AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You can join them if you like.” Nathan gestured for me to leave. “I don’t want to keep you. Crowds aren’t my thing.”
“I’ve noticed that,” I said. “I’m good here.” Surprisingly, I found my words to be sincere. I felt drawn to Nathan and his composed demeanor. He was like a puzzle I had yet to crack. Every time I spoke with him, I uncovered something new.
“My brother”—he nodded toward the table—“doesn’t share my aversion.”
“I can tell,” I said, eyeing him up and down. “I’m kind of surprised you have a brother. The other day you made it seem like you weren’t close with many people.”
“I’m not,” he said simply.
My eyes widened. “But your brother…”
He sighed and scratched the back of his neck. “I didn’t lie. We’ve never been particularly close. We’re different. My whole life I’ve been the uptight overachiever, and Ollie has been the fun one. The one everyone wants to be around. We’ve never had much in common.”
“I think you’re fun.”
He glanced up, his eyes brightening and a smile tugging at the corner of his lip.
“Do you?” he challenged.
I had to bite my lip to keep my own smile from growing. “Well, at the very least I think you’re interesting. Easily the top person I’d want to talk to at work.”
“I’m not sure how high of praise that is considering you told me you didn’t like socializing with coworkers.”
“You told me the same, yet here we are.”
“Here we are,” he repeated, raising his glass. I clinked mine against his.
“So, about that happy hour,” I continued, nervously running my fingers up the cool condensation forming on my glass. “I was kind of worried I offended you.”
Confusion overtook his face. I could see him mentally processing all our interactions. “Why?” he finally asked.
“You took off pretty fast. I figured I was getting too informal for your liking.”
“Not at all.” He shook his head. “I’m not easily offended.”
I blew out a breath. “That’s a relief. I would have stressed about that all weekend.”
“Really?”
I nodded. “Really. You’re a hard one to read.”
He briefly met my eyes, and I tried to ignore the little flutter in my chest.
“So I’ve been told.” I hated the almost sad look rooted in his features.
“You are fascinating, though,” I added.
His mouth twitched. “You think so?”
“Definitely,” I said. “I mean, you created and sold a multi-million-dollar company at twenty-seven.”
He sighed. “My only accolade.”
“Well, if you’re only going to have one that’s certainly an impressive one,” I said.
“I guess. Some would argue there are more important things than work.”
“Are there? Between this and Love Linked it’s all I do,” I said, gesturing to the group at the other table.
