Chapter 16
16
“Should I be offended that you’re late again?” I asked Natalie as she took a seat opposite me.
We were on a date. Our first official date. Where we both agreed to it and knew we were meeting each other.
She pressed her lips together in a smile. “I had a long day. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be here.”
“Well, that’s good. For once.” I smirked at her.
She shook her head. “Yeah, yeah. I told you I was awkward and anxious. You should have expected it.”
“And I wasn’t upset. Not even a little. Not last time and not this time. You look amazing, by the way.”
She did. Stunning. We agreed to a casual dinner, nothing overly fancy, and she was beautiful. Jeans that clung to her legs and tucked into short boots, a light pink sweater that brought out the pink in her skin and glowed against her dark hair.
“Thank you. So do you.” The way her cheeks darkened told me she wasn’t sure if it was okay to say that.
“Thank you.” I ditched my suit and went for jeans of my own and a lavender long-sleeved button-up shirt, untucked with no tie. It felt like a stretch after so long watching every little thing I did, but after two articles came out about me, trying to discredit me and gaining zero traction, I was done catering to my critics and ready to step into my own power.
“You look like you made a decision about something,” Natalie said, sipping her water and watching me over the edge of the glass.
I nodded, smiling at her insightfulness. “I was just thinking I’m happy to be here with you.”
She looked around, catching a few people watching us, and ducked her head, letting her hair fall in front of her face.
“Are you not feeling the same?”
Her gaze snapped to mine as her head shook quickly. “No. I am very happy to be here. But I… being the center of attention is not my usual.”
“People will forget about us soon enough,” I assured her.
She smiled and glanced around. “I hope so.”
The server approached and took Natalie’s drink order and asked if we were ready to order.
“I haven’t even looked at the menu,” Natalie confessed, opening her menu.
“I’ll give you a minute,” the server said, smiling before checking on another table.
“I’ve never been here,” Natalie said without looking up from her menu. “Do you come here a lot?”
I shook my head. “Jane mentioned it. Said she and her husband like to come here when they have a date night.”
“Everything looks good.”
“Get it all.”
She scoffed. “No. That’s a waste. I’d never eat it all.”
“Well, what are you thinking? Maybe we can share.”
She looked up at me, a hopefulness in her gaze that hit me square in the chest.
This woman had the ability to undo me. I couldn’t remember that ever happening before. The complete and total surrender to her and the way she made me feel. It was terrifying and exciting all at once.
“Okay,” she whispered.
We talked about the food options for a few minutes, and when the server returned, we ordered two dinners, two appetizers, and one extra side because Natalie couldn’t decide what she wanted.
“That’s too much,” she said when the server collected our menus and left.
I shook my head. “Worst case, you can take some home for dinner another night.”
She smiled and met my gaze. “Thank you for wanting to do this.”
My eyebrows shot up. “A date?”
She nodded, looking away from me. “I haven’t been… easy to deal with. Between walking out the first time, assaulting you before that, getting you caught in a storm, and then not knowing how to tell people about us… I don’t know why you wanted to go out, but?—”
“Because I like you, Natalie. A lot.”
She rolled her lips in and smiled.
I reached across the table and took her hand. She fidgeted, but turned her hand over so our palms slid together.
Her eyes closed, and her shoulders dropped just enough to tell me it helped. “I’m sorry I wasn’t very nice to you the last time we went out. When we met at O’Kelley’s.”
“You were surprised,” I said. “And we weren’t on the best of terms.”
“But we are now?” One brow rose in question.
I laughed. “We’re getting there.” I sipped my water. “If I’m being honest, I was fighting my attraction to you. I was pretty sure you hated me, so I was trying to keep my distance.”
“I never hated you,” she whispered. “I was intimidated by you. Still am.”
“Why?”
She raised an eyebrow.
I chuckled. “Okay, fine, but I’m just a man.”
She laughed. “There is nothing just about you.”
“What does that mean?”
She shook her head, then realized I was serious and sobered. “You’re the mayor of our town, which means you have power. People want to be close to you. But it’s not just because you’re the mayor. You have this way of making people feel like they’re safe around you. Like they can be honest and you won’t judge them.”
“Except you,” I said, knowing she didn’t feel that way when we met.
She breathed a self-conscious laugh. “No. When you found me at the campground… I would have panicked if you weren’t there. I froze when that storm came in. I had no idea what to do, and you took charge and got us to your car. That’s sort of what I’m talking about.”
“It’s a good thing I take over instead of offering people to think for themselves?”
She chuckled. “No. Well, yes, when the situation warrants it.”
“And if the situation doesn’t warrant it, then I’m an overbearing jerk?”
She shook her head. “No. You just know what makes sense. You think farther ahead than others and know where things need to go. I live in the moment more, which works out well with my job. That’s how kids are, and it allows me to be on their level more easily, I think.”
“You really love kids.” It wasn’t a question, but she answered anyway.
A dreamy look lifted her lips and had her eyes unfocused and staring past me. “I do. I always have. I guess it’s a symptom of my childhood or something.”
“Did you grow up with a bunch of younger siblings?” I asked.
She shook her head and laughed. “Not even close. I’m the youngest, but my dad was married before me so my older sisters didn’t grow up with me. They’re eight and thirteen years older than me.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah. I was always jealous that they had each other. I begged my parents to have another kid, but it wasn’t in their plans or in the cards or whatever. Whatever the reason, I’m the only one. But I was always drawn to the younger kids. Any of my friends who had younger siblings I would spend as much time with their siblings as my friends. I always felt more comfortable with them.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that. A lot of people go into education because they want to be there for younger generations.”
She nodded. “Yeah, that was part of it. I just wanted to have someone to play with.”
I laughed. “Well, that works, too. Now it’s what you do all day.”
“Not all day. There’s this guy who won’t give me money and has me working on all kinds of different things.” She laughed.
I fought the unease inside me. Was that why she wanted to date me?
No, it couldn’t be. I was the one who pursued her. But was I a fool?
“I was just joking,” she said softly, drawing my attention.
I pressed my lips into a smile I didn’t feel. The server came over with our appetizers and distracted us for a moment, but the moment wasn’t over.
The server left, promising to return to check on us soon, and Natalie looked at me.
“I am not here to ask you for more money. Or anything like that. I really was joking.”
“Okay,” I said, but it was hard to believe her. I picked up a potato skin and took a bite, resolving not to let her bad joke ruin the night.
She followed suit, choosing her own appetizer and turning the conversation away from work to things less full of landmines.
“I ruined this, didn’t I?” she asked after our dinner was served.
I sighed, knowing I had to be honest with her. “I’m trying not to let it. My ex was a master manipulator. She would tell me one thing but do something else, then accuse me of not paying attention to what she said. She had multiple affairs. She made me doubt everything I knew about myself.”
“I’m not like that,” Natalie breathed.
“I know. I want to know. I believe you. But…”
“Everyone wants something from you. And it makes you wonder if anyone is ever honest with you.”
I nodded, surprised she was able to capture my thoughts so succinctly.
“It was a bad joke, but I promise it was a joke. I love playing with the kids. I love being able to come up with new games and try different things. To be creative and expressive in a way I never could be when I was teaching. I thought teaching was going to be the right thing for me. I loved the idea of it, but when I was a student teacher, I started to see it wasn’t what I expected.”
“In what way?”
She shrugged and pursed her lips as though afraid to tell me what she thought. “Teachers are amazing, and it’s a valuable career. I wouldn’t be where I am without amazing teachers who were willing to see all of me.”
“You don’t have to extoll the benefits of teachers to me, Natalie.”
She pressed her lips up. “I know. Maybe I’m doing it for me. I spent a lot of time in school. I have a degree that would change things for a lot of people. But I don’t use it. It feels like I wasted my education, like I took something that was given to me and threw it away. It’s not always easy to be objective.”
“I think we all go into college with the best of intentions. We think we know what we’re getting into, but not everyone is going to come out with the same thoughts we walked in with. I know I didn’t.”
“What is your degree in?”
“Political science.”
She gave me a look that said I was full of crap.
I laughed. “Okay, yes, I’m using my degree, but I’m not normal.”
She smirked.
“Ha ha. I’m just saying it’s hard to make a choice when you’re seventeen that will rule the rest of your life. A lot of people can’t do it.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “I guess. I wish I’d been able to. I think teaching would be amazing if I could do things my way.”
“Instead of following the state guidelines?”
Her head bobbed side to side. “Somewhat. I get that there are things kids need to learn every year so they’re prepared for the following year, but not everyone learns the same. Some kids do better with action included in their lessons. Some kids need music. Some kids need to read or listen or write things down. There’s not space for all of that in schools.”
I shook my head. “No, there’s not. You’re right.”
“That’s why I love working at the community center, and now the rec center. I love being able to make recreation the biggest part of the day. Whether that’s physical activity or fine motor skills when they’re crafting with Trinity or any of the things they do. Amelia said when Trinity came in, it opened the eyes of a lot of the kids to other things. Some of them refused to do her crafts, but over time more and more have joined her. Now, it’s something the kids ask for and are so excited on the days she’s there that we can barely contain them.”
“That’s good. It’s good for them to have a variety of activities.”
She nodded, smiling softly. “It is. It’s very good.”
We finished our dinner and talked about the fundraiser. I relaxed and accepted that she was being honest about her intentions. She wanted the best for the kids, and she was working hard to get it.
I found myself wishing I had more money to give her to support her project. That was the danger of dating something within my hierarchy. An attachment could mean impropriety.
“What happens if you don’t get enough money to do everything you want to do for the summer camp?” I asked after I paid the check. We were finishing our drinks and not in a hurry to leave.
“Honestly, I don’t think we will get enough money. It’s a huge project, and it’s expensive. But if we don’t get enough money, then Amelia plans to put forth a proposal for the budget for the next fiscal year. She said there might be a way to get more. She’s full of ideas.” Natalie chuckled, her eyes wide like Amelia’s ideas were crazy.
“What other ideas does she have?”
“The one she keeps trying to talk me into is to hold a community building party. Like some charities do where they have volunteers come in and build a house or something. She wants to do the same thing but have people help out with constructing the building.”
“Is that possible?”
Natalie snorted. “I doubt it. We would need someone who knows what they’re doing to run it, and even the material costs are going to be pretty huge.”
“What if there were people who knew how to make that happen? And if we could get materials at cost?”
Natalie shook her head as I spoke. “I don’t want you getting involved. It’s not why I told you about it.”
“I asked.”
“I know, but still. I can’t ask you to do more than you’ve already done.”
“I’m not the person who knows how to do that. I meant Knox Randall or Sofia Frank. Sebastian Parks might be another one. They might have their contractor’s license.”
“Yeah, but a building is going to require an engineer and an architect and a lot of people.”
I shook my head. “I’m not so sure. There are prefab buildings that come with instructions to assemble them.”
“We’re going to be putting kids in this,” she said, not sounding convinced.
“I know. I really think it might be worth looking into. It might be more affordable, too.”
“I will look into it. But back to your original question, we would probably have to delay opening the camp for a year. It might be the better option anyway.”
“But it’s not what you want.”
She shook her head. “No. It’s not. But we don’t always get what we want when we want it. It’ll happen. The camp will open. And if I have to wait a year so we can do it right, that’s okay.”
I studied her. She smiled and set her glass on the table. She stood and pulled on her coat, then slung her handbag over her shoulder.
She looked like she meant what she said. It wasn’t a manipulation. It was simply the truth.
“I hope you don’t have to wait a year.”
“Me, too.”
I followed her outside into the cold night and realized I hadn’t thought about what would come after dinner. I wasn’t ready for the night to end, but I wasn’t going to be presumptuous.
“So, um, I parked over here,” she said, gesturing toward the parking lot.
I nodded and followed her. She fiddled with her keys as we got closer to her car, then unlocked it with a beep.
“I had a good time,” she said.
I brushed the hair out of her face so I could look into her eyes. “I don’t want to say goodnight yet.”
She tilted her chin up and smiled. “Neither do I. But I have a roommate.”
“I do not.”
“That’s… nice for you.”
I laughed with her. “Would you like to come back to my place?”
She ducked her chin and nodded.
I lifted her chin, waiting until her gaze hit mine before I spoke. “The choice is yours, Natalie. I don’t want you to feel pressured.”
She bit the inside of her lip and smiled. “Would it help to know I told Daisy I was hoping to not be home tonight?”
My dick twitched at the thought. I nodded, then cleared my suddenly thick throat. “Yes, that helps.”
“Should I follow you?”
I nodded, leaning closer to her. She smiled, her back pressed against the side of her SUV and me to her front.
I leaned down slowly, holding her gaze until the last minute when mine dropped to her lips.
Her lips parted with her quick inhale, then they were on mine. Hungry, desperate kisses passed between us, give and take and give again.
My erection thickened against her stomach, and her whimpers told me she was almost as ready as I was.
I found her hand and clasped it in mine, holding tight to it. Her fingers were cold, her lips warm, and her body willing.
I pulled back reluctantly, knowing it would be worth the wait to get back to my place.
“Follow me, Natalie. I’m just over there.”
She nodded, her chest heaving with her attempt to catch her breath.
I kissed her fingers, then released her hand and waited for her to get in her SUV. When she closed the door and turned on the vehicle, I jogged to mine and cranked it up, not needing the heat before I was pulling out of the lot and ready to get home.
Now.