Nate (A Texas Jacks Novel) (6 page)

Oh my gosh.
Now what? Why did my friends have to ditch me?
I need back up. I wish I could send out a signal to them saying:
MAY DAY! MAY DAY! Sinking ship! S-O-S
. But no such luck, as they don’t have ESP. It’s not like I don’t want Nathan sitting with me, or his hand touching mine, making my body flush with excitement. But I’m nervous as a newborn colt, and I don’t know what to do.
I’m in panic-mode here
.

Okay, it’s not like I don’t
totally
know what to do; I just don’t know how to properly go about doing it without looking like a big dork. I decide, on a deep breath, that I’d better say something, so I don’t come across as rude by not speaking to this good-looking man. But before I can, he continues to break the ice for me.

“So, tell me, Charlotte, what’s a pretty girl like you doing all alone tonight?”

Oh, smooth one, Nathan, trying to see if I’m single
.

“Unless there
is
someone coming later to take over this chair? I don’t want to overstep my bounds and presume anything.”

“Oh. No, you’re fine. I don’t plan on meeting up with anyone, and I don’t have a boyfriend, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Why am I rambling? Pull it together, woman. You’re a 21-year old woman, not a freshman in high school.
Surely, this shouldn’t be so hard. “Is that what you wanted to know?”

Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I just said that out loud
. But then again, it did make Nathan’s lips quirk up in a small smile, so what the heck. I decide to throw caution to the wind and shyly smile back at him.

“Well now, you’ve caught me,” he laughs. “You can’t blame a guy for trying. And yes, little one, that’s exactly what I wanted to know. Care to tell me why the spot hasn’t been filled yet?”

Oh, come on!
I’m no good at this. Avoiding eye contact with Nathan is the best way to go here, so I take a slow perusal of the dance floor, desperately trying to find my friends.
Someone has to come back to the table sometime soon, right?
They wouldn’t dare leave their wingman behind, would they?

Oh, who am I kidding, they probably saw Nathan sitting here and left me to fend for myself. Problem is, I think I might crash and burn this plane before it even taxis out for takeoff. I silently groan.
Here goes nothing
.

Or maybe, for once, it could be something.

I know I made a resolution about coming out tonight, and that was to finally put myself out there and take a chance. Nathan just landed himself at the end of that rope, and I’m going to grab on and pull myself up, praying for strength along the way. After all, he wouldn’t be sitting here, talking to me if he didn’t want to pursue something, right? Most guys would have walked away by now. I should know—it’s happened plenty of times before when I’ve clammed up.

“Well, um—I’m not really sure why it hasn’t been filled. I mean, umm—it’s not like I wouldn’t want it to be.” The statement comes falling out of my mouth nervously. “I guess I just haven’t found the right man yet?” I finish lamely, while tucking a good amount of hair behind my ear and ducking my head down. I can’t look at his face. I’m totally crashing and burning—there are one too many
umm
’s in that first sentence. I’m just not a smooth talker. Maybe I never will be.

When he doesn’t respond, I wonder if I’ve just scared him off. Glancing back up, I look right into his eyes and realize that they are almost the color of coal, they’re so dark. Then I look down to his lips, and he’s smiling at me so sweetly, I want to melt in my chair.

“Charlotte, there’s no need to be nervous or shy around me. I’m sorry if I’m making you feel uncomfortable. Do you want me to leave you alone?”

“No!” I all but yell, causing my face to flame up with heat. “I mean, it’s fine. You don’t have to go. I’m just no good at this, and I’m not used to guys sticking around this long to talk to me, if we’re being honest here.”

Reaching across the table, he lightly takes my hand in his again, sending a tingling sensation up my arm. “Relax and take a breath. I don’t bite. I just want to get to know you. And you still owe me a dance, by the way.” He gives my hand a little squeeze before pulling it away.

“Oh? And when did we make
that
date?” I tease back. Phew, some of the spunk I use at home has decided to make its way to the forefront tonight.
Thank heavens for the taunting of siblings.

Nathan is full-on grinning at me now, making butterflies dance all over the place inside my belly.

“A date, huh? I didn’t realize we had tipped the scales here.”

“Oh, well, I didn’t mean an actual date,” I stumble over my words in embarrassment.
What was I thinking?
Now he thinks I’m coming on to him, and assuming that there would be a date in the cards.
Where’s a plant I can hide behind until it’s time to leave?

“If a date is what you wanted, why didn’t you just say so in the first place?” he teases back with a wink and a big smirk on his face.

Just as I’m about to reply, I’m saved by, “Hey Nate, are these seats taken?”

Off to the right side of me are his two friends, looking at us with goofy grins on their faces.
Oh lovely, more hunky men to add to the mix.
They must have over heard our flirting banter. This is not going to help my embarrassment go away.

Where the heck are my friends, anyway?

Poor Charlotte, sitting here looking so cute, squirming in her chair now that the guys have shown up. I would have said it was good timing earlier to help ease the tension of her shyness, but not so much now. We were just starting to get somewhere when she let a little feistiness show. I’m determined to bring that back out.
For now, though, I’ll just have to bide my time.

“Tucker, Holt, this is Charlotte. Charlotte, these are my really good friends.”

“Charlotte, nice to meet you.” Tucker holds his hand out to shake hers. She timidly places hers in his for a quick shake, then snatches her hand back quickly, like she’s afraid to get burned.

“We thought we would come over here and save you from the likes of this guy.” Holt teases, with a lopsided grin and winks at her, causing her cheeks to blush slightly.

“Charlotte here was just asking me out on a date. We haven’t even had our first dance yet, and I’ve already scored a date. She’s a fast worker, this one. I say you two better watch it—she’s a tiger.” Winking over at Charlotte, I cause her face to deepen further with heat. I can’t help teasing her. She’s so cute, and I know it isn’t an act. She really does seem to have a hard time with attention coming from a man.

I know the guys heard our conversation when they walked up to the table, so why not just get it out of the way now before it becomes more awkward?

“We leave you alone for a few songs, and what happens when we come back? You start collecting men. What is this,
Charlie’s Angels
?” Charlotte’s blonde friend—the one with the watermelon moves—asks with a big, fat grin.

“Hello, Ladies. You must be Charlotte’s good-looking friend we saw earlier on the dance floor. Nice
watermelon
moves you have.” Holt says to the blonde, like he’s the big bad wolf and he’s about to eat her up.

Blondie laughs and sticks out her hand to Holt. “I’m Halley, and this is Naomi. We’re Charlie’s close friends. And you are?” she asks, looking over at Tucker.

“I’m Tucker, and the big bad wolf over there is Holt. And Prince Charming over here is Nathan. Charlotte was just asking him out on a date.”

At the mention of a date, Blondie’s eyebrows shoot way up.
Way to go, Tucker!
I scowl over in his direction. I don’t need them—or her friends, for that matter—to scare Charlotte away, or embarrass her further before I have a chance to dance with her.

This place just became too crowded.

“Charlotte, what do you say to that dance now? It looks like we’re outnumbered, so we’d better make a clean getaway.” The smile she gives me, and the relief that washes over her face, is enough to make me get out of the chair, walk over to her, gently grab her hand, and lead her to the dance floor before anyone else can take a jab or ask annoying questions.

We make it out on to the dance floor just in time for a slow song. “It must be fate,” I joke to Charlotte once we find a good spot close to the middle of the dance floor, far away from prying eyes.

“It’s more like really good timing, with lots of luck.” She quips back at me, making me smile.

Keeping hold of her hand, I lead her to stand in front of me. I place my other hand on her waist, while bringing her free hand to my shoulder. I gently pull her into me a little more, so there’s only a slight space separating our bodies from touching. I tuck our adjoined hands in between us and rest them on my chest, over my heart. Then I start to find our rhythm to the slow song with this blue eyed, brown haired beauty.

“Thank you for saving me back there. I don’t think I could have handled an interrogation from my friends. I think I can stave that off for a little while longer, like maybe the car ride home,” she chuckles.

Wanting to feel more of her, I draw her body closer to mine using the arm around her waist to pull her in, eliminating that last bit of distance between us. I can feel both of our heartbeats pitter against our joined hands as her left arm hesitantly leaves my shoulder to circle around my neck. I know I’m making her slightly uncomfortable, but for some reason, I can’t manage to stop the urge of needing to feel her closer, and wanting to hold her against me.

“I heard your friends call you Charlie earlier. What’s your preference? Or would you rather I stick with Charlotte?” I ask her on a quiet inhale of breath, smelling the scent of her hair and skin that’s right under my nose, all while loving the fact that she’s short and feels secure in my arms.

I have no idea what’s gotten in to me. I just barely met Charlotte, and I’m letting my emotions run rampant. Not that I can’t be the sweet, caring, and doting boyfriend-type. However, this girl pulls at my heartstrings a little harder than she should for just meeting me, and way more than any other woman I’ve met before her ever has.