Chapter Nine
Nate
The upstairs offices that housed the Applewood Downtown Business Association had never looked intimidating to Nate before, but something about attending a meeting on what was essentially someone else’s turf had him feeling even more off kilter than he already had been.
The pool of desire for Lottie that was always present in the depths of his belly had not only stirred that morning, but it swirled like a whirlpool the moment he saw her in her vintage swimsuit.
There had been so much creamy sand colored skin on display that Nate nearly turned tail and went back into the locker room to take a cold shower, but there was no way he was missing out on more time with her.
Instead of shamefully rubbing one out as he wanted to, he slipped into the pool as quietly as possible and joined her.
Homecoming and Prom in high school and town festivals had provided Nate with ample opportunity to dance with Lottie in the past, but he’d never taken advantage of them.
Now, after having held her in his arms as he spun the two of them around the pool, he was kicking himself for letting so many chances pass him by.
It wasn’t just the way it felt to have her body so close to his again, or the feel of her hands on him, but it was the look in her eyes as they moved together that had Nate wishing he’d done things differently.
The chocolate irises held so much affection and admiration as well as a fierce loyalty that he hadn’t expected to see.
All of those emotions directed at him had his heart thumping so loudly in his chest that Nate was certain everyone in that senior center could hear it.
Lottie had always looked at him differently than anyone else, and while he let himself see it for a brief moment years ago, Nate had spent so much time ignoring it after that that seeing it again shook him.
After all he’d said and done, she still looked at him the way people always hope someone will look at them, with blinding love.
Nate had that years ago and he rejected it, but by some miracle her feelings for him hadn’t gone away.
The question was, how was he going to go about keeping her affections this time?
The apology and taffy had gone a ways to getting Lottie to forgive him, but she merely agreed to join him in his quest to improve the town.
Nate wanted more than that. Now that he’d tamped down the fear, the idea that she would be his downfall, he couldn’t stop thinking about how badly he wanted to keep her in his life.
“Hey.” Lottie’s honeyed voice followed by a slight bump of her shoulder into his side snapped Nate from his reverie. “Are you all right? You look a little green.” She reached into the large tote that seemed to be her constant companion and offered him a small package of saltine crackers.
Nate smiled sadly. He felt a little green, but not from nausea or an upset stomach.
He felt like a school boy with a crush, unsure of how to proceed in order to get the girl.
Flirting and dancing her around the pool were one thing, but how did he make up for so many years of denying his feelings and treating Lottie like she was persona non grata?
“Thanks,” he rasped. Clearing his throat, he pocketed the crackers and nodded to the closed door. “We should probably head in.”
Lottie nodded. “Probably, but I need to make a few adjustments first.” Nate barely had time to register her words before her hands were in his hair.
Tingles erupted on his scalp as her nails scraped through his neatly styled locks, the feeling so immensely pleasurable that he didn’t even put up a fight about her messing up his hair.
Once her hands disappeared, Nate opened his eyes to see her unbuttoning his coat.
Logically, he knew that they weren’t about to do anything sexual in the hallway of a public building, but Nate’s brain and his cock were on two different wavelengths because he was almost fully hard by the time she stopped halfway through the buttons.
“What are you doing?” He could hear the low, husky tone of his voice, but Lottie seemed unaffected by it as she reached up and undid the knot in his tie.
Tutting, Lottie proceeded to remove his tie, stuff it into his coat pocket, and release the two top buttons of his shirt. “You look amazing in a suit, Nathan, but it’s just a little too stiff and formal, too conservative.”
Nate tucked the compliment she’d given him away for a rainy day when he felt less than desirable and scoffed as he gestured toward Lottie’s vintage pea coat that hid an even more vintage looking dress and her shoes that he could never identify by name if asked.
“Seems like the pot calling the kettle black, don’t you think? ”
Rolling her eyes, Lottie continued to fuss with his collar and hair. “My look is an aesthetic homage to a time that was admired by a woman that I admired. It’s not about an ideology but about sporting a look that Mrs. G would have loved.”
Nate smiled softly. Lottie had dressed far more casually in high school, and while he’d never known the reason for her transformation before, he’d never questioned it because she was stunning no matter what she wore.
“It suits you,” he confessed. The chunky curls and painted red lips highlighted her naturally gorgeous features, and the clothes she wore displayed her deliciously curvy body well.
Lottie’s hands stilled and came to rest on his chest. “Thank you.” Her pink tongue peeked out and ran across her ruby-stained lips, making his already hard cock leak in his pants a little as he pictured that tongue doing so many wicked things to his body.
Shaking her head, Lottie stepped back and waved her hand over his body.
“The formal look suits you too, but you look far more approachable when you’re less put together. ”
Nate pushed back into her space and ran his thumb along the bottom of her lip, a small smirk forming on his face when her breath hitched. “Are you admitting that you find me intimidating?”
Lottie huffed and turned her head slightly, but when her eyes met his, he could see the truth in them. “You’ve always intimidated me.”
That was news to Nate. No matter the situation the two had found themselves in over the years, Lottie seemed to always know exactly how to handle him. “Even now?” he asked, cupping her cheek.
Lottie closed her eyes and leaned into his palm, sending a pulse of longing through his body. He leaned closer, as closer as he could get without merging with the woman. “Always.”
Nate’s heart squeezed as he ran his nose along her hairline, inhaling the sweet scent of her shampoo.
“Consider the feeling mutual.” After placing a light kiss at her temple, Nate stepped back, not wanting to leave her side for one second but also needing to do his job.
The pull was strong, as were his nerves, but he could be stronger. “We really should be going.”
Lottie nodded, her eyes still closed as she leaned back against the taupe wall of the hallway.
“Just give me another second,” she whispered.
Her expression was so calm, so serene that for a moment, Nate wondered if she’d slipped off to sleep.
Suddenly, her eyes popped open and she grabbed her tote bag. “Okay, I’m ready.”
Ignoring the whiplash caused by her sudden change in demeanor, Nate hurried along behind Lottie as she opened the door to the offices and marched inside.
“Good morning, Francine,” she called out to the receptionist. After reaching into her bag of tricks, Lottie handed the woman a small red box that he recognized as coming from the chocolate store a few doors down. “I got you your favorites.”
The younger woman smiled at Lottie as she graciously accepted the gift.
“You didn’t have to do that, Lottie, but thank you for thinking of me.
” Smiling knowingly, Lottie whispered something to the woman and the two giggled for a long while before Francine pointed to the conference room in the back. “You’re all set to go in, Nate.”
“Uh, thanks.” He smiled politely as he walked away. Francine had always been cordial to him, but never as effusive and giggly as she just had been with Lottie. Nate leaned closer to the woman next to him. “What did you say to her?”
Lottie shrugged, a small smile on her lips.
“I heard that she broke up with her girlfriend last week and I wanted to get her something nice to cheer her up.” As they got to the conference room door, she leaned up to his ear.
“Then I told her that if she needed more than chocolate to feel better that I knew a dominatrix who could take her mind off things.”
Nate reared back and gave Lottie a once over.
He knew that she had a wide variety of friends, but he’d never pictured her as part of the kink community.
Now that was all he could picture and the image of Lottie in a leather bustier was not one he was likely to be rid of anytime soon, not that he would ever even attempt that.
Lottie slapped his arm, dragging him off the lusty road he’d been traveling on. “Oh my God, Nathan. It’s not me.”
Nate shook his head, the image from seconds ago burned onto the back of his eyelids like a photo negative.
“Not sure if I’m relieved or disappointed by that.
” Lottie’s eyebrows nearly hit her hairline, but before they could get too into that conversation, Nate opened the glass door to the conference room. “Let’s go.”
Lottie smirked. “There’s that bossiness again. Are you sure you’re not a Dom?”