The next day came and went, and I still couldn’t decide what I was going to do about all this. To top it off, the AC in my room suddenly broke. A late summer night in Bellwood without air-conditioning was rather hellish.
I couldn’t sleep. I took another shower and migrated into the living room to cool myself. Only Nate was in the house. Luke hadn’t come home, and the devil Jamie was at a friend’s house, having a stag party.
“What’s wrong?” Nate asked.
“The AC in my room is broken.”
“Oh, yeah?” He promptly got up from the sofa. “Let me take a look.”
“You know how to fix an AC unit?”
Nate pushed his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose. “The heating and cooling in this house are all computerized. I designed the systems myself.”
I perked up. I didn’t need to sleep in an oven after all. “That’s great.”
Nate grabbed his laptop and went to my apartment. I followed him silently. He opened the AC cover and fiddled with its computer board. He also busied himself with his laptop, typing some commands. A half-hour later, the cool air kicked on in my room.
“Yeah!” I was happy. “Thanks, Nate. You’re a lifesaver!”
“No problem.” He put the AC cover back on and washed his hands in the sink. As he wiped his hands with some paper towels, he fired a question at me that I couldn’t dodge. “Did you sleep with Jamie?”
Crap! Nate was more observant than I thought.
I couldn’t answer him.
“Simone,” he pressed.
“Are you going to fire me?” I asked quietly.
“What? No. That’s crazy. I wouldn’t kick you on the street because of that.”
I felt relieved instantly. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
Nate studied my face. He didn’t look happy. “It isn’t that. It’s just not fair.”
Eh?
“I’m crazy about you too. I don’t know if you play dumb. I thought I’d given you strong signals.”
What, what?
I struggled with my words.
Nate yanked me into him and kissed me so suddenly. It wasn’t a friendly kiss. It was kiss on the mouth with tongue and all.
The effect of the kiss stunned me, and a shockwave of pleasure seared through my whole being. The revelation rendered me speechless. What the hell just happened? Nate stole a kiss from me and my body responded wantonly. Since when did I get easily turned on? Since when did I get—
Nate held my head with both hands and kissed me as if it was the only thing he wanted to do on his last day on Earth. My knees weakened, and my blood boiled in my veins. All my bones turned to gel. I could only stand like a stone while my mind and body waged war against one another.
I should have pushed him away and established our boundaries like I was supposed to. However, my body responded to his sexual initiation with unexpected greed.
No. This is not right…
With great willpower, I forced myself to break away from his kisses. “Nate, you shouldn’t…”
His gaze cut into me sharply, and the intensity of his eyes made me shiver. They smoldered as if Nate was an incarnation of the God of Fire himself.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. His voice was hoarse. “There’s nothing wrong with what goes on between a man and a woman who are attracted to each other. I love you. I know on some level you like me too.”
He—what? Nate loved me?
“Or do you like Jamie better? I can understand why. He’s younger. Better looking and—”
“It’s not that,” I interjected. All the Cody brothers were handsome and each had his own irresistible appeal. Jamie was a candy-apple-eye kind of guy, while Luke was the silent, mysterious, and dangerous type, and Nate was one of those cool, reserved, and smart types. Damn it! I liked them all.
Nate studied my expression and waited.
I thought of an excuse. “It just… you’re my employer…” Aarg! Lame.
Nate went silent for long seconds. “I can’t accept that.” He grabbed me and casually swept me off my feet. He carried me to bed and fell on top of me.
“Nate!”
“You should give me the same chance you gave Jamie. It’s only fair, Simone.”