Will sets the gifts on the table and takes his seat. “Open them, kid.”
“Stop calling me that,” I mutter, my usual response to his nickname for me.
“No,” he responds with a grin.
I frown at the gift bags and look around at my family again to find everyone watching me. Finally Nate chuckles and hands me a bag. “Open them, baby.”
I work my way through the gifts, delighting in the new silver bracelet from Luke and Nat, a gorgeous scarf from Isaac and Stacey, and a wide array of generous gifts from my whole family. By the time I’m done, I have tears in my eyes and a wide smile on my face.
“Thanks, guys. This is fantastic, and unexpected.” I loop my pretty new red scarf around my neck and slide the bangle bracelet on my wrist.
“We have one more thing,” Natalie says and smiles at me.
“What?” I ask.
“A full day at the spa, you and Natalie, after the baby comes,” Luke says with a smile.
“Nice! Thanks, I won’t turn that down.” I grin at Natalie and she smiles back.
Suddenly, Nate places another small, gold gift bag on the table in front of me. I look up into his gorgeous gray eyes and frown.
“You already gave me my birthday present.”
“Julianne, everyone is giving you gifts today. Do you think I’d come empty-handed?”
“But…”
“Stop,” he murmurs and cups my cheek in his hand, making me look into his eyes. “I’ve already told you how I enjoy giving you gifts. Just open it.”
I hold his gaze for a moment and then look inside the beautiful gold bag. Nestled inside is a red Cartier box.
“Nate…”
“Just open the box, please.”
Inside is a beautiful, sparkling white and pink diamond tennis bracelet.
“Oh, my,” I murmur.
“Holy shit, that’s beautiful!” Samantha exclaims.
“How lovely,” my mom breathes.
Nate takes it out of the box and fastens it around my wrist, then kisses my hand. I cup his face in my hands and kiss him, tenderly, and his hands glide down my back to my waist.
“Watch your hands, McKenna,” Caleb warns, making us all laugh.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
***
Well, no one died. No one even got maimed.
All of the guests have finally left, and it only took three cars to load up all of baby Olivia’s loot to get it back to Natalie and Luke’s place.
I close and lock the front door and go search for Nate. The house is a mess, which I expected, and is another reason that I’m so glad I found Alecia. She’s arranged to have a crew come in tomorrow to clean up and remove the tent and tables and chairs.
God bless her.
I find Nate in the kitchen, tossing paper plates in the garbage and stowing left-overs in the fridge.
“We’ll be eating left overs for a week,” I comment as I walk into the room and help him finish sealing the containers and place them in the fridge.
“Did you have fun?” he asks with a grin.
“After you were introduced to everyone, yes.” Nate wraps his arms around me from behind and kisses my hair.
“You didn’t have to worry about me. I was fine.”
“I know, it’s just a nerve-wracking thing. My brothers are good guys, but they’re really over-protective, and I didn’t want them to be douche bags.” He smiles against my hair and leans down to kiss my neck.
“They were fine, baby.”
“Well, I’m sorry about Caleb.” Oh, God, I love it when he kisses my neck like that.
“Caleb was protecting you. I’d do the same. No harm done. Besides, he and I had a long talk before he left, and we’re good.”
“You did?” I turn in his arms and search his handsome face. “I didn’t notice that.”
“You were doing girl stuff.” He sneers and brushes his lips on my forehead. “Thank you for including me today.”
“I didn’t have much of a choice, did I?”
“Of course you did.” He frowns and suddenly looks worried. “If you didn’t want me here today, you should have said.”
“No,” I run my hands down his chest and back up to his shoulders, loving the way his muscles feel under my hands. “I was just nervous. I’m glad you met my family.”
“I want to learn everything about you, Julianne.” He runs his fingers down my face, and gazes deeply into my eyes. “I plan to be around for a long time.”
“Oh.” What else can I say to that? He’s so much more than I ever realized. He’s the controlled business man, the playful bad-boy, and he’s just so… sweet.
I wrap my fingers in his long, soft hair and pull him down to me, softly kissing him. His hands roam my back before settling on my ass and pulling me tightly against him. I moan and push closer, my breasts pressed against his chest.
“I think you’ve earned an award for good behavior,” I whisper against his mouth.
“Really?” he grins delightedly and leans back to look down at me. “I think I like the sound of that.”
“Oh, you’re definitely going to like it.” I pull out of his arms and take his hand while leading him to the stairs. When we reach my bedroom, I turn on the sidelight and turn to him and slowly begin to strip. I take the wide black belt off first and toss it aside, followed by my slacks. Nate’s eyes are on fire, his arms crossed on his chest, and he’s pulling at his bottom lip with his thumb and forefinger as he watches me undress. I unbutton my shirt, but leave it on, open in the front, showing off my nude-colored bra and matching thong.
I walk to him and he drops his arms to his sides, not touching me, and that’s okay.
This is for him.
I pull his shirt out of his slacks and unbutton it, then push it off his strong, broad shoulders, letting it fall to the floor. I trace the tattoo on his right arm and shoulder with my fingertips and lean over and kiss the dark ink on his chest, smiling as he inhales swiftly through his teeth.
I’m just getting started.
My hands glide down his sides and make quick work of unfastening his belt and pants, slipping them down his hips and legs to the floor. He went commando today.