felt completely different. Still, he’d play it by ear. First, he’d take her home tonight and make her his all over again; then depending on how he felt tomorrow, he’d decide if he’d be introducing her to the family.
Chapter 14: Tell Me About Him
Aiyanna
The fact that Nathan’s brother was “Rage” Romero and that she knew Point Bliss was an exclusive, gated, and insanely expensive neighborhood should’ve prepared Aiyanna. She figured his place would be impressive, but somehow she never expected it to be this big. Maybe because he was a bachelor and a firefighter, she expected nice, but a townhome or something a bit smaller.
“Wow,” she said as they drove through the gate. “This is your house?”
“Yeah.” He turned to her with a smile then explained. “It’s actually two homes on the same property. So the property looks a lot bigger since it sprawls out to accommodate both homes. My brother and his fiancée live over there.” He pointed at the top of a house on the other side of some palm trees but turned the opposite way. “We toyed with the idea of fencing the properties off but decided it wasn’t necessary. We kind of like the idea that someday we may have kids who’d grow up so close to one another on the same open property.”
They drove into his garage as Aiyanna stared at him. She inhaled deeply, biting her lower lip in an attempt to not smile as hugely as she wanted to. It was ridiculous for her mind to even go there. So he mentioned having kids someday. She hadn’t even known him a full two weeks for Christ’s sake!
“Are you blushing?”
Aiyanna snapped out of her thoughts and turned to meet the humor in Nathan’s eyes. She touched her cheek, feeling the warmth as she felt her eyes widen. “No . . . Uh—”
“Yeah, you are.” He smiled even bigger, sitting back against the car door. “What are you thinking of?”
She shook her head, catching herself when she realized she was doing it far more adamantly than she’d intended. “Nothing.”
He laughed wholeheartedly this time. “Look at you. You’re bright red now.” He lifted a brow. “You did that earlier tonight, and I t
hought it was fucking adorable then too, but I gotta know now. Are you having naughty thoughts, Anna?” He glanced out the front windshield at the door that she imagined led into the house. “About what I’ll be doing to you when I get you in there?”
He sat up straight suddenly, patting his crotch. Aiyanna touched her now burning face again and pretended not to notice his patting himself down. “No, I was just . . .”
She shook her head, debating which was worse, admitting the truth or lying and saying she was thinking about what they’d be doing tonight.
“Just what?” Nathan stared at her, still not budging to open the door. Evidently, he wasn’t moving until she indulged him with her private thoughts.
“This week really did feel like one of the longest of my life too.” She smiled then bit down on the corner of her lip. “I guess I am excited about tonight.”
“You should be.” Finally, he moved away from the door and leaned into her. “I was gentle all those first times.” He whispered then kissed her softly. “Tonight it’s on.”
His words coupled with the smoldering heat in his eyes had her warming all over. He’d been gentle enough the first few times at the cabin, but the following days, the gentleness had worn off a bit and they’d really gone at it. What exactly was he planning on doing tonight?
“C’mon,” he said, kissing her softly one last time. “Don’t worry. I’m not jumping your bones the moment we get inside.” He laughed as he opened his door, and they both got out of the car at the same time. Peering at her over the car’s roof, he grinned wickedly. “At least I’ll try not to.”
She walked around the car and met him at the door to go inside. Once inside, she glanced around curiously at what she could already tell was an enormous house as he punched in the security code on the alarm system. This was just his laundry room they were standing in, and it was already bigger than her kitchen. It was almost embarrassing now when she remembered the crappy little cabin her ex had splurged on. No wonder Nathan had thought it such a dump.
They walked through the laundry room into the enormous and impressive kitchen. But even more impressive was the view. The entire back of the house consisted of windows that faced his luxurious deck, and beyond that was the beach. She knew Point Bliss was a beach community, but she hadn’t counted on him living on the beach. “This is beautiful, Nathan.”
He set his keys down on the marble counter. “This is nothing compared to my brother AJ’s place, but it is pretty bad ass if I say so myself. He purchased this entire property a couple of years back, paid most of it off, and then sold it to Isaiah and me for what he owed, not what it was actually worth. Even that he didn’t want to do, but Isaiah and I weren’t having it. So we split the property up and the cost, paid what was left of the mortgage, and that’s why I can afford this place. Although Isaiah and I have been investing pretty well for years now.”
“Really?” Aiyanna turned to him, curious. “What kind of investments?”
“Different stuff.” He tugged her along as they made their way into the huge theater room next to the kitchen.
He explained how he and Isaiah had become quite the connoisseurs of investing in the stock market. “But we also own other properties now, both together under our LLC and separately. Mostly commercial properties. The wife of a good friend of ours specializes in buying and selling commercial real estate. So anytime we make a good profit on our stocks we need to throw it right back into something since we’re both single and have very few write-offs.”
Nathan told her how AJ’s financial advisor was now the whole family’s advisor and he was a very good one. To her surprise, he mentioned he could actually quit his job at this point the way his brother Isaiah had, if he wanted to, but he didn’t want to.
“Maybe someday when I have a family and want to be around them more.”
She listened intently again, trying not to get too caught up in the fact that he spoke of having a family someday so openly. Could he be any more perfect? Most guys avoided speaking of even commitment, let alone starting a family.
Aiyanna admired every room they walked through. Unless Nathan had a secret gift he hadn’t mentioned for decorating, his home must’ve been professionally decorated. She and Scott had walked through a few model homes not too long ago just for fun. They were all so perfectly decorated. Some things Aiyanna would’ve never thought of to use: like the three wooden sailboat steering wheels over one of the large entryways. Most of the home had an ocean or beach theme.
Aiyanna was too busy looking at the steering wheels to notice where the entryway headed. When she looked down, she nearly froze at the sight of his gorgeous master bedroom. Like the rest of the house, the back wall was entirely all windows from top to bottom. The ocean view was positively breathtaking. The glass doors opened up to an equally impressive deck with cozy oversized cushioned lounge chairs and what looked like a fire pit. While this certainly wasn’t beach weather and it’d been cloudy most of the day, Aiyanna couldn’t help feeling the urge to go sit out there. It also made for an amazing sitting area.
As if he read her mind, Nathan squeezed her hand. “I can grab you one of my sweatshirts and a blanket, and we can sit out there if you want. It gets a little chilly, but if I get the fire going and we share the blanket, we should be good. I think you and I are pretty good at keeping each other warm.”
She nodded, feeling like a giddy little kid. “Yeah, this is nothing compared to Colorado. I’d love to sit out there.” Nathan smiled, kissing her again, then started toward his closet. “I should’ve thought to bring a sweatshirt.”
“Nah, that’s fine. Mine will probably be a little big on you—” He stopped short then turned with a smile. “Hold on.” He started toward his bedroom door in a bit of a hurry. “I think I have something in my front closet.”
Within minutes, he was back in the room, holding a pink hoodie sweatshirt. “This is probably more your size.”
Aiyanna eyed it, trying not to jump to conclusions. He did have two sisters. “Whose is it?”
“I don’t know,” he said, handing it to her, but stopped when she noticeably recoiled her hands back. “I mean it’s either one of my sisters or my cousin’s wife maybe? It’s been in my closet for a while. But it’s not anyone I dated if that’s what you’re thinking. Believe it or not, I rarely bring anyone back here.” He stopped to think about that for a second. “In fact, I can’t even remember if I ever have. My family pops in all the time. I never wanted any awkward run-ins. I got used to just using hotel rooms or going back to their places where I could make a quick exit when I lived with both of my brothers at AJ’s place. So I kept the rule the same here, since I really never know who might drop in.”
Aiyanna’s eyes went a bit wide. “You think they might stop by tonight?”
“Doubt it.” He shrugged, handing her the sweatshirt again, and she took it this time. “But this is different. So it doesn’t matter if they do. Just like me meeting your family and friends, I want them to meet you.”
For whatever reason, that made Aiyanna’s insides tighten up. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to meet his family, but their moving this fast was beginning to feel a bit unnerving. Not that moving fast with Nathan was a bad thing. But both Sam and Scott had warned that she not get too ahead of herself so soon. They also both questioned if this might not be a rebound thing, being that her breakup with Jace was so recent.
Aiyanna was sure the latter wasn’t the case. She never cared enough about Jace to need to use anyone to try and get over him. She was over him the moment she realized what a jerk he turned out to be. Her tears had been more out of frustration with herself for over thinking the whole damn first-time thing and also humiliation for how it turned out since she’d discussed it so much with Scott and Sam before that night.
Moving so quickly with Nathan was more about allowing herself to be impulsive for once in her life and following her heart. Clearly, strategically planning her love life and how it should play out hadn??
?t worked for her at all. So she was just going to go with her gut for once and hope for the best. Only one thing scared her, and she was sure of it now: getting over someone as perfect as Nathan would be a million times harder than getting over stupid Jace.
As promised, Nathan wasn’t rushing to jump her bones. He set her up outside on the oversized lounge chair with a blanket and turned the fire pit on. Then he went inside and came back with an assorted tray of cheese, crackers, and grapes and placed it on the outer edge of the fire pit.
“I’m not this prepared usually,” he said with a chuckle. “We just had a gathering at my brother AJ’s the other day for my insanely intelligent niece’s latest accomplishment in school. As usual, they had way too many leftovers, so my sister-in-law made me bring this and a few other things home. I’ll have to tell you more about my niece. She’s an amazing little girl.”
He started to walk away again. “Where are you going now?” Aiyanna asked, reaching for a cracker.
“To get some wine to go with the cheese and crackers.”
“Just a glass for me,” she said with a wince. “I’m a lightweight, remember? I wouldn’t wanna pass out on you.”
“I can get you coffee or hot chocolate instead,” he offered.
“No. I can do a glass of wine. It sounds perfect, actually.”
With that, he was off again. The very thought of passing out was mortifying, but having a glass of wine with Nathan out here in this incredibly romantic setting was too good to pass up. Only Aiyanna knew her limits. She’d definitely be sipping very slowly, especially because she did not want to forget a single thing about tonight or any night she spent with her amazing new boyfriend. The very thought made her smile. How had this even happened?