While he slept, I took the opportunity to stare at his beautiful features. His straight nose, full lips, thick lashes, scruff-covered chin. Nate was a complete turn-on both physically and intellectually. In hindsight, of course I would’ve grown attached to him.
With a feather-light touch, I removed a lock of hair that had fallen over his forehead. His arm shifted to where it now rested beneath my breasts, and he released a groggy moan. “What time is it?”
Grateful he didn’t call me out on the sappy move, I lifted my head enough to see the green numerical display on my cable box. “A little after ten.”
“Mmm. I haven’t slept that well in forever.” His grip tightened. “It must be because of you, Jersey.” With that admission, he may as well have professed his love. Damn, I had it bad… and my heart flip-flopped even after he added, “I’m starving. What are you making me for breakfast?”
“That’s quite an assumption.”
He finally opened his eyes, and a small smirk lifted the corners of his lips. “Consider it a belated birthday gift.”
“Your choice is cereal,” I quipped. Although he was kidding, regret still hit me square in the chest, and I twisted enough to bring us face-to-face. “I did ruin your birthday.” He shook his head, but I insisted. “Yes, I did. I’m sorry.”
“I’m not.” His green eyes seared into mine. “Things happen for a reason.” His gaze caught on my cheek before he pinched a stray wave and tucked it behind my ear. “What are your plans for the day?”
“The usual: trying to get some words in, procrastinating when the page remains blank.” Because I’ll be busy obsessing over you. “Why?”
“Let’s take a drive, out of the city. Get some fresh autumn air. Be bad.”
Schooling how much that flippant suggestion had surprised me, I said, “I guess I can take a few hours to do that.”
“No, I’m thinking overnight. I could use a day off from work. I’m sure you could too.”
I considered his offer. For obvious reasons, I hadn’t written in a few days. In that moment, I didn’t care about my deadline or Janis’s wrath. “Actually, I could,” I easily admitted. “Maybe you will provide some much-needed inspiration for my novel.”
“Ah… I knew it. Before I came along, did that happen often?” The rise of my brows prompted him to elaborate. “Writer’s block.”
“At times. Usually, if I go back a few chapters and reread what I wrote, my characters will start talking to me again.”
“Voices in your head, huh? That explains a lot.”
When I poked my tongue out, he caught it between his fingers.
“Careful, Jersey, I’m sporting morning wood. I can put that tongue to good use.”
“Happy birthday to you.” His irises darkened as he narrowed his eyes on me before pulling me over his body, effectively proving his point when said morning wood pressed between my thighs.
“Before I put you to work…” Spontaneously flipping us caused me to squeal giddily, and he added, “There’s something I must do first.” A devious look crossed over his features as he slid down my body to settle between my legs. While fingering my belly button ring, he stared directly into my eyes. “As you said, happy birthday to me.”
Well, damn.
After I devoured her pussy, and then got a fantastic blow job, we raided her cereal stash, eating it in bed. I could’ve easily stayed there all day, but the idea to escape shit had popped into my head.
It came to me while she’d slept hours earlier, looking so peaceful and carefree… a rarity for her. A few weeks ago, Jade had mentioned going camping with Amy and her parents when they were younger, something they did every year. According to my sister-in-law, Amy treasured those memories, tagging them to a time in her life when she was blissfully happy. That tidbit had stayed with me, and for whatever reason, seeing her that way had me wanting to give her an opportunity to possibly relive those happy times.
Mind you, I’d never been camping before. How hard could it be?
I was serious when admitting the need to get out of the city, find someplace with no distractions, take a much-needed day off from the daily grind. Normally, I’d be high over the stress that came with my career. It fueled my motivation. But truth be told, the Steiner divorce was truly messing with me.
It had nothing to do with thinking Richard was being a dick, as his name would insinuate. Janis absolutely deserved his ire. It was Amy being an innocent bystander that fucked with my head. Now that I knew she’d seen me with Clare, and assumed something way off the mark, my nerves frayed even more. But with luck, Clare would come through for me and fix what my client would soon ruin.
We’d met twice so far, the first night being the same evening Amy had attempted to deliver sushi to my office. We had gone to a restaurant up the street. My goal was to introduce Clare to Amy’s work. A few days later, Clare had called to say she was quite impressed, and we met for the second time to discuss her taking Amy on as a client. That happened at my place the night before my party.
When I canceled on Amy, claiming work was the culprit, I was only partly lying. It wasn’t my work; it was hers. What I hadn’t lied about was admitting there was nothing going on between us.
Yes, at one time Clare and I had the exact same arrangement Amy and I shared. It had gone on for over a year, until Clare wanted more. We’d parted as friends, and she was now engaged to a great guy. It was the way things went. I wished all my ex-fucks only happiness, no different from how I wished Amy the same.
Except there was one blaring disparity—I wanted to be the one to make Amy happy. Not necessarily through a committed relationship, because face it, I sucked at those. But getting her another option for her books to be turned into a television series, or taking her away for a few days—that I could do.
Around noon, I forced myself to leave her cozy bed with instructions to be ready in two hours, packed for warmth and comfort.
To say those two hours flew by would be an understatement. The first thing I did was rush home to pack. The next thing was to hit the local outdoor megastore and load up with all the gear I let the salesperson to talk me into. The guy most definitely saw a sucker when I walked through the door, convincing me I absolutely needed the necessities: a tent, camp chairs, air mattress, warming blanket, and even a lantern. But when the dude tried to sell me a solar generator at a few grand, I put an end to his commission ambitions.
Once all the new gear was loaded up in my Jag, I hit the grocery store for food and drink to sustain us in the wild, or rather Panther Lake Campgrounds in northwestern New Jersey. It was the same one Amy and her family vacationed at.
I even debated renting a Jeep, since my Jaguar wasn’t exactly designed for lugging camping gear. Time constraints stopped me. So I instead cringed with each thing I shoved into the car, filling it to the brim with supplies, and pulled up to her building at the time I had promised.
Not wanting to find a spot and leave it vulnerable for theft, I called her to come down. When she emerged a few minutes later wearing jeans, a short red bubble jacket, and a Yankees baseball cap, I met her at the door to take the small overnight bag from her hand.