Another chapter! Things are progressing nicely!
CHAPTER SEVEN
Shawn was only messing with Glen's head, but the bigger man wasn't to know that and he was reluctant to go back to the table. When he did, he found he couldn't even speak to Nina. Shawn must have told her, he reasoned, and now she'd just see him as some huge joke. In fact, she'd probably laugh about it with the guys...make a fool of him. He was so wrapped up in his own insecurities that he stayed silent for nearly a whole hour and only gave monosyllabic answers when Nina asked him anything. Finally he couldn't sit still any longer, and he went to the bar to get them a drink.
Nina watched him go and frowned, wondering what had happened. He'd been so lovely earlier and now he had withdrawn from her for no apparent reason. The others weren't teasing him so much and yet he'd become...strange. She looked up as Mark approached her and sat down. "You should go and talk to him," he told her.
"About what? I've been trying to talk to him for the last hour and he's gone all weird on me," she said, looking troubled.
Mark smiled. "That's because Shawn was whispering in your ear when he came back from the men's room earlier," he told her.
"Oh. He's jealous?" she asked, feeling pleased.
"Yeah, and probably worried too. You must have noticed he doesn't have too much confidence about himself."
"I know," she murmured, standing up. "I'll go and talk to him."
Mark watched her go and shook his head when he saw Glen stiffen as she touched his arm. He hoped his friend would get over his self esteem issues, because if he did he could have a much better life than he had at the moment. All Mark wanted was to see Glen happy for a change.
Nina frowned again when Glen stiffened at her touch and the way he avoided looking directly at her. "Glen?"
"Yeah?" he asked, still not looking as he waited for the bartender to get their drinks.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Yes there is, you're positively pouting!" she said, folding her arms and narrowing her eyes as she studied him. "Have I done something wrong?"
He picked their drinks up and handed hers across without saying anything for a moment. "No," he finally replied.
"I think I must have, otherwise why won't you look at me?" When he still didn't look at her and remained silent, she put her drink on the bar. "Fine. I may as well go, then."
Glen grabbed her shoulder before she had a chance to take more than two steps. "Don't."
"Give me one good reason to stay here and be ignored," she said, letting him draw her away from the bar and into a quiet corner.
"I know what Shawn told you," he managed to say, his eyes glancing off hers.
"You do?" she asked, raising one eyebrow. She wondered whether he meant the same thing she thought he did, because all Shawn had said was how much Glen liked her. From Glen's bad mood she had to think there was far more to it than that. Maybe she could make him tell her. "So why would that bother you?"
"Because I didn't want anyone to know!"
"Not even me? Surely I should be the first person to know," she prompted, wanting to take his hand again but not sure how he would take it just yet. He was very tense.
"Well maybe I didn't want you to know...not yet anyway," he grumbled, staring at his feet and scowling.
"Glen...why don't you tell me why it's such a big deal?" she asked softly.
"You don't understand what it's like," he muttered.
"Then tell me what it's like!"
"It's embarrassing!" he burst out. "If any of those guys found out I was a virgin, I'd be the laughing stock of the locker room! And for Shawn to overhear me talking to Mark...I knew he'd say something, I just didn't expect it to be to you!"
Nina stared at him with her mouth hanging open. Had he just said...no, he couldn't have. Really, she must be hearing things...Glen, a virgin? "You're a...a...how can that be?" she asked, shocked.
Glen stared at her properly for the first time and saw the genuine shock on her face. "What did Shawn say to you?"
"He just told me...that...that you liked me, he never said a word about that," she said. "How can you be a virgin?"
"It's damn easy when no-one wants you!" he snapped, feeling ten kinds of stupid for having blurted out his secret without checking the facts first.
"There are lots of women who want you," she said, still feeling a bit numb from his revelation.
"Maybe," he admitted grudgingly. "But not the type I'd want to sleep with."
"Does that include me?" she asked him, feeling a bit upset at his words. "I want you...does that make me somebody you wouldn't want to be near?"
"You still want me? Even though you know..."
"Of course I do!" she said impatiently, sighing. "Just because you haven't got any experience doesn't mean anything to me. You're the same man I had dinner with earlier, and I definitely wanted him!"
Glen stared at her, his mouth trying to form words that his brain hadn't arranged yet. "You do...I didn't think...well...you...most women wouldn't..."
Nina smiled and put her hand over his mouth to stop the stammering. "I'm not most women, and yes, I still want you. Maybe more now than I did before, because I know you don't have loose morals. Neither do I, although I'm sure it might seem like I do right now."
Glen kissed her palm before he lifted her hand away from his mouth. "I don't think you have loose morals at all. I haven't seen you with one guy since you started working for the company, and the same can't be said for the other women."
"Well, no...I mean, sure I've dated, but not anyone from work. If you want the truth, I've only been with two men...ever. So I might not know much more than you do." She looked up at him and stepped closer. "I have a rule about first dates. Kisses are fine, maybe light touching, but nothing more until I get to know the man in question."
"Okay," Glen mumbled, letting her take his hands and place them on her waist.
"But I already know you, sort of, and I'd like nothing better than to break my own rule with you...tonight," she said, not looking at him but concentrating on his chest instead where her finger was drawing a small circle.
"You mean...you want to..to..to...tonight?" he stammered, his mouth hanging open as he absorbed the impact of those softly spoken words.
Nina looked up at him and smiled. "I do want to. I don't want you to think I'm like this with every man I meet, because that just isn't true. But I've pretty much been lusting after you for months now and...mmmph!"
Glen had her up off the floor and his mouth stopped any more words as he kissed her properly for the first time. He knew how to do that, she realized, as she parted her lips underneath the insistent pressure and felt his tongue slip into her mouth. Her arms twined around his neck as he held her in a bear hug, her feet dangling just past his knees.
The tiny kiss he'd given her earlier had already let him know how soft her mouth felt, but this was mind blowing to Glen. He couldn't get enough of her taste or the feel of her soft curves pressed against him...and she was responding eagerly, not in the least fazed by what he had told her. That thought was a potent aphrodisiac and he felt himself becoming uncomfortably hard against her thighs. He reluctantly ended the kiss and leaned his forehead on hers, pleased to find her panting for breath and looking dazed as well.
"I don't think you're like this with every man...and I do want to take you back to my hotel room, right now," he admitted breathlessly.
Nina smiled and let her head drop onto his big shoulder. "Then why are we still here?"
Hmm, was that a bad place to leave it? Should I post more? Let me know! lol.
