He just wanted to check the left front tire to see if it was still leaking air.
He’d just raised the garage door when he heard a car pull into the drive behind him. Had to be someone turning around. He glanced over his shoulder. It was Marshall’s green Lexus that came to a stop a few feet away.
His friend got out already dressed in his conservative gray financial planner’s suit and maroon tie. He had a large envelope in his hand.
Nick reared back his head. “What the hell are you doing up so early?”
“I was about to ask you the same thing.”
“Are you on your way to work?”
Marshall nodded, but something seemed odd in his expression. It wasn’t just that he looked tired. Who wouldn’t be at this hour? He seemed tentative.
“Isn’t this route out of your way?”
“Not really.” Marshall shrugged. “I come this way sometimes.”
“I think the coffee is done if you’re interested.”
“Sounds good. Here.” He handed Nick the envelope as they went inside. “I was going to have this sent to you by courier today, but since I’m here…”
“My financial statement?”
Marshall nodded. “Quite impressive this quarter.”
“Hell, I’ve been impressed the entire year.” Nick tossed the envelope on top of the paper he’d left on the counter. “You’ve done a good job for me. I hope you’ve done as well for yourself.”
His friend shrugged. “We’re okay.”
Nick led the way into the house, feeling uneasy about Marshall’s response. Although Nick didn’t want to pry, he knew Sally had quit her lucrative job two months ago in preparation for the birth of their third child. Having a heavy-duty mortgage and two kids couldn’t be easy.
“You didn’t tell me why you’re up roaming around so early.” Marshall took two mugs out of the cabinet. “Didn’t you have a date with Taffy?”
“Tiffany. And, yes, I met her for dinner.”
His friend chuckled. “I take it you didn’t get lucky.”
Normally that question wouldn’t have irked Nick. Why it did now he had no clue. “I was tired, so we called it an early night.”
Marshall frowned. “Am I thinking of the right girl? She has really light blond hair to her shoulders and big casabas.”
“That’s her.”
“You passed that up?” Marshall dumped so much cream and sugar into his coffee it made Nick’s stomach roll. “You sick or something?”
“I will be if you put one more spoonful in there.”
Marshall stared down at the tan-colored brew, his face creased in dismay. Obviously he hadn’t realized what he’d done.
Nick took his first blissful sip. Strong and black, just the way he liked it. “How are Sally and the kids?”
“Driving me crazy.”
Nick laughed.
Marshall didn’t. “I don’t know, Nick, I think you’ve got the right idea. Stay single.”
“That’s a load of crap. You don’t mean that.”
His friend smiled, and shrugged. “Sally wants to know when you can come to dinner.”
“For her cooking? Anytime.” Nick frowned suddenly. “She can’t be in any shape to want to cook. Tell her I’ll take everyone out. She can pick the place.”
“You know her. She’ll want to cook for you.”
“Yeah, I know.” He smiled. “She’s an absolute doll. But I insist.”
“I’ll pass the offer along.”
Nick’s smile faded at Marshall’s indifference. The guy was crazy about his wife and kids. What the hell was going on? “You sure you didn’t stop by to talk or something?”
Marshall laughed now. “Like I thought you’d be awake. I really was just passing by.” He looked at his watch and set down his mug. “I gotta get to the office.”
Something was wrong. Nick was getting too many bad vibes, or maybe his vibes didn’t work this early in the morning. “Hey, buddy, you know if you ever need to talk…”
His voice trailed off. He sucked at this kind of thing. Touchy-feely stuff wasn’t his style. Fortunately, Marshall caught his drift and nodded. In fact, he looked as though he was about to say something, then thought better of it and clammed up.
Nick took a deep breath as he walked him to the door. “Stop by anytime, okay?”
Their gazes met, and Marshall’s mouth curved slightly. “Thanks, Nick. I’ll call you later this week about the game Monday night.”
The game? Damn, he’d forgotten about the football game they’d agreed to go to. “Good. I’m looking forward to it.”
He watched until Marshall backed all the way out of the drive, and still couldn’t pinpoint what specifically about his friend’s behavior was eating at Nick. Noticing he’d left the garage door open, he wandered in that direction, racking his brain for a missed clue.
Maybe he was the one all jumbled up. After last night, it was a miracle he could think straight at all. Another fragment of the dream drifted into his thoughts and his heart pounded like a damn jackhammer. Good thing he didn’t have anything important to do today. No way would he be able to concentrate.
He saw a smudge on the Chevy’s fender and grabbed a rag. Unfortunately, he did have one appointment this afternoon…
The thought of having to see Doc made him sweat. More dream fragments flooded his head. Right now he’d give just about anything to get out of the study. Maybe even kiss off Aspen.
Oh, hell.
He nearly collided with a couple of stacked boxes he’d meant to go through a week ago. He couldn’t remember what he’d stored in them and would probably end up getting rid of the contents but he wanted a look inside first. He started to step around them, and then realized this was the perfect project to distract him.
After attacking the smudge with vigor, he threw aside the rag and opened the top box. Two trophies, one he’d received in high school for baseball, and the other for college tennis, sat on the top of some old magazines. He smiled at the memory of the embarrassing time his mother had gone camera-happy. Getting the baseball trophy hadn’t been that big a deal, but she’d taken three rolls of film at the presentation ceremony. The guys at school had teased him for a week.
He’d be exactly that kind of parent, he thought suddenly, surprising the hell out of him. Making a big production of all the events in his kids’ lives. He hadn’t realized until this moment that that was where most of his confidence stemmed from.
As far as his mother had been concerned, he and Brenda could do anything. She never criticized, but celebrated their successes, and downplayed their failures, pointing out that no one excelled at every aspect of life. She’d refused to dwell on their shortcomings, or let them wallow in it, claiming that was energy ill spent.
A warm burst of pride and gratitude filled his chest. Funny how your parents seemed to get smarter as you got older.
He’d tell her that the next time he saw her, thank her for giving him such a healthy approach to life.
Unless she started in on the home, hearth and family bit again. He shuddered at the thought. The lady made Attila the Hun look like a nursemaid when she got on her high horse about his future, or lack thereof.
He set aside the trophies, and laughed out loud when he saw which magazines had been stacked beneath them. Picking up the first copy he’d ever bought of Midnight Fantasy, he leafed through the brittle pages. He’d been fifteen at the time, if he remembered correctly, and had to rotate hiding places so Brenda or his mother wouldn’t find it.
He flipped to the centerfold and stared at the curvaceous blonde who’d given him a hard-on for a week. She looked different than he remembered. She was pretty, seductive, the whole nine yards…just different.
The next few pages were advertisements, and then he came to the reader letters. He’d completely forgotten about them, and how they’d kept him spellbound for hours. Amazing he’d ever thought they could be real experiences, but at fifteen, his hormones weren’t all that
rational.
The letters were actually stories describing bizarre sexual experiences, told more to tantalize than be accurate, each one more outrageous than the last. He scanned the first few, and had to admit they packed a wallop…even at his ripe old age.
Before he knew it, he sat down on his workbench and started reading in earnest. He started to remember a few of the stories with amazing clarity. Clearly they’d made an impression on his feeble fifteen-year-old mind. No wonder he’d had the kind of dreams he’d had for most of his adult life. All this surreal stuff had been like grist for the mill.
In spite of himself, he continued to read, one magazine after the other, and before long the morning was gone. He looked at his watch and swore. He had to meet Doc in two hours. The thought was like fingernails on a chalkboard. He couldn’t tell her about last night’s dream…
Memories rushed him like an avalanche before he could raise his defenses. The long-haired woman in his dream…last night…the other two nights…
Doc.
How could he have not known it was her? Denial?
Possibly.
Shaken, he took a deep calming breath. It didn’t help much. He’d learned something else startling last night, something he’d been too stupid to see. There was no mystery woman. There was only Emma.
What the hell was he going to do for their session? Describe in detail all the hot things he wanted to do to her? No way he’d tell her she’d taken center stage in his dreams.
His gaze went back to the issue of Midnight Fantasy sitting in front of him. But he could borrow someone else’s fantasy.
Until he convinced Emma they should create a few of their own….
EMMA’S LIFE WAS going to hell in a handbasket. She finally understood the old country phrase. Her part-time job was at the top of the list of factors undermining her sanity. She struggled out of her uniform, and winced when she heard a rip. Great. Now she had to get out the needle and thread. No big deal…it wasn’t as if she didn’t have oodles of time on her hands.
Groaning, she glared at the wall clock. Nick would be here in five minutes. Unless he was early, which was how her luck was running today. The thought put more spring in her movements and she quickly pulled on a pair of jeans. Not her preferred lab attire but it was the only thing clean.
Three great reasons had prompted her to take the waitress job at Darby’s Bar and Grill. First, the tips were excellent. Second, it wasn’t a college hangout so no one would recognize her. Third, the hours were perfect without any pressure.
Right now, none of those reasons seemed worthwhile. The job had become more complicated. As soon as her thesis was accepted and she could start working full-time at the clinic, she’d throw herself a huge resignation party. Nothing but wine coolers and chocolate-dipped strawberries. And she’d eat herself silly.
The thought cheered her a little as she pulled on her white cotton lab shirt over a pink T-shirt. There was a small tan spot on the breast pocket, probably a leftover from the chicken sandwich she’d wolfed down in the car yesterday. Nothing a little Wite-Out wouldn’t cure.
She left the back room just as Nick entered the lab. He looked awful. Tired. Run-down. And then he flashed that killer grin.
“Hey, Doc, what’s shaking?”
“My thighs,” she muttered to herself, vowing to lay off the French fries for a while. “Nothing much. I hope you had an active night. Dream-wise, anyway.”
He looked nervous briefly, and then his grin widened. “Did you say your thighs?”
Emma groaned. He couldn’t possibly have heard that. But obviously he had. She gave him an I-don’t-know-what-you’re-talking-about look.
“Tell you what, Doc. I’ll let you off the hook. You can owe me one.”
“Gee, how swell of you.”
“Now there’s a term I haven’t heard in a while.” He took his usual seat, and then swiveled around and simply stared at her. As though she might bite…
Or maybe as if he’d like to bite her.
The idea was like an electric shock. She quickly looked away. It was too late. The quiet intensity in his eyes had already stolen her breath. She turned toward a file cabinet for privacy as she gulped for air.
What the hell had just happened? It seemed as if everything changed between them in the space of a heartbeat.
All because of one look.
Ridiculous. She was tired, that’s all.
She turned around and was relieved to see he wasn’t paying any attention to her. His gaze was focused on the leather lounger in the corner. Good. Exhaustion she could handle.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you about that chair,” he said. “Who gets to use it? Or is it reserved for your naps?”
“Don’t I wish.” She barely stifled a yawn in time as she sank into her own chair. Good thing it wasn’t too comfortable or she’d probably nod off. “We’ll be moving over there toward the end of next week, and I assure you, it will be all yours.”
Alarm darkened his eyes, and he sat up straighter. “What’s happening over there?”
“At the end of the study, the last two days to be exact, I’ll monitor you while you’re sleeping and, hopefully, deep in REM. But I’ll explain all that later. Ready to get started?”
“Whoa.” This time his entire face darkened. “Why didn’t you explain this phase before?”
“Didn’t I?”
His murderous glare was answer enough.
The thing was, she really thought she’d covered that area, in fact had covered the entire study, but she’d been off-kilter that first day and it was very possible that…
“You don’t need to keep looking at me like that. If I omitted anything, it certainly wasn’t done on purpose.” She sighed. “It’ll only take a couple of hours each time.”
“I don’t like it.”
“It’s not a big deal.”
He scowled at the chair. “Yeah, right.”
She didn’t know why the idea made him so uncomfortable but he was genuinely annoyed. And nervous again. Not good. Trying to ignore the warning bells in her head, she readied the recorder. She hadn’t had a chance to set it up yet, and she was glad for the distraction. He kept silent for the next minute while she made her adjustments, and when she finally looked up she caught him studying his notes.
He hadn’t done that before. Made her wonder how many dreams he had for her today. The excitement simmering in her belly was purely professional, she told herself. It had nothing to do with the anticipation of more of his tantalizing subconscious escapades. Nothing at all.
He looked up suddenly, as though he were aware of her interest.
“Ready?” she asked brightly.
“Ready.” He didn’t seem too enthusiastic.
She pressed Record and picked up a pencil.
He noisily cleared his throat. “I’m not sure where this dream takes place. Someone’s house, which I can describe, but I don’t know the woman in the dream, or if it’s her house.”
“Okay, start where you feel comfortable.” She had a funny feeling something was wrong. It wasn’t like him to qualify the dream before he began, or volunteer information, yet she sensed a certain reluctance. “Just don’t leave anything out.”
“I won’t, Doc. Count on it.”
There. She felt it again. An inner warning that made the skin at the back of her neck prickle. “Good.”
“All right, so I’d just come home from work and was about to get—”
“Sorry, but I need to interrupt. Is this the beginning?” she asked, and he nodded. “So it starts off at your house?”
“No. I don’t know where we are.” He exhaled sharply. “Let me start again. I had just finished work. And, no, I don’t have a regular nine-to-five job but I do sit on a couple of boards and I often have to climb into a suit and attend meetings. Maybe I was coming back from one, I don’t know, but I had on a suit and tie and carried a briefcase.
“A woman was waiting for me in a house I assume was hers becaus
e I didn’t recognize it. She was tall, with long blond hair, and she was wearing only a short silk kimono. She immediately took the briefcase from me, set it aside and handed me a glass of wine. And then she told me she had a surprise for me before dinner.”
“Did you have a sense that perhaps you lived with this woman?” Emma asked when he paused for a breath. “That it was a daily routine to go to this house after work or for dinner?”
“No, I think she was just a…” He smiled. “Playmate.”
Emma nodded. “Go on.”
“She took me by the hand and led me down a hall into a bathroom where she’d filled this enormous tub with warm sudsy water that smelled faintly of vanilla. Beside it on the tiled ledge was an ice bucket holding a bottle of champagne and a single glass. She took my jacket, loosened my tie and pulled my shirttails out from the waist of my pants. Slowly she unzipped my fly and then cupped my crotch for a second.
“I got excited, thinking we’d have a quickie, but she stepped back, her hands falling to her sides, and said I was to soak in the tub until she came for me. I asked her to join me but she said she had other things to do. I pulled her toward me and pushed the kimono off her shoulder, exposing her breast, licked her nipple until it hardened and then took it in my mouth.
“She moaned a little and pushed herself deeper into my mouth, but then she suddenly backed up and shoved me away. She told me I had to be patient because there was so much more to come, and then she left. So I poured myself some champagne, got into the tub and relaxed until I started to doze. The next thing I knew she was standing over me, tugging at my hand, telling me it was time to get out.
“So I did, and she handed me a towel. I remember it smelled like roses, which was a real turn-on, but when I tried to kiss her she kept backing away saying it wasn’t time yet. But then she took the towel from me and started rubbing it over my body. I was rock-hard by then but she ignored it and dried me off. But then she knelt down in front of me and drew the towel down my legs.”
A soft purring sound coming from his jacket startled them both. He made a face, and then a quick grab. “Sorry,” he muttered, “it’s my cell phone. I’ll only be a minute.”
Extra Innings and In His Wildest Dreams Page 26
