Chapter Nineteen
JAKE
I blinked a few times, realizing a sound had woken me up. The shower was running. Natalie wasn't next to me. I must’ve slept soundly if I didn't hear her get up. I was usually a light sleeper. This must be the first time I slept like a rock in I couldn’t even remember how long.
It was insanely hot in here. I went straight to the shower, opening the door to join her, and Natalie was… What was she doing? Dancing in the shower? She was mouthing something into the showerhead, but she was making no sound until she saw me, and then she shrieked.
"Oh my God, did I wake you up? I'm so sorry. I thought I was being quiet. I didn't accidentally start singing, did I?"
I burst out laughing, realizing what she was doing.
"Wait, were you silent singing? Is that a thing?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. I've made it one."
"And you’re dancing to what?"
She tapped her temple, grinning. "I have the song right here. Might not say the lyrics out loud, but I know them by heart, and I know the rhythm."
I opened the door farther so I could step inside.
"Hey, I don't remember inviting you to share my shower."
I tilted my head. "My bad. Do you want me to go?"
Her grin widened. "Not at all. In fact, now that you're awake, I can do all those things I thought of when I saw you sleeping.”
“Such as?” I asked, grabbing the showerhead and positioning it so it sprayed water on both of us.
She pointed at my chest and then dragged both her hands down my pecs, moving them to my abs. "You were lying on your back with all these abs on display, and with him."
She cupped my cock with one hand. I instantly grew hard at her touch. She squeezed me once before moving her hand back to my chest. "Anyway, yeah, all the delicious parts of you were on display. I had the hardest time not touching you or kissing you… or basically licking you all over."
"Natalie!" I grabbed her hips, rocking into her so my cock was trapped between us. She groaned when I rubbed against her clit.
"Hell yes." Her pupils dilated; her breath caught.
"I want to kiss you, but I'll save that for later," I said. "But I can still kiss the rest of you." I put my lips on her neck. I could tell she'd already used shower gel because she smelled of flowers.
She sighed. “You stayed.”
I straightened up. "Of course. You didn’t expect me to?"
She licked her lips, averting her gaze. "I don't know. I had no expectation at all. I mean, last night was so explosive and amazing, and, well… I would insert all the positive adjectives that are locked somewhere in my brain, but none of them are coming to my mind right now.”
“You’re not making sense, babe."
She cleared her throat. "Doesn't matter.”
“You're nervous." I touched her cheek with my left hand. She nodded once. I’d never seen her like this. I’d seen her sassy, annoyed, pissed off, sick, but not vulnerable and not nervous. Not because of me.
"I'm here," I said. "And I'm staying today as well."
I pressed my thumb under her lower lip. She smiled, wiggling her hips.
"So, first you invite yourself in my shower, and then you’re crashing my day. What if I have plans already?" she said teasingly as she turned off the water. She stepped out of the shower first. I followed immediately and hugged her from behind.
I looked at her in the mirror. She cast her glance at it too. "Last night I was fighting to stay up."
She laughed nervously. "You were. I didn’t even try, not after that amazing workout."
"So, we have a lot to catch up on today," I said.
I didn't care what happened outside of this house right now. I was here with her, and that was where I wanted to stay. I needed to be here.
"And that is music to my ears," she replied. "I just have to check on Larissa first, see if she needs anything. She was so tired last night that she fell asleep in her clothes. I woke up earlier than usual this morning because I was worrying about her.”
I like that she cared so deeply about her friend.
"We can even drive out to her place if she needs anything,” I told her.
"Who are you, and what have you done with the broody Mr. Whitley? Wait, don't answer that. I don't want to accidentally summon the dark side of you."
I burst out laughing, "Damn, woman, the things you say."
She smiled, and this time it was sheepish. "Word of warning, you might have seen different sides to me, but now that I know you don't bite, I might be even more goofy. That side of me comes out sometimes."
I kissed her shoulder. "I can't wait to explore it."
“Damn, it’s so hot here. This house needs an AC.”
“I can get you one,” I said instantly.
She planted her feet wide, hands on hips. “No, you won’t. I can get my own AC, but it’s a rental. I won’t invest anything in this.”
“Natalie—”
She rose on her tiptoes, putting her hands on my shoulders, pressing her lips to mine. Every instinct inside me was launching in overprotective mode already, but I was going to let it go. I didn’t want to spend our time together fighting.
“Fine. Message received.”
"What do you usually do on Saturdays?" she asked as we dried with towels.
"When I'm not at Martha's Vineyard, I work."
She blinked rapidly, jerking her head back. "You can't mean that. Who works on weekends? Isn't that, I don't know, illegal?"
"Not when you own a company, or when you're running two."
"How is that going?"
"It's intense."
"Are you regretting that you accepted coming to Boston and taking over the advertising company?"
"No, it's what my family needed. My grandparents are far more relaxed since I took over. But it's even more work than I anticipated."
"It doesn't help that I keep distracting you, does it?"
"On the contrary," I said, "you're the only thing that keeps me afloat."
She jerked her head back, and I swallowed hard. I hadn't meant to say that, but now that the words were out, I knew they were 100 percent true.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, you really are." On instinct, I lifted her into my arms by her ass. She wrapped her legs around me and put her hands on my biceps.
"I like these." She squeezed my muscles. "Especially now that they're working hard to keep me up in the air."
Laughing, I walked with her to the kitchen. She made me do the craziest things. I couldn't remember the last time I'd done something impulsive. But when I was with Natalie, I didn't want to overthink anything—I just wanted to be. This was a completely different experience for me.
"Hey, do you think we should put on some clothes?" she asked.
"Only if you insist." I put her down when we reached the kitchen area.
"Hmm, decisions, decisions… All right, I’ve decided. We can go commando."
I winked at her. "Good call."
"Do you usually eat breakfast? I have nothing except coffee."
"Coffee is good. I don't eat at all in the morning."
While she busied herself pressing buttons on the machine, I remembered our conversation from last night, before we lost track of everything.
"Natalie, what was it you said last night about applying for jobs outside of Boston?"
She looked over her shoulder, shrugging. "Well, competition is fierce, especially in popular cities like Boston, so I've widened my search area."
"To where?" I insisted.
"To everywhere."
"And have you heard back?" I was annoyed. Why hadn't she told me this before? Then again, why should she?
"No, not yet. Honestly, it's a long process. I hate that everyone makes you jump through hoops. It just makes everything last far longer than it should. How hard can it be to tell from one single interview if someone is good for the job or not?"
"It is hard," I replied, "and very subjective. For instance, some people interview well, and they're excellent at making a first impression, but when you dig deeper, you realize there's not much to them. You usually need a couple interviews to determine that."
"Oh God, Jake, it was a rhetorical question."
I palmed her ass cheek. "I'll give you rhetorical." Clearing my throat, I added, "I didn't think you'd leave Boston."
She turned her head back to the coffee machine. "What does it matter? You're going back to New York as soon as you turn the company around."
"That's different," I said. "I have no idea how long that’s going to take. You could receive a job offer at any moment."
She turned around, biting her lower lip. "What are you saying, Jake?"
"That I don't like the idea of you leaving."
She smiled. I could tell she was preparing herself to say something sassy, but her eyes lacked the usual spark.
"How about we do things my way?" she asked.
"And that is?"
"Stop worrying about what might happen. That’s a killjoy. We're here now, blissfully naked. We'll soon have our coffee. What could be better than that?"
"I have a few suggestions," I said.
"Lucky me."
The coffee wasn't too strong, so I ended up drinking three. Afterward, we dressed and went into her backyard. She had her iPad with her.
"What were you saying about working weekends?" I asked when I noticed her replying to an email.
"Hey, that's not work. I'm just sending an email confirming the guest list for Jeannie’s party."
I stiffened next to her as we sat down on the swing.
"My half brothers are bringing plus ones?"
She looked up at me, mouth wide. "No. Didn’t they tell you?"
"I'm not in contact with them."
"Oh. When you said you’re not close to them, I didn’t realize you meant that you don't have any contact at all. And yes, all three RSVPed."
"Okay, that's good to know."
She set her iPad next to her. "Do you want to talk about it?" She swung her legs, sending the swing bouncing back and forth.
"There's not much to talk about."
"You went from relaxed to being all stiff and frowning, so it clearly weighs on you."
"Let's just say that if I had a choice on how to spend an afternoon, it wouldn't include my half brothers."
She turned sideways, curling her legs next to her on the swing. "It'll make your grandparents happy, though."
"I know."
"Your other brothers also have no contact with them? Just trying to gauge how awkward it’ll be."
"As far as I know, Colton doesn’t have a relationship with them, but our younger brothers do."
"How come?" she asked.
"Long story."
"But I want to hear it."
"You do?" That was surprising. I never typically spoke about our family drama, because really, who’d want to hear about all the dysfunction?
"Yeah," Natalie replied.
"My mom tried to shield my younger brothers from the gory details of her depression and illness. My grandparents tried really hard to integrate the other Whitleys into the family. My brothers were simply excited that they had three additional siblings overnight."
"How about their mother?"
"She was played by my dad too. That I wholly believe."
"She won't be at the party, right? I don't remember Jeannie telling me anything about her."
I shook my head. "No, she stays away from any sort of family events. I’ve only seen her once."
"I think this is going to be a great opportunity for you to catch up with your half siblings. Every time Jeannie talks about all of you, her face lights up. It means a lot to her to have everyone in the same place."
"I know." In all honesty, I wasn't dreading seeing my other brothers as much as usual. I had a suspicion that it was all because of Natalie. She was right. This wasn’t about me or my half brothers. It was about making Grandmother happy.
“Do they live in Boston too?”
“Yes. My grandparents encouraged them to move here.”
I heard her stomach growl, and it made me grin.
She smiled sheepishly. "I guess that's my body's way of saying I do need food after all."
I stood up, though apparently too abruptly, because the swing moved, and Natalie almost fell out of it. She put one leg down to steady herself as I caught her by the arm, and she straightened up.
"Whew. Okay, that was close." Her stomach growled even louder. "Damn. When it wants food, there's no missing it."
"Come on, beautiful girl. Let's feed you."
As we ate, I started thinking about her job search again.
I wasn't going to bring it up, because I agreed with her.
I wanted to enjoy this, what we had right now, but that didn't mean I could stop my brain from mulling over the issue, searching for solutions.
I wanted to keep her here, and Whitley Industries was active in many branches; I had no doubt that we could find a place for Natalie at one of the companies.
If she accepted it was another story altogether.
But one thing was for sure: I wasn't going to do nothing.