Page 39 of Nathan

“Then, why didn’t you?”

She exhales slowly. “I don’t know, Nate. All this”—she swings her hand between us—“is so unbelievable. I’m out of my depth here.” She nibbles on her bottom lip. “I can’t go to New York with you. I’ll find a way to pay you back, I promise.”

My pulse jolts. No way. She has to come. I need her. She’s stopped being a distraction to take my mind off being back home, instead becoming someone I want to introduce to my family, and show her where I grew up, as well as the places I hung out when playing hooky. The alley where I had my first fumble beneath a girl’s skirt. Okay, maybe not that, but the rest of it. Yep, I want it all.

“You have to come.”

She raises her eyebrows. “Excuse me?”

Fuck. Wrong approach, dickhead.

I rub my fingertips over my lips. “That came out wrong. What I meant to say was that I really want you to come. I get it, Dex. This is new for both of us, but what better way to get to know someone than to go on a short vacation.”

She bites the inside of her cheek and closes her eyes, a soft sigh spilling from her lips. “I don’t know, Nate. What about my cat?”

“Your cat?” I raise my eyebrows. “Can’t you put it in a cattery?”

“It? Milo is a him.” She wrinkles her nose. “I suppose I could ask my sister to have him for a few days.”

“Problem solved.”

She chews her bottom lip but before she can throw out any more excuses, I take her hand and pray the right words come out of my mouth.

“I’m so twisted up over you, Titch. I can’t even figure out when it happened. Maybe when you called me out that night at the club, or maybe the quiet dignity you showed in front of Bernard when you had every right to twist his balls until the fucker passed out. Or when I first got inside you and you looked up at me with those beautiful eyes that begged me not to stop moving.” I knit my fingers into her hair and tilt her head back. “Tell me you feel the same.”

Our eyes meet, her dove-gray one’s doing funny things to my insides.

“I don’t want to get hurt.”

I sense a weakness and press my advantage with a soft brush of my lips against hers. I can’t promise not to hurt her, and damn if I’m going to lie.

“I don’t know where this is going any more than you do, but if we don’t try, how will we know what might have been? Don’t leave me hanging. Come to New York. Be mine, Dexter Nolan.”

She closes her eyes, and when she opens them, they’re full of tears. Surprise sends my eyebrows shooting up. Dex isn’t the teary type. Before I can ask her what’s wrong, she climbs onto my lap and flings her arms around my neck.

“I’ll be yours.”

Chapter 16

Nate

I knock on Dex’s door, and the minute she answers, I wave the airline tickets in front of her. “We’re all booked. We leave on Thursday.”

Dex grins and snatches the tickets from my hand. She scans them, her eyes glistening with excitement. “Oh, this is so cool. My first trip to New York, and in first class, too! It’s gonna be awesome. We’ll have time for sightseeing, right?”

I rub my chin like a pantomime villain. “Hmm, wonder if it’s too late to get a refund on your ticket.”

She gives me a playful punch. “You wouldn’t.”

I cock an eyebrow. “Don’t bet on it, Titch.”

“Well, if all you came over for was to tease me, I’ve got better things to do.” She spins on her heel.

I follow her inside and snag her around the waist, pulling her against me. “Not so fast, little Dex.” I kiss her neck and cup both her breasts. She arches into me, groaning when I scrape a fingernail over her nipple.

“You don’t play fair.”

“Correct. Now, get your sneakers on.”

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