The Boyfriend List (10 page)

Once again, his fingers threaded with hers, and Jenna thought there wasn’t anything that made her feel so safe. He had questions though. She knew that. After their lunch, after what he found out about her career, Nate would want to know more. He deserved answers, especially if they had any chance of making it.

He punched a code into the keypad by the garage door, and as the door opened it revealed an expensive sports car sitting in the bay. Jenna glanced at his well-worn truck and again at the car, which was spectacular. Nate waited for her reaction.

“Is this a Maserati?” Jenna recognized it, she’d seen a few when she was out west. Talk about lifestyles of the rich and famous.

“Yup. A GranTurismo.”

“And you don’t drive it.”

Nate shook his head. “Not usually.”

“Oh. This car cost as much as the down payment on a house, and you let it sit in here?”

“Pretty much. It’s not my style. I bought it because Owen and Jason pushed me. They thought we needed fancy cars for
the image
. I don’t give a shit about the image. I like my truck.”

He walked toward the back of the garage and turned. He really
didn’t
care. Based on what Jenna was seeing, he was pretty uncomfortable with the whole lifestyle. “Show me your house,” she said, hoping to redirect the conversation.

With his hand securely on the small of her back, Nate guided her inside, bringing her into a mudroom that looked like it came out of a catalog. The stacking washer and dryer, gorgeous counters and cabinets, a bench with cubbies, hooks for coats—it was perfect. Jenna loved the place already.

The rooms worked together in a well-designed, open floor plan. It wasn’t a huge house, but it didn’t need to be. The kitchen was one that dreams were made of—cherry cabinets, granite, and high-end appliances. It also looked like it was never used, like the car. It was connected to a family-size dining room, which flowed into a great room with large, comfortable furniture. Finally, they ended in his bedroom, which was on the opposite side of the house from where they entered.

Nate dropped her bag on a chair and pulled Jenna close. As always, every fiber of her being responded to the contact. They were right together. The chemistry, the way they read each other’s bodies, she’d never had a more generous lover, and as a result she responded in ways she never had before. Nate was hers. He was made for her. She just had to be strong enough, brave enough, to let herself fall completely into the relationship.

One piece of clothing at a time, they undressed each other until they stood naked in each other’s arms. His touch was a gentle caress, almost like worship. They kissed and, soon, Nate was lowering Jenna to the mattress and covering her with his body. She loved this feeling—so close, so protective, so loving. He reached into his drawer, opened the packet and protected her, and then she felt him enter her slowly, inch by inch, stretching her, a welcome invasion. One that made her feel whole. Complete.

Matched.

The slow movements, the deep strokes, built in intensity and pace. Jenna followed his lead, watching the strain of the muscles in Nate’s shoulders, seeing the pleasure on his face.

He was so beautiful, from his soft golden-brown hair, to his hazel eyes, to his beautiful toned body, she’d never want anyone else again. Nate was her heart, her soul, her love. She had to be brave enough to accept it.

The orgasm built slowly, but once it took hold, it threw Jenna up and over. Arching against him, her hips ground into his, and with one final drive, he called her name as he found his release.

Spent, Nate collapsed, rolling to his back and bringing her with him. She settled into the crook of his arm, their skin damp and warm. Bringing the covers over them, Jenna snuggled in as sleep took her.

***

Jenna officially loved Nate’s kitchen almost as much as she loved him. After their nap, they went to the market, picked up what they wanted for dinner, and she set to preparing it as soon as they got back to the house. He had everything. Every conceivable pot, pan, or gadget was here, and it was all perfectly organized. Which was how she knew the kitchen was never used.

“You don’t cook?” Jenna forced herself not to laugh as she watched Nate struggle with a clove of garlic.

“Could you tell?”

“Kind of. Here, let me show you. Since I’m just going to chop this up for a sauce, it doesn’t need to be perfect.” She took a large butcher knife with a substantial flat area, laid it on top of the garlic, and smashed it with the flat of her hand.

“Jeez! That’s a little violent.”

“Cooking is messy. But it gets the job done.” She chopped the garlic and tossed it in a pan with heated olive oil.

Nate sat on a stool at the counter and watched her. It should be making her nervous, but for some reason, just being together was comfortable. This life they were settling into was exactly what she wanted in a relationship. There was no push-pull, no competition. Just companionship, cooperation . . . love.

She never thought she’d feel this way again. Stopping herself, Jenna realized she’d never felt this way before. What Nate Bayard had brought to her life was new and fresh and wonderful. A gift Jenna never thought would be hers.

Hearing a pop, she turned around and saw he’d uncorked a bottle of wine, filling two glasses with the deep red liquid.

She couldn’t hold it in anymore. She had to say it. “I love you.”

Nate looked up and locked eyes with her.
Crap
. She’d been thinking it all day, but what if he didn’t feel the same way?

“Excuse me?” He put the glasses down, and walked toward her. “Did you say . . . ?”

“I love you.” It came out on a breath. “I love you, Nate.”

The gentleness with which he took her face in his hands, in the way he kissed her, almost brought Jenna to tears. “I love you, too. So much,” he said. Resting his forehead against hers Nate made Jenna’s heart sing. “So very much.”

He should be protective.

—#3, Jenna’s Boyfriend List

Having dinner with Jenna’s family shouldn’t have concerned him, but as they got closer to the Italian restaurant where they were celebrating her uncle Sammy’s seventieth birthday, his stomach let him know that he was pretty nervous.

Originally, she told him this was a small family dinner. Of course, small to the Albaneses had a different definition than small to his own family. He was walking into the mother of all Italian families at their family friend’s Italian restaurant. From what Jenna told him, “everyone” would be there. Every living aunt, uncle, and cousin, plus close friends, would be there to sing “Happy Birthday” to her favorite uncle.

Things were changing quickly, and he hoped that nothing was going to spook her. He’d met her parents briefly at the wedding along with her sister, Tina, but he wasn’t sure what to expect at the party. These were her people, not an elegant, formal wedding. When she met his parents, they loved her, and they couldn’t have been more thrilled that the relationship was serious. From the way she handled his father to the photographs she’d taken at the farm, Jenna was the new favorite. Once they went back to his house they’d had a perfect weekend. She told him more about her ex, about her life in California, but he got the sense there was more to the story.

“How am I possibly going to keep track of everyone,” he wondered aloud. His family wasn’t small by any account. His mother had three siblings, his father had four, he had some cousins, but not like this.

“You aren’t going to,” she responded. “Do your best, and if you don’t remember someone, ask. It happens all the time. They only have you to remember, you have a hundred people.”

A hundred people. Great. “Anyone I should be wary of?”

“Marco and Bunny. Toxic, toxic. They might take shots at Owen and Kim, so be prepared for that.”

He remembered that Marco and Bunny were the ones who caused so much trouble when Owen and Kim had gotten serious. It had been a nasty weekend that sent Kim running and Owen getting drunk off his ass.

“It’s going to be fine. Fine . . .” she mumbled.

“Are
you
nervous?”

“No,” she said. “It’s my family. Why would I be nervous?” Her words were hitting him like machine-gun fire. He’d never heard anyone talk so fast.

“Right.” He didn’t believe her for a second. “Because I’m the one who should be nervous.”

“Are you?” she moaned. “Oh. I mean. You don’t have to go. They can be overwhelming, my family. Crazy.”

He took his hand from the stick shift of the Maserati, and squeezed her fingers tight. “I’m going. Crazy or not, it’s important I meet them.
All of them
.”

“I really love you,” she said, bringing his fingers to her lips and leaving a sweet kiss on his knuckles.

“Good. Because I really love you, too.”

But he was speechless when they pulled up to the restaurant. The parking lot was packed. Then he saw the sign that the restaurant was closed for a private party. He’d never seen anything like this. They closed an entire restaurant for dinner. “Wow,” he whispered to her. “This is a little birthday dinner?”

“It’s actually not bad. We’re a little late and the place isn’t full. Go park over there.” She pointed to a spot. “You might have lucked out.”

Lucked out? They made their way inside and all Nate saw were people. Lots of people. “Are you related to everyone?”

She glanced around the room. “Almost.” She went up on her toes and kissed him lightly on the lips. “Thank you.”

“Gia!” Nate looked up to see short, rotund woman coming at them with her arms extended.

“My great-aunt Concetta,” Jenna whispered. “She’s almost ninety.”

“Concetta.” He repeated her name so he remembered. “She moves pretty well. She must take good care of herself.”

Jenna shook her head. “She smoked like a chimney for seventy years, puts a shot of Sambuca in her coffee every morning, and she drinks an entire bottle of red wine every day. Go figure.”

He laughed as her aunt stopped and hugged her niece. “It’s been too long,
cara
. Is this your billionaire?” The old woman couldn’t have been five feet tall, but her deep, raspy voice made him think of a big burly longshoreman instead. Looking around at all of her relatives, many of whom were sizing him up—
The Billionaire
, as Concetta said—he realized how important it was to Jenna that he be accepted.

“This is Nate, Aunt Connie. Nate Bayard.”

“Bayard? What kind of name is that?” the old woman asked.

“It’s Scottish. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He extended his hand, only to be pulled in and kissed on each cheek.

“Scottish, hmm? Do you have one of those skirts?”

“A kilt. Yes, ma’am. I do. In our clan colors, in fact.”

“I wouldn’t know one color from another,” she sniffed. “I’ve been wearing black since nineteen seventy eight, when my husband died.” She blessed herself after the mention of her husband. “You look good, Gia. This man makes you happy?”

She nodded. “He does.”

Concetta looked him up and down, and then let go several, deep rattling coughs. “You be good to her, Billionaire. She was with that
bastardo
and he didn’t deserve her.” She looked around and whispered conspiratorially, “I put the
maloccio
on him, but I don’t know if it worked.”

He noticed Jenna stepped back a bit as he navigated the conversation with Concetta. He discovered
malocchio
is the “evil eye” and it’s considered very dangerous, even more dangerous than what his grandmother called “The Hairy Eye”. But after several minutes, Nate could see at the core of all Concetta’s bluster was a deep love of her family, and that was something he could relate to. He liked her a lot.

Seeing this side of Jenna answered many of Nate’s questions. He could see there was a dynamic that surrounded the family. Each generation was supposed to do better than the one before. Hard work and education were valued. But deference to the elders was expected in all things.

Her siblings and cousins had mastered the game . . . they knew how to keep their parents and grandparents happy while doing what they wanted. Jenna was a bit of a rebel and it got her in trouble.

Watching her now as she was playing with some of her young cousins, seeing her with children, made Nate think about having a family of his own. It wasn’t something he’d ever attached to a relationship, but someday he’d love to have that family with Jenna.

***

Nate sat in the meeting with the lawyers and his business partners about the possibility of taking Reliance public, but he couldn’t get his mind off the mare who was ready to have her foal, and the three kids they had going to their first schooling show this weekend. His parents had left for the Hamptons because Reliance was having a big Independence Day party at Kylemore East next week.

He should care about the numbers being thrown at him, and the proposals, but he couldn’t; he thought about the barn, his family, and Jenna. Always Jenna.

He’d survived meeting her very large family, and the day after the party, the feedback was that he passed muster. All good news considering he wanted to make things permanent with Jenna and the Albaneses were going to be stuck with him.

“Nate!” Owen’s booming voice snapped him back. “Keep your head in the game, man.”

“Sorry, I can only listen to the same numbers over and over for three hours and I think right now, we’re going on hour four.”

“You don’t have to be a jackass.” Owen threw his pen on the table. “I just want to be clear about what we’re getting ourselves into. It could take the business into the stratosphere.”

“Or, it could be a disaster,” Nate said. “There’s risk. No doubt about it.”

“No risk, no reward,” Tristan responded. With his constant presence, Tris was becoming part of the Reliance culture. They all trusted him and involved him in the day-to-day operations as they moved toward this new milestone. He knew his shit, no doubt there, and because they shared a common love for horses, the financial whiz was becoming his friend.

“Are we done?” Nate rose from his chair and closed his laptop. He’d had enough of the numbers, enough of the endless talk about the same thing, enough of the stress. He had an errand to run and he figured a walk through town was better than losing his shit.

Everyone was tense, but Owen especially was driving them crazy. Even Harper, who was the most hyper-focused of the group, was getting a little fed up. Owen was pushing hard for the IPO. Jason and Harper were being cautious, and Nate had no desire for things to get any more out of control.

“Yeah,” Owen said. “Let’s meet again around four to see if there’s anything else we need to explore before we bring in the firm that will be handling the offering.”

Nate wondered if he could get a plane booked and ready for a quick getaway before four o’clock rolled around.

“Owen, can we give this a few days to simmer? It’s a lot to take in and I want to think about it.”

“What’s to think about? We’ll talk later.”

Jason, who’d been pretty quiet, finally said something. “It’s not unreasonable to table the discussion for a few days. Nate’s right. There’s no rush.”

Exasperated, Owen grabbed his laptop and portfolio and without a word went through the door that led to his office. The Reliance campus had been designed with collaboration in mind. In this wing, the executive suite took up most of the square footage. Each of the partners had an office, and there was a central bullpen for their assistants and a clutch of offices for middle managers and staff. The wing on the opposite side of the building housed human resources, operations, the gym, the nursery, and the medical suite. The ground level, which had a wall of windows looking out on the harbor and opened to a landscaped courtyard, was where research and development, marketing, and sales lived.

Nate was exhausted. Scrubbing his face with his hands, he thought about what an IPO could mean. It would change the culture of the business. It would change expectations and he didn’t know if he wanted it.

They’d built a business that had been written up, examined, and used as a model for entrepreneurs. He was an incredible success, but it felt hollow, and taking the business public wasn’t going to change that. All these meetings and conferences were helping him realize he wasn’t where he wanted to be.

Nate had been asked back to Duke, his alma mater, more than once to speak to different groups at the business school. He’d endowed a scholarship. He did all the things a young, rich billionaire was supposed to do with his money and success . . . except enjoy it.

Jason was the one who had gone all in, with his houses, yacht, the apartment in Manhattan, and the lifestyle that was off the charts. But even with all that, his wife kept her teaching job and they juggled childcare.

Owen, a Naval Academy grad, shook all the expectations when he stayed in the Marine Corps Reserves and did several tours in war zones while being the CIO of the company. He was type A all the way, and Nate hoped Kim was going to slow him down. His house and boat were modest, but for some reason he was stressed and intense about going public. Being the best was always important to him.

Nate had had a privileged upbringing. The wealthy horse set on the Island were his people. His parents ran in the right charity circles, but the truth was, he’d grown up mucking stalls and picking hay out of his hair.

The Bayards had money. A lot of it. Nate never aspired to have a multibillion-dollar business on top of that. He wanted to continue the tradition of Kylemore and grow its operation. He’d ridden the Reliance juggernaut with his friends, content to let the business run him since he didn’t have much of a life. But now that his relationship with Jenna was serious, he was ready to rethink his priorities.

He wanted to marry her. They’d spent the entire weekend together, just enjoying time with each other. He’d taken her riding again, they’d stocked his kitchen, watched movies, and fallen asleep spooned together. She’d told him part of what went down in California and he wished he could help take away some of her worry about commitment.

He knew he had to give them a little more time, but Nate could see the future with her. He’d loved everything about Jenna from the minute he’d met her, and now he’d fallen in love with her. He’d bought a ring. He’d wait a few months to give it to her, but she was the one. And there was no doubt in his mind about that.

***

The Cove Deli was Jenna’s go-to place if she needed a great sandwich and a view to go along with it. She was going to stay at the cottage for lunch and take some time for herself, but Kevin had an off day, then Harper came home, and the kinetic energy level in the house went off the scale. When it was that way at the house, it was everywhere. It was a lot less stressful to come to town, get a sandwich, and go eat in the park. It was a gorgeous warm day and she didn’t have to deal with the questions about her and Nate. They’d been together for six weeks, and it seemed like every one of their friends had an opinion about the relationship. Harper was one of the most vocal. There was no doubt that Harper was a good woman, and she cared deeply for her friends, but sometimes she cared too much and Jenna felt smothered. Today she needed some time. She needed some space.

She had a lot of thinking to do.

Taking her turkey sandwich and water across the street, Jenna headed to Harbor Park. This wasn’t her first time here and she had a favorite bench near the water, where she settled in to have a quiet lunch. All in all, she liked her job. Harper and Kevin were great people even though they lived a high-maintenance life. She loved Anna. The little girl was bright and fun, but demanding to the point of exhaustion.

And “exhaustion” wasn’t even a sufficient word to describe how she was feeling. So here she was. The salt air helped her clear her head. She’d gone into a total zone-out when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She jumped and turned around to see Nate smiling down at her.

“This seat taken?” he asked, motioning to the space next to her.