Salvation (Heal Me Series Book 1) by Stephanie John

Chapter 5

"Nice?"

"Okay, he was warm, engaging, chivalrous...not what I expected." He didn't try and jump my bones, is what I wanted to tell her. But I didn't.

Mai leant her elbows on the desk, supporting her chin in her hands, and raised her brows. "What happened at the end of the night?"

I sipped my coffee. "I went home." Mai's eyebrow lifted another notch. "Alone," I reiterated.

"What?" she shrieked. Her palms hit the desk with a loud slap. I shrugged, having nothing else to say. "I bet the goodnight kiss was uh-ma-zing."

"There wasn't one," I said wistfully, stroking my cheek and recalling the delicious feeling of Nate's skin against mine.

"Okay, now I'm really confused." Mai frowned, her head tilting. "He can't be gay."

"Definitely not gay, Mai."

"Are you? Because, you know, I would—if you wanted to." I gaped at her, dumbfounded and exasperated. And slightly amused, but I tried not to show it.

"Nothing happened because I told him I wasn't interested."

"Jeez, I never thought you'd actually go through with it!"

"Believe me, I'm pretty shocked, too. I don't know where it came from." In truth, something about being in Nate's presence made me feel fearless. That knowledge alone unnerved me.

"Wow, you're stronger than I thought, Kara. I really expected you to get laid last night." Mai smirked, clearly tickled by a thought she had. "I bet he was pissed off. Turned down twice by someone as gorgeous as you? His ego must be seriously dented."

I chuckled feebly, a stab of regret flashing through me. I set my mug down and typed my password into the log-on screen.

"What did he say when he figured out he wasn't getting any sweet lovin'?" she asked.

"I didn't give him the chance to say much. I just jumped into a taxi and left."

Lowering back into her seat, Mai crossed her arms, the smirk from earlier gone. "He didn't even drive you?"

"He offered, but I had to leave..."

My vagueness was enough to spike her attention. She leant forward and narrowed her eyes. "You do like him, don't you?"

I exhaled slowly, fixing onto the gradually disappearing company logo on the screen. If I lied, Mai would see straight through it. We hadn't known each other long, but she read me well. Pleased with this titbit of information, even though I'd admitted nothing, her face split into the biggest grin.

There it was—the meddling face.

"It's not happening," I warned. "I could never trust him. Women fall at his feet. They did last night, even with me there. He won't be short of company for long. I called him out on it, too." An image of him with another woman caused a sharp stab of jealousy in my chest. That reaction irritated me.

"You called him a man-whore?" she snorted.

"He doesn't want commitment, he wants some fun and thought I could be his latest plaything."

"Thought he didn't try it on?" Mai frowned. "Blake must've known if he wanted, he could've gotten in your panties."

"Mai!"

"Guys like him know if a woman's interested. If he really needed a fuck, those stupidly long legs wouldn't be walking straight this morning."

"That's what's baffling. I know he wanted to..."