Chapter Twenty-One #2
Forcing a smile on her face in the hope that Nate would hear a lift in her spirits, Luna said, “That would be great. We can go over a new plan for where we’re going to work.” Work was a safe subject. Diving into it would be the perfect distraction.
“What time do you want me there?” he asked.
“How about ten?”
“I’ll see you then.”
“Okay.” Luna closed her eyes for a moment and had a hard time opening them back up. “I need to get some sleep.” She rubbed the space between her eyes.
“Sounds like it. Call me if you need anything,” he told her.
“Thank you,” she said.
“Good night.”
Luna ended the call and dropped the phone on the bed.
She could do this. Dealing with her mother when she was a kid felt impossible. Now she had choices. Smile and pretend that everything is fine, until it is.
Midnight meowed from outside of the bedroom door.
Luna tossed back the covers and went to let her in. After the cat waltzed into the room, Luna closed the door behind her.
Then paused a few steps away.
She turned, looked at the doorknob. Completely unaware of what she’d just done.
She’d locked the door.
Just like Uber . . . Luna met Nate in the driveway the next morning. Not giving him a chance to knock on her door.
He was dedicated to respecting Luna’s boundaries when it came to her mother, but damn it hurt to do so.
Nate wanted to meet the woman to put a face and personality to Luna’s history. How did she put up with it? Why did Luna continue a relationship with someone who obviously didn’t have the capacity to care for others?
Why did Ash?
Because she’s family only goes so far.
Easy for him to say. The woman wasn’t his mother.
Luna slid into the passenger seat before Nate had a chance to cut the engine.
“Thanks for doing this,” she said after a quick hello.
He wanted to kiss her and nearly leaned in to do just that when Luna looked up at the house.
Instead of giving in to his desire, he put the car in drive and started his GPS to direct them to the dealership where Luna had purchased her car. “How did you sleep?” he asked.
Luna huffed a laugh, looked at him, then away.
“That good, huh?” he asked.
“Thanks for listening last night.”
Clearly, she didn’t sleep. Though the way she looked, he wouldn’t have known. Her makeup was a little heavier than she normally wore it, but when he looked closer, he could see the tired behind her eyes.
“How did the morning go?”
“Fine. My mother was never a morning person. A by-product of working late shifts. Now that she’s older, it’s even worse. She’d only been up for about an hour,” Luna said.
“Not enough time to do any damage?” he asked.
Luna laughed. “Exactly.”
Nate opened his mouth to ask more questions.
Luna cut him off before he could. “We need to figure out our schedule. Do you have any commitments this week?”
The emotion and passion of the previous night’s conversation was gone and replaced with calm efficiency.
“I have a meeting with Elenore on Thursday. Otherwise, I’m open.”
Luna nodded. “The delivery of the roofing materials is coming tomorrow, in addition to a giant dumpster.”
“You need to be home for that.”
“I know. Tuesday, then.”
“There’s too much information to go over in a coffee shop,” he reminded her.
“Right. How about your place? Between my mom and the pounding—”
“No problem.” Nate smiled her way.
An hour later the two of them were sitting at the desk of the car salesman as Luna finished signing everything needed for her to take possession.
From there, Nate stood by while Luna was shown some of the bells and whistles of her new ride.
He stood back and watched.
Luna smiled and asked all the questions Nate expected, but there was something missing in her interactions. Less fire . . . less spark. He’d never seen one person have such a profoundly negative effect on someone else in such a short amount of time.
Once the salesman was finished, and he’d shaken their hands for the last time, Nate slipped into the passenger seat. “There’s nothing like a new car smell,” he said as he ran his hand along the leather seat.
“Formaldehyde,” Luna said.
“What?”
“That’s what you’re smelling. The formaldehyde used in the leather seats. There are other components. Plastics, oils . . . but yeah. The same chemicals used to keep that frog from decaying in high school science lab is part of that ‘new car’ smell.”
Nate winced. “That just ruined it for me.”
Luna laughed. A genuine smile this time. “Sometimes random facts stick in my head. That is one of them.”
Nate reached for his seat belt. “Let’s take this out for a spin. You owe me lunch,” he teased.
She smiled again. “You’re not eating in my new car.”
“Good thing I don’t like fast food.”
Leaving his vehicle behind, Luna drove off the lot and slowly adjusted to the feel of her car. The brakes were quick to catch, and the gas was quick to accelerate.
Nate kept quiet and noticed all the minor adjustments Luna made as they drove down the street.
Her seat a little forward, the mirrors tweaked . . . the seat a smidge back. When she was satisfied both her hands sat on the wheel and a grin spread over her face. “I like it,” she said.
“It’s a sweet ride,” he said. “I can’t believe how far navigation systems have come.”
“It’s one giant moving computer,” Luna pointed out. “That’s harder to steal.”
They looked at each other and laughed.
“Do you like Thai food?” Luna asked.
“Love it. The spicier the better.”
Luna switched lanes. “You like your food like you like your women?”
“Now that you mention it. Pulling a gun on someone is definitely spicy.”
Lunch put her in a better mood.
They sat beside each other in a booth and looked over the owner’s manual of the Lexus while they waited for their food.
“This is my first brand-new car,” she admitted.
“Really? I’m surprised.”
“Considering it’s worth ten percent less than it was an hour ago, you shouldn’t be,” she said.
“That’s depressing.”
They talked about their first cars, their dream cars, the cars they thought they’d buy when they grew up, and the ones they never wanted to own.
They talked about food and work and the weather.
And when they finished with their meal, Nate reached for his wallet only to be scolded for doing so.
The drive back to the dealership so he could retrieve his car was a lot lighter than the one earlier. Luna had shifted back to a less guarded version of herself.
She parked beside his car and turned to him. “Thanks for the ride . . . again.”
“You get to be the chauffeur for a while.”
“Fine by me,” she said.
Nate reached over and guided her head to his.
Their lips met, in a not so quick kiss . . . the kind he’d wanted to greet her with but didn’t have the chance.
He pulled back and waited for her to open her eyes, then kissed her again.
Luna covered his hand with hers and lingered as long as he did.
“I like that,” he whispered.
“I do, too.”
Nate peeled himself away. “I’ll see you Tuesday. I may or may not be able to control myself the whole time.”
“We have work to do,” Luna said with a laugh.
“Don’t worry. We’ll work.”
She narrowed her brows. “First. We work first.”
Nate winked and put two fingers to his forehead for a salute. “Yes, ma’am.”