Page 17 of Falling Too Soon (Seasons of Love #1)

NATHAN

I woke up alone again. When I asked her to stay, she practically ran to her room to get away from me.

I mean, I get it—we both are fresh out of relationships that didn’t end well.

She’s a little gun-shy right now, but I felt like we were meant to meet here.

It was no coincidence, and I hoped she’d let her guard down long enough to see how good we could be together.

After starting a fresh pot of coffee, I headed out for my morning run.

I wasn’t particularly a fan of running, nor did I love it, but it was how I started most of my days.

It helped me wake up and clear my head so that I could be in the right frame of mind to write, and boy, did I have some thoughts to get down today.

I had always found inspiration from real-life situations, and since I was basically living in a forced proximity trope right now, I figured I’d better use it to my advantage.

The idea popped into my head on the first night I had met Daphne.

Our unusual meet-cute in the foyer hallway, the broken wine bottle, her adorable dumbfounded face.

It was all too perfect. If only we could find our way to a happily ever after.

Is that what I wanted?

When I returned from my run, Daphne still hadn’t emerged from the safety of her room, so I went for a shower.

I should have taken a cold one because as soon as my thoughts drifted back to our time in the shower last night, I began stroking myself.

The feel of her bare, the sounds she made for me, the way her pussy clenched around me.

Fuck, she was so hot, and we were so good together.

I was impossibly hard, and my strokes were erratic.

I kept pumping and squeezing, imagining my hand was Daphne’s wet heat clenching around me.

After only a few minutes, I came forcefully all over the shower wall, wishing I was coming inside Daphne again.

If we had only met at a better time, when we both weren’t so fresh out of long-term relationships, maybe things could be different between us.

I finished showering, cleaned off the shower wall, and then dressed in my usual work-from-home attire of sweatpants and a T-shirt.

I made sure to put on the shirt for Daphne’s benefit, although I was tempted to go without just to see her reaction.

I loved seeing her get flustered around me.

It was cute, but I was determined to be on my best behavior today.

If I kept making her nervous, there was little chance of me earning her trust.

I made my way into the kitchen to grab my morning coffee, noticing that Daphne’s door was still shut.

I hoped it was because it was still early and she was still asleep, and not because she was avoiding me.

Then I noticed the coffee pot wasn’t quite full, and I realized that Daphne must have come out to get her coffee and then retreated to the safety of her room.

Fuck .

Shaking off the sting of her avoidance, I poured myself a cup and went to my makeshift writing setup at the dining table to start my day.

I was still technically on a break, so I didn’t have any deadlines to worry about, but I got to work checking my emails when one in particular caught my eye.

It was a confirmation email for a romantic dinner I had planned for Courtney and me here at the cabin during what was supposed to be our honeymoon.

I must have forgotten to cancel it. It was scheduled for a few days from now, and what I should have done was reply to that email to cancel—what I did, though, defied all logic.

Didn’t I just tell myself I was going to behave, earn Daphne’s trust, keep shit in the friend zone?

But no, there I was, clicking “confirm reservation” instead of canceling it.

Fuck it. If there’s something between us and I let her get away without exploring it, I’d regret it.

I had three days to move things in a more romantic direction, and then, hopefully, the dinner would seal the deal.

I replied to a few more emails and then got to work brainstorming my new novel about an emotionally unavailable nurse who reluctantly falls for a romance author in a cabin by a lake.

Some time later, I was staring out the window at the beautiful scenery, lost in thought, when I turned at the sound of Daphne’s door creaking open.

She wore jeans and an off-the-shoulder sweater, but the suitcase rolling behind her had me jumping to my feet.

“Where are you going?” I asked in a panic.

“Hey, yeah, so I got that refund from the rental company, so I was gonna see about staying somewhere in town.” Her cheeks were flushed as she spoke. “I’ll get out of your hair.”

“No, please, stay. I don’t want you out of my hair,” I pleaded. Jeez, I sounded desperate. I had to wrangle in my emotions. “I mean, we’re having fun, right? No need to go somewhere else.”

“That’s the problem. I think we’re having too much fun, if you catch my drift, and not to beat a dead horse, but I’m not looking for anything serious.

” She was right, of course. We both knew that getting into something serious right now was a mistake.

The only difference was I didn’t give one single solitary fuck anymore.

“Me neither,” I lied. “Listen, the timing is shit, but we get along and we definitely have great chemistry. Why not keep it casual and have some fun? Friends with benefits for the rest of our stay and then we go our separate ways?” I couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of my mouth. Casual? Not a chance in hell.

She chewed her lip and looked anywhere but at me while she contemplated my proposition.

“There have to be ground rules,” she started as she peeked up at me through her dark lashes.

“No holding hands or cuddling, no sleepovers.” She pressed her lips into a thin line while I assumed she was thinking of more rules. “Basically, no romantic stuff.”

“Deal.” I didn’t hesitate. I wanted to see if we had a future together and the only way to do that was to spend more time together, so I was willing to agree to her terms, even if I had no intention of following them.

“Jesus, this is nuts.” She pointed a stern finger at me. “Behave.”

“Who, me? I’ll be the perfect fuck buddy.” I crossed my heart. “That’s what this is, right? Friends with benefits?”

Daphne rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I guess. This is so weird and not something I’d ever do. You’ve definitely caught me on an off week.”

“I’ll take it,” I said with a grin. “Now, any other rules for me, Kitten?” I stalked across the room to her.

She took a step back. And another. “W…what are you doing?” she stammered.

“I’m simply honoring our new agreement. Friends with benefits, was it?” I stepped closer to her. “It’s time for some of those benefits.”

“Oh shit,” she whispered and took off toward her room, abandoning her bags.