I couldn’t look away from him. I couldn’t hide my feelings. I couldn’t do anything but stare into his beautiful brown eyes and lose every piece of me to the man I never thought would look at me, let alone look at me like that.

“Come, Natalie. Let me feel it.”

My body listened, as though it had forgotten what we were chasing. All of a sudden, I shook and exploded. My orgasm tore a scream from my throat. It ripped all thought from my mind. It left me flopping on top of him, my bones turned to goo and my body a puddle.

“Fuck, Natalie,” Omar groaned. “Yes. God, yes. Natalie!”

He swelled inside me and released. His cock twitched, and he surged upward, kissing me sloppily. His hands held me to him, his body soaked and vibrating just as much as mine was.

His kisses slowed and drifted to my cheeks, my eyes, my neck. “I have no words for that.”

“Same.”

He leaned back far enough to look me in the eyes. I saw his thoughts on his face. The words he was holding back just like I was.

One date. That was all we’d had. One date couldn’t possibly make people fall in love. It wasn’t realistic. It wasn’t natural.

But none of that mattered.

“Thank you,” Omar said after a minute. “For not sneaking out on me. For being here this morning. For giving me another chance. For… For being honest with me.”

I wrapped my arms around him, needing to hide the tears welling in my eyes. I nodded against his shoulder. “Thank you,” I whispered.

There was no way he missed the emotion in my voice, but he didn’t call me on it. He just held me until our hearts slowed to a normal pace and his dick slid from my body.

“Let me take care of this, then I’ll start coffee and breakfast while you use the bathroom. Is that okay?”

“Perfect,” I said.

And it was. I never thought perfect existed, but there he was. Perfect for me.

19

Omar

The week after my date with Natalie, I braced myself for a third article to come out. After two weeks in a row, I figured one had to be coming.

I searched the paper, twice every day, and saw nothing new about how bad I was for the town. By Wednesday, there was nothing.

Relief was a strange feeling because I didn’t trust it. Someone was out there trying to destroy me. Having Natalie on my side helped, but that didn’t mean the threat was done.

Or that I knew who it was coming from.

Jane smiled at me when I made it to the office on Wednesday morning. She’d been doing that more and more lately. I wasn’t sure why, but I knew everyone in town was aware of my new relationship with Natalie. We hadn’t tried to hide it after our date, and I had no intention of doing so.

“How is Natalie?” Jane asked, proving my thoughts.

“She’s good. Why?”

“You never told me if you enjoyed the restaurant I recommended.”

“I apologize. I should have. It was excellent. Great food and wonderful service. I appreciate the recommendation. Natalie did, too.”

“Good. I think she’s good for you.”

I smiled. “I think so, too.”

Jane went back to her work, and I continued into my office.