Page 14 of Never With You
“That speech wasn’t meant for you to hear.”
“You know…” He leans forward a little more, giving me the perfect view of his long, dark lashes. If I didn’t hate him, I’d ask what serum he uses for that kind of growth. “I’m getting a lot of mixed signals from you.”
“I’m not sure how. I’ve been consistent from the beginning, always saying what I think about you.”
“That my lips are pillow-soft or that I’m the reason you come to work every day?”
“I was quoting others,” I defend through gritted teeth. “But I find it funny that out of everything I just said about your character,that’swhat you came away with.”
“A perfectly round derrière is what I came away with, but I didn’t want to embarrass you. I take my role asoffice hunkvery seriously.”
A giggle bursts out of Taryn, the traitor.
“Why are you in here?” I’m not usually this blatant about my dislike for Nate, but today, he poked the bear, and my tongue is sharp.
“Why are you so mad?” he snaps back.
“Uh…New Zealand, for starters, or pick any of the other things I just listed.”
“I think you’re being a baby about the New Zealand trip.”
“Well, no one cares what you think, so run along.” I flick my fingers, signaling for him to leave.
Nate shoots a charming smile across the table. “It looks like Taryn and Shelly want me here.”
I skid my eyes to them and their fawning gazes.
One look from him, and they’re hypnotized. It’s pathetic.
“You two fighting is my favorite thing.” Shelly leans in, more interested than ever. She might as well have a bucket of popcorn in her hands.
“This isn’t fighting,” Nate says with an obnoxious smirk. “Carly is secretly in love with me.”
“Oh my gosh!” I rear back. “Nothingcould be further from the truth.”
His playful gaze shifts in my direction. “I know you have a shrine of me somewhere in your house.”
“Your level of delusion is unmatched.” My eyes flare as I angle toward him, pairing intimidation with intimidation. The bounce of his Adam’s apple tells me my closeness made him at least swallow. It’s small, but I’ll take it.
Nate’s gaze darts across my face, inspecting me. Under his scrutiny, I’m self-conscious about everything. I should’ve washed my blonde hair instead of relying on day three of dry shampoo and a messy bun. The outfit that seemed perfect this morning now makes me feel like an Oompa-Loompa. The paint on my fingernails is chipped. My skin is dry and scaly. I have a pimple on my hairline that is too big to go unnoticed. And I’m one thousand percent sure I have chapped lips. This has to be the ugliest I’ve ever looked in my entire life. Not how you want to feel when the most put-together guy is giving you a once-over.
But his eyes don’t show disgust or even dislike. It’s some other kind of emotion that makes my heart slam into my ribs with every millisecond of this stare-down. Things feel more intense than they should, so I look away.
“Well, if you’re not going to leave, then I will.” I move to stand, but Nate’s hand is on my shoulder, pushing me down as he rises. His touch heats the entire left side of my body and doesn’t let up even when he removes it.
“I know when I’m not wanted.” He scoots his chair in before announcing, “I’ll catch you ladies tomorrow. I’m leaving for the day. I’m in a pickleball tournament. It’s championship bracket play.”
“You’re aware thatactualadults don’t have recess, right? We work the whole day until our shift ends at five.”
“It’s Friday.” He shrugs as if that’s all the reason he needs to leave early. “You know about Fridays, right? People usually have fun plans.”
Yeah, I know. I’m meeting my friends for dinner tonight, but I’m not offering up that information to Nate.
He gives a half-wave, half-salute. “Work smarter, not harder.”
“You’re such a child,” I mutter.
All eyes follow him until he exits.
