“You haven’t lived here long enough.”
“Maybe.” I think about it for a moment. “I’m not sure that would make any difference.”
“I’m not sure it would either,” Nate replies. “You’re not like that. Unless I’m completely reading everything wrong, you seem genuinely interested in me—me as an actual person.”
“Of course I am!” I look into his eyes, wondering how he could think otherwise. “Honestly, Nate, I wish you didn’t have all the money and notoriety around here. All of that makes me rather nervous.”
“Yeah, I can tell.” He chuckles. “It’s why I haven’t offered to buy you a new car.”
“What?” My mouth drops open. He cannot be serious.
“That Civic is about to fall apart.”
“No, it isn’t. It’s perfectly fine for what I need. Don’t you dare—”
“I won’t! I swear!” Nate laughs. “See? I knew you’d react that way.” He shakes his head, still snickering. “That’s what makes you so different from anyone I’ve ever dated before. You remember when you asked me about bad dates, and I said I hadn’t had any?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I never had any good ones, either. Not until I met you, and you took a crappy first dinner date and fixed it with a peanut butter sandwich.”
“And then you brought me pancakes.” I smile, warming myself to the memory. Though it had only been last weekend, it feels like long ago.
“I’ve never done that before,” Nate says. “I’ve never wanted to see a girl the very next morning, cook her breakfast and all of that. It never even occurred to me before, but I wanted to do it. I was glad to do it for you.”
I blush and look away, but Nate reaches out and puts his fingers on my chin, turning me back toward him and staring into my eyes.
“You are incredible,” he says. “You suffered a loss that would have devastated other people, but you moved to a completely new place with this determination and fearlessness that amazes me. You’re sweet and kind and thoughtful. You always make the best of a bad situation, and I know you can handle anything life throws at you. I was in shambles after the loss of my brother—I still am, really—but with you, well, I feel like maybe I can deal with it.”
Nate pauses for a moment and takes a deep breath. I press my lips together, wanting to respond but also realizing he’s not finished yet.
“I’m…I’m falling for you, Cherry. Like, falling hard. I’ve never felt like this before. That’s why I stopped you that first night. I was afraid it had just…well, that it had just been too long since I’d been with someone, and it was a matter of lust, but that’s not it, Cherry. Even then, I didn’t want it to be about that.”
My stomach does a flip-flop. My heart starts pounding so fast, I’m afraid it will leap from my chest and break the windshield of the pricey automobile. It doesn’t. Instead, it reveals itself through my words.
“I think I feel the same way, Nate.”
When his lips press against mine, the world around us disappears.
Chapter 15—Finally
“I’m sick of seeing you there!” I know he can’t hear me, but I’m seriously tempted to roll down my window and give the guy in front of the fire hydrant the finger. If Nate were here, he’d have done it for me.
I smile at the thought of him, the illegally parked car forgotten as I head inside my apartment after my early morning shopping. I’ve been so busy at work; I woke to find out I didn’t even have milk or cereal for breakfast. As I put a few things away, I realize Vee’s leaves are curling up, so I place her in the sink and turn on the water.
The past few weeks have been a whirlwind.
Between weekly family dinners, Nate has taken me on road trips all over Ohio. We visited the natural history museum in Cincinnati, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, and the Center of Science and Industry in Columbus. He’s taken me on hikes through Hocking Hills, which may be the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen, and didn’t seem to mind when I spent far too much time examining a particular
fern growing from the side of a rock or a hemlock tree barely holding on to the edge of a rocky cliff.
“I think we’ve been to every single establishment in town, Vee.” I chuckle as I give Vee a good watering, including misting her leaves. I carefully clip off a couple of yellowing ones. “All the restaurants—except the one we went to on our first date, of course—all the bars, coffee shops, and bookstores.”
Vee soaks up the water I pour over her, unimpressed by my exploits.
“We’ve hiked every trail in the maple forest. It hasn’t been warm enough to take the boat out on the lake yet, but Nate says maybe in a couple of weeks. We’ve been everywhere.” I think about this for a moment and then scowl. “Except the damn bedroom, of course.”
On that front, I’m beyond frustrated.