The Billionaire's Best Friend(53)
He pulled the briefs up, and she thought she heard herself sigh. It was going to be one long day.
“What kind of surprise?” she asked, her curiosity piqued.
“You’ll see,” he answered, a glint of mischief in his eyes.
During breakfast she tried coaxing it out of him numerous times. Each time with no success. On her final attempt he silenced her with a kiss, keeping up his assault until she almost forgot he kept a secret from her. But not quite.
“Come on, Nate, just a little hint.”
“Just make sure your calendar is clear all weekend.” He tweaked her ponytail as he downed the rest of his coffee. “And I am serious about getting home as soon as possible. Don’t hang around and correct papers. They’ll still be there on Monday, sweetheart.”
From any other man the endearment would sound antiquated, but coming from Nate’s lips, it made her feel bathed in sunlight. It warmed her from the inside out.
“I’ll be here. Promise.”
***
Lauren stood next to the laminating machine in the teachers’ workroom later that morning. As usual, the obnoxious smell from the machine made her stomach roll. It amazed her. They’d invented 3-D printers, yet they still hadn’t created a machine that could laminate posters without making you nauseous. At least her pile was almost done. Only three more student pictures remained. After that, she had one hour left before school ended for the weekend.
Picking up another picture, she fed it into the machine, her thoughts on Nate’s words that morning. Her energetic students kept her mind engaged all morning so she didn’t have much opportunity to consider Nate’s plans. Now with her students at their music class, her brain focused on little else. What type of surprise did he have for her? Especially one that required him to come home early.
Come home? When had she started to think of her house as his home, too? Granted, he more or less lived there now, but neither had ever officially said they were living together. And she loved having him there. It felt natural, right. As if, despite their fifteen years apart, this was how it was meant to be.
The paper she inserted came out the other end covered in the protective plastic, and she tore it off then entered another picture.
“Just another hour until the weekend,” Christine, a first grade teacher, said, entering the room. Like Lauren, Christine had grown up in town and, although they hadn’t been friends as children, they got along well now.
“Any big plans this weekend?” Lauren asked.
Christine disappeared into the supply closet and reemerged with purple construction paper. “Nah, Nick and I are driving down to New Jersey. His mom had surgery this week. You?”
When the final student paper came out, she stacked everything up. “Not sure. Nate has a surprise for me.”
“I’m surprised you’d even consider getting out of bed on the weekend with him around.”
Lauren swatted Christine on the arm with her stack of papers. “You’re terrible.”
“I’m honest. If Nate Callahan was living in my house, sleeping in my bed . . . well, let’s just say you wouldn’t see either of us on the weekend.” Christine wiggled her eyebrows, a huge smile on her face. Just as quickly as it came though, Christine’s smile disappeared. “Don’t tell Nick I said that, okay? I’m only joking around. Although, I wouldn’t mind if he got some workout tips from your man. Since the wedding, he’s put on weight.”
Lauren had noticed that herself the last time she’d seen Nick at the store. Even before his and Christine’s wedding he hadn’t been a thin man, but recently he appeared much heavier. “My lips are sealed.”
“Whatever you do, have fun. I want all the details on Monday morning.”
Lauren gathered up her students’ papers as the bell rang. “See you on Monday.”
***
The sign on the highway announcing they’d entered New Hampshire gave her little in the way of information, and so far Nate had offered nothing. That afternoon she’d arrived home a little before him, and when he had walked in all he’d said was to pack a suitcase and that his mom would be by to pick up the dogs. Aside from that, he’d not mentioned where they were headed. Since they’d entered New Hampshire more than an hour ago and continued to head north, they couldn’t be going to the beach. Although in all honesty, a beach at this time of year in New Hampshire didn’t hold much appeal. Now if it had been a beach in Florida, that she could handle. At the same time, skiing was out. Not only was ski season over, but she didn’t ski. Nate knew that. They’d taken lessons together in middle school. Nate, his brother, and her sister had been naturals at it, but she’d spent most of the time on her backside. By the fourth day of lessons she’d given up and spent the rest of the joint family ski trip inside with hot chocolate and a book. Not once since then had she strapped on a pair of skis, and she didn’t think she was missing out on much.