by Nana Malone
Yeah, sure you won’t.
17
Sophie
The banging on the door woke Sophie out of her stupor. God, she was exhausted. And her limbs were far too languid for her liking. Not to mention she was .... sore in places but a good kind of sore.
A well shagged sore. God, when was the last time she felt like this?
She dragged herself out of bed, and grabbed her robe on the way. She squinted when she passed the mirror. Perhaps a breath mint wouldn't be the worst idea in the world. She grabbed one of the breath strips from her vanity and popped it in her mouth. She might look like hell, but at least she wouldn't have the worst morning breath.
She padded barefoot into her living room and then jogged to the door when the pounding on the door didn't let up. "Hold your horses. I'm coming. Jesus." When she dragged the door open, her breath caught. It wasn't a delivery.
Rather it was … of the Nathan variety. He was leaning against her doorjamb, a couple of coffees in hand, and what looked like they might be pastries from the bakery around the corner.
"You woke up before I could feed you breakfast. So, this will have to do. You missed out on my world-famous breakfast and a shag. So, you know, I make a mean eggs Benedict and then I do this thing with my fingers while you eat … " His voice trailed off. “Never mind all that.”
Sophie stared at him and she could feel the flush crawling up her chest, and then her neck, and then inflaming her face. "Nathan—I, uh, didn't expect to see you."
His gaze was impassive. "Well, are you going to let me in? Coffee is getting cold." He brushed past her into her living room and headed straight to the dining table.
"How did you know I drink coffee?"
He set the drinks and the pastries down. "I paid attention. I see you on those mornings that you're carrying your drinks up the stairs to your flat. And I always see it's coffee. Besides, most people make tea at home and on their own."
Fuck, what the hell was she supposed to say?
"Uhh, excellent deductive reasoning."
He shrugged. "I do pay attention."
That he did.
Flashes of what they'd done last night crept into her brain, making her warm, soften and throb in places. He had paid attention. Close attention. When she liked something, he did it again, and again, until it drove her so crazy she screamed. When she clearly wasn't as into something, he'd moved on instead of trying to impose what he wanted to do.
He'd been the perfect lover. But of course, he knew that. But now was not the time to think about that. Now was the time to figure out what he was doing in her flat and send him packing. She hadn't wanted an awkward morning after. Except it didn't seem like he was awkward at all. And he'd brought her coffee and pastries.
"What's up, Nathan? I, uh, didn't think I’d see you."
He picked up one of the coffees out of the tray and walked over to give it to her before shoving his hands into his jeans. "Well, you left. I figured it must have been some kind of emergency so I wanted to check on you."
Way to make her feel bad.
"No, uh, no emergency. I just woke up and I figured you know, you wouldn't be too keen on me being in your flat when you woke up."
His gaze narrowed. "Are you sure that's what you thought?"
“Uh what do you mean?” she said, hesitating.
No. That wasn't what she thought. She'd gone running for the hills because last night was supposed to be about casual sex. Having fun. It was supposed to be flirty and inconsequential. Except it made her feel … things. Well, not just those things, but other things. Emotional things. She had never had casual sex before, but she was pretty sure getting the emotional tinglies was not supposed to happen.
He studied her closely before nodding. "Okay, I get this is new to you. We're friends now, so I'll fill you in on how this goes."
She lifted a brow. “Oh, Sexual Yoda, explain it to me.”
“You and I are sort of friends now. The way it works is we don't sneak out. It sucks.”
She bit the inside of her cheek. “Never happened to you before huh?”
He shook his head.
She frowned. The tight set of his lips warned her that something was off. He'd wanted her to stay? "I'm sorry. I didn't think anything of it."
"Yeah, okay. Cheers. Listen, so I had an idea."
Sophie shook her head. "Oh man, I feel like I should be concerned."
He shook his head before grabbing his own coffee from the to-go tray. "No, I'm just saying, like you said last night. You haven't had the best of luck with boyfriends."
She flushed again. God, what was wrong with her? Why the hell couldn't she shut up around this guy? Instead, here she was spilling all of her secrets. "Yeah, I was sort of hoping that you could just forget all of that deep sharing stuff."
He chuckled but shook his head. "No, I don't get to forget that I shared my secret passion for entertainment. You don't get to shy away from this."
She swallowed hard and nodded. "Fair enough. So, what's your proposal?"
"Well, you're not shagging anyone at the moment, and you were saying that you've never had fun, never had adventure sex."
She couldn't hide the small smirk even as heat flamed her face. "Well, now I can say I have." When she met his gaze again, he was grinning like an idiot.
"Yeah, well that's just my point. I've got plenty of adventure sex under my belt." She scrunched her nose. He muttered a curse. "That's not what I meant. Bugger, this isn't usually that hard." He shook his head. "What I meant to say is I can give you a no strings fun scenario. And I happen to be interesting and fun in and out of bed. And you don't seem to know that you deserve a lot better than that guy, so maybe you let me show you."
Sophie frowned. "What? Friends who shag?"
“Yeah.”
“We barely know each other.”
"Hear me out. I'm not sleeping with anyone steady at this time. I'll still give you coaching and dating lessons, but we just have a no strings sex situation. And if you find someone who you want to bone, just tell me and we're done. No harm. No foul."
Sophie blinked. And then she blinked again. What the hell? "So, you want us to keep sleeping together?"
His frown was slight. "Purely for fun of course. The moment you find a new boyfriend, we stop. It's more experimental. For me, you're beautiful, and I know you're not actually interested in me so I don't have to worry about you trying to cling. And for you, for once, you get some fun. And then with everything I show you, you can finally figure out what you'd like. And you can find the right kind of guy to show that to you." She still couldn't believe what she was hearing. "So, you want to sleep with me?" He laughed. "Well, I am a bloke, and you're worth it. So, default answer is always yes, but more than that, I like you and I think it's a bloody shame what you've been settling for."
"I—I don't even know what to say."
"Think of it as cutting your teeth on me."
She frowned. "You want me to bite you?"
He grinned. "You can if you want. It'll at least let me know you're having a good time, but uh, only in nonsensitive areas."
Sophie snorted. "You know what I meant by that."
His eyes widened and he raised his brows. "Moi? Do I?"
"I swear to God, you’re incorrigible. You know you do."
"Let me stop joking make it clear," he said as he stepped forward, placed his coffee on the coffee table and stepped into her space, crowding her. His scent enveloped her, making her forget things like her name, where she was, and just who he was. For a fleeting moment, she wanted to believe that he could want her.
"What I'm saying, Sophie, is that I had fun. And that thing you did with your tongue was near life changing. I'd frankly like to keep shagging you. And I'll let you know before I start messing about with someone else. One thing though: when we’re fucking, there should be no sneaking out. There'll be times when I want you and if I have to hunt you down and get it, that'll annoy me. And when I'm annoyed, I tend to
want to take it out by licking you." He pulled her close and nuzzled her neck. “So, what do you say, Sophie?”
Was it her, or had his stormy blue eyes gone darker? Was his voice deeper? She licked her lips. "I didn't mean to sneak off."
He shook his head. "It's fine. We're just friends who shag. But I woke up, wanting to hear you make that sound again and you were gone. I was miffed."
"Well, I don't know exactly how to do this. I figured, once you woke up you'd realize, 'well, I've shagged her now, I can stop pretending to like her.' "
He shook his head. "You don't know me that well. We should fix that. What do you say, Sophie? Do you want to be my very special friend?"
"Why do I get the feeling I'm getting more out of this than you are?”
He shook his head and licked his lips and Sophie's core contracted. "Then I guess I'll have to be more forthcoming. I think I can manage that."
She shook her head. "You're serious?"
He nodded. "Let me show you how much."
Sophie couldn't help but laugh and cover her face. "Why do I have the feeling that I'm going to get into a lot of trouble with you?"
He grinned. "That's because you are."
18
Sophie
“So, what? You guys are two mates who spend a lot of time together naked?"
Sophie giggled when she thought about just how much they'd seen each other naked.
"I guess so. I mean I didn’t go into any of this intending to shag him. It just sort of happened. We were there in his flat watching a movie and then he's kissing me and Jesus Christ, the man should give bloody lessons. I felt like slapping every bloke I've ever been with and saying, 'This is the example of how to kiss a woman, amongst other things.'"
Gemma hooted. "Oh my God, I'm going to need a full blow by blow. Dirty pun intended. Right now, I had to go get samples for the MacArthur wedding. I'm glad we got to have lunch though."
“Me too.”
“Listen though, love. Be careful with this. You don't want to catch a case of feelings.”
Sophie stood and gave her a hug. "Thanks for listening. And thanks for not calling me insane. And I promise I'm not going to break the rules and develop feelings."
Gemma shook her head as she squeezed her tight. "Look, whatever makes you happy. You deserve better than Christopher. And right now, this bloke is offering you hot sex and fun with no strings attached. Where do I get that deal? And from the look on your face, you like it. So, have fun.”
"You know what, Gemma? You're actually very smart."
Her friend grinned. And with a light dancing in her green eyes, she said, “Okay, let me go. But call me later and tell me everything. Especially about the next time you shag.”
Sophie laughed. "Yeah, you got it."
After Sophie took care of the bill, she grabbed her purse and was headed back toward her flat when she heard her name called.
"Sophie."
She'd know that voice anywhere. Mostly because she'd heard it over and over in her head, she knew that timbre well. It was the same timbre Nathan used as he whispered her name in her ear when he was inside her. Slowly driving her insane, making her mad, making her want to come.
She whipped around. "Nathan, what are you doing here?"
"I am actually off to check out a new client. There's a technology show around the corner. I want to kind of go incognito, see how these things work without the benefit of lots of R and D guys behind the scenes making it work for a demo. Hence the baseball hat. I feel like it makes me look like a Yank."
She laughed. "You are definitely incognito. I didn't recognize you for a second." The casual look suited him. Ripped jeans, trainers, a plain white T-shirt that pulled tight across his chest and hugged the shoulders quite nicely, and a baseball hat. He could be some anonymous tourist. A very sexy anonymous tourist. Her whole body ached. "You want to come with me?"
"What? Right now?”
He nodded. "Yeah, why not?"
"I can't. I have a work thing. But I'm headed that way, if you want to walk together."
He nodded. And as they walked, Sophie wasn't sure what to do. She could feel the tension between them. It was almost as if their arrangement only worked well in darkness. As if neither one of them knew what to do with the other. "This is weird, isn't it?"
Sophie laughed. "Yes, very weird considering we weren't really even friends until, well, you know."
“Look. Come on; I'll walk you through the tube." He put an arm around her shoulders, and Sophie couldn't help but sink into the embrace. His warmth, his strength. God, the way he smelled was divine. When they rounded the corner, they glanced up at the Timmons Theater. The place had been there for decades, managing to withstand the new theaters opening in the West End.
Sophie frowned. "Oh, they're doing Pygmalion. I love Pygmalion."
"My mother loved that play."
Sophie frowned up at the sign. "Oh no, that's so sad. The theater is closing. I remember I came here with my school once."
He frowned. "This was like an institution in this neighborhood. I wonder why it's closing."
She slid her glance over to him. "Well, you did say that you wanted to do something different. Considering how much you love movies and theater (and how much your mother loved it), if the theater is closing, maybe you could do something about it.”
His gaze met hers and held for a moment as they stood on the corner right outside the tube station, and then he lifted his eyes, looking back up at the theater. "You know what? Maybe you're right. Maybe I could do something about it."
19
Nathan
Nathan watched Sophie as she skipped down the stairs of the tube. He couldn't shake the feeling. He liked her a lot and being around her felt good. He was supposed to be teaching her to have fun. And kissing is part of this? Yeah, okay it sounded like a bad idea. But really, what could go wrong?
It’s perfectly normal. She was beautiful. When he kissed her, they were pretty much molten lava. But it was more than that. She made him laugh. And, she had this “dive headfirst into adventure” way about her. Even if she was scared, she'd still do it. He had to respect that. What he didn't like was her taste in guys.
When he'd suggested she get a little practice with the opposite sex, he hadn't realized quite how successful they would be. Even with her fake sense of bravado, that confidence had come across as sexy. It made every single man she walked up to interested in her, curious, willing to find out more. That irked him. Why?
Fuck him. Maybe they should stop. He waited for the claustrophobic feeling he got when he wanted to run. But it wasn't there. Maybe he was worried about nothing. It wasn't like he wanted her for himself. He was just being protective.
Yeah, whatever you need to tell yourself.
After he was sure she was safely down the stairs of the tube, he turned back around to stare at the theater. Yes, while there were many theaters in London that would show Pygmalion again, he didn't like the idea that this theater, one his mother had brought him to, was closing down. Well, if you don't like it, do something about it. Sophie's words kept clinging in his head. You're in a position to do something, so do something. She was right. Maybe it was finally time to do something that he wanted to do instead of what was expected.
His mind still full of thoughts of Sophie, he crossed the street and stopped in front of the Timmons Theater. For some reason, there was something holding him back. Something that kept him from barging in the way he normally would have. He had zero idea what to do in this scenario and it terrified the hell out of him.
Maybe fear is a good thing.
When it came to business, there was a reason that his father counted on him. There was a reason that old man had been hounding him to come back. There was a reason his stepmother had called and begged on behalf of his father. He was good at what he did. He knew the playing field. He knew the players. He understood the rules. This, this would be different. Uncharted territory. He would have to learn and lear
n quickly. And there would be mistakes made.
Find out the rules and beat them at their own game. Or, you could go back to what you know. No. He need to make a definitive break.
Nathan stared up at the signage that had once been so exciting to him as a kid. And then he made this decision. It was now or never.
It was time to take a risk.
Sophie
"Hello, this is Sophie."
"Sophie, this is Maria Delgado from Let the Girls Run. I was given your name from a Becca Dawston. She said you did a fantastic job for their charity event."
Sophie had to think back. Dawston. Dawston? Oh, yeah, they'd done a massive fund-raiser for a number of charities around London, all of which supported school-age girls and their quest to strengthen themselves. "Yes, I remember her. We had a great time with that. What is it I can help you with?"
"She said you did a fantastic job. In all honesty, I need to tell you that our budget is significantly smaller than theirs. We're a very small shop. We don't have much money, but we could definitely use the fund-raising help. And the events that you set up for the girls are something we're definitely looking forward to. Would you have some time to be able to chat about it?"
Sophie held her breath. Limited budget meant bare bones. But again, this is exactly what you said you wanted to do. It was. She could actually be doing some good instead of just spoiling the needy. She could make a difference.
"Don't worry about your budget. Just tell me what it is you need and we can work it out."
"Oh my gosh, that's brilliant. I was worried to call you actually. I know that you work for Glass Slipper Events. But I was hoping that you'd contract this as well."
"Yes, I do. But I'm actually open for a pro bono work. So all you have to do is let me know what you need. When do you want to meet up?"
"Oh, thank God. I'm free this afternoon if you are."
As she got the details of what was needed, she couldn't believe her luck. She was finally getting to do something that she'd been talking about for so long. And most importantly, it felt awesome. She could still do her job and do this.
When she hung up, she did a little dance and picked up her phone. Oddly, the first person she wanted to call wasn't the number one on the speed dial. Number one was Gemma. But the person she wanted to call was Nathan.
