Nate appeared to be oblivious to the entire transaction. “Hello, Stacy.” He reached out to shake her hand, but she pulled him down and kissed his cheek instead.
“Great to see you. I’m so geeked to start work tomorrow, aren’t you?” she gushed.
Geeked, really? Who talks like that? Nikki turned away and rolled her eyes. Unfortunately, Jeff was nearby and caught her, but he gave Nikki an affirmative head nod, like he agreed.
“I’m looking forward to it. Stacy, this is my friend, Nicole Branson.”
If there was ever a time to put on an act, this was it. “Nice to meet you, Stacy.” Nikki donned her beauty pageant smile and shook Stacy’s hand firmly.
Stacy then turned to her silent sidekick and said, “This is my sister, Cheryl, who is also my assistant.” Cheryl gave them a brief nod and looked down at her notebook.
“I’m Jack Nelson,” said the older man, “the owner of this stable. Now that everyone’s here, let’s get started.” They all followed him into the barn. Stacy practically elbowed Nikki out of the way so she could walk alongside Nate, leaving Nikki shooting daggers at her back while Jeff looked on with amusement. Cheryl brought up the rear, notebook clutched tightly in her grasp. What was in that thing anyway?
Jack stopped in front of a stall that housed a very tall black horse with a smattering of white spots. “This here is Jet; he’s a spotted saddle horse. He’s high-spirited, but he’ll take commands from a seasoned rider. We chose him for you, Nate. You can stay here and get acquainted while I show Stacy her horse.” Jack led Stacy and her sister away as Nate approached the stall.
He slowly reached his hand, palm down, over the gate as an invitation for Jet to smell him. Nate spoke softly to the horse as Jet moved cautiously toward his hand. After a few sniffs, Jet appeared to accept his new rider, and Nate rubbed the side of his neck. Nikki watched the entire interaction from a few steps back, fascinated by the size of the horse and the calm, confident way Nate handled him. “Do you want to pet him, Nicole?”
“Umm…”
“Come on, he’s a friendly guy, and I’ll stand right here next to you.”
Nikki spotted Stacy down the aisle, feet up on the metal gate of her horse’s stall, leaning over as she petted and cooed to it. That was enough incentive for Nikki to overcome her fear and pet the damn horse. Nate spoke softly as Nikki approached, giving her instructions while continuing to rub Jet’s neck.
“Palm down, now slowly reach your arm over and let him sniff you. That’s it. Perfect. Now, put your hand next to mine and take over the rub down.”
Standing this close to Nate while he was talking quietly about rub downs suddenly made Nikki forget all about horses and any fears she had! Jet appreciated the extra attention and happily nuzzled his soft nose against her arm. Nate removed his hand from Jet’s neck and placed it around Nikki’s waist, giving her a little squeeze.
“You did it. At this rate, you’ll be back on the horse in no time!” He gave her a devilish grin just as Jack and Stacy rejoined them.
“If you two are ready to ride, I’ll get Jet and Willow saddled up and meet you at the paddock,” Jack said.
Nikki was relieved when Jack finally led the two horses out of the barn. She couldn’t take one more minute of Stacy’s endless chatter. Nate had attempted to bring Nikki into the conversation, but it had been pointless; she knew nothing about filmmaking, and that was all Stacy had wanted to talk about. Nate had listened politely, but he’d also looked visibly relieved as they’d left the barn. Nate and Stacy mounted their horses with ease and were soon trotting around the paddock while Nikki looked on from behind the fence.
Nikki couldn’t help but notice how perfect Nate and Stacy looked together. They looked like what they were: two gorgeous movie stars who had the world at their feet. So, why me? she wondered. Why am I here right now when he could be with someone like her? Nikki was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she didn’t hear Jeff come up alongside her.
“She sure talks a lot, huh?”
Nikki glanced over and returned his smile. This was new; she had never had an actual conversation with Jeff until now. “Yeah, but I guess it doesn’t matter when someone looks like she does.”
“That’s not true. I’m sure it’ll drive Nate crazy by the time this film wraps. Hell, it’s probably already driving him crazy.”
“Seriously?” Nikki turned toward Jeff, wondering just how well he knew Nate.
“Believe me, she’s not his type at all.”
“What is his type?”
Jeff shook his head. “Oh no, I’ve said too much already. It’s not my place. If you have any more questions, you need to ask him.”
Just then, Nate and Stacy walked their horses over to the gate and dismounted, handing the reins to Jack. They exchanged goodbyes, but Nate stayed behind to talk to Jack for a few more minutes before rejoining Nikki and Jeff. “Hey, Jeff, can you give us a few minutes alone?”
“No problem. I’ll wait in the car.”
Nikki gave Nate a questioning look. “What’s going on?”
“I just wanted to apologize. Today didn’t work out quite as I had expected.”
Nikki was touched by his sincerity but didn’t feel that he owed her an apology. “I’m not sure what you’re apologizing for.”
“I didn’t plan on Stacy monopolizing my time for one, and secondly, I wanted to get you back on a horse, remember?”
How could she forget? “It’s all fine, Nate, no worries. We can ride some other time.” She still wasn’t completely comfortable with the idea, but Nate didn’t need to know that.
“I’m glad to hear you say that because Jack said we could come back next weekend and ride for free.”
Nikki had to admire the man’s persistence. “I’m geeked,” she replied, mimicking Stacy. Inwardly, she marveled at how Nate always managed to get his way.
Chapter 12
Nikki was anxious to get back to work on Monday morning. While she’d enjoyed her weekend with Nate, she longed to be back on solid ground. This was her real life, after all, and it didn’t include horseback riding with celebrities or being chauffeured around her hometown. Even as she was convincing herself of the facts, a pair of intense hazel eyes intruded on her thoughts, followed by a wide, seductive smile, a muscular set of abs, and… STOP! Thank goodness she had a busy day ahead of her, and Nate did too. It was his first official day on the set, and as he had mentioned on the drive home from the horse farm, his work day didn’t end until seven or eight o’clock at night. Since they were both busy, Nikki didn’t expect to hear from Nate until the following weekend. Good thing too, because her brain needed a break, even though her body disagreed.
“Morning, Rosa.”
“Morning, boss.” Rosa beamed at her. “How was your weekend?”
Rosa asked her this every Monday, but something about the way she said it today made Nikki suspicious. “Fine, how was yours?”
“I have a feeling mine wasn’t quite as eventful as yours.”
“Oh, why’s that?”
“You’ll see when you go into your office.”
Rosa trailed behind Nikki as she opened her office door. There, in the center of her desk, was an oversized glass vase bursting with pink roses. There had to be at least two dozen of them or more, artfully arranged with a large pink bow around the vase. A white envelope with her name on it was propped up amongst the blooms. Nikki’s mouth fell open as Rosa studied her reaction with glee. “Wow,” she finally managed.
“My thought exactly. Aren’t you going to open the card?” Rosa would never be accused of subtlety.
Nikki set down her purse and jacket and slid the card from the envelope. She read silently, fully aware of Rosa’s presence behind her.
Thanks for spending time with me this weekend. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Looking forward to our next non-date. Nate
Rosa cleared her throat noisily. “Well, are you going to tell me what it says, or not?”
Even though Rosa was like a mother to her, Nikki wanted to keep her relationship with Nate to herself for now. She didn’t know where things were headed (or so she told herself), and she didn’t want to put too much stock in it. After all, he was only in town temporarily, and they were still getting to know each other. There really wasn’t much to tell yet.
“Nate just wanted to thank me again for finding him the rental house.”
“Some thank you. I think the man is smitten with you.”
“Smitten? No one uses that word any more, Rosa. He’s just being nice, that’s all.”
“Call it whatever you like, but I still say he’s smitten.”
Nikki moved the flowers to a corner table so she would have room to work. She would call Nate later to say thank you, but she was determined to put him out of her mind for the rest of the day. Except for occasional glances at the flowers, she managed to accomplish a lot, and she felt satisfied when the day was done. She waited until after dinner to call Nate, not really expecting him to answer, but she was pleasantly surprised when he did.
“To what do I owe the pleasure?” he answered, his voice smooth and silky.
There went her toes again. “Hi. I just wanted to call and thank you for the flowers. You really didn’t have to, but they are beautiful.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Are you still at work?”
“Yeah, but I was able to step away for a minute.”
“Well, I won’t keep you. I just wanted to say thanks.”
Neither of them was in a hurry to hang up. Nicole was trying to think of something else to say, but Nate beat her to it.
“Nicole, would you consider going on an official date with me? You know, like two normal people who like each other. I’m a pretty patient guy, but I have to say, I’m getting a little antsy here.”
Nikki was touched by his plea, and she hated to admit it, but he was right again. He wasn’t the only one getting antsy. It was time to ramp things up a bit, and even though she had some reservations, she wouldn’t let her nerves get the best of her.
“I agree,” she replied. “I would like to go on an official date with you.”
“Hallelujah!”
Nate’s exuberance made her smile, but she had to pull the phone away from her ear at his loud exclamation!
“Now that you said yes, I don’t want to wait until the weekend. How about Wednesday night?”
Nikki had memorized her schedule for the week and knew that she was available. “It’s a date,” she replied, feeling rather exuberant herself.
“I have to get back to work, but I’ll call you on Wednesday.”
Nikki went to bed that night with happy butterflies in her stomach. She kept visualizing how their date might go, and each time, it ended with a kiss, the toe-curling, body-tingling, heart-pounding kind of kiss. Hugging her pillow tight, she pretended it was Nate and fell into a blissful sleep.
Chapter 13
Nate called just as she was getting ready to leave the office on Wednesday. “It looks like we won’t be wrapping up until eight o’clock tonight. The director wants to take advantage of the good weather today and tomorrow before some big storm rolls in on Friday.”
Nikki tried not to let her disappointment show. “No problem, we can do it some other time. Go on a date, I mean.”
Nate chuckled. “We don’t have to write off the entire evening. How about I take you out for ice cream later? I read about this local dairy farm that supposedly serves up the best ice cream around. It was in one of the brochures that some sexy lady left at my house.”
Nikki swallowed hard at his description of her. He thinks I’m sexy… hmm. “It happens to be true, the part about the ice cream, that is.” Damn him for getting her so discombobulated!
“The sexy lady part is true too. I’ll pick you up at eight thirty.”
“Ok.” Nikki was still smiling after they hung up.
Since it was such a beautiful fall evening, Nikki decided to take Bentley for a walk before dinner. As they followed the familiar route, she let her mind wander, and of course, it kept coming back to Nate. His sense of humor, his flirtatiousness, his attentiveness, his full lips, and that hard, toned body… Suddenly Bentley jerked the leash, breaking her train of thought. There were still a lot of things she wanted to know about Nate before anything physical could happen, but a girl could dream!
Back at home, she changed clothes, made herself a light dinner, and sat down with her latest historical fiction novel about the Titanic. Her thoughts drifted to the movie Titanic, specifically the love scenes between Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, and she wondered if Nate liked the movie. Nikki slammed her book down, because now she was thinking about Nate filming love scenes with Stacy. “Settle down, Nik,” she said aloud. Bentley lifted his head up from where he had been napping at her feet and studied her quizzically. She reached down and patted his head. “Sorry, buddy. I don’t know what’s wrong with me lately. You and I were doing just fine on our own before you-know-who moved in next door. Men!”
“What about men?”
Nikki jerked her head up and saw Nate’s nose pressed against her screen door. “Damn. Don’t sneak up on me like that. You almost gave me a heart attack.”
“Well hello to you too.”
Nikki regained her composure and said, “Sorry, but you scared me. Come on in.”
Nate stepped inside and was immediately accosted by Bentley, who sniffed him up one leg and down the other. “Can you imagine if people did this to each other? Instead of shaking hands, we just went up and sniffed the other person to say hello?”
Nikki cracked up. “You’re crazy, you know that, right?”
“I know, but it is an interesting concept, you have to admit.”
Nikki had turned away from him to grab her purse from the kitchen counter, and when she turned back around, Nate was right in her face. “What are you doing?” she sputtered.
Nate bent his head down to the side of her neck and inhaled deeply. “I’m sniffing you to say hello. Ahh… you smell delicious.”
Nikki giggled and shoved him back with both hands against his rock-hard chest. “You’re just being silly.”
“No, I mean it; you do smell delicious, kind of like raspberries.”
He was still in her space, and she had to remind herself to breathe normally. “It’s my body wash.” Her voice was a little shaky. He was making her nervous standing this close.
“I like it.” Nate’s hazel eyes locked on hers, gluing her in place.
“We better go. It’s getting late.” Nikki was the first to break the spell.
Nate stepped back to let her pass. “After you, Cinderella. I promise to have you home before midnight.”
“Ha-ha,” she replied as they walked out to the car. It was then that she realized that Jeff wasn’t in the driver’s seat. “Where’s Jeff tonight?” she asked as Nate got behind the wheel.
“I gave him the night off. I didn’t want him tagging along on our first official date.”
Since they were alone, Nikki decided it was the perfect time to learn more about Nate. “So, is Jeff your driver in L.A. too, or is he someone you hired here?”
“He’s actually more than just my driver. He’s also my bodyguard.”
Nikki studied Nate’s profile as he concentrated on the road. A few minutes ago, they had been laughing and joking, but there wasn’t a trace of humor left in Nate’s expression. “Did something happen to make you hire him?”
“Last year, at a movie premiere, a few fans got out of hand. There was a group of guys who had been drinking, and they started pushing and shoving people out of the way to try to get to me. A few people got hurt, nothing major, but after that, my manager decided I needed a bodyguard.”
“Did you get injured too?”
“No, but that’s what makes me so mad. I hate that other people got hurt and I walked away without a scratch.”
Nate’s frustration was obvious, and Nikki didn’t want to
push, but she wanted to know about all aspects of his life, good and bad. “Have there been any more incidents like that?”
“That was definitely the worst one, but there are always going to be overzealous fans. It comes with the territory. For the most part, people are curious but respectful.”
“If that’s one of the worst aspects of your job, what’s one of the best?”
Nate smiled at her, visibly relieved at the change of subject. “The number one perk, hands down, is being able to provide for my family. Knowing that I can take care of myself and them for the rest of my life is the best thing.”
It wasn’t lost on Nikki that he didn’t name material things as part of his perks. In fact, she hadn’t seen any indication of his wealth other than a high-end watch that he sometimes wore. No one could ever accuse him of being flashy.
“After my first major film, I bought my parents a tricked-out RV to replace the run-down, old camper that they’d had since I was a kid. I’ll never forget the look on my dad’s face when I handed him the keys. Here we are,” he said, pulling into a parking space.
Nikki swallowed the lump in her throat as he came around and opened her door. Nate’s pride in being able to do things for his family touched her deeply and made him even more attractive in her eyes. He held her hand as they entered the ice cream shop, and her skin instantly warmed at his touch. Once inside, they made their selections, and when Nate relayed their order to the clerk, her eyes widened with recognition.
“OMG! Are you Nate Collins?” The girl was all of eighteen years old and obviously star-struck. There were only a few other customers in the shop at this late hour, but they all looked up at the commotion.
“Yes, I am,” Nate replied calmly as he handed her the money.
Starring You and Me Page 6
