“Sure, if you’re sure,” Sophie said.
“I’m sure.” Nico stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
“Go on then,” Zane said. “I better get home. Honor’s waiting anxiously for a full report.”
She and Zane hugged. “Don’t worry, kid,” Zane said. “We’ll get everything figured out. Just not today.”
They said goodbye and walked down the now-empty street to Nico’s car. Mrs. Coventry lived on the top of the northern hill, just two doors down from Lisa and Rafael’s new house. She was a wealthy woman. Something about textiles, Nico had told Sophie once.
Nico held the passenger door open and she fell into his SUV. The sun wouldn’t come over the eastern sky for at least two hours, but there were no more visible stars or moon. They drove up the hill toward his place in silence. When they arrived, Nico parked in front of his bungalow and turned off the engine. His place was detached from the main house. Small but charming, it was painted light gray with white trim. He looked over at her. “It’s still the middle of the night. We can’t wake her. You’re going to have to stay with me. We need to get some sleep.”
She nodded, too tired to argue. Not that she wanted to. There was no place she’d rather be than with Nico.
She jolted forward in the seat as she realized she had no purse. “I don’t even have my purse. No ID. Credit cards. Nothing.”
“We’ll get all that sorted out tomorrow.”
“If not for you, I would have burned up.” She felt the tears coming again.
“Come on, let’s get you in a warm shower.” He reached out to tuck a strand of her dirty hair behind one ear. “It’s all going to be all right.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
When they entered through the front door, Nico’s dog, Jen, rushed toward them. Nico dropped to his knees to load the ball of black-and-white fur into his arms. Her stubby tail wagged as she licked Nico on the cheek.
“All right, girl,” he said as he set her down. “I’m sorry it took me so long to get home.”
Next, Jen went to Sophie, who knelt to give her some pets. Jen licked her hand in greeting.
“Hello, sweet girl,” Sophie said, giving her a good scratch behind her ears.
When Sophie rose to full height, Jen ran back to her doggy bed by the bookshelf and curled up in a perfect circle and placed her chin on her paws. She watched them with curious eyes as they danced around each other. “What now?” Sophie asked, looking around the apartment.
Decorated in light colors and sparse furnishings, the thousand-square-foot space was cozy and seemed especially welcoming at the moment. Other than the bedroom and small bathroom, the kitchen, dining room, and living room were a shared space. She liked small homes. They were easier to be close to the people you loved.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
“Not really. What I really want is to take a shower and change into my favorite pajamas.”
He gave a weary nod. “You take the first shower. I’ll find something for you to sleep in. There are towels and everything else you need in the shower.” He reached into his pants pocket. “You should probably take a few of these.”
“Don’t tell my mom. She would be upset to know I didn’t just have some of her granola tea concoction.” She held out her hand, and he plopped two pills into her palm. A second later, he gave her a glass of water, and she obediently swallowed whatever drug they’d given her.
She thanked him and went into the bedroom. His bed was made, and other than a sweatshirt and a small pile of laundry on an armchair, the room was tidy. There was no artwork on the walls or much personal stuff. This was the home of a man in transition. All his things were in storage, he’d told her, until he could either buy or build a home of his own.
She peeled off her borrowed clothes. The T-shirt had been too small for her, stretching across her full breasts. Not that she’d noticed until then. Escaping with one’s life gave everything a new perspective. In the shower, she soaped her entire body and scrubbed away the scent of smoke. Numb, she found her thoughts sluggish, as if her brain had been affected by the smoke. Nico. Why had she come here to his small apartment? Why had he wanted her here? It was a strange move on his part, after what he’d said to her earlier in the evening. Their conversation now seemed like a different lifetime.
She used his shampoo to wash her hair. As she rubbed her scalp, she almost broke down, remembering her own bathroom. Nothing would be left. No towels, soaps, makeup. Her razor. She couldn’t even shave her legs. Her favorite shoes and the dress she’d planned to wear to the wedding next month were nothing but ashes now. She had to face facts. The entire apartment was gone. The restaurant was gone. Would Zane even want to rebuild? Was The Oar something of the past? Now that Dog’s Brewery was so popular, maybe he would want to take the insurance money and do something entirely different. Maybe he wouldn’t even want her to run it.
What would she do then?
Go home to her parents? Try to find a job there? Don’t be ridiculous. Her home was here in Cliffside Bay now. She had the wine bar, even if Zane didn’t want to rebuild. But surely he would? The place was Hugh’s legacy. Her thoughts were tumbling all over now, zigzagging around her mind like an out-of-control child.
Her parents. She needed to call her parents and tell them what happened. Not now. Tomorrow morning. Right now, they would be asleep in their home in San Francisco. Her father probably had important work to do tomorrow with one of his new recording artists. Waking them would do no one any good. They were unlikely to hear it in the news. No one in San Francisco cared about what went on in Cliffside Bay.
She turned off the water and stood there in the doorway of the standup shower, shivering. A towel. She needed a towel.
She grabbed one from the stack on the shelf over the toilet and wrapped it around her shoulders.
Dots swam before her eyes. And then, nothing.
9
Nico
* * *
Nico heard the crash from where he’d been sitting on the floor outside the bathroom. Sophie had looked pale and glazed when she’d headed off to the shower. So much so that he’d worried if she would be all right alone.
At the sound of a thud and then breaking glass, he jumped to his feet. Jen leaped from her bed and ran to him, nails clicking on the hardwood floor. He charged into the bathroom with Jen at his heels. Fortunately, the door didn’t have a lock. Not that he was thinking about propriety at the moment. The small shelf with his glass containers of toiletries was turned over and shards of broken glass were scattered on the floor. Sophie was passed out on her stomach. Her legs were bent, but not unnaturally. They didn’t appear to be broken as far as he could see. A towel was underneath her, spread out like a superhero’s cape. Nothing else covered her. Not one thing between his eyes and her long-limbed, tanned, smooth body. Nice tan lines. He swallowed and averted his eyes. What kind of pervert noticed such things when the girl he loved was lying on the ground with a probable concussion?
Silently, he talked to God. Why are you doing this to me? I’ve tried to be such a good person.
He’d been resisting yanking off her clothes for months and months and yet he’d seen her naked twice in one night. While in terrible peril, he reminded himself. Off-limits because of, you know, a fire almost killing her, and now here she was passed out and lying in broken glass. God must have one heck of a sense of humor.
He pushed all thoughts aside as he dropped to his knees at her side. Jen sat on her haunches, her dark eyes worried under her fringe of white bangs. Forgive me, God, for what I’m about to do. He scoured every inch of Sophie with his eyes, looking for cuts. She seemed unharmed. At least the back part of her. Who knew about her front?
He knelt and scooped her into his arms and rose to his feet. She was not a light girl. Dense was more like it, especially unconscious. And her limbs were all long and dangly and flopping this way and that. He was strong from surfing and working outside car
rying heavy equipment and plants, but this challenged him. Then there were her luscious, round, full breasts pressing against him. He’d been with some pretty women, but not one like this. Sophie was a warrior princess, strong and tall, and so damn gorgeous.
He wanted her under him. On top of him. Beside him. God, why are you doing this to me? I’ve tried so hard to resist her. Sophie had been in his heart and mind since the first time she let loose that sunshine-personified smile. His heart had started beating again. Now she was in his arms. Naked.
Her eyes fluttered open. “What happened?” she asked in a half croak, half whisper.
“You fainted.”
Jen barked for emphasis.
Sophie shook her head in that stubborn way that drove him absolutely intoxicated with lust. “Impossible. Girls like me don’t faint.”
“Uncommon circumstances,” he said. “Or, otherwise, no.”
Jen ran ahead to the bed and stood there waiting with her tail wagging at warp speed, as if she knew that’s where Sophie belonged just then.
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I don’t feel so good.”
“I know.” He grunted softly as he turned sideways to get them out of the bathroom through the skinny door.
“I’m heavy.”
“Not for me,” he said, panting slightly as he crossed the room to the bed.
“I have a lot of muscles,” she said, sounding half-asleep.
Yes, you do. Miles of them in your legs alone.
“Which makes me heavy.” Her head plopped onto his shoulder.
“Again, not for me.”
“Liar,” she said. “I feel a little loopy.”
“It’s the pills.”
“Maybe I should’ve just had some of my mom’s hippie tea,” she said.
“You’re talking a lot for a girl who just fainted in my bathroom.”
Jen whined. “Get in your bed, Jen,” he said to her in his best alpha male voice. All he needed was to trip over his small dog with Sophie in his arms.
Jen gave him a dirty look as she trotted out of the room to her bed in the living room.
Nico folded over from his waist to place her on the bed. Her arms remained around his neck as he tried to set her down gently. She was still damp from the shower, too, which made her stick to him. How did men do this in the movies?
The weight of her pulled him down with her, and they landed together with a thud on top of the comforter. She made a little oomph sound as though he’d hurt her. Then her legs spread slightly to accommodate him. He raised his head. “I’m sorry.” His damn body was betraying him. He was hard under his jeans, and the damn nuisance was pressing into her belly. That belly. Curved just right. And those generous hips. Great, now his hands were stuck under her. The two of them were practically glued together. All he had to do was lean a little closer and he could kiss her. A hard kiss that could go on and on.
She looked up at him. “Nico?”
“Yeah?” They were so close he could count the freckles on her perky nose.
“Is that what I think it is?”
He nodded, then hung his head. “I’m sorry. For guys, sometimes things happen even when you really don’t want them to.”
“I’ve never felt one before.”
“What?” That brought him back to reality. She’d never felt an erection before? “You’ve never messed around with a guy to the point where things happened?”
She looked up at him with her enormous eyes. “I’ve only kissed a few guys. And never horizontal.”
“How is that possible?”
“I’ve been waiting for the right one.”
Holy Batman. What was he doing? This was even worse than he thought. He was the biggest jerk in the entire world. He’d known she was a virgin, but figured she had some experience with men. But she’d never… It was too much. He’d been right all along. Sophie was innocent and way, way too young for him. Did she have any idea how many women he’d been with? Not a ton compared to some, but enough to make him a definite man-whore compared to her experience. She deserved so much better than some old, slutty guy on top of her.
He would not, could not, be that guy.
Still, moral conviction aside, it took every ounce of control he possessed to roll off her and practically fall onto the floor.
She curled up on her side, watching him with a concerned furrow of her brow. “Did I say something wrong?”
Her breasts were just right there, all pink and plump and pressed together between her arms. He took in a deep breath. “No, you’re…you’re fine.” Better than fine. He swallowed hard for the fiftieth time in the last thirty minutes. “I’m kind of mortified.”
“Why?”
“You’re naked in my bed.” So very naked. And I was on top of you with a very inappropriate body part pressed against you.
She giggled and rolled her eyes. “My mother’s a hippie chick. She taught me that a body’s just a body. Nothing to be ashamed of.”
Sophie’s mother. Her sweet, carob-cookie-making mother who probably didn’t have this exact scenario in mind when encouraging Sophie to be unashamed of her body. Okay, that was better than thinking about baseball to get rid of his exuberant, salacious, hard-as-a-rock friend. Erection has left the building.
Blanket. He needed a blanket. Anything to cover her up from his treacherous eyes. He jumped to his feet and snatched a knit throw from the end of the bed and practically threw it on top of her.
“Are you cold?” He paced back and forth from one end of the bed to the other.
“A little.”
“Get under the covers,” he said. Please, just get under them and cover up your luscious body.
She scrambled upright, all legs and bouncing breasts, and pulled back the covers. Her long legs slid under them, then the rest of her. “But this is your bed.”
Relief flooded him. Now that she was no longer exposed, he could relax a little. “I’ll sleep on the couch tonight.”
“That doesn’t seem right.”
“I’m a camping type of guy. I’ve slept on much worse.” He sat on the edge of the bed and tucked the covers around her. “Should you go to bed with a wet head?”
“I’ll be fine.” She stared at him so intently he had to look away.
“Nico.”
Her husky voice drew him back to her. “What is it?”
“I don’t even have a pair of shoes.” Her voice suddenly sounded hollow and scared.
He couldn’t stop his hands as he brushed away the wet hair from her cheeks. “Pepper or one of the girls will take you shopping. You can get new shoes.”
“I liked my old shoes. All of them. And all my baking equipment.”
“This is all fixable, Soph. A few shopping trips. An insurance payout. The Wolves can rebuild The Oar. You guys can even make changes you wouldn’t have been able to before. David’s a brilliant architect.”
“We could make the place greener, I suppose,” she said, brightening.
“Solar panels, for example.”
“Maybe an herb garden,” she said. “In planters in the back.”
He could have made planters for her before the fire. Why hadn’t he ever thought of that? “I can make boxes that hang over the back railings.”
“That sounds nice.” She moved her gaze away from him and stared up at the ceiling. “I am worried about being closed for so long.”
“We’ll get you up and running before you know it,” he said.
“We’re going to miss the rest of August revenue.”
He understood her concern. Before Wolf Enterprises had taken off, his personal finances wouldn’t hold up to two or three months without business. He didn’t know if Sophie was the same way. “Will you be okay?”
“Money-wise?” she asked.
“Yes. I mean, do you have enough in the bank to get you through some lean months?”
She nodded. “I’ve got tons in the bank. I hardly have any expenses. Zane and I own the building, so it’s no
t like I had rent.”
Must be nice to own your own home. He looked around the tiny apartment where he’d spent the last year. Mrs. Coventry was generous to give him the space in exchange for his help. However, having his own house was the dream. Affording a place in this town seemed like a pipe dream at this point.
“Maybe I’ll do something different upstairs,” she said. “Higher ceilings. Bigger windows.”
He shook his head, marveling at the way she could so quickly find the positive in every situation.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing, really. I was just thinking you’re very adaptable. Most people would need at least a few weeks to wallow.”
“Life is all in the way you look at it,” she said.
“You’re right, of course. But not everyone can live that way.”
She shot him a look that told him she was quite aware of how he limited himself.
Nico ignored her commentary on his life. Safer to stay with practical discussions. “You and Zane can meet with David as early as tomorrow,” he said. “He’ll start working on plans for you guys whenever you’re ready.”
“Why didn’t you kiss me just now?”
He hadn’t seen that segue coming. The pills seemed to have stripped all inhibitions from her. He hadn’t thought there was any wriggle room there.
“I could tell you wanted to,” she said. “I mean, I’m not the most experienced person in the world, but even I know what an erection means.”
He hung his head and wished he could sink right through the floor. “Sophie, what kind of man would I be if I did all the things I want to do to you? Especially right now?”
“Because you don’t love me?”
“Right.” God might strike him down right then and there for being such a complete and utter liar. The thought of how close he’d come to losing her made him sick to his stomach. If he’d had any doubts about his feelings, he certainly didn’t now.
“I want you to love me so badly.” Her eyes filled with tears.
“Oh, Soph.” I do love you.
Jilted Page 9
