With Me in Seattle Bundle One (12 page)

“You look fantastic.  Come in, make yourself at home.”  The smell coming from the kitchen is amazing, and my stomach growls.

“You’re cooking?” I ask, glancing back at him.

“I promised you breakfast.”

“You already sent me coffee, which was delicious and unexpected.  Thank you.”  I lean up and kiss him chastely on the mouth.

“You’re welcome.”  He smiles.  “I hope you like French toast, bacon, fruit and coffee.”

“Perfect.” 

“It’s all set up outside.”

I follow him out onto his magnificent deck, and he motions for me to go ahead of him.  Was I really here just a few nights ago?  It feels like a long time ago, so much has happened since then.

The table is covered with a white cloth.  The food is on warming plates, under silver, domed lids.  There is coffee and juice, but the red roses are what catch my eye.   Three dozen, in three separate bouquets, are set in even distances down the table.

Tears come to my eyes as I feel Luke’s hands on my shoulders from behind me.  He’s gone to so much trouble!  Even after the way I spoke to him yesterday.

I turn in his arms and look up into his intense, beautiful blue eyes.  “Thank you, so much.”

“It’s my pleasure, honey.  I told you in the car, we have a lot of catching up to do.  Get used to it.”

I don’t know what to say.  He pulls me in for a hug and kisses my forehead.

“Come on, let’s eat.  I’m starving.”

We sit in the same seats we sat in the other night.  He uncovers our plates, and I breathe the delicious scents in appreciatively.

“Smells fantastic.”  I pour warm syrup over my French toast and take a bite of bacon.  “Mmm…bacon.”

He laughs and takes a bite of his own bacon.  “I do love watching you eat, baby.”

“Why?” I ask with my mouth full of the soft, delicious toast.

“Because you’re so honest about it.  Like everything you do, I guess.  I love it that you enjoy food.”

“Clearly.  Have you seen the size of my ass?”

His eyes blaze as he glares at me over his coffee mug. “Don’t ever put yourself down like that around me again, Natalie.”

I frown and look down at my plate. 

“I don’t know how many times I have to tell you or show you how beautiful I think you are for you to get it through your head.”

“Luke…”

He reaches out with his long fingers and grasps my chin, tilting my face back up to meet my eyes.

“Look at me.  There is nothing for you to be uncomfortable about when it comes to your body.  Eat whatever you want.  I love watching you eat.  I’d love to work out with you, just because I love watching you move.  Your curves are beautiful, and I can’t wait to get my hands on them again.”

“Okay.” 

What else am I supposed to say to that?

“Are you trying to send the florists’ kids to college?” I ask, trying to distract him.

Chapter Eleven

Luke laughs at my quip, and I relax a little.  I really need to watch what I say around him about my body.  I’ve never been so self-conscious with other men, but that’s probably because I didn’t really care what they thought of me.  They could take me or leave me.

I want Luke to take me.

“Thank you for breakfast.”  I pick up my coffee and lean back in my chair, admiring the view of the water and the boats sailing across it.

“You’re welcome.” He stands and holds his hand out for me to take.  “Come, let’s get more comfortable and have that talk.”

Wow, I’m not going to have to drag it out of him!  This is good.  I take his hand and abandon my coffee, but grab the orange juice, and follow him over to the plush love seat.  I sit facing him and wait for him to start.

Luke sits on the edge of the sofa and runs his fingers through his hair.  He’s agitated, probably nervous.  I don’t really know what to say to put him at ease.  And I desperately want him to start talking.

“Hey,” I say and link my fingers with his.  “It’s okay.  Tell me whatever you’re comfortable telling me, and we’ll go from there.”

His eyes are worried, his brow furrowed, as he leans back and kisses my knuckles.

“First of all, I didn’t mean to lie to you.”  He looks me square in the eye.  “I should have been honest with you the night you were here, but frankly, I just got so caught up in you.  You make me forget my own name sometimes.”

So he has that problem, too, huh?

“Obviously, the morning we met I thought you were taking photos of me.  That doesn’t happen often anymore, but every once in a while it does, and I panic.”

“I won’t ever take your picture without your permission.”

He squeezes my hand and gives me a sad smile.

“Thank you,” he murmurs.  He takes a deep breath and continues.  “A few years ago things were pretty crazy.  The paparazzi can be merciless, and sometimes the fans are worse.  I’ve never been great in crowds, no idea why, but being literally chased down the street by hundreds of people on a regular basis pushed it into a full-blown phobia.  Every moment of my life was documented for five years.”

He turns toward me, his eyes wide and haunted.  “I couldn’t have had a girlfriend if I had wanted one.  There was never a moment to myself.”

“I thought I read something about you being with the co-star… Meredith Something or other.”

He shakes his head with frustration.  “That was all fabricated for the sake of the films.  For the publicity.  The studio owns you when you’re in big-budget films, Nat.  They dictate who you’re with, what you do, where you go.  I was too young to truly understand what that meant.

“Meredith is nice, but she was never my girlfriend, and that’s just another example of how ruthless the paparazzi are.  They can twist anything around until they get the story they want, rather than the boring truth.”  He swallows and frowns, and then his beautiful blue eyes find mine again.

“If you have questions about my past, you need to ask me.  Don’t go looking around online for answers.”

Geez.  “Okay.”

“This is important.  It could make us or break us, and I refuse to lose you over something that is no longer a part of my life.”

“Is stuff still printed about you?” I ask.

“Sometimes. Not often anymore.  Thank God.”

“Have you really not made a movie in five years?”

“I haven’t acted in one in five years,” he replies.

“Why?”

He runs his hand through his hair again.  “Because not all money is good money.”

“What does that mean?”

“I made a lot of money from those films, Nat.  I still do, thanks to merchandising, and my accountant and lawyers.  And I could still be making a lot of money acting in films, but at what cost?  So I can be hounded and have my life ruled?”

“What about actors like Matt Damon and Ben Affleck?  They seem to lead fairly private lives,” I remind him.

He nods.  “Yes, they do, but they’re also a bit older now and aren’t starring in romantic comedies geared toward young women.  They aren’t great fodder for the rags anymore.”

“So no movie business at all?” I ask, wanting to know more. He still hasn’t told me what he does now.

“I didn’t say that.” 

Oh. “Okay.”

“I produce now, help movies get made.  I’m not an actor anymore.”

“So does that mean that you have to be gone for long periods of time?” I keep the panic out of my voice, but my blood runs cold.  I don’t want him gone most of the time!

“No, I do most of my work from home.”  He kisses my hand again.  “I go to L.A. or New York for a few days here and there, but that’s it.  I also work with other producers who are able to do most of the hands-on work.”

“Oh.”  Wow, he really does live in a completely different world from mine.  “I have a question.”

“Shoot.”

“Jules said yesterday that she’d heard that someone hurt themselves in your house.”

Luke goes pale, and his eyes suddenly look bleak.

“Yeah.  I was in New York doing publicity for the last movie.”  He swallows.  “A young girl, a fan, broke into my house.  She lit it on fire.”

I gasp.  “Oh my God.”

“That would have been bad enough, but she did a really bad job of it and got caught in the house and ended up dying in there.”

“Holy shit, Luke.”

“That’s when I knew I was done.  It’s too crazy, and I’m just not made for it.  Other actors manage okay in that world, but it’s not worth people’s lives to me.”

“She was obviously a messed-up girl, honey.”

His eyes dart to mine.  “That’s the first time you’ve called me anything other than my name.”

I smile shyly and shrug.

“Yeah, she was messed up.  It didn’t make it right.”

“Do you miss it?”

“I miss the work.  Acting is fun, and I like to think I was good at it.  Being on set was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot.  But I don’t miss the rest of it.”

“Okay, so here’s the million-dollar question.  Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“At first I didn’t believe you when you said you didn’t know who I am.”  He smiles sadly at me.  “That rarely happens.  And then when it became obvious that it was true, it was just such a breath of fresh air to be normal.”

“You’re not normal, Luke, and I mean that in a good way.”

He smirks.  “You know what I mean.  You didn’t become a fifteen-year-old like Jules did yesterday.  You seemed to like me, not a character in a movie.”

“I’ve never seen your movies,” I state matter-of-factly.

“I love that.”  His voice is completely honest.

“But were you ever going to tell me?  I was going to find out sooner or later.  That’s what I’m struggling with, Luke.  That’s why I freaked out on you yesterday.  I confided things to you that I just don’t share with anyone.  Even Jules doesn’t know about my tattoos.”

His eyes smolder at the mention of my tattoos, but I press on.

“Clearly, after our conversation in the car, you should know that I have trust issues with men.  All men.  I don’t keep men in my life.”

“I’m hoping that’s about to change,” he whispers.

“This wasn’t a great start to convince me to make any changes.”

“Natalie, think about the rest of the time we’ve been together.  I’m still the same man I was before we were in your kitchen yesterday morning.  I still like to cook. I think your work is sexy. I can’t keep my hands off you.  I’m just a man.”

“I know.”

“You do?”

“Yes.  I’m not an idiot.  But you know me better than anyone, after less than a week, and I can’t help but feel a little foolish.  Yesterday was really embarrassing for me.”

“It was embarrassing for me, too.”

“Well, I’m glad that’s over.”

“What?”

“My first embarrassing moment in front of you.”

He smiles, but it’s fleeting.  He gets serious again.  “Can we start over?”

“No.”

His face falls.  “So it’s over?”

“No, I don’t want to start over because that would mean erasing everything we’ve had, and honestly, aside from yesterday, the past few days have been really good.”  I bite my lip and gaze over at him. 

His impossibly beautiful face breaks into a heart-stopping smile.  God, he just looks so…joyful.  I can’t help but match it.

“Natalie, these have been the best few days of my life, and I mean that.”

“Wow.”

Finally, he pulls me onto his lap and into his arms.  I bury my face in his neck, wrap my arms around him and hold on, inhaling his sexy scent, planting soft kisses on his cheek.

I lean back and take his face in my hands, gazing deeply into his eyes.  “Just don’t ever act with me.”

“Baby, you don’t have to worry about that.”

Suddenly he’s kissing me, and we’re on the move.  He stands with me in his arms and heads inside the house.  He’s carrying me like I weigh nothing, and it’s so…hot.

“Where are we going?” I ask against his lips.

“My bed.”

Oh.

“We didn’t clean up after breakfast.”

“Later.”

“We could get naked on the deck,” I suggest and bite his earlobe.

He growls.  “No, my bed.”  We’re moving up the stairs.  “I’m getting you naked and plan to spend about a week in bed with you.”

I can’t help but laugh.  “I have clients on Monday.”

“Okay, but today and tomorrow you’re all mine.”

“Yours?” I raise an eyebrow at him.

“Mine.” He repeats and stands me gently at the side of his bed.  He grabs the hem of my dress and pulls it over my head.  “Sweet Jesus, you’re not wearing any underwear.”

I grin.  “Nope.”

“This whole time, you’ve been sitting six inches from me with no fucking underwear?”

“Yep.”  I laugh and start unbuttoning his shirt.  His eyes watch mine intently, and I pop the buttons, one by one.  I push the shirt over his shoulders, and he lets it fall to the floor.

Next, I push my finger between the elastic of his boxers and his skin, the way I did the other night when he stopped me.  His eyes flash with need, and he makes no move to stop me this time.  I smile and run my tongue along my lower lip.  I glide my fingers along his stomach to his fly and open his jeans.  I pull the soft denim and gray boxers slowly over his lean hips and down his legs.  He steps out of them and kicks them aside.

“There, you’ve caught up to me,” I murmur and gaze back up into his heated blue eyes.

He doesn’t touch me, which is making me mad with longing.  I want those skilled hands on me!

“I love it when you look at me like that,” he murmurs and moves toward me. 

I back up, the backs of my legs meeting the edge of the bed.

“How am I looking at you?”

“Your beautiful green eyes are looking at me like you just can’t wait until I touch you.”

“I can’t.”

“Lie back on the bed, baby.”

I do as he asks and gaze up at him, enjoying the view that is Luke.  All of the blood in my body has pooled between my legs, and I’m panting.  All without him actually touching me.

“What are you doing to me?” I ask, surprised that I spoke the words aloud.

He grins and climbs onto the bed, straddles my legs, his hands planted on either side of my shoulders.  He’s still not actually touching me.  He lowers his head and sweeps his lips across mine. Once, then twice.