“Hey, you!” Nate said. He dropped his bag to the ground and enveloped her in his arms, kissing her breathless. “God, I missed you,” he said when he finally released her.
“I missed you, too,” she said simply.
He tugged her by the hand. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Don’t you have groceries to collect?” she asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Nate said. “Won’t be much of a dinner without that.” He dug in his pocket and brought out a key chain. “The cart’s parked over beside the Mercantile. Why don’t you bring it around here, and by that time the deckhands will have unloaded my cooler and stuff.”
* * *
On the way to his cabin, he filled her in on the progress he’d made during his business trip. “The UNC board of visitors had called a meeting and approved all the plans for the research center. I met with the architects and showed them some photos of similar centers run by the University of Florida at Cedar Key, and the University of Georgia at Skidaway Island. They’re gonna work up some sketches for me. The bankers are down with what I want to do, and it looks like I’ve got all the financing in place.”
“That’s great,” Riley said. “What about the hotel people?”
“I met with some folks in New York who recently left the Westin and started their own boutique brand. They do small luxury hotels in offbeat destinations. They were intrigued with the idea of putting one on Belle Isle, especially since the only access is by ferry. Each of their concepts is designed for the setting, with its own unique name, design, and branding. I’d be their first franchisee in the South.”
“You’d own the hotel?” Riley asked, surprised.
“It’s the only way I can completely control what happens with that site,” Nate said. “Every other chain requires a certain number of rooms, parking, all of that. Their big thing is uniformity. But I don’t want that for Pirate’s Point.”
“Do you know anything about running a hotel?” she asked.
“Not one damn thing,” he said cheerfully. “But they do. And they’re really good at it. I stayed in their property in Brooklyn, which is in a converted shoe factory, and in a couple of weeks, I want you to go out to San Francisco with me, so we can check out their property there. It’s in an old municipal bus barn.”
“That sounds like fun,” Riley said, hesitating. She hadn’t told him about her job offer yet, reasoning it would be better to wait until they were alone.
He glanced over at her and pulled her closer to him. “Did I remember to tell you how beautiful you look? And how crazy I’ve been, wondering if you’d really be waiting for me when the ferry docked tonight?”
“I was pretty nervous myself,” Riley admitted.
“I forgot to ask you what you wanted to cook tonight,” he said, making the sharp turn onto the narrow path leading to Sandy Point. “I didn’t know if you’d like fish or meat or what, so I covered all my bets with some mahi steaks and a couple of little filets. I had Mom bring some stuff over from the Mercantile to stock the fridge, too.”
“Does your mom know about us?” Riley asked shyly.
“Of course.” He paused. “Wait. Was I not supposed to let Annie know?”
“No, that’s fine,” Riley said. “Actually a lot of people on the island know about us now. Including Maggy and Evelyn.”
“Oh yeah?” He pulled the cart up in front of the cabin. It was still daylight, but the front porch light was on.
“Let’s unload your groceries and pour a drink,” Riley said grimly. “And then I’ll tell you what happened.”
* * *
They found a Mason jar full of sunflowers on the kitchen table and a chilled bottle of champagne in the refrigerator, along with a cheese and pâté plate and a baguette of French bread.
Nate opened the wine and poured a glass for Riley and opened a beer for himself, then led her by the hand to the sofa.
She sat down beside him, and he pulled her into his arms. “I’ve thought about this every night while I was gone,” he said, running his hands through her hair and nibbling on her earlobes. “You wanna know how nutty I am about you? I pulled up some of your old video clips on YouTube and watched them at night, when I couldn’t sleep.”
Riley laughed. “Now, that’s just weird.”
“It gets weirder,” he chuckled. “It got so I got a hard-on every time I heard that stupid theme music for your Wake Up, Carolina show.”
She stood up and pulled him to his feet. “Okay, I know how to fix that.”
Nate grinned. “Should I put the coals on first?”
“Later,” Riley said, slipping out of her sandals. “We’ve got all night.” He had her undressed before they made it to the bed. “I want you,” he said, stripping off her panties and bra. “Stand right there and just let me look at you,” he said, his voice hoarse. He stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her ears and shoulder blades. He lifted her hair and kissed the nape of her neck and she shivered with delight. He ran his hands lightly up her belly and cupped a breast in each hand, and sitting on the edge of the bed, he slowly kissed his way down her spine, pausing at each vertebrae. He slid his hands downward, then pulled her onto his lap, teasing her with his fingertips, entering her and stroking her until she was mindless with pleasure.
Riley turned and pushed him backward onto the bed. She pulled his shirt over his head and fumbled with his zipper while he watched, his head propped up on the pillows, while she tugged and struggled until she had him naked.
She ran her hands lightly down his chest, then stroked and fondled and kissed him until he could stand it no longer. He raised himself above her and smiled down at her.
“You’re doing it again,” Riley whispered.
“What?”
“Smiling,” she said, touching a finger to his lips. “Having fun.”
“And what about you?” he asked.
She reached up and guided him into her, raising her hips to meet his. “No more talking.”
58
“Now I wish you had started those coals,” she said, hours later. She rolled over on the bed and grabbed her phone to check the time. “It’s after nine, and I’m starving.”
He nipped at her neck and tried to pull her back to him. “Starved for love?”
“Starved for food,” she said firmly. “Dinner now. Love later.”
“I’ll go start the coals,” he said. “You want a shower? There are clean towels in the bathroom.”
He went to the dresser, got a pair of shorts, and stepped into them while Riley picked up her discarded clothes and headed for the bathroom.
She’d just stepped out of the shower and was toweling off when she heard her phone ringing in the bedroom. She grabbed it and paused before hitting the connect button. The call was from her mother.
Riley frowned down at the phone. She let the call go to voice mail and got dressed.
By the time she’d walked into the kitchen, Nate was slicing tomatoes for a salad, and smoke was curling from the grill outside the kitchen door. Her phone rang again, and she pulled it from the pocket of her dress, frowning down at it.