The Absence of Olivia(69)
“Hi,” he said, his smile easy and sexy.
“Hey,” I breathed, a peculiar combination of relaxation and anxiousness coming over me. Something about him calmed me and amped me up simultaneously.
“I’m sorry I ambushed you.” He looked down at his glass, swirling the liquor in it slightly. “I should have reached out to you and told you I was coming, or even asked if it was all right for me to be here.” I smiled, not really knowing how to respond. If he had told me he was coming, I would have been even more nervous than I was before. And even though his presence was distracting, it wasn’t unwelcome. Not at all. “I was pretty sure if I called, well, I was sure something would have kept me from coming to you.”
I felt my eyebrows draw together and a confused expression pass over my face. “What do you mean?”
“I thought if I called, you’d either tell me you were married or dating someone, or worse, tell me you didn’t remember me.” He shrugged. “I just thought something would keep me away. After I never heard from you…” His voice trailed off and I could tell he was waiting for me to start explaining myself, to give him some sort of information about my life and how it had changed since we saw each other last.
“Nate, I have to close up the gallery,” I said with regret. “But, can we talk about everything? How long are you in town?”
He ran his free hand through his hair and I remembered, instantly and with arousing detail, what his hair felt like between my fingers. “I didn’t buy a return ticket,” he said, not looking me in the eye.
Excitement shot through me, followed quickly by apprehension.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t abandon my life to come to LA. I wasn’t sure what I would find when I got here, so I wanted to be able to either go right back to the airport and fly home, or stay a few days if things worked out.”
“Abandoning life and coming to LA worked out pretty well for me,” I said, smiling again. “But we can talk about that too. Tomorrow, maybe? Where are you staying?”
He laughed at my question. “I’m not sure yet. Know any good hotels in the area?”
“Are you serious? You don’t have a hotel room somewhere? It’s Friday night in LA. The only places you’ll be able to find an available room are places you don’t want to be.”
“Again, I wasn’t sure what my plan would be. I’ve got a rental car and a suitcase.”
“I have a spare bedroom. You can stay with me if you’d like.” The offer was out of my mouth before the words had even formed in my mind. The majority of my brain was eagerly hoping he would accept, that I would have unlimited access to him until he went home, whenever that would be. The idea of him in my home was causing warmth to spread through me, laced with excitement. But a tiny part of me was screaming, albeit quietly, to not invite practical strangers to my house for an undetermined amount of time.
“Are you sure? I don’t want to impose. Honestly, I thought I’d come here and find a good reason to turn around and go home.”
“Do you want to go home?” Please don’t say you want to go home.
His eyes remained on mine, not blinking, and he softly said, “I don’t want to go home yet.”
“Okay then, you can come stay with me.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Present Day
I’d spent the entire drive back to my townhouse wondering who in their right mind invited perfect strangers to stay in their house. Granted, Nate wasn’t actually a stranger. I’d been on a date with him once upon a time. And he had travelled all the way to see me and my gallery show. And, if I were being completely honest with myself, after our date two years ago, had I stayed in town, I probably would have slept with him. After that one date, I wasn’t sure how much longer I would have waited.
But things happened and my life changed course and in that moment, I was standing on my porch trying to use trembling fingers to unlock my door while I could feel the heat from Nate’s body standing deliciously close to me.
“Let me,” I heard his deep timbre voice say just before his hand clasped over mine, taking the key from me, and effortlessly unlocking my door. He pushed it open and I turned back to him with a smile.
“Thank you. I’m still a little keyed up from the show.” I led him inside, closing the door behind him.
“This is a great place,” he said, turning in a slow circle, taking in my home.
“It’s not as decorated as I would like it to be, but I’ve been really busy pretty much since I moved here.”
“I see you found time to hang some photos though,” he said, still smiling. He’d been smiling practically the entire night and the sight of his smile, easy and sexy all at once, and his body encased in his gorgeous suit, with his eyes and his hair, in my house…well…it was nearly overwhelming.
I laughed a little, trying not to be completely obvious that his mere presence had me nervous and excited. “Hanging photos was the first thing I did. I had pictures up before I had my bed put together.” I flipped on the light switch at the entrance of the kitchen and walked to the refrigerator. “Would you like something to drink? I’ve got a bottle of wine, but that’s about it.”
“Water would be great.” He followed me into the kitchen, his eyes still roaming around my space as if he was looking for clues or information about me based on my living space. He’d be sorely disappointed; my house didn’t say much about me besides the fact that I wasn’t there a lot.