“I’m glad she hasn’t totally ruined it for you. That woman did a number on you, though.”
He simply curved up the corner of his lips in acknowledgement. “I won’t deny that. But I also like to think I’ve moved on,” he said, and that was true too. He had moved to a better place. A spot where he could never be hurt like that again. Trust no one, let no one in, and you’re safe.
“I’m glad you feel that way, for you. And because it also means I can tell you that I’m going to an auction in London when I go there later this month to meet with my clients at Sofia’s Pharmacy. I’m so excited,” she said, her eyes twinkling. “I have my eyes on a few items in the lot.”
“What are you hoping to bid on?”
“Nothing too fancy. I’m still just a working girl,” she said, jokingly. Then, she turned serious. “There are some gorgeous paintings from a newer artist, Miller Valentina, and I want to get them to finish out my collection of kisses. But I suppose, if you think about it, you don’t really ever need to finish a collection of kisses. They can keep going on.”
He looked at her, and she was gazing at the images on her wall—an image of a couple in the rain curled together in an embrace, then a black-and-white photograph of a sailor kissing his girl, and also a movie poster of Rhett locking lips with Scarlett from Gone With The Wind. “You are such a romantic,” he said.
“Yeah, I am,” she said, nodding, and owning it. “I completely am. All the more ironic, considering my parents are anti-romantic, isn’t it? They couldn’t wait ’til I left the house for college so they could finally divorce.”
“I like that they didn’t sap the desire out of you.”
“But aren’t you glad you don’t have to worry about tending to the overly romantic side of me? You only have to think about this side,” she said, gesturing to her body, as if she were presenting him with it.
Admittedly, there was a part of Nate that was immensely glad he didn’t have to worry about the romantic side of her. The evidence of her heart’s true desire for love was displayed on her wall for all to see—proof that she was the opposite of him. And she didn’t hide it. She didn’t try to deny it. She simply tried to live by it. Of course, now she was trying to both live by it and add a few new tricks to the mix in the proverbial quest to have it all.
But some small part of his heart lurched in sadness that he could only serve the physical. He didn’t have it in him to be more. He wasn’t prone to romance, or to the kind she wanted. He’d made a choice to live on the other side, and that was a damn good choice that had served him well, and protected him. He’d stand by it, come hell or high water. And since they didn’t see eye to eye on this front, it was best for their friendship, and their future, that they be able to do precisely what they were doing right now—safely return to the friend zone after a session in the lover’s lane. So he did what he’d done before, even if it pained him to bring up an ex.
“Did Scott tend to that side of you?”
She shrugged, a defeated look in her eyes. “As much as I hate to admit it, he did. I mean, it’s not like he’s some paragon of how to be a good boyfriend, but he was attentive, and took me to dinner, and bought me flowers and gifts, and candy on Valentine’s Day. So really, it was clearly the other side of me he didn’t like. He didn’t like me in the bedroom.”
Nate’s jaw clenched. The guy was such an ass. “That’s not romantic,” he muttered.
She propped herself on her elbow. “Oh yeah, Mr. Not Romantic? Tell me what’s romantic then?”
“You think I’m not romantic just because I don’t get serious?”
She scrunched up the corner of her lips. “Well, kind of.”
He grabbed her hip, playfully pulling her closer. “I’ll have you know, Miss Casey, that I am excellent at buying flowers. I can whip out my platinum card like that,” he said, snapping his wrist and mimicking slapping down a plastic card. “I can also—wait for it—use that same card to buy gifts. In fact, I did,” he said, gesturing to the box.
“I know, and I liked your gift. But you know what I mean.”
“I can do candlelight dinners too. Let me tell you, the way I book a restaurant is inspired. Only to be topped by my ability to order champagne and have chocolate delivered on Valentine’s Day. ”
She held up her hands in defeat. “Fine, fine. You win. What is romantic to you then?”
“Romantic,” he said, lingering on the word as he stopped to finger a strand of her hair, “is taking care of a woman. It’s being attuned to her needs. It’s listening to her. It’s making her feel beautiful, inside and out, because she is. It’s knowing her favorite dish, and picking it up on the way home. It’s giving her your coat when she’s cold, and holding open the door, and it’s making sure she has everything she needs before a big meeting,” he said, and a flicker of recognition flashed in her mountain lake blue eyes.