Chapter Seven

I was in no mood to deal with this guy right now unless I wanted my fist connecting to his jaw.

Great! I should have let the blonde share my table.

“You didn’t think she was nice?” he asked.

“Nope.”

“Too blonde for you?” he asked again. When I didn’t reply, he persisted, “What’s your type? Blondes, brunettes, redheads?”

Seriously, why does he want to know?

I raised a brow at him. “Why do you assume that I like girls?”

He raised a challenging brow. “Do you?”

“That’s none of your damn business!” I snapped.

I was pissed off that he was asking me annoying questions as if he was trying to get to know me and all my secrets, all my weaknesses.

That actually reminded me why I went here in the first place. I wanted to clear my mind and re-strategize. I have to find a way to beat Nicholas to his game.

As I looked at him, I realized what he was doing. He was trying to conquer me without launching a fight. He was trying to get my approval without asking for it.

Well, then. Two can play this game.

I played with the coaster in front of me. I looked at him through narrowed eyes and asked, “What about you, Nicholas? How do you want them? Blonde, brunette, redhead?”

He stared at me under his eyelashes. He looked thoughtful, as though he was choosing his words very carefully. I have a feeling I knew the answer already. Blonde. It was in both our minds, but none of us wanted to say it.

“Clothes, accessories, even hair color can be changed.” His eyes went to the top of my head. “You, more than anybody, should know that.”

Wow! This guy could make a career in show business. The way he evaded that question was admirable.

When I didn’t reply, he continued: “It’s the way she carries herself that attracts me more than anything. The confidence, the brilliance of her mind, the mystery that envelopes her. It makes me want to uncover all her thoughts and all the secrets she keeps inside. The cool, quiet façade she puts on to mask the burning passion nobody, maybe not even herself, knows she has.”

I didn’t know what stunned me at that moment—the words he said, the way he said them, or the way he stared at me when he was saying them. But for a moment, I felt weird, as if one moment I was entirely sure of myself and the next, I was not sure the world was how I believed it to be.

If this was how Nicholas talked to girls, I would believe in his rumored ability to make them fall for him overnight so he could get them to bed.

Honestly, Jen was nothing like the dream girl he was describing. For one, she was not quiet and mysterious. Everything she thought actually came out of her mouth.

I pulled myself out of the temporary trance and took a gulp of my beer. He was still looking at me intensely, as if he was communicating some sort of hidden message with the weight of his stare. I couldn’t decipher that message properly. Whether it was a fair warning, or a solemn promise, I couldn’t tell.

I cleared my throat. “Wow. I was under the impression you like your women shallow, with absolutely no sense of self-respect,” I said in my weak attempt to mock him.

He drank his beer and said, “And I was under the impression you do not believe in gossip.”

“I do not need to hear the gossip to draw an impression of you,” I said acidly. I was trying to keep cool, but the more I talk to Nicholas, the less sure I was of myself and the more convinced I was that he was winning this little game.

He kept staring at me and then he shook his head slowly. “I’m pretty sure half of your thoughts about me are wrong.”

“Really?”

“Really,” he said without blinking. “For example, if I were in your position and that blonde came on to me, I would have done the same thing you did.” He paused for a while and added, “I would be less blunt, but yeah, I would have rejected her, too.”

I raised a brow at him. “She’s not your type?”

“I don’t like girls who are shallow, with no sense of self-respect,” he said, amusement all over his face. When I didn’t reply, he asked, “What about you? What captivates the great Ken Clarke?”

It was probably the first time I was asked that question. I must admit he caught me off guard. I actually didn’t find anybody attractive at the moment. But I knew it wasn’t the appearance that drew me in to someone.

I took a gulp of my beer and didn’t answer.

“Nothing?” he insisted. “Everything?”

I stared at him crossly. “What do you take me for?”

He shrugged. “I think you judge people too soon; you don’t even give them a chance to give you a first impression. You don’t want people to get through to you because you don’t want to get burned, to get rejected the way your…” he trailed off, but I knew exactly what he was going to say.

 I refused to show him any emotion. I stopped myself from telling him to go and fuck himself.

He continued, saying, “Your likes and wants may be dictated by the needs of the people around you. You act accordingly. You don’t get drunk because… Come on, you stop drinking after two bottles. Not because you couldn’t take it. But because you haven’t tested your limits before and you didn’t want to lose your sobriety in front of others, especially men. You don’t trust anybody around you enough.”

Damn!

What the hell was Nicholas Atkins doing? What kind of strategy was this? Was he purposely getting on my nerves? Trying to make me lose my temper so he could take a peek inside my mind? Did he really think he had me all figured out?

Well, he did actually, but there’s no way in hell I would admit that!

“Dude, you really think you know me, don’t you?”

He shrugged. “You know how I paid for my college education?” he asked but didn’t wait for me to answer. “Poker. I spent a lot of time playing. More than the luck in hand, poker needs a great deal of skill in reading people.”

When I heard that, I didn’t know if I should be scared. I must admit that I underestimated him. While I was strategizing how to get rid of him, he was doing nothing more than analyze me. While I was scheming how to make him look bad so Jen would forget about him, he was studying me so he would know all my weaknesses, know what would make me flip, make me weak.

Somehow, it scared me that Nicholas had just described me far better than how Brett, Jen, or my father could and he’d only known me for a week. If he were any other person, I would probably feel flattered that for the first time, somebody paid attention to me—and what was underneath this ice-cold attitude I call my armor.

But Nicholas was not just any other person. He was somebody I want to take down before he takes me down. And with the way he deciphered my personality, I could tell that he was already ahead of me by a mile. And shame on me, because I’ve always thought I was a brilliant psychology student.

I kept my face as stoic as possible, giving absolutely no clue that he somehow managed to throw me off balance.

“Since you think you had me all figured out, why don’t you answer that question? What do you think attracts my attention?”

He looked at me for a long moment and then he replied, “Attention.”

I raised a brow and looked at him crossly. “Dude, I am far from being hungry for attention.”

I actually found his response offensive. The way I dressed and the way I styled my hair were a form of creative expression. I didn’t do it to get anybody’s attention. I played drums for the band to help Brett until he gets back on his feet, not to become popular. What Nicholas said was seriously revolting!

He held his hands in front of him. “Wait, wait,” he said. “Let me finish.”

“You have ten seconds. Your ass is overstaying its welcome on that chair,” I said through my teeth.

He took a deep breath. “I didn’t mean you are craving attention. What I meant was, maybe you want what craves your attention.” He sighed as if in defeat. Somehow, I had the urge to laugh at seeing him a little disoriented, as if he said his honest thoughts out loud too quickly. In a more careful tone, he added, “You do not want attention for yourself, but you can’t resist someone who genuinely demands for yours, because it doesn’t give you a choice to think about what you want.”

“So, you’re saying I’m a pushover?”

He shook his head. “I’m saying you’re a good person. Too good, you’re bordering on heroic sometimes.” He gave me a long look and added, “It doesn’t hurt to think about yourself once in a while, you know. Trust in somebody else. Let somebody take care of you for a change.”

I had no idea the guy is a fucking shrink.

I took a gulp of my beer and said, “I can take care of myself, thank you very much.”

He shook his head slowly. “I didn’t say you can’t. Just make sure you know the difference between love and abuse, that’s all.”

I leaned back on my chair and raised a brow at him. “So now that we have established that I don’t know what I want and that I lack conviction in life, what do I need to do to get you out of that chair?”

“I’m not saying…” he started and then trailed off, sighing in defeat. He turned toward the dancefloor and then he said, “Those girls look like they could use some company.”

I followed his line of sight and saw three girls dancing together looking as if they were having the time of their lives. One of them was dressed rather provocatively and her dance moves clearly stated the message she was conveying to her audience. The other two girls were laughing at her, looking amused rather than scandalized by the way their friend was behaving.

I turned back to Nicholas and narrowed my eyes at him. “You want me to wing you?”

I couldn’t believe that. If there was one guy who didn’t need any introduction in this town, it was Nicholas Atkins. But then again, if I successfully diverted his attention to another girl, I might just get rid of him completely. This could be my one chance to see him in action and get dirt on him that I could use to blackmail him into leaving Jen alone.

He grinned at me and shook his head. “Nope. Do you really believe I need winging?” Then he gave me a wink.

He really is full of himself, isn’t he? Well, guess what, stud? I’m winning this round!

I’m going to get Nicholas Atkins drunk enough to sleep with one of these girls!

I stood up from my seat and finished my beer. “Come on, Atkins. Show me what you got on the ladies!”