Before he could pull her back to him, she rolled off his lap and practically jumped off the bed. Heading for the door, she called out, “I have to go talk to my dad. Hope he has clothes on by now!”
Listening to her laughter as she walked down the hallway away from him, he let out the groan he had been suppressing. Had he just agreed to play her husband for three days? Had he just let her kiss him? Had he just almost slid her up so that her heat would be resting on his erection?
When was he going to learn to control himself when she was around? He hoped he could pull himself together by the time she came back from her dad’s house. Getting up, he needed a cold shower, and he had better get used to them. It was going to be a long few days.
CHAPTER5
Slammingout of Sam’s back door, Natalie was practically dancing with excitement. Her dad had a girlfriend, she was going to see her mother, and Sam was packing heat. Though she hadn’t really tried to notice, it was hard not to when it was right there between them. If she wasn’t so excited about their trip, she might have pointed it out to see if he would blush.
He was still really fun to tease.
Rushing across the two lawns, she nearly screamed when someone stood up from the patio chair on her dad’s deck. She put her hand on her heart and breathed heavily, trying to catch her breath.
“So, you have been hiding across the yard? That one I did not see coming,” Mia said as she sat back down in the chair. No longer in pink, but in jeans and an orange T-shirt that had seen better days. It went along with what Natalie could only assume was a massive hangover, based on the sunglasses and pale complexion.
“Mia, you scared the daylights out of me,” Natalie said when she could finally catch her breath. Natalie took the chair across from her and sat down. Taking in the half-empty bottle of water and empty bag of chips, she wondered how long Mia had been waiting for her.
“What about me when my Jeep was still in the parking lot?” Mia slid off her sunglasses, tossing them on the table and then squinting in the sunlight.
“Sorry, Sam caught me and brought me to his house.” She had texted Mia she was okay, but she had forgotten about the Jeep she was supposed to take.
“Sam, is it?” Mia raised her eyebrow in question.
“It’s not like that. You have a dirty mind, Mia.”
“Hey, you were the one who practically danced over here. Looks like a post-sex dance to me,” Mia replied, though her one eye was squinting when she smiled.
“No sex. I was supposed to get married yesterday,” Natalie reminded her, though she shouldn’t have to.
“But you didn’t,” Mia pointed out.
“Thanks to you. You didn’t have to let me go.” Natalie was nothing but happy about the turn of events. All worry and concern gone.
“You were not making it down that aisle. You knew it wasn’t right.”
“You’re right. I don’t love him. After seeing Tess and Ruth with their guys, I knew I didn’t have that with Jason. Nothing even close to that.”
“I knew you had to leave when you were starting to babble about Henry. You’re not ready to get married if you’re still hung up on your first love,” Mia explained.
Natalie leaned back into her chair and looked at her friend, ignoring the comment completely. “Did you go to the reception?”
“No, I stayed to clean the church, and then it was late. I went home.” She looked up at the cloudless sky, not meeting her eyes.
“But Dad had the reception, didn’t he?” Natalie wanted to make sure.
“Yes, you’ll have to ask him about it. I did hear that Jason was making out with one of the bridesmaids, who I thought were all his sisters.” Mia was excited about the gossip despite the hangover.
“One was my college friend,” Natalie informed her.
“So, we are two-thirds sure that it was his sister,” Mia decided with a giggle and a groan of pain. “And odds are that it was his sister.”
“Is my dad home?” Natalie changed the subject from Jason and what might have happened after she left.
“He’s gone right now. Church.” Mia pointed out the obvious. Her dad did not miss church.
“I forgot,” Natalie admitted.
“So, the happiness is not about sex. Close to sex?” she asked with a grin.