Page 96 of Duchess Material

“That’s crazy,” Lucy giggled.

“Nah. It’s fitting.”

“Your parents will be—”

“Mum is in on it. She’s supportive.”

“Really?”

Winston chuckled. “The woman is a born romantic and Bruno eggs her on, Luce.”

“But you and Gerry both getting married?”

“We will figure it out.” He gave her a big kiss. “All good things are sorted in time.”

* * *

“Just stay,” Natalie told Ed on Monday morning. “Don’t go. Stay all day and fuck me at lunch. I’ll be home for forty-five minutes or something.”

“I need to hit the gym, Nat.”

Ed was packing up to leave KP. She did not want him to go. They’d had a beautiful long weekend of nothing but luxuriating in one another. Natalie had never had so much sex. She was loved up and desperate to stay this way. Ed would soon leave for work again. Natalie wasn’t ready for it.

Ed gave her a long kiss. “I love you. I will take you out on a proper date tonight. You will be just fine, baby.”

“I’m not enough of a workout for you?”

“Unfortunately, no. You might kill me if I don’t keep myself in peak fitness, though.”

“I love you,” Natalie sighed like a lovesick schoolgirl.

“I know or else you wouldn’t say it like that. I promise I will see you later. Just enjoy the day.”

Ed gave her a sweet kiss on the forehead before departing, his gym bag over his shoulder. It was time to move along and get ready. Within the hour, she’d have to be at the all-hands morning meeting. Natalie would have much rather been in bed with Ed. She wondered if something were wrong with her for a moment. Was it normal to think this much about one man? Was this the mark of a lifelong relationship or simply lust? She almost envied Lucy. It was odd. The girl didn’t seem to lust after Winston as much as she adored him and wanted to be home to cuddle with him. Natalie liked a cuddle, too, but she’d rather get railed. Did people who ended up together use the term ‘get railed’? Was that a sign of immaturity?

Natalie pulled on a suit and reported for duty, ready for a mind-numbingly boring meeting followed by a rousing day of ribbon cuttings in the bitter cold. She gathered her portfolio in her office before Lucy appeared, holding a cup of coffee.

“How did you know?” Natalie asked. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. And I knew because your alter ego was on twitter at 2 AM.”

“I couldn’t sleep. I get what I deserve. I woke Ed up again and then couldn’t settle while he fell right back.”

“Are you able to walk?” Lucy laughed.

“Yes, thank you very much. But he claims he must hit the gym to keep up with me.”

Lucy giggled.

“You wanna tell me why Winston bothered me looking for you?”

“Not really. It’s a long story. I had a momentary freakout. The press are keeping me down. Rita helped him mend fences.”

“What did he buy you? Please tell me that he bought you something,” Natalie said. She was fixated on the latte in front of her. Lucy made the best coffee.

Lucy shrugged and then handed over the day’s run-of-show. In a flash, Natalie witnessed Winston’s legendary apology gift.

“My God! You’re not?! Are you?!”

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