I kissed her shoulder. "I can't wait to explore it."
“Damn, it’s so hot here. This house needs an AC.”
“I can get you one,” I said instantly.
She planted her feet wide, hands on hips. “No, you won’t. I can get my own AC, but it’s a rental. I won’t invest anything in this.”
“Natalie—”
She rose on her tiptoes, putting her hands on my shoulders, pressing her lips to mine. Every instinct inside me was launching in overprotective mode already, but I was going to let it go. I didn’t want to spend our time together fighting.
“Fine. Message received.”
"What do you usually do on Saturdays?" she asked as we dried with towels.
"When I'm not at Martha's Vineyard, I work."
She blinked rapidly, jerking her head back. "You can't mean that. Who works on weekends? Isn't that, I don't know, illegal?"
"Not when you own a company, or when you're running two."
"How is that going?"
"It's intense."
"Are you regretting that you accepted coming to Boston and taking over the advertising company?"
"No, it's what my family needed. My grandparents are far more relaxed since I took over. But it's even more work than I anticipated."
"It doesn't help that I keep distracting you, does it?"
"On the contrary," I said, "you're the only thing that keeps me afloat."
She jerked her head back, and I swallowed hard. I hadn't meant to say that, but now that the words were out, I knew they were 100 percent true.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, you really are." On instinct, I lifted her into my arms by her ass. She wrapped her legs around me and put her hands on my biceps.
"I like these." She squeezed my muscles. "Especially now that they're working hard to keep me up in the air."
Laughing, I walked with her to the kitchen. She made me do the craziest things. I couldn't remember the last time I'd done something impulsive. But when I was with Natalie, I didn't want to overthink anything—I just wanted tobe. This was a completely different experience for me.
"Hey, do you think we should put on some clothes?" she asked.
"Only if you insist." I put her down when we reached the kitchen area.
"Hmm, decisions, decisions... All right, I’ve decided. We can go commando."
I winked at her. "Good call."
"Do you usually eat breakfast? I have nothing except coffee."
"Coffee is good. I don't eat at all in the morning."
While she busied herself pressing buttons on the machine, I remembered our conversation from last night, before we lost track of everything.
"Natalie, what was it you said last night about applying for jobs outside of Boston?"