Tonight was going to be her night, Carol thought, and she was proud she was going stag. She alone had fallen off the mountain, and she alone would show the world she had adapted to a victorious life in a wheelchair.
She picked up an overnighter and put it on her lap. Inside was the Santa dress Nick had bought her. Since she didn’t have a date, she might as well be the elf and help whichever old geezer Terri had hired to pass out the presents. She only hoped Nikki’s award ceremony would be long enough for her to change.
Nick packed his Santa outfit into a duffel bag and emerged from the bathroom where he’d been changing into his tux. He adjusted his bowtie and gave his hair one last pass with the gel. Tonight, he was going to do double duty—fulfil his obligation to Brianna and also play Santa.
It turned out that the party Brianna had invited him to was exactly the same party that Carol would be speaking at.
Nick thought back to the day when he and Carol had gone to San Francisco dressed as Santa and his sexy partner. Even though he wouldn’t be at the party with Carol, he wouldn’t miss seeing her give the keynote speech for the world.
Would it be awkward seeing her there?
Not really. Not if he put everything into perspective. He’d fallen for her. He’d grant her that, but she hadn’t been honest with him. She’d wanted adventure, validation, sex, or whatever it was, and at the end, she’d treated him like a whore. But no more.
Tonight, he wasn’t a whore. He was a guest of the law firm who’d donated millions of dollars to Wheelympics, and he was going to hold his head up high. He’d spoken to Brianna and had let her know two things. He’d told his brother about his having sex with clients and his brother had rolled his eyes and said, consenting adults, and secondly, that Carol Cassidy had tried to outbid her for the evening, and that Nick had turned it down.
Without ammunition, Brianna had agreed to be pleasant and enjoy the date. She had no reason to threaten him since she was getting exactly what she wanted.
Nick checked his watch. She would be sending a limo around seven to pick him up outside his apartment complex.
“Picture, picture.” Heather pointed her phone at him while Sam clapped slowly.
“How does it feel to go to one of these snooty charity events? Costs more than I make in a week’s honest work,” Sam said, giving Nick a noogie.
“Hold still you two,” Heather said. “I want to get a picture of the two most handsome men in the universe. Will you be seeing Carol?”
“Would be hard to miss her. She’s the keynote speaker,” Nick said.
“You never did speak to her,” Sam said. “I thought you were going to fess up to everything.”
“That was before I found out she tried to outbid Brianna for the evening with me.” Nick rolled his shoulder to ease out a crick in his neck. True, he hadn’t been sleeping well all week—not at all like that blissful night when he’d had his sweet Carol in his arms.
“What’s so bad about that?” Heather asked. “Maybe she wanted you so badly she felt she had to pay.”
“That’s the problem.” A sour feeling roiled in his stomach. “The fact that she felt she had to pay. That I wouldn’t move heaven and earth to go to this thing without her paying me. It’s insulting. It means she only sees me as a piece of meat. Not a person with a heart.”
“You really did fall in love with her,” Heather observed wistfully. “It’s a wonderful thing.”
Sam snorted. “My brother doesn’t fall in love.”
“He did,” Heather insisted.
Sam rolled his eyes. “You and your romance novels.”
“What about my romance novels?” Heather crossed her arms and pouted. “Seems like before we were married you were only too happy to come with me to all the conventions and meet and greets.”
“Yeah, but I thought you would have outgrown them by now.”
“Outgrown them?” Heather snapped. “Is that how you really feel about my reading?”
“I’m not going to say any more.” Sam raised his hands in surrender. “That was before. This is now.”
“I bet Nick’s going to watch sappy Christmas movies with Carol even after they’re married,” Heather said.
“Keep me out of this.” Nick chuckled to cover up the twisty feeling in his stomach. “I’m out of here. Don’t wait up.”
“We will,” Heather said at the same time Sam said, “We won’t.”
Shaking his head, Nick took his duffle bag and trekked out the door to the front of the apartment complex.
Why would Heather think he’d be married to Carol?
His heart took a leap, nodding and fluttering, while his stomach knotted at the fact that he would never know whether he’d watch Christmas movies with Carol when they were old and gray.
He crossed the courtyard and strolled through the glass doors of the formal lobby. A wheelchair rolled around the corner, almost knocking him down. Every bone in his body melted on contact.
“Carol.” He gasped, slack jawed at her beauty and grace. She gave him a harsh stare then turned away from him toward a giant black Hummer limo. Its suspension lowered and a motorized ramp unfolded.
“Wait.” Nick ran after Carol just as a white stretch limo pulled into view. He wasn’t going to lose this chance to make things right.
He sprinted past Carol and blocked the path to her ride. “Come with me, sweet Carol, and I’ll watch Christmas movies with you.”
Carol’s eyebrows raised and she shook her head slowly. “Whatever act you’re playing, I’m not buying. Besides, my ride is here. Don’t you have a date you’re going to?”
“Oh yes, I do. With you.” He knelt in front of her and put his hands on her armrests. “Carol, I am not your whore. I’m only the man who loves you.”
Her face froze, and her cheeks flushed. Eyes wide, mouth open as she repeated the words, “the man who loves you.”
“Yes, that’s me, Nick Wolff.” He took her hand and placed it over his heart.
She blinked, as if a spell had been broken and her entire demeanor softened. “Oh, Nick. I’m so sorry. I messed everything up, didn’t I? I want it to be true. I want us to be real.”
“We are real.” He dropped the duffle bag and kissed her lightly, knowing that her makeup was freshly put on. “We just have to talk.”
“We do.” Carol’s eyes grew watery and she put her hand into his. “Will you forgive me?”
“Of course, but tonight, we have a party to go to.” He pushed her wheelchair toward the white limo.
“Hey, you,” the driver of the Hummer yelled. “That’s my client.”
“Not anymore.” Nick took out his phone and flashed Brianna’s address. He handed it to the driver along with a hundred dollar bill. “Pick up Brianna Barrister and then go to the firehouse. Ask for either Joe, Zach, or Matt.”
“Okay,” the driver said, punching the address into his GPS. “You rich people are always up to your games.”
Nick opened his Santa bag partway to show him his costume. “Ho, ho, ho, and you’ve been a very nice boy today. Merry Christmas.”
Thirty-Six
“Can you pick me up and place me in the limo?” Carol wrapped her arms around Nick’s neck and whispered in his ear. “This gown is very fragile and I don’t want to risk tearing it.”
“It’s gorgeous. You’re gorgeous.” He stood back while the driver of the white limo opened the door.
Carol allowed Nick to sweep her into his arms. He set her on the seat closest to the door, then turned around and folded up her chair.
“I can put that in the trunk for you,” the driver said. “Will we be making any other stops?”
“None other.” Nick pressed money into his hand. “Put this on my tab and take us to the Redwood Hills Country Club.”
The driver nodded and departed with Carol’s chair. It felt strange not to have her chair in sight, but Carol was more worried about Nick’s date. Would the woman be upset once she found that he’d ditched her and sen
t a Hummer and three firemen?
Nick slid onto the long bench next to her and put his arm around her. “I have a lot of explaining to do, but I’m afraid this ride isn’t long enough. Also, this is your night, and I want it to be perfect.”
“I also have a lot to say to you,” she admitted. “Except I might get emotional, and I don’t want to ruin my makeup.”
He held her close and kissed the top of her head. “When I saw you back there, I couldn’t let you go.”
“Will you get in trouble with your date or the agency if you don’t show up with your client?”
Yes, it had been exciting to run into Nick and to have him again say he loved her, but it didn’t change the fact that he was about to go out on a date with another woman.
“Maybe, but I’m counting on the firemen to put out her fire. She was a former client who was blackmailing me for a date.” He held up his hand before she could interrupt. “I know it’s unbelievable, but the truth is, I slept with her quite a while ago and she’s been blackmailing me. Said she would tell my brother and ruin my chances at getting into the police academy.”
“Oh …” Carol’s stomach sank and her chest felt tight. So, it was true that Nick sold himself for sex. She had to keep it together though and not get emotional. This wasn’t about her and Nick. This was his past, and he was being open and honest. “Do you want to join the police force?”
“No, but I didn’t want Sam to be disappointed in me. I also didn’t want you to know what I did, but it seems you figured it out and decided to try your own hand at hiring me.” Nick’s voice tightened. “That pissed me off, Carol. I know I’ve done things I’m not proud of, but it hurt when you did that.”
“Because I thought someone hired you to pay attention to me, and then when you said you couldn’t go with me to the Gala, I got upset and decided to see if you would go if I paid.”
“Wait. Wait. Back track there?” Nick waved his hand. “You thought someone paid me to pay attention to you? Who?”
“I don’t know. Maybe my friends? Everyone wanted me to have a date to the Gala. Marisa tried to push Jason on me, and Sherelle wanted to set me up with Gage. I thought maybe one of them would go the extra mile and hire a date for me. That was how Ken met Jolie. Nikki hired him to cheer her up.” Carol stared at her hands. “I’m so sorry, Nick. I was afraid I’d wake up and all the beautiful dreams would be gone.”
“Oh, Carol. Being with you is a beautiful dream.” Nick tilted her chin to look into her eyes. “We two are some piece of work, aren’t we?”
“The whore and the whoremonger?” The thought struck Carol as hilarious and pathetic at the same time. “Guess so. Where do we go from here?”
He took her hand and raised it to his lips, kissing it. “Give us another chance.”
“I want that, too.” Did she dare trust him? Trust that he’d put his ways behind him? He was moving on to more respectable jobs, but still, would he go back to it if things went wrong?
“Then we have to be honest with each other. No more assumptions. If you’re thinking something, you can ask me if it’s true or not.”
“Okay, then I have to ask you. And don’t say what you think I want to hear.” Carol braced herself. “But, would you ever go back to selling yourself?”
Nick grabbed both her hands and held them tightly. He stared deep into her eyes. “I hated what I was doing. Denied it even to myself. I had them sign a stack of waivers, and I was never proud of it. It was degrading, and when I heard you tried to buy me, it knocked me down. I knew I was low, but so low that someone I cared for thought of me as a piece of meat? That stung.”
“I never really thought of you that way,” Carol admitted. “I was hurt and pissed. I wanted to test you, to see if you’d give yourself to the highest bidder.”
“Rex accepted for me before he even told me.”
“That hurt worse than when you told me you had another engagement.”
“But I made him call you and refund the money.”
“Are you getting paid tonight? Were you going to have sex with her?”
“No, and absolutely not. I already told her that she had nothing on me. I fessed up to Sam and told her that you tried to buy me, but I turned it down.”
“You told her about me?” Carol’s heart slammed into her gut. “Does she think I’m another client?”
“No, I told her you’re the one I really care about, and that since she had tickets to the Bumblebee Gala, I had to find a way to get in the door so I could see you make your speech and somehow find a way to talk to you. She was surprisingly okay with it.”
“That seemed too easy.” Carol bit her lip, then remembered she was wearing lipstick.
“Maybe, but she’s not going to embarrass herself in front of her bosses.”
“Hope so,” Carol said. “Because I won’t share. You have to know that if you want all of me, then you have to give me all of you.”
“You do have all of me.” Nick pressed her hand. “You just have to trust me, and more than that, trust yourself.”
Wow. Carol could barely breathe. He sure looked sincere. His dark brown eyes were round and earnest, like a puppy dog begging for love.
She nodded, mesmerized and willing to suspend disbelief. Nick was her every dream come true, even dreams she didn’t know she had. She had to take the leap.
Caressing his smoothly shaven face, Carol gazed deep into those dark brown eyes. She inhaled his sexy scent and let the feel of his skin reach into her heart.
“I promise to try,” Carol said. “I guess what my brother said is true. Beware of the naked man selling a shirt.”
Nick’s head wobbled and he blinked, not understanding. “What naked man selling a shirt?”
“A guy who doesn’t believe in what he’s selling. It means if you don’t believe in yourself, you can’t believe someone else would love you.”
“Then you might have to take a leap of faith, believe that someone else would love you even if you don’t believe in yourself.” Nick turned the saying around. “Can you do that?”
“Jump in with both feet and hold on tight?” Carol nodded, swallowing. “It would be worth it to find out.”
“It would be, because I’m going to stay with you through every sweet and lovely Christmas movie, and more.” He lowered his lips over hers, and this time, he wasn’t considerate about her makeup and neither was she.
“Your makeup’s a mess,” Jolie screamed at Carol as soon as Nick plucked her from the limo and placed her in her wheelchair. “And you’re late. Everyone’s gone in already and Ken’s so worried about you, we decided to wait for you.”
“There was nothing to worry about.” Carol gave her sister-in-law a sweet smile. “I learned to trust someone to buy a shirt from me even if I’m shirtless. Remember what we talked about in Hawaii?”
“Uh, yes, well, we’d better get your makeup freshened up.” Jolie blushed all shades of red and pink and averted her gaze from Carol.
Whatever had gone on in Hawaii must have been a doozy. Nick caught Ken’s adoring gaze on his wife. If what Carol said were true, he had been hired to pay attention to her, and that in itself had to have caused some trust issues.
Jolie led the way into a side entrance to the club. “I can’t believe you left us with that lawyer chick. She’s nuts.”
“Where is she?” Nick glanced around, straightening his tux. Not only had Carol sucked his lips dry, she’d also untucked every piece of him that had been tucked in.
“She bought tickets for all three firefighters. They’re not even dressed, still wearing jeans and cowboy shirts. It’s a mess. Now, let’s get you to the bathroom and get this makeup fixed.” She turned and slapped Nick on the arm. “And you. You’re wearing half of her makeup. You better get yourself cleaned up.”
Ken clapped a hand over Nick’s shoulder and chuckled. “Jolie’s OCD is flaring up. Better get out of her way. Looks like that was quite a limo ride.”
“It took longer than I th
ought, but then, I wasn’t exactly paying attention to the traffic.” Nick winked before realizing he was Carol’s brother.
“You better do right by my sister,” Ken said as they sauntered into the men’s room. “She’s had a very hard year, falling off the mountain, letting go of her dreams, and just the everyday things.”
“I’m not playing around.” Nick splashed water on his face and dabbed it with a paper towel.
“You better not be playing games.” Ken nailed his gaze in the mirror. “The lawyer said you were her date. What’s with that?”
“I made some mistakes, and I’ve explained everything to Carol already.” Nick scrubbed the lipstick and mascara stains from his skin. “Your sister deserves someone better than me, but she seems to have chosen me for now. I intend to keep her happy.”
“You’ve quit Bad Boys for Hire?”
“Quit all of it. I’m going to find a job that will make Carol proud. I don’t know what it is, but I promise you, I’ll work hard at it the old-fashioned, honest way.” Nick wadded up the paper towels and tossed them in the trash.
“I’m holding you to it.” Ken followed him from the men’s room. “Carol deserves nothing less than the best.”
Thirty-Seven
The entire Bumblebee contingent crowded into the women’s room. They buzzed around Carol, peppering her with questions while Jolie valiantly repaired her makeup.
“It sure looks like you’ve been holding out on us.” Sherelle put one hand on her hip. She was wearing a stunning fuchsia-colored lace gown with an alluring V-back and to-the-knee slit. “Keeping all mum and acting like you didn’t have a date.”
“Right, what’s with all the drama about not having a date?” Leanna jutted herself and her purple ruffles into the conversation. “Here we were, trying to surprise you with a date, weren’t we?”
“Yeah, we even called Bad Boys for Hire,” Jolie said. “But Rex said the only job Nick will do is playing Santa.”
“I thought you said you and Nick weren’t talking anymore,” Nikki said. She, of course, was glimmering in her silver sequined slinky dress. “I don’t understand why you were in the limo with him.”
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