Page 23 of Quiet & Kilted
He shook his head. “We’ll drive you out and bring you back. It gets dark early and I’d feel better seeing you to your front door. Okay?”
Mandy stroked Maximus’s fur while he ate.
Nodding, Zoe walked across her cottage and Nate leaned against the kitchen bar to wait. When she opened the door to her bedroom, he had a clear view of a space that was less feminine than he would’ve thought. She used dark purples and pale greens in her décor.
It was simple and classy. Like her.
He watched as she went into the bathroom and left without her reading glasses. Then she walked into her big closet and closed the door. Three minutes later, she came back out. Like Superman, she seemed like a totally different person.
Oh, shit.
At his first glance of Zoe’s outside-the-library persona, Nate worried about passing out from lack of oxygen. Holding his breath, his eyes tracked down the length of her body.
He took in the worn-in cowboy boots, snug jeans hung low on her hips, soft t-shirt, and button-down over-shirt as his body coiled tight. Her hair was in a thick brown ponytail.
Her toned legs, flared hips, flat stomach, and small perky breasts were defined for the first time since they met. It was alotto process as all the blood in his brain diverted south.
She paused, seemed to consider, and turned back to grab a Falcons windbreaker. It gave him the opportunity to observe her cute ass and narrow back. Dropping the light jacket over her arm, she closed her closet and returned to the living room.
There was no way to hide his reaction. No way to conceal his hunger. In this, Nate knew heclearlycommunicated how much he wanted her.
Zoe laughed nervously and signed, “I’m practically a boy.”
Shaking her head, she passed him, pausing beside Mandy to run her hand over Maximus. The cat nuzzled her hand as if he wanted to climb all over her.
Nate understood the desire completely.
Mandy stroked the big cat, petting and baby-talking him. Zoe grinned and quickly washed his dish. His daughter picked Maximus up and went into the living room, settling on the big chair to love on him.
Nate put his hands flat on the island, his arms wide, and waited for Zoe to turn around. When she did, he watched her take in his upper body with appreciation. Her eyes lifted to meet his. He held her gaze with all the intensity he felt until she started blushing.
He mouthed, “There’s nothing boyish about you. Nothing. You’re all woman, Zoe.” He let his eyes flick down her torso and back up. “I had no idea you were hiding all that under your clothes.”
The color in her face went nuclear but he didn’t look away, didn’t dial down what he knew she could see in him. Since Nate was a teenager, he’d been confident around the opposite sex. He knew who he was and what he had to offer, inside and out.
Zoe needed that knowledge about herself. He wanted her to know she was desirable as a woman in addition to her other amazing qualities as a person. He had to show her how he saw her, so she could eventually accept what he offered without doubt or misplaced insecurity.
He didn’t use sign language because he didn’t want his daughter to be part of this first true moment between them as a man and a woman.
Moving nothing but his lips, he told her, “I want you to be mine. Let me know how you feel about that, Zoe.” After a long pause, he said aloud, “Time to go, Mandy.”
“I can’t wait for Zoe to see our place!” She gave Maximus farewell scratches. “I’ll see you again, sweet kitty.”
Zoe locked up the cottage as they filed out on her small porch. Nate was pleased to see that her hands shook slightly. He stroked his palm down her back and nudged her toward his truck.
He hefted Mandy up into the high cab and Zoe tilted her head. Nate picked her up, startling her. Her hand landed on his shoulder to brace herself as he set her carefully on the seat. He took his time letting go of her waist.
Meeting his eyes, she let her palm slide over his bicep before folding her hands in her lap. Such an innocent touch shouldn’t have had the ability to destroy him so easily but it did.
He understood that it was a bold move for a woman as gentle and demure as Zoe. That made it all the more powerful.
Stepping back with great effort, Nate closed the door and walked around to get behind the wheel. He smiled at the two people beside him and thought, “This is what I want. Right here.”
Mandy held Zoe’s hand and the librarian stared at his daughter with a soft expression that stroked over his heart.
The drive took less than five minutes to Nate’s sprawling property just outside town. He parked close to their wraparound front porch and cut the engine. He and Mandy watched Zoe’s face to gauge her initial reaction to their home.
She stared through the windshield for a long moment before lifting her hands to sign. “It’s so pretty here. It reminds me of where I grew up in Georgia.” Then she opened the door and dropped nimbly to the ground. When Nate joined her, she grinned. “I have trouble getting up, not down.”