by Kim Law
“Nice shoes,” he said as he found her in the crowd and sidled in beside her.
She laughed and held up one green, sequined Chuck Taylor. “Thanks. Seemed the day for them.”
“Saw you dancing at the Bungalow Friday night,” he said. They’d seen her come in before they left, but it had gotten so crowded they hadn’t worked their way over.
“Did you now?” She shot him a wide grin. “Saw you, too. And Joanie. That was new.” She waved to someone in the parade. In return, handfuls of candy were tossed her way.
He followed the direction of her next wave and saw Kendra in her cheerleading costume, grinning at him from ear to ear. She bombarded him with candy. The junior high cheer squad was out in full regalia and he couldn’t be more proud.
Candy had passed earlier as part of the basketball team. Both girls had sought him out in the crowd as if he mattered to them. His chest expanded, feeling like he’d found the answer to his prayers.
He nodded. “Yeah, finally talked her out of the house.”
“Good for you.” Holly laughed and gave him a one-armed squeeze. “About time someone toppled her world.”
He agreed.
He kept Holly against his side and spoke into her ear, “What’s the bet, Holly?”
She pulled back. “You aren’t supposed to know about that.”
He arched his brows. Clearly he did.
“Are you all seriously laying down money on me breaking her heart?” he asked. That had bugged him as much as the thought of them betting that she was going to get hurt. He knew he wasn’t one of “them,” but he’d thought he was kind of one of them.
With a sigh, Holly tugged him away from the group. As he followed, he caught sight of a very tight, very low-cut green shirt out of the corner of his eye and glanced up to find Gina watching him. The line of her mouth turned into a smirk. She hadn’t spoken to him since their date, and he’d heard through the grapevine that she had not been a happy camper about how it had ended.
He gave her a friendly smile, hoping she’d forgive him at some point, but knowing there was little he could do about it if she didn’t. She’d wanted one thing from that night, and he’d given her something entirely different. She apparently held grudges.
When Holly had them standing behind the main part of the crowd, she tugged his head down to hers.
“It’s not a bet about the curse, dummy. No one believes in the curse even though we’ve teased her about it for years. It’s about when she’ll realize she’s head over heels for you. When she’s ready to commit. We all know you two belong together.” Holly punched him in the ribs. “It’s just a matter of when she figures it out.”
His pulse raced at the words. He’d known they couldn’t be betting on Joanie being hurt, but it had never occurred to him they might be betting on them. And they thought it would happen in the coming weeks? It was hard not to grin like a loon.
“She says the good money is on her birthday,” he told her. “Who has that day?”
Holly gave him a droll look. “I have her birthday, sweetie. Make sure it’s a good one, will you?”
Oh yeah, he definitely would. He already had plans in the works.
“And don’t you dare tell her about the bet. It’ll skew the results. I could lose my winnings just for talking to you.”
With more happiness than he thought possible, he leaned in and laid a big one right on Holly’s mouth. She giggled, then wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss in return.
“For old times’ sake,” she said. She patted him on the cheek and winked. “You’re a good guy.”
Yeah, he was. And he was okay with that.
He laughed out loud at the pure pleasure of the day, and smiled all the way back across the street. He made it to Joanie’s side just in time to watch the band pass.
“What was that about?” she asked.
Like he was going to tell her that the whole town was betting on them. He shrugged. “Just wanted to tell her hello.”
“With a kiss?”
He took his eyes off the parade and looked down at her. “You wear jealousy well, babe. You picked a fine day for it, too. Green goes with the holiday.” He winked. “And your hair.”
“I am not jealous.”
“Right,” he said, nodding. “But not to worry, she’s just a friend. Kind of like her brother is to you.”
At the mention of Brian, Joanie’s eyes narrowed. “You’re using her to try to make me jealous?”
“Nope.” But it didn’t hurt. He was still annoyed with the thought that she and Brian had probably once hooked up. Not that it mattered if they had. He had her now. And he didn’t intend to let her go.
She huffed out a cute little sigh when he said no more. “Then what was it? I know it’s not the first time you’ve kissed her. Maybe you liked it so much you want more.”
He winked at a couple tourists who were avidly watching the two of them, then leaned down and kissed Joanie, catching her off guard, and lingering just long enough to make it interesting. When he pulled away, he smiled at the fact that she was out of breath.
“Does that feel like someone who’d rather be kissing Holly?” he murmured in her ear.
He watched her throat rise with a gulp before she slowly shook her head.
“Then deal with it,” he whispered. “It’s you I want. Not anyone else.”
When she looked up at him, her eyes more serious than they’d been only moments before, he blew her another kiss and had a very dirty thought. He guessed from the way her gaze dipped to his mouth, she had a dirty thought of her own.
He was suddenly ready to head back to her place.
Chapter Seventeen
Let’s go through GiGi’s boxes tonight.”
Joanie looked up from where she lay snuggled against Nick’s side, her legs spanning the length of the couch, with both cats lying by her feet, and raised her brows. “What brought that on?”
He shrugged. “It feels like it’s time.”
“Shouldn’t I be the one to decide that?” She straightened but caught the cats before they could get away, repositioning them once she was sitting up. They still ran as soon as she turned them loose.
It was midweek and she and Nick had been back at the Barn the last few days. She’d brought Bob with her, along with a handful of clothes and necessities, so she didn’t have to run home before work each morning. It was fine staying at her place, but there was so much more room here. The cats seemed to like it better, too.
The only problem was that the workers showed up too early. The bedroom she and Nick were sleeping in was finished except for the paint and the floors, so she could remain hidden until she felt like coming out, but it wasn’t like she could sleep through a houseful of men in work boots clomping all over the place.
“You should have the final say,” Nick answered, flipping through channels until he found a hockey game. “But since you’ve been avoiding the task for a week, I figured I’d nudge you along.”
“Well, thanks.” Her tone was sarcastic. He did have a point, though. She was avoiding the inevitable. But she wasn’t ready to dig into her grandmother’s memories. She worried it would bring out too many more of her own, she supposed. “How about we give it a few more days?” she asked. “Maybe a week?”
He reached over and snagged her hand before pressing a warm kiss on her palm. It amazed her how fast her body went from zero to sixty.
“If you do it before your birthday, I’ll take you somewhere really fun as part of your present,” he teased.
“Oh great, bribery. Is that what this relationship has come down to?”
She liked teasing him, he was so much fun. And she’d found she liked saying “relationship.” Almost as much as she liked being in one.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to get my way, sweetness.”
His words were true. Not that he’d had to try too hard, but every time over the last week she’d thought about saying no to something, he’d figure
d out a way to talk her into it. She’d been thankful he had. There was something to dating someone that just made her happy. It had been the best week of her life.
But at the same time, she realized she was changing. And that worried her.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “You tensed up.”
“Nothing,” she shook her head. He wouldn’t understand her worry. He thought the curse was silly.
“We don’t have to go through the boxes until you’re ready,” he soothed. “I’m sorry. I’ll quit pushing.”
“It’s not that,” she said. “And actually, I’m almost ready to go through them. I want to see what’s in there almost as much as I want to avoid it, so that’s got to be a good sign, right?”
“Very good,” he agreed. He slid a hand up and down her arm. “So what’s bugging you?”
She sighed. Might as well tell him. He’d keep pushing until she did. “Just thinking about the curse. And everybody betting on it.”
Nick went very still. When he didn’t say anything, she blurted out, “What?”
“Can’t say.” He gave her a slow, very hot smile and she almost forgot what they were talking about.
“You’re keeping something from me.”
He nodded. “Yep.”
“About the bet?”
The blank expression that crossed his face was a dead giveaway.
“What do you know?” she demanded.
He shook his head, his mouth sealed.
So she decided not to play fair.
She rose from the couch to face him and began unbuttoning her sweater. It was a three-quarter-length sleeve, mint-green cashmere that she’d gotten for Christmas a couple years ago that had tiny buttons all the way down the front. It had sold her many a cupcake earlier in the day. Now it had Nick’s attention.
He reached for her but she stepped back.
“Uh-uh-uh,” she said. “I’ll just enjoy this all myself.” She slid her hands up over her chest, moaning as she touched herself. “Tell me what you know or I won’t let you play.”
Nick grinned as only a man could do. “Go ahead, babe. I can do this all night.”
She shrugged completely out of her top and watched him swallow his tongue. He hadn’t seen the lacy green number she had on before.
Nick couldn’t take his eyes off her. He’d seen Joanie in plenty of racy lingerie, but the light green lace she had on under this week’s outfit, with the lace just barely covering her nipples, had him forgetting his name.
She stepped another foot away from him and dropped her skirt to the floor, then stood before him in a matching thong and garter belt, and all the blood left his brain. She was playing dirty.
They had the lights off in the house, but there was still the fact that she was standing directly in front of the uncovered window, practically naked. He had a feeling that if any man drove by when a bright enough picture flashed on the television screen, he’d run into a tree trying to peek through the window.
He should probably point that out to her, but was having a hard time staying focused long enough to get words to form complete sentences.
She bent down to look directly into his eyes, going for a serious look. “Tell me what I want to know,” she directed.
He couldn’t think straight enough to remember what she wanted to know. But her ass was now pointing to the window where he could see it reflected in the dark pane.
He gulped and shook his head. She really needed to play a different game if she wanted to get information out of someone.
She scowled at him but forgot to step back out of his reach, so he snagged her and pulled her onto his lap. He had her arms trapped low behind her back and her legs straddled on either side of his within seconds.
“No fair,” she muttered, but the words barely left her mouth as he unhooked the front clasp of her bra.
Joanie watched the heat rise in Nick’s eyes as he devoured her by sight, then shook in his hold as he closed the distance with his mouth. Instead of claiming her breast, he merely skimmed over it and headed up to her throat. Once there, he nibbled on her, right below and behind her ear. Right where she liked it most.
The touch of his lips sent quivers through her body as if she were experiencing mini earthquakes, one after the other.
“You’re not proving anything with this behavior.” Her words sounded lame to her own ears. He was proving everything.
Proving that she was ready to go the instant he touched her. That she absolutely could resist him nothing. And proving for the hundredth time that she was glad she hadn’t called a halt to things after GiGi had died.
She still didn’t completely trust this could go anywhere lasting, but she sure was having a good time seeing where it did go.
As he made his way to the other side of her neck, she wiggled on his lap, and he brought one hand around to skim down her stomach until it reached the top edge of her panties. His fingertips dipped just inside the elastic, making her stomach muscles clench at his touch.
“Nick,” she begged. She thrust her hips forward, wanting him to touch her.
“Yes, baby?” he asked.
Darned man. He knew exactly what she wanted.
“Will you please quit teasing me?”
He lifted his head and slid his fingers another half inch inside her panties. “Nope.”
“You’re a nasty person.”
One finger slipped low enough to make her jerk. “I know,” he said. He closed his mouth over one breast then, scraping his teeth down over her tender flesh as she strained forward against the lock he had her in behind her back. “But you’ve got to remember that you started it by stripping in front of me.”
When he touched her between her legs this time, the noise that came from her throat did not sound human.
“Please?” she begged, now grinding against his hand.
He lifted his head and covered her mouth with his, curling his finger below and flicking it back and forth over her as she moved. She was already over the line and heading for home when he pulled his hand away and removed his mouth from hers.
Gasping, Joanie struggled not to topple over in her confusion.
“What are you doing?” she breathed out the words.
Before the sentence was finished, he had her down on the couch and was peeling her underclothes off her. He got everything past her feet, then brought his mouth to her tingly parts and started up where his fingers had left off. She lifted her arms, holding his head to her and begging for her release.
Again, right when she was on the edge, he stopped.
“Nick!” she shrieked. “Stop it!”
She reached toward herself, thinking she had to finish, but he caught her hand and shoved her away. “Put your arms above your head, babe.”
His words were hoarse and unsteady as he positioned her how he wanted her and then stood and shrugged out of his jeans.
“I just want to…” She couldn’t help it, one hand came back down toward the juncture at her thighs. “Nick, please. I need—”
“You’re about to, babe. I promise.”
He had on a condom now, his clothes strewn about the room, and positioned himself on his knees between her legs. Still, he didn’t enter her. Instead, he captured the hand that had been creeping closer, and guiding it with his, slid their joined fingers between her wet folds.
She almost came off the couch.
Then he bent, pulling her hand away and opening her, flicked his tongue over her most sensitive spot.
This time she let out a scream.
Again, he guided her fingers.
Then his mouth.
Until she was too buzzed to even know what was touching her.
Her entire body vibrated from head to toe, and she was pretty sure she’d gone blind several minutes ago. She was a strung-out mess.
Just when she was certain she couldn’t take it one second longer, he cupped both hands under her rear and slid himself deeply home.
He bumped against her
clit and she exploded, her thighs squeezing against his as he continued gliding himself in and out.
She saw stars for a good fifteen seconds before finally drifting back to earth, only to open her eyes to watch the man she’d somehow managed to fall so deeply in love with she didn’t know if she’d ever recover from it. He was gorgeous as he continued driving himself higher, a lock of his hair flopped in his face, his dark eyes focused on her, and she knew that somehow, she wanted a world with him in it.
At the very moment she could see he was about to have his own release, she pushed herself up, her palms on the couch behind her, and met him halfway for a kiss that burned all the way to her toes.
They kissed and he shook, groaning into her mouth with his final thrusts. She gloried in the fact that she’d somehow managed to find him, sending up a silent little prayer that she could figure out how to keep him.
Chapter Eighteen
The bell on the door of Cakes-a-GoGo tinkled as Joanie came out of the back room carrying yet another tray of cupcakes. Business had certainly picked up over the last week. So much so, she’d had to skip her afternoon with Lee Ann the day before just to get a jump start on the week ahead.
“I’ve got to hire more help,” she grumbled to herself.
Lee Ann, who’d unexpectedly shown up to spend lunchtime with her, jumped from the seat where she’d been studiously working on the scrapbook Joanie had decided needed to be finished after all, and moved to the counter. “I’ll get them.”
Waiting on customers wasn’t why Lee Ann was there, but Joanie had no problem letting her help since she herself was exhausted. She’d worked all weekend at the house, sweeping, cleaning, and wiping down what seemed to be reproducing mounds of dust. They’d been preparing the walls for painting. The paint had gone on yesterday, and the flooring was being laid today.
Nick wasn’t allowing her back out there until it was finished, wanting to surprise her with the final result. Which was fine, as it looked as if she’d be working around the clock herself to keep up with demand.
