Nixie felt her heart swell. Leaning up, she stared into his blue eyes. “Nick, I…I love you.” She couldn’t believe she was telling him this. It was too soon. It was irrational… It was the truth. “I tried not to, but…” She shrugged again, feeling helpless. “It’s so hard because you think I’m a bad person.”
Nick’s mouth opened to comment, but she held a hand up, stopping him.
“I want you to know I never robbed you. Ever. The night I broke into your house, I was there to return your necklace. I swear it.” She gave him a small, encouraging smile. “That day in the store, I gave you an empty box,” she said in explanation. “Remember when I dropped all those boxes on the floor?”
On his nod, she continued. “I also dropped your box. I got it mixed up with an empty one. By the time I realized it, you had left.” She fiddled nervously with her fingernails. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m kind of clumsy.”
“No,” Nick cried, feigning disbelief. He brought his hand up and rubbed her head where she’d cracked it on the counter. “I’d never have guessed that.”
Nixie laughed and swatted his hand away. “Well, I am, and it tends to make me late for work because I do stupid things like get my shoe stuck in a parking garage grating. My boss told me I was pretty much on my last screw up. When I switched those boxes, I was so afraid of getting fired. You’re an important guy. If I would have driven away such an esteemed customer, and if you would have raised a fuss, it would have been bad for business. I was too afraid to tell my boss, so…so I tried returning it without anyone knowing.”
“You risked getting caught and going to prison to save your job? That’s just silly.”
Nick’s reasoning made her realize how senseless of an idea her plan had been. “I was desperate. I also thought you weren’t going to be home.”
“You’re lucky I was,” Nick stressed. “You’re lucky I found you and not the cops. They are far less forgiving.”
Nixie blushed. “I know it was unwise and had I realized you were home, I never would have…”
“I’m glad you did,” Nick whispered. Putting his hand on the back of her neck, he drew her to him for a slow kiss. “And I believe you.”
Nixie let out a happy sob, her eyes searching his. “You do?”
Nick nodded. “Yeah.” He gave her a crooked grin. “That story is too stupid to be a lie.”
Nixie gave a cry of delight, completely ignoring the comment about how stupid her little adventure had been, and gave him a passionate kiss. “So you don’t hate me?”
“Just the opposite,” Nick said with a goofy smile. “I do believe I love you.”
They both sat smiling at each other until the sound of boots crunching on the gravel driveway outside drew their gazes to the bedroom window.
“Are you expecting company?”
“No,” Nixie said in confusion. She strained her ears, listening for a greeting from the visitor. The thing she heard next made her blood run cold. The sound of a gun firing invaded her ears a moment before the windows shattered and bullets sprayed around the room. Nixie gave a terrified shriek and Nick scrambled out from under her.
“Get down! Get down!” Nick yelled.
Rolling over, Nixie went to dive off the bed when the handcuffs pulled her forcibly back into place. “I can’t!” she cried. “Uncuff me! Uncuff me!”
Nick went to reach into his pocket but seemed to realize his pants were halfway across the room directly in the path of the bullets. “I don’t have the keys!” He dove toward her, covering her with his body.
Nixie buried her face in his shoulder, her heart hammering wildly in her chest as a storm of bullets rained down in her apartment.
“It’s okay. It’s okay.” Nick repeated the words over and over as bullets tore through all of her belongings.
Nixie could feel his body tense as he waited for a bullet to hit him, yet he still covered her, still protected her. It barely lasted a minute, but it felt like forever to her. While she cowered against Nick, the gunner finally retreated.
The sound of footsteps receded and then they heard a car door slamming, followed by the squealing of tires.
Nick didn’t let her go once the car peeled off. He continued to hold her, his arms shaking in fear. “We’re okay. We’re okay.”
“Nick,” she said softly, evenly. “Get me out of these cuffs.”
He jumped back. “Of course.” He rushed over to his pants and began fumbling around for the keys. He rushed back to her side and grimaced. “I am so unbelievably sorry. If I would have had any idea…”
“Just get me out of here!”
Nick jammed the key into the lock and a second later her hands were free.
She fell into his arms the instant she was loose and burst into tears. She sobbed, breathing in gulping heaves.
He held her tightly, planning to keep her in his arms as long as she needed him. Silently, he hoped that would be forever. In reality, he only got to embrace her for a couple of minutes because the siren and flashing lights of a police car invaded the room.
“Cops,” Nixie said, sounding relieved. She glanced down at Nick and observantly said, “You should probably put some pants on.”
Nick looked down at himself and hissed. “Shit.” Rushing to the other side of the room, he snatched his pants up and hurriedly began shrugging them on.
They were both just making it to the front door when there was a knock on the other side. Nixie cautiously glanced in the peephole before opening the door to the officer.
The policeman, Clark his nametag read, glanced between them before finally saying, “We got a call from a neighbor who reported hearing gunshots. Is everything okay over here?”
“No.” Nixie swung the door back as far as it would go so he could step inside. “Thank goodness you’re here. Let me know who the neighbor was so I can kiss them.”
“Ma’am, that is confiden—”
She didn’t even let him finish his sentence. “We were in the bedroom when someone walked down my driveway and started firing through the window. A minute later, they hopped into a car and took off.”
“It was like a drive-by shooting,” Nick said in disbelief. His eyes slid accusingly to Nixie. “You lured me away from the ritzy area and dumped me in the ghetto.”
“The ghetto?”
“I was never shot at until you came along.” His voice sounded so reasonable it was irritating.
“Neither was I!” Nixie retorted with a scowl. “Seeing as you were the one who was robbed this morning, I’m putting the blame on you. It must be related.”
Officer Clark turned to Nick with a look of interest. “You were robbed? Have you filed a report?”
“Not yet,” Nick said sheepishly.
Clark gave him a disapproving look before turning to glance outside. “We can assess the damage, inside and out, while my partner questions the neighbors to see if there were any witnesses.” He gave Nick a long stare. “And Mr. Morgan, we’ll need you to fill out that report.”
Looking completely chastised, Nick nodded his head in agreement.
He held a hand out to Nixie, smiling when she took it, and then the two of them followed Officer Clark to assess the damage.
Chapter Six
Nixie awoke the next morning to the sound of the phone ringing. She groaned, pulling the blanket over her head. Maybe if she ignored the horrible electronic, it would realize she wasn’t going to answer it and leave her alone.
“Hello?” Nick’s tired, sleepy voice asked.
Nixie rolled over to look at him, an amused smirk on her face at the fact that he was answering her telephone.
“Hello, Nixie’s mother,” he said mischievously. “Yes. Your daughter’s right here.”
Nixie had given a panicked squeal upon hearing the call was from her mother. She frantically scrambled over Nick to get the receiver out of his hands.
He held it just out of her reach. With his free hand, he pointed to his lips.
Nixie
had climbed on top of him in her attempt to get the phone. She was now straddling him, glaring down threateningly. Finally, giving in with a huff, she leaned down and gave him a quick kiss.
Nick pressed a hand to her back, holding her to him, and deepened the kiss.
She moaned into his mouth, momentarily forgetting the phone until she heard her mother’s voice call out. “Hello? Nixie? Are you there?”
Nixie yelped and pulled away, snatching the phone from his grip. “Mom?” She gasped breathlessly. “Hello?”
“Nixie!” Her mother practically screamed. “That was who I think it was … wasn’t it?”
“Who?”
“Nicholas Morgan. It was. Don’t lie to me. I’ll know if you’re lying.”
Nixie’s brows furrowed in confusion. “How did you…?”
“Have you checked the tabloids?” her mother asked tersely.
Nick’s hands began traveling up her body, his fingers caressing along her skin. She bit back a hiss of pleasure and managed to reply. “No.”
“Well, there’s a picture of you and Mr. Morgan on the front page.”
“What?”
“It says something about a shooting, Nixie.” Her mother’s voice was full of concern. “It looks like it was your house, dear, and…” She paused. “I hate to tell you this, but you were wearing only a man’s shirt. And Nicholas looked…rumpled.”
Nixie groaned, covering her face with her hand. “I was wearing a skirt, mom.”
“Didn’t look like it.”
Nixie ignored that and pressed on. “And we were just shot at. What did you expect? You wanted him to iron first?”
“It didn’t look good, the way he was hugging you against him, with you barely dressed…and now he’s answering your telephone. What will people think?”
Nixie sighed. “Mom––”
Nick, who had been listening to her end of the conversation, grabbed the phone from her hand. “Ma’am, your daughter went through a very traumatic experience last night. I felt it was my responsibility to stay here and make sure she didn’t have an emotional breakdown.”
Nixie rolled her eyes. Yeah, because he was a boy scout all of a sudden. She noticed how he conveniently left out the part where he tore her place apart and handcuffed her to the bed during his little snit fest.
“And if it makes you feel any better…” Nick continued, giving Nixie a crooked grin as he spoke. “I fully intend to marry your daughter, so you have no need to worry about what people will think.”
Nixie gave a startled gasp and heard her mother do the same thing.
“So you can rest assured that Nixie will be perfectly fine,” Nick concluded. “She’s in good hands.” After a minute of idle chatter in which he invited her mother over for dinner the following week, Nick said good-bye and handed the phone back.
Nixie blinked at the receiver for a second, her brain still stuck on the whole marriage thing. She finally grabbed a hold of it when Nick bucked his hips up to silently get her attention, motioning for her to wrap things up with her mom. Putting the receiver to her ear, she said, “Yeah?”
“What a wonderful young man.” Her mother gushed. “And here I thought you’d never get married.”
Nixie gave the phone an insulted look but didn’t comment.
With a happy sigh, her mother added, “I’ll let the two of you enjoy the rest of your morning. I can’t wait to meet that lovely young man in person.”
“Uh-huh,” Nixie mumbled, half dazed. “Okay…yeah…bye.” She hung up and tossed the cordless receiver to the floor.
“The tabloids, huh?” Nick asked, that boyish grin plastered to his face. “Amazing. Those guys don’t miss a single thing.” With a shrug, he said, “I actually find that pretty sexy, having our picture splashed across every newsstand in the country. I can’t wait to pick up a copy.”
Nixie stared down at him, baffled at how he could be discussing the tabloids. “Nick,” she said slowly, cautiously. “You just told my mother we’re getting married.”
“Yep,” he said, voice chipper.
“Okay…” Biting her lip, she waited for him to explain what was going on in that very gorgeous head of his. “Why?”
“Because I came to the conclusion last night that we should.” He explained this as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
“Oh…um…when were you going to fill me in on this plan of yours?”
“I didn’t have a ring yet, so it didn’t seem appropriate to tell you right away.” Nick shrugged. “But since your mother was giving you a hard time, I figured I’d help her relax over the whole situation.”
“I see.”
Nick’s eyebrows drew together in a look of concern, as if realizing for the first time that he might need her permission for such an event to transpire. “You do want to marry me, don’t you?”
Nixie was speechless for a moment. Was he seriously semi-proposing to her? “Are you fucking with me?” she asked cautiously. “Because that’s not a very nice joke.”
“I’m absolutely serious,” Nick said earnestly. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. I want you in my life until the day I die…which might be soon, judging by how the past couple of days have gone.” He offered her a teasing smile before his face grew serious. “It only makes sense for us to get married. Will you at least consider it?”
Nixie gave a squeal of delight and threw herself down into his arms. “Of course I’ll think about it. I would have to be an idiot—”
Nick crushing his lips against hers cut off her sentence. “Wonderful.” He held her tightly against him. “I think we should have some more of that unprotected sex to celebrate the occasion.”
Nixie giggled against his mouth. “That sounds perfect.”
Nick moaned in delight as Nixie rubbed the front of her body along his. “What more could a guy ask for? I’m getting sex before eleven on a Monday morning.”
“You are lucky,” Nixie agreed, nuzzling into his neck. “You…” She sat bolt upright with a cry of horror. “Monday morning?” Whipping her head around, she looked at the clock. “Shit! I was supposed to be at work almost an hour ago.” She dove off of him, got her feet tangled in the blanket, and tumbled roughly to the floor.
Nick sat up and stared over the edge of the bed at her in amusement. “You okay there?”
“Do you not understand?” Her voice was a shriek. “I am so going to be fired.”
She sprang to her feet and went to rush toward her dresser when Nick grabbed her arm and pulled her back toward the bed. He moved so that his legs were hanging over the side and pulled her in between them. “Babe, first off, you never have to work another day in your life if you don’t feel like it.” He leaned in and kissed her stomach, his eyes lifted to hers. “Secondly, if you walk in there with me right next to you and I look like I intend to spend money, your boss won’t even think about firing you.”
Nixie’s pulse returned to a somewhat normal pace. “You think?”
“I know. Like you said, I’m an important guy.” He gave her a devilish wink. “I’ll tell your boss I was questioning you about a purchase I wanted to make. He wouldn’t dare be upset. You were busy bringing in business.” He gave a lazy shrug. “I do still need to get my sister something for her birthday. I’ll spend a nice wad of cash, and your boss will forget you were ever late.”
She grinned down at him. “That’s…that’s so sweet.”
“There’s also the fact that someone tried to kill you. That should be a good enough reason for being a couple of hours late.” Nick’s arms encircled her waist, pulling her firmly against his chest. “So now that you know you don’t have to rush to get to work this morning, how about that sex? It’ll help you unwind and put you in a pleasant mood for the day.”
“I don’t know,” Nixie said uncertainly. “I would feel pretty guilty if I purposely took advantage of the situation…”
Nick gave a groan but reluctantly let go. “All right,” he said, his voice so
unding as if he were suffering over the decision. “Get dressed. I’ll drive you.”
Nixie looked down at him with an impish grin, letting him know she’d been teasing. “There’s no way I’m going to work before you give me an orgasm.” Leaning down, she brushed her lips against his.
Nick grinned up at her in delight. “That’s my girl.” Grabbing her by the waist, he pulled her down onto the bed and rolled on top of her. “Though I’m aiming for at least two,” he whispered before lowering his mouth to hers.
That’s how Nixie spent the next forty-five minutes before finally getting motivated enough to climb out of bed … and just for the record, the count reached three.
Chapter Seven
Nixie sat in the passenger seat of Nick’s Jaguar, staring dumbfounded at the front cover of a tabloid magazine. Just like her mother said, there was a picture of her wrapped in Nick’s arms, her legs bare for all to view. “Shit,” she grumbled.
Nick glanced away from the road to the tabloid photo. “I still say it’s sexy.”
“You would,” she griped as they pulled to the curb about half a block from her work. With a huff, she climbed out of the car and began fishing around in her purse for change to put in the meter. “How come good stuff always happens to you? Like finding a great parking spot. That never happens to me. I always have to park in the grimy garage fifteen blocks down.”
Nick walked around the front of the car to the curb just as she was shoving a quarter into the meter. “I’m just lucky like that.” He pulled her to him for a quick kiss before releasing her and starting the short walk to Joe’s Jewelry. “Is there anyone else out there you know who can get robbed and somehow manage to get laid out of the deal?”
Nixie laughed and shoved him playfully in the chest. “Oh, shut up.”
When she shoved him, Nick grasped her hand in his and laced their fingers.
“You know what, Nick? I think—” Nixie’s sentence was cut off with a strangled yelp of surprise when Nick shoved her roughly to the side. She tumbled to the pavement, scraping her palms and tearing her nylons. “What the…” She trailed off as she looked up just in time to see Nick bounce off the front of a moving van. “Nick!” she screamed in horror.
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