‘Not fat.’ Nate leaned close to my ear, speaking in a low voice that did nothing to abate the physical response in my body. ‘Curvy. And I’ll let you in on a wee secret: There are still men out there that like a woman to be soft under their hands, to have curves, hips, tits and arse.’ He tapped my butt gently with the palm of his hand. ‘It’s a good arse, babe. I don’t want to hear you refer to it as anything else.’
Shock rooted me to the floor. It wasn’t just the very cool things he was saying; it was the rush of tingles that shivered through me as he caressed my butt and moved his hand upward, sliding it under my T-shirt, and around my waist to caress my stomach. I sucked in a deep breath.
There was no ignoring the fact that he was turning me on. I really needed him to not know he was turning me on.
Nate unwittingly saved me. His hand dipped downward, shaking me out of the little sensual haze he’d put me in when I realized where he was heading.
For my belly!
I clutched at his hand to stop him, but when our eyes met in the mirror his expression was admonishing. He gave me a little shake of his head. ‘Let go, babe.’
I shook my head back at him.
‘Liv.’
‘Nate …’
His expression instantly softened at the panic in my voice. ‘Trust me.’
Trembling, I let go of his hand and sucked in another breath as he stepped even closer to me, the heat of his front brushing against my back. And suddenly I was sucking in my breath for an entirely different reason as the rough tips of his fingers glided slowly down my stomach.
I had never been more thankful for a T-shirt bra than I was at that moment. Nate’s touch was turning me on so much that my ni**les had hardened to little points.
Oh, boy.
He didn’t need to know that his lessons were causing that kind of reaction in me. For the first time since we’d met, I really wished my friend wasn’t so goddamn sexy.
Flattening his hand, Nate smoothed it over my belly, back and forth, learning my shape, until my cheeks could have guided a lost sailor home, they were so red.
‘Is this the barely there pouch?’
I nodded, unable to speak, sure that if I did it would come out all Greta Garbo and sex. That would definitely give away my hormonally charged state.
Nate’s hand slid back over my stomach to my hip, where it stayed. He gave me a reassuring squeeze. ‘Feels good. Soft. Sexy.’ He murmured in my ear again, and I tried and failed not to shiver in response. ‘Your skin is like silk.’
In my head I was panting and in reality I was really close to panting, so when he pulled back abruptly it was almost like he’d thrown a bucket of ice water over me.
Thank you. I needed that. I shook myself, giving my cheek an inner slap. Snap out of it!
‘Now,’ Nate began, his voice all controlled and back to normal, ‘I’m a man, and as you know, I don’t say shit I don’t mean. So here’s what I see.’
Oh, God.
‘Great hair, stunning eyes, gorgeous skin, f**king knockout smile, great tits, nice arse, and long, sexy legs. Fuckable. Very, very f**kable.’
My lips twitched with laughter, and I had to admit to feeling a rush of real pleasure sweep over me at his analysis. ‘Succinct.’
Nate shrugged as he took in my bright-eyed expression. ‘Just trying to get the point across that there are not very many men who wouldn’t want to f**k you. And this is from a man many women find attractive.’ He flashed a quick, arrogant grin.
I rolled my eyes at him. He knew damn well how good-looking he was. I imagined that when you looked like a movie star it was almost impossible not to know how good-looking you were. ‘Of course you’re attractive.’
‘Really?’ He crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the footboard of my bed as his eyebrows dipped together in consternation. ‘I thought you got tongue-tied around men you found attractive?’
Is his vanity pricked?
Inside I was gleefully guffawing at the idea. On the outside I was a lot nicer. ‘You cocky bastard, you know every straight woman on the planet finds you attractive.’
He rewarded me with another arrogant smile, his dimples popping in that delightfully sexy way that could be really distracting. ‘So you don’t get tongue-tied all the time?’
‘You’re different. You and I are friends, so I try not to think about you that way.’
‘Back at you, babe.’
Hmm. Nice. I immediately plummeted from the high I’d been on. I didn’t know what to say to that.
Nate looked like he wanted to laugh. ‘It doesn’t mean I don’t.’
‘Don’t what?’ I frowned.
His eyes drifted slowly over my body in a way that had me clamping my legs together in denial. ‘Think about you that way.’
My heart slammed against my chest. ‘Really?’
He snorted. ‘Last time I checked, I’m a man and you’re an attractive woman. Just because we don’t f**k doesn’t mean I haven’t thought about it. That’s how men work.’
Unsuccessfully hiding a smile, I nodded casually. ‘Back at you. But,’ I hurried to explain, ‘because you’re my friend … I don’t know. I’m just comfortable with you. There’s no sexual pressure, so I can just be me around you.’
Nate took this in and then straightened from his position against the footboard. ‘I’m working the next few days, but on Thursday night I’ll come back over and we’ll continue.’
I bobbed my head in agreement.
‘I hope you’re feeling more confident.’ He shot me another cocky smile.