“No, she hasn’t mentioned you being there—” Amelia cringed at the next thought “—which only leads me to believe she was already in the house when we returned because she didn’t block your car in the driveway.”
With a low whistle, Nate shook his head. “We didn’t do anything in the house.”
A flash of what they did do flared against the pit of her stomach. “No, there was the incident in the car.”
Nate tossed a glance off his shoulder. A slow smile spread across his face. “Yeah, but that side of the door faced the woods.”
“And the ramp?” Amelia reminded him. The bay window sat right above the spot where they’d wickedly made love. Grandmamma may have had a bird’s-eye view of the whole event—which made her wonder why she didn’t mention it this morning.
Nate’s clearing of his throat brought Amelia out of her mortification. “We need to not have this conversation.”
“About where my grandmother may have spied us having sex?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because—” Nate closed the gap between them “—all this sex talk is arousing me. I’ve got these ballers on and there’s a group of teenage boys I’d rather not have see me go with a full-on adolescent, uncontrollable boner.”
“What?” Amelia keeled over with laughter.
“Great, making fun of me now?”
“I’m sorry,” she said, trying to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. One of the magazines slipped and they both reached for it, knocking their heads at the same time. Nate clasped Amelia’s shoulders. His eyes scanned the cover and his brows rose with concern.
“Are you okay?” he asked softly.
“I’m fine.” More than a twinge of guilt racked Amelia’s frame at his concern. Nate felt guilty for getting her fired—or at least he was still under the impression she’d given him. Why didn’t she let him off the hook and tell him the truth? Why bother? she argued with herself. Wasn’t she already in too deep? She gave herself a few more weeks with Nate just to feel things out.
“Perhaps you shouldn’t drive,” he suggested.
“Not drive?” Amelia pulled away; her brows drew together in confusion. “I live right around the corner. What’s up?”
“Sorry,” Nate said. His flashy smile changed the somber mood between them. “I am not used to asking a pretty lady out on a date.”
“Date?” Amelia’s brows drew together again. If she didn’t stop frowning, she might end up with a permanent wrinkle between her eyebrows. “We’re beyond dating.”
“In your book.” Nate stepped closer. He enclosed her with his arms pressed against the hood of her door.
Excitement coursed through Amelia’s veins. She licked her lips and glanced up at him. The sun caught his emerald green eyes. “Lord Jesus.”
The boys on skateboards skated by with catcalls and whistles. Amelia hid her face in Nate’s shoulder. He smelled of fresh soap. The neatly trimmed goatee lay against the smooth, honey-hued jawline.
“Seriously, though,” Nate said, pressing a kiss against her temple, “what do you have planned today?”
“Nothing but running errands for Grandmamma. What about you?”
“Running errands for the girls.” Nate laced his fingers with hers. Their fingers fit perfectly, just as everything else between them did. “Let’s do them together.”
“Errands together, huh?” Why did the idea excite her so much?
“Woman, you haven’t experienced an afternoon of errands with me until we’ve tasted all the samples at kiosk stands at the grocery store, tried out all the exercise and massage displays.”
And who would have guessed such domestication would have sounded so exciting?
* * *
A morning spent running errands had never been more romantic. After he followed her home to drop off the ice and say good morning to Mrs. Marlow, Nate and Amelia took off for the rest of the day. In the evening, he dropped her back to her grandmother’s house and held hands with her once again as Amelia walked him to the front door. The sun had already set over the peach trees lining the edge of the Marlows’ lawn.