by Amy Lamont
This time I sighed out loud and then grabbed my drink off the bar, using it to hide my discomfort. I usually felt out of place and a bit awkward in these types of social situations. But in this case, I was so out of my depth, I could almost feel the icy water closing over my head. Maybe I should just call it a night.
As I had the thought, the amusement dropped from Nate’s face. The shutters came down over his eyes again and there wasn’t even the hint of a smile around his mouth.
“Something wrong?” he asked.
I put my drink down on the bar with a loud plunk. There probably wasn’t enough alcohol here to lubricate me to the point of losing my inhibitions, especially with a man like Nate. What on earth was I thinking with this scheme?
I reached for my small clutch. “You know, maybe I should just...”
Before I could form an excuse or an explanation, Nate reached out and placed a hand on my knee. “Hey, what just happened here?”
I looked at him and wanted to cringe. That stripped bare, itchy-under-the-skin feeling I had when I thought about other people reading my articles assailed me. I shifted uncomfortably on my stool and my skin where he touched me burned to the point it was almost painful.
I raised wide eyes from the hand on my knee to meet his gaze. “I don’t think I’m very good at this,” I whispered.
His gaze sharpened and his voice was like the edge of a razor. “Good at what?”
I shrunk into myself a little at his coldness. But since I started this, I might as well go all in with completely mortifying myself. I flicked a hand back and forth, gesturing between us. “This. Flirting. Trying to pick up a stranger in a bar. I don’t do things like this.” I dropped my voice to a whisper on the last few words and my face turned down toward my lap.
“You don’t do things like this?”
The cold had leached from his voice, leaving it a little warmer and almost raw like a growl.
The sound made me lift my head and search his face before I told him, “I don’t do things like this. Ever.”
And it was the truth. The two semi-serious boyfriends I’d had were both guys I’d first been friends with. In both cases, the more-than-friends thing had slowly developed and then slowly fizzled out again. I wasn’t a virgin, but neither was I the type to have mad passionate sex with a stranger.
“I’m sorry,” I offered.
He smiled. A genuine smile with real warmth. “Why are you apologizing again?”
I shrugged. “I feel like I misrepresented myself here.”
He outright grinned this time. “By sitting down next to me at the bar and exchanging small talk?”
“We both know it’s more than that. The dress,” I waved my hand down to show off my barely there dress, “the cleavage, the long stares.” I shook my head. “It’s not that I’m not attracted to you. It’s because I am that I even took things this far. But really, I don’t want to waste any more of your time.”
I started to slide off my stool, holding tightly to my clutch. Before I got more than one foot down, he wrapped a hand around my upper arm to hold me in place.
“Wait,” he said.
My lips parted. “Wait?”
“Wait.” He gave my arm a gentle squeeze. “Just wait.”
I froze in my spot, held motionless by the look in his beautiful amber eyes. “Wait for what?”
“This.” He leaned down and brushed his lips against mine, once and then again, before pulling back only enough to leave a breath of space between our mouths.
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Ready for more Emma and Nate? Grab Christmas with the Billionaire (Holiday Encounters Book 1) on Amazon here:
Christmas with the Billionaire
A Note From Amy
Dear Reader,
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I hope you enjoyed getting to know Mason and Serena. They hold a special place in my heart, and I can’t wait for you to meet more of the men and women of Kismet Beach!
Up next from this series, is Mandy’s Marine: A Kismet Beach Novel. You got to meet Mason’s sister Mandy in Serena’s Soldier. and in Mandy’s Marine, you’ll get to find out about the heartache she suffered and the fight she went through to find her own happily every after.
Mandy’s Marine releases as part of a multi-author box set in March of 2017. To keep up with this, as well as all my other news and new releases, you can sign up for my newsletter here: Amy’s Mailing List.
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And I’m always happy to hear from my readers. If you’d like to get in touch, you can contact me at [email protected]
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Happy Reading!
Amy Lamont