Page 213 of Boyfriend of the Hour

“But why witches?” Nathan wondered, though he was chuckling now.

“Why tits?” I asked right back.

We were both laughing outright now, and it feltsogood. I thought he couldn’t get any sexier. I really did. But turns out that a happy, laughing Nathan was like serious, mysterious Nathan on steroids. About ten times hotter than the sun. Blazing.

There wasn’t enough levity in Nathan’s life, I realized. And maybe not in mine either. At that moment, I knew I’d make butt and boob jokes every single day if I could hear him laugh like that. I just wanted to make him happy. Like, by some miracle, he wanted for me.

Suddenly, I was swept off the rock like a princess and carried back to the picnic.

“This is so…country,” I said as I set my helmet on the ground and took a piece of watermelon from the basket. “I can see why you miss it.”

Nathan sank next to me and started fixing himself a sizable but healthy lunch on a paper plate. “If my life could be like this most of the time, I wouldn’t have left,” he said honestly. “But I’m glad I did.” Our eyes met over a bowl of potato salad. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have met you.”

I leaned over a plate of cold chicken and pressed a kiss to his lips. Neither of us hurried to stop it. There was no reason to, here on our own.

Until my stomach rumbled, anyway.

I laughed. “Better take care ofthatfirst.”

Nathan agreed and started to dig into his food.

“Isla would probably like it here,” I said. “With the horses and everything. Don’t you think?”

Nathan was quiet for a long time. “I’ve thought that many times.” He took a bite of salad, chewed, and swallowed before answering. “Equine therapy has been one of her primary methods for years. It’s how she came to love horses so much.”His eyes seemed to glow when he thought about it. “She wants to be a veterinarian.”

I nodded. “What all would she need to do?”

“College first, of course. She’s smart enough, like I said, but it’s more a question if she can deal with the discomfort of working through a basic degree in something like zoology before she can study what she wants. She has a few more years to work on that.” He looked out toward the pond. “My parents think she should leave next year. Go back to North Carolina, where Lindsay’s family lives.”

I frowned. “I didn’t know she had any existing family.”

“She doesn’t,” Nathan said shortly. “Lindsay’s mother ran off when she was maybe fifteen. And her dad is still in prison for larceny. Isla’s closest blood relatives are some second cousins who live in an RV somewhere near Charlotte. I’m her only real family.”

“So your parents would just…abandon her?” I had a hard time believing it, even for Lillian and Radford.

“No,” Nathan said. “They want to have her moved to a state-run facility that teaches people like Isla how to work. They think her idea of being a veterinarian is a pipe dream, and she’d be better off learning how to bag groceries or pack boxes.”

“That’s terrible,” I replied. “And that’s just to force you to come home?”

“To my parents, Isla is the reason they lost me in the first place,” Nathan said. “I suspect they’ll never forgive her for it. They certainly wouldn’t take her into their home.”

“Then maybe living here isn’t the best thing for her,” I agreed. “Are there stables maybe closer to New York where she could work? Do you think she could make that kind of transition?”

Nathan stole a quick glance at me with an adorably sweet smile that made my heart glow. “I’ve actually been looking atproperties in Westchester for some time now,” he said. “There’s one near New Rochelle that has a small stable on it. I could afford it if I sold some of my Huntwell stock. It’s the sort of place where I think she would be happy.”

It was too easy to imagine that dream with him. A place where he could continue his own calling and also take care of Isla. And maybe a place where I might fit too.

“Why didn’t you become her guardian in the first place?” I wondered.

“I was considered too young,” Nathan said. “I tried, but my parents offered, and the state allowed it, likely because my father knows enough judges on the Fourth Circuit to influence any court in North Carolina. At the time, it seemed like the right decision.”

I nodded. How could he have known at just twenty-one that his parents were already manipulating him and Isla like chess pieces, putting them into position so that they would be able to maintain control over their eldest son for the rest of his life.

But he didn’t need to be a pawn anymore. On top of being a grown man, Nathan was an incredibly accomplished one. He had, in effect, been Isla’s guardian for much longer than he realized.

“So, how can we demonstrate that you’re the one who should be in charge?” I asked. “Do we get a lawyer? Do we hire a private investigator? Do we need to gather documentation?

Nathan looked up from his chicken, appearing a bit amused. “How do you know about all of those things?”