Breaking Shaun (3 page)

Peering down at my black yoga pants and white tank top, I decided to put on a bra and head out in search of some breakfast. I could also use a large cup of coffee. I was still on California time, which meant my body thought it was three thirty in the morning.

I stood in front of the display case with a coffee in my hand, trying to decide what kind of doughnut I wanted, when I heard the glass door to the convenience store open, and time slowed to a crawl. My heart rate immediately spiked when I saw him—Mr. Green Eyes. I didn’t even have to see his eyes to know it was him. I could feel his energy, his aura.

Oh fuck.

I quickly ducked my head behind the doughnut case and rubbed my lips together before deciding to take another peek. He was oblivious to everything around him as he moved his black Ray-Bans up onto the top of his head, pushing his long hair back. It had grown a few inches since I last saw him. I watched as he walked toward the drink coolers. He was wearing a pair of old camouflage cargo shorts, a white T-shirt with some surf shop’s logo on it, and flip-flops. On any other guy, that outfit would have looked sloppy, but on him, it looked stylish, sexy even. With a body like his, I had a feeling anything he wore would look good.

My nerves tingled as I remembered that night at the art gallery—the way he’d looked in a suit, the way his eyes had affected me when they met mine, how deep his voice had sounded when he spoke.

I had actually started to think that maybe I dreamed him—or at least my memory of him had been embellished, and he really wasn’t as gorgeous or as breathtakingly beautiful as I remembered. But I had been wrong. He was even better in real life.

Stop, Nat! Stop! Look at the doughnuts. Pick a fucking doughnut, and don’t look over there anymore, damn it!

I set my coffee down and quickly grabbed a piece of paper. I started picking random doughnuts and tossing them into my plastic bag.

“You plan on leaving any for the rest of us?”

That raspy, deep voice vibrated through my entire body, and I nearly dropped my full bag of doughnuts onto the floor.

Stay calm.
Keep control.

I never got nervous around guys. If anything, it was the other way around, and that was how I liked it. I had the pussy, which meant I called the shots. Sure, men liked to think they were in charge, and sometimes, I’d let them. It was easier that way. I’d play the role, smile and flutter my eyelashes, but I also had no problem telling men what I wanted and taking it. Men’s egos were a lot like their dicks, always needing to be stroked. As long as they kept me satisfied, I didn’t mind doing it.

But Mr. Green Eyes was different, and I’d known it from the moment he spoke to me in that gallery. He exuded confidence and control, and two alphas were never compatible in bed—or anywhere for that matter.

“I think I’m good. Help yourself.” I averted my gaze to the small trash bin and threw away my paper before picking up my cup of coffee.

As his hand reached out and grabbed his own paper, I couldn’t help myself from taking a quick peek at him. Our eyes met for a split second before he looked into the doughnut case, and then his hand stopped moving. Shifting my focus from his hand to his face, I realized his glorious green eyes were on me. I froze as his perfect lips spread into a mischievous smile.

Oh no, he remembers.

“Don’t I know you?” he asked as he grabbed a doughnut out of the case without taking his eyes from mine.

“No.”

He raised an eyebrow before his gaze made its way down my tank top and over my legs. “Oh, that’s right. You turned me down.”

Straightening my back, I slowly raked my eyes over the front of his shirt and shorts before letting them move back up. “Yep.”

I grinned before turning my back to him and moving toward the cash registers. I could feel him watching me as I set my doughnut bag on the counter, and then I began opening my wallet.

“So, what brings you all the way out to VA?” He set a Red Bull and his doughnut bag down on the counter beside mine.

I gave him a look, making it clear that it was none of his business.

He chuckled at my warning. “Look, we obviously know the same people. You might as well tell me. I’m sure we’ll run into each other again.”

Turning back to the cashier, who didn’t look a day over eighteen, I realized she was too busy staring at Mr. Green Eyes, so she hadn’t even started ringing up my doughnuts. I cleared my throat, and she quickly snapped out of her daze.

“Oh. Sorry.” She shook her head a little to help her focus.

“That’ll be four thirty-seven,” she told me. Her eyes went back to the man standing next to me, and she gave him a please-fuck-me smile.

I tried to hide my amusement as I pulled a twenty out of my wallet and handed it to her.

“So, you’re not gonna tell me?” he asked.

The cashier gave me my change.

“Nope.”

“You always play this hard to get? Or is this special treatment just for me?” He pushed his things closer to the cash register.

“Oh, I’m not playing.” I grabbed my coffee and bag of doughnuts off the counter.

Walking backward, I pushed the glass door open with my back, and I gave him a devious smile before turning toward the parking lot. I made my way to my old beat-up Mustang, making sure not to look back, and then I climbed in and left.

When I walked back into Nick’s apartment with a bag full of doughnuts, I found Nick sitting at his small kitchen table in his beautifully decorated breakfast nook. He was sipping on a cup of coffee and looking at his iPad. Nick was model perfect with his flawless bone structure and immaculate style. He really belonged somewhere like New York, not here in Virginia.

He looked at me over the lip of his coffee mug, and his eyes ran down my body, assessing my outfit like he always did, before stopping at my hand. “Doughnuts?”

I smiled as I went to take the seat across from him. “Yeah, I went a little nuts.” I plopped the bag down on the table.

He inspected it. “I get the chocolate one, but if you ever bring doughnuts home again, I’ll have to bitch-slap you.”

My head jerked back, and my eyebrows drew together before I laughed. “Um…okay.”

“You think I’m playin’, bitch, try me,” he warned. He grabbed the chocolate doughnut and took a bite big enough that half of it disappeared into his mouth.

I just rolled my eyes at my crazy cousin and took a sip of my coffee. “I saw someone from Asia’s art show at the store. Small world.” I got up to get a napkin, and I immediately regretted bringing it up.

I wasn’t supposed to be thinking about Mr. Green Eyes, and I definitely wasn’t supposed to be talking about him…especially with Nick.

“Oh, yeah? Who?” Nick asked, studying his iPad before licking icing off his fingers.

I shrugged as I made my way back to my seat. “I don’t know who he is. I just recognized him.”

Nick’s eyebrow rose as soon as he heard me say the word
he
, and he slowly lifted his gaze to look at me with his mischievous grin.

Oh no. Oh God, no.

When my cousin got an idea in his head, he was relentless. I had to nip this in the bud and fast.

“Don’t look at me like that, Nick. I’m not interested, so get that grin off your face,” I threatened him with my finger pointed in the direction of his mouth, but it had no effect.

Nick scoffed, “Pffft. Who are you kidding? You wouldn’t have brought him up if you weren’t interested.”

I sighed before taking a sip of my coffee. “He’s not my type.”

“How do you know? You don’t even know the man.”

I shrugged. “I just know. Trust me.”

He smirked before taking another bite of his doughnut, and then he looked back at his iPad.

Dodged that bullet.

“So, what did this guy look like?” Nick asked as he cut his eyes back to me.

Fucker.
I glared at him. “I don’t even remember. Forget I said anything.” Leaning back in my chair, I picked out a cream-filled doughnut from the bag.

“Well, let’s see…he lives here, and he went all the way to L.A. for Asia’s show. That means it could be Asia’s dad, Robert.” He paused, studying my face for a reaction. “He’s tall and incredibly hot for an older guy. Looks just like Gerard Butler.”

I smirked at him but remained silent as I took another sip of my coffee.

“Then, there’s Marcus, but you already know who he is since he proposed to Asia, and let’s be honest, he’s impossible to forget.” Nick winked at me.

I shook my head and giggled as I bit into my doughnut.

“Hmm…and then there’s Shaun.” He paused again.

I stopped chewing for just half a second, but he saw it.

He continued, his eyes persistently studying me, “Now, Shaun is definitely someone you would never forget. He’s tall, and he’s always tan because he spends the majority of his life surfing. That’s also why his body is incredibly sculpted and mouthwatering.”

As I imagined Shaun’s body, I could feel saliva beginning to pool in my mouth, and my chewing slowed.

Nick didn’t stop there. “He’s got the most amazing green eyes that could strip you bare with just one glance. His lips look so delicious that you have to know what they taste like. His voice is so deep that you can feel it. He’s effortlessly sexy, and he exudes sex. Then again, I’m probably telling you things you already know.”

I swallowed and looked at my doughnut. I hated the fact that I didn’t want Nick to stop. I wanted to know who Shaun was and how much Nick knew about him.

No, you don’t. You don’t care, Natalie.

I straightened my back before shrugging my shoulders and taking another bite.

Nick chuckled and got up to put his cup in the sink. “When you decide this whole pretending-to-be-uninterested thing is for the birds, you come see me, and I’ll tell you everything I know.”

I feigned indifference as I took another sip of my coffee, and Nick smiled before sauntering off toward his room.

“What’s up, Dad?” I yelled into my dad’s house after walking in the front door.

His truck was in the driveway, so I knew he was home.

“In here,” he said from the direction of the kitchen.

When I walked into the room, I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw my dad sitting across from a woman at the kitchen table. This woman was not only in my dad’s house at eight in the morning, but she was also sipping coffee and wearing a bathrobe.