Chapter Twenty-Five #2
Later that night when Nate and Luna had retired to their room at the Airbnb, Nate opened the door of communication on a subject he knew was sticky. But Tony and Clarissa wouldn’t be the last who asked the question of what was next, and he wanted to be united with Luna in his response.
“There’s something I wanted to talk to you about,” he started.
Nate sat against the back of the bed in a pair of gray sweatpants.
Luna poked her head out of the open door to the bathroom with a washcloth in her hand and surprise written on her face. “That sounds serious.”
“No,” he said. “Maybe . . . could be.”
She tossed the washcloth on the bathroom counter and moved to sit at his feet on the bed.
She was wearing a spaghetti strap nightgown that teased more than it covered, and Nate forced his gaze away from the swell of her breasts.
“Which is it?” she asked.
“All three.”
She cocked her head to the side, her eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Something that Tony said that got me thinking.”
Luna crossed her legs on the bed and waited.
“What’s up?”
“I’m not sure how to bring this up organically, so I’m just going to dive in.”
“I don’t think I’m going to like where this is going.”
Nate smiled and pulled her hands into his. “You made it very clear that you don’t want to get married again. And after meeting your mother, and hearing the stories about Landon, I can’t blame you. We both know that the longer we date, the more people will ask where we’re headed.”
“That’s inevitable.”
“I’m inclined to tell anyone who asks that it’s too soon to discuss long-term, regardless of how that looks.”
“That sounds safe.”
“How does it look? Have you thought about what happens when the love of your life . . . say, me . . .”—Nate placed a hand on his chest and added a coy smile—“comes along and sweeps you off your feet?”
Luna bit her lip and started laughing.
“I’m serious,” he said.
“I think I just saw the face that you gave to your mom to get away with just about anything growing up.”
Nate shrugged. “I’m not sure, you’ll have to ask her.”
“I will,” Luna assured him.
“Seriously, though. When I told Tony that you were against marriage, the first thing he asked is if I think you’ll change your mind.”
Luna slowly tilted her head in a half no shake. “Nate . . .”
“We’re going to get that question. I can easily respond with ‘We don’t need a piece of paper to be in a committed relationship.’ But then the next question is going to be—”
“What about kids?”
She had thought about this.
Nate nodded.
“Do you want kids?” she asked.
“With the right person, yes.” His answer was instant.
A shadow passed across Luna’s face. “You’re asking these questions to find out if you’re wasting your time with this relationship.”
Nate reached for her hand again. “No. I know I’m not wasting my time. You’re fucking amazing. You check off so many boxes I’m starting to wonder if AI invented you out of the ether. And I know you feel the same.”
Her eyebrows lifted and her lips turned up. “Somebody’s cocky.”
Nate winced. “Maybe.”
“Completely.”
“Somebody has a confession to make,” Nate said with a fake grimace.
“Oh?”
He cleared his throat, sat taller. “Remember how I told you I am working with Elenore Prescott?”
“Yes?”
“We had a lunch meeting at Salt and Spoon. By the office building.”
“I know the place.”
“I know you know the place. I might have been sitting in the booth behind you when you and Harper were having lunch a while back. Before you and I became you and I.”
Luna looked confused. “I didn’t see you.”
“I know.”
“Why didn’t you say hello?”
“I was going to,” Nate began. “But then you started telling Harper all the reasons you don’t bother with dating. The men are married, or they have kids . . . crazy exes, they live in their mom’s basement . . .”
Luna’s mouth started to open. “What else did I say in this conversation?”
Nate looked at his lap. “I know you like gray sweatpants.”
Luna followed his gaze. “Oh my God.”
“You also said men can’t find the spot without a map—”
“Oh my God!” She was trying not to smile again.
Nate took that as a good sign.
“I considered that a challenge.”
“Nathan!”
“Oh, boy.” Only his mother used his full name.
Hearing it from Luna gave his heart a little kick.
“I don’t . . .”
“I couldn’t have turned around at that point and said ‘Hi, ladies. How was your lunch?’”
“So instead, you made sure you wore these . . . every chance you got.” Luna pinched the fabric of his sweats and let it loose.
He didn’t feel the least bit guilty. “Of course. I was attracted. Believe me, I was just as wary of a relationship with someone I work with as you. My ex is a little crazy and we did work together.”
“You haven’t said much about her,” Luna replied.
“Talking about an ex with someone new is taboo.”
“I told you about Landon.”
“That’s different. I need to know about him so I can try and be sensitive to your needs. Monique was a chapter, not a book. And since she was technically my boss, when it ended—”
“She fired you?” Luna sounded outraged.
“I chose to leave. I could have just as easily made a lateral move to an office here if I wanted to. Instead, I took a leap. My plan was to move here, take the year to get my business going. Decide where I wanted to put down roots and buy my own place. I didn’t see you coming.”
“I can do one better,” Luna said. “I didn’t think men like you existed.”
Nate sat taller. “Like I said . . . what will you do when you meet the ‘end all be all’?”
Luna sighed and looked at her lap. “When I married Landon, I envisioned I’d do it all.
Have the career, the husband, house . . .
kids. But then he . . .” Her voice trailed off.
“I’m not like Harper. I don’t have an absolute conviction against children.
The problem is, statistically, fifty percent of all marriages end in divorce.
And that rate is even higher in second marriages.
When you take into consideration how I was raised, it isn’t a wonder that the marriage I had was abusive.
It’s almost guaranteed. When you remove marriage from the plate, kids seem impossible. ”
“Nothing is impossible,” Nate said. “Not with the right person.”
Luna placed a hand on his knee. “I can tell you this with complete honesty. I am one hundred percent open to a long-term relationship with the right person. I would consider co-habitation but can’t see that outside of the house I’m in right now.
Not at this time anyway. And children could be open for consideration once the relationship has been proven with the test of time.
And I’m not going to rush anything because of age.
Raising kids is twenty years of your life. Less if you’re a shitty mom.”
Nate started to smile and felt it spread over his entire body. There was nothing here he couldn’t work with. “Okay, then . . . we’ll figure out the next step in nine months? Ten months?”
“What’s in nine months?” Luna asked.
“I can’t move in with you until my lease is up. No matter how much you beg.”
“Beg? You think I’m going to beg?” She was smiling again.
Nate unfolded his legs and swung them off the bed, then turned from her and patted his own ass. “It’s hard to say no to your own personal thirst trap.”
Luna reached out to push him away.
Nate captured her hand and pulled her half off the bed. “You love it,” he whispered close to her lips.
“I’m never going to live that down, am I?” she asked.
Nate leaned in to kiss her.
She pulled away, smiling.
He cupped the back of her head and brought her so close only a hair could fit between their lips. “Never.”
They fell onto the bed, into each other’s arms, and took turns making the other one demand release.