Best of Three (Counting on Love) (23 page)

“And, in case you’re wondering, yes, both pregnancies she terminated were mine.”

There was a definite pain in Nate’s eyes that made Emma want to climb into his lap and hug it away.

And how idiotic was
that
? She and Nate might have a weird sort-of friendship, but it wasn’t a hugging relationship. For sure.

“So you broke up with her,” she summarized.

“Right in the hospital room before her surgery. I’m sure the entire hospital staff thought I was a huge asshole, but I didn’t care.”

Emma crossed her arms to keep from reaching for his hand. “So you had one girl who got pregnant and did nothing to fight for you or the baby and then you had another one who lied to be with you.”

Nate gave her a funny look. “Thanks for the synopsis.”

“It’s no wonder you have a hard time trusting relationships. On top of how your grandfather manipulated everything in your life, it’s amazing you aren’t an asshole twenty-four-seven.”

“I’m not?” he looked surprised at that.

She smiled. He wasn’t. Not really. “Only because
we’re
not together twenty-four-seven,” she said. She did seem to have a way of bringing it out of him. “My brother and the guys on the team like you. My sisters all like you. Michael likes you—even if he doesn’t listen to you.”

Nate gave her a half smile. “You like me too, Emma.”

There was a flip in her stomach at his words. But she still shook her head. “I like things
about
you,” she admitted.

“You like that I’m making you work at this a little bit,” he said.

And the cocky was back. That smug look, that arrogant tone. All the things that made her want to smack him.

All the things that made her want to make him crack, make him lose some of the superiority in the face of other emotions—passion, pleasure, joy. The dominance that made her want to get him to the point where he couldn’t even remember to boss her around. Of course, Nate would always think he was better than everyone else. But she wanted him to…let
her
tell him that.

Dammit.

“Maybe it’s like how much you like me sassing you. It’s out of the ordinary.”

“Maybe,” Nate agreed.

No denial on him liking her sass? That was monumental.

“But I don’t like you sassing me just because it’s different,” he said.

“But you do like it?”

His expression lost some of its teasing. “It’s you. It’s real. You were right—it helps me trust you.”

Why did they have to be sitting in Carl-Mart right now? Emma so wanted to grab him and throw him back on the patio table and show him exactly how real she could be.

“This isn’t a game,” he went on while she was trying to decide if the table that was part of the set for one ninety-nine would hold them up.

Her eyes went to his. “What?”

“You told the lady with the blender that I won. That I made you cave first.”

Her heart sped up and she had to breathe deep. “You haven’t called in three days. What was that?”

“I wanted to see if it would bother you.”

“You’re a—”

“But not—” he went on over the top of her, “—because I’m playing a game and trying to get to say ‘I told you so’ first.”

“Then why?” Her heart was hammering and she bounced her leg up and down. It was a tell. He would know that she was anxious about his answer. But she couldn’t stop.

“I wanted to see if you’d let me get away with it.”

She thought about that. She was confused. “And did you want me to let you get away with it? Or not?”

He sat studying her.

“Well?” she pressed.

“My first instinct is to say yes, I wanted you to sit and wait for me.”

She started to respond but he went on again.

“But I wanted you to be bothered by it.”

“I was,” she said quickly and firmly. “I was plotting ways to get revenge. And most of them involved the genitals that I have yet to see.”

He gave her a hot, though still cocky, smile. “And
that’s
bothered you too.”

“Yes. See? You win.”

He sighed and shook his head. “I don’t think I have.”

“What do you mean?”

“Turns out I wanted you to show up on my doorstep, pound on my door and demand to know why I wasn’t on
your
doorstep.”

She wanted to talk.
Very
much. She had things to say. But he was on a roll and she liked what he was saying.

“But you didn’t,” he said. “So I was thrilled to hear that you want me. Bad. Because ditto.”

Her leg bounced harder and her sandal slipped off her heel.

He leaned a forearm on the table. “
You
win, Emma,” he said. “You’ve got me tied up in knots and willing to break my own rules.”

She liked that. Too much. Was he playing with her now? If he was, he was good. She was falling for it. And hey, she liked hearing that she’d won. Even if she hadn’t been aware there was a game.

“What does that mean?” she finally asked.

“I think I want to be more like my son.”

This guy and his ability to surprise her were stressing her out.

“You weren’t wrong when you said that I took everything on that scavenger hunt list sexually,” Nate said. “Nipple suckers are almost exactly where my mind went.”

Emma’s nipples tingled at that.

“It’s been a long time since I enjoyed being with a woman like Michael is enjoying Shannon. Having fun and laughing, letting myself be surprised and impulsive, being myself.”

More of her tingled at that. “You’re the one who’s so convinced they’re doing more than having fun and laughing.”

Nate nodded. “But at least they’re
also
having fun and laughing.”

“You don’t have that with the women you date?” She didn’t know much about Nate’s romantic life. She assumed he had one. She knew lots of women found him attractive. His football fans alone would keep him warm pretty much every night of the year. And there were lots of nurses and techs and so on at the hospital. Emma had always been sure that Nate had whatever he needed in the female department. The idea that he might not have made her…want to give it to him.

Dammit.

“I don’t date much,” he said. “There’s one woman. Rebecca. I spend time with her when she comes to town. I see her on a monthly basis.”

“But she’s just a hook up?” Emma hated her too. The list of women she wanted to slap was growing.

Nate nodded. “More or less. She accompanies me to any dinners or fundraisers that I have to attend when she’s in town.”

“The fundraisers you’re always taking my sisters to?”

Nate had always asked Amanda to his high-class parties before she fell in love with Ryan. Since then, Nate had started asking Olivia. Having Nate take either of her sisters out drove Emma crazy. He’d never asked
her
.

“Yes. But it’s not…” His gaze flickered to something over her shoulder.

She turned to look. Michael and Shannon were finally making their way to the front of the store. They were holding hands and laughing.

“It’s not like it is with Michael and Shannon,” he said, focusing on Emma again. “It’s not romantic or fun for the sake of having fun.”

“You’re going to start dating,” she summarized. Great. The idea of him having sex with another woman made her stomach feel tight and sick. The idea of him acting the way Michael did with Shannon over another woman made her heart feel tight and sick.

“Yes. I’m going to try it.”

She tied him up in sexual knots but now he wanted more. Fantastic. This store didn’t have enough chocolate-covered pretzels to help her through watching Nate romance someone. “Good for you.”

He smiled, clearly satisfied. “I think it will be good for me.”

Michael and Shannon were on their way out of the store. That meant Nate was not at risk of ruining things between them today and that meant Emma could leave. She scooted her chair back. “Have a great time.”

She’d taken one step away from the table when he said, in that deep, commanding voice, “Emma.”

She pulled in a breath and turned. “What?”

“I would like to take you to the hospital’s annual dinner dance on Friday night.”

She hadn’t been expecting that. “You want to date
me
?”

He rose. “Yes.”

He was dressed in blue jeans and a faded green T-shirt. He hadn’t shaved today. He was standing in Carl-Mart.

But she wanted him. Bad. Just like she’d told the woman with the blender.

There was no way she could date him, though.

She could sleep with him. She could give him a blow job he’d never forget right here in good old Carl’s. But she could not see him in a tuxedo, dance with him, drink champagne with him.

She couldn’t even play with Nerf guns and Play-Doh with him. Except…she glanced around…she already kind of had. They’d had a good time today. It was silly and spontaneous and—worst of all—had made her like him more.

She was acting like an idiot around Nate Sullivan.
Nate Sullivan
. She had become a desperate woman where he was concerned and she was shocked at herself. She had never, ever, begged a guy to have sex with her. She’d never, ever let a guy call all the shots.

But she was enjoying it.

And the biggest problem was that she thought she knew why she was enjoying it.

He said it was all about him, that he liked calling the shots, but she couldn’t help it—he made it feel like it was about
her
.

She was difficult, she took a lot of time and energy. She knew that. More than one guy had told her she was too much work and that keeping up with her exhausted them.

Nate knew her. He knew she was a lot of work. But he said he wanted to date her anyway. Sure, he was bossing her around. That shouldn’t seem like a sweet gesture, but it took time and energy to keep her on her toes too, and she loved that he was doing it.

And all that stuff about noticing what she wore and that she drank ginger ale at Trudy’s? And now saying that he wanted to be more like Michael and have fun and enjoy things? The guy had to have panties dropping all around him and part of her loved that he’d decided hers were the ones he was interested in. For now, anyway.

And that was where she got hung up whenever she thought about all of this.

It wasn’t only desire she saw when their eyes met. There was an exasperated affection there as well. He said that her sass made him know she was real and that he could trust her.

But it would get old. Eventually, the exasperation would outweigh the affection.

She’d been there before.

Romancing Emma was like mountain climbing. The training was challenging, the climb was exciting, but once you got the peak, there was nowhere else to go.

Usually she didn’t care. As far as she was concerned, she climbed for those few moments of pleasure at the top and there was always another mountain waiting.

Until now. She had a feeling the view at the top with Nate was like nothing she’d ever seen.

And it was going to hurt like hell when she fell from that height.

“Uh, no.”

Nate folded his arms. He didn’t exactly look surprised. “Why not?”

She couldn’t tell him the real reason why—that she was afraid of falling for him if they went to some dumb charity dinner. Definitely not. “Because you’re not putting out.”

“Maybe you need a guy to
not
have sex with you.”

“
Why
would I need that?” She was definitely not getting dressed up if there was not going to be any sex.

“Because all the other guys have sex with you.”

That
was flattering. “Hey.”

“I mean, the other ones you date.”

“You bossing me around and a couple of orgasms doesn’t mean we’re dating. And I had to do one myself, if I remember correctly.”

His eyes darkened, clearly remembering it too. “I helped. Admit it.”

He’d been a huge part of it. But she’d never admit that. “Quit messing with me.”

“I’m not messing with you. Come to this with me.”

“No.”

“Michael is bringing Shannon.”

“Good. Be a grown-up and show her you think she’s okay and you’re happy for her and your son.”

He didn’t try to stop her as she started for the front again. Which was good. Or so she told herself over and over. By the time she got to the car, she almost believed it.

“What about this one?”

Emma could not believe that she was helping her sister pick out a dress to wear when she went on a date with Nate.

Technically, it wasn’t a date. Emma knew that. Olivia and Nate were friends and she’d gone with him to fundraisers and parties in the past. But Emma still hated it.

It sucked that Nate was taking another woman to the party, and it sucked that it was her sister, because she couldn’t hope that Olivia would get sick from the shrimp cocktail or would turn her ankle in her heels.