If Love Had A Price

“What is this?” Kris stared at the structure in front of her.

Nate grinned at her from the deck, looking ridiculously handsome with his windswept brown hair and green T-shirt that matched the color of his eyes. He was a yacht club ad come to life. “It’s a boat.”

“Thank you, Captain Obvious.”

“Hey, you asked.”

“It was a rhetorical question and you know it.” Kris pushed a lock of hair out of her face. It was windy as hell by the water, and her carefully coiffed waves were unraveling faster than the seams of a cheap sweater. “I thought we were getting dinner.”

“We are. On here.” Nate held out his hand. “C’mon, princess. Don’t tell me you’ve never been on a boat before.”

“Of course I have,” Kris sniffed. She took Nate’s hand, the sensation of his rough, warm skin on hers sending a pleasant shock through her system. “Is it yours?”

“I wish. Nah, it belongs to an old sailing buddy of mine. He let me borrow it for the night.”

Kris stepped onto the boat. It swayed gently beneath her, and she was glad she wore her Roger Vivier suede flats tonight instead of heels. “I didn’t know you sailed.”

“I used to. There’s nothing like the peace and freedom you feel on the water…” Nate’s voice trailed off before he cleared his throat. “I don’t have time for it anymore, but figured tonight is a special occasion, so why the hell not?”

He took Kris on a quick tour of the boat. There wasn’t much to see beyond the deck and a tiny cabin with a V-berth bed, bathroom, kitchenette, two stripe-cushioned benches, and an adjustable table. It was the smallest boat she’d ever seen.

“It’s nice,” she said, following Nate back up to the deck.

His laughter rumbled in the salty sea air. “You say ‘nice’ the way a vegan would say a steak is ‘nice.’”

Kris’s mouth twitched. “I’m serious. It’s not a yacht, but it’s cozy.”

“You prefer this to a yacht?” Nate sounded skeptical as he steered the boat out of its slip.

“‘Prefer’ is too strong a word, but I don’t hate it. The boat, I mean.”

He flashed a quick smile. “High compliment, coming from you.”

“It is,” she said solemnly.

Nate laughed again, and this time Kris joined him.

She couldn’t keep up with her feelings toward him. They flipped constantly from lust to irritation to…whatever. She wasn’t going to think about it. It didn’t matter. It wasn’t like she was going to see Nate again after this weekend. Once his job was done, it was done.

A sudden bout of nausea hit her, and she wasn’t entirely sure it was from the rocking motion of the waves.

“Also, I didn’t mention this earlier, but…” Nate tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “I also wanted to apologize for Saturday. For…”

“Leaving me high and dry on the verge of orgasm like a total asshole?”

He broke into a coughing fit, his face so red it could’ve doubled as a stop sign. “Uh, yeah.”

“No worries.” Kris smiled sweetly. “Too bad you stopped before I could live out the fantasies I had while I got myself off later that night. Your loss.”

Another coughing fit, accompanied by a far more interesting development below Nate’s belt. Either he had a gun in his pocket, or he was doing some fantasizing of his own.

Payback’s a bitch.

Kris conveniently left out the fact that Nate had starred in every one of her fantasies, and that she’d come harder to mental images of him than she had during any of her actual sexual encounters.

“Don’t suppose you can share some of those fantasies with me? Or better yet, reenact the whole shebang.” Nate paused. “Get it? She-bang.”

She burst into laughter. “Thank God you’re not a standup comedian.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Focus on the boat,” she said serenely. “Last thing we need is to get lost in the middle of the Pacific.”

“We’re not going that far out,” Nate grumbled, but he did as she said and refocused on steering the boat.

They settled into a companionable silence as he navigated them further into the open waters. The sea breeze brushed over them like a lover’s caress, soft and full of promise. Kris watched as the lights of the marina grew smaller and smaller until they were nothing more than diamond pinpricks in the distance. Meanwhile, the sun descended beneath the horizon to an explosion of cotton candy pinks and soft purples whose hues deepened with each passing minute.

Kris could see other boats bobbing in the water, but they were so far away they might as well be in another world.

It was just her, Nate, the sky, and the sea.

They stopped at some point between land and infinity. The motor fell silent and gave way to the gentle whoosh of the waves lapping against the sides of the boat.

“I’ll be right back.” Nate disappeared into the cabin and returned with a woven picnic basket. “Dinner,” he explained. He opened the basket and took out two cans of ginger ale, a bottle of wine, cheese and crackers, grapes, and roast beef sandwiches. “It’s not anything fancy, but this is more comfortable than dressing up for some stuffy restaurant.”

“You don’t have to justify it. It’s your big day. You can celebrate however you want.” Kris inhaled a lungful of fresh sea air. “Besides, this is nice. I love being by the water. It calms me, helps me think and…process, I guess.”

After a minute or so, she felt a prickling heat on her face, and she turned to see Nate staring at her with a strange smile.

“What? Do I have something on my face?”

“I like you like this.” Nate laid on his side and propped himself up on his forearm, looking for all the world like a movie star lounging on a yacht.

Kris arched a questioning eyebrow.

“Relaxed,” he clarified. “Yourself. Without the armor.”

“I don’t have armor.” She sat next to him and unwrapped a sandwich.

“The Chanel and Prada and whatnot. That’s armor.”

“No, that’s clothing. High-quality, expensive clothing.”

He appeared undeterred by her sharp tone. “You’re rich. We both know that. But who are you without the money?”

“Still me, only poor.” Kris took a small bite of bread, roast beef, cheese, and condiment. Oh, wow. Who knew a simple sandwich could taste so good? “Can we talk about something else? This is the most depressing celebratory dinner I’ve ever been to.”

“You said I could celebrate however I want. Maybe I want to get to know you better.” Nate’s mouth quirked up. “By talking. Not…by what we did a few days ago.”

Kris zeroed in on his straining erection. “Sure, Jan.”

“Don’t worry about Nate Jr. He’ll behave.”

She almost spit out her food, which was so not attractive. Red stained her cheeks as she wiped her mouth with a paper napkin. “You are something else. You know that?”

“Yep.” Nate stretched lazily before popping open one of the ginger ales. “This is one of our last nights together. Figured we should, you know, make the most of it.”

Emotion swelled in Kris’s throat, and her sandwich suddenly tasted like cardboard. Was she sad about her contract with Nate ending? She didn’t even like the guy.

Well, fine, she liked the way he looked. He made her laugh. He was smart and talented and hardworking. Plus, he was an amazing kisser and her heart went all wonky around him…

Double fuck.

“I don’t know,” Kris blurted, more out of a desire to take her mind off her dangerous thoughts than to answer Nate’s question about who she was beneath the gloss and glamour. “I am who I am. An heiress. It’s shaped my childhood, my life. Every relationship and experience I’ve had has been colored by money. To ask who I am without it would be me asking you who you are without…”

“My incredible good looks and charm?” he suggested.

“Don’t forget your modesty.”

“I was going to include that too, but I don’t like to brag.” Nate’s mouth tilted up at her laugh. “You want to know what I think?”

“No.”

He ignored her and continued, “I think, beneath all the designer clothes and spoiled princess routine, you’re a good person. You care about people—maybe not everyone, but the ones you allow close to you. You could snap at strangers all you want, but the people you love? They know you’ll burn the fucking city down for them. Skylar thinks the world of you, and for a seventeen-year-old, she’s an excellent judge of character. I’ve noticed it too, even in the way you’re handling this whole Gloria thing. I mean, the plan is kinda twisted, and it’s obvious you two can’t stand each other, but at the end of the day, you’re doing this for your dad, even though you only see him a few weeks out of the year. If Gloria truly loved him and wasn’t using him for his money?” Nate shrugged. “You would’ve gone through the wedding, ugly dresses and all.”

Kris’s heartbeat was a deafening staccato in her ears. A burning sensation blossomed behind her eyes, tightening her skin, and she couldn’t seem to draw enough oxygen into her lungs despite all the fresh air around them.

“Admit it,” Nate murmured. “You’re a good person, but you don’t want anyone to know. You hide behind your armor because you’re afraid of getting hurt—”

“Stop it,” Kris said roughly. “I didn’t sign up for a therapy session. And why the hell are we on a boat in the middle of nowhere? I want to go back to the marina. Now.”

“No.”

Her jaw dropped. “Excuse me? This is kidnapping. You’re holding me here against my will.”

Silence. Nate merely stared at her with those piercing green eyes of his, and dammit, there went that burning sensation behind her eyes again.

Kris was not one for sharing feelings. All that touchy-feely, mushy-gushy stuff gave her hives. But out here, in the middle of the ocean with only Nate and the moon as witnesses, she felt stripped. Laid bare.

Maybe it was the deafening silence or the fact that she wouldn’t see Nate again after this week. Or maybe it was because he lost his mother too, albeit in a different way, and she’d already seen him broken down and vulnerable after his father’s hospitalization last week. They might be from different worlds, but they were kindred spirits, in a way.

Whatever it was, Kris spoke up—and she didn’t stop speaking until she’d gotten everything that had weighed on her for over two decades off her chest.

“I told you my mom left when I was two,” she said, uncorking the wine and pouring herself a glass so she had something to do with her hands. “I still had my dad, technically, but he was never around. He bought me everything I wanted, but we never spent much time together. He was always busy at the office or traveling for business. There were tons of hired staff, but I was just a job to them. The person who came closest to being my family was our old housekeeper, Rosa. She basically raised me, cooked the most amazing meals, was there to soothe me when I was upset. Then she died of a heart attack when I was thirteen and I was on my own.” Kris paused, gathering her thoughts. “The only thing I had was money. And look, don’t get me wrong. I love money. I love nice cars and fancy restaurants and designer clothes. So I’m not saying I hate those things and use them to cover up…anything. But they’ve become an intrinsic part of who I am because they’re the only things I’ve ever had that were mine. Once I bought them, they stayed. They’re a lot more loyal than people in that way.”

“But the way I grew up, having my mom abandon me like that…” Damn, there went a tear. Kris brushed it away angrily. “I don’t like letting people get too close. Even my closest friends who know me best don’t know me. When I was a baby, I couldn’t help attaching to my mom. It was biological. And her walking away? It’s something that’ll stay with me forever. But now that I’m older, I can control who I let in, and I will never, ever let anyone come close enough to hurt me when they walk away again.”

“Not everyone walks away,” Nate said softly.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Everyone walks away eventually.”

Before she could brush away yet another tear, Nate did it for her, his thumb burning her skin as he caressed her damp cheeks.

“I wouldn’t.”

Kris wasn’t sure if the dizzying sensation came from the waves or the tumult that erupted in her head at those two words. “What are you talking about?”

Nate paused, like he wanted each word to be perfect before he spoke them. “If all things go according to plan, our contract is up Saturday, but that doesn’t mean we have to stop seeing each other. I know.” He held up a hand when she opened her mouth to protest. “You’re leaving L.A. at the end of the summer. That’s in a little over a month. Until then…why can’t we enjoy each other’s company? I know you’re attracted to me. I’m sure as hell attracted to you. We have fun together, and neither of us will be the one walking away because we have a set deadline. It’ll be a mutual thing. Clean, easy. No hard feelings.”

Kris pressed a finger to her temple, trying to sort through her jumbled thoughts. “You’re saying you want to be friends with benefits?”

“I’m saying I don’t want this week to be the last week I see or speak to you.”

She released a pent-up breath. Her emotions were all over the place tonight, ping-ponging from amusement to sadness and hurt to whatever the hell she was feeling right now. Excitement? Worry? Panic?

Nate’s proposal sounded good on paper, but he’d already torn down more barriers around her heart in a few weeks than people she’d known for years had. Kris was terrified of what would happen once their so-called deadline came to pass. Long-distance relationships didn’t work—everyone knew that—and…God, what was she doing, thinking about a relationship? More proof she should shut down Nate’s suggestion and never speak of it again.

On the other hand, she agreed with him. She didn’t want their quasi-friendship or whatever they had to end once their contract was over, either. Another month of Nate Reynolds sounded pretty fantastic.

And, well, Kris had always been a selfish, short-term kind of gal.

“Okay.”

Nate’s eyebrows popped up. “Okay?”

“Okay, let’s continue seeing each other and…do whatever after the Gloria thing is over, with two rules: it ends the day I leave L.A., and we don’t put a label on it. We just…go with the flow.”

A slow, sexy grin spread across his face. “I can work with that.”

“Great.” Kris held out her hand. “It’s a deal.”

“No handshake.” Nate closed the distance between them, the moonlight casting a soft glow on the chiseled planes of his face. “We seal the deal the old-fashioned way.”

Her heart rate picked up. “How’s that?”

He responded with a kiss. A soft brush of his lips that held all sorts of promises and sent tingles racing down her spine.

“Done,” he whispered, so close his lips whispered over hers when he spoke. “Now it’s a deal.”

Kris stared at Nate, so beautiful and perfect beneath the stars he seemed unreal, and she was suddenly aware that every second ticking by brought them closer to their deadline.

When was the last time she met a man she connected with so much, on every level? She wasn’t in love with him, but she liked him. A lot. Considering she despised or at least disdained most of the people she came across, that was no small deal.

“Not yet,” she said. “Remember how you apologized earlier for being a dick last week?”

Wariness took over his features. “Yeah…”

“How about you make it up to me—and really seal the deal—by finishing what you started?”

The wariness melted into wicked delight, and before she knew it, he’d pinned her beneath his powerful body and her mouth had gone Sahara-desert-dry. The thick blanket he’d laid down for their boat picnic cushioned her from the hard wood of the deck floor, but that was nothing compared to the steel-like erection pressing against her thigh.

She swallowed hard, and Nate’s eyes tracked the movement of her throat with fascination.

“You never told me what your fantasies were earlier,” he said, his voice low and dark with lust. “So we’re gonna start with mine. First—” Kris gasped when he reached underneath her dress and caressed her through her soaking wet panties. “I’m going to fuck your pussy with my tongue until you come all over my face. Then I’m going to flip you on all fours and pound you until people in the fucking marina can hear you scream. And after that? You’re going to take the reins, princess, and ride me until you can’t come anymore.”

Kris had never been big on dirty talk, but hearing those words come out of Nate’s mouth? Orgasm incoming. She was going to fall apart in a minute, maybe less.

“Please,” she whimpered, arching her hips while Nate pushed her dress up around her waist. “Do it. Now.”

He chuckled, sliding her panties down her legs in an agonizingly slow fashion. “Which ‘it’ are you talking about? The tongue fucking, pounding, or riding?”

“Any. All. I don’t care.” She rolled her hips again, desperate for friction. “Just do—oh, God!”

Kris’s not-exactly-holy missive to the Lord blended with a shout/moan/whatever as Nate placed his mouth on her sex and did things with his tongue that had her seeing stars, both literal—they were still on the boat deck, bared to the open air—and figurative. As he promised, she came hard after…seconds? Minutes? An eternity?

It didn’t matter. All that mattered were the blinding waves of pleasure crashing over her, so intense she might have levitated out of her body.

Kris was still on the fringes of her high when Nate flipped her over on all fours and prowled up, covering her body with his.

“Comfortable?” he murmured, reaching around to pinch one of her nipples. Between her arousal and the soft chill of the sea air, they were rock-hard and sensitive to the touch.

She gasped and bucked back against him. “Not…the word…I’d use,” she managed, her mind hazy from one of the best orgasms of her life.

Nate chuckled. “I meant the deck. We can move this downstairs if the blanket isn’t enough of a cushion.”

Um, no. Kris would scream if she had to wait another second for round two. Besides, even though there were no other boats around, there was something so erotic about having sex out in the open like this. The salty breeze was another caress, and the gentle rocking of the boat? Better than a waterbed.

“What happened to pounding me until people in the marina can hear me scream?” she taunted.

She knew the challenge would get Nate’s blood roaring, and he’d take her the way they both wanted him to—hard, wild, no holds barred.

She smiled when a low growl emitted from his throat. He moved back, and she heard the unmistakable zip of his jeans being undone.

Kris couldn’t resist—she twisted her head around and watched with hooded eyes as he shed his clothes, revealing a body sculpted with glorious muscles. Broad shoulders, powerful thighs, and washboard abs that narrowed into a V pointing directly at a long, thick erection that had her mouth watering like she hadn’t eaten in days.

As he sheathed himself in a condom from his wallet, she faced forward again and arched her back, eager for round two to start.

A minute passed. Two.

When nothing happened, she frowned and turned again. Nate remained in the same position he’d been in when he’d undressed, his eyes soaking her in with enough heat to turn the surrounding air into a furnace.

“What are you doing?”

His lips curved into a small smile. “Enjoying the view. You look so beautiful on your hands and knees, waiting for me to fuck you.”

A shiver of delight rolled down Kris’s spine. She was starting to love dirty talk.

“And how long are you going to keep me waiting?” she breathed, her voice husky with need.

Nate cupped the curve of her bare ass with his palm, his thumb rubbing circles on her heated flesh. “This is how you want me to take you for the first time?” he growled. “There aren’t any rose petals and champagne around, princess.”

“If I wanted rose petals and champagne, we wouldn’t be in this position.” A pause. “Literally.”

He chuckled and finally moved closer. He gathered her hair in his fist and moved it to the side so he could nip at her neck while his other hand played with her nipples. His stubble rasped against her skin, and she shivered from the delicious sensation.

Kris felt like prey being toyed with by a predator before the kill, and another rush of moisture spiraled down to her core. She was so rarely helpless and hated being vulnerable. But being at another’s mercy during sex? Huge fucking turn-on.

“You had your chance,” Nate said.

Before she could say anything else or even take another breath, he slammed into her with such force her body slid forward along the deck, dragging the blanket with her. All the breath whooshed out of her lungs and every thought emptied from her mind. The only thing Kris could focus on was the pleasure consuming her as reality blurred into a series of blissful climaxes. Nate kept one fist in her hair and one hand around her throat while he fucked her with deep, forceful strokes. She realized dimly that the cries filling the air were her own, and yeah, people back at the marina probably could hear her.

She couldn’t care less.

After what seemed like both the blink of an eye and forever, Nate found his own release and came with a roar, his hips continuing to pump until he was completely spent.

Kris collapsed on the blanket, her skin slick with sweat and her nerves buzzing with the aftershocks from her lost-track-of-how-many orgasms.

Nate released her and sank onto the ground next to her, his breath ragged.

“Fuck,” they said at the same time.

They eyed each other and dissolved into simultaneous laughter.

“That was…” Kris blanked, most of her brain functions still offline after the sex they’d just had.

“Yep.” Nate wasn’t winning any awards for articulation tonight either.

They lay there in silence until their breathing returned to normal and Kris’s head cleared. She stared up at the sky, tracking the blinking light of an airplane as it transported its passengers to some far-off location. It reminded her of what Nate said about not liking to fly.

“Do you ever think about leaving L.A.?” she asked. “Moving somewhere else? Or just, I don’t know, taking some time to travel?”

A long, long silence. So long Kris thought he’d fallen asleep and hadn’t heard her.

But no, Nate’s eyes were wide open and fixed on the heavens as hers had been.

“Nah,” he finally said. “Not moving. L.A. has its ups and downs, and shit, sometimes there are a helluva lotta downs. But it’s my city. My home. I love it, no matter how fucked up it is. Plus, there’s no better place for a wannabe actor to crash and burn.” His tone was self-deprecating.

“Hardly crash and burn. You got the Oscar Bravo movie role,” she pointed out. “Speaking of which, congratulations.” She glanced at their largely untouched dinner. “Though we kind of skipped the meal portion of the evening.”

Nate flashed a wolfish grin. “I didn’t.”

Her cheeks stained pink at the memory of his head buried between her legs, and his grin widened.

Great. Now she was blushing like a schoolgirl. Then again, considering the orgasms he’d given her, she couldn’t be all that upset.

“I thought about studying abroad in college,” he said after a while. “But then my mom died, I dropped out, and, yeah, the rest is history. As for traveling…not really in the cards, given where my family’s at.”

Of course. Kris felt foolish for asking. She hoped the money from their deal could help Nate’s family. Not because she considered them a charity case, but because they were good people—at least, she knew Nate and Skylar were—and deserved a break. Plus, it wasn’t like she’d given Nate the money as a handout; he’d earned it. He was a talented actor, and he’d spent weeks on the Gloria scheme when he could’ve used that time to hang out with his friends or audition.

Speaking of Gloria…

“What are your plans for Saturday?” she asked casually. She didn’t actually have a spa weekend in Ojai planned; she was just going to stay at the Beverly Hills Hotel and gorge on room service while Nate did his thing.

The only question was what that “thing” entailed.

Nate shot her quizzical look.

“With Gloria. Are you…” She trailed off, already regretting bringing the subject up.

“Am I actually going to sleep with her?”

Her muscles tightened, erasing the last vestiges of her post-coital contentment. “Yeah.”

“Hell no.”

Just like that, Kris relaxed again, and she cursed herself for allowing a freakin’ guy to control her emotions like that. That had never been her. She’d never gone gaga over a member of the opposite sex, certainly not to the point where what they said and did affected her state of mind.

But Nate was in his own category, and not just when it came to sex.

“I’m not attracted to her like that,” he said. “I mean, yeah, she’s hot—”

Kris frowned.

“—but she’s not my type. This is a job.” Nate cleared his throat. “And I know how much it means to you. So I’m going to do what I need to do for your P.I. to snap some good pics, and that’s it. What happened between us just now?” He gestured between Kris and himself. “Not gonna happen with her.”

“Right.” Relief blossomed in Kris’s stomach, the reason for which she studiously ignored. “Okay.”

“Jealous?” Nate drawled.

“You wish.”

“Maybe.”

She turned her head so fast she almost got whiplash. Nate wore a sneaky grin, but his eyes were dead serious.

“You know,” Kris said slowly. “We never finished sealing the deal. I believe there was a third part to it?”

You’re going to take the reins, princess, and ride me until you can’t come anymore.

Heat flared in Nate’s eyes, and it didn’t take long before Kris was straddling him and taking them to the heights of ecstasy once more. Now she understood all the hubbub about sex. Her past encounters had been fine, but she’d never had the toe-curling, explosive orgasms you always heard about in romance novels or movies.

But with Nate? Holy shit.

By the time they returned to the marina, it was close to midnight and Kris was walking around in a daze. She was so relaxed she didn’t even snap at the two frattastic bros who wolf-whistled at her on her way to the parking lot. Nate’s snarl, however, put them into place, and Dumb and Dumber held up placating hands before returning to their Natty Lights or whatever they were drinking.

Nate wrapped a possessive arm around Kris’s waist and shielded her with his body until they reached her car.

“Let’s reconvene Friday,” she said, trying to refocus on the looming milestone ahead. Just a few more days until Gloria’s out of our lives forever. “Go over final details.”

“Sounds good,” Nate said lazily. “Drive safe. Text me when you’re home.”

He kissed her on the cheek good night, and Kris was off, speeding toward Beverly Hills while a part of her remained in the marina, reliving the past few hours over and over again.

When she arrived home, she was surprised to see the lights blazing. Gloria was usually asleep by now.

Kris parked in the garage and entered the foyer, blinking rapidly until her eyes adjusted to the bright lights. Her muscles ached from all the…exertion earlier that night, and she looked forward to a few hours of deep sleep before she had to go into work.

She stretched and walked across the cool tiled marble, already envisioning herself in her silk—

“Kris!” A deep, familiar voice boomed through the entrance hall, followed by the quick strides of a dark-haired man in a custom-tailored Hugo Boss suit.

Kris stopped dead in her tracks. Her jaw unhinged, and shock unfurled in her stomach.

No. It can’t be.

He shouldn’t be here. He couldn’t be here. Not yet.

But he was.

“Daddy?”