“Unfortunately, no,” I replied as I began to set out the multicolored mats, each with a bold Norfolk landmark. “I’m beginning to think he’s a little boring.”
Zach chuckled. “I don’t know about boring, but frighteningly honest, for sure,” he said. “And he knows his own mind. Like, every single one of us has followed in our parents’ footsteps in our profession except Nathan. I always admired him for following his own path, you know?”
If only Zach knew about what had happened at Oxford. “Are you on retainer?” I asked. “You can’t pay for PR that good.”
He smiled as he followed me around the table, putting napkins in the middle of each placemat I set down.
“Good PR is getting the truth out there, isn’t that right?” Zach said.
“You’re a good brother.”
“He’s a good brother,” he replied. “I know he’s this super successful guy who’s all take-no-prisoners, hard as steel, gets what he wants, has no problem attracting women and everything,” he said from the other side of the dining room table. We busied ourselves setting out knives and forks.
He was talking about the version of Nathan I’d experienced when I first met him—the guy who simply stated how he wanted to spend the night with me and expected me to say yes. It was the version of Nathan I’d seen in the office, around his employees and clients. But it wasn’t the version who lived in the house in Highgate or went to Norfolk to see his brothers and got relegated to sleep in the office without complaint. And it certainly wasn’t the man who I’d been naked with last night. That Nathan was different. I knew better now.
“But he’s got a really good heart.”
“I know,” I replied, and his head snapped up as if he hadn’t heard me right.
“I get that it’s all professional with you two but . . .” He paused and straightened a fork so it was in line with the bottom of the placemat. My heart tripped in my chest and I kept focused on placing the cutlery just so. What would come after the but? “I just don’t think he would have brought you back here unless he . . . trusted you. And now that I’ve seen him with you, I think it’s more than that.”
I tried to keep my breathing steady as I kept my head down, fiddling with the cutlery. I was a tangle of thoughts. Trusted me? More? Zach was clearly trying to say something and I wasn’t sure what to do or how to react. I didn’t know if Nathan did trust me or even if he should. My job wasn’t to win his trust but to uncover the truth. But last night Nathan had become more than a job—if he’d ever been just that to me.
“More?” I said, softly.
Last night had felt like more. It hadn’t felt like Nathan was seducing me. The veneer that had kept him at a distance on that first night after the wedding had disappeared, and I had been left with the man underneath. A man I liked very much.
“I don’t know exactly what I mean,” he continued. “I just think . . . the way he is with you is . . . nice. Like the two of you are close.”
It was true that we’d spent time together. We’d shared stories. Hopes for the future. I found myself wanting to hear more about what he saw on the horizon for himself. Did he want to stay in a job he didn’t seem all that happy with? Did he want to try another start-up, branch out to new horizons and take calculated risks? Did he want to fall in love? “He’s been very open, I think. Makes my job easier,” I said, trying to cover up the blush I could feel creeping up my neck.
“He’s a good guy, you know. He just needs the right woman.”
I glanced up at Zach’s words, wanting to understand if I had misinterpreted the subtext: He needs you. I found him staring at me intently, like he wanted to say more, or wanted me to.
“Every person needs the right partner,” I said.
The intensity of his probing expression cracked and he grinned. “True enough.”
The front door rattled and opened and a tousle-haired Nathan filled the space. He glanced from me to his brother and then back to me.
“We were setting the table,” I said as if I’d been caught red-handed doing something I shouldn’t.
“Good morning,” he said, a shy smile dancing at the corners of his mouth. He turned to Zach. “Hey.”
Zach glanced between us and chuckled before heading to the kitchen.
“You okay?” Nathan asked.
I nodded as he approached me. I turned, his hand brushing my waist as I headed into the kitchen. Nathan ran his thumb up my spine, making me shiver. “You smell good,” he whispered.