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ignore the clenching of my gut at
the possibility.
    ‘Nate does what Nate wants,’ Ellie
smiles, ‘always has, and I think Nate wants a piece of you,’ she whispers. 
    I watch as a small, blonde woman with big
hair and wide blue eyes stops in front of Nate and places her hand possessively
on his chest.  She gazes up flirtingly as she converses with him.  He
smiles down towards her, flashing her his dimple, in reply.  Jealousy
consumes me, they are evident familiar with each other, close even.  A
fist clenches in my gut and I force myself to look away.
    ‘She doesn’t mean anything to him,’ Ellie
murmurs, quietly, her eyes following my gaze.
    I shrug, ‘It's nothing to do with me,’
but she provides me an amused glare, her head tilted to one side, that suggests
she thinks otherwise. I can’t stop myself from asking, ‘he seeing her?’
    ‘On and off,’ she confides.  ‘Nate
doesn’t do serious relationships,’ she continues, ‘Chelle knows the score, she
would rather a particle of my brother than nothing.  He’s up front with
the women in his life,’ Ellie insists. ‘No one has sole ownership of him,’ this
information doesn’t please Ellie, who evidently thinks the world of her brother.
    So, it seems there are a lot of women in
his life. Nate Austin is a player, no surprises there. 
    As if he senses my appraisal, he glances
up from the blonde and his eyes lock with mine.  I immediately avert my gaze
and turn my back on the bar area.  I’m certainly not willing to become one
of his conquests.
    Ellie and I are standing on the edge of
the stage, sometime later, as we wait for Beth and Louise to begin their
version of Adele’s, Someone Like You , when I sense him.  Turning to
the awareness, I look directly into his frown.
    ‘Hi!’ I smile, hesitantly.
    ‘Jesus fuck, London.  Where’s the
rest of your clothes?’ He growls low in his throat.
    ‘What?’ I laugh, with the incredulity of
his statement, ‘what are you, my keeper?’ I scoff.
    His gaze holds mine for a beat longer
before it moves accusingly to Ellie.  ‘What the hell you doing, El,
playing dress up?’ He interrogates his sister.
    ‘Actually, I think Sophie looks
stunning,’ she grins, not in the least affected by her brother’s obvious
irritation, ‘don’t you think she looks amazing, Nate?’ She grins, he fails to
respond.
    The dirty blonde appears at his side,
distracting the conversation.  His eyes move directly to Ellie.
    ‘Hey beautiful,’ he pulls her in and
places a long, hard kiss on her mouth.
    ‘Hey baby,’ she purrs up.  ‘Hey,
meet Sophie,’ she turns and waves a hand between us. ‘This is my Eli,’ she
grins, goofily.
    I hold out my hand, and Eli grasps it
firmly.  ‘Hey Sophie, I’ve heard a lot about you,’ but his telling gaze
wanders not to Ellie, but to Nate, who continues to stare me down.  ‘I’m
sorry about your brother,’ he adds, respectfully.
    ‘Thank you, Eli,’ I tilt my head and
smile gently before returning my eyes to Nate, ‘that look doesn’t intimidate
me, detective.  It wouldn’t scare a bee,’ I repeat his words of earlier
today.  I watch as the ice melts and his eyes soften with humour. 
    ‘You’re a fucking nut!’ he exhales a held
breath.
    ‘Yeah well, you’re a weirdo,’ I turn away
as the music starts and the girls prepare for their big tune.
    ‘This should be fun,’ Ellie giggles, ‘you
ever heard anyone that can take on Adele?’
    ‘Absolutely not!’ I agree, ‘I saw her at
Wembley, she was bloody great!’
    The evening is a complete success. For the
duration of my five-hour stay, I completely push the recent dramas of the past
weeks behind me and drown, along with the other girls, in Tequila and
beer.  I point blank refused to join in the Karaoke, not being a Karaoke
kind of girl, but enjoyed watching it, immensely.  Eli and Nate naturally joined
the group, and no one seemed to take any notice.  I took this as
confirmation that it was a