by Moon, Mia
“Come on, tell me.”
“I’m a nerd,” he said with a dramatic sigh. “I work with network security.”
I couldn’t keep the shock from my voice. “Whoa. From hockey to IT? Seriously? I’ve never seen a computer guy who looked like…” I trailed off and sucked in my breath. God, I was so bad at flirting.
He watched me, brow arched. My reaction clearly amused him. “Like what?”
“Hot,” I whispered. I couldn’t help it. The word had just slipped out, and now I felt like a fool.
He leaned close to speak against my ear. “You should see my tattoos.”
I nodded, unsure what to say. My burning cheeks felt like they'd soon catch fire, but there was no escaping this situation. There was no calm or suave way to jump up and run outside to bury my face in the snow. Instead, I just stared forward and bit my bottom lip.
“Too much?” he asked finally.
“Nah,” I grinned, liking him even more.
“So, what do you do? You said you had a project you were working on.”
I appreciated the change of topic. I could discuss work. "I do graphic design and a little bit of programming. I got picked up by a small—and I mean tiny—game developer. I'm handling the majority of their initial sprites and animations." Nathan looked interested, so I continued. It wasn't every day I got to talk about my job, and I was super excited to have landed it. "It's a lucky break to be able to work on this sort of project. They offered to let me work remotely, but I got a bonus for moving. Still, most days I work from home."
Nathan eyed me, his eyes, half-lidded and sensuous. “See, that’s hot.”
“Huh?”
“Do you play games, then?” he asked.
“Yeah. That’s how I met these guys, actually.”
Nathan looked me over as if seeing me for the first time. “I can forgive your ignorance of hockey now. A gorgeous woman who plays computer games and does coding and graphics?” He patted his chest. “I think my heart just stopped. You’re much hotter than me.”
His words hit me like a torpedo. I liked to believe that during college I left a lot of my awkwardness behind, but even in the years of dating, I'd never met a man who called me gorgeous. And Nathan seemed to mean it.
His eyes roamed me like I was precious treasure, and I hadn't missed that over the course of practice he'd scooted closer until his thigh was pressed up against mine and he could easily wrap his arm around me with no effort.
“I, uh. I mean, yeah, you just keep continuing to be not what I expect from an IT guy,” I rambled.
“I suppose you’ve met a lot of us?”
I pursed my lips. I didn’t want him to think I’d dated a lot. Or maybe he just meant ‘met’ in a professional sense. “Four years of college worth, plus I tried my hand at working in retail computer repair at one point. I don’t recommend that to anyone, by the way. But yeah… there’s a bit of a type, and you aren’t it.”
“I’m hoping that’s a good thing.”
“That’s a great thing,” I laughed. I bit my lower lip to tone down my enthusiasm. “I mean, it’s really a neutral thing. I just…”
Nathan chuckled and stood. He stretched his tall form and held out his hand to help me up. I took it and stood, feeling small next to him. At five-four, it seemed like he had at least ten inches on me.
“They should be heading out now. I don’t want you to miss your friend,” Nathan said with an odd expression.
“Yeah.” I fumbled with my coat and pulled out my phone. “I guess I should get your number though. For the date.”
He took my phone and keyed in his number. “Definitely wouldn’t want to forget that.”
* * *
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