**** Picture of Rosie on the side *****

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 Chapter 2

As soon as we were outside of the door, I turned to see Rick still sitting in the chair where I left him earlier. “Hey man, still here?” I asked, frowning.

He smirked at me. “No, I left an hour ago.”

“Hilarious. So, are you coming out on Saturday night for Seth’s birthday?” I asked hopefully. We needed to keep the numbers up; I highly doubted that Ashton would want to come out now that Cameron was here. I had to practically force him to agree before Anna gave birth because he didn’t want to leave her on her own at eight and a half months pregnant. There was no chance he’d come out now.

Rick grinned and nodded. “Yeah, I already got cover but I guess that I might not need that now that Ashton won’t be going. Or is he still going?”

“Highly doubt it, he’s in there all doey eyed over Cameron so I don’t think he’ll want to. Unless the kid doesn’t sleep and then he’ll probably welcome getting wasted,” I joked, making him laugh. I glanced up to Rosie to see her looking through her purse, frowning slightly; she looked like she was counting how much money she had or something.

“He won’t go. I bet you twenty bucks.” Rick grinned.

I shrugged. “No way, I’ll keep my money thanks. I’ll call you later in the week then and sort out where we’re meeting and stuff.” I headed up to where Rosie was standing and glanced over her shoulder to see she had about four dollars in her purse. I looked away and cleared my throat, making her jump. “Ready?” I smiled.

She smiled teasingly, “Actually, I can’t. I’ve just remembered that I have to go and wash my hair. Sorry.”

I grinned. Brush off number four, why the hell was I liking this? Wow, I must have totally lost the plot! “Baby, I’m going to have sex with you tonight, so you might as well be there.” I shrugged jokingly.

She laughed and shook her head. “I have to get back. I don’t want to be on the train late at night, there are all kinds of weirdos then,” She said turning her nose up.

“If you’re worried about getting on a train, then I’ll let you sleep at mine. No wait….. if you come home with me then we wouldn’t sleep much.” I smirked at her and tried to go for the confident look that told her I knew how to show her a good time. I’d definitely never had any complaints before.

She frowned. “Look, Player, that’s not happening. Thanks for the offer and it was nice to meet you.”

She turned and walked off leaving me standing there staring after her in shock. Five times, now this was getting a little scary, I was really starting to like it! I couldn’t help but smile, I’d never had to really try before, this was actually quite fun. Why did guys complain about having to chase girls? Having it offered to you on a plate was boring after a little while, but this was totally new to me and definitely enjoyable. Kind of like a prize you get awarded at the end of the race, what was the point in running if you’d get the trophy anyway? Working for the trophy and running your ass off to come first; now that was worth doing.

I mentally slapped myself ran to catch up with her, she didn’t look at me as I matched my pace to hers, keeping my eyes straight, purposefully walking a little close to her side but not touching her. I ignored her completely and bit my tongue so I didn’t use another line on her. I tried desperately not to smile as I saw her glance at me quickly, obviously wondering what I was doing. We walked silently down the corridors working our way out of the building. Every couple of seconds she would glance at me slyly, she actually looked a little worried and I tried my best not to smile.

“Which way are you going?” she asked as she stopped, frowning and stepping away from me slightly. I was obviously encroaching in her personal space and making her uncomfortable.

I pretended to think about it for a little while, “Not sure yet, I’ll let you know.”

I nodded for her to start walking again. She scowled at me and clutched her purse closer to her side. Wow, did she think I was going to mug her or something? This girl was a little weird, but not in a bad way. I matched my stride to hers again, we were almost outside now. She stopped just inside the main exit door and gestured for me to go through first.

I smiled and shook my head. “Ladies first.” I pushed the door open for her and stood there, smiling politely, until she sighed and marched through it, turning right towards the street. I grinned and quickly caught up with her, again walking that little bit too close for comfort.

She stopped and scowled at me. “What the hell are you doing?” she asked angrily.

I shrugged. “Stalking you,” I replied casually.

I saw a smile twitch at the corners of her mouth and her eyes softened slightly, “How’s that working out for you?” she asked, rolling her eyes.

I turned my nose up. “It’s a little boring actually. You think maybe you could do something to liven this up a little?” I asked, cocking my head to the side, trying to keep my serious face on.

She burst out laughing and I smiled proudly, that was more like it. She looked incredibly hot when she laughed, her hand covering her eyes as she shook her head still laughing. “Are you gonna leave me alone?” she asked when she had calmed down slightly.

“Not until after we’ve eaten.” I smiled and gave her my best puppy dog face.

She sighed and shook her head. “I really can’t.” She actually looked like she wanted to. Was she worried that she didn’t have enough money or something? Was that why she was up for it, then checked her purse and changed her mind?

“Come on, Rosie, I need to celebrate that my best friend in the world just had a baby, don’t make me do that on my own. I’m buying. You can order the most expensive thing on the menu just to spite me if you want,” I offered.

Come on say yes, one little word. Y.E.S. Just say yes! She didn’t look like she was going for it so I decided maybe I’d try and make her go for it. There were a few people around, smoking and talking outside the hospital. I got down on my knees and grabbed her hand quickly before she realised what I was doing.

“Please? Please come out with me. Please, I’m begging you please! Don’t leave me hanging like this in front of all of these people,” I begged dramatically, gesturing to all the people who were now watching me make a dick out of myself. Her eyes went wide as a blush started to creep up on her face. “Please, Rosie, I’m begging you to give me a chance! I can’t sleep because I’m always thinking about you, I can’t eat. I don’t even see other girls anymore, all I see is you. Please, you’re killing me,” I continued, getting louder. I turned to the middle aged woman standing staring at us, shocked. “You think she should give me a chance, right? I’ve been in love with her for the last ten years and she won’t give me a shot. Why Rosie? Why?” I asked dramatically, fighting to keep the smile off of my face. She was now a bright shade of red as she struggled to pull her hand out of my grasp but I didn’t let go, she shifted on her feet uncomfortably.

“Aww honey, give him a chance. If a handsome man begged me like that I’d sure as hell give him a shot,” The woman said, nodding in encouragement.

“Get up!” Rosie hissed, ducking her head in embarrassment.

“Oh no, this continues until you agree to come to dinner with me,” I whispered, smirking at her. “Please Rosie, PLEASE?” I begged getting even louder.

She winced and looked around quickly, a horrified expression on her face. “Fine, just get up!” she hissed.

I jumped up, grinning. “See, that wasn’t so hard was it?” I gloated. I turned towards the people who were watching the scene in shock and amusement. I held my hands up above my head in celebration, “She said yes!” I shouted excitedly, for the benefit of the crowd. Some of them cheered, a couple applauded; I smiled and gave a little bow as Rosie practically ran away from me, making me laugh.

I caught up to her easily and she slapped me in the stomach with her purse. “That was so freaking embarrassing!” she groaned, glancing over her shoulder slyly, probably to see if the crowd of people were still watching us.

I threw my arm around her shoulder. “Oh you loved it.”

“Asshole,” she muttered under her breath. “I’m so ordering the lobster.”

I smiled and nodded. “Yeah me too,” I joked, winking at her when she looked up at me. She wasn’t annoyed, her eyes were playful and amused, she liked that scene a little. Maybe no one had made a dick out of themselves for her before. She elbowed me in the ribs making me pull my arm off of her shoulder, “Oh I like it rough,” I joked, rubbing my side, grinning as she rolled her eyes at me. This was the most fun I’d had with a girl for a long time, maybe ever. She reminded me a little of Anna, spunky and game for a laugh.

“Are you trying to talk me out of this?” she asked, looking at me warningly.

“No way, Muffin. I can’t wait to embarrass you in the restaurant too,” I teased, making her laugh even though she looked like she didn’t want to.

She closed her eyes and groaned as gripped her hand and pulled her in the direction my car. She barely spoke to me on the way to the restaurant; I purposefully chose a fairly nice one so she could put a dent in my credit card like she obviously wanted to as payback for the little scene outside the hospital.

“So, where do you live then if you have to get a train back?” I asked curiously, as we scanned the menus.

“Barstow, San Bernardino, but I’m moving to LA next week for my job.” She turned her nose up a little, maybe she didn’t want to move or something.

“Yeah? What’s your job?”

“I’m a teacher; well, I will be a teacher when I move here anyway. At the moment I work three jobs to pay the rent.” She shrugged easily.

A teacher? Wow, we certainly didn’t have any teachers that looked like her at the school I went to, hell, if we did I probably wouldn’t have graduated, I would have failed because I wouldn’t be able to take my eyes off of her ass!

“You’re going to be a teacher? What grade?”

“Second,” she answered, shrugging. She looked like I was boring her or something, she wasn’t even trying to give me a shot at all and I was going to have to work my ass off to change that.

“That’s good. I felt sorry for the poor kids for a minute then, having to try and concentrate with a hottie teacher, but I guess in second grade they wouldn’t be daydreaming about what colour panties you have on instead of listening to your lesson.” I smirked confidently as she laughed and shook her head at me.

“You really are a flirt, I give you ten out of ten for the attempt but seriously, if you’re expecting me to sleep with you then you’re going to be really disappointed.” She looked at me challengingly as she sat back in her chair.

“Oh now I get it. You’re a lesbian,” I said, trying to look serious.

She looked at me and laughed her ass off. “So you think the only reason that a girl would turn you down, is because she’s a lesbian?” she choked out around her laughs.

“Hell yeah, no girls can resist me,” I replied, only half joking, she was actually the only girl that had ever turned me down. Hopefully she was a lesbian and then I could relax slightly.

“I’m not a lesbian and I can resist you, trust me. You really just aren’t my type,” she stated, looking me over with a bored expression.

“Not your type? What the hell does that mean? What’s wrong with me?” I asked, genuinely curious as to what it was that was turning her off.

“I don’t go for cocky, overconfident guys, that care more about how they look than whether they have anything interesting to say. Players just don’t do it for me.” She shrugged taking a drink of her water, her eyes not leaving mine. She looked a little amused.

“I have plenty interesting to say,” I countered.

She leant forward in her chair, looking at me curiously. “Okay, let’s hear it.” 

Holy $hit, what the hell do I say to that? What would she find interesting? I couldn’t exactly go for a slutty line like I would with another girl; I needed to actually think of something that she would be impressed with. I started to panic as I literally couldn’t think of anything! Damn, I suck! Thankfully, the waiter came over and took our order, so I got a few minutes reprieve. Surprisingly she didn’t order anything too expensive like I thought she would, just some chicken thing that sounded gross. 

When the waiter walked off I smiled and decided to change the subject. “Cameron was so cute, right?”

She smiled and nodded. “Nice diversion. And yeah, he was incredibly cute, but then again with parents like Anna and Ashton, the kids going to be good looking, right?” she laughed.

“Yeah, I guess he’s got good genes,” I admitted. “Our kid would be hot too.” As soon as I said it, I wished I hadn’t. Another comment about us sleeping together, great job Nate! Damn, I suck today, I really need to get laid so I can get my confidence back! Damn woman’s making me lose it.

“You just can’t help yourself can you?” she teased, rolling her eyes.

I laughed and shook my head. “Not around you by the looks of it. So, what three jobs are you working now then?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

“I work in a restaurant as a waitress at lunchtimes. I have a cleaning job, and I’m a maid in a hotel.” She shrugged turning her nose up.

“Oh yeah? You have one of those little French maid outfits?” I asked, grinning as I started to imagine her in one.

“Those are just for sexual dressing up, Nate, so no, I don’t own one of those,” she said sarcastically, as she rolled her eyes at me again.

“Oh. Well, don’t worry then, I’ll let you borrow mine,” I joked, making her laugh.

“You’re actually quite funny,” she mused, looking like she didn’t want to admit that at all.

I smiled at the half compliment. “So, how come we’ve never met before? You definitely weren’t at Ashton’s wedding.” Anna and Ashton had gotten married just over four years ago, we all went to the Maldives and they got married on the beach. This girl definitely didn’t go, I would remember if I’d seen her before.

She frowned and shook her head, “No, I couldn’t go to the wedding.”

“How come?” I asked genuinely curious. If she was Anna’s best friend, then how come she wasn’t maid of honour or something?

“I had a lot going on at the time and it made it impossible for me to go. I’m sorry I missed it, it looked so beautiful,” she said wistfully.

“Yeah, it was a nice place. So what did you have going on at the time?” I asked.

She laughed. “My, we are nosey aren’t we!” she teased shaking her head.

I sighed dramatically, “Fine, if you don’t want to tell me then that’s fine,” I said faking hurt and making her laugh again. She really did have a great laugh. I grinned at her wickedly, “So, what do you want me to do to embarrass you in the restaurant?” I teased.

Her smile fell off of her face immediately and she looked at me warningly. “Nothing.”

I grinned wickedly. “How about I get down on one knee and propose, then pretend I’ve lost the ring?” I suggested, smirking at her.

She laughed and looked really uncomfortable. “If you do that, then I’m going to say no, and announce to everyone that I’ve been sleeping with your brother and that he’s ten times better in bed that you are.”

I laughed, “Okay, two things wrong with that statement. One; I don’t have a brother, and two; no one’s better in bed that I am,” I joked, making her laugh.

“Nate, please don’t embarrass me. I hate being centre of attention.” She looked at me pleadingly, giving me the most adorable puppy dog face I’d ever seen. She looked so damn cute. Holy crap, did I just think that a girl looked cute? I mean sexy, yeah sexy is a lot better. Wow, I’m turning into some sort of pansy or something.

“Okay I won’t, if you agree that you find me attractive,” I offered.

She raised one eyebrow looking $exy as hell. “You need to bribe girls to get them to admit that? Wow, I feel a little sorry for you,” she replied, looking at me with fake sympathy. Damn, this girl was funny!

“Fine, I’ll leave it for now, but I bet you twenty bucks that you’ll be coming home with me tonight instead of getting on your train,” I stated confidently, crossing my arms over my chest.

She laughed and shook her head. “Save your money, I don’t want it. Just so this little flirting thing will stop though, I’ll tell you now that I already have a man in my life and he’s everything I need.”

She smiled a little, her face softening; she looked like she was really in love with this guy she was talking about. I couldn’t help but feel a little jealous; she was fun, beautiful, funny and challenging. I would certainly like to see more of her, but she definitely didn’t look like she was a cheater or anything so I really had no chance with her at all.

“Oh,” I muttered, trying not to show her how disappointed I was.

“Sorry, I did tell you before dinner that I wasn’t interested.” She looked at me apologetically.

“No worries, we can still enjoy dinner. Maybe I’ll make you forget your man’s name by the end of the meal,” I suggested, turning my A game back on, just because she said no doesn’t mean I had to give up! You’ve got to be in it to win it, that was the saying that my dad uses all the time.

The rest of the night was fun, both of us were laughing so hard that at one point that she almost spat her drink out of her mouth. I continued to flirt my ass off but to no avail, she really wasn’t interested. Every time she brushed me off I got more and more frustrated, but turned on at the same time. It was a weird sensation liking it, but hating it at the same time. She really was awesome and I could see why she was a good friend of Anna’s. It made sense I guess, Anna was incredible so it fitted that she would have an incredible friend.

I paid for the dinner and she smiled gratefully as we walked out. “Thanks for that. That was a nice place,” she said, nodding over her shoulder at the restaurant as we walked down the street to where I’d parked my car.

“Yeah and don’t worry I’ll let you pay next time,” I joked. I noticed she was hugging herself a little against the cold, so I slipped my leather jacket off and put it around her shoulders.

She smiled gratefully and pulled it tighter around her. “Thanks.”

I couldn’t help but smile back at her. She had a beautiful smile, her bottom lip was slightly fuller than her top one making them look so kissable that I could barely stop myself from grabbing her, shoving her against the nearest building, and crashing my mouth to hers.

“Sure. What time’s the next train? Want to get a drink now or something?” I asked hopefully.

She smirked at me. “The flirting’s not working so now you’re moving on to getting me drunk in order to sleep with me, right?”

I laughed. “Sure why not, anything that’s gonna help me get into your pants,” I answered sarcastically, as she stuck out her tongue at me making my dick shift in my jeans. Damn it, I wanted her badly.

“I need to get back,” she said apologetically. She looked a little torn, maybe she wanted to go for a drink with me, or maybe I was just wishing that because she was crushing my ego right now.

“Okay, come on then I’ll drive you to the station,” I said reluctantly.

We reached my car and I went around to my side, immediately cursing myself for not opening her door for her. $hit, I am such a dick at this! Usually the girl would be falling all over me by now, so it didn’t matter if I opened her door for her, or any other thing a gentleman was supposed to do. I had no idea how to be a gentleman at all!

When we pulled up at the station, she shrugged off my jacket and held it out to me. I looked out the windshield, it was pitch black outside, I couldn’t let her walk in on her own.

“I’ll walk you in,” I stated, pushing the jacket back towards her as I got out of the car and headed round to her side. She smiled gratefully as she got out and pulled the jacket back around her shoulders as we walked in silence to the train platform. Luckily, her train was literally about to leave, so she wouldn’t have to wait too long.

We headed over and she got on, turning back to me and passing me the jacket. “Thanks for the dinner, Nate, it was fun.” She smiled.

“Yeah it was. So, do I really not get your number?” I asked, needing to try one last time.

She laughed and shook her head. “Sorry.”

“Okay never mind, but you don’t know what you’re missing out on,” I teased, smirking at her.

“Oh I can imagine. I’m pretty sure I’m missing out on incredible sex, and heartbreak,” she replied, shrugging. “Anyway, thanks for tonight and I guess I’ll see you at Cameron’s Christening.” She turned and walked off heading deeper into the train to find a seat.

I groaned; I’d never failed at anything in my life and I wasn’t about to start now. I heard a beep, signalling that the train doors were about to close, so I shoved my hand in quickly to stop it and pushed it back open, jumping in and letting it shut behind me. I looked back at the door in shock. $hit, what the hell did I do that for? She’s just a girl for f*ck sake! There are plenty more outside and I could easily go and pick up one of them for a little fun on my way home. I sighed as the train started to pull out. Too late to get off now!

I looked down the carriage and spotted her sitting in one of the seats, her head resting back against the seat back, her eyes closed. And damn she looked hot. I smirked and walked up to her. “F*ck me if I’m wrong, but isn’t your name Claire?” I asked.

Her eyes snapped open and she looked at me, clearly shocked, as I sat down in the empty seat next to hers. “What the hell are you doing?” she asked, looking at me like I was crazy.

“Wouldn’t be much of a stalker if I didn’t find out where you lived, would I?” I shrugged, making her laugh.

I guess I was in for a sleepless night now; she lived a couple of hours away so I would be on the damn train for a four hour round trip. I was due to start work for the raid tomorrow at 5am. Stupid stupid Nate, next time think things through before jumping on a train to get a girls attention, stupid asshole. Oh well, I guess making sure she got home safe is worth it. Another bright side; I now have another two hours to convince her to sleep with me. 

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Man I love Nate so much! LOL I'm really enjoying writing this story and I hope that you like it too! Thank you soooooooo much for all the comments and votes on the last chapter that seriously rocked my socks off as it got as many as a chapter of NLTL but with like half the amount of reads!!! :O   so thanks guys that really means a lot to me!

 Anyway comment and vote if you like it and I'll upload chapter 3 as soon as I can.

Kirsty <3