‘Is that fair to Dee?’ I asked, trying desperately not to cry.
He squeezed my hand. ‘I’m a different man now, Olivia. Life changes us, second by second. Who I was before Yvonne passed was a man who was right for her. Who I am now is someone I hope is right for Dee. But the most important person in my life is, and always will be, you. I need to know that you’re okay with me moving on with Dee. And I’d especially like it if you got to know her better.’
I smiled teasingly through the shimmer of tears in my eyes. ‘Dad, I’m a grown woman. You don’t need to be worrying about what I think.’
‘See’ – he shook his head with a grin – ‘to the world you’re a grown woman, but to me you’re still my kid. You’ll understand that when you’ve got your own.’
‘Then if it makes you feel better, I want you to know that I’m glad for you. Dee makes you laugh. She makes you happy. That’s all I care about.’
‘Will you meet with her? Spend some time just you two? I know she’d like that.’
Honestly, it’s something I should have thought of doing without having to be asked, and I realized that I really had been locked up in my own insecurities and problems for so long now that I hadn’t been a very good daughter lately. ‘Of course, Dad.’
Satisfied, Dad changed the subject again, talking about Cole and how Dad and Jo were thinking of getting him a dog if he passed his exams at the end of the school year. Cole had made a comment about how he’d always wanted a puppy and Jo had felt bad that she hadn’t known that, and now she and Cam were discussing it with the landlord.
It was funny, but Jo’s behavior with Cole reminded me of how Dad was with me. Smiling lovingly at my father, I was feeling all mushy and happy for Cole that he’d been blessed to have Johanna Walker as a makeshift mom.
And it was in that moment of perfect contentment that Nate used his key and walked into my apartment.
The sexy grin on his face froze when my dad slowly turned his head and raised an unimpressed eyebrow at Nate’s appearance. They stared at each other for a moment, and then my dad slowly turned his head back to me. He was not happy. ‘He has a key?’
When I closed the door behind my dad I finally let go of all the oxygen I’d been holding inside me and turned to Nate, my eyes bugging out half in horror, half in amusement. He was sitting on my couch, drinking a cold beer and laughing.
‘That wasn’t funny.’
Okay, so maybe it kind of was. But it also kind of wasn’t. We’d just spent the most uncomfortable half hour with my dad as he not very subtly cross-examined us about our friendship. The funny part was watching him try to make Nate squirm. The not-so-funny part was the part where I lied my ass off to my dad about the nature of my relationship with Nate.
Nate put his beer down on the table and stood up, kicking off his shoes. ‘Your dad is bloody scary,’ he commented, still amused. I watched, questioning him with my eyes as he began to undress. ‘Are you sure he’s not the reason you haven’t had a man in seven years?’
I laughed, my eyebrows rising as he stood before me in nothing but his boxer briefs and a raging erection. ‘Why? You’re clearly not scared of him.’
‘I’m made of sterner stuff than most men.’ He strode toward me and grabbed my hand, pulling me toward the bathroom.
‘Tonight’s lesson?’ I asked, since he’d just gone into it without so much as a word.
Nate shut the bathroom door behind us and took the hem of my shirt in his hands to tug it up and off. ‘Spontaneity. Nothing hotter than a woman who wants to fuck you all the time, no matter where you are or what you’re doing.’
I unclipped my bra as Nate worked on my jeans. ‘I’m beginning to think these lessons are personalized lessons on how to please Nate Sawyer.’
‘You don’t realize that all men think that way?’ he teased, removing my jeans and panties.
‘I don’t know.’ My heart was racing now as he reached into my shower and switched it on.
‘Well, most men I know think that way. So … tonight? Shower sex. I didn’t manage to have one after my class, so I thought we’d share one together.’ He grinned and dropped his boxers.
I licked my lips and eagerly followed him into the shower. ‘You know I have a feeling that women like men who want to have sex with them all the time no matter where, too.’
Nate’s smile was heated as he pushed me under the spray of water and up against the tiles. ‘It’s good to know the shower does so much for you, babe. In the grand scheme of things, shower sex is pretty vanilla. I can’t wait to see how you react to me fucking you in the university library.’
My eyes widened. ‘You can’t do that,’ I breathed, growing hot and wet just at the thought of it. ‘I throw kids out for that.’