Page 17 of Away With You
He stares unfocussed at my hair piled atop my head before shaking himself. “No, this is an ambush.”
“An ambush?” Jade yells from the kitchen, poking her head out, her eyes sparkling. “What sort of ambush?”
“After our date yesterday,” he starts. From the corner of my eye, I see Jade fist-pump the air in triumph. “I was thinking about what you said. About how sad, single gals like you are being doomed to life without Christmas trees.”
Jade groans from somewhere close behind me. “Please tell me you didn’t refer to yourself as a sad, single gal.”
I glare in her direction. “It was an analogy. Used to paint a picture.”
“A deeply depressing picture,” she mutters.
“Anyway.” I fix the hulking man in front of me with a firm stare. “What does that have to do with you turning up here? Unannounced.”
He chuckles. “What good is an announced ambush?”
“Good point,” my traitorous friend agrees with delight.
I hate them both.
“Explain yourself.”
Pulling in a deep breath, he exhales, aiming a killer smile at me. It’s the one I see staring back at me from my TV screen when he’s on the top step of the F1 podium, and it has my knees whimpering as they knock together.
“I’m here to take you Christmas tree shopping.”
Jade crashes into me from behind, and I hurtle through the air, smack bang into Nathan’s broad chest. His arms band around me, holding me steady, and I pull in a deep breath, collecting a whiff of his expensive cologne as I go. He smells like a mix of aromatic spices, like cinnamon and ginger and other things that make my mouth water. Or maybe that’s just him.
“You alright?” he asks, his tone gruff.
I nod, stepping back quickly and fidgeting with my bun. To my surprise, it withstood the tumble into Nathan’s arms; a good thing, too, given I’m out of readily available hair ties.
“Sorry,” Jade singsongs from where she’s now perched on the arm of the couch. She couldn’t look less sorry if she tried. “And I’m sure Katie would love to take you up on your offer, Nate. This flat is crying out for some Christmas cheer.”
Nathan raises one blond brow at me while I scowl at Jade. She’s all but forcing me to go do this with him, and my stomach is flipping out at just the suggestion. How will it withstand going through with it? Spending time with this man, doing Christmas stuff together?
“I’m sure you have better things to do with your day.”
He shrugs a shoulder. “If I did, I wouldn’t be here.”
Fair.
I wrack my brain for ways to get out of it, but I know there’s zero chance the matchmaking Puck on the couch would ever let me get away with a lie for an excuse.
“I mean, if you’re sure?” I peer up at him, trying to gauge his motivations.Had I come across as so sad and pathetic yesterday that he’s here because he feels sorry for me?“You don’t have to.”
Nathan and Jade groan together. “He knows he doesn’t have to. He’s offering anyway,” she says with a pointed look. “Shut up,” she adds, mouthing the words behind Nathan’s back.
“It’s true. I don’t have to. I want to. In fact, my car is out front and is ready whenever you are.”
“You drive a car in London? That’s brave.”
He blinks at me with a smirk, and I replay my offhanded musings in my head.Did I just tell a World Champion F1 driver that he’s brave to drive the streets of…London?
“Never mind.” I cut him off with a grimace. “I’m grateful for the offer. Thank you. Would you like to go now?”
I glance at Jade, who’s furiously tapping on her phone, no doubt cancelling my bagels, and back at Nathan. He’s frowning again, his eyes narrowed into slits.
“We can go now. I just have one request.”
