Chapter Eighteen
Two weeks later...
Having finished unpacking all of her things into her new room, Haley took a quick shower before getting dressed into her favourite old faded jeans and a mauve silkscreen baby T-shirt.
Hearing footsteps coming down the stairs, Nathan glanced up from the newspaper he was reading and smiled at Haley as she entered the den. “You all settled in?”
“Uh huh,” she replied, taking a seat on the couch and curling her legs underneath herself. “The bedroom you’ve given me is gorgeous… Hell, this whole house is amazing.”
The four bedroom, three bathroom, detached house which had both a front and large rear garden as well as a double garage was situated in a residential area not far from where Nathan’s offices were. As soon as Haley had seen it upon their arrival that morning, she had fallen head over heels in love with it and couldn’t believe that this was now her home. It was a far cry from the tiny apartment she had been living in before she had moved into the beach house with him.
He nodded his agreement at her last statement. “It is, isn’t it? I used to drive past this place on my way in to work each day when I first moved out here and I knew that as soon as I could afford it, I would one day own a place like this. I never dreamt that I’d own this very house but it seemed like fate or something when it came on the market just as I was looking to move.”
Haley laughed and she watched his forehead crease. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t think you’d be someone who believed in fate.”
Laughing along with her, Nathan acknowledged what she was saying as he folded up his paper and pushed himself out of his chair, making his way over to her. “Yeah, just don’t go telling anyone else,” he quipped as he took a seat beside her and then pulled her onto his lap.
“Hey, I was comfortable where I was,” she said, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
“I figured you’d be more comfortable here.” His fingers brushed away the loose tendrils of hair that had fallen from her ponytail and inching closer to her, he covered her mouth with his and kissed her slowly.
Haley fisted his shirt as she lost herself in the feel of his soft lips touching hers and when his tongue requested entrance, she complied, parting her lips and moaning into his mouth when it curled around her own.
Since they had arrived in Chicago just that morning, she felt the invisible weight that had been pressing down upon her shoulders immediately cease and she hoped that the distance between here and Tree Hill and a certain resident who lived there would make everything go more smoothly. The stress she had felt as a result of all the worrying she had been doing had started making her feel sick to her stomach.
Granted, she had no complaints where Nathan was concerned; he had treated her with nothing but utter respect and had given her his complete support but she couldn’t help but feel a little bad at the very least that she was a part of the animosity between him and his mother.
“Where did you go?” Nathan asked, his thumb rubbing softly along her cheekbone.
“Sorry, just thinking…” she answered, leaning into his touch.
“Anyone ever tell you that you think too much?”
“Constantly.” Haley’s eyes twinkled with merriment at their playful banter and she squealed when he suddenly turned and fell backwards on the couch, bringing her along with him so that she was now lying on top of him. “Nathan!”
“I’ll bet I can get you to stop thinking,” he teased while his fingers inched beneath her T-shirt to lightly trace shapes over her skin. Before she could say anything, his lips fused with hers once more and he kissed her hard, pouring everything he felt for her into it.
Kissing had never been a big deal for him. He liked it fine but, as far as he was concerned, it was usually just a precursor to the main event, for want of a better description. But, with Haley, he just couldn’t get enough of kissing her.
It completely consumed him; the scent of her petal-soft skin combined with that of her hair, the taste of her as his tongue explored every part of her mouth all served to make kissing a totally new experience for him. He could literally spend hours kissing her and ever since they had both decided to try this whole thing for real, that’s exactly what they had been doing.
Nathan moaned into her mouth when she shifted her position and straddled his hips, rubbing herself against his erection which was pressing painfully against the fly of his pants. The light teasing touch of her fingers under his polo shirt was making him dizzy as all the blood in his body seemed to rush to that part of his anatomy and he finally had no choice but to break the kiss, gasping in large lungfuls of air once he had.
The thrumming throughout his body didn’t cease, however, since Haley was now sucking on his neck, grazing the flesh with her teeth. God! All he wanted to do was strip them both naked and do everything to her and with her that he had been dreaming and fantasizing about since he had first met her.
But he couldn’t. He had promised her that he wouldn’t push her into anything she wasn’t ready for but hell. When she kissed him like that…touched him like that, all thoughts of being a good guy pretty much flew out of the window.
The feel of her licking and nibbling on his bottom lip almost made him miss the fact that her hands were on his belt and he quickly covered and stilled them from going any further. His control was fast slipping and he knew that if she touched him there, then that would be it. He wouldn’t be responsible for his actions.
Not knowing what to say without hurting her feelings, he blurted out, “So, uh, are you hungry?”
Haley smiled against his jaw where she was currently dropping wet, open-mouthed kisses along it. “Oh, I’m hungry for you,” she whispered, breaking out into a fit of giggles.
Nathan couldn’t help chuckling at her response. “Cheesy, much?”
“Shut up!” Shifting up his body slightly, she looked down at him and smirked before slanting her mouth over his and kissing him again. Her thighs pressed in, tightening their hold on him as her lips devoured him, her tongue slipping between his lips to tangle with his own.
All thought left his mind as he gave himself over to the kiss; his hands slid under her top and rubbed her back, his fingers tracing over the clasp of her bra as he fought the strong urge to flick it open. A part of him couldn’t help wondering what response he would get from her if he just did as he was desperately wanting to do and, judging by the way she was kissing and touching him, he had a feeling it wouldn’t be an adverse one.
“Haley?” he finally whispered against her lips several long moments later.
“Uh huh?” Her mouth moved down from his lips and was now suckling on his Adam’s apple and Nathan felt himself harden further as the thought of her sucking something else suddenly popped into his head.
Gripping her shoulders in each hand, he gently eased her up so that he could look into her face. “I-I think we need to stop.” He saw the look of doubt that crept onto her pretty features and he mentally kicked himself. “I just--”
“It’s okay, Nathan. I, uh, I guess we got a little carried away, huh?” Haley made to move off of him but he wasn’t having it and he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her forward so she was once again lying on top of him.
“I love getting carried away with you,” he told her honestly, his fingers gently caressing her cheek. “I just…I don’t want you thinking I’m taking advantage of our situation and--”
“I don’t,” she quickly interrupted. “And for the record? I love getting carried away with you, too. You’re a pretty good kisser.” A light blush coloured her cheeks at her admission.
“Just pretty good? Damn, I think I need to work on my technique a little more. Care to help me out, Mrs Scott?”
“Hmm, if I must,” she said, mock-pouting before breaking out into laughter again.
“Oh, you must,” he insisted, his lips seizing hers in a deeply passionate kiss which tugged at him deep inside.
“God, I love you!” Haley blurted out without thinking several minutes later when the kiss had ended.
Nathan’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open in shock. “W-What?” He had to have heard her wrong.
Realising just what she had said, she quickly shook her head as she tried to scramble off of him. “Nothing… I-I didn’t say--”
Tightening his hold on her, he whispered, “Did you mean it?” Deep down inside, he silently prayed that she did. He had known for some time that he had fallen in love with her but he hadn’t wanted to scare her by admitting the depth of his feelings for her…not yet, not when everything was still so new and plus, they had his mother to deal with which hadn’t exactly been helping matters.
Haley stared into the deep blue of his eyes and she wasn’t sure if she was really seeing it or if it was wishful thinking on her part, but she thought she saw a glimmer of…hope there. Was he hoping that her answer would be yes or…was he wanting her answer to be no?
“It’s okay, Haley, you don’t have to answer me. I said I wouldn’t pus--”
“Yes!” She made a silent wish that she had chosen the right answer as her eyes squeezed shut, not wanting to see the truth in his eyes if she had made the wrong decision.
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, I meant it,” she whispered.
Leaning up, he pressed a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth. “Open your eyes,” he coaxed and he impatiently waited for her to do as he had asked. His lips were curved up into a smile, wanting her to see that he was happy…ecstatic with her answer when she finally did so.
Taking a quiet, deep breath, Haley opened her eyes and saw his smiling face and her entire body seemed to instantly relax.
“Say it again. Please?” When she began shaking her head, he repeated, “Please.”
“I-I love you, Nathan.”
Nathan breathed a huge sigh of relief and, if possible, his smile widened even further. “I love you, too, Haley. I love you, too.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” he admitted. “I was worried at first that I was confusing gratitude over you helping me and all the stuff that was happening with my Mom for love but I knew that wasn’t true for definite a couple of weeks ago. I, uh…” His words trailed off as he mentally debated whether to tell her the rest of it.
“You what?” Haley prompted when he still hadn’t spoken.
“I mouthed the words into your hair that night when you were crying and I thought my Mom had been the reason for it until you admitted you were crying because you hated how much she was still hurting me. I knew in that moment that…you were the one for me.”
Her eyes filled with tears at his words and she buried her face in the nook between his neck and shoulder and hugged him tightly. Turning her head to the side, she pressed her lips to his cheek before whispering into his ear, “You’re the one for me, too. I know from what you’ve told me and from what I’ve heard in general about your dad that he wasn’t a nice person…”
“That’s putting it mildly,” he chuckled, his hand rubbing up and down her back.
“But, I’ll always be grateful to him for bringing us together.”
“Well, technically Luke brought us together.”
“Smartass,” she said, swatting his arm playfully. “You know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I do. And I’m grateful to him, too. If it wasn’t for that stupid-ass clause in his Will, we probably would never have met.”
Cocking her head to one side, she smiled. “You never know, maybe fate would’ve had a hand to play in it,” she teased which earned her a slap on her butt. “Hey!”
“You’re not going to let me live the fate thing down, are you?”
“Nope.” Pressing her lips to his cheek, she blew a raspberry on it which had him groaning.
“Nuh huh, kisses only, please.”
“Fine,” she mumbled before peppering his cheeks with butterfly kisses. “Better?”
“Much,” he replied, turning his face quickly to capture her mouth.
As the kiss became even more passionate, Nathan managed to turn them so that they were lying side by side on the wide couch and his fingers lightly trailed over the back of her neck and he felt her shiver in response.
Haley was the one to break the kiss this time and she smiled shyly at him before voicing the question she had been wondering about ever since they had arrived at the house. “Why did you give me my own room?”
The question took him by surprise and he looked at her for a moment before answering her. “I figured you’d want your own space… I mean, you had your own room back in Tree Hill and--”
“I liked sharing with you.” God, what was it with her tonight and blurting things out without thinking first, she asked herself sternly. It was so unlike her.
“I liked sharing with you as well,” he confessed before continuing, “But I didn’t want you to think that things were going to suddenly change once we were living here away from our family and friends.”
Bringing her hand to his face, she cupped his cheek in her palm and smiled at him warmly. “I wouldn’t have thought that, Nathan.”
Kissing her chastely, he pulled back sooner than she obviously liked given the pout that formed on her lips and he laughed. “So, do you want to share with me, then?”
“Are you okay with us not, um, having se--”
“You know I am, Hales. But, given the way things were moving a little while ago, I’m guessing it won’t be long before you’ll have me giving in,” he teased in a Southern drawl and batting his eyelashes at her.
“Hah! We’ll see about that,” she responded with a giggle and he frowned.
“Wait, please tell me you’re not going to hold out on me just to prove a point?”
Leaning forward, she flicked her tongue over his bottom lip. “You’ll just have to wait and see now, won’t you?”
“Yeah, I will,” he told her before seizing her lips in a dirty, hungry kiss which had them both breathless in seconds.
“You win…” she said once she had caught her breath.
“I always do,” he said, smirking back at her and then planting a kiss onto her chin.
“You’re pretty full of yourself, aren’t you?” Seeing his eyes twinkle and guessing what his retort was most likely going to be, she quickly placed her palm over his mouth to prevent his words from escaping. “How about we cool things down a little and grab something to eat?”
“Got you a little worked up, huh?”
“Now that would be telling, honey,” she replied sweetly. “So, dinner?”
“Sounds good to me, I’ve worked up quite an appetite,” Nathan told her, the smirk still very much in place, as he moved off the couch and stood up, holding his hands out for her to take which she did. “Do you feel like going out or staying in?”
“Staying in sounds good since it’s been a pretty long day.”
“Fine by me and as the cupboards are pretty bare, how about we order in Thai food? There’s a great place not far from here that delivers… Their menu should be in one of the drawers in the kitchen.”
Haley nodded her agreement to his suggestion. “Thai would be great. I’ll go look for the menu,” she said, giving his fingers a squeeze before releasing his hand and making her way out of the room.
Nathan stood there watching her leave with a big smile stretched across his face. He knew getting out of Tree Hill and away from the small town gossip would be a good thing but he hadn’t expected it to be this good so soon. Haley seemed so much more relaxed, as did he if was being honest with himself. All the tensions seemed to evaporate now that they were completely alone together, although he couldn’t help being a little nervous about how quickly things were progressing with her. He knew deep down that he should maybe slow things down a bit but, going by what had happened here just a short while ago on the couch, it seemed that wasn’t what either of them wanted and he couldn’t be sorry about that.
If he could get that worked up just from kissing her and innocently touching her, god only knew what would happen when things escalated even further.
“Nathan? What do you want off this menu?”
Her voice broke him out of his thoughts and with the smile still gracing his features, he went to tell her just what he wanted.
* * * * *
“Seriously, that was some of the best food I’ve ever eaten,” Haley said as she rinsed out their wine glasses while Nathan placed the leftovers in the fridge and got rid of the empty food cartons.
“I know, I think that was my reaction the very first time I ate food from there,” he told her with a grin. “Hey, how about tomorrow night we go out to my favourite pizza place?”
Laughing, she replied, “You’re going to make me fat, you know that?”
Walking over to her, he shook his head. “It’s just nice being with someone who enjoys their food as much as I do.”
“Are you calling me a pig?” she mock-huffed.
“Oink oink,” he teased and he quickly moved away when she went to hit him.
“Nathan!”
“Sorry, I’m only teasing. I meant what I said though, it’s nice to be able to have pizza or a burger with a girl and not hear her bitching about all the calories and fat in it. I love that you’ve got a healthy appetite.”
“Uh, thanks, I guess. I think that’s the first time I’ve received a compliment like that,” she said, laughing.
“You’re welcome. Are we all finished down here now?”
“Yes, everything’s washed up and put away. Why?”
“C’mon,” he told her, taking her hand in his and leading the way. Before exiting the kitchen, he flipped off the lights in there before going over to the security panel by the front door and setting the alarm for the night.
“Where?” Haley asked, even though she knew it was a stupid question. Nathan didn’t answer her, instead giving her a heated look which melted her insides and she felt her skin grow warm.
“I love it when you blush,” he whispered seductively into her ear and she felt her knees grow weak at feeling his hot breath puffing against her skin. “I love everything about you, Hales.”
She couldn’t take it anymore and her hands planted themselves on either side of his head as she held him still and slanted her mouth over his, kissing him as hard and as deep as she could. Her tongue tangled wetly with his and all that could be heard was the sound of their harsh breathing coming in heavy pants as they practically devoured one another.
It was Nathan who was startled when she suddenly broke away from him and began pulling him upstairs. His breath was caught in his throat, as were his words, so he simply followed as she led him into his bedroom.
“Hales, I--”
“I want you!” Haley stated firmly, her cheeks a rosy red belying her nervousness as she forced herself to look him in the eyes while she spoke, wanting him to know that she meant this.
He inwardly groaned at her words which sent a jolt of lust directly to his groin. “We-We can’t… It’s too soon and--”
“Do you want me?” she interrupted and her eyes fell to the plush carpet beneath her feet as she waited for him to answer.
“God, yes… I want you so much,” he told her, his fingers beneath her chin tilting her face up so she was looking at him again.
“Then what’s the problem? I-I know I’ve never done it before but…”
“I don’t want you to regret this, baby. Our situation, it’s…it’s not a normal thing and I don’t want you to one day wonder what the hell you got yourself into. Why you wasted your first time on me,” he said, whispering that last part.
It was her turn to reassure him which she did. Her hand cupped the back of his head and directed his mouth to hers where she suckled on first his bottom lip and then his top lip before returning once more to the bottom one and nibbling on it. “Nathan, I will never regret you…ever.”
“Haley, I--”
“No, let me finish.” Receiving a nod from him, she continued. “Nobody, with the exception of my family, has ever treated me the way you do and that’s one of the reasons I’ve fallen in love with you. You’re a good guy and I can’t imagine ever meeting anyone quite like you again.”
“I am pretty unique,” he remarked with a smirk which made her giggle.
“Ah, there’s that ego I love so much,” she teased, tracing her thumb along his cheekbone.
He covered her hand with his and looked into the rich chocolate pools of her eyes. “Are you sure about this? I don’t want you to feel like you have to do this or that I’m pressuring you into something you’re not ready for.”
“I’m positive,” she told him honestly. “I don’t want this to be something we plan to death which will probably feel all kinds of awkward, you know. I just want it to be a natural progression and, I don’t know, tonight has been so…”
“Yeah, it has,” he said, knowing exactly what she meant. “I just want this to be special for you…for us.”
Wrapping her arms around his neck, her fingers toyed with the short hair at the back of it and she rubbed her nose against his in a soft Eskimo kiss. “It will be,” she said before kissing his lips softly and repeating in a quiet yet confident voice, “It will be.”