Taylor,” he murmured playfully, as he draped his arm around her waist. She grinned and gripped the front of his shirt and pulled him closer to her, looking at him with that look; it wasn’t love; it was something else, almost like he was the centre of her world. It was embarrassing, and way too much for me to be seeing when I had no one to look at me like that.
I cleared my throat dramatically, and Anna sighed, pulling away from her husband. She tore her eyes away from him and looked at me.
“Nate, I could un-invite you, you know,” she scolded playfully.
“Well then I’ll give these flowers to Rosie if you do.” I shrugged and put them on the counter, along with the bottle of wine I’d brought.
Anna picked them up, smiling gratefully. “Thanks, Nate, these are beautiful.” She hugged me and headed over to get a vase to put them in.
My gaze flicked to Rosie who was looking at me with an air of surprise. “What? You didn’t think I was a nice guy?” I guessed.
An apologetic smile crept onto her lips. “No, I just… I don’t know.” She shrugged and turned back to help Anna put the flowers in the vase.
Ashton looked at me knowingly as he stepped to my side. “I know why you’re here, so I’m just gonna say this; please, don’t hurt her. If this is just about sex, then be straight with her about it, don’t lead her on.” His expression was stern and protective.
I nodded innocently. “Chill, bud, she’s not interested anyway. She already told me she has a man, so I’ve got no chance.”
He frowned and cocked his head to the side. “She told you that?”
“Yeah, some dude called DJ.” I shrugged, not really wanting to talk about the lucky bastard that got to go to bed with her every night. Ashton must know him because he was the one who asked about him the previous night at the bar.
A wicked grin spread across his face as he nodded. “Yeah, she has a man called DJ, he’s-” he looked like he was about to say more, but Anna turned around and looped her arms around his waist which, of course, caught his interest immediately.
“Let’s eat then, I’m starving,” she suggested. “You pour the wine and I’ll get the food. Oh, and before you ask me, Nate, yes, I did make the lasagne myself.” She stuck her tongue out at me and I grinned happily. Anna was a really good cook. Hopefully it wouldn’t all get eaten tonight, and then I could take the rest home with me to save me from toasted sandwiches and microwaved dinners like usual.
“Sweet.” I slipped my arm around Rosie’s waist and guided her to the table. “Muffin, you can sit near me and we can save each other from all the flirting those two will do over dinner,” I suggested, pulling her chair out for her, remembering this time how to behave like a gentleman.
She chuckled and sat down. “And who’s going to save me from all the flirting you’re going to do over dinner?”
“Hmm, you’re right, there’s no hope for you, you’re screwed.” I shrugged and slipped into the chair next to hers.
The rest of the night went like that. It was fun, as it usually was hanging out with Ashton and Anna, but Rosie just seemed to add something extra. We were laughing all night, and she was definitely warming to me. I kept the flirting to a minimum and tried to keep my conversation intelligent and interesting. Surprisingly, we actually had a lot in common. The more we talked, the more I noticed it – movies, music, hell, even her favourite book was the same as mine. Rosie was getting scarier and scarier by the second.
As the night wound down and it got later, I decided it was time to leave the new parents in peace. I smiled hopefully over at Rosie. We’d had a really great night and we got on really well. I silently wondered what would happen if I asked her out again. Would she still say no and go home to her man? One last try, I decided, and then I was calling it quits.
“Want a ride home?” I offered, standing up.
She smiled gratefully. “Really? You don’t mind?”
“Sure, it’s no problem.”
She grinned happily and pushed herself up, saying goodbye to Anna and Ashton before following me to the door. I purposefully stopped next to the mirror in the hallway and waited for her to catch up to me. She slipped on her shoes and smiled.
“Come here a second.” I gripped her hand, pulling her closer to me, showing her where to stand. I stepped closer to her side and pulled her arm around my waist while I draped my arm around her shoulder and nodded towards the mirror. “You definitely look good on me,” I teased. Actually, it wasn’t really a joke, we certainly made a hot couple, even if I did say so myself.
She gasped and pushed me away. “Your flirting is going to give me a nose bleed if you don’t stop soon,” she joked, putting her hands on my back and pushing me out of the apartment.
Anna shouted me quickly just as we were about to walk away, and held out a dish filled with half a leftover lasagne.
“I want my dish back, and please wash it this time,” she begged, grimacing slightly.
I hugged her, kissing her cheek and as thanks. “You’re the best.”
“Thanks for dinner, guys, it was great.” Rosie smiled.
“Good luck at work tomorrow. Call me and let me know how it went,” Anna instructed, hugging her quickly.
As we walked down to my car, I stole little glances at Rosie. “So, how are you finding LA so far?” I probed, trying to get her talking.
She shrugged. “It’s alright. Too big for me really, but I think once I get used to it, it’ll be better. The people are rude here sometimes; I accidentally bumped into a woman earlier when I was at the store, and I swear she was going to kill me,” she answered, shuddering.
Barstow was a far cry from LA, that was for sure. She’d have to get used to that kind of thing compared to what she classed as ‘normal’.
“You’ll get used to it. Just learn to stay away from the weirdos, or become one, that way people will stay away from you,” I suggested.
When we got to my car I made a point of opening her door. She grinned. “My, we really are being a gentleman today, Nate; pulling out my chair, opening a door. What’s next? Will I be getting flowers?” she teased.
“If you agreed to come out with me, you would.” I winked at her as I closed her door and walked round to my side of the car with a hopeful smile on my face. This was going well, and I was on my best behaviour; plus, she’d had a little to drink, so maybe my luck was changing.
She directed me to her apartment, and I looked at her sideways as we drove down her road. It wasn’t exactly the nicest street in LA that she’d chosen to relocate to.
“This one’s me.” She pointed to a really crappy looking building that was covered in graffiti. The only thing it appeared to have going for it was that there was no one hanging around outside it. I pulled in and cut the engine, deciding to walk her to her door, just in case.
“I’ll walk you in.” I got out before she could protest.
She met me on the other side of the car, smiling gratefully as she dug around in her purse for her keys. “You don’t have to; I’ll be fine,” she assured me, heading to the door and punching in a code for the external door to unlock.
“I want to, pumpkin.” I shrugged. She rolled her eyes and pushed the door open, and I was pleased to see it was a lot nicer inside than it was out. The inner hall looked fairly clean and no graffiti covered the walls.
I followed her up to the second floor, and she stopped outside her door.
“Want to come in for a coffee or something?” she asked.
I felt like doing a victory dance just because she didn’t actually want rid of me yet which was a step in the right direction. “Or something would be nice.” I looked at her suggestively and she groaned.
“I walked right into that one, huh?”
I threw my arm around her shoulder and nodded sadly. “Yep, sweetness, you did.”
Laughing, she pushed the door open, holding it open for me to go in after her. I followed her in eagerly, looking around. The apartment was basic, and half unpa
cked boxes were stacked all over the place.
“Coffee?” she offered, as she headed towards her poky little kitchen.
“Sure.” I followed her in, watching as she made it. I couldn’t keep my eyes away from her ass. Every time she turned around, my hands were itching to grab her, so I shoved them in my pockets to remove the temptation.
“So, it looks like you’re almost done moving in,” I observed, trying to distract myself from staring at her body.
Rosie sighed and nodded, frowning at the two boxes in the corner, labelled kitchen non-essentials. “Yeah, jeez, I hate moving. It’s such a pain. You don’t realise how much crap you hoard until you’re boxing it all up,” she muttered, handing me a mug of coffee and nodding towards the sugar pot for me to help myself.
I shook my head, smiling. “I’m sweet enough.”
“Of course you are, I should have guessed.” She heaped two spoonfuls in hers.
“And you obviously need more sweetening to take off that hard, defensive edge,” I noted.
She laughed and rolled her eyes. “Come on, flirt, let’s go sit down.” She headed into the lounge and plopped herself onto the two-seater sofa. I could have sat on one of the chairs, but I decided just to go for it, so I sat on the opposite end of the sofa to her, making her shift slightly and turn towards me a little more, tucking her legs up under her body. “So, did you make it to work on time the other day? You obviously got the train okay,” she asked, sipping her coffee, watching me.
“Yeah, but I had a pretty bad day that day so I kind of wish I’d missed the train,” I admitted.
Her head cocked to the side curiously. “Yeah? What happened?”
“I killed someone,” I answered, waiting for her reaction.
She gasped and set her mug down onto the side unit, looking at me intently. “Really? How?”
“It’s a long story that I don’t want to bore you with.” I shrugged.
She shifted awkwardly in her seat. “Sorry, you probably don’t want to talk about it. I shouldn’t have asked; you just looked a little stressed about it…” she trailed off, wincing apologetically. I could see the worry on her face and it actually made her look adorable. I’d never really had anyone that wanted to listen to me talk about my day before.
“It’s not that I don’t want to talk about it,” I assured her. “It’s just that I don’t want you to think I’m a bad person because of my job,” I explained, watching for her reaction.
She frowned and shook her head. “Nate, I won’t think you’re a bad person. Someone has to do that job, and you just so happen to be the guy with the stomach, the guts, and the determination to be able to see and do horrific things every day. I’d never look at that as a bad thing. People like you keep the streets safer. How could anyone possibly think that a bad thing?” she asked, her eyes not leaving mine.
I smiled gratefully. This girl was incredible, unlike any other girl I’d met before.
“It’s not a bad thing, but sometimes it just feels like one.”
“Because you had to kill someone?”
“Yeah. I needed to do it otherwise he would have killed one of my team, but that doesn’t stop me thinking about it after. It’s hard because the guy was a drug dealer and all round bad dude, but I was the one to kill him, and part of me still feels bad about it. That’s the worst part of my job.” I frowned down at my cup.
Her hand moved across the sofa slowly and took mine. My heart sped at the casual touch. This was actually the first time she’d willingly touched me, and it made me feel a little strange inside.
“Nate, not everyone can do a job like yours; most people just aren’t strong enough. I don’t know what to say to make you feel better about it, and maybe there’s nothing I can say, but you did the right thing. You might not like that part of your job, and you wouldn’t be human if you didn’t feel guilty, but don’t ever lose sight of the fact that you’re one of the good guys. You took a life, but you saved at least one life because of it. Who knows how many other people that guy might have killed in his lifetime, even just by accident because of the drugs he sold. Don’t ever forget that your job is important. It makes people like me feel safer to know that there are people like you out there in the world,” she said fiercely.
My mood and guilt lifted instantly at her words. That was the most perfect thing she could have said.
“Thanks, Rose.”
Her breath seemed to catch in her throat as she looked at me, and I desperately wanted to lean in and kiss her, just to see what she’d do. Would she push me off and scream at me to get out, or would she kiss me back now that she’d started to get to know me? She was just looking at me, as I was at her. Neither of us spoke, and I didn’t want to be the one to break the silence. I could almost feel the little sparks of electricity in the air. The hair on the back of my neck was standing up on end, and my whole body was trying to force me to reach out and touch her.
It seemed like an age that we sat there in silence, but in reality was probably only a few seconds. She cleared her throat nervously and looked away from me. “It’s getting late, you should probably go. Thanks for the ride home. I had a really nice time tonight,” she said quietly, pushing herself up off the sofa.
I nodded, getting to my feet and not even mentioning the fact that I hadn’t even had time to drink my coffee before she was asking me to leave. I had a feeling that the little silence after that heavy discussion had made her feel a little uncomfortable, so I didn’t want to make it worse.
“So, how are you celebrating your first day on the job tomorrow? Going out with someone?” I asked, mentally crossing my fingers that she’d say no. This was the last time I was asking her out. I couldn’t keep being rejected by this girl.
She shook her head. “Nope. I don’t know that many people. Anna’s got Cameron, so I can’t ask her, and my sister’s busy, so…” she trailed off, shrugging.
My spirits lifted instantly. “Great. I’ll pick you up at around seven thirty.”
She looked at me, shocked, and then a sarcastic smile spread across her face, as if she thought it was some kind of joke. “Okay, player, I’ll see you then,” she replied.
“Yeah? Sweet.”
Her smile faltered as a frown lined her forehead. Before she had a chance to take back her acceptance, I strutted to the door. “Wait, Nate, that was a joke, right?” she called to my back as I reached for the door handle.
“No way, muffin, you’ve agreed now. I’ll be here at seven thirty on the dot,” I answered, grinning over my shoulder.
“Nate, I can’t.” Her mouth carried on moving after she spoke, but nothing else came out.
“Sure you can. You said you have no one to go out with tomorrow. You need to celebrate your first day at work. Your man’s still in Barstow; you’ll be eating alone. I’ll be eating alone too, so it makes sense for us to go out. Just as friends if you want to.” I shrugged, giving her my puppy dog face, girls literally went crazy for it, so I didn’t pull it out very often, but then again, I wasn’t used to not getting my own way.
She sighed, looking a little pained before she finally nodded in agreement. “Okay, yeah, sure. I can’t let you eat on your own, can I? But just as friends though. This isn’t a date.”
I bit back a growl of victory. I actually wanted to fist-pump the air chanting she-said-yes over and over, but I resisted the urge. She said it wasn’t a date, but hopefully by the end of the night tomorrow, I’d be able to convince her that it was a date, and not just a friendly dinner.
“See now, that wasn’t so hard, and I didn’t even have to embarrass you for you to agree. We really are on the up and up,” I teased, winking at her and pulling open the door, wanting to run away as quickly as I could before she could change her mind.
She laughed and leant against the doorframe, pressing her forehead against it, closing her eyes. “Hmm, well I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Try not to dream about me too much tonight, huh? I don’t want you having hot
, inappropriate dream flashbacks while you’re teaching tomorrow.” I smirked at her as she laughed and shook her head.
“I’ll try, but it’s gonna be hard,” she answered sarcastically.
“Oh, it’s always hard, but maybe that’s just around you.”
She groaned. “Just leave, slut, before I change my mind. You really are talking yourself into reheated lasagne for one tomorrow.”
I practically skipped back to my car. For the first time since I met her, I felt like I could properly relax. I didn’t realise how on edge I’d been all week. I actually couldn’t wait for tomorrow night; she’d finally conceded, well, slightly conceded because she insisted it was a friendly thing. I had all night to work on her tomorrow; at least there was a slight chance I’d be getting some tomorrow night. Once I’d had her, my life would fall back into place, and I’d be able to go about everything as business as usual. I sighed confidently and drove home with a smile on my face.
Chapter Six
Throughout the following day, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. It annoyed the hell out of me that she was so hot and unavailable. I’d always wanted what I couldn’t have.
My mind flicked to Rosie again, and a strange excitement resided in the base of my stomach. I knew tonight was just a