“About time.” Ava cheered.
With that, Jade gave her friends a quick kiss on their cheeks and headed toward Nate with the thundering of her heart beating like a drum in her ears.
She slid onto the stool next to him. “I’ve changed my mind. I’ve decided tonight it’s guys before girls.”
* * * *
Nate should have felt guilty Jade ditched her friends for him. Wasn’t there some kind of code about friends that shouldn’t be broken? But if she was okay with it, why the hell should he feel bad? From the moment she stumbled into the pub he wanted to stop singing and take her somewhere private so he could do all those things he’d been fantasizing about for days.
And when she’d approached him, it took all of two seconds to usher her out of the room. Once outside, he remembered he’d walked. His house was only a block away, but it was now raining hard.
“I don’t have my car.” Standing under the awning, he asked, “please don’t tell me you came here on your little bumble bee.”
Placing a hand on her hip, she feigned being offended. “My moped is excellent transportation, but no, I brought my car because I knew it would rain.” She lifted a lock of hair and examined it. “I got stuck in the rain anyway, and look at the mess it made of my hair.”
Nate took the strand from her hand and twirled it around his finger, gently tugging her head closer to him so their faces were inches away. Her sparkling, light blue eyes deepened, and her tongue darted out to lick her bottom lip, drawing his gaze to her mouth.
Oh God, that mouth. He wanted to taste her again so badly. But he had to restrain himself. Because if he kissed her now, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to stop, and having Jade up against a wall in front of a busy pub was not the way he wanted her.
“Let’s get out of here.” His voice sounded husky. He held onto her hand and they darted out into the rain. “Which way?”
She pointed left, and they ran about six meters down the road. Both of them were soaked through when they jumped into the car. Nate made out the lace pattern of Jade’s bra under her pink top. Her nipples peeked.
Inwardly, he groaned. He’d been a teenager the last time a glimpse of a girl’s bra had turned him on. Now he’d seen his fair share. Women constantly flashed them, and much more, at his concerts. But it was only Jade’s he wanted to see. The sooner the better.
“Your place or mine?” she asked, her voice sounding a little breathless. He hoped it was because of him and not from the jog to the car.
“My place is two minutes away. How far is yours?” he asked.
“Too far. Your place it is.” And she preceded to get them there in under two minutes. Thank God her car was faster than her moped.
Arriving at his house, they entered the living room and were greeted by the cat sitting beside the door like he was waiting for them.
“Dorito!” Jade smiled and kneeled on the floor. “How are you, baby? Did you miss me? Has Nate been good to you? He’d better be.” She spoke to the cat like he could understand her.
The cat rubbed up against her legs, something Nate wanted to do and would not be outdone by it.
He pulled Jade up onto her feet and led the way to his bedroom. She followed close behind and so did Dorito. “No, you don’t, buddy. The only claw marks I want on my arse tonight are from Jade.”
Jade snorted but didn’t complain when he gently pushed the cat out of the room and closed the door.
For a moment all Nate could do was stare. Her flaming hot hair sat in wild, damp curls, framing her round face. The freckles on her nose stood out against her fair skin. She might not like them and tried covering them up, but he thought they were sexy as hell.
His heart was in his throat as he took in the rest of her. Her wet top stuck to her like a second skin, showcasing everything he wanted to touch. She was gorgeous. She made his mouth water and his pulse beat fast.
He reached for her, but she held out her hand to stop him. “Wait, we need to talk.”
Christ! She wanted to talk now? “Can we talk while we’re taking our clothes off?” He reached for her again, but she stepped out of his way. He blew out a frustrated breath and dropped onto the edge of the bed. “What do you want to talk about?”
“I know we mentioned this before, but I just want to double check that we’re still on the same page. You’re leaving and going back on tour?”
Nate nodded. Although the thrill of tour had died a long time ago, he knew it was where he needed to be.
“And I’m cursed, so there is no chance I’ll get attached and have you break my heart when you leave. It’s obvious I have the mega hots for you, but I will not fall in love.”
That curse was absolute bullshit. One day some guy would convince her of it, and she’d fall madly in love and have the happy relationship she deserved. An urge to punch that phantom man was strong.
She continued, unaware of the anger for her future boyfriend bubbling in his gut. “So as long as you keep to your part of the deal and go back on tour, forming no attachments, I’ll keep to mine.” She held out her hand. “Do we have a deal?”