Kirsten sighed. “I need details, Nate. Tell you what, I’ll send you an email full of questions the way I do when I’m doing a practice deposition. How does that sound?”
“Horrific?”
She chuckled. “How are you doing, big brother?”
He glanced up at the mirror to look at himself. His hair was still wet from the shower he took after he finally dragged himself away from Ally. His face was freshly shaven, and in spite of the shadows beneath his eyes they somehow looked brighter than they normally did. “Good,” he told his sister. “I’m good.”
“You sound it,” she said, a smile in her voice. “I knew a change of scene would be perfect for you both.”
He glanced out of the windshield. Yeah, Angel Sands was pretty – and being close to the ocean was definitely good for the soul. But the way he was feeling had nothing to do with the beautiful beach, and everything to do with the woman who’d somehow limped her way into his life, smashing everything up and making it new again.
“Listen, I need to go and open the shop,” he told Kirsten. “I’ve got some meetings I need to prepare for. How about Riley and I Skype with you this weekend? I’ll have a bible in my hand ready to swear to tell the whole truth.”
“Skype sounds good,” Kirsten said. “I’ll have my questions ready, too. Did you want me to submit them beforehand?”
“Always.” His sister never failed to make him smile. For the briefest second he considered telling her about Ally. But then he shook his head and pushed that crazy notion away.
What would he tell her anyway? That he’d been sleeping with one of his employees? Or maybe he could tell his sister – his baby sister – that Ally wasn’t that much older than her. What was it, a year or two? If he thought she was being curious now, imagine what she’d be like with that kind of information.
Nope. Best to keep quiet about it and get on with things.
“Bye, sis.”
“Goodbye, big brother. Talk to you this weekend.”
If he’d have thought about
it too much her words would have sounded like a threat. Instead, he ended the call and decided not to think about it at all.
* * *
“Hello, darling, how was your day?” Ally asked as he walked into the hallway. She was standing there waiting for him, a huge grin on her face as she held out a glass of red wine.
“What’s this for?” he asked, taking the glass. His eyes crinkled as he smiled back at her because, really, she was a sight for sore eyes after his long day. Her wavy blonde hair was down, the tips skimming the dark blue tank she was wearing. He let his eyes scan down her body, taking in the way her blue-and-white striped skirt stopped mid thigh, revealing her toned, tanned legs. Was it wrong that he wanted them wrapped around him, cast and all?
She leaned to the side, adjusting her weight on her crutch. “You’ve been working so hard, the least I can do is pour you a drink when you get home.”
“Am I in the middle of some fifties housewife fantasy?”
“Do you want to be?” Ally lifted an eyebrow. “Because I can grab you a pipe and slippers.”
“Ah, no.” He bit down a laugh and reached for her, running his fingers down her soft curls. “When it comes to relationships I prefer mine to be equal. Sometimes me on top, sometimes you.”
“Right now it’s mostly you,” she said, glancing down at her leg. “But as soon as this cast is off, then all bets are off.”
Nate blinked, trying to get the image of Ally riding him out of his brain. But it refused to disappear, sending shoots of excitement down between his legs. Jesus, he’d just got home. Couldn’t his body give him a break for a minute?
“I’ve got something to show you,” Ally said, inclining her head toward the living room. “This one took a little longer to set up, but hopefully it’s worth it.”
He followed her down the hall and through the doorway to the living room. Looking around, he tried to see what was different, but for the life of him nothing stood out.
“Not in here. Out there.”
He looked out of the glass doors to the terrace and blinked. There was a bed on the deck, covered with a roof of sheets, tiny little lights surrounding it, blinking on and off. In the distance, the sun was going down, painting the sky a deep purple.
“Where did that come from?” He looked back at her, bemused.
“It’s your bed. A couple of friends carried it outside for me.” She rolled her lip between her teeth.