Page 26 of Fifth Avenue Devil

"Oh." I can feel blood rushing to my cheeks. The damn things always give any kind of embarrassment away.

Nate walks to the balcony, looking out. "About last night?—"

Oh my god. Of course he would bring up how I ran out of the room. He's so irritating that I can't even let him finish.

"Can we not talk about that?" I grit out.

He hesitates, then shakes his head. "I think we'd better clear the air, Annalise. First off, I didn't know you are a virgin."

I sniff, unable to even look at him. "Was. I was a virgin."

Nate does a double take. Then he reaches out to me, turning my body so I have to face him.

"You're still a virgin," he says, searching my face. "Anybody that tells you otherwise is crazy. Also, in case you haven't heard, virginity is a really outmoded concept. If it's really important to you, fine. But your value doesn't increase or decrease just because you've had sex."

I drop my gaze. My entire body burns with shame. How can he be so casual about sex?

Before I can even think it over, the words are already coming out of my mouth. "If that's how much you care about sex, I'm glad that I haven't fallen under your spell. I only want to share a bed with someone that thinks sex is a big deal."

Nate grips my upper arms and looks at me intently. "Some sex is a big deal. Some sex is casual. I think you will come to see that when you're more—" He pauses, searching for the right words.

"Old and wise, like you?" I spit out.

He looks amused. "Emotionally mature. Listen to me, Annalise. I don't want to fight about this. I don't want you to run away from me. Can you just take me at my word?"

His face holds no hint of deception. If I had to pin his plea down, I would call it earnest. My defenses don't know how to handle that approach. No sarcasm, no hint of dark humor?

Gulp.

I slowly nod and Nate eases his grip on my arms. "Good. Come downstairs. Let's get ready to disembark."

Half an hour later, I am walking on to the sandy beach of an immense coastal estate. His mansion has a weathered Cape Cod cottage quality to it, but it is immense. Only a short walk up the decidedly private beach and we're at the front door. I turn and cast my gaze back to the rolling sea, the miles of sandy beach, and the untouched greenery. This? This is actually the first display of wealth that Nate has shown me that is somewhat impressive.

Okay,veryimpressive.

We are greeted at the doorway by the starched and polished staff. As we head inside the beachside mansion, several younger staff members hurry outside. Going to the yacht, if I had to guess.

I'm taken off to my room by a maid, who tells me that my clothing will be transferred here shortly. In the meantime, I might avail myself of a swimsuit and a cover up. In the large walk-in closet are racks upon racks of swimsuits and a ton of white coverups. The maid says that Nate usually likes to go to the beach right away, so I should get ready.

After sifting through the bathing suits, I find one that suits me. It's a shiny gold one-piece, low cut and nearly backless. I grab a long, loose tunic and a pair of gold sandals. Everything is my size, which is amazing. With my very short torso and extremely petite waist, I am hard pressed to find bathing suits that fit me properly.

By the time I'm changed and head downstairs, I am told that I can find Nate on the beach. So I head out, appreciating the sunny weather. It's the height of summer right now, so it's almost ninety degrees. I'll soon need sunscreen, I remind myself.

Nate stands by two surfboards, stripped bare to his waist. His ass and legs are perfectly defined in a tight Lycra wetsuit. He picks up a paddle as he glances back, catching sight of me.

He grins, although I can't see what's in his eyes because he wears sunglasses. "Finally," he says. "I thought I was going to grow roots waiting for you."

I sidle up beside him, surveying the surf boards. "No one told me to hurry. What are these?"

Nate's grin widens. "Paddle boards."

I scrunch my face up. "I hope they're not for us. Because I don't know how to do that."

"Relax. This first time, we'll just paddle out and sit on the boards. You're a paddle board virgin, so I'll take things slow. A little further each time you ride."

I can't help but feel that he's talking about more than the paddle boards. But he hands me a wetsuit, quickly moving on.

"Come on," he urges me. "I'll carry your board to the water for you. Then you can hold onto the board for balance."

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