by Lori Foster
She felt like she was waiting for the guillotine blade to slice her open as she watched his face for signs of distaste.
“That magazine thing?” He gave a disinterested shrug. “Why would that matter?”
She squinted, trying to discern if he was being nice. But he just looked confused.
“I gave you my picture,” she said slowly. It had taken all her nerve to do it, too. Especially that shot, but she hadn’t had much choice. She purposely had very few pictures of herself. Her faculty shot was horrible, a makeupless frump. “Didn’t you get it?”
“Your ID card? Yeah, I have it.” He shrugged, then gave her a sheepish look. “I framed it and keep it on my desk. I never got that kind of thing before, but I do now. Just seeing your face, it makes me feel good inside. I spent the last few days working on my book. Using your notes, your suggestions, to make it work. I like to imagine you’re watching me write, pushing me to take it deeper, to go further.”
Delaney pulled her mouth shut. “You framed it? That picture? But…it’s horrible.”
His blank look said it all. He didn’t see the makeup, the hair. He saw her.
“I love you,” she blurted out. As soon as the words escaped, she wanted to slap her hands to her mouth to shove them back in. But she didn’t. Because, for once, she was putting it all out there. Rejection be damned, she was making a choice.
Now it was his turn. He could be a coward and run, or be honest and admit he loved her back. Her shoulders knotted tight as she waited to see which he’d do.
*
NICK GAVE A huge sigh of relief as Delaney’s words washed over him. Unable to stop himself, he pulled her into his arms. “I love everything about you. Your brains, your looks, that sexy little sound you make when you come. I love that you’re not afraid to stand up to me, that you’re not afraid to stand up for what you believe in.” His mouth against hers, he murmured, “I especially love that you love me, too.”
Thank God, was all he could think. He’d hoped she cared. He’d lain awake at night remembering the look in her eyes as she’d left the ball, hoping what he’d seen there was love. For a guy who’d dissed the concept for so long, he’d been on shaky ground.
Unused as he was to emotions, let alone to trusting they’d last while he worked through his issues, he’d been terrified she’d changed her mind. Or, at the very least, had spent their days apart building a nasty case of anger against him.
As usual, Delaney had shocked the hell out of him. Instead of anger, she’d publicly argued for lust in his favor. Instead of gloating over her win, she was sexy, passionate and fair.
She got his writing, saw in it and him more than he’d even hoped for. She took him from happy to horny with just a smile. And she’d given him her heart, just like that.
Was it any wonder he loved the woman?
“So we’ve settled our bets, right?” he said, pulling back reluctantly.
Her considering frown made him laugh. Even now, in the middle of his declaration of love, she ran it all through that super-brain of hers. “Yes, I suppose we have settled them.”
“Right. You won the review bet, and the prize was my writing more emotion into my books. Which, actually, I’ve already started paying off.”
She nodded, her head tilted like she was trying to think a few steps ahead of him and see where he was going.
“The lust-versus-intimacy bet was a little more challenging, since I’m saying intimacy wins hands down, yet you just argued for lust here in front of all those impressionable viewers.”
Her face lit up at his admission, then she winced and laughed. “I did give a mixed message out there, didn’t I? How about we say I was playing devil’s advocate, since we both know I believe intimacy outlasts lust.”
“Right. Then I’d have to say you won,” he mused. He nodded, his face as serious as he could get it even as nerves jangled through his system. Damn, this wasn’t easy. “Since we’d left the prize for that bet open, I figure I have to ask you to marry me. If you’d lost, you would have had to ask me.”
Her jaw dropped, shock clear on her gorgeous face. Three times, Delaney blinked, trying to force words out. Nick laughed. Suddenly, it was easy. Simple even.
“What?” she finally squeaked.
“I want a commitment. It’s that choice thing. I love you. You love me. I believe in those emotions between us, and I believe they’re strong enough to last. I want it all. And I want to prove to you I believe it’s real.”
Her laughter was a gurgle through the tears streaming down her face. Nick hoped they were happy tears. When she launched herself at him, her arms wrapping tight around his neck, he figured they were definitely happy.
“That’s a yes?” he asked, breathing in the flowery scent of her hair as relief surged through him. He hadn’t realized how worried he’d been about her reaction until the tension melted from his shoulders.
“Yes,” she told him, lifting her face to blind him with the brilliance of her smile. Joy, simple and pure, filled Nick. “Yes, I’ll spend our life exploring lust, passion, love and even those fears. Yes, I want to be with you, to take chances and to grow together. Yes… To everything, yes.”
Their mouths met in a kiss filled with everything she’d said. Passion, lust and love—all mingled as their lips and tongues danced together. Nick’s body reminded him, in hard graphic detail, how long it had been since he’d had Delaney in his arms.
“I want you so much. I need to feel you wrapped around me, hear you cry out my name.” Nick buried his face in the curve of her neck and groaned. “Are you done on the set? Can we go?”
She forced her eyes open to glance at the large round clock on the wall.
“My door has a lock,” she said softly. “Ever done it on a makeup table?”
Nick grinned, loving this naughty side of her. And he’d thought lust would scare her away? Damn, he’d been stupid.
“Sex at work?” he teased. “Aren’t you the naughty one?”
“I plan to be,” she told him with a grin so wicked his dick throbbed in desperate response. “After all, you’re going to need me for research.”
“You’re my perfect woman,” he breathed in gratitude.
“Yes,” she agreed with a laugh. Humor lit her eyes with dancing lights of pleasure. Nick stared, amazed to realize she was just that. Perfect and all his. She knew him, the real him, and wanted him anyway. Not for his success, not for his connections. Simply for him.
Kinky books, emotional baggage and all.
“You’re like my very own storybook heroine,” Nick said softly as he traced a finger over her shoulder. Her eyes widened, then filled with tears, making him feel like an ass. But he had to say it. “You’re amazing. Strong enough to accept me for who I am, and caring enough to push me to open up, to be more.”
“That’s my line,” she said with a tremulous smile. She blinked fast to clear her eyes. “That you see me, the whole me, and love me is amazing. It’s almost as much a turn-on as what you do to my body.”
With a laugh, Nick took the hint. His mouth took hers on a wild ride of pleasure. This was intimacy. The delight of her body under his and her eyes staring, lovingly, back at him.
Six months ago he would have said it was impossible. But thanks to Delaney, he finally believed in Happy Ever After. And damned if his wasn’t going to be a wild, lusty one.
*
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ISBN-13: 9781460384152
Scandalized!
Copyright © 2015 by Harlequin Books S.A.
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:
Scandalized!
Copyright © 1997 by Lori Foster
Risqué Business
Copyright © 2008 by Tawny Weber
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