"My panties in a knot?" I whip around and face him.
"I can't tell you how badly I feel." He pulls a finger across my nose. "I haven't slept since you railed on me. I listened to the messages."
"You should have listened to them when you were in Boston." I tap my foot on the sidewalk. I hate when I'm wearing flats. I'm so small compared to him. He feels even more empowering to me like this.
"I don't look at my phone when I'm there. I need to explain that to you."
I nod slowly. "You do and I need to explain some things to you too."
"I know a good lawyer." He points a finger at himself. "For that small issue you've got going on back in Connecticut, Jessica. If that's your real name."
"We'll get to that one day." I reach to take the flowers from his hand. "I'm going home. Thank you for these."
"You're not coming home with me?" He pushes his hands in the pockets of his pants. "I thought you'd come home with me."
"Never assume anything, Nathan." I turn to walk down the street. "A good attorney never does that."
Chapter 16
"I shouldn't have to beg you to read text messages I send you." I glance at the roses that are now sitting next to my bed, slowly wilting.
"I shouldn't have to wait almost a week after giving you flowers to hear from you." He sits on a chair next to the bed, his legs crossed, his suit jacket hanging open.
"I needed time to think and to deal with things."
"What things?" he pushes the question back at me so quickly. What happens if I open up to him and we end up back in the same spot we're always in? In bed with no connection to one another beyond that?
"I think we should cut out the exclusive part of our relationship." I don’t see any reason to beat around the bush. I don’t want to keep having false expectations when I know he can't possibly emotionally deliver on them.
"Why would we do that?" He moves to the edge of the bed. "There's someone you want to fuck?"
"How do you get through your workday when all you think about is fucking?" I ask half-teasingly. It's a question I've long wanted an answer to. I've never met anyone who talks about sex or thinks about sex as much as Nathan.
"You're diverting." He traces a finger over the pattern on the cotton blanket. "Who do you want to fuck? I need to know."
"Right now, absolutely no one, present company included." I don't show any emotion with the statement. I don't want to. I can't fall back into this knowing that he only sees me as someone who can get him off whenever he wants.
"You didn't call me over here to fuck you?"
I stop before I answer. I exhale sharply thinking carefully about how I should respond. "You like fucking me, don’t you?"
"I love fucking you." The smile that crashes over his lips makes him devastatingly handsome. Only he can say the word fuck so effortlessly and yet with so much raw desire.
"We need to get back to that." I slide the words over my lips, thinking about how amazing it would be right now to just let go and let him claim me again.
"I'm all for that." He eases his suit jacket from his shoulders, letting it fall to the bed behind him.
"Sit here." I pat the area where my pillows are. "Rest your back against the headboard."
He stands and quickly starts unbuttoning his shirt.
"Clothes on, Nathan." I command. He really only has a one track mind. It's becoming clearer to me each time we spend a moment together.
He kicks off his shoes before he sets himself at the head of the bed. I crawl into his lap, pulling the skirt of my sundress around my thighs.
"I really like you." I lightly graze my lips across his. "I've never met any man like you before."
His heavy lashes close slightly as he breathes in the scent of my skin. "I've never met anyone like you before, Jessica." He pulls me closer, the stubble on his skin, grazing my cheek.