He glanced around the darkened corner of the restaurant. “Umm, no we aren’t. And nobody can see.” Inch by inch, he slid the material of her long skirt up her legs, until his palm touched the bare skin of her thigh.
Leaning in, he whispered, “Relax.” Then he licked at the small patch of skin behind her ear.
She rewarded him with a full body shudder and her nipples tightened into buds visible beneath her top.
“You’re a bad boy, Sam,” she said, her voice husky and raw.
“It’s only bad if we get caught. If we don’t, it’s all good.”
She looked up at him through eyes half open. “Why?”
“Because you were stressed and need some relief.” And because he desired her and he couldn’t wait until they got home.
She studied his face, making him wonder not only what she was looking for, but if she’d find it. Then to his surprise, she relaxed, the muscles in her legs gave way, and she opened for him. The trust inherent in that one move humbled him—and truly frightened the young man inside him who’d had his heart and his own trust ripped to shreds one October morning.
The only way he could ignore his rapidly beating heart was to focus on Nicole’s pleasure. Around them, he heard the sounds of a busy night at a restaurant. Busboys loading trays, waiters checking in at tables, conversations between patrons.
He’d paid and tipped for privacy, and until he asked for a check, they’d be alone. He kept asking himself why he was putting in the extra effort to wine, dine, and seduce her, and all he could come up with was Nicole. She’d been afraid he was in it for sex only, and he wanted to take her out in public and reassure her. Treat her like the lady she was.
He told himself it didn’t have anything to do with her fancy ex-fiancé, but he wasn’t so sure. A part of him figured this was his way of competing. Not that she’d made him feel like Tyler was in the running, but she deserved to be wined and dined.
Pleasured.
Beneath the tablecloth, he drew her skirt up over her thighs and cupped her completely, her damp heat pulsating against his palm. Her breath caught and her eyes opened wide, but she didn’t stop him as he pushed aside her flimsy underwear and slid his finger along her slick folds.
Her lips parted and she sighed.
“Shh,” he said, brushing her hair off her cheek. With his hidden hand, he shifted positions until his fingertip touched her clit. Her hips jerked in response and he turned her head toward him, sealing his lips over hers.
He kissed her while he stroked the tiny bud, all the while aware of her increasing wetness and building desire, the hushed moans he devoured with his mouth, and the way her smaller hands gripped his sides. He kept up the pressure, her feminine juices coating his finger. His dick wanted inside her so badly he could barely breathe, but that meant he had to get her home. So first she had to come.
He stroked her harder, more insistently. Circled his finger over and over her clit until he silenced her cries with his mouth, thrusting his tongue inside her in the same rhythm he used to control her orgasm with his finger.
Soon he gentled the kiss as she came down.
He touched his forehead to hers. “Okay?” he asked her.
“Sublime.”
He tilted his head back and met her hazy gaze. “Beautiful.”
Her cheeks were pink, her lips swollen. “Mortified.”
He brushed his thumb over her mouth. “Don’t be. Nobody knows but us. And now that you’ve had dessert, it’s time for the check.”
“Maybe I’ve had dessert, but you haven’t.” She smiled at him then. “Hurry up so it can be your turn.”
In that instant, Sam knew he was falling for this woman and there wasn’t a damned thing he could do to stop it.
As the art festival and the weekend approached, Serendipity grew more crowded with people Sam didn’t know or recognize. Mike put more cops on foot patrol and Sam was grateful he’d made detective or he’d be working even longer hours. He hadn’t seen Nicole since spending the night at her house after their date. He did, however, have enough memories to keep him going.
They hadn’t slept much and he discovered that despite the occasional shyness, she was a match for him in bed as well as out. She’d made him breakfast, the best egg and cheese omelet he’d ever eaten, and sent him home with cookies she’d obviously baked the day before and had ready for him when it was time for him to head home to shower and go to work.
He’d never slept at a woman’s place nor had one stay over at his for obvious reasons, yet doing it with Nicole felt right. Despite the fact that he was feeling uncomfortably domesticated, he couldn’t get her out of his head. He called her that day and again during the week, and damned if hearing her voice didn’t add something to his long day. Even when working, he found his mind drifting, her blue eyes and the sounds she made when he was deep inside her staying with him wherever he went.
She and Aunt Lulu had taken a booth at the art festival, and Sam headed home to change so he could attend the big event downtown. Normally he wouldn’t go near an art festival, but like everything else when it came to Nicole, he was drawn there and he planned to be one of her first customers.
Things moved fast in a small town because people were willing to work on faith and trust. The bakery itself was in pristine condition, the equipment fairly new. Having a partner to share the workload helped. Aunt Lulu had all the information about inspectors and licenses and had agreed to handle the business end of things. Meanwhile, Nicole called Kelly Barron, a paralegal in town, to discuss having partnership papers drawn up, while the bank manager assured them their loan would be approved sometime next week, and the landlord had allowed them into the shop in advance of papers being signed.
With a few phone calls, they had the electricity and water turned on and Nicole spent the day Friday baking for Saturday’s art festival. She hoped to give the good people of Serendipity a taste of what was to come when their bakery opened. Aunt Lulu would bring pies and cakes to their booth, and she posted signs around town.
As she readied for what she considered her debut, Nicole was finally starting to feel like she belonged somewhere. Other than Tyler still hanging around, calling and stopping by, all of which she blatantly ignored, praying he’d get the message, life was looking up.
Tyler met Macy at her family’s restaurant, and together they planned to go to the art festival. He had to admit she was a good sport about being his sidekick, considering she believed his main goal was to win back Nicole. What Macy didn’t know was that Tyler knew a losing battle when he fought one. He understood Nicole was serious about living her own life. He even got that she was involved with another man. Hell, she didn’t return his calls and he’d be a fool to think otherwise.
“Earth to Tyler.” Macy waved a hand in front of his face. “You alive?”
“Just thinking,” he told her.
She hopped onto the stool next to him. “About what?”
He glanced over and met her gaze. Honestly interested blue eyes stared back at him. She was so different looking from Nicole, less exotic, her pale face making her large eyes stand out. But it was her genuine concern for him that made him feel something different than ever before.
“Have you ever been torn between doing what’s right and family loyalty or expectations?” he asked.
She propped her chin on her hand. “Not the way you probably mean. Family comes first, but we’re all so strong-willed, we always clash when it comes to what we want. Like Aunt Lulu got all upset last year and quit here to go work for a supermarket. Then she got hurt and my family circled the wagons and took her back immediately.” She shrugged. “But I’m thinking whatever’s bothering you is bigger than that.”
“What makes you think something’s bothering me?”
She raised her eyebrows. “Do you really think I’m buying this whole Nicole-and-I-are-meant-for-each-other thing? One look at you and I get the sense that it’s killing you to chase after a woman who isn’t interest
ed.”
With her insight, the anxiety that had been riding him since he’d arrived in town eased somewhat. “You got that, huh?” He leaned in closer.
She didn’t pull away.
“Yeah, I did. So why are you doing it? What kind of family would have you sacrificing yourself and your dignity?”
She was so close, he wanted to lean in and kiss her. More than that, he wanted to explain his motives, but doing so would put her in danger and he already had one woman to look out for. He couldn’t drag another into his problems.
“Let’s just say that the rich are different, and I don’t mean that in any insulting way.” With regret, he forced himself to straighten up and pull away.
Disappointment flickered in her eyes. “Sucks for you,” she said in her blunt way, looking at him with pity.
And making him feel uncomfortable in his own skin.
She sighed. “I’d rather just make ends meet than suffer with that kind of obligation.”
“Me too,” he said, surprising himself.
He must have shocked her too, because she smiled at that.
“But I can’t,” he said.
“Why not?” she asked, still interested, but the light in her eyes had dimmed.
He hated disappointing her, but he knew that he had. “That obligation runs pretty deep.”
So deep that he’d sacrifice himself for his father? He asked himself outright for the first time. Before now, he’d gone about blindly doing as his father asked, but Tyler wanted more for himself than a family business built on corruption and lies. More than a woman who didn’t love him—and whom he couldn’t love, if he was responding to Macy this way. So no, he thought, he wasn’t willing to sacrifice himself for his father.
But before he could extricate himself, he needed a plan. He even wondered if talking to Nicole’s cop was an option.
“Ready to go?” Macy asked, when he didn’t elaborate on the situation.
“Sure.” He pushed the idea of talking to Sam aside, to mull over before doing anything rash.
Macy headed to the back of the restaurant to get her bag. He was coming to know her routine as well as he knew his own, he mused.
As she returned, he couldn’t tear his gaze away. Her tanned legs were long beneath the cutoff shorts, and on her feet was electric blue toenail polish. Her white sandals had a heavy fringe. She was dynamite in a petite package, and he enjoyed every minute he spent with her.
They arrived downtown, parking and walking from far away. Obviously the festival was a huge draw. Macy liked art and so did he, which gave him a rush, thinking finally they had something in common. As they passed the various artists set out with their canvases and work, Macy’s eyes lit up and she paused at every landscape they saw.
And when she homed in on an artist and piece she wanted, she headed straight past Nicole’s food booth, barely waving at her friend.
Although Tyler knew he should stop and talk to Nicole, gauge her mood, and hope maybe she was having trouble with Sam, he focused on Macy. She was talking to the young man who’d painted the beautiful panorama of a small town at the base of a mountain range; he was caught up in Macy’s enthusiasm and excitement.
She’d asked about price when he caught sight of two men he recognized. Both blond, dressed casually so they would blend in with the casual tourists, but Tyler knew better. He’d met both men when they came to his Manhattan office to meet with his father. Tyler had sat in on the discussion, as they were new clients and he always tried to be aware of their investors.
On the surface, both men, L.A. art dealers, weren’t out of place at an art show, where they routinely discovered new talent. If he were to dig deeper, he knew that there were thousands of similar shows across the country and even in the northeast each weekend, and it was no coincidence they’d chosen the innocuous town of Serendipity at the same time both he and Nicole were here. If Tyler had to guess, his father had gotten tired of waiting and made a preemptive move by alerting them to possible trouble with Nicole.
Tyler tried not to panic, but he knew he had to alert Nicole to potential danger.
“Tyler, what do you think of the price?” Macy asked him. “It’s too steep for me, but do you think we can get him down?” she asked in a hushed voice.
Shit. He hadn’t been paying attention to the conversation. “How much did he say?”
She frowned at him and pulled him aside. “He started at two hundred. I can splurge at one fifty. I want to hang it in the hall when you walk into my place. What do you think?”
He wasn’t focusing, that was for sure. “Not too bad,” he said, thinking off the top of his head.
He turned back toward Nicole’s booth only to find she was gone. A look at where the men were standing told him they’d disappeared as well.
With a muttered curse, he grasped Macy’s shoulders in both hands. “I have an emergency. Don’t do anything until I get back.”
Her gaze shot from him to where Nicole had been, and the light in her eyes dimmed. “Sure. Go on.”
Heart in his throat, he left Macy and went in search of Nicole.
Ten
Sam scanned the booths at the art fair, looking for Nicole. Of course, this being Serendipity, he didn’t get far before someone in his family stopped him.
“I didn’t think you liked art!” Erin nudged him with her hip.
He glanced over to find her holding his niece, dressed in a pink frilly tank top dress and a floppy hat to protect her fair skin from the sun.
He smiled and held out his hands. “Come to your uncle, baby girl.”
Erin handed him her bundle and Sam settled his niece in his arms. “Did you miss your uncle Sam?” he asked, kissing her soft cheek.
He was rewarded with a baby gurgle and blowing bubbles.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” He shifted Angel in his arms. “So where’s your other half?” he asked his sister.
She frowned. “Cole’s away for the weekend. An important job,” she said. “He tries to assign the out-of-town security installations, but sometimes they request him.”
He caught the hint of wistfulness in her tone. “Can I take you for dinner?” he asked. “Help pass the time?”
She squeezed his arm. “You’re a good brother. But Sunday will be here soon enough. I don’t want to put a crimp into your social life.”
He rolled his eyes. “I always have time for you. And if I didn’t, I’d make time.”
Erin smiled. “I’m fine. Go find Nicole.”
“How do you know that’s who I’m here for?”
Erin merely stared at him, holding out her arms. “Who else would bring you to an art show?”
With his cheeks burning at being so obvious, Sam placed his niece back in her mother’s arms. “Have you seen her?” he asked.
Erin nodded. “Her booth is at the far end of the street.” She pointed farther down than he’d gotten so far.
“Thanks. I’ll see you later.”
He turned and started to work his way through the crowds once more, when a hand grabbed his shoulder and spun him around.
“Hey!” Instinct had Sam reaching for his holster as he came face-to-face with Tyler Stanton. “Jesus Christ. Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to sneak up on a cop?”
“We need to talk,” Tyler said.
Sam was not in the mood to deal with the other man. “Not now.”
“It’s about Nicole.”
Sam stiffened. “When is it not, Stanton?” It was time he got rid of this asshole once and for all.
“This time is different.” Stanton stood way too close, his posture straight, his attitude determined. “Look, I’m not here to win her back. I know better. She’s interested in you, not me. But I need her to come back home for her own good.”
Sam shook his head, knowing he’d never understand this guy without a detailed road map. “Explain.”
“Nicole’s in danger.”
With those words, he caught Sam’s attention. Sam eyed
the other man warily. “Talk to me.”
Tyler drew a deep breath. “Before I came here I found out my father has been taking money from the Russian mob and running it through our investment business,” he said, his voice low. “He thinks Nicole overheard him talking to his accountant and knows enough to put him in jail and give the feds a good lead on his so-called investors.”
Sam closed his eyes and swore. He’d never imagined her secrets were this big.
“And I just saw the owner of the biggest art gallery in L.A. and one of his associates standing near Nicole’s booth. He’s one of my father’s Russian investors, and I can guarantee you he’s not here to find the newest artist in your small town.”
Sam stared at the man standing in front of him, disbelief and rage filling him as he put together everything Stanton wasn’t saying. “Your fucking father sent him after Nicole?”
“I don’t know for sure. But by the time I extricated myself from Macy so I could find out, he was gone. And so was Nicole.”
Extricated himself. This son of a bitch with his expensive clothes and fancy words was going to be the death of him, Sam thought, shoving Stanton away.
“You’d better hope I find her, and when I do? She’d better be in one piece.”
Main Street in town had been shut down to traffic, and along the route, artists had set up stands and easels showcasing their work. Trisha from Cuppa Café was sharing the long booth at the end of the street with Nicole and Aunt Lulu, where she sold iced coffee, sodas, and bottled water. The day was hot and they almost always had a line for the drinks as well as the pastries by Nicole and mini cakes by Aunt Lulu.
Nicole had made sure to have a wide variety for people to sample in order to entice many palates. And she’d kept her audience in mind, including parents who’d brought their kids for a day outdoors. As a result, some of her more popular items included the fried apple fritters and chocolate caramel doughnut holes. Of course, the churros and cream puffs were big hits too.
The morning passed quickly and Nicole was riding a high from the response to her baked goods. When she added the general welcome she’d received from just about everyone who stopped by her booth, she was feeling not only like she belonged in Serendipity, but optimistic about the success of their soon-to-be-opened bake shop.
Perfect Together Page 14
