She folded her arms across her chest, “I don’t understand what’s so funny.”
“My decisions are smart, and often lucrative. The very fact that you’re even concerned about that perception tells me I’m right to trust my instincts about you. How about you tell me about you and your family?”
“I am the only child of a woman who struggled her entire life to get her life together, and it wasn’t until I got mine together that I was able to help her,” she told me. “I do have two very good friends, Dylan and Morgan, that will kill for me and hide the body. They’re just as good as family.”
I loved her sense of humor. “That sounds far better than family. I can’t even get my brother to co-sign a loan for me and you have friends that would kill.”
She burst into laughter, “Oh no, they’re not co-signing shit either, but murder? Absolutely. They got me covered.”
“This is why you should come out with me! We have an equally dark sense of humor andwe’d keep each other thoroughly entertained.”
“The fact that you want to bring a complete stranger-”
I cut her off, “I tasted your most intimate parts, Nina. I think we’re beyond the complete strangers' phase.”
She chuckled behind a smile, “You’re right, but still.”
I sighed, “I get it. Too much too soon. I’m not going to force you to come celebrate the rest of my birthday with me, but I will ask you to have dinner with me tomorrow.”
“You are relentless,” she giggled. She turned around and started heading for her kitchen as I watched her plump backside switch under her dress.
“And you’re teasing me. Come on, Nina. Are you going to make me beg?”
“You on your knees begging for me?” She turned around and raised an eyebrow at me.
“You really want me back on my knees, Nina? Last time that happened, your legs were shaking, trying to trap my face between them.”
“Now, who’s the tease?” She laughed and stepped back into the room with two water bottles that she placed on the side table. Throwing her arms around me, she laid a kiss on me that made my knees buckle. I wanted to slide every inch of myself into her, but the incessant blinking of my phone told me there wasn’t any time for that.
“Promise me that you’ll have dinner with me tomorrow, Nina Wilkins.”
“Colt Warner, you have my word that I will be all yours for dinner, and hopefully I’ll get to eat something, too.”
I smile and look down at my phone rolling my eyes “I guess I am being called away, where is your phone?” She points me to the side table by the water bottles, I picked up her phone and gave it to Nina to unlock. She hands it back to me; I add my number and name as Birthday BF and text myself.
I gave her one last kiss before headed out the door. There was something so inviting about her place. It made me never want to leave. I wished every home I ever lived in felt like that. Even my place, a sprawling estate on the outskirts of Broad City, didn’t feel like home. It felt like a trophy to all that I’ve accomplished, but there wasn’t anyone there to share it with me.
A part of me wondered if I truly wanted to share it with someone or if I just wanted it to look like I shared it with someone. Wasn’t a beautiful woman on my arm another trophy? Another tick in the win column for Colt Warner. Nina Wilkins forced all these thoughts to circle my head on my birthday of all days.
My home sat on a few acres nestled against Lake Prentiss, a very private piece of land on the outskirts of Broad City. I tried to keep my impact on the environment to a minimum. The solar panel roof to my 5,000 square-foot home provided energy to the lampposts scaling my iron gate that separated my property from the empty road.
The driveway was a sharp turn that most people would miss if they didn’t know where they were going. I’d taken this drive too many times to miss it.
I drove toward my house where I didn’t bother putting the car in a garage. Heated driveways kept the ice and snow off my car and out of my way during the colder months. There wasn’t really a need for one.
Flashes of Nina in my home flooded my brain as she walked around in a cozy sweater, nothing underneath, and sat on my sofa doing whatever accountants do. I couldn't believe a few hours spent with one glorious woman had me ready to change my entire life to fit her into it.
As soon as you stepped inside, the kitchen island was to the right. There was a hallway to the left that led to an office and a small workout room. Straight ahead was the living room and a wall of glass windows and doors that led into the backyard. A boat slip and deck connected the yard to the lake. I wondered what Nina would think of it all.
Instead of dwelling on what I might want, I focused on the rest of my night. After a quick shower and change of clothes, I headed toward the destination sent to me in numerous text messages from my brother.
By the time I arrived at the restaurant, the soft atmosphere told me that at least one person listened to me when I said I wanted something quiet. The hostess smiled as she greeted me and I told her my name. She offered me a drink and showed me to a back room where about a dozen people mingled with each other, waiting for me. They barely noticed my presence until Drew approached me with a giant smile on his face.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” He announced, which forced everyone to turn and join in.
I tipped my head and raised my glass in appreciation, even though I really didn’t want to be here.
“Where have you been all day?” Chelsea asked as she sidled up to me and my brother. “I left you this morning, and you didn’t even come back to the office.”
