Healing Nicole

by Rachel M Storm

  Me: Not interested in her in the that way

  Almost immediately, he replies.

  Connor: In that case I think I'll make my move on her then. She just walked in to drop off the contract

  Fucker! I hastily stand and make my way out of the meeting, where I've missed most of what was being said because of my sibling.

  "Sorry everyone, I have to go," I say as I open the door. "Vivian, take notes and report to me later today or tomorrow," I instruct my PA before closing the door behind me. Yeah that might have been a bit rude, but fuck it, I'm the boss, I can do whatever I want, and right now I want to go kick my brother's ass.

  Five minutes later and I'm rushing into my brother's office building, practically running toward the elevator. I stab the button to call it down harder than necessary and wait impatiently. The doors ding open and I climb in hastily, again stabbing the button hard and repeatedly as if that would make the damn thing move any faster.

  The elevator finally comes to a stop and I rush to Connor's office not even acknowledging Sunette when she greets me. I open his office door without even knocking just to be met by loud laughter.

  "Pay up loser, I win. As usual," Connor says to Angela holding out his hand and she hands him a fifty while his shoulders shake with laughter.

  "The fuck?" I say, glaring at my two siblings, who I would love to strangle with my bare hands right about now.

  "Yeah, we had a bet. I said that you would be here in less than ten minutes and she said you wouldn’t show at all," Connor says.

  "You cheated, you didn’t tell me he was that interested in her!" Angela scowls at Connor.

  "What the fuck is wrong with you two?" I ask, starting to feel a bit stupid, Nikki is nowhere to be seen and I doubt she was ever here.

  "So, tell me, what would you have done if she was here and you just burst in like that?" Connor asks, looking at me with eyes full of humor.

  "I was..."

  Shit, what was I gonna do or even say? Why the fuck did I come here in the first place? I don’t know Nikki like that- I don’t know her at all. Why the hell did I get so worked up? I can’t believe I stormed out of a meeting like that- but I won't be telling these two that bit of information because I will never hear the end of it as I've never done it before for a woman.

  Angela's phone rings and she takes a look at the screen before grinning.

  "Hey, you'll never believe this!" She says as way of answering the phone.

  After a slight pause she rolls her eyes and laughs, "Mace got himself a girl!" She tells whoever it is on the other side of the line.

  "She is not my girl!" I glare at her.

  "I'm here with both Mace and Connor, I'm gonna put you on speaker," she says ignoring me and presses on her phone.

  "So, who is this girl, is she hot?" I hear Chase, our other brother and my identical twin, say through the speaker.

  "What the fuck is wrong with you people?!" I say again turning to get out of here. The three of them are about to gang up on me, I can just feel it coming.

  All three of them start laughing at my expense and I turn to flip them off. "Fuck you very much!" I say out loud because Chase can't fall prey to my middle finger.

  "By the way, I'm coming home next week," I hear Chase say, stopping me in my tracks. "Abby can't have a birthday without her favorite uncle there," he continues.

  "It's about fucking time!" I say, grinning from ear to ear. He has been gone for four months now and I miss the little jerk. This is the longest that we haven't seen each other and it has been driving me crazy. I guess that’s what you get when you share a womb with someone, you can't handle not seeing them for long periods of time.

  "And stop talking shit, I'm Abby's favorite!" I continue, taking a seat on the couch in my brother's office.

  "Fuck you both, I'm her favorite!" Angela says and we all burst into laughter because we always have this argument but know that Abby loves us all equally.

  Connor's office phone rings, "Yes, Sunette?" He answers then pauses. Then that same knowing smile he gave me last night transforms his features.

  What now?

  "Thank you Sunette, I'd like to see her. I'll be out in a second," he says. That smile that turns into a shit eating grin tells me exactly who's here.

  "Okay, I need you losers to get going, Miss Parker is here," he says, his eyebrows dancing up and down.

  For some bizarre reason I feel like punching my brother's teeth out right now, but I refuse to give him the satisfaction of seeing that he is getting to me. What in actual fuck is wrong with me. I don’t know this woman, yet I want to punch my brother because his brows dance up and down suggestively just after saying her name?

  This is fucked-up.

  I shoot my brother a warning glare while he shoos us out of his office. Angela hooks her arm into mine as we walk out with a grinning Connor at our heels.

  ****

  NICOLE

  Loud laughter catches my attention as I wait for Mr. Maynard to call me in and my eyes move to his office door. The first thing I see is Mace walking out with a girl on his arm. She is almost as tall as me with strawberry blonde hair that cascades perfectly around her shoulders. The black shorts and heels make her legs look longer and her red loose blouse brings out her beautiful blue eyes behind those big black rimmed glasses I like to call geek-chic glasses. But there is nothing remotely geekish about her, she is absolutely gorgeous.

  Can anyone say supermodel?

  The stunning woman on Mace's arm beams at me as she and Mace approach me with Mr. Maynard right behind them. I start to fidget uncomfortably. First, because the woman's blue eyes are fixed on me for some reason and second, she might be Mace's girlfriend and I had dinner with him last night. We didn’t do anything but what if she has a problem with me dining with her boyfriend?

  "Hi, I'm Angela!" She says excitedly just as she lets go of Mace to invade my personal space and give me a hug.

  What the hell? "Um, hi?" My words come out as a question because I'm confused and have no clue what the hell just happened.

  "So, I hear you're-"

  "Come on Ang, we need to go before Connor kills us," Mace interrupts whatever it is Angela was going to say. "T'was nice to see you again Nikki," Mace says before winking at me, a knowing smile playing on his lips.

  What the, did he seriously just wink at me while his girl is on his arm? What the hell type of man is he? This cements my decision to stay the hell away from him.

  "Miss Parker," Mr. Maynard says as way of greeting me as he gestures for me to go to his office.

  "Good day, Mr. Maynard," I greet back as I start walking toward his office. "I was just here to drop off the contract. I read through it and see no problems with the content." I tell him as soon we take a seat on the couch in the sleek office.

  "That's great Miss Parker. Do you have any questions?" He asks, his green eyes searching my blues but I have a strange feeling that his reason for looking at me so intensely has nothing to do with work.

  "No, sir. No questions." I reply

  "Okay then, you will start work on Monday. I hope you enjoy it here," he says, his eyes still searching mine.

  "I'm sure I will, sir." I say, not sure what to do next. Do I just stand and bid him farewell or do I wait for him to dismiss me?

  He chuckles. "No need to wait for me to dismiss you Miss Parker," he says, causing my eyes to widen in shock. Does he read minds?

  "You actually said that out loud," he says, giving me an all tooth smile.

  Oh. My. Gosh! Heat starts covering my face as embarrassment surfaces.

  "Good day, Mr. Maynard." I say as I quickly stand, ready to get out of here and go hide under the first rock I see.

  "See you on Monday," he says chuckling a bit as he takes my hand to shake.

  I shake his hand and then walk really fast out of his office to the elevator. I haven't even started to work here and I'm already embarrassing the shit out of myself in front of the boss.

  "Oh, fu
ck my life," I mumble to myself just as the elevator door dings closed.

  CHAPTER SIX

  NICOLE

  Five days in the new town and everything is going well so far. I got the job, I managed to find the perfect house and it was available immediately at a very affordable price. My parents managed to pack all my things from my house back home and hired a moving truck to bring them down here. And now I'm standing outside my new home wondering if this weekend will be enough for unpacking everything and getting the house organized. Lucky for me, the guys from the truck company carried all the heavy stuff inside and placed them where I wanted so it's just all the boxes that are littering my lawn as well as my living room floor that need unpacking.

  Fast paced footsteps catch my attention just as I pick up one of the boxes to carry it inside. A man and a woman are sprinting down the road. I panic and look behind them, waiting to see who's chasing them. I pull out my phone, ready to call 911, but there is no one chasing them.

  It’s only when the man and woman stop in front my house that I realize that they're in workout clothes. The woman in a bright pink tank top with black tight-fitting shorts and the man wearing jogging shorts and t-shirt.

  Seriously?

  "Hey, Nicole!" The woman greets as she pulls the guy toward me. I take a look at them just to realize that it’s Mace and his girlfriend.

  "Hi," I give them an awkward wave as they come to stop in front of me, eyeing all the boxes.

  "Hey, Nikki." Mace says, winking at me again.

  Seriously? Again? Why does this guy keep winking at me while he's with his hot as hell girlfriend? The girlfriend with long sharp nails, not that I can’t hold my own but I really don’t want scars on my face, the inner scars are already hideous enough.

  "Why were you guys running like hell was on your heels?" I ask instead thinking about his winking anymore.

  "It's fun competing with this one," Angela? I think that’s what she said her name was- says. They are not even out of breath. That’s not normal!

  "Seriously?" I gasp. "You run?" My eyes widen before saying "for fun?"

  "Yip!" She says in a chipper voice.

  "Oh my God, I’m breathless just thinking about it!" I tell them as I put the box in my hand back down and they both burst out laughing.

  Mace's deep raspy chuckle does things to my body that are forbidden. Okay hormones, get back in your cage, it’s only been a few months and he's taken!

  "So, you moving in huh, need some help carrying all these boxes inside?” Mace asks, pointing to the boxes.

  "Um, no I'm good. Thanks though," I quickly reply, trying to avoid any awkwardness that may occur. What if the dinner comes up? How the hell do you explain to another woman that you went and had dinner with her boyfriend?

  "Great idea!" Angela exclaims as she immediately picks up one of the larger boxes. "We are helping, these are a lot of boxes," she continues.

  Well then, I guess I don’t really have a say in the matter. So much for keeping to myself in the new town.

  "What the hell Ang!" Mace exclaims taking the box from her.

  "What?" Angela glares. "I'm not helpless you know," she tells him.

  See what I mean by awkward?

  "I'll get the big ones and you and Nikki can take the smaller boxes, okay?" Mace says, walking away like Angela is not giving him a death glare.

  Angela flips him off behind his back and I can't help the smile forming on my lips. The smile falls as quickly as it came when a thought crosses my mind. I will never have that kind of relationship, they may be disagreeing but it's evident that they love each other.

  I sigh and pick up one of the smaller boxes and make my way inside the house.

  "I have a feeling you and I are going to be the best of friends," I cringe at Angela's chipper statement.

  Nope, your feeling is wrong, so wrong. I don’t want friends. I don’t want romance. I don’t want any kind of relationship.

  I bite my tongue in order not to say something that might make me sound rude and just smile at her.

  "Well, that’s the last one," Mace announces thirty minutes later. I have to say, although I was reluctant about them helping me, I'm thankful that they did because it would have taken me forever and a day to carry all these boxes alone.

  "Thank you for all the help," I tell them as I plop on the couch feeling exhausted.

  "Anytime," this from Mace. "You look tired, how about we order pizza?" He continues. I might not know him but I could have sworn I heard some nerves in his voice.

  "That's a great idea, but I need to get home and shower. I have a date tonight," Angela says, shocking the hell out of me. If she has a date that Mace didn’t know about does that mean they-

  "The hell Ang! Who with?" Mace glares at her. Okay, I take it back, maybe they are-

  "Jack, and you don’t-"

  "No!" Mace interrupts her and Angela's eyes narrow.

  I am so confused right now. What the hell is going on? Are these two dating or not?

  "Oh my God!" Angela exclaims her eyes widening.

  "What?" Mace and I both ask, because right now, Angela looks terrified.

  "Mace, what the hell kind of spider is that on your shoulder?" She points at him just as my eyes snap toward him, but I don’t see a spider anywhere on him. I stand and walk closer to see if I can see the spider she's talking about.

  Mace freezes for a second before F-bombs flow through his mouth and he starts swatting at his whole body, he yanks his shirt over his head and throws it on the floor. One look at the smiling Angela and I'm struggling to choke back a laugh. Tears start pooling in my eyes from all the laughter I'm trying to keep in when Mace starts stomping on his shirt- all the while shouting 'Die motherfucker, die!'

  Unlike me, Angela bursts out laughing as she sidesteps him, running toward my door. " Just kidding!" She says through her laughter as she opens the door. Mace glares at her, then at his shirt on the floor.

  "Savage!" He mutters under his breath as his whole face turns a bright shade of red.

  Oh my, is he blushing? At this I can't keep my laughter in anymore. I burst out laughing so hard that the tears in my eyes start falling down my cheeks. It's not lost on me that this is actually the first time in almost seven months that the tears falling are from laughter and not heartache.

  "Love you!" Angela says, as she runs out my new house. "See you around Nicole," she shouts from the lawn.

  "Kill her. I'm going to freaking kill her," Mace says as he stares at the pool of material that is his shirt on the floor.

  I gulp when I take in his shirtless body. Oh. My. Damn! His golden skin, those perfectly lined abs and oh my, those two lines that disappear in his low running shorts. My hands itch to touch him and a bolt of electricity shoots down my body making me throb in all the wrong places. I mentally slap myself to snap out of it.

  Remember Nikki, you don’t want any kind of relationship. So, hormones be damned!

  "Not a fan of spiders?" I say, clearing my throat.

  "I'm going to kill my sister," He whispers before looking from his shirt to me. "No, I'm not a fan of the devil's eight-legged spawn," he answers my question through clenched teeth.

  "Sister?" I didn’t mean to ask that out loud. It’s just that- well I... Let's just say I'm curious.

  "Yeah, Angela always pranks me like that when I piss her off," his answer brings a blush to my face. "Wait, what did you think?"

  " I thought you two were..." I don’t finish that sentence.

  "Yeah, now my brain needs soap- lots of soap." He says shaking his head. "So, pizza?" He asks looking back down to his shirt. I swear if looks could set things on fire, that poor shirt would be ablaze in an instant.

  "There wasn’t really a spider on you, you know. I think it's safe to put your shirt back on," I tell him, hoping that he actually puts that damn shirt back on because although I've mentally slapped myself, his hot as hell body is doing things to me I thought I could never feel again. Attraction.

>   His eyes meet mine and I hope to God he can't see that I am kind of lusting right now. That would be even more embarrassing than him going crazy over the spider that was never there in the first place.

  "Are you feeling uncomfortable?" He asks, a small smile tugging at his lips.

  Well shit.

  "Um, no." I lie in a whisper.

  "Good, because now that my sister said spider and my shirt in one sentence, I can't put it back on," he says, walking toward me. "So, what kind of pizza you gonna have?" He asks again, now standing right in front of me, close enough that if I wanted, I could just reach out and touch his perfect golden body.

  "Anything with meat," I breathe.

  Shit! Did I just agree to him staying for pizza? Damn it, my original plan was to tell him thanks for all the help and then decline the pizza deal by saying I'm exhausted and just going to climb in bed or something.

  "Okay then," he says in a chipper voice as he walks past me to sit on the couch. "I don’t have my phone here so can I use yours?" His features fall as he says this.

  "Actually," he clears his throat as he stands up. "I forgot I can't stay, let's make it another time," he continues, walking past me again and then bends to pick up his discarded shirt.

  "T'was nice to see you again Nikki," he says as he stands awkwardly by the door.

  "Thanks for all the help," I tell him.

  He nods then walks out, closing the door behind him. I honestly don’t know if I should be relieved or disappointed that he didn’t stay. Relieved, yes, I'm relieved, I don’t need distractions like him at the moment. I swear, when I found out that Angela was just his sister, my hormones did a double take. That's bad considering I plan on staying away from him.

  With that resolve, I make my way to the kitchen and grab a bottle of wine and a glass. Thank God the kitchen, bathroom and my bedroom were the first to get organized. I then go the bathroom and start running a bubble bath.

  Yip, some wine and a nice hot bath will take all thoughts of Mace and his hot body away.

  CHAPTER SEVEN