by Julie Cannon
Most people when they talked to her just wanted to know the gory, exciting details about her accident. When she talked with colleagues, they avoided the subject like the plague. They avoided the subject with her. She knew how these conversations went. These guys talked shop at every opportunity. The work was sometimes so intense they had nothing else to talk about.
It was almost as if Brady didn’t know she’d been in such a serious accident. But she knew. She couldn’t have missed it this morning since she was standing less than three feet away, the results of that accident clearly visible. But Brady hadn’t looked. Not once did her eyes stray from Nicole’s, and she found that amazing.
“Your accident,” Brady said hesitantly. “Would you tell me about it?”
For an instant Nicole frowned and thought, yep, she’s just like all the others. She looked at Brady critically, but what she saw on her face was very different than everyone else’s. It wasn’t morbid curiosity. It was a combination of interest in knowing what happened from the professional side in order to prevent something like that from happening again and interest in an event that she had experienced.
Nicole weighed her choices. She could give her standard flippant, short answer. “We were capping the well, something happened, and it exploded.” And usually because of her no-nonsense tone when she delivered those few words, she rarely had to say anything more. But Brady wouldn’t accept that answer, and Nicole wouldn’t insult her by giving it.
For the first time ever she wanted to talk about it. In every single excruciating detail. She wanted to share exactly what happened with Brady. She wanted to tell her everything she heard, everything she saw, everything she felt, and when she thought she was going to die. She hadn’t even told the story she relived in her nightmares to her therapist.
Nicole owed her an explanation, but Brady didn’t ask in order for her to pay up. She wanted to describe the sounds and the searing pain, the months of hazy fog under sedation and how tears slid silently down her cheeks as she endured the excruciating pain as dead skin was peeled off her body, and the emotional effects of the scars left behind.
She’d never wanted to tell anyone any of this before. Her shrink had practically demanded she talk about it—to face it and put it behind her. She didn’t need to face it and put it behind her. It was in her face every day when she looked in the mirror. But she wanted to tell Brady. No, that wasn’t quite right. She wanted to share it with Brady. Brady would get it.
Brady sat across from her, her expression not changing as she waited for her to make her decision. What was it about this woman that made her want to do things she either didn’t want to or couldn’t? Ever since the accident Nicole had held her emotions strictly in check. She knew she was the subject of gossip, that everyone looked at her knowing what had happened. She saw people look at her face, her hands, her neck, searching for any evidence of the scars that covered her body.
When she’d started to recover and was out from under the effects of the heavy narcotics, she decided that what people saw would be what she wanted them to see, and that was the woman she’d been before her life changed in the flash of a flame. For six years she’d accomplished that successfully. And she was tired, tired of living behind the mask.
“We were bringing in the new head,” Nicole said, her voice unsteady. Brady touched the top of her hand, and she looked up into soft, understanding, caring eyes. They gave her the strength to continue.
Brady sat quietly as she described the actions she and her fellow crewmembers had taken in their attempt to secure the new wellhead. When she was about to talk about the well flashing, Brady asked her a question.
“I’m sorry, what did you ask?” While she’d been talking she’d been back at the site. Feeling the heat, smelling the oil, the weight of the oil coating her clothes, the sting of the oil hitting her body.
Brady repeated the question and brought her back to the present. She answered it without hesitation. Then Brady asked a second and a third, then a series of other technical questions, again focusing on the specifics of what happened so she could understand.
“Do you know what I want to do?” Brady asked, suddenly changing the topic.
“What’s that?”
“Dance with you again.”
“Excuse me?” It took Nicole a minute to shift her train of thought from the serious topic.
“I’d like to dance with you again.”
Nicole couldn’t help but laugh. The way Brady released the tension with just one statement shocked her. “Look around, Brady. I think we’d probably be stoned.”
“It would be worth it.”
“You can’t be serious.” Nicole was suddenly uncomfortable with the tingling between her legs that had instantly turned to throbbing.
“Dead serious. To hold you in my arms again. To feel your body pressed against mine. To smell your hair, feel the way you fit perfectly against me.”
Nicole’s body hummed at each descriptor Brady ticked off. The woman was dead serious. No doubt remained in her mind of Brady’s attraction to her. The way she spoke was so matter-of-fact. She was sitting across the table with one hand in her lap, the other holding her half-empty coffee cup, the tone of her voice slightly husky.
Holy crap, Nicole thought. Actually this was more like a holy-shit moment. She couldn’t think of anything else to say except, “I do too.” And before she could stop herself the words drifted across the table.
Other than the slight rising of Brady’s eyebrows, no one looking at them would have any idea of the verbal seduction happening at their table. But then again Nicole could hardly believe it herself. This was the last thing she’d expected when Brady asked her to dinner. Come on, Nicole, admit it. This is exactly what you expected.
“Are you surprised by my comment?” Nicole asked.
Brady quirked a little smile that Nicole found endearing. “Yes and no.”
It was Nicole’s turn to quirk her eyebrows.
“No, I wasn’t surprised because obviously something is going on here.”
“And the yes part,” Nicole prompted, anxious to hear more.
“The yes is that I’m surprised you actually did.”
“Am I that aloof?” Nicole asked, feeling her back begin to stiffen in defense.
“No, not at all,” Brady said quickly. It’s just that you seem…” Brady hesitated, apparently searching for the right word, “careful about who you let inside.”
“Inside?” Nicole wondered if Brady intended the double entendre.
“Yes, inside you, who you are inside. Not what you make certain everybody sees.”
Nicole was amazed at Brady’s insight. “How did you get to be so smart?”
“I read a lot.”
“What, Psychology Today?”
Brady fidgeted in her seat. “As a matter of fact, yes.”
“You read Psychology Today.” Nicole was flabbergasted.
“You don’t have to act like I’m too far down the food chain to do that.”
“No, not at all. That’s not at all what I meant.” It was Nicole’s turn to clarify her statement. “It’s just that I’ve never known anyone who’s not in the mental-health field that reads it.”
“I read all kinds of things.”
“Like what?”
“National Geographic.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I do read the articles. But sometimes I do look at the naked people.” Brady winked, and Nicole’s heart took a tumble.
“Good thing. I was beginning to think you were too good to be true. What are your other literary pursuits?” This side of Brady fascinated Nicole. It was amazing how well rounded she was.
“Whatever I can get my hands on. I have standard subscriptions. You know, Time, U.S. News and World Report, the Wall Street Journal. Yes, the Journal,” Brady said, obviously amused at her reaction. “It comes to my iPad every morning.”
“Well, what do you know. We have something in common.”
“I think we have more than that in common,” Brady added confidently. “But my favorite magazine is Field and Stream.”
“Field and Stream? That’s a pretty significant shift from the Journal.”
“I read a lot of things to learn, and I read a lot of different things for enjoyment.”
“You like to fish?’
“I love to fish.”
A small bubble of laughter escaped from Nicole’s lips.
“What’s so funny?” Brady asked, pretending to be perturbed.
“You love to fish and you work in the middle of nowhere where water is scarce.”
“I know.” Brady sighed and sat back in her chair. “Sometimes I think I should work on an offshore oil rig. That way I could fish every day. I even have a tattoo of a blue marlin. Looking at it is my daily fix when I can’t drop my line in the water.”
“Really? Where?” Nicole asked, suddenly very interested in tattoos.
Brady thought for a moment. “Well, I could tell you or you could find out.”
“Why don’t you just tell me?”
Brady looked at her as if sizing up her reaction. “I’d rather not,” Brady said with the cutest attitude Nicole had ever seen. “I’ll wait for you to find it.”
Nicole’s stomach dropped and something very big got stuck in her throat. Was that an opening? An invitation? A challenge? A dare? She wasn’t ready for this. She glanced nervously at her watch. “It’s late, Brady, and you need to get back. Aren’t you killing the fire tomorrow?” Brady’s face showed surprise. “It’s my job to know everything that’s going on in my company.”
After several moments Brady replied, “I suppose you’re right.”
*
“I’ll walk you to your door.” Brady followed Nicole into the hotel lobby.
“You don’t have to do that,” Nicole said out of force of habit.
Brady stopped. “I know. I want to.”
The simplicity of her statement was overwhelming.
Brady walked close beside her through the large lobby. Nicole was still a little unnerved by being with Brady and the direction the conversation had taken after dinner. Yet, she felt more comfortable with her at the same time. She wanted to feel the reassurance of Brady’s hand at the small of her back or her elbow as Brady had done while going to and from the dance floor at Mark’s wedding. But they couldn’t do that here. It might even be dangerous for them to be walking as close as they were. Nicole toyed with the idea of increasing the distance between them but didn’t want to.
The elevator was empty and Nicole pushed the button for her floor, her hand trembling slightly. The doors closed and she looked at Brady’s reflection in the mirror. She typically hated mirrored elevator doors, but right now she wouldn’t have it any other way.
They’d gravitated toward each other again, and Nicole felt the heat radiating off Brady’s body. Brady was looking back at her, and the longer she did the warmer she got. There was no mistaking the expression on Brady’s face, the fire in her eyes.
Brady’s gaze moved over her body, hesitating at her breasts, and a quick glance at herself in the mirror confirmed the flush she felt on her face and neck. She was breathing faster, the rapid up and down of her chest drawing Brady’s attention. Brady licked her lips and Nicole’s mouth grew dry.
“Stop it,” Nicole said, her voice weak and holding absolutely no conviction.
Brady quirked an eyebrow and broke into a grin but continued her lazy observation of Nicole. Her eyes stopped again, just below her belt buckle. Nicole’s legs threatened to give out on her. Brady was making love to her with just her eyes.
The mechanical voice in the elevator notified them they had arrived at her floor. When the doors silently slid open Nicole didn’t know if she was angry or relieved that she had the opportunity to escape from the confining box. They had been in the elevator for only a short time, but during the climb from ground level to her room on the forty-first floor, everything else in her had risen with it. Her breathing was quick, her pulse and heart rate up, and the pulsing in her groin had increased to an almost painful point. Somehow she managed to make it to the door to her room, and her hand trembled so badly she had difficulty fitting the card key into the lock. Without a word Brady reached around from behind her and steadied her hand. Brady slowly slid the card in and out of the lock.
Nicole almost sagged back against Brady, the simple, mechanical movement of the card in the slot seductive. Nicole didn’t miss the symbolism of other things sliding in and out.
The door clicked open and Nicole couldn’t move. She didn’t want to move. She wanted this moment to go on for a very long time. Brady was touching her, the length of Brady’s body not even a respectable distance.
“Do you know what that reminded me of?” Brady’s voice was low and very close to her ear.
Nicole knew the answer. Brady was leading her down that slippery slope, and she was almost powerless to stop their progress. She knew she could, or at least she hoped she could. But at this moment in time, after the evening spent with Brady, she didn’t want to. She shook her head and whispered. “No.”
“The way the card slid into the slot perfectly just like it was designed to. It was made for it. It reminded me of other things that are made for sliding into each other. Fingers, tongues, and other things.”
The world started to swim and Nicole found it difficult to breathe. Brady’s soft, seductive voice, her warm breath on her neck, the fire she ignited on her skin was overwhelming. She felt light-headed and put her hand on the doorjamb in front of her to steady herself. Thankfully Brady didn’t say anything else or she might have melted into a puddle in front of her door.
Suddenly the heat of Brady’s body dissipated, and it took a few moments for Nicole to realize she had stepped back a few steps. Becoming aware of other voices in the hall she rubbed her hands over her face to try to pull herself together and to not look like she’d almost been completely mind-fucked in the hallway of this elegant hotel.
Somehow she managed to swing the door open and step inside. She’d left the light next to the bed on, and it cast the room into comforting shadows. She turned around and Brady was standing not quite in the doorway. She was waiting for Nicole to make a decision.
Nicole wanted Brady more than she’d wanted any woman in her life. But her mind and her heart screamed in conflict. She wasn’t ready to expose herself, but she’d always believed that in order to conquer your fears you needed to face them. Without a word Nicole stepped to the side and Brady crossed the threshold.
Chapter Twenty-one
Nicole closed the door and turned the dead-bolt lock. The loud click of the bolt into the jamb signaled more than just their guaranteed privacy. Brady must have sensed her nervousness, because in less than a second Brady pressed against her again. Brady touched her shoulders lightly and slid down her arms to grasp her hands.
“You’re in charge here, Nicole,” Brady said, her voice tight and controlled. “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”
Nicole turned, and when Brady didn’t move their breasts touched. She inhaled sharply and was afraid of what she’d see in Brady’s eyes. She focused on the floor instead. “I’m worried about you.”
“Me, why?” Brady responded.
“I’m worried about you getting hurt tomorrow.”
“I know. I’ll be extra careful.”
Brady’s response surprised her. Nicole had expected her to brush off her concern with words like “I won’t,” or “nothing will happen,” all of which would have been condescending. She finally looked at Brady, and instead of finding smug satisfaction at having seduced her way into the boss’s room, she saw Brady’s eyes were warm and understanding.
“It’s uh…” Nicole tried to laugh, but it came out more of a harrumph than anything else. “It’s been a long time since I’ve done this.”
“This?”
“Yeah, you and me getting naked.” Nicole used her hands back and forth t
o indicate each of them.
“Who says we have to get naked?’ Brady’s quirky smile was sweet.
She studied Brady’s eyes, and they didn’t look any different than they did a few moments ago. “You’re not serious?”
“Why not? Nothing says we have to get naked.”
“I know I’m a little out of practice, but isn’t that how it works?”
“There’s lots of ways to make it work that don’t involve taking your clothes off.”
“You mean like the mind-fuck you gave me in the elevator?”
Brady laughed. “Is that what that was?”
“You know damn good and well that’s what it was.”
Brady leaned toward her and Nicole thought she was going to kiss her, but at the last minute Brady diverted her lips to nuzzle her neck. Her warm breath tickled. “Was it good for you?”
“If you do it right you shouldn’t have to ask.”
Nicole breathed in Brady’s cologne. The scent had drifted across the table and the cab of the truck, and she found it alluring. Nicole clenched her fists and squeezed them against the side of her legs. She was afraid to touch Brady. Afraid of what she might do, might not be able to stop doing.
“Why are we standing here having this conversation?”
“Because you haven’t done anything but stand close and make me crazy.”
“And what exactly am I supposed to do?”
Brady lifted her head and shifted it to the other side of her neck. “Anything you want.”
“Without getting naked?”
“It’s up to you. Naked, not naked, I don’t have a preference. No, I take that back. My preference is naked, but as long as you just please do something, I can go with it.”
“And what would you like me to do?” Nicole asked, terrified at what Brady’s answer might be.
“You can start by unclenching your fists,” Brady said softly, sliding her hands down Nicole’s arms and holding her hands.
*
Oh my God, Nicole thought, her chest still heaving as she attempted to fill her lungs with air. Brady was equally breathless beneath her. What just happened? One kiss and she’d absolutely lost control. She was driven to feel Brady, touch every inch of her, smell her, taste her. Her need to make love to Brady was overwhelming.
