Page 19 of Designs on You

“Natalie. You had everything you ever wanted before. A nice house, country club membership, amazing clothes, two awesome kids. I wonder what it is that you want now.”

Natalie gathered her thoughts before answering, because Hazel had presented a good question. “From the outside, it must have seemed like I had the perfect life. It wasn’t. For the most part, I felt separated. Alone. Don’t get me wrong. I love my kids and watching them grow is incredibly fulfilling. But my life with Sean was lonely. He had his friends and his job and his interests, and most of the time, I was left on the outside. Even the friendships I cultivated were surface in nature.

“And to Sean, I was nothing more than a prop on his arm whenever it suited him. The people we hung out with were always his friends, never mine.” She took a deep breath, trying to hold the tears back. “I was miserable, Hazel. And all I want now is to be happy.”

“Honey.” Hazel grasped her hand. “I want that for you, too. So go grab some of that happiness.”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t have to marry Eugene. Just go have some fun. God knows you deserve that.”

Natalie breathed in, then let it out on a heavy sigh. “You’reright. Of course. I’m getting ahead of myself. I just didn’t expect to have all these…feelings so fast for someone. Only they’re not feelings, of course. It’s just unbridled sexual desire.”

Hazel gave her a knowing smile. “That’s not surprising, really. You’ve been repressed for so long. You should probably let loose and have some wild sex. Multiple orgasms will make you feel better.”

“Hazel!”

“What? I know exactly what you’re going through because I went through it myself. I pushed Linc away so many times when we could have gotten closer sooner. And as soon as I allowed myself to just let loose and have fun with him—that’s when I fell in love.”

Natalie frowned. “I have no intention of ever falling in love again.”

“Then don’t. Just do the fun part. You deserve it. God, Nat, you really deserve it.”

For the first time, the “fun” finally entered her brain, and she realized Hazel was right. She did deserve it. She’d just have to control it. Because she did have freedom of choice. And her choice was to never give control of her emotions over to another man ever again.

But letting Eugene take her out and pay some attention to her?

Yes, she could do that. She’d put all her reservations aside and have a good time.

CHAPTER SEVEN

It had taken an extra week before Natalie gave Eugene the go for their date, but fortunately he’d been plenty busy with work. Since Natalie’s ex had the kids this weekend, she’d told him she was free on Saturday. He planned a fun date for them and told her he’d pick her up around six thirty.

He showered and put on jeans and a T-shirt, his tennis shoes, and looked in the mirror, grinning. Yeah, he looked good.

He drove over to Natalie’s house, passing his new house on the way, feeling that jolt of energy at the thought of moving in there someday soon. It was going to be awesome to have a house of his own. And he sure didn’t mind that he’d be so close to Natalie.

He pulled into her driveway, and she came out the front door. He got out of the car.

“I would have come to the door, ya know,” he said.

She shrugged. “I was ready.”

“I’ll say.” He looked over at her tight dress. Her heels. Damn, she had a body, all curves and killer legs. Still…“You need to change.”

Her brows rose. “Excuse me?”

“The dress might work, but how about you change into tennis shoes?”

“Where exactly are we going?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“In other words, we’re not going to a restaurant for dinner.”

“Nah. That’s boring. I want you to have fun. You’ll like it. Trust me.”

She let out a frustrated breath. “Fine. I’ll be right back.”

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