Chapter 8
When we arrive, Karen’s already there at a table with her partner, Maria. She waves us over and points to the seats she has saved for us.
“Bloody hell, Kate,” Karen says, eyeing me up and down, taking in my outfit. “You mean business tonight, don’t you?”
I smooth my dress, now unsure about it with that reaction. “Is it too much?”
“No, you are bloody gorgeous in it - but I'm telling you now - expect to get lots of male attention in that... and female if they're that way inclined.”
“Phew . . . I thought you were going to tell me I looked cheap!”
“Er, hello?” Amanda says, “I'm here too?” She makes a gesturing move towards her dress.
“You look lovely too, Amanda,” Maria says, smiling at her.
“Yeah,” says Karen “You scrub up fine - but we don’t have to get you paired off - you’re not single.”
“Oh, thanks, guys, way to make a girl feel desperate!” I laugh, “Besides, I've sworn off men for life - it's me and Jess from now on, and that’s the way I like it.” I say, and get disbelieving looks all around.
It’s a big room, but it’s filling up, mostly with couples or groups of men, although there are groups of women. There’s a DJ in the corner and a large dance floor. To the left, there’s a table full of trophies, presumably for the presentation which is later.
The players soon enter the room with a flourish – wow, they're dressed in dark suits with the team emblem on the left breast, and they wear white shirts and ties underneath. Oh . . . my . . . effing . . . God. A full rugby team dressed like that, making an entrance together, all the females in the room squirm, the players are delicious. Greg comes over to Amanda, and I automatically check for Nathan. I spot him chatting to one of his teammates at the bar, they’re all attractive, but my Nathan still stands out.
Hmm, maybe having a drink before I came out wasn’t such a good idea.
He's gorgeous, laid back and carefree . .
. laughing . . . yum. Imagine waking up to his head on your pillow every morning – that would start your day off with a smile.
He stands up straight and, as though sensing me looking at him, looks straight at me and lifts his drink in greeting.
I smile back at him and turn back to my group, who are grinning.
I'm mad at him, something which he makes me forget. Tonight, when he wants to talk, I’ll tell him I'm not interested in being one of his numbers again, but the thought of having another night like the last one kind of makes me want to keep my mouth shut.
The angel inside me is saying ‘no, no, no’ but the devil inside me is saying ‘hell, yes!’
The DJ’s playing the music you want to get up and dance to, so we do that.
‘Blurred Lines’ by Robin Thicke is playing.
It’s been a couple of hours since I began drinking.
Nathan hasn’t been near, so I've relaxed a little, maybe he’s got his eye on someone else.
I don’t want to think about that, so I commit to enjoying myself dancing with Maria.
‘Valerie’ by Amy Winehouse is playing when a guy comes over, a big guy - he's something to do with the team because he has the suit on, but I didn’t notice him on the pitch today.
“Hello, love.” He leans into me, and as he does, he puts his hand in the small of my back. However, my dress being backless, his hand is actually on my bare back, which is my own fault for picking this dress. “Can I buy you a drink?”
I'm about to say ‘thanks but no’ when someone pulls him back, that’s when I notice Nathan with his hand on the guy's shoulder.
“She’s not available, mate.” He says something in his ear.
The guy turns to me, “Sorry, I didn’t realise you were Ginger’s.”
Wow, what the hell did he say to him?
The guy walks off, and I turn angrily to Nate. “What do you think you’re doing, Nathan? I'm not yours... not even close. What the hell gives you the right?”
He angrily runs his hands through his hair, he's about to run out of patience.
He grabs me by the elbow and steers me off the dance floor. I yell at him, “What the bloody hell are you doing? Get off me!”
“Now’s the time for that talk.” He steers me off into a clear corner, his body is rigid and tense. Yup, definitely angry.
He spins me around so my back is against the wall. He is mad.
“Are you going to tell me what your fucking problem is?” he asks.
“What my problem is? Are you kidding me? What exactly is it that you want from me, Nathan?” He likes it when I call him Nate, so I'm purposefully not doing it – childish, yes, but I can’t help it.
“I want you!” he yells “All I'm asking is for you to give me a chance, but you blow hot and cold, I don’t know where the hell I stand with you!”
“I'm not interested in a casual shag anymore. I've grown up,” I say quietly.
“What are you talking about? Have I given you any indication that that’s all I want from you?”
I get mad now. “You are a piece of work, you really are. How many women have you got on the go right now?”
He gives me a blank look. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. I don’t have any women on the go. I'm trying to get one, but she’s being a pain in my arse!”
Enough is enough. “I saw your phone last week at the party - you’re going out with someone called Maggie - you were with her Friday night and chatting me up on Saturday, at a bloody kids' party no less. You should be ashamed of yourself, and I have sympathy for whoever Maggie is, having to go out with you.”
I turn around and storm off, leaving him open-mouthed. He’s speechless, well, ha... he’s been caught out! That should get him off my back, now he realises I'm onto him.
The music’s gone off and the lights have come on - buffet time - I sit back down with everyone . . . they're all watching me.
“Are you going to tell us what that was about?” Karen asks.
I shake my head. “Let me calm down first, you guys go and get your . . . “
I'm stopped mid-sentence when I hear a voice on the microphone, it's Nathan. My blood runs cold in fear of what’s going to happen next. What in god’s name is he doing now?
“Hi, everyone. Sorry to interrupt you while you’re eating, but I need to say something to someone here tonight, and this is the only way I can get her stubborn arse to listen to me.
You see, there’s this girl I like - she’s fantastic. . . sexy . . . funny – she's . . . well, she's everything. I can’t get her out of my fucking head - that’s why I'm up here making a total dick of myself.
Unfortunately for us both, she had the displeasure of knowing me ten years ago, back when I was a total wanker, and yup, I was a wanker with her.
But she won't give me a chance to explain that the reason I was a wanker with her back then was because I knew she was way too good for me - that I’d end up hurting her and she was way out of my league.
I wasn’t a one-woman man when I was younger, as you all know - so I told my friends that it was a one-night thing that didn’t mean anything, even though I couldn’t get her out of my head for months afterwards.
. . even now, it still stands as the best night I've ever had!”
I go bright red and hang my head, eyes to the floor, not wanting to meet anyone’s eyes. Everyone at my table has gone still - you could hear a pin drop in the room.
“But all of you who know me know that being a dad changed me, made me grow up, and I'm not that guy anymore - all I want is for a chance to show her that. Show her that I would treat her properly – like she deserves to be treated.”
His eyes land on me.
“I'm sorry I hurt you, Kate, I am, but I can't turn back time, but if you give me a chance, you’ll see that I'm different now… you might actually like me. Oh, and Maggie is my sister. I was fixing a leak for her last Friday night. Thanks, everyone.”
He gets off the stage, and I watch him go down the steps to stop at the bottom of the bar area. He leans on the wall with his head down.
I can’t believe he did that. And Maggie is his sister? I’m such an idiot. I'm a bitch for not trusting him because this time around, he has been different. That is the single most romantic thing ever to happen to me. I have goosebumps.
Everyone is watching me, waiting for my reaction.
I scrape my chair back and stand. I take a deep breath and walk to him.
Eyes are on me from around the room. He doesn’t see me approaching, but when I get to him, he looks up.
We stare at each other and don’t say anything, the pain in his eyes breaks my heart.
I lean forward to put my lips on his. He hesitates, but when he realises what’s happening, he places his hands on my hips, pulls my body to meet his, and he opens his mouth and kisses me passionately.
I kiss him back as a huge noise erupts behind me, the men whooping and cheering, and others clapping.
It’s a romantic kiss - one that you’ll remember until your last day.
I part my lips, and his tongue delves inside, sending shivers all through my body.
I reluctantly break off and smile at him.
I say quietly but with resolve. “Okay.”
He frowns. “Okay?” He looks vulnerable, but there’s hope there, too.
I nod and give him a small smile. “Okay… we can see where this goes.” I lean in to kiss him again, now not caring that everyone can see.
My other arm goes around his neck, and I sink into him.
Our kiss gets hungrier, and my tongue meets his, at which he growls into my mouth.
His hands run up and down my back against my bare skin, making it burn and come alive. This man can kiss.
We break off from the kiss and stare at each other again. I smile at him, and he smiles back.
“That was pretty romantic, what you just did.”
“Yeah? I made a total fool of myself, and the lads are never going to let me forget it. I'm totally pussy whipped.”
I shrug, “That’s what makes it romantic.”
He leans into me. “You look fucking gorgeous tonight. I've had to force myself not to stare at you all night. When Jacko came over to you, I felt like throwing him across the room – and he’s a mate.”
“You look pretty sexy yourself,” I whisper. His eyes darken, and he leans in to kiss me again.
When we break off again, I say to him, “Do you want to come and sit with us?”
He raises his eyebrows. “Hell yes, I do!”
I laugh and grab his hand. “Come on.”
I led him to the table and introduced him to everyone.
Karen speaks first, of course, as always. “Nice move there, Nathan. Not many women could have resisted that - straight ones anyway.” She smiles at him and winks – hmmm . . . maybe he’s won her over.
Greg pats him on the back and says, “I've been there, mate, I feel for you.” Nathan laughs at him and shakes his head.
He gets along well with them...fits right in. We keep making eye contact, and he keeps his hand on my knee the whole time he’s talking and strokes it with his thumb. It's driving me wild. I'm going home with him tonight, no question . . . I want him.
I lean in to say in his ear, out of everyone’s earshot. “Can I stay at yours tonight?”
He sighs and bites his lip, which immediately makes me regret asking.
I shake my head, “Doesn’t matter, forget I asked.” I’m an idiot.
He grabs hold of my hand. “Kate, I would love you to come back to mine, and I’d love you to stay the night with me, in my bed.
But I meant every word up there on that stage.
I'm crazy about you, and I'm going to show you that this is not only about sex. So yes, please come home with me - I would fucking love you to - but we won’t be having sex.”
Wow, he’s taking this respect thing very seriously. I like it... But I don’t like it. I like it because it shows he does like me, but I hate it because I need him inside of me.
I nod, “Ok, I understand. So, can we go soon?”
He laughs, “The thought of you... in my bed? Oh, we’re going now! Just because we can’t have sex doesn’t mean I can't do other things to make you scream, and I want that to be happening within the hour.”
Mmm, so do I!