“Do you want me to throw you a pity party because women are throwing themselves at you?”
My eyes widened at the look on his face. His eyes were now dead, holding none of the light and humor they did a moment before. The smile fell from my face. The arrogant look I’d been viewing over the last few days was gone. His playful glint replaced with tortured darkness. My jaw slackened as the atmosphere changed.
“They should all stay away from me.” His voice was barely above a whisper as he spoke, right before getting up and leaving.
I couldn’t help but stare after him for a few moments before my gaze moved back to the work in front of me. A shiver ran through me as realization dawned.
There was much more to Nathan Thorne than what appeared on the polished surface.
CHAPTER 2
I spent the following weeks trying to work out the enigma that was Nathan Thorne, to no avail. After his mood altering comments, he had escaped, returning some time later as the man I’d known up to that point. With careful glances, I watched the way he interacted with others, but there was no hint of the pain I’d seen in his beautiful features.
Whatever plagued him was hidden well under his charismatic personality and good looks. The one glimpse I’d been privy to, kept me up at night. What an odd thing for a man like him to say.
I should’ve been more concerned with the fact that I was losing sleep over a man I couldn’t get along with – something I couldn’t afford as I already didn’t sleep much – and he’d become the star in all of my fantasies.
“Morning,” I said with a yawn as I trudged in on Friday, the end of Nathan’s third week with Holloway and Holloway.
Not that I was counting.
“Coffee?” he asked, holding a cup toward me.
I eyed the cup before glaring at him. “Is it poisonous?”
He chuckled, the sound making wetness pool between my thighs. Stupid body, reacting to a man I couldn’t stand.
“No, Delilah. Fresh brewed.”
“Are you buttering me up for something?” I inquired before taking the cup from him.
“No. I saw you walking in when I was heading to get a cup of my own. With as much as you drink, I figured you’d need one.”
“Oh.” I was stunned he would do something nice for me. “Sorry… Thank you.”
I smiled at him, half-genuine and half-rehearsed. His face lit up for a fraction of a second before turning to a grimace.
“Don’t mention it.” His gaze returned to his desk and the papers that adorned it.
There it was: that faint glimpse. He stopped himself from what could’ve been a real smile, for reasons only known to him. What was it that had me so curious about him, that with each new insight revealed, I was left breathless wanting to know more?
I called it quits about six that evening, ready for the weekend. It’d been a long frustrating week, and I was in desperate need of a drink to unwind. There was a bar within walking distance of my condo, one I’d been frequenting every weekend over the last few months.
“Hey, Lila!” John, the bartender, greeted as I entered.
“Hey, John!”
“Usual to start?”
I nodded, and he got to work on my shot and Long Island Ice Tea.
Not only did I need it to unwind, but it would also help me get some sleep.
“Tough week?” He handed me the shot before making my other drink. “Insomnia still got you?”
I tipped back the rum, cringing against the strength. “Yup. I feel like my brain should’ve melted at this point.”
“Holloway got you any help yet?”
“Yeah, he started a few weeks back, but he’s kind of a jackass.”
He gave a sympathetic frown. “That sucks. He at least good-looking?”
I eyed John for a moment, wondering if I was in some sort of set up. “Yes, he is. Fuck hot and has every woman in the office chasing him around, hoping he’ll break and, I don’t know, just drop trou right there and plow into them.”