“What? Why do you say that? I like to read!”

Natalie waved a hand at him. “You’re far too charming, flirty and sexy. I’m the most steadfast member of the group, and I can’t even concentrate around you. The rest of them would dissolve into goo. No book club for you, Patrick.”

He laughed. “I’d say you were mean, but you did compliment me and say I messed with your concentration, so I’ll let it pass. How about Wednesday?”

“Okay.” She looked at her watch. “I need to get moving.”

He stood with her. “I’ll walk you.”

She could have refused but she didn’t want to.

“All right.”

He walked on the outside, her barrier from the street. His gentlemanly ways surprised her at times.

“I admit it’s way nicer now that you don’t reject me over and over. Would I be pushing my luck if I tried to hold your hand right now?”

“Yes. I’m on my way to work. I like to keep my work and my private life separate.”

“Hmm. We’re going to need to talk about all this.”

“Hmm.” She mimicked him. “It’s going to have to wait until Wednesday.”

“Fine.” He chitchatted about silly stuff until they got to the library.

“I take it a kiss would not be okay according to your rules?”

“You’re learning. Oh, I need directions to your house for Wednesday night.”

He took her phone and put the information in. “I’ll see you Wednesday, then. I can’t be at the café tomorrow morning. We’re doing an interview, so I’ll be busy doing that for a while.”

She didn’t want to be disappointed, but there it was, anyway. So reckless of her to go getting attached to him like that, but her brain didn’t seem to care. The other parts of her had lost that battle weeks before. “Okay. I’ll see you Wednesday, then. Have a good interview.”

She turned with a wave and headed into work.

CHAPTER SEVEN

HE SPENT MOST of Wednesday preparing for his date. He went in and got a haircut and a beard trim. He picked up snacks and supplies for dinner. He also picked up extra condoms. It was like a talisman. For luck.

They’d end up in bed. He hoped it’d be that night, but even if it wasn’t for another month, it would happen. They had so much sexual energy between them, it sizzled.

He cleaned the house, changed his sheets and bedding. Aired everything out and moved furniture three times.

He was officially ridiculous, and he didn’t stop even after he’d realized that.

There were three movies. Horror, a thriller and some comedy bro-flick. He’d let her choose.

In the shower he considered jerking off so he’d be more relaxed. Thinking about her had him tense and agitated, but in a way he sort of dug. He hadn’t had to work this hard for a woman, well, ever, actually. He’d had her before, which only spiced things up. He knew what it was like to be inside her. Knew what her lips felt like wrapped around his cock. Knew what she tasted like.

He’d thought he’d remembered her body. He’d seen it naked an awful lot. But in the brief glimpses of her he caught out at the river, he’d noted curves. More than she’d had then. He had tended toward tall women with big tits and a lean look. But Natalie was voluptuous. He hadn’t realized he had a thing for all that swoop and dip, but he was utterly converted. Nicely though, the big boobs part was there, too. He’d been so focused on the curves, he’d only barely noticed the ink and hoped for a far closer inspection very soon.

So yeah, he soaped a hand up and wrapped it around his c**k as he imagined her naked. Wet, but not from swimming. Flushed from orgasm. On her back in his bed. Her lips swollen from his kisses and from sucking his cock. Her eyes half-lidded and dreamy.

“Open those thighs.”

She complied with that smile of hers. Unashamed of what she wanted, of what he did to her. She was slick, dark with desire and when he fed her his cock, pressing in slow and steady, she made a sound that wrapped around his balls and tightened.

She wound her legs around his waist, grabbing two handfuls of his ass and pulling him closer, urging him on. She loved f**king as much as he did. That wouldn’t have changed. Tight and hot, her inner muscles would flutter around him as she got closer. As he got closer. Her nails dug into his skin as she arched, her neck bared to his lips as he licked and nibbled.

Climax shot through him, yanking him from that fantasy as his dream Natalie dissolved, leaving him alone and still half hard as the water rushed over his skin.

* * *

SHE’D GONE WITH casual that night. Her favorite supersoft T-shirt with the V-neck and some jeans. No heels this time. He lived on a farm so if he wanted her to walk or do something outdoorsy, she’d be better off in the sneakers she’d chosen instead of sandals.

Of course, as she followed the road, drove through a gate that he’d given her the code to and continued on, she realized the word farm probably wasn’t adequate for the land, the orchards and fields in the distance. She saw lights from a few houses and passed two until she saw the turnoff for his.

Off the main road, she could see the river in the distance as she parked in his driveway. All glass and gorgeous, warm wood, his house was Northwestern modern. The opposite of her Victorian, but it fit him.

She didn’t get the chance to knock; he opened up with a smile before she’d even been able to raise her hand.

“Hey, you found me.”