Fortuity (Transcend 3)

He responds right away.

You’re welcome.

“So damn sure of yourself.” I laugh, tossing my phone on the bed then packing my stuff for destination unknown.

By five, I’m in the lobby with my suitcase, butterflies in my tummy, and a ridiculous grin on my face. He steps off the elevator in cargo shorts, a white tee, and sunglasses on top of his head as he pulls his small suitcase behind him.

“Where are we going?” I ask as he jerks his head in the direction of the revolving door.

He says something to the valet before turning toward me.

“Where are we going?” I try again.

“You’re glowing today. Have you recently been well fucked by an anatomy professor?”

I cough on my laugh as my head swivels in both directions to see if anyone heard him because he didn’t use his library voice at all.

When I focus on him again, he bends down and presses his lips to mine, giving me a little peck and then another little peck. I like playful, flirty Nate. Well, I actually love him.

He stands erect again and slides his sunglasses onto his face as a gust of wind catches his wavy hair and blows mine in my face.

“This is us.” He takes my suitcase and his and rolls them toward the gray Mercedes-Benz SUV. The valet loads them into the back. Nate tips him then opens my door. Once he’s in the driver’s seat, seat belt fastened, and vehicle in drive, I glance at him and try it one more time.

“Where are we going?”

He grins, eyes on the road. “Home.”

During the two-and-a-half-hour drive to Madison, we don’t say much. We listen to music. During part of the way, we have the windows rolled down. And occasionally Nate tells me random things that have happened since I last saw him … like Morgan freaking out when she got a puppy for Christmas. A shelter dog named Joby. They think she’s a German shepherd mix.

I listen to him even though Morgan has told me most everything in her letters. The surreal feeling of him saying we’re going home has left me in a daze.

“This is it.” He pulls onto a cul-de-sac shrouded in trees.

I can barely see the houses tucked behind long drives. It’s not the kind of cul-de-sac I’m used to seeing. When his house comes into view, a slow smile creeps up my face. It looks like a chalet. A wood cabin that has more windows than wood. He pulls around to the side of the house to enter from the garage.

After he kills the engine and presses the button to shut the garage door, I ease out of the vehicle and allow my squirrel brain to imagine—just for a second—that this is my home. Nate unloads our suitcases, and I follow him into the house.

I slip off my shoes as he carries our suitcases to the opposite end of the house and disappears around the corner. Two-story ceilings in the great room with an enormous floor-to-ceiling stonewall fireplace separating the kitchen from the living space.

“Where’s Morgan?” I ask as Nate makes his way toward me.

“My parents’ house.”

“Oh. You said they were watching her and Joby. I assumed you meant they were watching her here.”

“Nope.” He slides his arms around my waist, pulling me flush to him.

I lift onto my toes and bury my face into his neck. “Are you saying it’s just us?”

He kisses my forehead. “It’s just us.”

“For how long?”

“Until tomorrow night.” He takes my hand and leads me to the sofa, plopping down and pulling me onto his lap so I’m straddling him, face-to-face.

“Twenty-four hours, huh?” I tickle the nape of his neck with my fingers, running them through his partial curls. “Then what?”

“I don’t know. When do you fly back to California?” He slides his hands under my shirt and feathers his fingertips along my lower back.

“Thursday afternoon. I need to be to the airport by eleven.”

“It’s Sunday.” He grins.

“Yes …” I lean into him, giving his bottom lip a tug with my teeth. “Your point?”

He gathers my hair into a ponytail and pulls it until I tip my chin up. “My point is I get you until Thursday.” He kisses my neck.

“You get me until tomorrow. Then I’ll be hanging out with my BFF Morgan in her awesome tree house I see out back. And playing fetch with Joby.”

“And at night, you’ll be riding my cock.” He sits back, twisting his lips. “Huh … did I say that out loud?”

“Cute. You’d better clean that mouth up before your eleven-year-old daughter returns.”

“I’ll return to my best behavior when they pull in the driveway … tomorrow.”

“And today?”

“Today I’m going to pop a few Viagra and see what I can do with an eight-hour erection and naked Elvis.”

I fall into a fit of giggles. “Sounds painful … and really disturbing.”