Chapter Three
Haley finished typing up the report and was just saving the document when Nathan came out of his office and perched on the edge of her desk. He watched as she sat back in her chair and stretched, obviously trying to relieve her tired, aching muscles.
“I’ve finally finished that report and I’m just about to print it out for you to check before I e-mail it over to Wilson,” she informed him as her hand slowly rubbed the back of her neck.
“Great.” He paused not wanting to say what he was about to. “Uh, don’t think I’m trying to offend you or anything, but you’re looking a little tired and it’s pretty late so do you want to maybe skip dinner and we’ll do it another night?”
Looking up at him she shook her head. “No, I don’t. Besides, tomorrow is Saturday so I can have a nice long lie-in without worrying about getting up early for work. Unless you don’t want to, Nathan.”
“No! I do want to. It’s just I saw you stretching there a minute ago and you’ve been here since like eight this morning and it’s now almost nine...I just didn’t want you to feel you had to come with me if you didn’t feel up to it.”
“I’ll admit I do feel a little tired but not enough to want to go home. Anyway, my roommates are probably at it again in the living room and I really don’t want to walk in on them again. The later I go home the more likely it is that they’ve finally made it to their own bed and aren’t sprawled out on the couch,” she said thinking back to the night before when she had walked into the apartment she shared with her best friend and cousin only to see them stark naked and romping on the couch.
“What?” Nathan asked, shocked at what she had just told him.
Giggling at the look on his face, she answered, “You heard me. Peyton and Jake have been together practically forever but you would never guess that from their behaviour. They act like horny teenagers who have only just met and discovered sex. FYI, Jake is actually my cousin and Peyton is my best friend from back home and I’ve been living at their apartment since I arrived here. I tell you, I can’t wait to get my own place.”
“Why haven’t you yet?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I guess it’s mainly due to lack of time. I mean, I spend so much of my day in the office plus the odd weekend too when we’re overloaded with work that I wouldn’t be able to spend the time needed to look at apartments.”
Nathan couldn’t help feeling a little guilty at what Haley had just said. “I’m sorry about taking up so much of your time. I know you put in just as many hours as I do and, believe me, I’m really grateful. I don’t how I’d cope without you here assisting me.” As he was talking, a thought popped into his head and he decided to voice it, despite not being completely sure how she might take the suggestion.
“I’ve, uh, just thought of something. How about if I help you look for a place? We’re not working tomorrow so how about we meet up and get the local paper and see if there’s anything worth looking at? We could go together to look at any apartments you’re interested in. What do you think?”
“Really? That would be so great, Nathan. Don’t get me wrong, I love Peyton and Jake but well, there are some things you really don’t want to see your best friend doing, particularly with your cousin.”
“I can’t believe though that after six months of having you live with them that they would still get carried away knowing you could walk in and catch them,” he said laughing.
“Wait until you meet them and see them in action, then you’ll know exactly what I mean,” she quipped, joining in the laughter.
“So, Haley, what time should I pick you up tomorrow?”
“Don’t make it too early. After the week we’ve had I need to catch up on my beauty sleep.”
He studied her face for a moment and said, “You’re beautiful enough as it is.” Getting up from her desk, he walked over to stand behind where she was sitting and slowly began to massage her shoulders. “How does that feel?”
Haley closed her eyes and savoured the feel of Nathan’s large hands. “Mmm, it feels really good. At least I now know you’re as good with your hands as you are with your lips.” She could feel him moving behind her and suddenly felt his lips on her left earlobe as he then trailed kisses across the back of her neck until he reached her right earlobe and nibbled on it. “Oh god, Nathan...that feels reeeally good...”
They both startled when the printer suddenly made a beeping noise indicating that it was out of paper which made them burst out laughing. She got up from her seat and proceeded to fill the paper tray as he began reading the pages that had already printed out.
“You’ve done a great job with this. You’re a real lifesaver, you know. This would have taken me triple the time if it was left up to me to do it.”
“Thanks, but typing is part of my job description so you really don’t have to thank me.” She couldn’t help smiling at his genuine appreciation for her hard work.
“I know but I want to.”
He finished checking the report and the remaining pages once they had printed out before giving her the okay to e-mail it.
A few minutes later she happily exclaimed, “Yay, it’s finally gone.”
“C’mon then, let’s go celebrate,” Nathan said grabbing her hand and pulling her up from where she was perched on the edge of her desk. He looked confused when while keeping her hand in his she pulled back stilling him from going anywhere. “What’s wrong?”
Haley let him pull her towards him and she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to give you this.” Pressing her hands down on his neck and raising up on her toes slightly, she kissed him deeply, gently stroking her tongue against his.
When the kiss broke several long minutes later, they were both breathing heavily as their gazes lingered on each other. Her heart was thumping wildly in her chest and she knew what she wanted to say to him but she couldn’t help feeling nervous. She wasn’t the most experienced when it came to guys but there was just something about Nathan Scott that had her wanting to take that chance. Her body felt increasingly warm and she knew she was most likely blushing furiously but she forced herself to take that leap into the unknown.
“Um, I was thinking that you’re right about it being really late and, you know what, I-I don’t want to go out to a restaurant.” She smiled, albeit nervously, as Nathan tried to hide his obvious disappointment at her words and so moving closer to him she took a slow, deep breath before finally whispering into his ear, “I want to go to your apartment.”