Love Beyond Words (City Lights, #1)(45)

“You promised!” she said when he picked up with an innocent hello.

“A new phone is not overboard. Not even close. Have you seen your flip?”

“I like my flip!” Natalie laughed.

“So did the ‘90’s. Listen, did you bring a jacket?”

“This is San Francisco, right? I have a sweater and jacket, both.”

“Perfect. We’re on a time crunch here.”

“We are?” Natalie took in the lush interior of the luxury car. Maybe we are. Maybe this coach will turn into a pumpkin at midnight…

“We are, and I’m extremely busy right now. Can’t talk. I’m going to text you a number and I need you to call it for me.”

“What? Who am I calling?”

“Okay, perfect, thanks very much. Love you. Bye.”

Natalie held the phone in her lap, smiling at it as if she were smiling at him. It chimed twice with the promised text. She tapped the screen, grudgingly pleased with how fast and efficient it all was—light years ahead of her old flip. The text was a phone number, underlined. She pressed it and the phone asked her if she wished to call it. She hit “yes” and put the flat rectangle of a phone to her ear.

“Golden Gate Charters, may I help you?”

“Um…hi.” Natalie said, mentally shaking her fist at Julian. “I…uh…”

“Do you wish to confirm a reservation?” the woman asked, and Natalie could hear the knowing tone in her voice. She’s in on it.

“Yes, I do,” Natalie said boldly, and the faltered again when she realized she had no clue what to say next. Damn him.

“Very good, Miss Hewitt. You and Mr. Kova? are confirmed for this evening, seven o’clock.”

“Uh, thank you.”

“Thank you.”

Natalie hung up and switched to the text screen. Charter?

The reply was quick. Charter? I don’t even know her!

She rolled her eyes, laughing. Yuk yuk.

You look beautiful.

Natalie looked up. The sedan had stopped at Julian’s building and he stood on the curb, phone in hand. He opened the door, but instead of handing her out, he started to climb in.

“We’re going out now?” Natalie asked, sliding over the leather seats to make room. “My things…”

“Safe in the trunk, right Bruce?”

The driver nodded. “Yes, sir.”

Julian grinned, his eyes sparkling like blue topaz. “See? We’re all set.”

“Aren’t we just? Our reservations are confirmed tonight for seven,” she told him pointedly. “Whatever they may be.”

“Excellent. We’ll be just in time. Are you hungry?”

Yes, for you, she thought and her cheeks grew hot. He’s turning me into a fiend. “Maybe. First we need to talk about this.” She held up her new phone.

“That’s nothing. Something you needed. It doesn’t even count.”

“Doesn’t it?”

“Nope.”

“Julian, it’s not just the phone. It’s the plan, the cost of the data and all that—”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got it covered.” He turned in his seat and faced her, his expression serious. “Please let me indulge a little. I have all this money but what am I using it for? I have all the stuff that I need. I don’t need more stuff. I want to take you out, buy you pretty things. Please let me, okay?”

“I don’t need stuff either, Julian. Experiences, yes. And you. That’s all.”

His mischievous expression returned. “All the experiences you can handle and a few gifts besides. Sorry. Comes with the territory.”

She smiled despite herself and laced her fingers with his as the car took them through the city.

There were no more gifts that night, but an experience Natalie knew she would never forget. The reservations she had unwittingly “confirmed” were for a private yacht that took them out onto the bay at sundown. There was champagne, finger sandwiches, entrees of exquisite seafood, and delicate desserts. After, they slow danced alone on the deck with the city glittering behind him and the lights of the Golden Gate Bridge glowing over them. On the way back, they huddled under a blanket together at the prow, her back to his chest and his arms around her.

This is perfection, she mused, while a tiny voice whispered that she loved him too much. That this sort of bliss could be taken away, like a rug swept out from under her feet, and the gaping hole that remained would be too deep and dark to crawl out of. But back at his apartment, he kissed her in front of the city panorama and made love to her, slowly and languidly on his soft bed, and the voice was silenced, buried, its words forgotten.





Chapter TwentyOne


The next day they had lunch at a dim sum restaurant called Yank Sing, south of Market, and Natalie thought she had never had a more delicious meal in her life. As they sat sipping tea, she watched that sly smile come over his face again.

“I hope you’ve nothing more planned for this afternoon than a nap,” she said. “I’m stuffed.”

“No naps. No time. I’m taking you shopping.”

Natalie pursed her lips. “What, for clothes? Like in Pretty Woman?”

“Not quite.”