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  “It sure is,” Nate agreed.

  She looked over at him, expecting him to be admiring the view, only to find Nate admiring her instead.

  “Still a pervert I see?” Claire smiled. Some things would never change. Even now, hundreds of metres in the air, he still managed to check her ass out.

  “Hey, I seem to recall our bet has finished. Therefore I can go back to making snide remarks, checking you out, and flirting with you.” He winked at her, flashing a lopsided grin.

  She had to admit, she had missed this. She had missed his cheeky comments and his ‘compliments.’

  “Don’t you get tired of it? Tired of being so…”

  “Ridiculously good looking?” He pouted.

  “Obviously not,” she giggled.

  “I like that sound.”

  Claire held Nate’s eyes. He could be so sweet when he wanted to be, but he could also be such a pain in the ass at the same time. Strangely, though, she liked that about him.

  She’d almost forgotten were they were. She was too transfixed on Nate and thoughts of their relationship when the man operating the hot air balloon interrupted.

  “Would you two like some champagne?” he asked.

  Nate was the first to pull his eyes away. “That would be perfect. I’ll get it,” he replied moving towards the basket on the ground.

  Claire turned back to the landscape around her and leaned back against the side of the basket, thinking about how many times she’d never even taken notice of the sunset before. It really was stunning.

  “Your champagne, miss,” Nate said with an English accent.

  Claire turned and accepted the glass of wine from Nate. “Why thank you, kind sir,” Claire replied with her own mock English accent.

  They were silent for a few minutes, both taking in their surroundings.

  “If you could be anywhere else in the world right now- and don’t say here-” Nate winked, “Where would you be?”

  “Mmmm that’s a tough one. There are so many places I would love to be. But if I had to choose one it would be Machu Picchu in South America. That place has always amazed me.”

  “Interesting, I’ve always wanted to go there as well.”

  “But you have to hike the Inca Trail, none of this train bullshit.”

  He laughed. “Yeah I agree with you on that one.”

  “So what about you?” Claire asked.

  “I’d like to be at Easter Island. I love a good mystery.”

  “Well I guess since we’re already in South America we might as well catch a flight over to Easter Island.”

  “I like your way of thinking.” Nate smiled at her, then his face turning serious. “There is something I’ve been meaning to ask you…”

  Claire looked at him, worried. Whatever he had to say, it obviously wasn’t good.

  Nate’s eyes moved to the glass in her hand, nodding his head.

  She looked at the glass, then back at Nate in confusion. His eyes stayed focus on the glass in her hand. Claire looked back at her glass and it was then that she spotted it. A shiny silver item sat in the bottom of her champagne glass.

  Her heart was racing a million beats per minute. It couldn’t be? She pulled the glass closer to her face and took a long hard look.

  It was a ring.

  Holy mother- shit! Nate is proposing. Proposing!

  She looked up at him in confusion, her face paling. I’m going to throw up.

  A smile crept to Nate’s lips and he burst into a fit of laughter. “Your face is priceless!”

  “What…”

  He grabbed the glass from her, tipping it to the side he pulled the ring out and wiped his shirt with it. He placed it back on his finger and continued to look at her laughing.

  Claire, registering that it was a joke, sighed in relief. “You bastard!”

  “You have to admit, it was pretty funny.”

  Not two seconds ago it wasn’t Claire thought. She didn’t even know why she thought Nate was being serious. They weren’t even seeing each other. It must have been the sunset, she told herself. She must have just gotten so caught up in the moment that she forgot who she was with and why. That must be it.

  She smiled. “You’re right, it was pretty funny. Although I still feel kind of sick from it,” she said holding her stomach.

  “The thought of marrying me makes you sick?”

  “The thought of having to see you voluntarily makes me sick.”

  Nate faked a sad face. “I happen to think the complete opposite. The thought of seeing you steals my breath away. Seeing you in your perfect form makes my heart pound in my chest. You’re all I want.”

  Hearing that from any guy would have melted Claire’s heart. Hearing it from Nate, however, and seeing the smug look on his face, made her nearly gag.

  “Righto, Romeo, you can tone it back a bit now,” she said grabbing her glass from his hand and pushing past him.

  “For a minute there I thought we’d have something to celebrate,” the hot air balloon guy called out. “It’s a beautiful way to propose, though, if you two decide to do it for real next time. You make a really nice couple.”

  Claire’s mouth fell open. She looked at Nate who seemed to be enjoying her discomfort. “We are not a couple,” she quickly shot back.

  The man looked at her confused. “Oh I’m sorry, it’s just the way you two were together and… well let’s face it, you are in a hot air balloon watching the sunset. It’s a pretty romantic thing to do.”

  “It’s not romantic. We are just two frie-… people that are spending time with each other,” she said quickly, clearly uncomfortable.

  The man shrugged. “If you say so.”

  She shot a foul look at Nate and pointed her finger at him. He shrugged at her and smiled. “Can you blame a guy for trying?”

  Oh, she could and she would. She was playing with fire when it came to Nate and she knew it. There was just nothing she could do about it. Claire calmed herself-The date was nearly over and that meant so was her time with Nate. .

  ***

  “This has been one of the best days of my life!” Claire exclaimed. “Well apart from that little incident,” she said, eying Nate. “Thank you, though, for everything.” Claire pulled her car up in front of Nate’s apartment.

  He smiled at her. “You’re welcome, it’s the least I could do for you.”

  He opened the car door and, placing his crutches to the ground, he turned to look back at her, sadness filling his eyes. “I’ll be seeing you.”

  This was it. They wouldn’t be seeing each other anymore. Claire’s placement was finished and she would go back to her life. They would go their separate ways.

  A feeling of heartache and desolation suddenly filled Claire.

  This was meant to happen, but why did it feel so wrong?

  She wasn’t ready to say goodbye, to go away from him, but she had to. None of this was fair to Dave, and she knew it.

  “Bye Nate. Good luck with everything,” she said solemnly.

  He stared at her for a moment, his mouth opening to say something, but it froze and he turned away. He pushed his crutches to the ground and pulled his body forward.

  Crack!

  “Fuck! Just what I need!” Nate cursed as he fell to the ground, holding the broken crutch up to examine it.

  “Shit. I’ll help you up to your apartment,” Claire said quickly, opening her car door and running to his aide. He had three flights of stairs to get to his apartment, and the thought of him injuring his leg again made Claire wince. All that pain and suffering would have been for nothing.

  She wrapped her arms under his and helped him to his feet.

  “Thanks,” Nate said, using Claire’s body strength to limp to his building’s entrance.

  By the time they reached Nate’s apartment Claire was breathless. Climbing all those stairs while supporting his bodyweight had been hard.

  “Jeez! Why the hell doesn’t this building have a lift!” Claire said, dro
pping Nate onto his couch.

  “It does.”

  She looked down at him in dismay. “What!”

  “I thought you needed the exercise,” he chuckled.

  Claire shook her head. “You can be such a prick when you want to be.”

  Nate shrugged. “Can you help me go and get my spare set of crutches from my bedroom?”

  “I can just go and get them.”

  “No, I’m actually feeling pretty exhausted, I wouldn’t mind going to go and have a lie down.”

  “Sure,” Claire said, helping him up off the couch.

  As they walked to the room she noticed how much everything had changed. “You’ve cleaned…” She said, amazed. “A lot.”

  She was in shock at just how clean the place looked, almost as if a professional had come and cleaned.

  “Yeah someone told me I was living in filth so I thought I’d better clean it up.” He smiled down at her.

  She smiled back at him and helped him to the bed.

  “Could you grab my medication for me on the kitchen bench?”

  “Want me to cook you dinner too?” she said sarcastically.

  “Actually-”

  “Not happening,” she interrupted and walked back out to the kitchen.

  As Claire went to pick up the medication from the bench she noticed a piece of paper next to it. It was from a University, thanking Nate for his interest in finishing his business course. Uni. He was going back to uni?

  She walked back into the room to find Nate where she’d left him. She handed him the bottle of pills and held the letter out to him. “You’re going back to uni?”

  Nate looked up at her, and then to the piece of paper she was holding. “It’s rude to pry.”

  “I wasn’t prying, it was right there, I couldn’t help but notice it.”

  Nate sighed. “Yeah I’m thinking about finishing my degree.”

  “That’s great, Nate!” she said excitedly.

  “Yeah I thought you’d like that,” he replied harshly.

  “What’s that meant to-” Claire trailed off, confused at Nate’s sudden change in attitude.

  “That’s what you want isn’t it?” Nate asked as he stood up, balancing on his strong leg. “A successful, smart, funny, reliable guy.” Nate was breathing heavily now.

  Claire didn’t understand what he was talking about. Why would he think that was what she wanted? “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied softly.

  “Oh, really?” He grabbed her wrists and pulled her close. “Admit it. You think I’m not good enough.”

  Claire felt her breathing hitch. “Where did this come from? Nate, I have a boyfriend.”

  He let go of one of her wrists and held his hand up to her face. He stroked her cheek slowly, delicately. “Then explain to me what this is. This thing between you and me.”

  Please don’t go there, Claire thought.

  “There’s nothing going on between us,” she whispered. Breathe, Claire. Breathe!

  “You sure about that?” his voice was raspy and filled with need. “You want me.”

  “I don’t want you,” she said, not quite as firmly as she would have hoped.

  She didn’t want him, she didn’t. Right? She didn’t know anymore, she was lost in the moment, lost in Nate.

  Nate tilted his head towards her, and she held her breath. Claire could feel Nate’s breath on her lips he was so close.

  “I’ve wanted you for so long, Claire. And I know you’ve wanted me, too. You can try and deny it…us, but it won’t make it go away.”

  Claire couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, her chest constricted. In that moment there was no Dave, no world around them, it was just them.

  His lips touched hers, and Claire closed her eyes as Nate explored her mouth gently with his own. Every part of her mind told her to stop, pull away, and leave now! But she didn’t, she couldn’t. She kissed him back with greater force, their once delicate kiss now full of raging passion.

  Claire stood on her toes, gripping Nate’s shirt tightly. A craving yearned inside of her. Nate, welcoming her passion, cupped her face in his hand, his other hand sliding down her spine. Suddenly, he stopped.

  Pulling away Nate looked into Claire’s eyes, an uneasiness filling his own. “I remember…”

  Claire’s’ hold on him loosened.

  “I remember the day of the accident. You came in for a tattoo…”

  Claire gasped. She remembered that day as well, almost like it was yesterday…

  “You’re not seriously doing this are you!” Layla laughed at Claire hysterically as they walked into the tattoo parlour.

  “A bet’s a bet,” Claire replied smiling.

  “But it will be on you forever!”

  Claire shrugged. “It’s only a tattoo.”

  They approached the counter, Claire’s eyes darting back and forth to find someone to do her tattoo.

  “You’re a crazy girl, Claire.”

  “That’s why you love me so much,” Claire said, winking at her.

  A tall muscular man dressed in all black approached the counter. Tattoos streamed down his arms like a beautiful painting. She looked at him more closely, and her mouth opened in awe. He was hot, very hot. He had characteristics women would melt over. Hell, she could feel her own legs melting under his stare!

  “Hope you get him,” Layla said quietly, nudging her in the side.

  “I hope so, too,” she replied, unable to pull her eyes away from him.

  “Can I help you?” he asked.

  Fuck, his voice is even sexy, Claire thought to herself.

  Claire pulled the small cut out piece of paper onto the counter. “Yeah I was wondering if I could get this tattooed on me?”

  The man looked down at the piece of paper then back at her, his eyebrow raised.

  “Have you ever had a tattoo before?”

  Claire shook her head. “No, this will be my first.”

  He looked at her in disbelief. “You want ‘this’ to be your first tattoo?”

  Claire beamed. “Sure do.”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “Fair enough. Did you to want to do it now?”

  “Yeah if you could that would be great.” She glanced a smile at Layla. “It has to be that size too, no smaller.”

  “Righto. I’ll get everything set up, and come back and get you when I’m ready. I’ll also need you to fill out some paperwork for me before we get started. Maddie will help you with that. You’ll need to prove you’re eighteen as well,” he said, handing Claire some forms. “I’m Nate by the way.”

  “Claire.”

  He nodded and walked away.

  Claire picked up a pen and started filling in the forms in the paperwork.

  “He was smoking hot!” Layla exclaimed a little bit too loudly.

  “Layla! He might hear you!”

  Claire agreed with Layla- he was hot all right! But he was also only in the next room and quite possibly just heard her outburst.

  “He’s sexy though, right?”

  “Oh he is sexy. If there was no Dave in my life right now, there would definitely be a Nate,” she said grinning at Layla.

  She finished filling in the paperwork and sat down to wait. Shortly after Nate came over prepped and ready for her.

  “Where exactly do you want it?” Nate asked.

  “Just here,” Claire said, pulling down her pants and underwear to reveal the bare flesh of her hip.

  “Alrighty then,” Nate said as he adjusted her pants to fit a white sheet between her skin and the pants. “This may hurt a little. If at any time you want to stop you just let me know.”

  “Ok,” she said with a smile. Strangely enough Claire wasn’t nervous or scared at all.

  Layla gave her hand a squeeze as Nate turned the machine on, the buzzing sound filling the room. As he lowered the tattoo gun to her, Claire could feel the light breeze of his breath on her. Then she felt the stinging sharp pain of the tattoo gun hitting her fles
h. She tensed her body slightly, refusing to give into the pain or move should she potentially ruin an already ridiculous tattoo.

  “So can I ask, why this tattoo?” Nate questioned.

  Claire looked at Layla smiling. “It was part of a bet-”

  “Which you lost!”Layla interrupted.

  “Which I lost,” Claire agreed.

  “What was the bet?” Claire heard Nate ask while he continued to tattoo her.

  Claire sighed softly, trying not to move too much. “My friends bet I couldn’t eat a tub of ice cream in half an hour. If I won I got a year’s supply of ice cream. If I lost I had to get a tattoo of their choosing, which of course had to be the most ridiculous one they could think of.” Claire said, rolling her eyes.

  “That wouldn’t be too hard though?” Nate asked.

  Claire laughed. “That’s what I thought. You see, I’m a huge ice cream fan. I’ve done this before so I thought I had it in the bag. However, they found a loophole in the bet- because I didn’t stipulate what size ice cream tub I had to eat they had me try and eat a five litre tub. Suffice to say I didn’t win the bet- just suffered a whole lot of heart burn and brain freeze.”

  “I’m impressed. You seem a woman of your word, even when that means getting a pretty weird tattoo,” Nate commented.

  “I never back down from a bet.”

  Nate continued to tattoo her in silence until he was finished. “Ok, you’re all done. You can jump up now and go have a look in the mirror if you’d like.”

  Claire got to her feet and walked over to the nearby wall mounted, floor length mirror.

  She looked into the mirror and saw the reflection of the small, black moustache tattoo on her lower hip. This would be by far the craziest thing she had ever done, and the most stupid, yet she could only laugh. Claire wasn’t the type of person to get caught up in the seriousness of the situation- the fact she would have the tattoo for life- she’d rather laugh at the moment and move on.

  Claire had made sure she got the tattoo low enough so that her underwear would always cover it. This way she could avoid her parents ever finding out. Her parents hated tattoos so much they would probably disown her if they ever found out she had one.

  Nate came up behind her. He was easily a good head height taller than her. His muscular frame made Claire look tiny in comparison.