Page 109 of Owen North

I’ve never not checked my messages as soon as they arrive, but right now I don’t care what any of them say.

The only thing I care about is spending every second of this day fully present with the woman sitting next to me.

The one capturing my attention, my hours, my heart.

24

Charlize

Owen and I spend an exorbitant amount of time in his bath.

He dedicates himself to the experience in the same way he appears to dedicate himself to everything he thinks is important in life.

We talk for a long time about his summer vacations with his grandparents. About the hours he and his brother spent sailing with their grandfather. Owen has so many good memories of his summers and I love hearing about all of them. When he gets to his teen years and talks about the parties on the beach and the girls, I only get a little bit jealous that I didn’t know Owen back then. I think I would have liked teenage Owen.

We talk about my adventures in Australia when I was twenty. I tell him I escaped there after Timothy Shining broke my heart. When he asks me if an Aussie guy helped me forget my heartbreak, I tell him that they have some of the hottest lifeguards of ever in that country, and that yes, one of them helped me forget Timothy. He kisses me a little possessively and tells me he’s making a mental note to keep me away from lifeguards in future. I tell him that might be a little hard since I’m an actual mermaid.

Owen gives me two orgasms in the bath, and I tell him this was my best bath moment of life.

After our bath, I put on the pajama pants I packed into a bag when Owen took me home this morning to change for our hike. When I join him in the kitchen, he eyes the pants and says, “These would be an acceptable choice over dresses like the ones you wore in London.”

I rest my hip against the island. “You like demure dresses.” It’s not a question but rather a statement of something my brain has just puzzled out. Both the dresses I wore in London that he lost his mind over were carefully selected for what I considered their lack of sexiness.

He moves into me, his hand coming to my hip. “I like all dresses on you, but yes, I’m more affected by modesty.”

“And you like buns.” I cock my head. “I’m beginning to wonder if you might have a sexy librarian kink.”

He brings his other hand to my neck, curving his fingers around it and rubbing his thumb over my throat. “I’m developing all sorts of kinks for you, Charlize.”

I’m about to show him what I think of that when his butler announces guests.

Jameson and Adeline have arrived unexpectedly.

“I just need half an hour,” Jameson says when he and Adeline meet us in the living room.

Owen leads Jameson down the hall to his office while Adeline eyes my pants and says, “Girl, I love these! Where can I get a pair?”

“I picked them up in Italy. I can’t remember where, sorry.” My phone rings and when I see it’s my mother calling, I ignore the call. I’ll phone her back after Adeline leaves.

“I’m definitely going to search for a pair. They look so comfortable. I’d wear them everywhere.”

“I do. And I don’t even care that they’re pajama pants.”

She grins. “I knew I liked you the moment I met you. Have you tried that coffee shop yet? The one I recommended.”

“Not yet. I haven’t had time, but it’s on my list for sure.”

“I tried one of their new Nutella Sea Salt Cookies yesterday. It was so good.” She stops talking for a second as her eyes light up. “We need a breakfast date on Monday! You, me, and a whole lot of Nutella before work. Please say yes.”

“A breakfast date! Hell yes! Ohmigod, are breakfast dates a thing for you? You have no idea how much I love breakfast!” It’s like Adeline just said all my magic words in one go: breakfast date, Nutella, cookies.

I ignore my ringing phone again as she laughs. “Breakfast dates are the best kinds of dates in my opinion.” She reaches into her purse for her phone and hands it to me. “Put your number in. I’ll text you later to plan it.”

I key my number in and pass her phone back. When my mom calls me again, I grimace. “I’m sorry, I need to quickly take this call. It’s my mother and I think she’s just going to keep calling until I answer.”

Adeline waves me off. “Take your time.”

“Thank you.” I answer the call and say, “Hey, Mom.”

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