“Nate,” she whispered uncertainly as one of his arms held her steady, the other hand yanked the skirt of her dress back in place.
His head came up at the sound of his name and he looked into her face, a satisfied grin playing about his mouth. His face, too, was still set with passion and at the sight of it, she sucked in her breath.
Briefly, he pressed his lips against hers.
Then he murmured, “Someone’s coming.”
And before this frightening thought could penetrate her desire fogged brain, before she could get her buckling knees under control, before she could break away from him, the door flew open and Fazire was standing there.
Her old friend froze two steps into the room and took in the vision of Lily clinging to Nate and Nate holding onto Lily.
Fazire glared at them in horror.
Before he could utter a word, Natasha forged into the room.
“What’s up?” she asked innocently, smiling happily at her mother and father standing together, seemingly the loving, embracing couple.
Lily was still recovering. Both fortunately and unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it, Nate was faster at his recovery and without hesitation he explained, his voice still slightly husky with desire.
“Your mother was just thanking me for the room.”
With this, Nate’s arm tightened around her waist before she could begin to pull away. Lily watched as Fazire’s face turned as purple as the walls in his bedroom.
Natasha had no problem processing this explanation. It was, indeed, quite natural that Lily would wish to thank Nate soundly for his thoughtful gesture.
“Are we going out to dinner or what?” Natasha asked, her head tilting to the side. “I’m hungry,” she went on in explanation before her mother could take her to task for her somewhat rude question.
Nate’s head swung to look at Lily.
“Are we?” he asked softly and his lips turned up at the corners because, with one look at the soft gaze Lily was giving their daughter, he already knew the answer.
Chapter Eighteen
Lily
Lily walked through the heavy doors to enter the plush, elegant offices of Nate’s company.
The last four days had been a tumble of activity and through all of it, Lily could think of only one thing.
Moving heaven and earth to make Tash happy.
Saturday night, they’d all gone out to dinner. Natasha and Nate, it was clear to see, were quickly forming a bond. Lily was somewhat surprised at how easily Nate showed affection to his daughter. It wasn’t lavish or showy. It wasn’t desperate to impress or please. It was genuine and beautiful and Tash responded to it immediately.
This visibly annoyed Fazire but the genie loved Tash enough not to let it show (too much).
One day, they were barely scraping by, Natasha’s entire family made up of a busy mother, a genie-father-esque figure who was more of a playmate, however, Fazire had learned over the years to do the laundry, was quite adept at ironing and could make a mean tuna casserole and the outlandish Maxine.
The next day, literally, Tash had a dashing, handsome, rich, obviously caring father and doting grandparents.
Horseback riding lessons were hers for the asking. A seven million pound trust fund was waiting for her to turn twenty-one making it so she would never want again. Rooms could be transformed in a weekend as if by magic.
But this was Nate’s magic rather than Fazire’s which perhaps was one of the reasons why Fazire disliked Nate so intensely for Nate, too, could grant wishes, even wishes which hadn’t been expressed.
Tash’s world had doubled, opening up before her with extraordinary beauty. It was, quite simply, a miracle. The wished for, hoped for, longed for, but never expected, miracle.
Natasha was delighted and Lily couldn’t help but be delighted for her.
And Natasha wanted a family, it was clear. She’d heard the stories for years, not only of all the gloriousness that was Nate but Fazire and Lily told her of Sarah, Rebecca, Will and their summers spent floating on inner tubes on the pond, their big holiday extravaganzas and a million and one other things, both big and small, that made families so wonderful.
Tash, quite rightly, wanted that for herself.
Natasha had no idea what was happening with her parents and her confusion would be extraordinary, even devastating (as Nate predicted) if her mother who had relayed so many glowing stories of her beloved Nate, didn’t take him back gleefully and make them the family Tash craved.
And Lily, knowing how precious family was, couldn’t help but want to give that to her.
After dinner, Tash and Lily had walked Nate to the car because Tash made her with a tug on her hand, the three of them walking together, Natasha between them holding both Lily’s and Nate’s hands.
Once there, he’d picked up Tash as if she weighed no more than a feather and at seven, nearly eight and a tall child to boot, considering her parents, she weighed a lot more than that.
She kissed him squarely on the mouth and threw her arms around his neck in one of her fierce hugs.
“When are you coming back?” she asked when she partially disengaged, her arms still resting on his broad shoulders.
“Very soon,” he answered with a devastatingly handsome smile to which Tash, just like her mother, immediately reacted.
“Tomorrow?” she tried hopefully making Lily’s Avoid-Nate-at-All-Costs Resolution fade to a memory.
Nate’s eyes slid to Lily, who was trying very hard to control her expression.
“Maybe not tomorrow,” he demurred, “but soon.”
It was then that Tash rubbed her nose against Nate’s. Lily watched in fascination as Nate closed his eyes and something passed over his face, something so intense Lily felt it go through her own body like an electric shock.
“Promise?” Tash demanded on a whisper, her face still close to her father’s.
“I promise.” Nate’s deep voice was nearly a growl and Lily found herself swallowing at the emotion it betrayed.
Something about that growl, that emotion, all Nate’s intensity made Lily’s heart flutter, her chest squeeze and, lastly, it made her very, very curious to its cause.
She was standing with them on the sidewalk by Nate’s driver’s side door. When he put Natasha down, before she knew his intention, his arm shot out, hooked her waist and he pulled her to him.
She made a low noise of surprise which was muffled when his mouth slanted down on hers in a hard, but brief and unfortunately effective kiss.
“I want you here when I come back,” he told her when he’d stopped kissing her, still holding her against his hard body and she realised then he’d cottoned on to the Dodge Nate Plan.
She hesitated, trying not to look at Natasha who she knew was staring up at them gleefully.
Then she mumbled, “We’ll see.”
Apparently, that was good enough for him for he let her go, got in his expensive car and drove away.
“He’s the bomb,” Natasha said, using a term Maxine used frequently and watching her father go.
Lily stood looking at her daughter watching her father’s car disappear and she saw the years stretching before her. Years of Nate bringing Natasha home, dropping her off and then disappearing from her life again for days or weeks, only to come back into her life for brief periods of time. Then again her daughter would be forced to watch him go. And Lily asked herself, could she do that to Tash?
Lily crouched behind her beloved daughter, pulled her back to Lily’s front and she rested her chin against Tash’s shoulder.
“Happy, baby doll?”
Natasha was so happy, she couldn’t speak, she just nodded. It was the first time since Tash had uttered her first words that she’d been speechless.