| Nathan |

I breathed deeply, taking in the silent evening. The ocean smelled of salt, even from the shore, where I stood, it was very strong. But I liked it. The sun was setting behind a dusting of pink clouds in the sky, and my bare feet sank into the sand, water from waves washing over them.

This was the first time I had been alone all day.

Right from the moment when Isabella and I had arrived my entire family was around me. All loud, obnoxiously cheery and planning out a day which had too many things going on in it. First they wanted us all to go down to the peer, then they wanted us to go to some amusement park, but no one could choose between the two, so following that there was a rowdy debate on whether or not to just spend the day at the beach.

But that didn't result in anything good or productive either.

My whole family was very opinionated, about the smallest things, and so it took a while for everyone to agree.

We ended up going down to the peer, and then all the men went out to a local bar and restaurant for a drink while all the women went shopping. My Uncle has demanded that we did this, insisting the men needed time to talk about 'manly' things together and the woman needed time to gossip.

I had spent all of my energy trying to keep up with every body and everything. A good deal of that energy was put into time with my father and uncle, and talking to them about business.

Now, I was exhausted.

It bothered me that no one could just stick with a couple of things, and spread the rest out over the course of the week.

One whole week. How would I survive?

Isabella fit right in with everyone, and everyone loved her. Each person had taken a turn to come up to me and tell me how nice she was or how they were so surprised I had brought her. I was sick of it.

Didn't they understand that she wasn't my girlfriend? But they didn't because my mom thought I was lying to her, that I was secretly in love with Isabella. When the truth was so far from that... I couldn't even imagine really loving anyone, let alone her. I ran a hand tiredly over my face, and crossed my arms tightly over my chest.

I wished I hadn't brought her, it was so stressful, especially because I wasn't even sure what I felt for her.

The only thing I knew: I couldn't seem to stay away. But I liked my life the way it was. I did not need any sort of romantic relationship. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up with that emotion, and she would get too clingy. I certainly didn't need anyone else going after me.

I hear soft footsteps in the sand behind me.

"Hey there." says the voice of my mother, and I turn to see her walking up to me.

"Mom." I say, addressing her.

"How can you be so cold my darling?" she asks, pulling me into her arms, even though I tried to resist.

"It's just how I am, I've always been this way. You know this." I tell her.

"Well, when you were little you would cuddle with me sometimes." she says in earnest. "Isabella is such a lovely girl Nathan, she's so warm and full of life. I do not understand how you two get along, but you must some how and I think that's just wonderful."

"Mom..." I say, my tone warning.

"It would be even more wonderful if she was your girlfriend." she says and I felt my temper flare.

"Mom." I bark and she chuckles at me. "She's not anything to me."

"Oh..." she murmurs, trailing off, and releasing me only to make me look her in the eye. "Young man, I know you know a good investment for business when you see one. That girl in there. " she motions back to the house. "Whom you claim is simply your friend, maybe less than that, she is a good investment for you, right here." she places her hand on my chest, right above my heart. Then she walks back up the beach, to the patio and then back into the house.

I shake my head.

She was wrong, I knew I liked being alone, the peace and simplicity in it was good for me.

Trysts were always good, and who knows what Isabella would become, but I had to make sure it was nothing less than a one time thing.

___

"They're all so nice." says Isabella, commenting on my family as we go up to our room.

"I'm glad you like them." I say. I open the double doors to the room, and after she enters, I close them. It was the first time we had seen it. There was a large king sized bed on one wall, a fireplace across the room with a long couch, coffee table and two lounge chairs around it. Then there was a walk-out balcony that over looked the beach. There was a bath room off the room, and our bags sat next to the bed.

"Oo, Nathan come look at the sunset." calls Isabella, and I come out onto the balcony, where she had run off to a moment ago, raising my eyebrows at the view.

It was beautiful.

"Wow." she breathes. "Thank you for inviting me. It's been amazing so far."

"Oh... yeah. Sure. Your welcome." I say smiling. "But it's only been one day, I don't know how you'll feel at the end of the week."

"Unlike you I actually like being around happy, energetic people, so I think I'll survive." she says.

"You barely know me." I snap at her and I go back inside, gazing around the room, I guess I would sleep on the couch.

I walked to my back pack and sat down on the couch, getting out my computer and deciding to do some work.

"Oh, why are you working?" she asks, suddenly hanging over my shoulder, I turn to look at her and found my face was startlingly close to hers.

"I like working." I say firmly.

"Well, I know this. Do you think I'm retarded?" she asks, rolling her eyes.

"Don't do that." I snap.

"What?"

"Roll your eyes at me."

"Oh okay." she snorts. "I'm going to shower." then she strolls away into the bathroom. I sigh and work until the sun has set, and the night sky is dark. She showered, come out and then watched something on the TV for a while before I stood and stretched.

"Are you going to sleep here?" she asks and I turn to face her, she motions to the bed.

"Yes... would that make you uncomfortable?" I ask, teasing her and she shakes her head, a smile playing on her lips.

"I can sleep on the couch." I add. I had been planning on sleeping in the same bed, now that I look back I don't know why, but I guess it made a lot more sense for me to stay on the couch.

"Oh, no." she says. "It's big enough for both of us."

I frowned, this would no doubt create some kind-of intimacy and I did not want her attached to me.

"Okay." I mutter and I walk to my suit case and open it. I strip off my shirt, and hear a sharp intake of breath. I look up, Isabella glanced away quickly and I smirked. I did take pride in my body, I liked it to look... sculpted, and fit.

I threw my pants off and put my clothes in my suit case. I was aware she was watching me as I walked over in just my black boxers, and climbed in the bed next to her. I felt oddly hot... almost self-conscious with her watching me.

I pick up my phone, wanting to answer some emails before I slept.

"Hey, no, no, no." she says, like she was a mother scolding a young child. I was shocked when she snatched the phone from me. I glared.

"Give that back." I snap.

"You are not going to be on your phone." she insists, sitting up on her knees, moving away from my reach. "You just spent time working on your vacation, okay, put this down and do something else."

"What else did you want me to do?" I ask harshly, trying to grab the phone but she moves further away.

"Oh I don't know, I thought you would do something else, considering the way you just stripped down in front of me." she points out.

"I was getting ready for bed, I always sleep this way." I snarl.

"Well then, please don't stay up on your phone." she says gently, her face softening. "Sleep is really very important."

"Why do you care so much? Just give me my god-damn phone back." I insist and she hands it over to me. "If you ever touch this again, I'll... you'll regret it."

She scowls, her forehead creasing. She squints her eyes at me.

"You are so confusing!" she says, shouting a bit. "One minute you're kind-of relaxed and the next your cold and rigid. Then next thing I know, you're all angry and pissed off. You... you're such an asshole sometimes."

I raise an eyebrow at her.

"Oh really?" I ask, smirking.

"See, look at you now, smirking at me like some kind-of smug 5 year old boy." she exclaims, seeming genuinely upset.

"Well I apologize for being such an asshole." I say, teasing.

"Ugh." she huffs and buries herself in the covers. I shake my head, maybe sleeping here was a mistake, I was playing with fire.

I let out a small groan and set my phone back on the nightstand on my side, turning the light off and letting the moonlight from the sliding glass door of the balcony, cast a soft glow over the room. I sink down in the covers, laying on my back.

God damn. She was something.

I turn over after a few minutes and find myself staring at her back. She turns over too, surprising me. I was even more surprised when she managed to get a hold of my jaw in her soft hands and kiss me. But once our lips touched, I couldn't stop it. How the hell did she do it? What did she have on me?

She tries to push me over and climb on top, but I resist. Instead I lift myself up, hovering over her tiny form, as she sinks into the pillows.

I feel over her body, as we kiss, tugging on the over-sized t-shirt she was wearing and pulling it over her head. I ran my fingers over the simple, black bra she wore. Her skin was so soft, like...

"Silk." I murmur, as my lips moved over her neck. Her hands tried to tangle themselves in her hair, but I grabbed her wrists, pulling them away. So, her hands explored my body, across my chest and down my abdomen. She played with the band on my boxers, driving me crazy.

I let out a soft groan, I felt myself straining against my boxers.

"What do you want?" I ask her, finding it frustrating I had no plan. I had never been with her so I wasn't sure what she liked or what she was like.

"Not sex." she tells me, breathless.

"... I know." I say.

She had her reservations, obviously, and even if I wanted it, I knew it was better this way. But there were still so many more things I could do... and being able to do them... I was so turned on.

"What then? I want something too." I tell her.

"Anything." she murmurs and I grin at her, leaning back to kiss across her neck, careful not to mark her. I certainly didn't want my family seeing anything. I fell her again, enjoying the realness of her body. She was nothing like what I was used to. Normally all the woman I slept with had fake boobs and wore fancy lingerie, but she was plain... simple.

Simply beautiful.

This was going to be fun.

___

I sat up, and looked at her, eyes still screwed shut, her chest moving up and down rapidly.

"Good for you?" I ask, smirking.

"Yes... you have no idea." she mutters, opening her eyes and smiling lazily at me. I pull my boxers back on from before and climb off her. She rolls to the side and I fall in the bed next to her.

"Hmm." she sighs, looking very relaxed. Something told me she hadn't ever came like that before.

When she had gone down on me, I think I had gotten off so well, not just because she had been good but because I knew it was her doing it. That did something to me. I looked over at her in the dim lighting, her features seeming blurred, and I yawn.

"Sleep." she says quietly.

And that was the last thing I remember hearing.

___

Hello Lovely Readers!

So, obviously there was some mature stuff in this chapter. What did you think? I've never really written that kind-of stuff before, and I want to know if there should have been more or less? What should I do next time? I don't know. ;) Let me know and also was it... tasteful enough? Anyway, tell me what you also thought about Nathan and his mom.

xoxo

-Keara Rose