When my eyes closed for the final time, Nicole was all I saw. And it wasn’t the bitchy, turn-her-nose-up-at-me woman, but the sweet, demure, and shy one I knew while growing up.
Friday had finally arrived and I got to the office, expecting to be alone as always, but to my surprise, Nicole was already sitting at her desk.
“Morning!” I said. “You’re early, did you sleep at all last night?”
“Of course!” she snapped.
“Nicole?” I waited until she looked up at me. “Can we have a chat in my office for a moment?”
She averted her gaze to her desk, the worried look she wore was nothing less than adorable.
Don’t kid yourself… she’ll claw your eyes out if given the chance. I snorted at the thought as I headed toward my desk.
She shut the door behind her before taking a seat across from me. “Is something wrong? I’m sorry for snapping. It’s been… a rough night, I guess.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “I couldn’t help but notice that you seem to be… uh… a little overly productive.”
“What do you mean? You said to keep you up to date and that’s what I’ve been doing. I don’t have my work phone yet, so I got your appointments to call my personal cell, so we could get them all in the books, and the rest I tackled from my remote connection.”
“Yeah… during work hours. Your time off is your time off, didn’t you get my email?”
“I did. I’m sorry.” She looked away for a moment and then back at me. “I just thought that since you’re so far behind that I’d put a dent into things. Plus-”
“It’s fine. Really.” She released the breath she was holding. “You look tired. Is everything all right?”
“Of course!” She avoided my gaze. “I just couldn’t sleep so I figured I’d work.”
“Hmm.” I eyed her.
The room filled with awkward silence.
“Is that all?”
“Oh… uh… yeah.” She got up and left my office as if her hair was on fire.
That night, there were no notifications. Funny how after months of not hearing my phone go off that I suddenly missed the disturbance that only last night had brought.
Chapter 7
I showed up for Sunday dinner at Danica’s and Jake’s as per usual. What I hadn’t expected was to run into an unsuspecting Nicole who seemed to be in a rush to get out the door.
“Whoa! Slow down!” I grabbed onto her shoulders. Running head-on into each other had become somewhat of a usual occurrence for us. I smiled at that, but it didn’t last when I took in her tear-stained face. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
She shook her head and when I tried to slide my hands off her shoulders and onto her upper arms in what I hoped to be a comforting gesture, she ripped herself from my grip. “Fuck off!” Then she ran to her car, got in it and drove off.
What the hell?
I walked into the house and slammed the door.
“What the-? Oh, it’s you.” Danica looked irritated.
I pointed my thumb over my shoulder. “You mind telling me what her problem is?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Didn’t look like it.”
“It’s none of your business,” Danica snapped.
At that moment, I saw Jake poke his head through the patio door. “Hey, Mike, we’re out back.”
“Be right there. Are you okay?” I asked my sister.
She nodded. “I’m fine. Just worried about her, that’s all.” She sniffled.
“Hey,” I pulled her in for a hug, “it’ll be all right, whatever it is.” I rubbed her back as she cuddled into me.
“But-”
“You told him?” We jumped at Nicole’s voice, coming from the doorway.
Where the hell had she come from?
“No!” Danica said.
“Oh! I’m just back for my purse.” She reached for the item on the table by the door, “I’ll go.”
“Can I have a word with you?” I asked her.
“I can’t. I have to go.” The fact that her eyes aimed themselves everywhere but on me hinted how uncomfortable she was.
“It’s only for a minute.”
With a huff, she said, “Fine.” The woman walked up to Danica and I heard her whisper something in my sister’s ear. They looked at each other and Nicole walked out. I followed.
“Listen, if you need-”
“I’m fine, all right?” Then, she mumbled something indiscernible under her breath and looked at me. “Look, I’m sorry for telling you where to go earlier. You caught me by surprise and at a really bad time. Have a safe flight out and I’ll see you on Wednesday.”
“Sure.”
With that, she got in her car and drove off.
I walked into the house to find Jordan, Danica and Jake, in that order, standing before me, each of them sporting a smirk.
“What?” I asked. “I was just making sure she’s okay.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Jordan rolled his eyes.
“Uh… huh!” Jake added.
“What the hell?” was what came out of Danica’s mouth before her eyes shot to the floor. “Oh my, God!” She looked up at all of us and Jake’s eyes grew with realization.
“It’s time!” he shouted and darted for the stairs. “Jordan, turn off the grill. Mike, get her in the car. I’ll go get the bags.”
Jake in panic mode was a great source of entertainment. I knew there’d be enough time to razz him later, so I did as he instructed, and so did Jordan.
Five minutes later, Jake had yet to join us. Leaving my sister and nephew in the car, I went in search of the man in question to see what was taking him so long.
As I stepped through the threshold, I found him sitting on the stair landing with his wife’s and their babies’ hospital bags between his legs, his head in his hands. He looked up at me and I saw sheer terror mirrored in his eyes.
“What if something goes wrong? What if she has the babies on the way? What if-”
“Brother, she’ll have them on the way if we don’t hurry up. Your wife needs you to have a straight head right now, so get your shit together and let’s go Daddy.” I patted him on the back.
That seemed to have done the trick. Jake snapped out of it and gave me a beaming smile as he got to his feet. “I’m going to be a Daddy!” He grinned, emanating with pride.
I harrumphed. “Reality check, you already are.”
“Yeah, but this is from the get-go,” he said. “Fuck! Let’s go!” He ran out to the driver’s side.
“Oh no you don’t!” I grabbed his shoulder and pushed him toward the back seat. “I’m driving. I won’t have a loopy father-to-be getting us into an accident on the way there, I value my life too much. Take care of your wife.”
Chapter 8
I sat with Jordan in the waiting area, no word on what was going on. The last bit of news was given to us nearly two hours before, and Danica had been fully dilated and about to begin to push by then. I worried about my sister, the twins, Jordan, and Jake too.
Footsteps came barreling down the hallway and Jake’s parents came into the room with a panicked looking Nicole on their heels.
“How is she? Did she have them? How do they look?” Jake’s mother fired.
I shook my head. “No news since I called.”
Nicole leaned back against a wall as Jake’s mother took a seat beside Jordan.
“Are you okay, sweetie?” she asked my nephew. The kid nodded, but I could tell he was just as worried as I was. The woman cradled his head in her chest and hugged him tight, while Jake’s dad stood beside her, his hand on her shoulders. Nicole remained a silent observer.
Knowing that Jordan was taken care of, I began to pace the hallway, left to deal with my own apprehension.
A hand on my arm had me stopping.
“Coffee?” Nicole asked.
“I could use it.”
“You know it’ll be fine, right?” she said when we were far enough away from the o
thers.
My hand brushed down my face and rubbed at the scruff on my cheek. “God, I hope so.”
“Just so you know, I cancelled your trip.” She smiled at me. “Winthrow sends his congratulations and expects pictures.”
I chuckled. “You’re an angel sent from God.”
“God wasn’t the one who sent me, your sister was.” She winked.
I smirked. “Smartass!”
“Jackass!” She chortled.
“Be nice,” I warned. “I’m your boss.”
“Not outside of work you’re not.” The light danced in her eyes.
“You seem happier than earlier.”
“It’s not hard when your best friend’s-”
A man stopped right behind her and interrupted before she could finish. “Nicole, what are you doing here?”
Nicole’s body stiffened and my brow arched at her reaction.
“Landen-Withers family?” I heard from behind me, and I pulled Nicole with me, but she didn’t budge.
I turned to see what the hold-up was and the mystery man had latched on to her other arm.
“Can we talk? Please?”
“I have nothing to say to you.” She attempted to pull her arm from him, but his grip stayed firm.
“Come on.” He looked determined. “Don’t be like that.”
“The lady said she has nothing to say to you,” I said, taking notice of the glistening of her eyes. “Let go of her.”
“Who’s he?” Mystery Man asked.
“Uh… my…” She cleared her throat.
“Her boyfriend. Come on, baby.” Again, I attempted to pull her along. When she didn’t budge, I turned back to Mystery Man, but it wasn’t him holding her back this time, it was she who had halted. I positioned myself in front of her and cradled her face between my palms. I bent forward to gaze into her eyes. “Honey, we have to go, they’re calling for us.”
She gave me a curt nod.
“Your boyfriend, huh?” The man smirked. “Listen, Lisa’s out of town for the weekend and since you’re here…”
Who the hell was this guy and why wasn’t he giving up? My arms dropped to my side and my fists clenched. “Seriously! You’re propositioning my girl in front of me?”
“She’s not your girl.”
“Really?” I smirked and a wicked idea came to mind. I hoped that Nicole would play along, and that I didn’t pay for it later. Then again, I’d rather see her mad than on the verge of tears like she was right now.
I kept hold of the sides of Nicole’s face and leaned in, brushing her lips with mine and pulled away to look her in the eyes before leaning into her again. She responded upon contact this time. To any onlooker, the kiss looked sweet. Her hands landed on my chest and I hoped that the shiver I felt coming from her was one of enjoyment, and not of revulsion.
When I pulled away, she gave me a look that I couldn’t quite read. Her lips had tasted of coffee and something sweet mixed with cinnamon and I found that I wanted to kiss her again.
“I get it,” the man said. “Sorry, man. I just thought that you were like all the others.”
The others?
“Get lost, Dean.” Nicole’s eyes blinked and fury appeared in those emerald orbs. “Come on!” She grabbed my shirt and tugged me toward Jordan and the rest of the family. “You and I are going to talk later,” she whispered as we got further away from the man named Dean, and I didn’t need to look behind me to know that the guy was still watching us. I felt the man’s frustrated gaze burning into my back.
She dropped her hand from my shirtfront and I threw an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into my side. “He’s still watching,” I whispered in her ear and felt her shudder.
She grumbled. “Cut it out!”
Danica and the babies were doing well, despite the labor having been difficult. The doctor informed us that we’d be able to go in once they brought her to her private room.
Relieved, my ass fell to the nearest free chair, nearly missing its edge. I cradled my head in my hands.
A pair of shoes made their way into my field of vision and I looked up into fiery green eyes. My fatigue was potent, but I was glad that I could feel something other than worry at this point – mainly apprehension at incurring Nicole’s wrath from that earlier display. She blinked and then her features softened. “Are you okay?”
“Funny… I thought I should be asking you the same thing,” My voice was void of humor. “Who was that asshole anyway?”
“Who… Dean?” I gave her a duh look. She looked at the wall, just past my shoulder. “Just an ex.”
“Just an ex, huh?”
“About that… um…” she whispered, looking around for prying ears.
I smirked. “Kiss?”
Her shiftiness came back, accompanied by a blush. She nodded, swallowed hard. “It can’t happen again.”
“Don’t worry about it. You needed help and I knew what would work.”
“Thanks… I think.” She met my eyes for a brief moment and then took the seat next to mine.
“You’re welcome.” I leaned my head back onto the wall and closed my eyes. “For the record,” I turned my head to look at her, “you deserve much better than that prick.”
She nodded, looking down at her hands for a long moment before she shot back to her feet. “I should go. Get some sleep before work.”
“I think your boss will be fine if you took a day off.”
“Yeah, but it won’t pay the bills will it?”
“Don’t worry so much. If you need an advance, all you have to do is ask,” I said. “Stay. She’s your best friend, you’re like family to her.”
“But what’ll everyone at work think when we’re both not there?” she asked. “I’m not getting sucked into some forbidden office romance rumor.”
I laughed. “They can talk all they want. I’ll just fire their asses.”
She giggled. “Well that’s a bit much, don’t you think?”
“Fine. You can pretend to dislike me around the office,” I joked. “So long as you’re ready to take what I dish out right back.”
“Just don’t make me cry like you used to,” she said.
My heart sunk at her revelation. “I made you cry?”
“It was a long time ago, Mike,” she said as if it was nothing. “I was an over-emotional teenager. It’s nothing.”
“No, it’s not.” I felt like a class-A jerk. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
“Like I said, it’s in the past. I’m fine.” She gave me a brief look before looking down.
Fine. Yeah right!
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my thirty-six years, it was that a woman was never fine when she said she was.
Chapter 9
A week had gone by and my rescheduled trip to Austin was approaching. Since the restructure, things had gotten out of control and Winthrow, the Vice-President of that particular location, had requested that I hang around for a few days to sort out additional things. Needless to say, with all the board meetings, I needed some assistance, and I was sure that Winthrow had a hidden agenda somewhere in there, as was the custom.
“Nicole, can you come in here?” She waltzed in within seconds. “I’m going to need you with me in Austin,” I said without lifting my head from the paperwork before me.
She fidgeted. “I can’t!”
“I need you there, Nikki.” I didn’t hear confirmation or defiance, so I looked up at her. She looked nervous. “What is it?”
“Nothing… it’s nothing.” She took a deep breath. “Fine, I’ll go.”
“Good. I’ll have a car pick you up and meet me at the airport by seven on Monday morning.”
“Yes, sir,” she said, and then I could have sworn I heard her mumble jackass as she walked away. The moniker made me smile.
“And Nikki?” She popped her head through the doorway. “Bring something nice for an evening out while we’re there. I wouldn’t be surprised if Winthrow took us out somew
here fancy during our stay.”
“Sure.” She looked far from enthused.
I sat back and watched Nicole return to her desk. She looked troubled and for some reason, despite my asking her, I knew it was useless to inquire further about her sudden discomfort.
For a week now, since that kiss in the hospital hallway, I had imagined kissing Nicole again. The taste of her, the feel… it hadn’t been enough. I wanted to bump into that Dean character all over just so I could have a repeat.
Maybe she’d give in just a little bit more.
Maybe it would be enough to quench my sudden thirst for the complex woman.
To be honest, I was shocked that she hadn’t tried to tear me a new one for the stunt at the hospital. Hell, I was curious as to why she hadn’t pulled away or denied our fictitious involvement since I repulsed her so much.
Maybe it’s because you don’t?
I walked out of my office and stopped by her desk on my way out for a late lunch. “Why don’t you take off early today?”
“What?” She looked at me perplexed. “Do you not want me here? Am I not performing to your satisfaction?”
Heat suffused my face. “Excuse me?” My blood simmered. I grabbed her arm and pulled her toward my office.
“What are you doing?”
Door closed, I got in her face. “I was giving you the afternoon off because you look like something was on your mind. You don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. All of your work is done for the day, and it’s Friday. People generally enjoy getting an early start to their weekend. I thought that you’d appreciate the gesture, what with all of the great work you’ve done. And as for your decreased perception of me, I’d appreciate it if you left that outside of work. For the record, I’m not who you’ve made me out to be in that thick head of yours. Get out of my office!” I sat down at my desk with my head tilted back against the headrest, eyes closed and my hands pulling at my hair.
The door opened and closed with a slam.
Play Me to Infinity (The Broken Men Chronicles Book 3) Page 3
