At twelve thirty, Nate comes walking through my door, looking every inch the successful business man in his black suit and red tie.  I hold my smile in when I glance up at him, and I can tell he’s doing the same.

“Do you have a moment, Miss Montgomery?”

“Of course.”  He closes the door behind him, and I’ve never been so thankful that I don’t have any windows out to the main part of the building.

“Hi,” he murmurs and looks around my office.

“Hi,” I respond, rising from my desk and coming around to him.  He gathers me in his arms and kisses me deeply, then pulls back and runs his fingers down my cheek.

“How is the birthday girl?” he asks.

“I’m good.  Feeling a little spoiled.”  I step back and gesture at all the flowers and he smirks.

“All of your admirers?” he quirks up an eyebrow.

“Yes, my brothers, parents and Nat are my biggest fans.”  I smile up at him and his eyes get serious as he sweeps the pad of his thumb along my lower lip.

“I think I rate up there too,” he whispers.

“Oh,” I respond, mesmerized by the serious look in his eyes.

“I have something for you.”  He steps back and pulls an envelope out of his breast pocket.  My eyebrows climb to my hairline in surprise.

“Why?”

“Because it’s your birthday, Julianne.” He looks at me like I’m stupid and I flush in pleasure.

“Thank you.”

“You haven’t opened it yet.”  He passes me the envelope and I rip it open.  There is a handwritten note inside, in his hand writing and I grin up at him.

Julianne,

I am delighted to have the honor of sharing your birthday with you.  I’m giving you the rest of the day off, and have set up an account at Neiman Marcus that has no limit.  Go shopping.  Replace the clothes I ruined over the weekend, and be sure to find a leather jacket, along with anything else you want.

Happy Birthday, beautiful.

Yours,

Nate

Wow.

I smile and look up into his amused gray eyes.

“This is where I do the obligatory ‘you shouldn’t have’.” I kiss him softly and rub my nose against his.

“And I’ll do the obligatory ‘but I wanted to’.” He grins, delighted with me, and I hug him close.  He’s come to be so precious to me in such a short time.  Or has he always meant this much to me and I just couldn’t admit it to myself?

“Thank you, so much.” I whisper.

“You’re welcome.  I wanted to send you flowers, but it wouldn’t be appropriate here.”

Oh, that’s right!  No wonder.

“I understand.  This is a very generous gift.”  I nuzzle his chest and hug him tighter.

“You’ll get your other gifts tonight,” he murmurs and kisses my hair.

“What?” I pull back and look up at him.  “This is too much as it is, honey.”

“Don’t be ungrateful.  If memory serves, you hate that quality in Natalie.”

Oh.  Damn him.

“I’m not ungrateful.  I’m… overwhelmed.”

He smiles warmly and kisses me again.  “I have a meeting.  Go have fun.  I’m serious, get whatever you want.”

I grin and jump up and down in excitement.  “Okay, you asked for it.”

He laughs, a full out belly laugh, kisses me again, and leaves to go back to work.  Holy shit, so this is how Natalie felt when Luke treated us to a day of shopping for her birthday.  No, Natalie hated it.

I’m going to love the shit out of it.

***

I nudge the front door closed behind me with my foot, my arms and hands loaded down with bags from Neimans and climb the stairs to my bedroom, throwing the bags onto the bed.

I did good.

Nate was very generous today.

I didn’t go crazy.  I replaced the underwear he ripped, and bought some extra because they are sexy and will most likely meet the same fate the lacy panties of mine met this past weekend. I splurged on a couple of pretty nightgowns, and the rest is a hot, black leather jacket, shoes and handbags.

Oh, the shoes and handbags.

Two pairs of Blaniks and one pair of Jimmy Choos that are, frankly, to die for.  Nate also got me a Gucci handbag and matching wallet.

He really shouldn’t have.

I laugh as I pull everything out of the bags and put them away in my closet.  The smallest bag has a tiny wrapped box in it, tied with a red bow and I hug myself, excited to give Nate his gift.

This gift was paid for by me, of course.

I hear my doorbell and I race down the stairs to greet my man.

“Hi,” I smile up at his beautiful face.  He’s let his hair down – yum – and he’s holding a large bouquet of red roses in one hand and a white plastic bag full of food in the other.

“Hi, gorgeous.  These are for you.”

“Thank you.” I bury my nose in the soft blooms, inhaling their sweet scent and grin.  “Come inside, make yourself at home.”

I step back and lead him through the house to the kitchen so I can fuss over my lovely roses and put them in water.

“Plates?” he asks and I point to the cupboard that houses the dinnerware.  I love this house, and I’m thankful to Natalie every day that she lets me live here, rent free.  It’s beautiful, with a fantastic view of the Puget Sound.  The kitchen is state-of-the-art, though not quite as sexy as Nate’s.