thirty-six
" D ance with me, Mads.”
Those words felt like plunging into warm water while holding her breath.
Her limps turned loose and relaxed while her heart sped up from the lack of air.
She knew all she had to do was resurface and take a deep breath.
After all, the soft smile that graced Nate’s lips told her everything she needed to know; whether she chose to sink in deeper waters or reach for the surface, she wouldn’t be doing it alone.
“Are you sure?” she said, repeating the same words she’d said before, in another time.
His eyes were blazing as his lips moved.
“I’ve never been surer.”
This time, it was she who threaded her fingers with his and pulled him towards the throng of people who were already moving languidly to the beat.
Maddy walked slowly backwards, which was why she was able to see Nate’s wolfish grin.
Then her gaze was powerless not to roam down his body and the sinful picture he painted tonight.
He was all dark breathlessness, the neon lights of the club hitting the angles of his face in a way that should have been illegal.
Her blatant ogling halted when her back almost bumped against someone, Nate tightening his hold on her hand and pulling her against the front of his body to prevent it.
And suddenly there was only him.
No people. No friends. No distractions. Only the low, thrumming bass that guided their movements.
This was nothing like the way they’d danced at that high-school party.
They were moving together as if it was all they could do. As if stopping was unimaginable.
Time was blurring, blending past and present.
And through it all, Maddy couldn’t tear her eyes off him. She wanted to close her eyes, to let herself be carried away by the onslaught of sensation, but he held her prisoner in his intense gaze.
Her hands moved of her own volition, brushing against his front, feeling his chest reach for her palm with his rapid breathing.
She laced her fingers behind his neck, a move that brought her body almost flush against his.
A moment later, she felt Nate’s scorching touch as his left arm enveloped her almost entirely, while his other cupped her favorite spot, the juncture between her bare shoulder and her nape.
They moved in sync like one body while the beat pulsed and throbbed, and all there was was heat, and sweat, and shallow breaths.
Maddy felt more than heard his next words.
“I’ve never wished for privacy more in my life.” His voice was rough, like he’d been parched for days with no water in sight.
“Is that what you want?” she asked, her own voice unrecognizable even to her own ears.
Nate tilted her jaw to meet her eyes in the neon-streaked darkness.
“It’s not a question of want anymore, Mads. But of need.”
An almost violent shiver ran down her spine, goosebumps pebbling her skin despite the heat coming off from all the bodies around them.
“We could leave,” Maddy whispered so softly, there was no way Nate could hear it.
But his unyielding stare had caught the almost soundless words that had left her lips. Maddy thought he’d sag in relief but instead, his arms only tightened around her.
His exhale could easily have been mistaken for a laugh, if it hadn’t sounded so pained.
“We could, but we won’t.”
She hadn’t been prepared for the startling wave of disappointment that flooded her.
It must have been obvious in her expression because Nate’s hand on her nape turned into a soothing caress.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you’re disappointed. There’s only so much control I can have around you, and I need that control for what I’m about to say next.
” He took a deep breath and it was only then that Maddy realized that they had stopped moving almost completely, barely swaying to the music.
“We won’t leave. We’ll stay with your friends and my friends, and have a nice time.
Tomorrow, you’ll come over for dinner and a movie, I’ll be cooking and you can choose the movie. ”
Maddy must have been staring at him comically, judging by Nate’s sudden chuckle.
“Are you asking me on a date?” she asked, just to make sure.
“What gave me away? The dinner/movie combo?”
“Actually, yeah, kind of.”
“Then yes, Maddy. I’m asking you on a date,” he said, and she was struck by how someone could look so serious and so vulnerable at the same time.
She was nodding before his words had even registered.
“Okay.”
Maddy was sure that from the outside, they both looked like two people smiling like idiots at each other for no good reason. But she couldn’t care less.
“What do you say we go back to our group? I’m sure Coop will already be itching to heckle us and I would hate to spoil his fun.”
As if she could say no to that boyish grin. She might be an adult woman but there was no resisting that grin.
“Alright. Let’s go give Cooper his fun and Stacie her needling.”
“Needling? Should I be scared?”
“Not too much.”
“But a little is fine?”
“Yeah, a little would be advisable.”
“Thanks for the reassurance.”
“It’s no problem.”
Which was how they found themselves trying to make their way through the crowd and back to their friends. It was a good thing Nate was leading the way, almost muscling through. And it was another good thing that his hand never left hers.
For spatial orientation purposes, of course. Nothing else.
Thankfully, everyone was where they’d left them. Slightly more buzzed but seemingly having a good time. From what she could see, Stacie appeared to be chatting with Liam while Nick was slapping Josh’s back while laughing uproariously.
Nate and Maddy rejoined the group and it was only because she was standing so close to him that Maddy noticed Liam’s distraction. He was nodding at what Stacie was saying to him but his eyes were focused somewhere on the dance floor.
And it was only then that Maddy also noticed Cooper’s absence.
But following Liam’s gaze, he was easy to locate, dancing in the middle of the throng of people with a dark-haired woman who was currently touching him like she owned him.
Maddy turned to glimpse at Liam again, just in time to see the tight clench of his jaw and the fierce glare he was aiming at the dancing couple.
Huh. That was weird.
She would have kept trying to figure out what the hell that was all about if her own gaze hadn’t been caught prisoner by the gorgeous guy right next to her who was currently downing his drink in three, big gulps.
Wow, it seemed throats could also be outrageously attractive. Or at least, Nate’s was.
And apparently, her subtlety was still non-existent.
“Is there something you need, Mads?” he asked in a tone that was probably supposed to be teasing, but in her ears sounded downright filthy.
“There are a lot of things I need, Nate.”
She saw him swallow hard.
“There are?”
Maddy nodded slowly. “Mhm.”
His pose would have looked casual as he leaned on the counter of the bar. But the tight clenching of his hands betrayed him.
“Okay, I feel like I’m intruding,” a voice interrupted her thoughts. She turned to see Cooper smirking at his best friend. He looked slightly out of breath from dancing.
“You are,” was Nate’s only reply, never taking his eyes off her.
“Now, you think I’d be insulted but I knew what I was getting into. Anyway, I’m not here to deal with your grumpy ass.” Instead, he redirected his gaze towards Maddy. “You’re probably already sick of dealing with this sour SOB.”
Maddy could only laugh. “What are you talking about? Nate’s not sour, or grumpy for that matter.”
She almost laughed again at Cooper’s befuddled expression. “He’s not?”
Maddy shook her head.
Cooper threw a confused glance, looking between the two of them.
“Huh,” was all he said, before going back to the rest of the guys.
“I think you broke him.”
Yeah. Though Maddy had a certain suspicion that what she’d said about Nate wouldn’t be the only thing in Cooper’s plate.
***
The night was awesome, and Maddy couldn’t remember the last time she’d had such a good time.
She and Stacie had gossiped endlessly with the guys from work about everything workplace-related under the sun. Cooper had joined right in with everyone as if he’d known them for years, while Liam was happy to participate when he wasn’t keeping an eye on his friend.
And Nate never left her side.
He didn’t stifle her. He was just a steady presence close to her, playing with a strand of her hair once or twice or whispering something funny in her ear. He was always there, his cologne downright intoxicating every time she caught a whiff of it.
Those light touches and subtle caresses were making her stir-crazy, but she loved them all nonetheless.
God, she couldn’t wait for their date.
Date.
They had an actual date.
Which was hitting her right then, in the car with Stacie, as she drove Maddy home. The guys had escorted them to Stacie’s vehicle before they’d headed away.
Nate had left her with a soft, lingering kiss on her cheek and a “See you tomorrow” full of promise, before he followed Cooper and Liam, a secret smile on his lips.
Her cheeks were still hot just thinking about it.
“So, I have a date tomorrow.”
Now, it was a good thing that Stacie wasn’t a drinker either or she might have swerved the car into the ongoing traffic on the opposite side of the road.
“I’m sorry, can you repeat that? Because I think my ears are still ringing from the music.”
“I have a date with Nate tomorrow.”
Stacie was silent for a moment, which prompted Maddy to peek at her from the side of her eye.
“And how do you feel about that?” she asked finally.
Maddy sighed, as if unleashing a ton of pent-up emotions. There were a lot of things she could say to that. That she was so excited about it they’d have to invent a better word for it. That she was still scared all this would vanish in the blink of an eye.
Instead she said the only thing that mattered.
“I can’t wait.”
And everything she hadn’t uttered must have been there in the tone of her voice because Stacie didn’t ask anything else on that. She just beamed, never taking her eyes off the road.
“Okay, then! Give me all the details. What kind of date are we talking about?”