Page 2 of Want You

“No.” She huffed. “I’m annoyed.”

“At me?”

“Not yet.” She offered a saccharine smile. “No, Nathan. I’m mad that I made an effort just so I could be stood up.” She turned toward him and leaned in, immediately regretting it when she breathed in his cologne. He fucking would smell amazing. Warmth and spice assaulted her senses, and she had to physically pull herself back using the bar. “But I waxed, plucked, and shopped all so that I could maybe—” she stopped herself from continuing and watched in horror as he smirked knowingly at her. Thankfully, he kept his mouth shut.

“Maybe you got stood up so we could meet. Maybe this happened so I could spend the night with you instead of around those drunk morons,” he said, pointing at his friends or teammates. Octavia studied the guys for a minute.

“And how often do you meet women at a hotel bar and use that line?”

He levelled her with a gaze, his warm brown eyes not moving from hers. “Never. You’re the first.” Dammit, she believed him.

“Don’t you want to spend the night with your drunk, moronic friends?” She turned in her stool toward him, leaning casually on the bar.

He watched her for a minute as if deciding how truthful to be. “Well, first of all, I’m sober, so a bar isn’t exactly my favourite place to be. And two, why any man would rather be over there with those fools instead of sitting here with you is beyond me.”

Octavia narrowed her eyes at him, really studying the man in front of her. He gave nothing away. He was either an expert liar or he was telling the truth.

Nathan sat there patiently, looking completely unbothered as she glared at him. “What’s your favourite holiday, Nathan?”

“If I pass this test, are you going to invite me to a family dinner?”

“Just answer the question.”

“Thanksgiving.”

“Why?”

Nathan shrugged. She hated shrugging. They were so noncommittal. “I like fall.” His eyes wandered over her hair and across her face. She expected them to continue down, but they stopped at her chin. “I like the dinner and family time without all the stress of gifts.” Now that was an answer. “What about you?”

“I like Christmas. I like the stress of gifts, and I love a turkey dinner.”

“We’d make a good pair then.” Nathan chuckled. “Do I get to ask you a question now?” He mimicked her position leaning on the bar.

“Sure.”

“Is a hot dog a sandwich?”

She tried to hold back her smile, but it broke through, along with a laugh. She had expected something crass. “No. A hot dog is a hot dog.”

“But a sub is a sandwich. Isn’t a hot dog just a sub flipped on its side?”

“A hot dog is named for the meat. A hot dog bun is not a hot dog. When you say hot dog, you are implying that the thing is the tube of meat. A hot dog is a hot dog regardless of whether there is a bun or not.”

Nathan sat staring at her for several seconds, apparently unable to form words. Octavia smiled and leaned back, feeling victorious.

“Are you a lawyer?” he asked slowly.

She nodded.

“A good one?”

She nodded again.

“That’s kind of hot.”

She nodded a third time. “You should see me tackle the glass half full theory.”

“I’d really like to,” Nathan said, his eyes searching hers in that way that made her believe he was trying to find all the ways her brain worked. “I don’t think I’ve wanted to hear a theory so badly, actually.”