Page 14 of Nathan

His arms fall to his sides, and he cocks his head. “Coming?”

It’s decision time. If I go, my life will never be the same again. Nate O’Reilly will chew me up and toss me aside like trash as soon as he’s done with me. But the devil on my shoulder can’t help commenting that one night with Nate is worth a thousand nights with anyone else. If I take this chance, this risk, at least I’ll have a fabulous anecdote to tell my grandkids about the one time in my life I grabbed something for me and got down and dirty with a famous Hollywood actor.

Nate doesn’t even wait to see if I follow. Instead, he strolls across the car lot with his hands buried deep in the pockets of his jeans. He walks with supreme confidence: broad shoulders pushed back, spine straight as a steel pole, the hint of a swagger in the way his hips move. My breathing grows erratic, and my pulse stutters the closer I get to Nate’s car. He opens the passenger side door, the silent invitation roaring inside my head.

“Get in.”

There is no “please”, no “only if you’re sure”. Nate orders and expects compliance. I almost tell him to go screw himself, but the words stick in my throat. The thing is, I want him, and he knows it.

With my knees virtually knocking together, I move closer. Nate’s hand curves around my neck, his thumb caressing my earlobe, and a quiver rushes through me. Christ. Barely a touch, and already I’m a hot mess. I keep my gaze fixed on the ground. I can’t think of a single thing to say that will make any sense. The words are all jumbled inside my head like a jigsaw puzzle without a picture to follow.

“Look at me, Dex.”

I inch my head upward until our eyes meet again. Even in the dim light of the car lot, his glacier-blue irises are beyond beautiful, enchanting, captivating. I’m so screwed. I’ll do anything he asks. Anything, as long as he keeps looking at me as if I’m the most fascinating thing he’s ever seen.

His thumb brushes over my lips, and I part them. Time stands still. I swear the birds stop tweeting and the wind drops, silencing the rustling leaves of the nearby sycamore trees.

“I’m not sure whether I prefer quiet Dex or loud and obnoxious Dex.”

“Why are you doing this?”

A brief frown draws his brows low. “Doing what?”

I swing my hand between us. “This.”

His lips twitch, and he lowers his head several inches until his mouth is tantalizingly close to mine. “I haven’t done anything, or rather done anyone yet.”

I blush…again. Elva might have nicknamed me Mouth Almighty when we were kids, but when it comes to men, my experience is limited, especially with men like Nate.

“And I haven’t agreed to anything, either.”

Nate nods. “True.” He keeps his hand on the nape of my neck while he settles the other one in the small of my back. A thrilling shiver courses through me when I find myself pressed against his lithe body.

I open my mouth to ask him what he’s playing at—and that’s when he kisses me.

Actually, that’s wrong. He doesn’t just kiss me. As his lips move slowly over mine, and his tongue explores my mouth, he ruins me for any other man. One kiss from Nate O’Reilly awakens a desperate need within me only he can quench. I don’t need heaps of experience to know I’m well and truly screwed.

A soft moan leaks from the back of my throat, and my arms snake around his neck. Nate responds by tightening his grip and kissing me harder. A thrill speeds through my veins as his erection nudges against my stomach, hard, thick, and full of promise.

Without warning, he releases me. I try to catch my breath, my chest rising and falling as if I’ve crossed the finish line after a sprint race. Nate’s hooded eyes stare down at me, his face a mixture of wonder and puzzlement.

“Well, that was unexpected,” he murmurs, more to himself than me. Then a little louder, he asks, “Has that persuaded you, Titch?”

Without waiting for my answer, he leaves the passenger door wide open and saunters around the hood, his trademark swagger on show before he gets in the driver’s side and fires up the engine.

On legs that feel as if they belong to someone else, I climb into the car, fasten my seat belt, and risk a glance at Nate out of the corner of my eye. His smile is victorious. It should annoy me that he’s so certain of himself. Instead, I find my own lips curving upward. My chest burns with utter joy, and tingles spread through my arms to the tips of my fingers.

“You’re a cocky bastard.”

Nate laughs. “If that’s your way of saying I knew you’d get in the car, then yes, I’m a cocky bastard.”

“Do you always get your own way?”

Nate shifts the stick into drive. “Always,” he says, confirming it with a wink.

He presses the gas pedal, and the car shoots forward with a throaty growl. I’m not sure whether the churning in my stomach is due to Nate’s response or the powerful engine beneath the hood, but it feels like I’ve just ridden the first dip on a roller coaster.

We travel in silence, but when he misses the turn leading to my apartment, I frown.

---