Nikki was making her rounds Friday afternoon, cleaning the game room that had a fully stocked bar, when her phone vibrated in the back pocket of her jeans. Well, they really weren’t jeans jeans. They were jeggings—the lovechild of denim and leggings, and the best pairs actually had pockets, so no one could tell the difference.
She practically lived in leggings.
Setting the bottle of scotch on the bar, she pulled her phone out and saw that it was a text from Rosie. A smile tugged at her lips as she tucked a stray hair behind her ear.
Drinks & bad life decisions commence at 8pm tomorrow night!
Rosie was a riot. Nikki had met her during her freshman year at UA. The tiny redhead was several years older than Nikki and was taking the scenic route through college, meaning it was taking her, on average, two years for every year it took a normal student to complete. It didn’t help that Rosie had changed her major three times since Nikki had known her.
She’d finally graduated the same semester as Nikki, obtaining a degree in philosophy.
Nikki would never forget the first time she learned how old Rosie really was. The woman looked ten years younger than thirty-three and acted roughly Nikki’s age. Not that Nikki acted immature. Well, if she was being honest, she had her moments, but Rosie still had this thirst for life that Nikki wondered if it came from the freedom of not really being bogged down by a career, a significant other, children, or a mortgage.
Nikki sent a message back.
Can’t do this weekend, but can do next Saturday.
A frownie face emoticon came back and then Rosie texted the first message over again, changing the date to next Saturday. Nikki slipped her phone back in her pocket, actually looking forward to seeing Rosie. She’d been home a couple of weeks before she started working here and she hadn’t done anything other than have dinner a few times with one of her childhood friends and visit the local animal shelter. She needed to get out of her house and hooking up with Rosie in the evening would be perfect since it would give Nikki most of Saturday to spend with her mom.
She’d been getting home from the de Vincent compound after her mom was already asleep, worn out by the toll treatment was taking on her. So Nikki had now taken to dragging her butt out of bed an hour early to eat breakfast with her mom before she left for work.
Breaking a sweat lifting the damn bottles and climbing up and down the stepladder, she was on the tips of her toes so she could place the last bottle when she heard footsteps outside the hall.
Her stomach dropped a little as she twisted at the waist. She knew it wasn’t her father. He was out running errands. Stretching as she gripped the top of the stepladder, she tried to see in the hall, but from what she could see, there was no one.
She bit down on her lip.
A wave of sharp tingles danced along the nape of her neck as she turned back to the shelves. Probably Devlin out there, creeping—
The sound of glass scratching across wood was like a blast of cold air to her stomach. Turning at the waist so fast she was shocked she didn’t fall off, her gaze dropped to the cherry oak bar top.
Five recently cleaned tumbler glasses sat side by side, like she’d left them.
All except one.
One of them was several inches to the right of the group.
Nikki’s lips parted on a sharp inhale as the fine hairs on the nape of her neck rose. “This damn house,” she whispered.
Those glasses were super heavy. If she threw one and hit someone in the head, it would knock them right out. No way would it just move.
“Nope.” She crept down the ladder and reached out, hesitating for a second. “Not today, Satan. Knock it off.”
Picking up the glass, she quickly put it away and did the same with the rest. Then she moved out from behind the bar, almost done. Thank God. The dark, windowless room was starting to creep her out.
On her way to the door, she saw a balled-up napkin under the pool table and veered over to it, shivering. Was it her or did this room feel substantially cooler than the rest of the house? Probably the fact there was no windows for the sun to beat heat through. Or there was definitely a ghost.
There were no in-betweens.
She was just glad there weren’t any staircases nearby.
Bending over, she snatched the napkin off the floor.
“Well, hello.”
The male voice startled Nikki. She jerked up, smacking the side of her head on the bottom of the pool table. She fell back, landing on her butt as she pressed her palm to the side of her head. “Ouch!”
A deep chuckle raised her hackles. What the hell was funny with her nearly giving herself a concussion? Or the fact that this house was trying to kill her?
“I’m used to women throwing themselves at me, but not knocking themselves out. That’s a new one for me,” the oddly familiar voice said. “Are you okay?”
Squinting against the dull ache, she saw a hand appear in front of her face. Her gaze tracked up the arm, over the white dress shirt that was rolled up to the elbows.
“Hello?” he said, wiggling his fingers.
Her gaze shot to the man’s face as she lowered her hand from her slightly throbbing head. Oh crap. No wonder she recognized the voice.
It belonged to Parker Harrington.
No way was she taking his hand.
She’d rather reach into a burning inferno than take his hand.
What in the hell was he doing roaming here? Usually her father was on the ball, making sure no visitors had free, random access to the house and Parker knew that. He’d been to this house thousands of times when Nikki was younger, being that he was close to the brothers, and she guessed even more so now that Devlin was marrying his sister. Still, no one but the family moved about these halls without being escorted by someone. But since her dad wasn’t here, obviously Parker was taking advantage of that.
Refusing to take his hand, she pushed to her feet and stood, ignoring the ache along the side of her head. “You startled me.”
“I can tell.” His pale-blue gaze, the same as his sister’s, dropped to his empty hand. He slowly lowered it with a slight frown. “I’ll admit I was being quiet. Saw you in here, and well, I was admiring the view.”
Ew.
Not only did Parker behave the way she remembered, which was like a creep, he looked the same, just older. His light blond hair was styled back from a face that was attractive but also hawkish. He had this intense way about the set of his thin lips that always reminded her of a bird of prey. He was younger than Sabrina, around Lucian’s age.
“Hell, I haven’t seen you in forever,” he continued. “Look at you.” He checked her out so blatantly that it crossed that line on what was respectful and belly-flopped straight into disrespectful territory. “All grown up now. You’ve really filled out nicely, Nikki.”
Double ew.
Nikki stepped back, clutching the damn napkin in her hand. “Nice seeing you,” she said, getting her tone short. “Hope all is well, but I need to get to work.”
Parker stepped to the side as she did, staying between her and the door. Exasperation spiked, but so did a little burst of panic. They’d been in this situation before.
This was just what she needed to end her first week here. Obnoxious, and unfortunately, the friendlier Harrington sibling.
“When Sabrina mentioned you were now working for the de Vincents, I almost didn’t believe it.” He smiled, flashing ultra-bright and ultra-straight white teeth. “But here you are.”
She sighed heavily. “Yes. Here I am. And I’m pretty busy—”
“Come on, Nikki. It’s been forever since we’ve seen each other.” He dropped a heavy hand on her shoulder. “Let’s reconnect.”
Her lips turned down at the corners as she stepped back, out of his reach. “We never connected to reconnect.”
Parker let out a low laugh. “That’s not exactly true.”
She sucked in a shrill breath, somewhat shocked that he would even think about
bringing up what he surely was. “That was not a connection. That was you being—”
“Being what? Trying to be nice and friendly when you were always a bit of a stuck-up bitch?”
Nikki’s eyebrows practically landed in her hairline. “I was the stuck-up bitch?” Had he met his sister? Looked in the mirror recently?
“Yeah.” He was still smiling, but his eyes weren’t warm. They were just like his sister’s. “I remember trying to get to know you better when you were here, waiting for that housekeeper to get off.”
“That housekeeper is my mom,” she retorted. “And I don’t think we have the same idea of getting to know one another.”
They definitely didn’t. He’d cornered her once, when she was seventeen. It had been one particularly hot July afternoon. The boys, namely Devlin, were home and they’d had friends with them. She’d headed inside the pool house to change since she’d been wading around the shallow end and Parker had walked in on her while she had nothing on but a towel. Instead of immediately running from the pool house like any decent guy would, he’d gotten close to her, too close.
And he . . .
Nikki’s mouth dried.
Parker had scared her, and if it hadn’t been for Lucian coming in to grab a towel, Nikki knew she would’ve been more than scared. Of course, Parker had played the whole thing off. That he hadn’t known Nikki was in there, and why wouldn’t Lucian believe him? Nikki hadn’t said anything, even though she wanted to badly.
And Parker knew why she hadn’t.
“Oh, I’m sure we have the same idea of getting to know each other better.” He blocked her again, but this time he stepped forward. “Same way you wanted to get to know Gabe.”
Nikki’s back hit the pool table. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Really?” Parker laughed as he leaned in, placing one hand on the pool table next to her. Every muscle in her body locked up. Gabe had done a similar thing in the kitchen on Monday, but it was nothing like this. “You were like a cat in heat whenever Gabe came around. I doubt that’s changed.”
Her mouth dropped open. Her tongue burned to let loose on him, but she held back. Ha. A total adult move that she thought she deserved a beignet for later. It didn’t matter if what he said was true or not. Denying it or arguing with him would only prolong this conversation. “I have work to do, Parker.”
“I know.” He shifted his hips, placing his other hand on the pool table. “What are you doing later?”
Now her jaw hit the floor. “Are you serious?”
“What do you think?”
“You’re asking me out?”
Parker dipped his chin, forcing her to lean back as far as her spine would allow her. His hair didn’t even move. Just like his sister’s. “You can come check out my place. Got a new penthouse over at Woodward. I think you’ll like it.”
For several seconds, Nikki couldn’t even think, but then she let out a loud laugh. “You’re not asking me out to dinner, but to go ‘check out’ your penthouse?”
“Yeah.” The smile started to fade from his face. “Why would I ask you out to dinner?”
“Oh my God.” She laughed again, out of shock. He couldn’t be real. Wow. His offer was so dumb and trashy, she couldn’t even be offended.
A throat cleared. “Am I interrupting?”
Oh God.
Nikki snapped her mouth shut as Parker briefly closed his eyes. A weird tremor coursed through him. Pushing away from the pool table, away from her, he turned around. “Hey, Gabe.” His tone was light. “I didn’t know you were home. Would’ve swung upstairs and said hi.”
Her gaze collided with Gabe’s. He was looking at them like he was ten seconds away from throwing one or both of them out of the house.
“What are you doing in here, Parker?” Gabe’s jaw was so hard it could crack granite.
Parker grinned. “I was going to see Devlin, but then I saw Nikki and had to say hi. Hell, I haven’t seen this girl in four years. Crazy.”
Drawing in a deep breath through her nose, she crossed her arms. “He was just leaving,” she said.
“Good to hear,” Gabe replied, widening his stance. Her gaze dropped, and yep, his bare feet poked out from the hem of his jeans.
Parker looked over his shoulder at her. “Don’t forget about my offer. It’s always open.”
Nikki didn’t get the chance to tell him that she was about as interested in seeing his penthouse as she would be in swimming in one of the swamps nearby. He was already walking past Gabe.
He nodded at the de Vincent brother. “I’ll see myself out.”
Detecting a bit of tension there, Nikki remained quiet and then Gabe and she were alone for the first time since he bandaged up her arm.
Was he going to ask her to get water?
A giggle tickled its way up her throat, but the look on Gabe’s face as he eyed her from where he stood by the bar told her that would not be wise.
Oh boy.
Stepping away from the pool table, she said, “I need to get started on dinner.”
“What you need to do is stay away from Parker Harrington.”
Disbelief thundered through Nikki. She stopped and turned to Gabe. “I wasn’t planning to be near him.”
His eyes were sharp. “That’s not what it looked like to me.”
“I don’t know what it looked like to you, but he came in here while I was cleaning up. I didn’t search him out.”
“Looked like to me, you two were getting reacquainted with one another.”
Nikki’s head was about to explode. “Then you were seeing wrong.”
He didn’t appear to believe her. “Parker’s only going to want one thing from you, Nic. And it isn’t going to be a relationship.”
“No shit,” she said, and then laughed again, because this conversation was ridiculous for several reasons. If he knew what Parker really was like, he wouldn’t be even suggesting that.
Then again, maybe he wouldn’t care, all things considered.
He stared at her as he stepped forward. She held her ground. “And that’s good enough for you? To be a quick fuck to be thrown away, because people like Parker only get with people like the Harrington family. Everyone else is disposal to them.”
Several seconds passed before she could even work out what he was saying and when she did, she all but exploded. She didn’t care that Gabe hated her, but she wasn’t going to stand here and be lectured over Parker Harrington. “First off, let me make this clear. I have absolutely no interest in Parker and let me explain this again to you, Gabe. I was in here doing my job and he came in here. I cannot stand him. Trust me.”
Nothing about Gabe’s face softened.
“Secondly, I don’t know if you don’t realize this or not, but when I think of ‘people like the Harringtons,’ I think of the de Vincents.”
“We are nothing like them,” he growled. “And you damn well know that.”
“Devlin is marrying one of them,” she pointed out.
“That’s Dev.”
She threw her hands up. “He’s a de Vincent!”
Gabe moved into her space, his voice dropping low. “And you know I’m nothing like Dev.”
“This has nothing to do with you or Devlin.” Frustration pricked at her skin. What in the hell? “Let me get back on topic here. I’m not interested in anything to do with Parker, but if I was, that’s none of your business, Gabe.”
“Is that so?” A ghost of a smile curled at his mouth.
“Yes.” She glared at him. “But contrary to what you think, I don’t go around throwing myself at guys, so—”
“Really?” he replied dryly. “That hasn’t been my experience.”
Nikki jerked back as if she’d been slapped. The anger twisted into something ugly deep inside her, causing her chest to squeeze. What Gabe was saying cut into her.
“You think that because—” She sucked in a breath, stepping away from Gabe. “You think that because of what I di
d when I was eighteen? You honestly think I throw myself at guys?”
He didn’t respond, but a shadow crossed his face. Looked like regret for a moment, but then his striking features smoothed out. She’d have to be crazy if she really thought he felt bad for saying that.
Nikki shook her head, her throat thickening. “I’ve spent the last four years regretting that night, thinking I’d scraped the bottom of that big old barrel of regret, but I was wrong. Because I haven’t regretted it more than I do right now.”
That shadow was back. “Nic—”
“I get it. You think the worst of me. I understand that, but I was eighteen and I made a mistake that I’ve been paying for in ways you have no fucking idea. I am not that same girl.” Her voice shook. “But you don’t know that. You don’t know me at all.”
Chapter 8
As embarrassing as it was to acknowledge, Nikki went home that night and cried like she was that very same girl she’d told Gabe she wasn’t, and that pissed her off. Why did his super-wrong assumption hurt that badly?
The answer, the only answer, terrified her.
Because it had to mean that a stupid, asinine part of her still cared about what he thought and how he felt—cared beyond the superficial level, and that was unacceptable.
Nikki was over him—over her silly infatuation. That’s what she kept telling herself over the weekend and when she arrived at the de Vincent compound the following Monday. And when thoughts of Gabe crept unwanted into her head, she got her shit straight, right then and there, focusing on more important things.
Like what the hell was she going to do after this?
As highly as she thought of her parents’ jobs here, this was not what she wanted from life. While she walked all the poor doggies at the shelter on Sunday, she went over her options in nauseating detail. Having not made up her mind yet about continuing on in her education to get a master’s or doctorate in social work or going straight to work, she only knew one thing. That no matter what, she wanted to stay close to home.
Moonlight Seduction_A de Vincent Novel Page 8
