Part 32 (1/2)
”What's wrong?” I lean my belly against him and gaze up at him. ”I'm sorry if you don't like the tat, Nate...”
”I love it. It's s.e.xy as f.u.c.k, and I love seeing part of me on you. I'm just surprised that it's what you chose.” He looks down at me with a frown, looking a little confused, and a knot forms in my belly. Maybe it was presumptuous to get this particular tattoo this early in our relations.h.i.+p?
”I should have talked it over with you first,” I close my eyes and look down. ”It just seemed like the right thing to do.” I shrug and grin. ”And I love it. I think it looks s.e.xy. Natalie is going to wig out when she sees it.”
”It's kind of a commitment.” He murmurs and I swallow. ”Like moving in together.”
s.h.i.+t.
He tilts my chin up with his fingers, making me look him in the eye and I calm at his loving, happy expression. He's right. I've committed to having a piece of art that reminds me of him permanently displayed on my body. Why am I fighting the idea of living with him?
”Okay,” I whisper.
”Okay what?” he asks, gazing intently into my eyes, as if he's trying to read my mind. His hands tighten at the small of my back and I smile shyly.
”Okay, let's move in together.”
”Seriously?” He's still searching my eyes, hope and love moving across his face, and I've never been more sure about anything in my life.
”Yes. Seriously. Let's start looking into it this week.”
Suddenly Nate's face splits in two with the widest grin I've ever seen on him, and he lifts me and spins me around with a loud, ”h.e.l.l yeah!”
We're both laughing as he sets me back on my feet. He cups my face in his hands and kisses me gently but deeply, lovingly, and I melt against him.
”Thank you,” he murmurs. ”Come on, let's go for that ride.” He hands me the helmet and I frown down at it.
”Can't I ride without this? I like the wind in my hair.”
”h.e.l.l no. Safety first.” He fastens the helmet on my head and then puts his own on and we climb on the bike. I snuggle up behind him, wrap my arms around his belly and lean my cheek on his back, between his shoulder blades. ”Where do you want to go, baby?” he calls back to me.
I take a deep, contented breath and smile. ”I don't care. Just go.”
And he does, taking off out of the parking lot and toward the freeway, driving fast but not recklessly. I know he's more careful when I'm with him, and it makes me feel safe. He merges onto the freeway heading north, but exits about five miles later and takes us on a ride around Lake Was.h.i.+ngton, on little roads I didn't even know were there. The view is amazing, and I watch the pretty boats on the water, and it occurs to me that it's almost the end of May already, and the weather is warming.
The motorcycle hums loudly, drowning out the noise that seems to constantly surround us, and I just lean against my man and enjoy the wind, the view and the feel of him against me.
A few hours later, we pull into Nate's parking garage and he helps me off the back of the bike. ”How was that, Miss Montgomery?”
”Awesome. It was an awesome way to spend the day. Thank you.” I stand on my tip-toes and kiss his lips. ”Now, let me feed you.”
”What do you have in mind?” he asks.
”I'll forage through your kitchen and come up with something.” He leads me into the elevator and pulls me to him, wrapping his arms around me, as the elevator makes the climb to the thirtieth floor.
”You can start leaving lists for the housekeeper. She'll get whatever you want.”
”That's kind of... awkward.” I scrunch up my nose and look up at him.
”Why?”
I shrug. ”I don't know. I don't mind doing the shopping.”
”Julianne, buying groceries is part of her job. It's fine. Besides, if you're going to live here with me, you need to get used to it.”
I look up at him again and search his face. He smiles and kisses me lightly. ”I can't wait to have you here, permanently.”
I grin up at him, and none of the nervousness or fear at the prospect of living with Nate settles in my belly. Instead I'm excited and happy at the thought of being together.
”I'll start a list tonight.”
Chapter Twenty Eight.
”What do you want to do tomorrow?” I ask, basking in post-o.r.g.a.s.mic bliss. We are cuddled up in bed, the blankets wrapped around us, my head on his chest. Nate's fingers are thrumming up and down my back.
He f.u.c.ked my brains out in the shower, and then dirtied me up again when we got to the bed.
I'm not complaining.
”How do you feel about going down to Pike's Market? I'd like to get some fresh produce and cook for you tomorrow night.”
”Sure, sounds fun. I love downtown.”
”You're moving in with me.” He whispers and I grin.
”I am.”
”Tomorrow.” he says simply.
I giggle and kiss his cheek. ”I think I have some phone calls to make, some packing to do, and you and I need to talk about logistics.”
”I'm ready for your things to be mingled in with my things. Your clothes in our closet, and you, in our home, every day.”
”G.o.d, you say the most sweet, mushy things to me, babe.”
”I'm serious.”
”So am I. This is new to me.” I run my fingers through his impossibly soft, long black hair and sigh. ”It feels like we're moving really fast.”
”No, Jules, we're playing catch-up. I've wanted this with you for the better part of the last year. I screwed up last summer with you. I won't let you go again.”
”I'm not asking you to let me go. I don't want you to let me go.” I kiss his chin again. ”I love you so much. It feels fast, but it feels right. I want those things too.”
I sigh and bury my face in his neck and breathe him in. He wraps his arms around me and hugs me close, and I know, without a doubt, this is where I want to be; in his arms, for the rest of my life.