Chapter Thirty-Five
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
The house was perfect. As Eugene walked through, watching Natalie fluff pillows on the incredible sectional and smooth out the rug in the living room, he stared up at the huge arched ceiling with wood beams and felt more at home than he’d felt in a very long time.
The main bedroom was spacious, bed was huge, bathroom was like a spa, and he could already see Natalie and him enjoying some hot sex in that oversize shower.
Backyard was even better. Full outside kitchen, incredible pool with tons of lounging area, and an awesomely oversize green area with amazing trees that provided shade. He could picture parties here. Kids here.
A family. His family. A family he wanted to create. And that was new. Kinda scary. But exciting, too. For the first time since he’d moved here, he exhaled.
“Yeah, this’ll work.”
“So you like it.”
He turned to face Natalie. “I love it. How about you? Do you love it?”
She grinned. “I decorated it. Of course I love it.”
“I mean, would you live here?”
Her smile turned to a confused frown. “I don’t understand.”
“I mean, if you were buying a house, say for you and the kids. Would this be the kind of house you’d choose.”
“Oh. I see. Yes, for resale. Yes, I think a family would love this house. Plenty of space and the backyard is totally family friendly. Who wouldn’t love this place?”
Not at all what he’d asked, but he didn’t want to push. They hadn’t really even talked about feelings yet. He should really do that.
“Natalie, I was wondering…”
Her phone rang. “Oh. Hang on, I need to answer this.”
She walked away as she took the call, so he wandered off, walked outside, answered a few emails, but realized he was distracted when he read the same email three times and still didn’t know what it said.
Because he needed to have a conversation with Natalie. An important one.
He turned to go inside, but Natalie walked out. “Hey, it’s a prospective client and kind of important. I’m sorry, I need to go.”
“Oh. Sure. Thanks for coming over to look at the place. See you tonight?”
She leaned against the doorway. “I’m sorry, I can’t. I have the kids this week. Now that it’s summer, Sean and I divide up by whole weeks, and this week is mine. But we’ll get together for sure. I’ll call you?”
He hated the sound of that. It sounded a lot like she was avoiding him, which was probably his imagination. “Sure.” He walked over to her and brushed his lips across hers, hoping to take it deeper.
But she stepped back. “I’ve gotta go. Sorry. We’ll talk soon.”
“Okay.” He walked her to the front door, and she headed out to her car and pulled down the driveway, leaving him alone.
He had planned on having some alone time with Natalie today, but instead, she had to leave. So, he grabbed his keys and got in his car, figuring he could get some work done at the office.
He’d make plans with Natalie some other time.
And then they’d have that all-important talk.