by Liz Talley
“Thanks, Trish,” Nellie said, smiling at the willowy attorney who looked as if she’d leaped from the pages of a high fashion magazine. Nellie wished she had Trish’s earthy, sophisticated vibe. She always seemed in control.
“And why do we need all these drinks?” Billie complained as she chugged up the stairs carrying a plate of brownies she’d bought at a gourmet supermarket and then placed on a plate so they’d look homemade. Dressed in an odd combination of parachute shorts, a tiny tank top and chunky silver rope necklaces, Billie cast grumpy brown eyes at the front door.
“Uh, ’cause it’s like a party, Billie,” Kate drawled, not able to hide the disgust in her voice. Kate’s impatience with Billie was as perpetual as Billie’s complaining. Kate spun around dramatically and pressed the buzzer beside the enormous oak door.
Billie rolled her eyes. “You’d think she was supplying a frat party. I’m only going halfsies on what I drink. I’m not paying for all of this stuff.”
Nellie stifled the urge to chuckle. Billie had pieces displayed at various museums around the country, not to mention commissioned work for five-figure sums. Even Madonna had a Billie Nader. The thought of her being so stingy with her money was amusing. Of course, Nellie could understand it. She felt the same way and she had plenty of old Texas oil money in the bank.
Before she could reply, the door swung open.
Damn, but Jack Darby knew how to fill up a doorway.
“Ladies,” Jack said, bestowing a smile on each of the women. “Welcome.”
“Jack.” Kate nodded, doing her best imperious-lady-of-the-manor impression. “Thank you.”
Typical Kate. Nellie shot Jack a smile and shrugged. Her over-the-top friend hated to be grandstanded by anyone, much less a mere man. Even one as sexy as Jack.
His lips twitched at the cheekiness in Kate’s voice. “Ah, the slippery Kate. We meet at last. And I’ve heard so much about you.” His eyes caught Nellie’s. They twinkled like waves on a lake in summer.
“I hope she didn’t tell you the truth,” Kate drawled. “You probably wouldn’t let me in if she did.” She raked her eyes over Jack with practiced ease. Kate loved to shock, loved to defy, loved to make people just a tad bit uncomfortable.
Jack ignored the bait. “Well, come on in.”
“We brought drinks, lots of booze,” Billie said, sliding by and turning to offer her hand. “I’m Billie Nader. I met you at Marilyn Turner’s benefit last year.”
“Of course.” Jack smiled, taking her hand. “Nice to see you again. And you too, Trish.”
“Jack.” Trish nodded, as elegant as a Nubian queen.
All three women sauntered into the huge living area just past the open foyer, leaving Nellie alone with Jack.
“Hi.” She smiled, unable to keep her sudden nervousness at bay.
Jack leaned one tanned arm against the doorjamb, preventing her from slipping by. “Hi, yourself, pretty lady.”
Nellie tried to shrug off her tenseness. Lord, she’d been naked on the stairs with him just five hours before. She forced a breezy smile. “Am I invited to this shindig or not?”
“There’s a price for entering.”
“Oh, really? No one else paid.”
“They don’t have the right qualities.” Jack reached up and tucked a hank of hair behind her ear. His actions were tender, his words heavy with meaning. She swallowed.
“What’s the price?” she asked.
“Just a kiss.”
“Oh, that doesn’t seem like so much.” She rose up on tiptoe and brushed a kiss across his mouth. “There.”
“Nope.” He wagged a finger. “That will get, uh, maybe a toe in.”
Nellie laughed. “A toe? Come on. It was worth more than that.”
“Try again.” He leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms.
She wanted to run her hands under his trendy little T-shirt and then let her tongue trace the bottom curve of his lower lip, but her hands were full of bottles of appletini mixers and the foyer could easily be seen from the warehouse of a living area where the others had gathered.
Nellie sighed and pressed her mouth to his again, allowing her tongue to flick out and taste his lips teasingly. Jack let her take control of the kiss, seeming to satisfy himself with a passive role. She could feel herself slipping under his spell, entering that place where all else ceased to exist—a most wonderful place.
Jack grabbed the bottles from her hands, simultaneously breaking the kiss. “Come on in, then.”
Nellie fell back to earth and followed him into the living room.
Trish and Billie lounged on the large sectional couch while Kate busied herself unloading the booze at the bar. Four guys ranging from hulking to lithe were also in the room. Two were engaged in a heated discussion about illegal recruiting practices, whatever that was, one stabbed his BlackBerry with a small black pen, and the other brooded at the end of the bar. All of them turned and stared at Nellie as she followed Jack into the room.
“Guys, this lovely woman is Elle Hughes.”
A chorus of “hey” shot her way. Nellie tried to paste a smile on her face, but she felt damned awkward, no way around it. She wasn’t used to being center of attention. Plus, she prayed both Trish and Billie remembered her pretend name. They’d practiced in the car on the way over.
“Elle, the two guys by the window are Jay Busby and Nick Jones,” Jack said. “Both are assistant coaches for UNLV. Tim Heyward, the guy checking his e-mail, is my best friend from college.” He rebuked the slightly nerdy looking guy with a hard look. The man slid the BlackBerry into his pocket with an apologetic smile.
“And that mountain over there is my business partner, Dave O’Shea,” Jack finished.
“Nice to meet y’all.” Nellie nodded, purposely making eye contact with each of Jack’s friends. She looked at her own friends. Kate was ignoring everyone, plunking down glasses and wrenching lids from the bottles she’d brought. Trish and Billie cast uncertain glances at each other. Were they wishing they had made other plans?
“Has everyone else been introduced?” Jack asked.
Mumbled introductions were made, none overly friendly. Nellie cast a doubtful glance Jack’s way. He looked stymied. He gave a shrug and pulled Nellie into the kitchen.
“Good Lord,” Nellie groaned, setting the bottles of liquor on the countertop. “This feels like a junior high dance. Girls on one side, boys on the other. We shouldn’t have done this. It’s too hard to have an intimate get-together with people who don’t know each other.”
Jack started pulling the steaks from the fridge. “Hey, chill. They’re grown-ups. Liquor will loosen them up. Looks like your friend Kate brought enough for an army.”
Nellie sighed. “Yeah, I know.”
“Here, help me with these. I’ll get them on the grill and then we’ll go make nice with the boys and girls.”
Nellie hesitated. It didn’t feel right abandoning her friends in uncharted territory. After all, weren’t she and Jack the hosts? Wouldn’t it be totally rude to just leave the guests to their own devices? Nellie decided that maybe she was thinking too hard. They were all adults.
She followed Jack out the door and helped him put the foil-wrapped potatoes on the grill. He placed the marinating steaks and chicken on the side plate, and lit the tiki torches around the pool.
When she and Jack returned to the living room, it was as if the good-time fairy had waved her wand over the group. Nellie sent Jack an incredulous look. Music boomed through unseen speakers, Kate passed out mixed drinks while cracking jokes, and Dave and Trish held hands.
“Told you,” said Jack as he took a martini glass from Kate’s hand.
“Told her what?” Kate asked, shoving a glass into Nellie’s hand.
“Nothing.” Nellie nodded toward the glass. “What’s this?”
“A cosmopolitan. Your favorite drink.” Kate’s eyes communicated more than her words. Oh, right, Nellie thought, be the name of the drink. She took a
sip. Not bad, she mused, not bad at all.
Before Nellie knew it, she’d done two shots of tequila, learning “lick it, shoot it, suck it,” and was on her third drink, a delicious appletini. She sipped the fluorescent concoction and watched Jack flip the sizzling steaks on the built-in grill next to the pool. Earlier she’d slipped into the pink bikini, covering it with a silky cover-up that brushed the top of her knees. The other girls had put on their suits and joined the guys in the pool for a game of volleyball. Kate had tried to talk her into playing, but Nellie knew she’d be no use to the girls’ team. To be honest, her ears felt flaming hot, her teeth absolutely numb, and the whole world seemed to be rocking more than a bit. Perhaps she shouldn’t have tried those tequila shots.
“Elle, maybe you’d better slow down on those martinis,” Jack said, taking a swig of his beer and pushing her shoulder so she sat upright on the stool. “You’re kinda listing.”
“I’m fine.” Nellie waved a hand in his direction. “I drink these all the time.”
He quirked an unbelieving brow. “Really? ’Cause I’m pretty sure you’re drunk.”
“No, I’m not,” she huffed, sliding off the stool. Her feet hit the stone pavers below but her body kept moving. She righted herself before her knees connected with the stone. “See. I’m fine.”
“Right,” he said, removing the tilted glass from her hand. “Slow down, okay? I don’t want you to get sick. You mixed this with tequila so we could be in for a real show.”
She couldn’t stop the annoyance from burgeoning even though she knew he was probably right. “Don’t worry, Jack. I’m a big girl.”
Nellie tottered toward the lip of the pool, intending to dip a toe into the water. She tried to glide gracefully, but the horizon rocked a bit. The Nevada sky blazed with color as the sun sank below the terracotta horizon. Peach clouds streaked the deepening sky, framing the golden orb fading away like an old warrior. A dry breeze filtered through the palms flanking the backyard oasis and tousled Nellie’s layered hair.
Trying for the sophistication of a fifties starlet, she allowed her cover-up to slide from her shoulders to the natural stone below. She sucked in her belly, straightening her spine. She’d never worn a two-piece swimsuit before and didn’t feel comfortable strutting around in it. Perhaps she should play volleyball with the others. At least she’d be half-hidden by the water. Shrieks drew her attention to the middle of the kidney-shaped pool.
“Whose team am I on?” Nellie called out above the whooping.
Out of nowhere a ball hurtled in her direction and conked her right on the head.
Off balance from the three drinks she’d downed, she fell gracelessly into the shallow part of the pool.
Cool water closed over her and she flailed about, trying to gain her footing. Panicking, she couldn’t find the bottom of the pool. Her feet finally hit the hard surface, but not before she inhaled what felt like a gallon of water. Chlorine blasted a path through her nostrils and she emerged sputtering. For a moment she couldn’t suck in any air. She slapped the water, feeling as helpless as a baby in a bathtub. Everyone else in the pool stood staring at her, seemingly frozen in place. Finally, huge racking coughs shook her frame. Water spewed from her nose.
God, it hurt. Burned. Her lungs were on fire.
“Elle!” Nellie heard a splash and then Jack scooped her into his arms. She didn’t have time to appreciate the security he offered. She could feel the contents of her stomach churning. She was about to vomit.
“Out,” she moaned, motioning frantically for him to get her out of the pool.
Jack lifted her like a child and climbed the steps. As soon as her feet hit the patio, she bolted for the nearest greenery and emptied her stomach of the assorted alcoholic beverages she’d drunk, plus a good deal of Jack’s pool.
“Oh my God,” she groaned, sinking to her knees. Her whole body trembled as she clasped the nearest planter to keep from falling over. She hadn’t been sick since she was in high school. She’d forgotten how much she hated to throw up.
Nellie felt a cloth on her forehead. Jack. “Here, babe.”
She grabbed the napkin and wiped her mouth. She kept her head down. She didn’t want to look at Jack. Or any of the others, who were bound to be watching the melodrama.
“Are you okay?”
She cringed. She could read the reproach in his words. His concern veiled his real intent—to say “I told you so.”
“Yeah,” she mumbled, still afraid to meet the censure in his eyes.
“Come on. Let’s get you upstairs. We can dry off and you can slide back into your jeans. Then we’ll tackle those steaks. Okay?”
What? No lecture. No tough love, stew in your own juices, fix your own problems? Nellie knew she was still under the influence of the tequila, but surely Jack wasn’t that cool. She’d just barfed in his oleander bushes.
“Nell? You okay?” Kate called from behind her.
“Yeah. Just swallowed half the pool. I was never much of a swimmer, you know.”
“Yeah, I remember. You need some help? I mean, you want me to help you…”
“I got it,” Jack said, lifting Nellie from beneath her arms. She allowed him to pull her to her feet and finally stood like a kitten caught in a rainstorm, tremulous and half-drowned. She turned to Kate and Jack, wishing she could just slink away, but neither was looking at her. They were staring at each other. Nellie could almost hear the lines being scratched between them on the stone terrace.
Kate crossed her arms over her tiny bikini top as she studied Jack like a territorial terrier. Her eyes narrowed as she probed, weighed, measured. Nellie knew Kate. She didn’t give control to anyone. Ever. She trusted very few people, and none of them were men.
Jack wrapped one arm about Nellie’s waist and withstood Kate’s scrutiny. Nellie wouldn’t have been surprised if the man nonchalantly inspected his fingernails just to annoy her overprotective friend. But he wasn’t budging; she could feel his claim as he squeezed her hip.
“All right,” Kate said. “It’s my turn to serve, anyway. N…Elle, if you need me, holler.”
Nellie sank against Jack as he maneuvered her toward the house. He grabbed a couple of fluffy towels from a basket on the patio and toweled her off. Her teeth chattered despite the warmth of the night. Jack peeled off his jeans, revealing a bright turquoise pair of swim trunks. His shirt followed. He wrapped both Nellie and himself in a towel and pulled her into the house.
Suddenly, she wanted to tear herself away. Tell him she didn’t need anyone to take care of her. Not Kate, not him, not even her Grandmother Tucker—not that the poor woman could anymore. She knew she was irrational, but she was tired of pretending. Tired of being something she wasn’t. Tired of everybody telling her what to do.
But she couldn’t. She wanted Jack’s strength, wanted him to touch her, heal her, make her feel she was worth something more than the winner of the Oak Stand jelly contest. She wanted to be something more than Nellie Tucker.
Nellie Tucker. The girl with homemade dresses, owllike glasses and shiny shoes. Poor little Nellie Tucker, lonely little rich girl whose mother overdosed on heroin because she couldn’t take being who she was. Poor little Nellie Tucker who lived with her crazy grandmother, who spent all day in the garden, who missed her senior prom because she couldn’t find anyone Grandma Tucker approved of to take her, who sat at home when other girls sneaked out to shack up with guys, who came back to Oak Stand, Texas, to be another eccentric Tucker.
But she wasn’t that girl anymore. Would never be that girl again. And Jack was part of the reason. She no longer wanted this to be just a fling. She wanted something more.
But everything was based on a lie.
She looked at him as they climbed the stairs. Her hand fit in his perfectly, like a key into the lock. He was made for loving her, for making her more than she ever thought she could be.
Perhaps it was the alcohol whispering this into her mind, but she didn’t think so.
Everything had been leading up to this point. She had to come clean. Then she would see where it took her.
“Now I’ve got you alone,” Jack growled playfully against her ear, jarring her out of her silent contemplation. They were in his bedroom. His hands cupped her bottom and pulled her against him. She could feel his erection pressing against her stomach, and though she’d just been sick as a dog, she couldn’t stop the warmth from creeping through her abdomen, spiraling down, delighting with its heavy need.
“Jack—” Nellie swatted at his hands. “Our friends are down there.”
“So?” he said, rubbing against her.
“We can’t.”
“Why not? I have it on the best authority that my parents conceived my sister in the bathroom at their neighbor’s Christmas party.”
“Conceived!” Nellie bleated, pulling his hands from underneath her bikini bottom.
“Well, I got us covered on that, but we can practice procreation, right?” He walked toward his bedside table, laughing.
“But first I need to brush my teeth,” she said, more to herself than to Jack. She turned toward the bathroom. Her opened bag sat inside, spilling her clothes onto the floor. “Wait. Jack, we can’t have sex while everyone else is down there. That’s weird.”
“You still don’t feel good, do you? Shit. I’m sorry, Elle. I’m a complete pig.” He closed the drawer and turned to her, his swimming trunks tented. Nellie had never seen a guy like that. Jack looked silly.
She giggled.
“What? Are you laughing at this?” he said in mock outrage, gesturing toward his erection. “’Cause look, lady, you did this to me.”
She stopped laughing. “Sorry. I’ve just never seen that before. It’s comical.”
His expression softened. “That’s what I like about you. You bring fresh perspective to everything.”
She swallowed and turned to the bathroom. “I’m gonna change and then we can go salvage dinner.”
Nellie closed the door, though she knew it was silly to do so. It wasn’t as if Jack hadn’t seen her in all her splendor. The man had explored every square inch of her body, for Pete’s sake. But she needed a moment to center herself. Jack had her more than off balance and it had nothing to do with the potent drinks she’d consumed.
