Free Werewolves of New York: Nathaniel by Faleena Hopkins Page B

alone again, Michelle felt hot. She glanced over the menu at him to find he was staring at her. “Hi.”
    “Hi,” he said without a smile, his green eyes so intense that she set her menu down, unable and unwilling to read it. “Know what you want?” he asked her.
    “I do.”
    A sexy smirk tugged at a corner of his lips like he got her meaning. “So do I.”
    “Ask me more questions or I’ll…”
    His eyebrows lifted again. “Or you’ll what?”
    “Just…ask,” she laughed, turning red again.
    Leaning back in his chair, he surveyed the hills and valleys of her face, soaking her in. “What do you love about Manhattan? How do you enjoy working for yourself? How many times have you been to Central Park and would you like to go with me now that we’re better acquainted?” He rattled them off like a list he'd been thinking about.
    She memorized the questions and answered easily, “I love how electric the city is. I feel more alive here than when I was in California. I’m from the South Bay, about an hour south of San Francisco. I went to Berkeley, and this is so different from there! Have you been?” He nodded, taking a sip from his glass. “As for working for myself, I love it. But I don’t want to talk about work except to say I won’t be working for your firm.”
    He laughed loudly at that. “I don’t blame you! And what about my last question.”
    She smiled, happy he wasn’t offended at her turning down the job, if there ever was one. “I would love to go to the park with you.”
    He nodded and leaned forward, but the server reappeared and asked if they were ready thereby stopping him from saying what he intended to. Nathaniel asked if he could order for her, and she said he could. “Two Filet Mignons please. Raw for me with a baked potato, everything on it.” He looked at Michelle.
    “Medium well, and the baked potato sounds amazing. Just butter for me, please. Lots of it.”
    The server smiled and nodded, committing their order to memory without need of a pen and paper. “Will that be all?”
    “No. Bring us a lobster, too.” Nathaniel handed him the menu and watched as he walked over to take Michelle’s. “I hope you like shellfish.”
    She pointed to the forgotten plate of crab cakes. “Yep.” They cut into it, using the same plate as she asked, “What do you like about the city?”
    “I like the vibe as well. I lived in Maine before this…in the woods. This is very different. We came here for the opposite reasons you’d live in the country for–more people, more choices, more everything. There aren’t greater restaurants in the world save for maybe London. And you can disappear in a place like this if privacy appeals to you. In the country that can be more difficult.”
    The ‘we’ had caught her attention and taking a bite, she considered how to ask without appearing jealous. “Did you move here with your partners or…?”
    At the mention of them, his eyes flickered like there was more to say than he was willing. “Yes.”
    She paused. “You’re close, then?”
    He smiled at her tone. “They’re nice when you get to know them.”
    “We’ll see about that.” He laughed again and she chuckled happily. “They kind of set the game against them, but I can’t help but like Eli. He seems like life amuses him and that’s a nice quality to have in a friend. I know from experience. My friend Rose is like that.”
    Nathaniel nodded with warmth in his eyes. “He’s my roommate. And Darik is the same way. I know he was coming onto you, but that was just to see what you’d do. He’s not like that at all.”
    She stared at him. “They told you about the interview?”
    “They told me everything. We have no secrets.”
    That last sentence was an interesting thing for him to say and she took note. If he meant that, did that mean they knew about Saturday? It unsettled her to have this much curiosity and no way to satisfy it. “That’s nice,” she said, absently rising from