Long Slow Burn by Isabel Sharpe Page B

your move already, boy-man.” Steve drained half his second beer. “Her reaction will tell you what you need to know.”
    â€œDoes she know you’re into her?” Troy asked.
    Nathan twisted his face, wishing he’d never brought this up. “Not…really.”
    â€œOh, no, no, no.” Steve shook his pale head repeatedly. “She can’t know. Not ever. Once you admit to a woman you want more than sex, you might as well hand her your balls for her collection.”
    â€œI get that.” Troy chuckled drily. “My old girlfriend never gave mine back. I had to grow a new pair.”
    â€œI had one like that back in New York.” Kent whistled silently. “Gruesome. I was almost glad I got laid off so I could get the hell away.”
    Nathan swallowed uncomfortably. He didn’t like the turn of this conversation. All his rosy dreams about Kim were becoming tainted by these idiots’ view of reality.
    â€œWhat are you guys, men or fairies? Never admit that stuff.” Steve scowled at each of them. “Insert tab A into slot B, repeat as needed, but keep her guessing at all times.”
    Nathan thought about the way Kim had been the night before, unsure, vulnerable. Yeah, he’d kept her guessing, but sooner or later she, or any normal woman, would get sick of those games. Then there was the fact that Steve was perpetually single, which didn’t make him a great source of dating advice. “Seems like a pretty shitty thing to do to someone you care about.”
    â€œ Care about?” Steve shook his head. “You are whipped, boy. Just put on your apron, bend over and take it from her. That’s all you’re good for.”
    Uneasy laughter followed.
    Nathan dug out ten dollars from his wallet, slapped it into Kent’s palm. “This is for my beer. I’m outta here. Thanks for the game.”
    Steve gave a wide-eyed, girlie pout. “Running home to Kimmy?”
    â€œNah. It just stinks in here.”
    He left, ignoring whatever lame comeback Steve shouted after him. Let them hang on to macho misery. Even a month ago he’d have been right there with them, commiserating, laughing at Steve, but with him, too. He’d have gone willingly to chat up the blonde’s friend. But that constant shallow Hi-I’m-Nathan BS conversation didn’t seem real anymore. It seemed pathetic. As did Steve.
    Nathan was going to step up his plan to show Kim he felt very differently about her than she did about him, seeif he could build on the confusion he’d seen in her eyes last night, see if he could introduce some of the desire he felt for her into her reactions to him, make her aware of him at least physically—then maybe more.
    Kim would be going out on her first date with that Dale guy the next night. If Nathan had anything to say about it, she’d be leaving their apartment thinking only of him.
    Â 
    C OUNTDOWN TO LEAVING FOR DATE with Dale: half an hour. Kim wasn’t dressed. Well, she’d been dressed, in what she thought was the perfect outfit, five or six times. This one too casual. That one too dressy. This one too sexual. That one not sexual enough.
    She hated this. Life had been so peaceful and wonderful when she wasn’t hunting for a man. Now look at her. She’d gone completely insane with stress and nerves, her self-esteem was shaky—in short, she was losing it.
    Why had she let Marie talk her into joining Milwaukeedates.com? Why had she let Marie talk her into going out with Dale? Why had she let Marie and Candy talk her into getting a makeover?
    She stared at herself in the mirror, at the long, slender rose skirt paired with the sweater top. This was the third time she’d tried on the outfit Candy and Marie bought for her, and she loved it. She looked great in it. But it might look as if she was trying too hard to impress him.
    What if they had no chemistry? What if he was horribly disappointed?