Free Sex Snob by Elizabeth Hayley Page A

noticed, though I had. Nate hadn’t been standing back there for at least the last five minutes.
    I begrudgingly began to slide my hands off his shoulders, but suddenly stopped. I wasn’t ready to lose contact with him yet. Instead, I pushed my hands back farther and clasped them behind his head, drawing him into a hug.
    “Thank you,” I whispered.
    “For what?” he asked softly as his hands slid around my waist, returning my hug. I was suddenly overcome with the desire to feel those hands beneath my dress, trailing up and down my exposed skin.
    “For saving me.” I uttered the words before I could censor them. Once they left my mouth, I stilled, realizing that I was opening a door with Shane I wasn’t sure I wanted to walk through.
    He pulled me closer to him and my chest pressed against his toned pecs. I instantly felt a dull ache low in my belly and took notice of the moistness in my panties for the first time. I tried to even out my breathing. Shane Reed was turning me on and I wanted him. Badly.
    But I couldn’t do this. No matter how strongly my body was pulling me toward him, my mind was screaming at me to back off. I had rules for a reason and Shane didn't meet my criteria. Trainers didn't make even close to the kind of money I made. I knew; I had Googled it. I risked too much otherwise. But I couldn’t just pull away. He had done too much for me tonight. He deserved for me to let him in a little.
    I pulled away from him and moved to his side, resuming my seat on the stool. “I dated Nate for a year and a half right after finishing college. Long story short, we moved in together, I thought I was going to marry him one day, and then I came home to find a note telling me that he had only been pretending to love me and that he couldn’t do it anymore. And I haven’t seen him since. Until tonight that is.” I expelled the words in what felt like a single breath. It felt good to release them, like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
    “Wow,” Shane replied, his eyes wide, “what a cocksucker.”
    I slipped my arm around his shoulders. “My thoughts exactly,” I said laughing.
    My eyes skimmed the bar and fell on Kate. She was talking with some other people from the gym, but her eyes were glued to Shane. When she saw me notice her, she quickly looked away.
    It was none of my business, but I had to know. After all, I had shared personal information with him. Maybe he’d reciprocate. “So, what’s the deal with you and Kate anyway?” I asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
    “What do you mean?” He seemed confused.
    “Is something going in between you two?”
    “No. What makes you ask that?” he questioned.
    “Really? You don’t see it?” I couldn’t believe he was this obtuse.
    “See what?”
    “Nothing, never mind.” I tried to drop it, but his look told me that he wasn’t going to let me off the hook that easily. “I just figured that, since you were throwing her this party, you guys were involved somehow.” I tried to recover quickly. I didn’t know how Kate would feel if I outed her penchant for staring at him.
    “Well, first of all, I didn’t throw this party. She wanted everyone to come out, but she felt weird asking everyone herself. Kind of like she was throwing herself a birthday party. So, I said I’d spread the word. And second of all, I don’t believe that that’s what prompted you to ask your question, so spill it.”
    Damn, he’s good. “Well, it’s just that . . .” I thought for a moment about how I could phrase this so that Kate didn’t come off seeming like a stalker. “She stares at you a lot.” Epic fail.
    “She does?”
    “Uh, yeah. She’s doing it right now.”
    Shane’s eyes quickly darted around the room to find Kate. As his eyes locked on hers, she quickly averted her gaze. He didn’t say anything.
    “I think she likes you. You should go talk to her. It’d probably make her night.” The words tasted bitter leaving my mouth. The last thing