But he wasn’t done. Because they rinsed off and he got out first, bringing her a towel that was nice and warm. He wrapped her in it, rubbing her gently until she was dry and warm. She watched him, a smile on her face as he got dried off and then, surprising her totally, he bent, picked her up and took her into his bedroom.

She managed to get her underpants and some pajamas on as he took care of the fire.

“I have champagne if you want. Or we can have tea or hot chocolate.”

“You don’t have to be so careful about offering me alcohol. I told you, I don’t have a problem with drinking in and of itself. Champagne would be lovely, I think. It’s been a day full of stuff to celebrate.”

He poured them each a glass, turned on some music—The National—and came to join her. Of course he wasn’t wearing pajamas, which she had no complaints about.

He clinked his glass to hers. “Thank you.”

She cocked her head. “For what?”

He snorted. “For putting up with my family. For caring about people. For being what you are to me.”

“Oh.” She blushed. “Well, thank you for letting me be part of your crazy family and for being a person I can care about.”

He kissed her and settled back against the pillows. They watched the stars through the skylight and just lay with one another. It had been a really good day.

* * *

HE’D NEVER IN his life been nervous to meet people before. Not even label people when they were first trying to get signed. Well, he did get a little bit of butterflies when he met Neil Young, but Neil Young was the closest thing to a deity on earth Paddy could imagine, so that was different.

Natalie had met his family and had found her way to fit into their world, and this was her family. He already knew and liked Tuesday, but this was the rest.

She took his hand as he juggled a bag full of gifts she’d brought for them all.

The house was a typical 1950s Seattle split-level. Steep stairs from the sidewalk out front wound through a pretty garden to a front door that burst open with a squeal of Natalie’s name.

Bright red hair streaked toward her. Nat’s face brightened and she opened her arms. “Dee!” They hugged, laughing and talking in that way women did. At hyperspeed, interspersed with shorthand and a bunch of stuff Paddy knew nothing of.

And another layer of this woman unfurled. Like a flower. Like art. She was f**king beautiful.

He smiled because he rarely saw her like this. Open and full of joy.

She turned to him, her arm around her friend. “Delia, this is Paddy. Paddy, this is Delia.”

Delia gave him a long look and side-eyed Natalie. “Nicely done.” She held her hand out to Paddy. “Nice to meet you. Come on in. Everyone wants to meet you, but they’re all pretending they’re too cool to peek out the windows.”

Paddy grinned, taking her hand and shaking before they all headed in.

A chorus of Nat’s name went up, and she was engulfed in hugs for a few minutes before she managed to get free and send him an apologetic smile.

“Okay, everyone, this is Patrick Hurley. Better known as Paddy. Paddy—” she pointed to the redhead “—you know Delia. She lives in Portland and makes documentaries. Standing next to her is Rosie Morgan. She lives in Brooklyn.”

“The one who scouts locations, right?”

Natalie nodded and looked back to the tall brunette. “We don’t get to see her as often as we’d like. But we take what we can get.”

Two women, clearly a couple, stood forward. One of them with a no-nonsense ponytail and gorgeous blue eyes behind cat-eye glasses grinned at Natalie and then over to him. “I’m Zoe. I’m glad to meet you. If you’re not nice to our Natalie, we’re going to hunt you down and maim you.”

Natalie rolled her eyes. “Never mind her. She spends too much time in the sun without a hat. And last but never ever least is Jenny Dan. Schoolteacher and all around awesome woman. This is Jenny and Zoe’s house.”

He loved being around them all. They had that sort of shorthand born of many years of a relationship. They finished each other’s sentences. They knew who liked what on their sandwiches and popcorn.

They didn’t fawn over him, but they sincerely wanted to know about him.

“So you knew Natalie from back in the day?” Jenny’s brow rose. “My first day at Evergreen, my parents dropped me off at housing. When I got up to our apartment, Nats was already there. She had this long blond hair and this body. Wow. I was like, hubba hubba, I hope she’s g*y because I want some of that.”

Natalie laughed, blushing. “Then Zoe came in, and suddenly, Jenny realized blonde wasn’t her type, after all.”

Jenny looked to Zoe, and he saw that depth of connection they shared.

“Sweet Nat and Delia were wild back then. They’d party all the time and yet kick ass in school, too.”

Delia grinned. “That first year we all grew up. Which is lucky, because I really need those brain cells.”

“Most of us ended up staying in Oly that summer. We got a house on the west side of Olympia, right off the bus route. We lived in that house until after graduation.”

“Oh, I thought you guys stayed in 1022?”

Natalie stole one of his chips. “It might have been on the 10th floor and had multiple bedrooms, but it had a shared kitchen with the other rooms on ten. And it was loud. Tuesday’s parents live in Olympia, and her dad knew someone who was looking to rent a house. They did not really jump for joy when they saw five women wanted to rent it. But the Eastwoods vouched for us, and we paid a huge security deposit and promised to never have animals. Sometimes when we go to visit Tuesday’s parents, we drive by it and get all nostalgic. Over the years it’s been the home of other Evergreen students. It sort of passes from one group to the next.”