Gross.
“Wow.” I smile because it’s what I do. I’m non-confrontational. “That’s an interesting way of putting it.”
With a muttered, “Sorry,” this gorgeous Nate person takes a long pull from his beer. “That was a bad way of putting it.”
“No worries.”
“You keep saying that. You nervous or something, honey?”
I’m going to ignore the “honey” part of that question for now. “No. I’m not nervous, although I am out of my element.” I give this sexy man a small smile.
“Why’d you come here then?”
I look back over my shoulder, then point my thumb in Robin’s direction. “My friend wanted to come here. She said she wanted to live on the wild side.” Repeating her words makes me laugh. Just like I did when she said it the first time.
Nate takes a moment to look back at Robin, then he scans the rest of the bar. “Wild side, huh?” He smirks. “It’s quiet tonight.”
I follow his lead and look around the packed bar. The music is loud with the sounds of heavy metal surrounding us. Every table has bottles and empty glasses sitting on top of them, and there are currently two women dancing on the bar, one to my left, the other on the right. “Quiet?” I snicker this time because he’s got to be kidding. “Really?”
“Nobody’s gotten into a knife fight yet and it’s almost midnight.”
“Oh.” The smile I’ve had on my face since Nate sat down beside me has vanished. “Are you serious?” Because if he is, I need to get Robin out of here.
“Nah.” Nate reaches out and touches my upper arm, right at my shoulder. Then he lets that big, warm hand slide down over the short sleeve of my floral top and onto my bare arm. I swear I hear a crackling sound the second his hand touches my skin. Goose bumps pop up all over me. Everywhere. “I’m not serious, babe.”
Babe?
His palm is resting on my forearm now, and I can’t help feeling the urge to tell him to keep it there. It feels that good. Taking a pull of his beer, he places it back onto the bar, then asks, “What did Mad Dog say to you?”
“When?”
“What line did he use on you?”
How did he know?My expression must say everything he needs to know, because he adds, “Mad Dog is known for the lines he uses on women.”
“Oh.” I nod. “Well…” I laugh nervously. “He asked me if I knew we have 206 bones in our body.”
Nate blinks a few times, looks to his right momentarily, then back at me. “What’d you say?”
“Well, I didn’t get a chance to respond, because he asked me….” The memory makes me laugh again.
“What?” Nate’s face changes just then. I wouldn’t say he smiled, but there was something that made him look less, well, crotchety. “What’d he say then?”
Oh, god. I can’t believe I’m going to repeat this in front of the best-looking man I’ve ever seen but he asked, so… “He asked me if I wanted one more.”
Nate stares at me for a second or two. Then something happens that I’ll probably remember for the rest of my life, because Nate whatever-his-last-name-is throws his head back and releases a laugh so sexy, so raspy, and so deep, I feel it in my Hanes Her Way panties. From my vantage point, I get a glimpse of his neck and the beard that’s just started to grow there. I wonder if that scruff’s from one day or two. “Jesus.” Nate wipes his face with his palm. “That fucker. That’s a good one.”
“I thought so.” I nod with a smile. “Creative.”
“He puts us all to shame.”
“Does it work?” I really need to know. “For him, I mean?”
“More than you’d think.” Nate chuckles again.
“What’s your pickup line, then?”What am I doing?I shouldn’t be asking, but I’m curious.
“I keep it simple.” Nate gives me a smug little smile, and all I can think is,I just bet he does. A guy as hot as him probably doesn’t evenneeda pickup line. A sexy smirk, a wink, heck, he could probably just beckon women with a finger. No matter; I’m holding my breath because Nate has moved closer to me. He’s leaned in enough for his mouth to be about an inch from my right ear. His breath is warm there. I lean in a little too and take another whiff of his scent. I swear he’s doing the same thing with me. Then he says, “You wanna fuck?”
