Free All Because of You (Lakeview #2) by Melissa Hill

assistant reddened. “What have you got planned? Are you two going somewhere nice?”
    “I don’t know yet,” Natalie told her truthfully. “I think he’s planning to surprise me.”  And hopefully not just with the location, she thought to herself.
    “You lucky thing,” Danni sighed dreamily. “For our last anniversary Lee and I sat in with a takeaway. He wouldn’t go out because the Reds were playing, and the only celebrations we had that night were for the ball hitting the back of the net.” She sighed deeply.
    Natalie said nothing. Danni and Lee had got married early that year and clearly adored one another, and in truth Natalie would have given her right arm to be in Danni’s position of cosy coupledom  
    Well, if all went well tonight, it mightn’t be as far away as she’d thought up to now. 
    “Well, have a great night, and you can tell me how it all went tomorrow,” Danni said, shaking her head sadly. “Make me even more jealous that you managed to land a dreamboat like Steve Watson, while I ended up with a yob like Lee.”
     

     
     
     

Chapter 5
     
    Outside the Blue Moon offices, Natalie tried in vain for fifteen minutes to hail a cab.  Shit, today of all days, she’d hoped she wouldn’t have to take the tube. But there was little or no hope of her getting back to the flat any other way, so she’d have to bite the bullet. Tottering along on her heels, she made her way down the street to the nearest underground station, trying to remember the last time she’d travelled this way. Given that she usually left the office sometime after eight p.m., there was never any problem getting a cab, and in any case, she wasn’t usually in that much of a rush to get home. 
    But this evening, the dreaded tube would have to do, despite the fact that the dead air in the tunnels always seemed to tire her out. And Natalie wanted to be fully alert tonight – especially if tonight turned out to be the night. It had to be, didn’t it?  They got on fantastically well, were madly in love, and the sex was just amazing! 
    He’d ask her tonight, Natalie was almost certain of it. He’d been a bit coy and evasive lately, which she thought was a big hint. 
    No, her boyfriend’s confidence and single-mindedness were some of the traits that had made her fall for him in the first place. They’d met at one of the many social events she attended in the course of her work, and had been introduced by mutual friends. That night, she couldn’t take her eyes off this tall, handsome and self-assured individual who, with his broad chest and closely cropped blonde hair, seemed the embodiment of potent masculinity, and who unfortunately also seemed hell-bent on resisting her charms. It had taken a while (and a few glasses of Veuve Clicquot) for Natalie to break him down and interest him enough to ask her out, but break him down she did, and the two had been together ever since.
    Hopefully after tonight they’d be together for good, she thought, feeling the distinctive warm blast of air that signalled the imminent appearance of the next train to the platform. Soon after, she boarded the train and squashed into the carriage with what seemed like half the population of the city, trying her utmost to ignore the sweaty stench emanating from the person brushing up alongside her. It’ll be worth it, she told herself. You’ll be home soon, and will have plenty of time to get ready for tonight. 
    Natalie’s flat was situated not far from Central London, and luckily for her, only a few stations away. Eventually reaching her destination, she practically raced out of the carriage and away up the stairs towards the exit.  
    Seven p.m. Steve would be picking her up at eight. Despite their intense relationship, the two hadn’t yet moved in together, although this was because of Steve’s necessity to be near the airport for all the travelling he tended to do with work. Natalie, on the other hand, had no desire to live outside