Zenith Falling (Zenith Trilogy, #1)

by Leanne Davis

  “What is she doing here?” Trina asked the crowd as she approached them.

  “Who? Joelle? She came with me,” Erica said, smiling at Trina, easily diffusing the situation with her incessantly cheerful voice. “She and I are roommates now; didn’t Nick tell you?”

  “You are kidding me?” Trina looked from Nick to Erica to Joelle and back.

  “After Nick and I broke up, Joelle needed a place and I had plenty of room.”

  Nick wished he had four brothers instead of four sisters, as, at that moment, all four of his sisters glared at him.

  “Don’t I know you?” Rebecca asked. She walked up late in the conversation, having been busy changing her daughters.

  “You know her as Joelle O’Niel.” Trina’s voice was cutting and snide.

  “Your old friend? Little Joelle O’Niel? But I’ve seen you somewhere. Yes! The Al-Anon meetings. I saw you talking to Nick there a few times.”

  Joelle hunched her shoulders, lowering her already short stature even further. She was nearly sinking back into herself. Her nerves were being fueled to anxiety by her fear. Nick was tired of anyone insinuating that they’d done something wrong or weird by attending the Al-Anon meetings. “Yes, I ran into her there, and now she works for me and lives with Erica. It’s no big deal. Let it go.”

  All their mouths dropped open like a nest of baby birds waiting on their mama bird to feed them a big, fat worm.

  “But how did–”

  “Let it go,” Nick repeated.

  “But–”

  “We’re here for Poppy’s swim party, remember? Why don’t we do that? Let’s swim.”

  Nick motioned for Erica to take Joelle away from his sisters’ curious eyes and their prying, wondering, nosy, catty questions. Especially Trina. Trina just glared at Joelle, and Nick, her face showing her displeasure and jealousy over his involvement, in any way, with her former friend.

  Nick took his shirt off, since his swim trunks were already on, and jumped into the middle of eight squealing nieces by doing a large cannonball, much to their delight. As predicted, they screamed and splashed and whined, “Oh Uncle Nick” at him. Laughing and chattering, they all rushed toward him after he stood up in the five feet of water. Each one of them took turns getting thrown in from off his shoulders. They splashed, played and frolicked with him; and shrieked and cried with joy until he wished his ears could fill up with water. Still, they made him laugh and smile with their girlish, unbridled adoration for him.

  All the while, he studied Joelle, who was off by herself, sitting on the edge of the pool, with her feet dangling in the water to mid-calf, or mid-rose on her tattoo. Her cover-up remained on, and she spoke only when someone addressed her.

  Finally disentangling himself from the relentless throng of nieces, Nick swam over to Joelle’s hiding spot. Rising against the wall beside her, he stood up in the water, which hit him at chest level.

  “You afraid of the water?”

  “No.”

  “Then come in.”

  “Not yet.”

  “Afraid of me?” He raised one eyebrow at her.

  She stiffened her back. “No. Of course not.”

  “Then prove it. Come in.”

  She stared at him, until finally, with a long sigh, she stood up, and lifted her knee-length cover-up over her head. She wore a black swimsuit, a one-piece, and the back was open, revealing the third tattoo, a large butterfly. Its wings spread across her lower back, in various shades of purple, black and red. When she turned, the front of her suit plunged down, over small, but firm breasts before modestly covering her flat stomach.

  Until that very moment, he never really had a clue of her body type. She kept her figure hidden under loose clothes: too big, too black, too insulated to reveal any clue of what she looked like. Now, Nick could see she was delicate and impossibly small-boned, with thin arms, slender legs, smooth, white thighs, a small, tight butt, and narrow, sloping shoulders. She was fragile, pale, and so beautiful.

  He instantly forgave himself for staring at her. After all, he’d seen her at her worst, and every which way in between, but never like this. Healthy, normal, and a woman he’d definitely give a second look to on the beach.

  She turned, avoiding his eyes, which she was well aware were on her. She jumped in, splashing him, as she came up, and tried to stand, but the depth of the water was still several inches over her head. She grabbed the edge of the pool to hold herself up.

  “Happy now?”

  “Quite. So where are the other two?”

  Her face scrunched up. “Other two what?”

  “Tattoos. The butterfly makes three, should I guess what and where the other two are?”

  She blushed a massive red bloom that started from her collarbone, and rose up her neck to her cheeks. He laughed out loud. “Tell me, why does a girl with five tattoos blush when I just mention them?”

  “What do you want? Shall I flash you right here? With your thirteen nieces, four sisters, ex-girlfriend, and mother watching us?”

  He shrugged, and an easy smile pushed up his lips. “Works for me.”

  “No way.”

  “So just tell me then. What and where are they?”

  She blew out a breath that fluffed her hair like a breeze. “One of them says Zenith, the other is a Chinese symbol that means zenith. And both are somewhere you’ll never see.”

  Dunking her head under, she pushed herself off from the wall and Nick returned to the girls. Joelle finally reached a spot in the pool where her toes could touch, but she stayed on the fringes, laughing, but not joining Nick or the others. He swam around some more until he was tired. When he came to where Joelle stood on her tiptoes, with her body rocking to the waves of water, he stopped, stood up, and grabbed her waist to steady her.

  “Are you showing off?”

  He smiled. “I was.”

  She smiled back, and her eyes lit up. It made him pause, seeing Joelle laugh, as even her smile was a rare thing. It warmed his heart to see her laughing, smiling, and looking normal. Not looking abused, tired, or stressed. “I never took you for such a show-off.”

  “There’s a lot you don’t know about me. You’ll have to quit avoiding me if you want to find out.”

  “I haven’t been avoiding you.”

  “Oh right. We live in the same building, work in the same office, and I’ve passed you what? Three times in as many months?”

  “I didn’t want to see anyone. Don’t take it personally.”

  “Even him?”

  Her eyes narrowed and a confused expression overtook her face. “Who? Rob? Yes, even him.”

  “Good.”

  “I’m glad you’re so sure; I’m not.”

  He shifted, and turned, taking her with him, and holding her up when her toes no longer touched the pool’s floor. She grabbed onto his shoulders, having no choice in the matter. His large body blocked off his family who were frolicking, eating, yelling and screaming.

  His hands went around her waist more firmly, and completely. His fingers almost touched when he put his hands around her. He dropped his hands lower, rubbing his fingers over the butterfly wings, which were taking flight at the top of her ass. He wanted desperately to follow the butterfly’s descent beneath the black stretchy material. Her eyes grew wide, then wary at his touch, and their sudden proximity to one another. He leaned down so his lips just touched the top of her ear and whispered, “You’re not the only one who’s unsure about things.”

  She jerked back, smacking at her ear as if he tickled her, and scowling at him in disbelief. “When have you ever been unsure about anything?”

  “Since the day I met you.”

  Her breath caught as his hands moved lower, not doing anything, but staying there, close to her. Her gaze suddenly changed from bewilderment to panic. She always acted like a wild bird, ready to take flight at any moment. “What is this, Nick?”

  “A birthday party,” he said, smiling as he suddenly lifted her up and threw h
er into the water. She came up sputtering, and kicking hard, but inefficiently. She wasn’t a very good swimmer, and hardly managed to hold herself up. She rather crawled through the water than swam.

  He laughed and swam over, catching her hand and pulling her to the shallow end. “You’re a terrible swimmer.”

  “I’ve only swam about five times in my whole life,” she said hacking on the chlorine-tainted water.

  “Then you should stay here where you can stand up, with the little kids. How tall are you anyway?”

  “Five-foot, one.”

  He squinted at her and raised his eyebrows. “Sure, and I’m seven feet tall. Come on! You haven’t lied to me yet, and you start with this?”

  “How’d you know?”

  “Because you’re really short.”

  She nearly growled at him. “Fine. I’m four-foot, eleven.”

  He whistled. “You give new meaning to short, don’t you?”

  “Like you never noticed.”

  “I have. I’ve noticed just about all of you.”

  She paused, looking at him oddly.

  “What?” he asked.

  Her eyebrows scrunched in confusion. “Are you flirting with me?”

  “Yes. I am. Do you remember things like that? Fun? Flirting? Just being yourself?”

  She could not answer his question because she obviously had no clue what to say. He lazily let his body sink into the water. The chlorine fumes rose and appeared steamy around them. He was at eye-level with her. “Any reason I shouldn’t flirt with you?”

  Her tongue darted out and she licked her lips. “I’m no more single than I was before.”

  He gave her a piercing look. “Yes. You are, Joelle. You most definitely are more single than you were. You are legally separated, aren’t you? That counts for something huge.”

  He chose to swim off right then and avoid listening to any tirade of what she and her husband were or weren’t. Whatever they were now, things were far different than they used to be.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Joelle didn’t know what to do with her hands, her feet, or the rest of her body. She was so uncomfortable, it became painful. She felt she was under such scrutiny, she couldn’t relax. She couldn’t even let her face relax, or allow her posture to slouch. She found some relief with Nick’s little nieces. They didn’t care who she was and liked her as long as she played their game of Marco Polo, or splashed and jumped in with them.

  The ones who didn’t like her, however, were Nick’s sisters, and most especially, her former best friend, Trina. Trina and she could have been perfect strangers judging by how Trina ignored her, refused to look at her, or meet her eyes. Trina acted as if Joelle was not even there, like a gnat she couldn’t be bothered to see. Still, Joelle did not miss Trina’s scathing gaze on her while she paraded around, jiggling her sleeping newborn. Joelle would have liked to peek at the baby, but dared not because she feared Trina’s reaction. She expected her to be loud and rude again, just as she was not so long ago in that café. Seeing Joelle in Nick’s sphere, not Trina’s, was excruciatingly obvious to Trina and not okay with her in the least.

  And Nick? He made Joelle the most nervous of all the rest of them combined. He was so different with her now. He was taking chances with her, flirting with her, and smiling at her whenever he happened to catch her looking his way. He acted like she was a woman he wanted to kiss, and before, he barely noticed she was even a woman. He always treated her as if she were a little girl; and always seemed to try extra hard to ignore her as being a woman. Yet now, today, he was?

  The way Nick acted around his family surprised Joelle. He played with every niece, giving each one his unique attention, and altering his demeanor to fit each girl’s personality. To some, he was loud and teasing, while with others, he was quieter, kinder, and gentler in his horseplay and comments. He seemed to know exactly what to do with them all. It was obvious he meant more to all these women than just a brother or uncle. He was involved with their lives, knew them well, and was comfortable on a level that suggested an intense, and mutually satisfying relationship.

  He swam around the pool with the ease of a dolphin. Wasn’t he always the best at anything he attempted? His body was long and muscular, with a rippled abdomen, and sleek, well-toned arms and legs. His swim trunks ended at his knees, and to Joelle’s surprise, were a bright red and blue hibiscus flower pattern. Joelle wouldn’t have guessed conservative, serious Nick would wear tropical Hawaiian surfer swim trunks. Or that he’d jump in the pool and cannonball, soaking his nieces, his sisters, even his mother to their futile protests.

  He seemed so different here with all of them. He was fun. Happy. Relaxed. Not Nick Lassiter boss, CEO, or savior. How could she not keep looking at him? He was gorgeous.

  And he touched her in the water. Although it was very brief, and almost nonexistent, he still touched her. Her stomach did flip-flops as she thought of it, remembering the heat of his large hands around her waist, trailing down her back, over her rear, and lightly, softly between her legs. A place she forgot about, and certainly questioned if she had any genuine feelings left in. It had been months, perhaps longer even, since she felt any spark of lust, or desire; and now she felt it again over nothing, over something as soft as a fleeting touch.

  Why did he do that? Nick who never did or said anything remotely like that, why did he touch her? Why? What did it mean?

  And why couldn’t he know what it was like to suffer through the party, feeling weird, awkward and as embarrassed as she did? Each time she glanced his way, she burned up inside with heat, and blushed. Not so with him, however.

  “What’s your angle anyway?”

  Joelle turned as the strident voice interrupted her thoughts. She found Trina standing above her, while she sat along the pool’s edge again. Watching. She spent a lot of her life watching.

  “Angle for what, Trina?”

  “Nick,” Trina said, as she kneeled down next to Joelle so their voices wouldn’t carry. “What do you want with my brother? I saw you two frolicking over there. What are you doing?”

  “I’m not doing anything.”

  “Yeah, right. I know what I saw. I know what someone like you is after.”

  Joelle suspected she knew the next unfounded accusation about to be slung her way, and she remained silent, waiting.

  “You’re after his money. Aren’t you?”

  “No. I’m not after anything from Nick.”

  “Bullshit. How’d you end up working for him? How long did it take before you broke up him and Erica? And got your own greedy hooks into him?”

  “I did no such thing. He offered me the job, and I took it. Besides, if I were the one who broke them up, why would Erica ask me to live with her?”

  “I don’t know, but I bet there must be some con you’re running.”

  “There’s not.”

  “I won’t let you get my brother. You’re a freaky-looking, psycho bitch. You’re bad news, and I’m going to prove it to him.”

  “Trina.”

  The quietly voiced name became a command for attention. Nick was standing there, a wet towel around his neck.

  “Nick!” Trina said, jumping up with a guilty expression. Joelle did the same.

  “What’s going on here?”

  “Nothing,” Trina replied quickly as she shot Joelle a look. Joelle hesitated, but finally nodded her agreement.

  “Why don’t you go check on your baby?” Nick asked. The suggestion was subtle, direct, and spoken in the iciest of tones. Trina did just that, scurrying off without a single glance back at Joelle.

  Nick’s jaw tightened and retightened as he watched his sister hurrying away. Joelle felt the need to break the awkward silence. “She was just worried about you.”

  Nick swung his eyes to hers, and his were a fiery, dark blue. “I heard her. Grab your towel. Let’s go.”

  “Go? Go where?”

  “Away from here. Them. Prying, narrow-minded eyes.”


  “You can’t just leave.”

  “Presents were opened, the cake was eaten; yeah, actually, I can.”

  “Not with me,” she said quietly.

  Nick stepped forward and got so close, she was forced to look up into his face. “You know what, Joelle? I can. I can do exactly that if I want to. If we want to. I can leave with you.”

  She met his frank expression that seemed to say, “your call.”

  She walked over to her cover-up, threw it on, wrapped her towel around her middle, and slipped on her flip-flops. Obediently and quietly, she came to Nick’s side, and he smiled down at her and nodded. He went over to his mother, kissed her, and promised he’d called her next week. He did the same with all his nieces, his sisters, and also shook hands with his brothers-in-law. He leveled a critical look at Trina and she held back, but the shame was clearly visible on her face. Joelle didn’t miss the glare Trina directed her way on their way out.

  Finally, Nick tilted his head, indicating for Joelle to follow him. There were no apologies, and no slinking away and disappearing for Nick. When he felt like leaving, he left, with little thought about what they would say or think at the sight of Joelle trailing behind him. Once they got to the elevators, they waited to ride an empty one, and stood there silently. Joelle stared hard at the elevator doors, until they reached his floor, and he got out first. He ambled down the hallway, easily, and apparently quite comfortable with her at his side. Meanwhile, she felt nearly sick inside.

  He unlocked his door, and held it open for her to walk through ahead of him. The air made her wet swimsuit feel cold on her skin, and she shivered with goose bumps. She looked around, as if it were unfamiliar, and she hadn’t lived there for a week. But now it felt different, devoid of Erica, and the ambience that they imbued. Now she and Nick were alone. Silent. Together. And that silence became palpable as she looked straight ahead, and refused to turn around. She was sure he was watching her.

  His voice was quiet and intense when he finally spoke. “You’re not a freaky, psycho bitch, Joelle.”

  She peeked over her shoulder. “You heard her?”

  “I heard her. Don’t give my sister any credence.”