Nate threw me a boyish smile that practically made me melt right there while I looked at him. He didn’t seem tired at all and was moving around the kitchen as if he had more energy than a small child.
“You got mad at me for not sleeping, but here you are, up all night.”
“I slept. I went to bed early and just woke up a little bit ago. Six hours is about all I can stay down for. But you, you’re like a professional sleeper now.”
I felt like a professional sleeper. My body really didn’t know what to do with all that sleep.
“Very funny. I can’t believe I actually slept that long.”
“It’s good for you. How are you feeling?” he asked as he looked down at my hands.
“Stop worrying about me so much. I hate when people fuss over me. You know the best thing you can do for me is treat me just like any other woman.”
“Get out then,” Nate said.
I froze and looked up at him. My heart sank and I couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on.
“What?”
“Girls I know don’t usually spend the night,” he teased with a wide grin.
“Well, aren’t you just the jokester tonight—I mean, today.”
I took a seat at the barstool and watched Nate whip the French toast mixture and then put some bread into it and onto the stove. He seemed very familiar with the process, and I was impressed.
My eyes locked onto his biceps as he whipped the liquid around with ease. Nate was such a well-built man. I couldn’t remember ever being in the close company of a man who was so into his fitness routine. It was intriguing to watch his body move and each of the muscles flex and relax as he completed tasks.
“Do you have, like, zero percent body fat?” I blurted out.
“Ha, no. I’ve got plenty of body fat. I’ve got to keep warm at night,” Nate lifted up his shirt to show me what he thought was some body fat. All I could see were some amazing abs.
Most of the men I had been around in my life weren’t all that fit, so it was fascinating to me to watch Nate’s body as it moved. Everything was covered in muscles and perfectly shaped. I thought people like that only existed in the movies. But it was exciting to see a man like Nate up close and personal.
“Yep, you’re a fat pig. I think you shouldn’t eat any of this breakfast and give it all to me.”
He grabbed a plate of the French toast and walked over to where I was sitting. My heart raced as I looked up at him and felt the energy from his body. Again, I felt the unstoppable urge to touch him. I couldn’t help it. Everything in my body was screaming at me to reach out and touch him, but this time I tried to do it more appropriately as I laid my hand over his and took the plate from him.
Nate felt it too. I saw it flash across his eyes as he looked down at me. He looked like there was a moment when he was going to move in and kiss me. I prepared myself, but he quickly took a step back.
The sexual tension between the two of us was unstoppable. Even when we both tried to keep things friendly, our bodies wanted something so much more to happen between us. I knew I wasn’t going to let things go any further, but a little fantasy about Nate shouldn’t hurt anything.
“You’re going to love these. They are my special recipe,” he said light-heartedly as he went back to the stove.
His back was toward me, and I couldn’t help but smile. It was the first time any man had made me breakfast. Or at least that I could remember—there had been a few foggy mornings when I was younger.
“So, when are we going to start this training of mine? I’d like to learn some skills before you leave for your job.”
I had decided to stop busting his chops about him going to Syria. Nate was obviously the kind of guy who could protect himself, and for whatever reason, he wanted to take the job and I was no one in his life and needed to just keep quiet about it.
“After breakfast if you’re up to it. We can start with a little cardio.”
“I haven’t worked out for more than a year; you’ll have to take it easy on me.”
When I was younger, I liked running for exercise, but I had gotten out of that habit for a few years and wasn’t really sure I could manage much more than a jog.
“Taking it easy doesn’t make a killer,” Nate said.
That damn grin of his flashed over his shoulder at me, and I broke into a huge smile myself. I wanted to be a killer. Not that I wanted to be a person who went out and just killed random people, but I wanted to learn the skills necessary to kill someone if I had to. If I had that power and knew I had it, I was convinced I would be more able to take on the world.