True Nature (True Series Book 1)

by Willow Madison

And I know that I haven't been wrong. She is the girl for me.

  Chapter 14 HER

  Isn't there a song about all the love songs having more meaning when you're in love? That's how I feel. Cloud frickin' 9. Yesterday, I fell asleep snuggled into his arms, head on his chest, waking in the middle of the night and still in the same spot.

  I'm wide awake now, but Max isn't in bed with me anymore. I pull on his t-shirt, smiling that he'd insisted we sleep naked together, his warmth more than enough for me.

  I find him in the kitchen, on the phone. He waves me over to him and pulls me into a side hug, kissing my head. He mouths 'coffee' and nods towards a counter.

  "...So when will you be back?" He is listening intently on the phone, his eyes on me though. "OK. Next Saturday then. We'll come up there." More listening. "All right. I'll take care of that, Sir. Have a safe trip. And give my love to Mom."

  "Was that your Stepdad?" I am putting more sweetener into the trucker-strength coffee.

  "Yeah...My Dad." He stresses the word, so I know he prefers not to call him 'step.' "His business trip is set a little early, but we're going to go up there next weekend, so you can meet my family."

  I practically spit out my sip of coffee, burning my lip a little. "You want me to meet your family?!"

  "Of course. I met yours." He says this so matter-of-factly, leaning against his counter with his arms crossed. His arm and chest muscles stand out more.

  "Yeah...but that was because they were in town...not a specific trip to meet them. Where do your folks live?"

  He puts his arms out for me to come to him, wrapping them around me. "It's not far. They live in Evanston; but over the summer, they have a lake house in Wisconsin."

  "And you want to go there next weekend? With me?"

  "Yes...I want them to meet you." He fills my mouth with kisses before I can say anything more. "We'll head out early Saturday and come home late Sunday."

  "We'll stay the night there?" I'm nervous about spending the whole weekend around his family. "What will the sleeping arrangements be?"

  He half smiles at this. "Are you worried about what they'll think of you if we sleep in the same room?" He's teasing me, kissing my nose. "You are so cute."

  "Yes...I can tell you that we would not be sleeping together at my Dad's house!" I push his chest a little. "I think it's too soon for this...for me."

  His jaw clenches for just a second. "Why don't you let me worry about that?" I let myself melt into his kisses again. "I'm an adult...and my parents wouldn't expect you to sleep anywhere else except with me."

  "I thought your family was so old fashioned..." I say this into his chest, still nervously thinking about next weekend.

  "They are. That's why my girl would be by my side." He kisses my head again, breathing warmth onto my hair. "I wouldn't take any risks with you. It's important to me that they like you. So trust me, ok?"

  "OK...but you'll have to keep talking me into this all week!" I push against him again. He laughs and I feel his body shake against mine.

  "How bout I entice you into it...I'll take you shopping today for some new dresses you can show off?" He squeezes my ass and doesn't let go, lifting me towards him.

  "What's wrong with this...it's a dress on me?!" I'm laughing since his t-shirt comes almost to my knees.

  "And you're beautiful in it!" He picks me up so my legs go around his waist, my hands twining his hair, his hands cupping my ass. "I need food, girl, before round two!" His smile big.

  "I think you mean round four...teen!" I lightly bite his neck before he puts me down.

  Chapter 15 HER

  "Hey...come out so we can see you." I'm trying to zip up in the dressing room, but can hear Max around the corner. I get the dress most of the way up and come out. Max is standing with a saleswoman in front of the loungers and tall mirrors.

  I've never shopped in Needless Markup before. I'm having a very princess-y in a movie moment. Standing in front of the mirrors, Max finishes zipping me up and I ask him, "What do you think?" The dress is more ladylike than I would usually choose, a blue and white seersucker material with large criss-crossing straps in the back, just above my knees.

  The saleswoman answers first, "We need to take in the waist a little. But this is easy with the darts and seams boning here." She stands next to me and pulls the dress in the back to lie flat against me.

  "Perfect." Max is all smiles. "Cassandra, can you pick out a few more options for her try on?"

  "Of course. What is the occassion?" They are talking around me, while I continue looking at the dress from different angles.

  "A weekend getaway...we're heading to the lake next Saturday."

  "So, dresses, skirts, shorts, and tops?" She is already turning away.

  "No shorts." Max calls after her. She turns around again and just nods. I know Max prefers me in something very feminine. I'm used to his demands about what I wear already. Laura said she thought it was so sweet that he cares that much to comment on my clothes; Tracy said he must be gay for caring about clothes that much at all. I didn't really tell them just how demanding he has been though. Making me change out of several of my favorite outfits, deemed too revealing or not girly enough for his tastes.

  "Do you like it?" He is standing behind me again.

  Turning around to face him from my dais, I am closer to his height and put my arms around his shoulders. "Yes. I feel very grown-up, garden party, mint julep sipping in this." I kiss him. "But you really don't need to buy me a dress. I have lots of summer stuff to wear."

  "I am going to buy you a whole new wardrobe for next weekend...I want you to feel special...to know how special you are to me."

  "Hmm...or it is that you want your parents to be impressed with me?" I squint up at him with a pressed lip smile.

  "That too." He kisses my frown away. "It's a weekend retreat...but they are more formal people. I want you feel comfortable...to not worry about fitting in."

  I turn to look at myself in the mirror again. Hmm...maybe he has a point. If this is a dress that fits in with his parent's crowd, then I definitely don't have anything quite like it in my closet. All my clothes are either super casual or business.

  Cassandra returns with a salesgirl, both their arms are loaded down with clothes. "Wow. That's alot to try on!"

  She laughs and says, "These are only the dresses. I'll return with a few shirt and skirt options too."

  "You better get started..." Max is shaking his head at me, chuckling.

  .....

  Sipping champagne under the rotunda, my princess moment just keeps going. Max picked out four dresses, four shirts, and three skirts...way more than I would possibly need for an overnight trip. A seamstress came into the dressing room to tailor everything just for me. They said it would all be ready by the time we finished our lunch upstairs.

  "I can't believe how patient you were during that marathon fashion show...for a guy who hates to wait for cabs even!" I tip my flute towards him.

  He gives a wicked grin. "Well...I was patiently waiting for the next part." He raises one eyebrow and sips the last of his wine.

  "Why am I suddenly afraid?" I'm laughing.

  "You'll need new lingerie to go with all those new clothes..." His smile is huge.

  "Oh God. I am not trying on a bunch of lacy stuff for you and some saleswoman!" The thought of walking out of a dressing room in nothing but a bra and thong makes me cringe in my chair.

  "No....But you will have to pick out some things to show me later...in private." His brow is arched again.

  Chapter 16 HER

  "...So how much did he end up spending on you?" I'd been telling Laura about my weekend with Max while we waited for Tracy to show up for drinks.

  "I'm not even sure...he paid for everything while I was busy with the seamstress. It was crazy...I felt like I was in a movie!"

  "What movie?" Tracy finally arrives and plops her bag down on the table.

  "Max took her shopping and bought all these clo
thes for her!" Laura blurts out.

  "How very Pretty...wasn't she a whore in that movie?" Laura rolls her eyes at Tracy.

  I take a sip of my drink before snarking back, "Isn't that high praise coming from you?"

  Laura fills us in on her weekend with Tad. She spent Friday night with him, then went to his softball game on Saturday. "Billy was on his team...he asked about you." She's looking at me over the rim of her beer.

  "I hope you told him I have a boyfriend now...he didn't seem to believe me last time."

  "Uh...no...I just asked what happened between you guys. He said he acted stupid and asked me to apologize to you for him." She downs a gulp of beer. "What did happen?"

  "He wouldn't get off of me in the cab home. I told him I was seeing someone and he just laughed and called me a tease."

  "What a fucking asshole punk." Tracy...ever the artist.

  "Huh..well he seemed sincere. I thought he was sweet..." Laura doesn't like conflict.

  "Not sweet...asshole." Tracy downs her drink.

  "Well...it doesn't matter now. And Tad's not an asshole, so who cares?" I don't want Laura to feel badly about one of Tad's friends. She's wanted a guy in her life for so long, I wouldn't want to ruin it for her.

  "Tad is a sweetheart!" She's all bubbly again. "Hey...I just realized...we'll all have dates for Romona's for the first time!"

  Tracy cheers her empty glass against ours. "Assuming Gramps will be ok with that!"

  I shove her shoulder. "You better not call him that Wednesday!"

  "I'll be on my best behavior...I promise!" She crosses her heart. "So...will he be bringing a joint or should Josh bring his bong?" She erupts in laughter as I attack tickle her side, Laura pushing her into me.

  .....

  Tonight is going great. Josh and Tracy aren't falling all over each other for once. Tad is being so sweet to Laura that her face looks like it's going to break from smiling. And Max is the perfect gentleman, holding open doors and pulling out my chair for me. Rosa comes over with our breadsticks and we introduce her to Tad and Max.

  Max stands and shakes her hand. She makes an impressed face towards me and gives an 'ok' sign with a nod. Tracy rolls her eyes, but Tad stands up too after that. Laura beams.

  "So you girls want the usual." Rosa is clapping her hands together. "How bout you boys?"

  Max answers, "Lucy and I will share your Puttanesca with a side of garlic spinach."

  Rosa and Tracy raise their eyebrows at the same time. Rosa turns to me, "You sure, honey...you girls always get the spaghetti and meatballs to split?"

  "Um...yeah...I can have some of the meatballs too." Max is watching me closely. He puts his hand on my knee under the table and gives a small squeeze while leaning over to kiss my cheek.

  .....

  Max returns from the bathroom and stands behind my chair. "Baby, you ready to go?"

  "We're just waiting on the check still." Josh and Tracy are counting the money we've pooled in front of them. "I threw in our portion." For some reason, it feels weird saying this to him...I realize that this is the first time that I've paid for one of our dates. Even though I've offered to chip in before, he always refuses to let me pay for anything.

  "I took care of the bill already." He pulls my chair a little, so I stand up.

  Josh looks up at this. "You didn't have to do that, Max." He kisses Tracy. "Now what are we going to argue about on the way home?!" He shakes his head at Max, "Man, you ruined makeup sex night!" Tracy hits his chest, but she's laughing with him.

  "Thanks!" Laura is already putting her money back in her wallet and giving Tad his share back from the pool too.

  "Yeah...thank you, sweetie!" I kiss his cheek.

  We all walk out together. Max stops to shake hands again with Rosa and her husband, raving about their sauces. Rosa is proudly waving at us, "See you girls next week. Be good!"

  Outside, Jeff is waiting for us with the car door open. "Does anyone want a ride...we're heading south." Max offers.

  Josh and Tracy are already walking down the street. Josh answers walking backwards, "No thanks. We're heading to Mullihan's. Anyone wanna join us?"

  Tracy adds, "I'm going to kick his fucking ass at pool so we have something to fight about." Josh grabs her around the waist and tries to pick her up, but she pushes him off, both laughing loudly. Laura and Tad follow behind them, holding hands.

  I look up at Max and see his jaw clenched. I know his answer without asking. I wave them off, "Have fun. I'll see you tomorrow."

  Max doesn't relax his jaw in the car. I put my head on his shoulder, waiting for him to say whatever he's thinking. Finally, he breathes deeply and relaxes a little. "That girl has quite a mouth on her." I knew it had something to do with Tracy. She had been nice, but a little edgy with him all night.

  "Yeah...cursing's an art form with her." I shrug my shoulder against him.

  "Josh shouldn't allow her talk like that." I know without looking that his eyes match his steely voice.

  "Ha. I'd like to see him try to stop her." I laugh at the image in my head. "She's not likely to change for anyone."

  He squeezes my hand harder. "Just so you don't talk like that."

  I look up at him and try for a seductive fluttering of lashes, whispering, "What? Don't you want a girl who can talk dirty to you?"

  His look only hardens. "No, Lucy. I'm serious. I won't tolerate that from you." He doesn't look away and I feel that heat in the pit of my stomach, spreading down again.

  "Well...I've heard you curse before..." I swallow loudly, but keep his gaze.

  "I'm a man."

  I can't believe he just said that! "So...?!"

  "So...a girl has to be careful with how she's perceived in this world. If you talk like a fucking whore, then you'll be treated like one." He lightly brushes my cheek with his finger. "And I would never let that happen." He kisses my forehead.

  "That's a very misogynistic view of the world, don't you think?" But I say this quietly, looking down at our joined hands. I feel confused...a part of me wants to call him an asshole and jump out of the car...and another part of me thinks he's chivalrous. I've had these thoughts before when he says things like this.

  "Yes...it is." When I look up at him though, his smile is tender. I decide to let it go and just lean against his shoulder again.

  Chapter 17 HIM

  My hand on Lucy's knee, I let out the deep breath I'd been holding before turning the car off. She looks great, her figure on display, but still modest in the form-fitting yellow dress, her eyes bright and smile big, face in full view with her hair pulled back.

  "You ready?" I squeeze her knee. We'd been talking about how nervous she is for the last half hour of the drive up. She swallows and nods. "Stay there." I stop her from opening her door. She's still getting used to that rule.

  Walking around to her side, I put my hand out to help her stand. Behind me, I can hear the front door opening. "You'll be fine." I quickly kiss Lucy before turning towards the porch.

  "Max!" Mom is hurrying down the stairs with her arms wide-open. She kisses my cheek and quickly rubs off any lipstick. Ron joins her side, his arm around her. We shake hands first, then he pulls me forward for a quick one-armed hug, too.

  "Mom, Dad. This is Lucy." I stand back so they can see her.

  Mom puts her hands on Lucy’s shoulders and gives her a small hug this way. "Welcome, Lucy!"

  "Yes. Welcome to our home, Lucy." Dad gives her forearm a squeeze at the same time. "I'm Ron; this is Alex."

  "Thank you for having me!" Lucy's voice is even higher than usual. I put my arm around her shoulders.

  "I hope you kids are hungry! I've been cooking and baking all morning." Mom leads the way inside.

  Their lake house is shaker-style, a blown-out bungalow with wide doorways, dark polished floors, shutters on all the windows. The back of the house has a great view from every room, french doors open to let the lake breeze in, beachy colors of sand and blues throughout. "It smells great i
n here, Mom!"

  "I'm starving!" Lucy couldn't eat breakfast, she was too nervous about this trip. We follow my Dad into the family room off the kitchen.

  "Why don't you help my Mom, baby." I nod towards the adjoining kitchen. She hesitates for a second before walking through the dining area. By the look of Lucy's unused appliances, I'm not even sure she knows what to do in a kitchen, so this could be interesting. I can hear my Mom directing her to bring a platter over to the stove. So far so good.

  Dad claps his hand on my shoulder. "So did you have any trouble filing the Standosh papers this week?"

  "No. But we didn't get them back yet, either. I think you're looking at a big mess, Dad."

  Lucy walks in with two beers. "Um...you're Mom thought you guys would like these." She hands one to each of us.

  "Thanks, baby." I kiss her head. "Thank you, Lucy," Dad tips his bottle towards her and continues our conversation as she walks back towards the kitchen.

  "....Yeah...Robbie has himself in another mess that's for sure. We'll be able to bill some nice hours out of this one." He takes a swig and I follow him out to the back patio. The sound of the waves against the dock distant but soothing. "She seems like a nice girl." He gestures back towards the house with his bottle. "How long have you two been dating?"

  "Long enough...Sir." I take a big drink. "And she is really nice."

  He doesn't say anything for a while, just stares out at the water. "Since you haven't brought a girl around to meet us in awhile..." He turns to face me. "I assume you're serious about her."

  "I am."

  "And..." His face is thoughtful, the lawyer trying to find the best phrasing. "And she isn't like that other girl, Natalie?"

  "No." I shake my head and look him direct in the eye. I'm still embarassed about how it ended with her. "No..she's different. I think you'll really like Lucy when you get to know her more." I take a drink before adding, "I can be myself with her."

  "Good." He claps my shoulder again. "It's important for a man to have a happy home that he can be himself in."

  "Lunch is ready, boys." Mom is standing in the doorway with Lucy just behind her.