Page 83 of Winter at Wishington Bay
‘I’m not sure I’ve ever used a line in my life.’
‘Now that I don’t believe.’
Actually, I did. He really didn’t seem the type and frankly, the way he looked, I’d guess that lines weren’t terribly necessary.
‘It’s true,’ he said, curving a finger under my chin. ‘Besides, I’d never want to use a line on you, even if I could. I’ve had more than enough of trying to say the right thing. I love that you just say what you think and let me be the same. I think the first thing I noticed about you, once I’d recovered from the fact there was an extremely hot woman in my bathroom aiming a toilet brush at me, was how honest you are.’
‘I’m surprised that appealed.’
‘Admittedly, it was a little more honesty than I’d been expecting, but on the other hand I realised that for the first time in years, I knew exactly where I stood with someone. Even if it that somewhere felt like it was in the middle of a massive cow pat right at that moment. But still.’ He looked down, meeting my eyes. ‘I think I’m in big trouble here.’
I knew exactly what he meant.
‘And how do you feel about that?’
‘Pretty damn good, actually.’ His mouth grazed my temple as he spoke and I shivered again as the words whispered softly into my ear, but this time it was nothing to do with the cold.
‘You’re cold. We should—’
I didn’t know what he was going to say and didn’t care. All I wanted was Nate and, pressing myself closer, I tilted my face so that my lips caught his. Instantly, his arms tightened around me as his lips pressed down on mine, opening gently, inquisitively, as we staggered slightly against the window of the shop. His body shifted as he hands moved up, cradling my face as the kiss deepened. I forgot where I was, that I was kissing a man I didn’t actually know all that well in the street for everyone to see. I forgot that I’d been brought up to look upon such behaviour as common and that my mother, had she seen it, would have been the one in need of the smelling salts. None of that occurred to me. None of that mattered. All I thought of, all I could feel, was Nate.
‘So I guess you were looking for something after all?’ The voice cut into the moment and sliced it apart.
Nate lifted his head, resting it momentarily against mine as a small sigh escaped. Both of us recognised the voice, and neither of us had missed the tone that accompanied the words. He turned towards Corinne. She was standing a few feet from us, swaying slightly. The man who’d followed her into the shop earlier was on the pavement a little way back talking into his phone intently, his attention on something other than Corinne, which probably explained some of her annoyance. The rest of it was firmly centred on us.
Nate met her eyes but didn’t reply. His arms remained around me, and his look was even, his body language confident. He had no reason to explain himself to her, and clearly no intention of doing so. I fell a little bit more under his spell.
Corinne shifted her weight, glancing back at her date with irritation. ‘Are you going to be on that phone all night?’
He waved a hand and turned away, continuing the conversation. Corinne narrowed her eyes momentarily before looking back at me.
‘I guess he’s got a thing for older women. Some men get off on all those wrinkles and saggy bits.’ I felt Nate tense against me. She gave her already hoisted breasts another hoik so that they were in danger of escaping the bar wench’s outfit altogether.
‘I guess so,’ I said casually, giving a one shouldered, unconcerned shrug. ‘Lucky me.’ Nate’s embrace tightened.
Corinne’s mouth dropped open a little and I met her fiery gaze with my own cool one. Turns out certain experiences at a private girls’ school could prove useful later in life after all. I’d suffered my share of bitchiness and had found, after some trial and error, that not rising to the bait was one of the most effective ways of dealing with the comments.
‘Sorry, Babes.’ The man approached her, slipping his arm round her waist, his eyes resting on her boosted cleavage.
‘Finally!’ she snapped.
‘I know. Come on, let’s get back and try that jewellery on you…’ His lecherous gaze indicated that might be the only thing she would be wearing. Corinne softened a little in the light of the obvious adoration.
‘Fine. But no more phone calls or I’m going home. Alone.’
He made a show of putting his phone in his pocket and pulled Corinne closer to him. ‘Promise.’
She tossed her hair, her eyes on Nate rather than the man beside her.
‘Have a nice evening,’ she said, the tone implying all hopes were for exactly the opposite.
Nate nodded at them both before returning his attention to me. ‘Come on, you’re freezing,’ he said, wrapping his long line jacket round me despite the fact he was still in it. I snuggled in against him, the feeling of care and attention unusual. It was a simple gesture but it meant such a lot and I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt that way. Like I was something special. Something, or rather someone, who was worth taking the time to care for.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Corinne give a parting glare as we turned towards my door and I fished in a pocket for my key.
‘I’m sorry about that,’ Nate said as we closed the door on the cold outside. ‘I should have been more wary.’
‘Oh, don’t worry about it. She’s never liked me anyway. Scared off a previous waitress apparently too. You showing up with all your hotness just made it worse,’ I winked at him. ‘But I can handle Corinne,’ I said, giving a little shiver as the warmth of my cosy flat began to permeate into my bones.
