Page 28 of Ace of Spades
“What’s so funny?” Madison asked, joining them.
“Nothing. Nothing’s funny.” Nate glared at Alex, daring him to open his mouth one more time.
Taylor came up on the other side of him. “Can we go look at the yachts after we eat?”
“Sure,” he said, a little surprised that his voice hadn’t sounded strangled.
She handed him her denim jacket. “Hold this for me, okay?”
As he took it from her, holding it in front of him, he glanced at her, getting a sly smile. She knew what was going on below his belt and was helping him hide the evidence. His heart took a disconcerting leap, something that had never happened with another woman. He didn’t like it.
Liar,a voice whispered in his ear. He ignored it. “We’re eating at the Orchids Bar and Grill. It’s a poolside restaurant.” He glanced at Madison. “They have fish tacos.”
“I knew I loved you,” she said, racing ahead, then turning and bouncing on her feet, her eyes on Taylor. “If Nate hasn’t told you, I would leave Alex for fish tacos.”
“Hey,” Alex said. “I feed you fish tacos every chance I get. Get back here, woman.”
Madison danced back to her husband with a big smile on her face, and Nate tried not to envy that his little brother was ridiculously happy for finding a woman who loved him unconditionally. When she reached Alex, she tucked herself under his arm, both of them staring at each other as if they were the only two people left on earth and they were good with that.
The temperature was perfect for a day out on motorcycles, his brother and sister-in-law were flirting as if they were still on their honeymoon, and Nate had the one woman he could love, if only he knew how to accomplish such a feat, walking by his side. It didn’t get much better or much worse than that.
After a great lunch, they strolled down to the pier, Alex and Madison walking ahead, their arms around each other’s backs. Taylor slipped her hand in his, and he glanced at her, his brow raised. She was staring with wide eyes at a yacht that had to be close to two hundred feet long.
Nate had never held hands with a woman. Because he had no intention of ever marrying, he didn’t have relationships. He wasn’t a monk, far from it, but the women he took to bed knew the score. He made sure of it. They wanted nothing more from him than a few hours of pleasure, and at the first sign of interest in spending time with him outside of the bedroom, he backed off.
He was thirty-three years old, on his first real date, and holding hands with a woman he’d desired for a long time. This wasn’t good. Not how much he liked her hand in his and not whatever the hell it was in his heart that felt like some kind of happy bubbles. Damn Alex and his meddling.
A small fishing boat pulled up to the stern of the yacht. A man in a white double-breasted chef’s jacket appeared on the wide back deck. They stopped, watching as the fisherman handed up several large groupers.
“Wow, that’s so cool.” Taylor eyed the fisherman. “Fresh fish delivered right to your door.”
“I guess if you can afford that kind of boat,” Madison said, “you can afford a personal chef and all the fresh seafood you want.”
Alex smirked at his wife. “The little thing bobbing behind is a boat, Mad. The big thing is a yacht. There’s a definite difference.”
She punched his arm, then hopped away, laughing. “Boat, yacht, whatever. Make fun of me and see if you get any tonight.”
“Get back here, wife,” Alex said.
She jogged backward down the pier. “Nope. I’m going to find a sea captain and sail away with him ... Or is that yacht off with him? Oh,wait. I think I’ll just boat off with him.” Alex took off after her, both laughing as he chased her.
“They’re adorable,” Taylor said.
“Yeah, they’re a Hallmark movie come to life.” He glanced at her, struck by the longing in her eyes as she watched his brother and Madison. Tearing his gaze away, he swallowed the question hovering on his lips.Is that what you want, Taylor? Someone to love you that way?He’d thought she only wanted an affair, a little fun to work off the chemistry between them that sometimes felt like an out-of-control wildfire. That he might be able to handle, as long as they came to an understanding that they were taking their relationship to no more than friends with benefits.
The idea of it had been brewing ever since he’d kissed her. He’d even made a mental list of his conditions before he’d agree: the most important one being that either could call it quits and there wouldn’t be any hard feelings. Once the heat between them dimmed, they would still be best friends.
The longing he’d just seen in her eyes, though, had him putting the brakes on any thought of taking their relationship to the next level. If she wanted someone to love her the way Alex did Madison, he wasn’t that man. She was the last person in the world he wanted to hurt, and he would if she was looking for more than a fling. That was a given.
Yet he didn’t let go of her hand.
Taylor sensed the change in Nate. That was how well she knew him. She doubted any other woman would have noticed the slight loosening of his hand around hers or that he’d withdrawn into his moody self. But she did, so what did that say about her? That she was yearning for a man who didn’t believe he deserved to be loved?
She wasn’t sure that was exactly his problem, but based on his history—rejected by his mother, abused by his father—who wouldn’t think that? It was enough to bring tears to her eyes at thinking of himas a boy, unloved but struggling to be both mother and father to his brothers. She quickly blinked her tears away. He would hate knowing she hurt for him.
Sometimes she let herself imagine being with him, wondering what he was like in bed. Skilled, for sure. Was he dominant? She liked to think he was. Hoped he was, if she ever got time in his bed.
She spent all day in a man’s world and had to come across as strong, always a step ahead if she wanted to keep from getting walked over. It would be exciting to let go with a man she trusted to take charge of her and her body in the bedroom. She believed Nate could be that man.
