“You know what?” I stood up, rinsed off, and we wrapped our arms around each other’s waists. “You do know me, Miles. I think you knew me better than I knew myself. I don’t exactly know how, since we haven’t even seen each other much at all in the last few years, but you did. You do.”
“I don’t exactly know how, either. Just seems like it’s always been that way with us.” He rested his forehead against mine. “We’ve always had a connection.”
A shiver moved through me. “Yes.”
He pulled me closer, tucking my head beneath his chin, and turning me so the shower hit us both on the side. “Cold?”
“Just for a second there. I’m fine.” But I hadn’t been cold at all. I’d been moved by his words.
And a little bit frightened.
Because he was right—we did have a connection and we always had. What was left unsaid was that we always would. I felt it. But what would that mean when our three days were up and I went back to my real life? Yes, I was enjoying my newfound sexual freedom, but eventually I wanted something more lasting, didn’t I?
Breaking up with Dan had been the right decision—I had no doubt about that. But I hadn’t changed that much… Once my taste of freedom was complete, I saw myself wanting to be part of a couple again. Wanting to belong to someone. Wanting to fall in love. Those things made me happy.
But Miles didn’t want those things, and it would be wrong of me to try to change him. He loved me in his own way, and I loved him, but he loved his freedom more. I didn’t want him to resent me for asking him to be something he’s not.
I sighed. No, this was it. And there was no sense in getting all freaked out and scared about it. If and when I met someone I could truly fall in love with, I had to believe that would overpower my chemistry with Miles.
But it would have to be one hell of a love.
• • •
We cleaned up, got dressed, and headed to Corktown for drinks and dinner, Miles giving me a little tour of the historic neighborhood first. I had my camera with me and took lots of pictures in the beautiful fading light—century-old row houses, colorful Victorians, the hulking, ghostly abandoned train station.
“Hey, you check that place out for your ghost sex article? Definitely looks haunted.”
Miles shook his head, his eyes going wide. “There might be some souls lurking about in there, but none of them are souls I’d like to fuck.”
“There’s a soul you don’t want to fuck?” I teased, putting my camera in my purse.
He grabbed me from behind, pinning my arms to my side. “Yes, smartass. There are plenty. In fact, I only want one soul these days, and that’s yours. So behave.”
I giggled. “I’ll try. You don’t make it easy, though.”
The Burger Bar was nice and cool inside, and pretty crowded, but we found two seats together at the bar. We ordered beers and burgers, and when I praised the menu, with its locally-sourced ingredients, Miles asked me if I thought I’d stick with the coffee shop or wanted to try something else one day.
“Oh, I think I’d like to try something else someday. Coffee Darling is a great little place, but I wouldn’t mind something bigger at some point. Maybe a restaurant at one of the local wineries or farms. I think that would be fun.”
“But definitely up there, huh?”
I sipped my beer, thinking about it. “Yeah,” I answered finally. “I do like traveling, but that part of Michigan just feels like home to me. I love the seasons up there, I love being close to my family. Both my sisters are up there, and now with Skylar getting married, I wouldn’t be surprised if she and Sebastian have kids soon.”
“When’s the wedding again?” Miles took a long drink from his glass.
“Three months. End of September.” I was telling him more about their plans when a dark-haired guy approached us from behind the bar. He was so handsome, I forgot what I was saying and left off in the middle of a sentence. He had tattoos too, down both arms, and the short sleeves of his fitted black Burger Bar t-shirt hugged the muscular curves of his arms. Immediately I thought of Jillian, since he looked like her type—dark hair, dark eyes—and he was a little older, maybe in his mid-thirties, but then I noticed he wore a wedding band.
Rats. Was she right? Were all the good ones taken? Maybe she and I were both destined to be single forever. We’d live in my house where we’d get old and crabby together, no one to bitch at but each other and maybe a few sad cats. God, that was depressing.
The guy grinned at us and held his hand out to Miles. “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt. Just wanted to say hi and see if you needed anything.”
Miles shook his hand. “Nat, this is Nick Lupo, the owner of this place and my apartment. Nick, this is my friend Natalie from up North.”
“The swimmer with the coffee shop?” Nick held his hand out to me. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Warmth rushed my face as I put my hand in his. “Wow. I’m flattered.” I glanced at Miles, who looked pleased with himself. “You have a great apartment and a great restaurant. I love the menu.”
Nick filled up our glasses and stayed a few minutes to chat about some local farms he worked with and the farm-to-table concept he embraced—good quality ingredients, organic whenever possible, from responsible farmers he knew personally that were worth the higher price he paid for them.
“Natalie was saying earlier how she’d like to run a restaurant someday,” Miles said.
Nick looked at me. “Oh yeah? I’ve been thinking about opening something up in that area.”
“You should definitely partner up.” Miles picked up his beer. “Natalie is wickedly talented and totally dedicated to what she does. Although I do think she works too hard.”
I slapped his leg. “Stop it. I’m here, aren’t I?”
“Honestly, I’d love to talk about working together on something in that area,” Nick said, bracing his hands on the bar. “My wife’s best friend and her husband have a winery up there, so we’ve visited a lot.”
“Which winery?” I asked.
“Abelard Vineyards,” he said.
I slapped a hand on my chest. “My sister works there! Is your wife’s friend Mia Fournier?”
He nodded and smiled. “Yeah. Small world.”
“It’s a fantastic spot. So beautiful—in fact, my sister is getting married there this fall.”
“I’ll have to check it out,” Miles said. “In fact, I told Skylar yesterday I’d come to her wedding.” Then he shuddered. “Although those things give me hives.”
Nick rolled his eyes and looked at me. “Good luck with him, Natalie.” He pulled a card from his back pocket and slid it across the bar from me. “When you’re ready, give me a call and we can talk. That way I can tell my wife I’m actually doing something about it. She’ll be delighted with me.”
“Maybe she’ll even do something nice for you,” Miles said. “You should have her read my blog post today. It’s about blowjobs.”
“Miles!” I hit him on the shoulder, mortified he’d said that out loud.
Nick laughed. “She doesn’t need any help there. Besides, what I want takes the real deal.”
Miles’s jaw dropped. “You want another kid? Don’t you have, like, two of those things already?”
“Three.” Nick’s dark eyes lit up, which I thought was really sweet, especially compared to the way Miles reacted to the subject of kids. “All boys. I want to try for a girl, but Coco gives me the evil eye every time I mention it.”
“That’s because children interfere with all the best things in life—sex, sleep, and drinking.”
His words stung, which was so dumb. It’s not like I hadn’t known his views on marriage and family before. I’d just teased him about it last week!
But you didn’t have these feelings for him last week.
I forced the realization from my head. It wouldn’t do me any good to dwell on my growing feelings for him. They couldn’t go anywhere.
Nick shrugged. “Can’t argue there. But they’re worth it.” Our food arrived, and he stepped back to give the server room to set down the plates. “Enjoy, you guys. Nice meeting you, Natalie. Looking forward to hearing from you. See you, Miles.”