Chapter Twenty One
JAKE
"I haven't been here in years," I said as we walked on the Harbor Loop.
"Actually, neither have I," Natalie said. "I’d forgotten how cool it is. We have a great view of the skyline from here."
They had added food stands on the beach. There was even a playground in the distance.
"How can it be so busy?" I asked, looking around. People were picnicking on the grass or on the sand. It was full to the brim.
Natalie laughed. The sound was addictive. "People want to enjoy themselves in the evening, you know? After they finish work."
"Don't mock my work ethic. I've been ditching it plenty lately."
"Oh yeah," she said, wiggling her eyebrows. "Three or four days where you didn't work until midnight. You think that means you've got a balance?"
I put an arm around her waist, pinching her ass as I did so. She straightened up with a gasp.
"You can talk me into more evenings," I admitted.
"Good to know," she murmured, still sounding stunned. I liked surprising her.
Her phone chimed while we went to one of the food stands by the water. She groaned, then put it back.
"What happened?" I asked, instantly on alert. Her shoulders were rigid.
"Just a reminder about my rent coming soon."
"Are you in trouble?"
"No. I can afford it."
She sounded stressed about it, so I decided to dig deeper.
"What would you say if I spoke to my brothers to see if anyone has a job that fits your qualifications?"
"No, I don't want that."
I swallowed, trying to stay calm. I hadn't expected her to flat-out refuse. "Why not?"
"I don't want anyone pulling any strings or giving me pity jobs."
"Did you hear what I said? It would be one that fits your qualifications."
She shook her head. "I've sent out enough applications, and I was just thinking today that while I wait to hear back, I can take up some waitressing jobs. I did it before."
"You'd rather take up shifts in exhausting jobs than let me talk to my brothers?" All my life, I'd been used to people asking me to pull strings, and yet Natalie didn't even want to hear of it.
“It feels desperate to ask them. Please don't. Besides, if they had any openings, I would have seen them on job sites."
My jaw ticked, and a vein pulsed in my neck.
She was serious. I wanted to make things easier for her, spoil her, take care of her.
At the very least, I wanted to make sure she didn't have any financial problems or any kind of issues. I’d never felt that way about anyone before.
I admitted to myself that I also wanted her to stay here.
The thought of her moving away for a job was unthinkable. Was it selfish of me?
I was going back to New York once Whitley Advertising was back on its feet, so how could I demand that of her? Still, I knew in my gut that no matter what happened between us, I wanted her to be taken care of. I didn't want her to struggle now, or in the future.
"Let's get some burgers," she said. "Last time I was here, they made some amazing ones out of soy chunks."
"Wait, I'm not done talking about this."
Her shoulders dropped, and she crossed her arms over her chest. I’d learned that was a telltale sign she was uncomfortable. That was the last thing I wanted, but I needed to understand more.
“It’s just more difficult to get interviews because I lack references.”
“Because of your ex.”
“Yes.”
"Tell me about him."
"Why?" she asked, sounding suspicious.
"So that I can make sure he doesn't bother you again."
"Oh, I don't think he will."
I moved my hand from her waist up to the back of her neck and pressed my fingers there. She seemed to like it, so I kept doing it. I loved pleasing her. "When did you two break up?"
"About seven months ago. Then we worked together for three more months before our boss fired us.”
“And he’s been bugging you ever since?”
“On and off. In the first two months after we were fired, he tried to get under my skin. I don’t get why.
He wouldn’t make an effort to even be civil while we worked together, and then after we broke up, it was like he had a personality change.
Kept going out of his way to be nice. Then he got pissed because I refused to acknowledge him.
I was just done. That was a month before he sent the letter. ”
"Natalie, tell me if there's any trouble. Promise."
She nodded. "I promise. Now can we please drop it?"
"Sure. Thank you for sharing that with me."
She gave me a sad smile. "It's not something I'm hiding. I just don't like to think about it."
I kissed her forehead, my mouth lingering on her skin. I was trying to rein in my instinct—the primal need to protect her from anything, be it an ex or financial issues. But I didn’t want to be overbearing.
"Let's get your burger," I said when I pulled away. "I hope they have regular ones too. I’m not a soy fan."
"I promise these are worth trying."
"I'll take a bite of yours."
There were only two people in front of us. I watched the staff prep the burgers. No way in hell was I tasting the soy one; it looked like something I wouldn't even feed a dog. I took a regular one from ground beef. They were ready for us in a couple minutes.
Natalie looked around, scouring the area as I took the paper bags with burgers. "Let's find a bench."
"We can sit on the grass if you want. I don't mind."
"No, there are too many critters."
"I thought you liked nature."
"I like trees. I don't like insects."
"Let's find you a bench, then." I put an arm around her back, kissing her temple.
We found one farther away from the water, sat down and opened the paper bags, taking out the burgers. We ate them quickly. I had to give it to Natalie. It was great, and I'd eaten plenty of burgers in New York.
"I thought you were going to take a bite out of my soy burger," she said when she was almost done.
"Watching them prep it was enough for me. I don't need to taste it."
She laughed throatily. "Your loss," she said before downing the last bite.
My phone buzzed. I took it out and looked at the screen. Groaning, I rejected the call before sliding it back into my pocket.
"What was that?" I asked.
"A client."
"Didn't you have a rule that you never ignore calls from clients?"
"I like breaking the rules for you, Natalie. I don't want to waste time with my clients this evening."
"Then what do you want to do?" she asked.
"I want to focus on you. Tell me about your future. How do you see it? What are your hopes, dreams?"
"You want the answer as dreaming Natalie or realistic Natalie?"
"Why are they separate?"
She sighed, toeing off her shoes. "Realistic Natalie wants to get a good job, build up her credit score, and do adult stuff.
Dreaming Natalie just doesn't want this evening to end, honestly. Dreaming Natalie also wants my family to come back so I can pop over to their place any time I want. I want my parents to be here so when I have a million babies, they’re here to shower them with love. "
In the past, hearing a woman talk about children would've stunned me, but for some reason, I liked hearing Natalie talk about how she envisioned life. It tugged at a primal need inside me, one I didn't even know I had.
"Okay, now your turn," she said.
"I've never thought about it," I admitted.
"You never thought about the future? How is that possible?"
"It always looked the same," I explained. "The work, the clients, going to Martha’s Vineyard on the weekends."
"You never thought about changing that?" Her voice was incredulous.
"After what happened with my father, I didn't care about anything except building a business in New York. I didn't even think about my personal life. My parents seemingly had it all—successful marriage, children—and the reality was completely different."
“You felt as if a rug had been pulled from under your feet. It's normal to put a barrier between yourself and everything else."
"A barrier," I parroted. I never thought about it like that. She was right, though. She was 100 percent right.
“I kept doing one thing—building my consulting business—and it consumed me. But it’s a system that worked for me."
"A system." She sounded stunned. "Your life is a system. I'm not judging. I'm just, well, surprised."
I threw the empty food bags into the nearby container and then came back to the bench, sitting closer to her.
"Now that I'm here, I'm surprised too. It all seems so cold. But when you're caught in it, you don't have time to reflect."
"Now you do?"
"A certain someone is making me reconsider some things."
“Like what?"
“Like rearranging everything in my… system.”
She smiled triumphantly. “Oh, good. Now, if I could convince you to try a soy burger too, that would make my evening.”
“That’s a hell no. But I’m up for anything else.”
She grinned. “Challenge accepted.”