“Babe?”
I look over at a shirtless Nate Black. Oh, I forgot to mention that I also got his last name. Gah, isn’t it perfect for him? NateBlack. It sounds as mysterious as the man himself. Anyway, all he’s got on are a pair of athletic pants that hug him in all the right places and hang loosely in even better places.
Yummy places.
“Megan? You listening?”
Megan?He repeated my name a million times last night. “Uh, yes.” I give him my best smile. At least as good as it gets at seven in the morning. Heck, I usually sleep until noon on Sundays since the shop is closed. No matter, I push myself up a little bit onto my elbow and attempt to look seductive. I wouldn’t mind another round.
“Get your shit. It’s time for you to leave.”
“Oh.” I blink, a lot. I guess a fourth round is off the table. The heat of embarrassment washes over my face. Ignoring that telltale burn of tears, I say, “Of course.” Clearing my throat, I roll to the side of the bed, facing him. As I start to lift the sheet, I look up again. He’s standing in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Today,” he snaps, and now my embarrassment turns into something far worse. Anger.
“If you’ll give me some privacy.”
He laughs. “Babe. I’ve seen everything.”
I arch my brow and give him my very best stink eye.
“Fine.” He turns to leave. “Just hurry the hell up. I’ve got shit to do today.”
I watch the jerk leave and do just as he instructed. I race around the room looking for my things. I spot my shirt and jeans first. My bra is hanging on the closet knob, and I end up crawling around on the floor for a few minutes in search of my underwear. I’m just about to give up and go commando when I spy something light pink and cotton in the sheets. Snatching those up, I slide them on, and the rest follows. My shoes are nowhere to be found, and the same goes for my purse. My breath catches when I remember what happened right after he shut his front door. That’s when he wrapped me up in his big arms and kissed the hell out of me. My purse dropped first, and my shoes fell off my feet as he lifted me off the ground a little.
“No.” I shake off the memories. The guy from last night is gone. All that’s left is this grouchy ass.
In the hallway, I look right, then left to see which way I need to go. Right. I stomp into the huge open space that houses his kitchen, dining, and living room. I look right and see the windows I mentioned earlier. The memory of my bare back against the cool glass as he licked—
“No.” I’m talking to myself, but Nate doesn’t seem to know that.
“No. You aren’t leaving?” He sighs and runs his fingers through his thick hair. It’s messy but it still looks damn good. “Look, Matilda.”
Matilda?I growl, literally. “My name is—”
“I don’t fucking care what your name is. We fucked. That’s it. You were adequate. Now get your shit and go.”
Adequate?I growl again and stomp over to the front door. My shoes are neatly placed next to the door with my purse resting beside them.
Before he can say one more nasty word to me, I grab my shoes and purse, open the door, and leave.
I hope I never see Nate Black again.Ever.
3
Nate
I’m an asshole.
Nobody is going to dispute that point, but I’ll admit something to you. That, back there with Maggy, was difficult. Yes, I remember her name. Fuck, it’s burned on my brain, and that sucks. Everything I just did sucks. More so than usual because I like her. She’s goddamn sexy, sure. She knows what she’s doing in the sack, which I appreciate, but that’s not what has me feeling guilty. It’s that she’s fun. She made me laugh which—fuck—I don’t remember the last time I laughed like that.
I made a few mistakes with her, like telling her things I haven’t told anyone, not in a long time. Sure, I kept most of my shit to myself, but telling her my life is stressful was probably too much.
Ha. Stressful.
That’s putting it mildly.
And fucked-up.
