Page 25 of Away With You
You had me at Nora Ephron.
NATHAN
**laughs in an evil tone**
I’ll come to you.
Will send details later…
Have fun with your Western blots…
CHAPTER 7
KATIE
I’m having dinner with Nathan. Another non-date that could be a date? It’s been a week of text messages with the F1 driver who is suddenly all up in my life, and I’m more confused than ever by what he’s doing here. A big part of me thinks he’s bored and perhaps a little lonely. But another, smaller part, who sounds a lot like Jade, wonders if perhaps he actually wants to spend time with me. Like I’m someone who he finds interesting.
But then I pull up his Instagram page and swallow down a big helping of reality. Only two nights ago, he was at the FIA Gala Dinner, dressed in a tuxedo James Bond would kill for, rubbing elbows with the rich, famous and powerful. There’s no way he’s doing anything with me other than passing the time. As long as I keep that in mind, it will be okay. It’s not like I’m in a position to knock back friends or friendly gestures, so I may as well ride this Nathan train for as long as he’s happy to have me around.
I just wish I’d picked something a bit nicer to wear while riding this train. Because these jeans and this long-sleeve thermal top, with my ugly winter coat, are not it.
“Sorry, I’m late,” I say, my voice breathless from my sprint walk from the tube station to this small Italian restaurant that Nathan chose for us to have dinner. It’s a couple of suburbs over from my flat, still on the Northern line, so I can take this line home, and it was easy to get to from work. It’s almost like he planned it that way, but that’d mean he’d need to find out where my lab is based and how I get from A to B, and I’m not conceited enough to think he’d go to that much effort to find out any of that information. He may just be a fan of Italian food in general, and this place specifically.
“No problem, Kitty Kat.” He smiles up at me, his teeth gleaming white in the candlelight.
The restaurant is dimly lit, with a cozy vibe that is amplified by the rich colours, the candles and the giant fireplace in the corner. A good thing too, because London weather has turned feral. The slight flurry of snow we had last night has turned to slippery slush this morning. It’s bitterly cold, and we’re only days into winter. Thank you, global warming.
“You are worth the wait,” he adds with a wink.
I roll my eyes and scoop my hair off my shoulders and into a bun at the nape of my neck. It’s more unruly than usual given the moisture in the air, and I need to get it back and off my face.
“Thanks for meeting me,” he says as I squirm in my chair. He’s got this way of locking eyes on me and not letting go. It must be what my cells feel like under my microscope in the lab; exposed. Like he’s seeing all the things about me I want to keep hidden. Starting with my complete lack of fashion sense.
“Eh, a girl’s gotta eat.” As is my way, the words are out of my mouth before my brain checks them. My cheeks burn as his eyes dance with amusement across from me.
“You know how to keep a man humble,” he says with a grin.
I grimace. “Sorry. That came out wrong. I’m happy to have you around while I eat.”
Seriously?
“Much better,” he laughs. “I guess we’d better order then.”
I look down at the menu without seeing it, lecturing myself to get it together instead.Why is it so hard to pretend to act like a normal human being when he’s around?
“So.” He leans back in his chair after we’ve both ordered our dinner. I’d blindly picked the first thing on the menu and am hoping it’s not a salad. You don’t make friends with salad. “Tell me a bit more about this research you’re doing. It’s looking at early biomarkers for ovarian cancer detection, right?”
I stare at him, my jaw inches from the floor. “How in the world do you know that?”
He rubs the back of his neck, and I swear the faintest blush coats his cut-from-glass cheekbones. “After we met last week, I may have done a little research of my own.”
“Into me?”
His grin is boyish, and he looks adorable. “I mean, of course. It’s been years since we’ve seen each other, and I was interested in what you’ve been up to. Turns out, you’re super impressive.”
An actual snort escapes me, and I cough to hide it. “Um, coming from you, that sounds a little…ludicrous. You’ve gone out and conquered the world. I just spend my days cursing every decision I ever made that brought me into academia.”
His blond head tilts. “Why?”
