My mouth drops at the snarky comment.
I shoot up from the bench, ready to shove him—anything to make him feel a fraction of the pinch that was—when hishand closes around my wrist, stopping me before I can land the blow.
A gasp tears from my throat as he pulls down, and I stumble, my legs settling on either side of him. His palms grip my hips, steadying me—a searing imprint I know I’ll feel for days.
I look into his green eyes, wondering if he feels the same when—
“Yo, Nate. I’m about to head out. You good to lock up for the night?”
I jump back at the intrusion with a hand on my heart. My head snaps toward the voice to find that we’re still locked away in the changing room.
“Ya, all good,” Nate yells back.
I look down at the floor, unable to make eye contact with the man as he stands, a hand holding onto the towel around his waist. It’s the only thing between me and seeing him fully exposed like earlier in the showers.
“See you next week, Nate,” Griffin says as his footsteps begin to fade.
“That’s my friend. He’s the owner of the gym. He let me book it for the day for privacy. Grayson was here earlier.”
“Oh,” I say.
What else is a girl supposed to respond with when all she has are dirty, bad thoughts running through her brain?
“About our supposed date,” Nate continues, blowing out a breath. “Do you want to head back to the bakery or let it be?”
I can’t bring myself to meet his eyes—not after finding myself in his lap, and definitely not after enjoying the feel of his hands on my body.
“Maybe we can just leave it at that?” I unlock my phone to check the time. “I should head back to the lab and get some work done.”
Nate doesn’t fight me on it, only nods and flicks open the lock of the changing stall. I step back a bit, letting him swing the door open before slipping away from the magnet that is Nate Archer.
“I’ll see you around?” I ask, as if we didn’t have a calendar deciding when we’d see each other.
He gives me a curt nod, answering regardless. “See you around, Vivienne Brown.”
“Have a great evening, Nate Archer.” I reciprocate the gesture and walk away without glancing back, forcing myself to ignore the rapid pounding of my heart.
CHAPTER 13
NATE
One way or another, I’m going to make it up to her.
Vivienne is right—standing her up the way I did was unacceptable, and I really have no excuses.
Although I may have genuinely forgotten about our fake date—too consumed by my anger for Carter and the mess my life has become to think straight—I did see her string of incoming calls, and I did decide to ignore them.
Now, I realize how wrong that was.
She could have been in the middle of some life-and-death situation—perhaps attacked by another goose, run over by a car, or both at once—and I would never have known. All because I’d been too selfish to think of anyone but myself.
Not to mention, I was a little bitter to see the name of the woman who kissed me with her intoxicating red lips and ran away like it never happened. No phone call. No text. No debrief on how she felt. I was left in the dust, replaying the scene in my head and questioning where I went wrong.
I shake the thought away. Now isn’t the time to dwell on how right her mouth felt against mine. I need to make it up to her.
Make out with her?
My eyes wince in shame as the idea returns as quickly as it vanished.
