Falling for Her Bachelor (Bachelor Auction Returns Book 2)

by Robin Bielman

  The last thing Nick had wanted to do was something risky. He’d planned to live a safer, quieter existence, but people kept pulling him back to the ledge. And damn it, he’d discovered he still thrived on the exposure to danger. Risk was in his blood whether he liked it or not. Today with Code, the getaway with Sid, they both reminded him adventure made life more interesting.

  Sid.

  He hadn’t seen or talked to her since dropping her off at home last Sunday, but she’d be here tonight for his dad’s sixtieth birthday party. A little voice in the back of his head told him to keep his distance. The devil on his shoulder told him to get close. After the sub fire, he’d decided he only wanted to exist for himself from here on out, but Sid had him rethinking that vow.

  Talk about dangerous.

  Not that he wanted to extend his relationship with her. He didn’t. Maybe he could go back to firefighting, though. Go back to being part of a team on the front lines. His best efforts may have fallen short on the sub, but that didn’t mean they would the next time.

  The water turned lukewarm, signaling he’d been standing under the shower spray for a long damn time. His parents had remodeled the bathroom a few years ago, installing a larger water heater and replacing the pipes so that they no longer made noise loud enough to give away his location. He’d needed to disappear for a bit while Rowan and his mom flew around downstairs like tiny tornados in preparation for the party tonight.

  He shut off the water and stepped out of the shower to dry off before tying the towel around his waist. A quick brush of his teeth followed. He turned to open the bathroom door, but someone beat him to it.

  The door flew open, keeping him rooted to his spot. He rested against the counter in fascination as Sid spun into the small room and rushed to close the door behind her. She locked it, then leaned her forehead and palms on the wood panel. Her shoulders sagged as if in relief. She wore her light brown hair pulled back into a pretty ponytail. The pale green strapless dress cinched at her waist and flared out at her hips like an umbrella that stopped mid-thigh. His gaze slid down toned, smooth legs. He remembered licking his way up them to get to her wet center. He’d never been with a woman who responded like she did to his touch. Hell, his voice alone seemed to get her hot and bothered.

  Images of her naked and under him, riding him, bent over the couch, in the shower, filled his head in perfect clarity. The scent of her skin, the perspiration that made their bodies slick as they moved together. He glanced down. Shit. She had him hard and they hadn’t even made eye contact yet.

  He cleared his throat.

  She yelped and bumped her head on the door in surprise before whirling around to face him. One hand flew to her chest, the other to rub her hairline. “Ow. Holy crap, you scared me! What are you doing in here?”

  He raised his eyebrows. She didn’t really need him to answer that, did she?

  Her gaze fell to his bare chest, then lower, where she definitely got a view of what she did to him.

  “Oh, my God. I’m so sorry I interrupted you, uh, about to masturbate. I didn’t hear anyone in here so didn’t think to knock. I’ll just go back out the way I came.” She gestured with her thumb over her smooth, naked shoulder. “Forget you even saw me and I’ll forget I saw you. This doesn’t have to be weird or anything. It’s not like I haven’t seen you—never mind, I’ll just go now and see you downstairs when you’re, uh, through doing you know…that.” Her eyes dipped to his towel one more time.

  “Hang on,” he said, half-intrigued by her adorable nervousness and half put off that she didn’t think she had anything to do with his predicament. Granted, what reason would she have to think she affected him this way given he’d made zero contact with her this past week.

  Which, again, made him a total dick. They were friends and he’d treated her the way he swore not, like a hookup.

  “I’m not rubbing one off.” He took two steps, putting him close enough to carefully rub his fingers across the top of her forehead. “You okay?”

  Her breath hitched. “I’m fine.”

  “You sure?”

  She nodded and bit the corner of her mouth—a mouth he knew could get him off in minutes. The memory of her sucking him deep, her warm lips wrapped his throbbing cock, flashed in his mind. Jesus. How was he going to make it through the night in front of his family without giving away he and Sid had done dirty things to each other?

  “So this is a normal state for you then?” She teased, self-assured Sid back in front of him.

  “It’s a problem I seem to have whenever you’re around.”

  “Really?” she said surprised, but with a glint in her eye.

  “Proof’s right down there, beautiful.” He took a step back before he tried to do something stupid with that proof. They were in his parents’ house. And there weren’t supposed to be any repeat performances from their weekend away.

  “Kind of hard to miss,” she managed around a giggle.

  He grinned. A guy didn’t mind jokes about his size.

  “So, what are you doing in here?” He tightened the towel around his waist.

  “Oh, I came in here to hide for a few.”

  That didn’t compute at all in Nick’s head. Who did she need to hide from?

  “From your sister. I haven’t seen or talked to her all week and she wanted to know about our trip to Jackson Hole. I told her about skydiving and the wildlife tour easy enough, but you know Ro. She went into reporter mode and started asking for every little detail and I started to sweat. I got worried she’d be able to tell we had sex so I rushed out of the kitchen saying I’d eaten something bad for lunch.”

  “Would it be a bad thing if she found out?” In his mind it certainly was, but he found himself curious about how Sid felt on the topic.

  She titled her head, gave him a look that said really? “She thought we were the perfect auction date because we could keep our hands to ourselves. She’s worried you’re still healing from the sub fire. She thought she could trust me to take care with you.”

  “And you?”

  “And me what?”

  “Did she think I’d be careful with you?”

  “Yes.”

  But he hadn’t been. Not entirely. He’d taken his sister’s best friend to bed and been anything but cautious in multiple sexual positions. Knowing she felt things for him he didn’t feel in return. Yes, they were two consenting adults and Sid was an intelligent woman who knew what she was doing—was eager to do it even. But that didn’t make it right.

  He jammed his fingers through his wet hair. Despite what was right, he wanted more. He felt drawn to her in a way he couldn’t explain. In close confines like they were in now, the pull intensified. Her gorgeous face and body made him crave to be skin to skin. But her intelligent, green eyes and what lay behind them stirred a kind of insatiable desire that made him weak in the knees.

  “I’ll leave you to your hiding then.”

  “Okay.”

  Instead of winding around each other, they ended up bumping into one another. “Sorry,” they muttered in unison and tried again, only to take matching steps a second time. Sid put her palm on his chest to catch her balance.

  His skin caught fire at her touch. He put his hands on her hips and spun her around, trapping her between the sink and himself.

  “Thanks,” she said, darting a quick glance at his mouth.

  “No problem.”

  With their bodies lined up, neither made motion to move. Technically, Nick should back away, but he couldn’t seem to get the memo to his feet.

  “I heard you did a check on all the fire detectors at the high school,” she said, indicating she didn’t want this conversation to end either.

  “Yeah. Mitch asked me to help out.” Mitch Holden had taken over coaching duties from Coach D a few years ago. Every year, Mitch had the football players contribute something to the school and this year had been a safety inspection of the fire alarms. Nick had been happy to lead the team over two af
ternoons and talk about his experience as a navy firefighter since a few of the boys had expressed interest in joining the military and/or firefighting.

  “That was nice of you.” She put her hands on the counter, hoisted herself into a sitting position atop the cream-colored marble.

  He took the opportunity to check out her dress, the dusts of sparkle across her collarbone from her lotion, Nick guessed, and the way the bodice pushed her full breasts up. “You look really pretty today.”

  “Thank you. Green is my favorite color.”

  As of right now it was his, too. His fingers itched to wander underneath her skirt to find out if she wore matching underwear. Bad idea, bud. He took a small step back, tightened the towel again.

  Her gaze tracked down his body. He felt it like a stroke. God damn, what this girl did to him. “You should probably go get dressed.”

  “Probably.”

  “But?” She’d heard the ‘but’ in his tone.

  One corner of his mouth quirked up. “I’m wondering if there are any condoms in here.”

  “Nick!” She chided, but her eyes whispered yes please. Sid continued to surprise and delight him in ways he’d never imagined.

  “I don’t think there are,” he said. “Which is for the best.”

  “Right.” Disappointment flooded the one word. “We decided what happened in Jackson Hole stays in Jackson Hole.”

  He put his hands on her dress-covered thighs, but one little flick of the material and he’d be able to touch skin. “True, but that’s not why.”

  “It isn’t?”

  “No. It’s best if we do this again somewhere without the risk of interruption.”

  A thick swallow made its way down her throat. “So you want to have sex again?”

  The last thing in the world he wanted was to hurt her, so he’d let her choose. “I want to make you feel good. I want you to make me feel good. How we do that is up to you.”

  “You busy later? After the party?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Good. My smoke detector needs a new battery and I can’t reach it. Think you could come give me a hand?”

  He knew she meant that as play on words, but all he could think of as he stumbled back was Sloane. Dying in a house fire because they didn’t have adequate detectors.

  All of a sudden heat licked the back of his neck. He couldn’t breathe.

  “Nick?” Sid reached her hand out.

  “I’ve got to go,” he said gruffly and bolted out of the room. When he got to the guest bedroom he paced back and forth.

  Yeah, he’d thought of Sloane, but the image of her had lasted all of two seconds if he were honest with himself. What bothered him more was the picture of Sid that chased Sloane away. Cassidy was inside his head and the thought of something bad happening to her sucked the air out of his lungs.

  Not the position he wanted to be in.

  Not ever again.

  *

  “What’s going on with you and my brother?”

  Cassidy jumped at the sound of Rowan’s voice over her shoulder. Raspberry lemonade went down the wrong pipe and the glass in Cass’s hand clinked against her front teeth. She choked down the sweet drink, sputtering in the process, then used her free hand to wipe her mouth before turning to her best friend. “How is it you are the loudest person I know, yet you can sneak up on me without making a sound?”

  “It’s called talent.” Ro patted Sid’s back in comfort. Or maybe it was shrewdness because she added, “I can also tell when people are avoiding me.”

  “I’m not avoiding you,” Cass lied.

  “Nick’s avoiding me, too, which leads me to believe there is more to your weekend getaway than you’re letting on.”

  Cass tried to look innocent by shrugging and making an I’ve-no-idea-what-you’re-talking-about face. Rowan responded with an I’m-on-to-you expression, her blue eyes narrowed just enough to mean business.

  Which made Cass feel both nervous and guilty. She’d cave eventually, tell Ro everything, but not during the birthday party. She and Ro stood outside on the patio with happy chaos going on around them. Family and friends were eating, drinking, and playing backyard games set up to make Dennis Palotay feel like a kid again. “You should move with me to LA or New York. Your nose for news is wasted on a small town newspaper.”

  “Right?” Rowan said, a big smile on her face.

  “We could be roommates.”

  Rowan’s delicate features softened. “Wait. You’re serious? You want me to go with you?”

  “I’d love for you to.” Cass hadn’t thought about it until now, but why not? Opportunities abounded for both of them in a bigger city. And having each other to prop up and lean on while they furthered their dreams took all the worry out of navigating a new home base.

  “We would have so much fun.”

  “There’s an offer on my parents’ house. I—we—could be on our way in forty-five days. Or less, really, once I move everything out. I’m free to go whenever, but remember I travel a lot so you’ll be alone sometimes.”

  Rowan planted her hands on her chest, one palm on top of the other. “My heart is pounding,” she said. “I love this idea.”

  “The Times would be lucky to have you.”

  “Which one?”

  “I’m leaning toward LA. What say you, my partner in fun?”

  “I say you are the best and smartest friend ever. I’ll start sending resumes next week.” She bounced up and down with excitement, but stopped abruptly when her dad gave her a thumbs up from across the patio. Looked like he’d just scored the winning beanbag toss. “Let’s not say anything to anyone yet.”

  “My lips are sealed.”

  “Yeah. About that, Miss Redirect. Back to my original question, what’s up with you and Nick? He keeps staring at you.”

  “What? No he doesn’t.” Sid glanced around the yard until she found Nick talking to Paige Griffin. Their eyes met briefly before he turned his attention back to Paige. She kept touching his arm while she talked non-stop. “Looks to me like he’s having a great time with Paige.”

  Rowan shot her a suspicious look. “Is that jealously I hear in your voice?”

  “Not in the least. Just stating a fact.” At least she didn’t think it was jealousy that had her grinding her teeth together.

  Nick could talk to whomever he wanted. But Paige was selfish and so wrapped up in her own world, she didn’t even have the common courtesy to help someone pick up their dropped groceries. Paige stepped over oranges rolling down the parking lot and tampons strewn all over the ground. Cass had firsthand knowledge of this.

  So it bothered her a little that she seemed to be charming Nick.

  “Well you’re wrong. He’s miserable at the moment,” Ro said.

  “I’m pretty sure the smile on his face proves contrary.”

  “Nope. That’s a counterfeit smile. I studied his expressions and mannerisms for years before he left home so I’d know how to read when a guy was bullshitting me and right now my dear brother is smiling because he’s polite, but inside he wishes a hole would open up in the grass and suck Paige into it.”

  Cassidy studied Nick. His brows did seem to be pinched ever so slightly. “How many smiles does he have? And how come you never told me this?”

  “He’s got a few, and I thought I had told you. Oh wait, it was Hayley that I told one night senior year when she was upset about something Cody had said or did, and we talked shit about guys and drank tequila to make her feel better.

  “What are some of the smiles?” Cass thought back to the ones Nick had given her. They all seemed to say the same thing. What that was, she didn’t know, probably because his straight white teeth and creases around his mouth made her light-headed. She couldn’t think about anything other than his handsome face when he smiled.

  Rowan lifted her hand and ticked off the names with her fingers. “I know it all, I’m the Boss, Up-to-No-Good, Counterfeit, Dealer.”

  “Deal
er?”

  “He gives that one when he doesn’t feel like being polite and wants to deal with you later.”

  Paige laughed at something Nick said, her fingertips brushing his arm like she was enthralled and he was the funniest guy she’d ever met.

  “Come on. Let’s go save him.” Rowan grabbed Cassidy’s hand, leaving her no choice but to tag along on this rescue mission. “Hey, guys. Paige, your mom needs you to be her badminton partner.”

  Cassidy glanced in the direction of the badminton net. Sure enough, Paige’s mom stood without a partner.

  “Why me?” Paige asked, clearly wanting to stay next to Nick.

  Rowan shrugged one shoulder before she looked away and waved her arm to get Mrs. Griffin’s attention. Once she had it, Ro made a gesture toward Paige and Mrs. Griffin enthusiastically nodded her head. “All I know is, she’ll be very disappointed if you don’t head over there quickly.”

  “Fine.” Paige relented, then much sweeter said, “I’ll see you Thursday, Nick.” She touched his arm again and sauntered off.

  What were she and Nick doing on Thursday? Did they have a date? Cass hated that she cared what Nick did with his free time. And whom he did it with.

  “Hey, you three,” Dennis said, saving Cass from any more troublesome thoughts. “You’re up.”

  Rowan gave her dad a sideways hug. “What are we up for?”

  “Passing practice. Come on.”

  Nick fell in step beside her as they followed Dennis and Ro toward a giant blue tarp that hung between two trees. Nick’s arm brushed hers as they walked. She liked the simple touch way more than she should have.

  There were several different sized squares cut into the tarp, each one lined with colorful duct tape and assigned a different point value. Nick picked up the football sitting on the grass.

  “Five throws. The person with the most points wins,” Ro said with a competitive edge to her voice.