“That’s okay. I didn’t have anything better to do.” Nathan winced at his poor choice of words and scrambled to find something else to say. “I mean, I did kind of force you to come along. I thought, well, I shouldn’t have forced you.”
Silence settled between them, awkward against the backdrop of the sounds surrounding them. Laughter from couples and small groups walking along the street, muffled sounds of music drifting into the night from the doorways of the different pubs, the steady thump-thump-thump of car tires along the cobblestone street. Nathan took a deep breath and wished for a way to draw Catherine out of the silence and into the life that ebbed and flowed around them. Forcing her had proved to be a mistake. Short of bodily dragging her, he could think of nothing else.
“Maybe we should just leave now.” Her quiet voice pulled his attention back to her. She was watching him with those dark eyes, her hair a protective veil that fell across her face. He stared at her for a minute, trying to read her thoughts, but he couldn’t see through the wall that surrounded her. He took a deep breath and pulled the keys from his pocket, trying to smile and failing.
“Sure, no problem.” He motioned for her to lead the way and watched as she stepped from the curb, following her with his eyes and wishing there was some way to reach her. She stopped next to his car and turned, looking lost again. Nathan squared his shoulders and walked toward her.
Tonight could have gone a lot better. She wasn’t as untouchable as he first thought, and he wanted to find some way to breach her protective barrier and get to know her better.
He just needed to figure out the best way to do it.
Chapter Five
“So how was your date with Nathan the other night?”
“It was not a date.” Catherine didn’t even bother to look at Brian. His snort of laughter told her he knew better but she ignored him anyway.
“Okay, so it wasn’t a date. But how did it go?”
“It didn’t.”
“What do you mean, ‘it didn’t’? He took you out, right?”
Catherine sighed, knowing he wouldn’t give up until she told him the whole embarrassing truth. She leaned back in her chair, took a deep breath and let the words fall in a rush. “We went out. Not a date. I hit his knee, fell on him, cried on him, he dropped me off at my car. End of night, end of story.”
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