Virtuous(48)

That doesn’t mean I’m prepared to completely give up a lifestyle that has defined me in many ways. It just means that I’m considering making some changes that would’ve been unthinkable only a few days ago.

Something my father once said to me has been rattling around in my mind since I met Natalie. It was after the disastrous breakup with Valerie when I asked him how he’d known that my mother was the woman he wanted to marry. “Someday,” he said, “probably years from now, a woman will come strolling into the room, and all the oxygen will seem to leave with her arrival. Your chest will be tight, your heart will beat a little faster, and you’ll know. You’ll just know.”

“Is that how it happened for you with Mom?” I asked him.

“Exactly like that. I knew the second I laid eyes on her that there’d never be anyone else for me.”

And there never has been. Forty-four years later, they’re going strong and more in love than ever. As I get older, I find myself envying them as well as my two oldest sisters, who’ve found true-love matches with guys I like and respect.

“You’re quiet over there,” Natalie says. “What’re you thinking about?”

I like that she asked. “My parents, actually.”

“What about them?”

“Tomorrow is their anniversary. Forty-four years.”

“That’s awesome.”

“I need to send them something, but I’m trying to decide what it should be. What do you get for two people who have everything?”

“I have no idea. Flowers seem too simple. Gift cards would be silly in light of who they are…”

“You see my dilemma.”

“Could you take them out for a nice dinner while you’re in LA?”

“That I can do.” At the next light, I grab my phone and get Addie on the Bluetooth.

“What’s up?” We’ve already spoken about six times today and got the “how are you?” preliminaries out of the way hours ago.

“Can we pull together an anniversary dinner for Max and Estelle and the girls Saturday night if they’re available?”

“We can do that. I’ll make some calls.”

“Include Natalie in the count, and you should come, too.”

“Of course I should.”

“You’re the best, Addie.”

“I know. I tell you that every day.”

Laughing at the predictable reply, I end the call with the push of a button on my steering wheel. “Done.”

“Wow, that was kind of… impressive.”

“Addie is fantastic. I’d be lost without her.”

“She sounds fantastic, but I mean the whole thing—from idea to implementation in five minutes flat.”

“We get things done.”

“I see that.”

I glance at her tentatively. “Does it all seem… I don’t know… pretentious to you?”

“No, not at all. I’m sticking with impressive.”

Her reply makes me smile as we finally reach the entrance for my garage after a slow crawl uptown. I punch in the code and drive down the ramp. Without waiting for me, Natalie gets out of the car and meets me at the elevator. I like that she’s falling into a comfortable routine in my life.

Upstairs, I take her coat, and she looks down at her clothes. “I wish I’d known to dress up more for the theater.” She’s wearing sexy black pants, high-heeled boots and a turquoise sweater with a scoop neck that hugs her full breasts, making me want to peek inside for a better look.

“You look gorgeous. Perfect for the theater. People don’t dress up like they used to. You’ll fit right in.” With my hands on her hips, I draw her in closer to me. “In fact, you’ll class up the joint.”

“Sure I will.”

I tip my head and lay my lips on hers in an undemanding caress that I feel all the way through me. Though I don’t intend to take it any further than a quick kiss—at least not yet—when her hands slide up my chest and curl around my neck, I’m lost.

Her mouth opens, and her tongue meets mine in a sensual caress that makes me moan from wanting more. I already know, days after I first laid eyes on her, that I’ll never get enough of her.

I hadn’t intended to devour her in the foyer, but she’s totally irresistible, especially when she’s pressed against me, kissing me with such innocent eagerness. That innocence has my cock hard and throbbing as I reluctantly withdraw from the kiss, mindful of what she said to me the day we met. If I seduce her into giving me what she said she’d never give, she’ll hate me afterward. The thought of that is worse than denying the desire that beats through me like a living, breathing thing.