Page 86 of Ruthless Riches
“Oh, wow,” I said, hand fluttering at my chest as I caught sight of the view from the front of the house. It was built on a slight elevation, overlooking a sun-kissed lagoon with water so clear I could probably bathe in it.
“Nice, huh?” Nate said, slipping an arm around my waist as I stared out at the water.
“It’s beautiful.” I turned to look at him. “Are we staying here for the weekend?”
“Not exactly.” He pulled a key out of his pocket and handed it over to me. “If you want, we can stay here forever.”
My brows shot up. “What?”
“We need somewhere to live once we’ve finished converting the estate, so I decided to get a jump on it.”
My brows lifted even higher. “You bought this place?”
“Yes. The furniture, too. It’s all ours if you want it,” he replied. “If you don’t, that’s fine. There were a lot of other interested buyers, so it won’t be hard to—”
I cut him off with a kiss. “I love it,” I said when I drew back. “It’s amazing!”
Nate grinned. “Glad to hear it.”
Giddy with excitement, I did another loop of the house to take a closer look at its features. The kitchen had a gigantic walk-in pantry, a built-in wine fridge, and a teppanyaki grill. Upstairs, in the spacious bathroom connected to the master bedroom, there was a sunken bath made of marble with little veins of gold running throughout it.
Everything was perfect.
After I finished looking around, I headed outside to check out the private beach. Nate stayed with me the whole time, holding my hand.
The sand was white and strewn with colorful shells, and when I stepped closer to the water, tiny bits of foamy mist lightly sprayed my face.
I stuck my tongue out at Nate and splashed some water at his legs with my left foot. He repaid me by picking me up in his strong arms and pretending as if he were about to heave me right into the lagoon.
“Stop!” I gasped a moment later, chest aching from giggling so much. “You might drop me!”
“You really think I’d drop you?” Nate said with a grin, lowering me back to the sand.
I smoothed down my sundress and returned his grin. “No. I just wanted you to put me down because I have to ask you something.”
He raised a brow. “I actually have to ask you something, too.”
“Oh. What is it?”
He waved a hand. “It’s fine, you can go first,” he said. “We have all day.”
I turned to gaze at the horizon. “Remember how Ruby found out she was pregnant last month?”
Nate’s brows lifted again. “No.”
“Oh. I must’ve forgotten to tell you,” I said. “It was an accident. She thought she took her pill one day but it turned out she didn’t. Anyway, her boyfriend has been great about it, and they’ve decided to keep the baby.”
“Her boyfriend is Todd Clements, right?”
“Yes. He was in the Skulls with you, wasn’t he?”
“Yeah. He’s a decent guy. I’m glad he’s with Ruby.”
“Me too. Anyway…” I trailed off and looked at my feet. “This is probably going to sound totally crazy to you, but I’ve been thinking about it for a while, and now that you’ve bought us this perfect house, it seems like the right time to mention it.”
Nate smiled and ruffled the back of my hair. “Okay. What is it?”
I twisted my lips, trying to find the right words. “Well… I know we’re super busy with everything. We still haven’t finished college, we’re still converting the estate, and on top of that, I’m trying to write a book. But…” I bit my bottom lip and hesitated again. “What if we were in the same boat as Ruby and Todd?”
