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  “He’s cute!” Jessie said next Claire, nudging her in the side.

  Jessie and Claire had been working together for years. Jessie had that girl next door look. Without a doubt she would get hit on at least once during her shift. She even had regulars come in just to see her.

  They both got on a like a house on fire. She was similar in age to Claire, and they both had the same interests and hobbies. Including the same view on eye candy, so Claire wasn’t surprised that Jessie had noticed Nate.

  “You guys dating or something?”

  “No, no. Nothing like that. Just friends.”

  Claire turned her gaze from Nate, who was casually looking at the DVD’s, and continued scanning the returned movies to get them ready to go back out on the shelves.

  “Only friends?” Jessie said in disbelief. “I have trouble believing that.”

  “Well apart from the obvious fact that I already have a boyfriend,” Claire said unamused, “he’s only a friend-”

  Jessie interrupted. “So you wouldn’t mind me going over and talking to him.”

  Yes I would mind. “Of course not, go ahead,” Claire said quietly, trying to hide her level of discomfort.

  But she did mind. She didn’t want Jessie flirting with Nate. The thought of them together didn’t sit right with her. But who was she to say any different? She had no claim on him. Then why was she feeling like this? Her heart pounded in her chest as she watched Jessie approach Nate.

  Nate turned to Jessie and smiled. They both started engaging in conversation, unfazed by each other.

  Jessie’s flirting was obvious, obvious enough that Claire noticed it from across the room.

  Jessie was gorgeous, and she knew it. Maybe even Nate knew it? No, she thought, please don’t.

  She wanted to run over and steal him away from her. She found herself getting angry at Jessie. Mad at her for what she was doing. But Jessie was her friend; they’d never fought before. She’d flirted with guys before, even Dave before Claire and Dave started dating, and it had never worried her. But it worried her now.

  Shit! I’m freakin’ jealous.

  She watched them converse with each other up and down the aisles, picking up movies together and looking at them. Each passing moment making her feel even more sick to the stomach.

  She was jealous, and she knew it. There was no other explanation. But why was she jealous? They were just friends. Friends.

  She avoided Nate’s eye contact as he approached the counter a few minutes later. Instead of serving him, Claire quickly walked away to let Jessie take care of him, since clearly she was doing a good job of it already.

  Thankfully the staff taking over from her arrived, meaning it was her home time. She grabbed her bag from the back room and headed through the shop to the front entrance. She could see out of the corner of her eye that Jessie and Nate weren’t at the counter anymore, but she didn’t want to search around and find them. She quickly walked out of the shop, angry at them, angry at herself.

  “What’s your problem, now?”

  She turned to see Nate leaning up against the wall, alone.

  “Nothing,” Claire snapped.

  Nate peeled himself off the wall and walked towards her. “Really? Because you’ve spent the last fifteen minutes giving me death stares and ignoring me.”

  Claire held her handbag tightly against her, rocking back on her heels. What was she supposed to say to him? ‘I was pissed because I’m jealous’?

  So instead of admitting her ridiculous jealousy she stayed quiet, biting her lip.

  “Claire…”

  Nate moved closer, placing his hands on her shoulders, his eyes staring into hers.

  Those eyes would be the end of her.

  “It’s just…I mean…Jessie, seriously?”

  Nate frowned in thought. His head tilted sideways, then the biggest smirk she’d ever seen spread across his face.

  “You’re jealous!” Nate cackled, loud enough that the whole street could hear.

  “I’m not jealous! I’m just…”

  Nate laughed even harder. “You so are!”

  Claire shook her head. “Whatever,” she said softly.

  When Nate had finally stopped laughing and composed himself he asked, “Why would you be jealous?”

  Claire searched his face for an answer. But all that she could find was the eyes of quite possibly the most gorgeous, sexy, infuriating guy she’d ever met.

  She was going insane. She had to be.

  “I dunno…”

  Nate pulled his hands to her cheeks. “Would you prefer that you had flirted with me instead?” he said in a deep voice.

  “No,” she choked, not sounding convincing at all.

  She closed her eyes. Any second longer she took looking into those deep, dark eyes consumed her.

  His hands left her face, but were quickly replaced by his breath. “You wouldn’t like what we were talking about then.”

  Her eyes shot open. She stepped back and hit him with her bag. “You!”

  Nate chuckled. “What!”

  “You’re such an ass!”

  Nate shook his head. “We weren’t talking about anything dirty. We were talking about you.”

  “Me?”

  “Yes, you.” Nate smiled.

  “What about me?”

  “Wouldn’t you like to know?” he said, winking at her and walking off towards her car.

  This time her body was saying yes and her mind was saying no as she followed him willingly to her car. Why she wanted to spend time with him was beside her, but she followed him anyway.

  ***

  “So what movie did you end up getting anyway?” Claire asked Nate as they walked towards her living room.

  Nate had had serious trouble trying to pick a movie they both would enjoy, especially since he really had no idea what kind of movies Claire was into. Thankfully Jessie had come over at the prime time and picked out a couple of choices that she knew Claire would like.

  “Well the title says what you might have had this morning, although I doubt you had as crazy of a night like in the movie,” Nate replied, opening the DVD player and placing the movie inside.

  Claire sat down on the couch with a piece of pizza in her hand and a very confused look on her face.

  “Huh?” she mumbled through her mouthful of food.

  Nate watched her drop a piece of food from her mouth onto her lap, pick it up and put it back in her mouth in a very unladylike manner.

  He grinned in amusement. “I think you missed a bit,” he said pointing to the gap between her breasts.

  Without hesitation she peered down her cleavage, looking for the bit of food that she thought was there.

  Nate smiled to himself at his devious ploy, a tactic that worked brilliantly when Claire began fondling her breasts in an attempt to find the non-existent piece of food.

  “Where is-” She cut herself off when she looked up and saw the smug look on Nate’s face. “Oh you’re such a dick! I didn’t miss anything did I?”

  He shook his head slowly.

  She groaned in response, picked up the nearby pillow and threw it at his head. He caught it mid-air and flung it back to her. Following its direction, he sat on the couch next to her.

  Instead of giving up though, she threw the pillow right back at him, catching him off guard. He picked it up and held it in his hands, looking over at Claire who had complacent look on her face.

  “I always did love a pillow fight,” he said playfully.

  The look on her face was priceless as he threw the pillow back at her, quickly grabbing another one beside him and throwing that as well.

  Her determination got the better of both of them as they shot pillows back and forth between them like lightening. The moment Claire’s aim was out, sending a pillow past Nate’s head behind the couch, he propelled himself onto her.

  His hands quickly worked her body, tickling every inch of her. She squealed in laughter, tensing her whole body s
he tried to push him off. He gripped her wrists in his hand and held them over her head, freeing her body for him. He tickled her with his other hand, his body pressing down on her to keep her still.

  He watched her squirm against him, rubbing her body against him. The feeling sent thrills down him. The things he could do to her in this position…! She was so vulnerable, so unaware of his power over her.

  A man can dream.

  “Stop…Nate…” she cried out between bursts of laughter.

  He stopped, letting her catch her breath.

  Her breathing was full and sharp. She smiled up at him, shaking her head.

  He leant closer to her. “Say please,” he said deeply.

  She looked at his eyes back and forth, suddenly becoming increasingly aware of their body contact. There was no hiding what this position was doing to his manhood. It was obvious as it pressed against her stomach. Like he wanted to hide it anyway.

  “Please,” she said in a low voice.

  He tilted his head slowly, watching her intake of breath as his mouth moved closer to hers.

  But crossing the line was something he wasn’t going to do with her again. The next time they kissed, and yes there would be a next time if Nate had anything to do with it, she would be single.

  So he softly kissed her cheek and whispered, “I always win.”

  He let go of her wrists and pulled himself off her and into an upright position. Grabbing a piece of pizza from the coffee table he pushed the food into his mouth and fiddled with the remote to put the movie on, acting as if nothing had happened.

  He could see the cute confused look on her face from the corner of his eye. If only things with Claire could be easy. But things with women never were. He wanted Claire, but he wouldn’t be with her unless she was 100% positive she wanted to be with him. How long he would have to wait, he didn’t know. All he knew was that he was willing to do whatever it took, maybe even wait a lifetime if he needed too.

  She’s worth it.

  “What’s the movie called?” Claire said sheepishly beside him.

  “The Hangover. Jessie told me it’s one of your favourites, well one of your favourites that I would enjoy too.”

  “You talked to Jessie about what movie we could watch together?”

  He turned his head to her.

  Interesting, he thought. The same look Claire had earlier at the video store was back, all because of the mention of Jessie. She really was jealous.

  “Yes, that’s what we talked about.” He turned his focus back to the TV, pressing play. “I told you before, we only talked about you. All I’m interested in is you.”

  She didn’t reply, but he could tell by the way her body relaxed that it was the answer she was searching for.

  He could have made her think something more had happened between Jessie and him just to make her feel what he felt when it came to her relationship with Dave. But he wouldn’t, he wasn’t that type of guy, and although Jessie had tried to hit on him, he was being honest when he said he was only interested in one person. And that one person was Claire.

  ***

  Claire awoke cradled in Nate’s arms. Her eyes blinked slowly, taking in surroundings, as Nate carried her into her room. How he knew which room was Claire’s she had no idea. The last thing she remembered was trying her hardest to keep her eyes open during the movie. It obviously didn’t work.

  Nate laid her down on her bed.

  “You fell asleep during the movie. I didn’t want to wake you. I’ll head off now. See you tomorrow.”

  She watched him turn to walk out of her room.

  “Hold on,” she called out. “What time is it?”

  She looked at the clock beside her bed.

  “It’s ten o’clock. How do you plan on getting home?”

  He shrugged. “Bus.”

  “You’re not catching a bus at this time of night. Something might happen to you.”

  He raised his eyebrows at her. “Seriously, Claire?”

  She knew it sounded ridiculous, but even people like Nate could get hurt. Just because he was built like a god didn’t make him invincible.

  “Why don’t you just stay the night,” she suggested. “I mean, I don’t really feel like driving this late, and I don’t wanna risk the paparazzi being outside again. They’ll think you’re some random lover and it’ll be all over the papers tomorrow.”

  He considered her offer, then agreed. “Fine. But if you snore-”

  “I don’t snore!”

  He walked over, grabbed the pillow from the other side of her bed and dropped it on the ground. He followed by kneeling down and lying on the ground.

  She perched her body up on the bed. “You’re not seriously sleeping on the ground, are you?”

  “Why? Where else could I sleep?”

  Normally he could sleep in the spare bedrooms, but with Tristan and Stella being home, they were occupied by the personal security, leaving only the floor or the couch downstairs.

  She didn’t really want him sleeping on the couch downstairs. If Tristan or some of the security saw him they would probably go crazy thinking he was a crazed fan or paparazzi breaking in.

  The only real option was her bed. My bed.

  “You can sleep in my bed but only on the conditions that you stick to your side and no touching in any way.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, then,” he said, jumping up from the ground and placing himself on the other side of her bed. “I promise to behave.”

  “You better,” she said, turning out the lamp on her bedside table.

  “We still surfing tomorrow?”

  “Yes, definitely,” she replied. “Wake me when it’s morning.”

  She turned her body to the side and snuggled into her pillow. Thoughts of Nate swam in her mind as she drifted off to sleep.

  Please don’t let this be a mistake.

  ***

  Claire must have been out of it because when Nate woke their bodies were entwined, grasping each other in comfort.

  He looked down at her head resting on his chest, her arm wrapped around his waist.

  Claire waking up in this position wouldn’t be ideal. Every time he got closer to her, something like this would send their relationship two steps back. For once, he wanted to enjoy the moment and not let it ruin them.

  He softly grazed over her shoulder with his fingers, what he would like to do to wake her up every morning. He wanted to stay like this. Live in this exact moment for as long as he could, but he couldn’t. So instead he leant down and kissed her head, breathing in her beautiful scent, and manoeuvred himself out of her grip.

  It took every bone in his body to pull away, especially when she attempted to pull him closer in her sleep when she subconsciously felt him pull away.

  Once he was completely free from her grip, he got up up and stood at the foot of the bed.

  “Claire.”

  No response.

  “Claire, wake up,” he said, a little more loudly.

  She moaned deeply in her throat and rolled over, seemingly falling back to sleep.

  Okay, time for a new approach.

  He picked up two random books from her study desk and walked over to the side of the bed. With one quick movement he slapped them together as hard as he could, yelling out her name at the same time.

  She bolted upright at the sound, searching the room in horror. “What- What is it?”

  She looked up at him, smiling at how funny she looked right now.

  “Nate!” she yelled at the realization he had only done it to wake her up.

  She threw a pillow at his head, then buried her own into hers. “I’m sleeping!” she mumbled into the pillow.

  “Well not anymore. Surf’s up.”

  She turned to look at him. Smiling she said in her best surfer dude impression, “Like totally.”

  “Like yeah,” he replied in his best impression.

  He turned towards the door
and yelled over his shoulder. “Let’s go, surfer chick.”

  Being worried about having no make-up and bad hair was definitely something Claire didn’t have to worry about. In his world, she looked even more tantalizing, and every minute spent in that bedroom was making his own morning glory want to have its way.

  CHAPTER NINE

  “Here put this in,” Nate said, holding his hand out with a CD while climbing into the passenger seat.

  Claire looked at the CD. “Claire’s surfing music,” she said, reading the label and taking note of Nate’s drawing of a girl riding a surfboard. “You made me a mix tape?”

  “Well technically it’s a mixed CD, but yeah, I guess I did,” he said shrugging his shoulders.

  Claire placed the CD into the car stereo and listened to the first song. It was a song she recognized but couldn’t quite pick the name. “Who is this?”

  “It’s called ‘Song for the Unemployed’ by-”

  “Andy Clockwise!” she interrupted.

  Nate smiled at her. “I’m impressed. You know Andy Clockwise?”

  Claire’s mile beamed. “Yeah I do, I love his music, I just haven’t heard it in ages.”

  “Figured you for a top forty kind of chick.”

  “There’s a lot about me that you don’t know,” she said, almost seductively.

  His eyebrows rose. She giggled at his response and turned the car fully on. She drove out of his parking bay and towards the main road.

  “So, I was going to ask you what you’re doing tonight?” Nate asked.

  Claire had spent the last few days working and spending time with Dave. This was the first time she’d seen Nate since she’d found out Dave was going away for work.

  “I’m actually meeting up with Dave later.”

  “Oh.”

  “It’s just that he is going away for a few days, so he wanted to spend time with me before he left.”

  Why am I explaining myself?

  Claire and Dave were going out. Spending time together was part of what you did as a couple, yet Claire felt guilty about it.

  She looked across at Nate whose eyes were focused ahead. “Nate…”

  He didn’t turn towards her. “He’s my boyfriend.”