“Nate,” she breathed and began to pull away a bit, but she was trapped under me so I lifted up a few inches to give her some room.
“What’s the matter?” We were both breathing heavily and my hand was caressing her thigh, moving closer and closer to the edge of her panties and the heat that waited there.
“I … I … I’m not sure.” Her flushed face turned toward the back of the couch.
“Laney, look at me.” She turned her face back and her hooded eyes met mine. “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.” My cock called me every name in the book, but judging by the look on her face, this was going no further tonight.
She put her hand to her forehead and I sat up, releasing her. She sat as well and straightened her skirt. “God, I feel like such an idiot. I really want this.” She motioned back and forth between us. “I mean, I really want this.” She attempted a smile.
I had no fucking clue what to do so I just shut up and hoped she’d clue me in.
“But I have more than just me to consider—I have Rocco. I can’t just let someone jump into his life, play with him, build him a treehouse, and then just disappear. He won’t understand that.”
“Who’s disappearing?”
“You know what I mean.”
“Laney, there is no guarantee in any relationship. I don’t know for sure what will happen between us down the road, but I can tell you that I am more than into you, if you can’t tell that already.” I raised a brow at her. “I can also tell you that while I’m seeing you I’m not even remotely interested in seeing anyone else—and I hope you feel the same way.”
She nodded but still looked unsure.
I took a breath. “But I understand you’re a mom and that has to come first. I just really want us to be able to spend time together and see where this goes.” My hand reached out and she took it with hers.
“Can I have some time to think about it?”
My mouth said, “Of course.” My dick said, “No fucking way!”
She gave me a small embarrassed smile and stood up, releasing my hand. “Thanks, Nate. I’m so sorry about … this.” She waved awkwardly in the general direction of my lap.
“He understands,” I said, and that got a laugh out of her. “Let me drive you home.”
The ride back to her house was mostly silent and I did not have a good feeling about the way we were leaving things. I felt like I was missing some crucial piece of information, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I hated the uncertain feeling.
“Will you still come over to start the treehouse on Saturday?” she asked. “I know I’m sounding like a complete contradiction right now, but Rocco is so excited.”
I shot her a smile. “Of course. I can’t wait.” We pulled into her driveway and I got out to open her door.
She stepped down. “Hopefully you guys can finish it before it’s time for you to leave. Thanks, Nate. I’ll call you.” And then she kissed my cheek and ran to her front door.
I waited for the door to close behind her before I pulled out of her driveway. That bad feeling I had was turning worse.
By Friday morning I still hadn’t heard one word from Laney and I felt a heavy weight in my gut. My only solace was that I’d at least get to see her tomorrow. I visited a couple sites already today to meet with some contractors, and I was pulling up to the Old Oak Ridge site wishing I could just drive down the street and knock on her door. But I’d promised to give her time and I knew she was at work anyway, so it made little difference.
As soon as I got out of my car I noticed Doug and Gavin walking my way.
“Nate!” Doug called. “I’ve got Gavin on framing but Mark mentioned he might pull him for some of that siding work. You know anything about that?” Both men approached and I adjusted the bag I was carrying.
I shook my head. “Don’t worry about it. Stay on framing, Gavin.”
“That’s what I thought,” Doug said distractedly and hurried away to address one of the contractors who’d just pulled up.
“How’s it going, Nate?” Gavin asked, his hands perched stiffly on his hips.
“All right I guess,” I responded. Gavin continued to stand that way and then I caught him clenching his jaw like he was mulling over a difficult problem. “Something wrong?”
“I don’t know. You tell me.” His voice was curt.
“Tell you what?” I was pretty sure I knew which direction we were headed.
“Dammit, I knew this would happen!” His voice rose and we got a few glances.
“What exactly happened, Gavin? I’m at a bit of a loss here.”
He looked at me like I was stupid. “Laney. She’s been in her room crying the past two nights, and it didn’t escape my notice that the timing just so happened to coincide with the early end of your date the other night. So what the hell did you do to my sister?”
I was dumbfounded—it took me a few moments to speak. “Gavin, I didn’t do shit. I thought things were going great and she’s the one who put a stop to it. I’ve been the one waiting for her to call and tell me everything is okay.”
“Well, shit!” He pulled his hard hat from his head and smacked it to his thigh. “Now I’ve got to wade into this like some fucking girl and find out what the hell is wrong.”
“Don’t worry about it—I’ll get to the bottom of it. You can keep your man card. She’s been hesitant about getting involved with me and it has something to do with Rocco and not wanting to have men going in and out of his life. But I swear I have no intention of ditching them, Gavin.”
His hand pulled through his dusty hair and his shoulders dropped. “Damn, I think I get it now. It actually makes sense if you think about it. Rocco getting attached and then, when you leave for Texas, I guess that would suck for the little guy. It probably is for the best to just cut your losses.” He dropped his hand to his side and put his hard hat back on with the other one. “Shit, I feel like I’m growing a vagina here. I gotta get back to work. No hard feelings, man.”
He waved and left me standing there feeling like the most oblivious fucking moron on earth.
At 6:30 that evening I stood on Laney’s front porch pounding on the door. “Laney, I know you’re in there. I saw you peeking through the curtains!” I continued to pound on the door knowing that I was being a bit of an asshole but not caring one bit. My girl was in there and I needed to see her.
“Nate, please go away. I’m not ready to talk yet,” she hissed through the door. “And stop pounding. I don’t want to scare Rocco.”
“Open the door and Rocco will be fine. Come on, Laney. Please.”
I heard a frustrated huff, but the door opened a crack and I saw her beautiful face. I also saw the dark circles under her eyes and I cursed myself for the tenth time today.
“Laney, baby, please let me in. I need to talk to you—to explain.”
Her will seemed to give out and she let the door fall open as she stepped back. I came through the doorway and wrapped her in my arms like I never wanted to let go. And in that moment, it was the God’s honest truth.
“Where is Rocco?” I asked, careful not to say too much if he was close by.
“He’s in his room watching cartoons on the iPad.” Her voice was quiet.
I kissed the top of her head. “I think I get it now, Laney, and I am such an idiot,” I declared.
She sniffled and spoke into my shirt. “That’s usually a title I reserve for Gavin, but go on if you must.” I loved that even when she was sad her sass came through.
“I don’t know how I didn’t see it before, but like I said, I’m an idiot. You think I’m moving back to Austin, don’t you?”
She pulled back from my hold and looked up at me. “Well, yeah, eventually.”
“Baby, I’m not going anywhere. I’m here in North Carolina to stay. It was always my plan to come back—my dad’s heart attack just sped up the timing.”
Her brows drew together. “But … but you kept saying all these things about ‘temporary’ stuff.” I could see the wet in her eyes and I wanted to punch myself.
“I just meant that the apartment was temporary. I don’t want to live in that shithole any longer than necessary.” I smiled at her. “As soon as I have the time, I’m finding a house or a condo or something.”
“Oh.” That was all she said, eyes still teary.
“You forgive me for confusing you?” I leaned down and couldn’t help but kiss her quickly on her sweet mouth. She just nodded, looking a bit dazed. I wanted to take her to her bedroom and show her how sorry I was, but I knew that couldn’t happen for several reasons.
And despite my desire to pull her into my arms and assume that everything would work out perfectly, I knew I had to say one more thing. “But you know as well as I do that there are no guarantees in life. And I understand that you need to consider Rocco in all your decisions. I’m just asking for a chance, Laney.”
Evidently over her shock, she finally smiled up at me and ran her fingers down my jaw. “By the way, if I have any say in it, I prefer the scruff.” Then she reached up to me for a kiss. We wrapped ourselves around each other for several moments before cooler heads prevailed and we remembered the five-year-old down the hall, not to mention the open door behind me.
“Oh, I almost forgot.” I turned around and retrieved my bag from the front porch where I’d left it. “Call Rocco out here. I’ve got some treehouse plans to go over with him.”
Chapter Sixteen
Go About Your Business
LANEY
I felt like I’d just won a free lifetime supply of doughnuts, along with a magical guarantee that they’d never go to my ass, as I watched Nate and Rocco at my kitchen table poring over treehouse plans. I was also feeling a bit foolish for spending the last two days wallowing in misery when I should have just opened my mouth and asked Nate outright about his plans. Damn that Fiona for always being right. I resolved from here on out to voice my doubts and be clear about any reservations I had.