by Jill Shalvis
Sadie charged at the bowl, and Nick nearly fell over backward, trying to get out of the way.
Danielle would have laughed, except…he’d fed her dog. Unprompted. Just…fed her.
“Holy smokes,” he said, still staring at Sadie.
Sounds of Sadie’s chomping filled the air. Her tail beat the air as she swallowed everything in the bowl in two seconds flat.
“She likes her food,” she whispered through a clogged throat.
“She was starving,” he said, sounding horrified.
“No, she always eats like that.”
He continued to stare at her, carefully staying out of tail-wagging range, clearly realizing that it was a tail that could slice a man in two. “Wow.”
Danielle lifted her sandwich to her mouth, then nearly moaned at her first bite. She swallowed hard when he watched her, because there was just something about the way she received his entire, undivided attention that both unnerved and aroused her at the same time. “Nick…”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
He broke eye contact to get his own sandwich, and she took a good second look at him. And a third. Not because he was so beautiful he stole her breath—which he did—and not because she wanted him in a way that made her ache—though that was true, too—but because there was something…
Being thanked made him uncomfortable.
Having wolfed down his sandwich, he held up the film canister. “I’m going to go get this started.”
“Yes, but—”
“I converted the third bathroom into a darkroom eons ago. I’ll just be down the hall if you need me.”
“Nick—”
“Hold that thought.”
He didn’t want to be thanked. Well, fine. But then he needed to stop putting her in his debt. That wouldn’t happen until she left.
She’d go back to being alone. Back to her bone-weariness and fear. She’d go, and as quickly as she could.
She’d go, mostly because an inexplicable part of her didn’t want to.
WHEN NICK EMERGED from the darkroom, everything was silent. Far too silent for having a monster of a dog in the house. Curious, he walked through the living room to the kitchen.
Empty.
And clean, he noticed. She’d put everything away, including the bowl Sadie had used.
His deck was empty, too, and his heart picked up speed as he went back into the living room. If she’d left—
Stopping in front of the couch that he hadn’t even glanced at before, he let out a rough sigh, then squatted down to peer into Danielle’s face.
Her eyes were closed, of course, her lashes long and dark against her skin that was so pale it was nearly translucent. Her hair tumbled over shoulders that looked too thin and vulnerable to be carrying such troubles. In her sleep, she let out a soft sigh, a whimper really.
“Shh,” he whispered, and at the sound of his voice, she relaxed.
And just like that, his heart took a tumble. Almost on their own, his fingers lifted to scoop her hair from her face.
A low growl stopped him.
“Yeah, yeah,” he murmured, not even glancing at the dog who lay at his feet. “I know. She’s yours.”
“I’m no one’s.” Danielle’s eyes opened, though not another inch of her moved. “I wasn’t sleeping,” she said defensively.
“Of course not,” he said easily, still sitting on his haunches, his face only inches from hers. “Because that would be resting your body, which, by the way, needs it desperately.”
“Did you develop the film?”
“If I say yes, are you leaving?”
“I need to.”
“Uh-huh.”
She sat up and pushed her hair from her face. “That was a loaded ‘uh-huh.”’
“Was it?”
“With a ‘you’re not rested’ in it. With a ‘you need a plan’ and an ‘I don’t think you’re being smart about this whole thing’ added in.”
He smiled, even though when she shifted, their knees brushed together. He could imagine her legs smooth and silky against his rougher ones. “You sure heard a lot in that one uh-huh.” He put his hand over hers. “Stay tonight, Danielle. Sleep in my bed. Alone—” he added when her eyes narrowed. “Get the sleep you need, get some more food in your system and your brain will be so much clearer for it.”
“What about your date?”
“You heard me cancel it.”
“Yes. I’m…sorry about that.”
“Funny.” He studied her even features. “You don’t look sorry. You look tired, and maybe a little out of sorts—”
“Gee, thanks—”
“But not sorry, not in the least.”
“Well, I wasn’t jealous or anything.” Her cute little nose thrust in the air high enough to give her a nosebleed. “Your time is certainly your own.”
“Certainly.” He bit back his grin and reached out, stroking a thumb over her arm, playing with the material of her shirt at the shoulder, then under, touching even more skin. Oh yeah, he liked her skin, and the way her breath hitched. He liked that very much.
“You could be having much more fun right this minute,” she said a little shakily. “I bet she…would have…well.”
“Maybe I didn’t want to…well,” he said, mocking her. “Not with her.”
“Any man with blood in his body would have wanted to.”
“Not me. Stay, Danielle.”
Her eyes locked on his, wide and searching. “I’ll still have to get out of town in the morning.”
“Yes.” He surged to his feet, pulling her up with him. She staggered a bit, and because he was a male, and a weak one at that, his hands nudged her and she fell against him.
He held her close, and amazingly enough, she let him, even leaned on him, just for a moment.
Then she pulled free, ran a self-conscious hand down her hair and avoided his gaze.
“Here.” He took her down the hall and showed her the bathroom. “Take a shower if you’d like.” She looked so grateful and anxious to do just that, it hurt to even look at her. “Then…” He opened his bedroom door, wincing slightly because he hadn’t made his bed or cleaned up his clothes from yesterday, which were scattered across the floor. Kicking as many as he could beneath the bed, he jerked up the sheet and blanket, and caught her smiling. “What?”
“You really weren’t going to bring your date back here.”
“Of course not,” he said. Muffy—Molly, damn it, Molly had offered her place. Not that it would have mattered. He’d never felt the need to change anything about himself or his house for others.
Though it didn’t escape him that if he’d known Danielle was going to be sleeping in his room, he definitely would have cleaned it.
Danielle laughed and, feeling a little left out as that laughter was clearly aimed at him, he put his hands on his hips and cocked a brow. “What’s so funny now?”
“It’s just that I pictured the two of you…”
“Pictured us…?”
Her face went a little pink. “She’s so pretty, you know, and wearing that dress, I thought you’d—”
“Drag her back here and ravish her?”
“Yes.” She shrugged and didn’t meet his gaze. “Yes. Exactly.”
She’d pictured that? It must have been quite explicit, given the color on her cheeks. Still, Nick had to admit, there might have been plenty of ravishing going on, if Danielle hadn’t come along.
But she had, and now he couldn’t even imagine being with Molly tonight, which disturbed him.
“Here.” From his drawer, he pulled a pair of sweats and a T-shirt. “If you need fresh clothes to sleep in.”
She hugged the clothes to her chest and stared at him with those gray eyes that fifteen years ago he would have happily drowned in.
But he was older now. Wiser. She shouldn’t have still gotten to him.
And yet she did, in a big way. “Good night,” he said gruffly, pushing past her.
But when he got to the door, she called his name.
Not wanting to look back, badly needing to escape, he put his hand on the wood and reluctantly stopped. Slowly he turned, catching her dark gaze. “Yeah?”
“I don’t want to take your bed. Please, Nick, the couch is more than fine.”
She had the same look on her face that she’d had at her prom. Surprise that he cared. Had so few people cared? It made his throat ache. “Take the bed.”
“Nick—”
“Take the bed,” he repeated, and shut the door.
Then he did as he did whenever he needed to clear his head; he went for a long, punishing run.
8
WHEN NICK GOT BACK, the house was quiet. His bedroom door was shut, and as there was no sign of the dog, he assumed Danielle had her, and that they were both asleep.
Good. He was hot and sweaty and pleasantly exhausted from his run. If he could grab a shower and fall asleep without kicking his brain into high drive, things would be even better.
He managed the shower part of the plan, and settled facedown on the couch. He made himself as comfortable as he could and closed his eyes.
Then, as if on cue, his thoughts started racing.
Danielle was in his bed. In his clothes. Was she curled into a little ball beneath his covers? Or was she sprawled out, taking up the entire bed?
He supposed as long as Sadie was on the floor, it didn’t matter, but he couldn’t dispel the images of Danielle in his sheets. Bare legs, maybe a creamy shoulder peeking out of his T-shirt. No bra, so her breasts would swing free with her every movement, the nipples hard and pouty, pressing against the material.
Oh yeah, that image would help him sleep. With a rough sigh, he flipped over and studied the ceiling. This was going to be one hell of a long night.
“Nick?” The woman of his dreams materialized at his side. “I couldn’t sleep,” she whispered, then knelt by his shoulder.
As he’d already discovered, the reality of her was far more potent than any fantasy. She indeed wore his sweats, but because they were big, the waist sagged low on her hips. She’d tied the T-shirt in a knot above her belly button, so there was a gap between the shirt and pants, leaving a good four inches of bare, silky skin.
Right in front of his waiting mouth.
“I wanted to thank you again,” she whispered.
He forced his gaze up, up, up, past that bare, tantalizing belly, past the curved globes of her breasts, past her slender throat to her eyes. “Thank me?”
“Because of you, I can let my guard down, if only for tonight.”
No. Bad idea. Don’t let your guard down.
“You took me in without mentioning how foolish I am to get myself into this situation.”
“I don’t think you’re foolish.”
“Thank you for that, too,” she said very softly. “You gave me food and shelter, and—” Her voice cracked. Her eyes misty, she gave him a watery smile.
Ah, hell.
“Nick…”
He wanted to tell her not to say his name that way, that quiet, warm way that stabbed through all his protective layers. He had lots of those layers, had built them for a young, rather geeky kid, then more for his worldly travels to prevent what he saw and reported on from touching him too much. Layers so that no one person had ever had a grip on his heart.
“I’ll leave in the morning,” she said softly, in that voice that reminded him they did have a past, no matter how tenuous it was. “But I want what we should have had all those years ago. I want this night, with you. Make love to me, Nick. Please?”
DANIELLE WAITED with bated breath for his answer. Ted had always hated it when she’d made the first move, but she was making it now.
Did she have it right?
Lying in bed, alone, worrying, obsessing, had done her no good. The only thing that had worked was thinking about Nick. He’d been there for her in a way no one else ever had, and she wanted to give him something in return.
But wanting him to make love to her wasn’t all altruistic. No way, not when her breath stuttered whenever she so much as looked at him. She wanted to give him more than her gratitude, she wanted to get a taste of what she should have allowed herself all those years ago. She wanted to be held in those strong hard arms, wanted to lose herself in quick, selfish, mind-blowing passion.
And then, when it was over, when night turned to dawn, she’d get up and walk away, holding those memories tight forever.
“Please?” she whispered, tugging at the light blanket he’d thrown over himself.
Beneath it, Lord, beneath it his body was beautiful; long and muscular, showing the strength of a man who used it and often. To her regret, he wasn’t completely naked. He wore a pair of dark gray knit boxers, which snugly clung to his muscled thighs and…other interesting parts.
She couldn’t tear her eyes away.
“Danielle.”
She looked into his eyes as he touched her jaw, startled by all she saw there, so much so that she closed her own eyes, turning her face into his light touch.
But she wanted more, so much more. He could give her that something more. He represented warmth and strength and an end to being alone, if only for tonight. So she ran her fingers along the light stubble on his hard jawline, over the mouth she wanted to feel on hers. “Nick…love me.”
“You’re confusing comfort with sex,” he said in a rough whisper. “Take it from someone who’s done the same often enough to know. I can’t let you—”
“Nick.” She watched his eyes darken at the sound of his name on her lips, and she whispered it again. And then again, when his hand drifted down her neck onto her shoulder, then glided lightly over her arm down to her fingers, which he entwined with his.
Something shivered through her at the sweet, romantic gesture, and she told herself it was desire, not something more. Not any sort of emotional connection.
“It should be more,” he said, reading her mind.
Maybe, but it couldn’t be. This and only this was within her reach. One mindless night, with him. Feeling bold, she sat back on her heels and pulled the T-shirt over her head and off.
His breath caught. His mouth fell open, then shut with an audible snap. “Danielle,” he said hoarsely.
Never in her life had she been so shameless, but also something else. Wicked and brazen, and…free. Free, for the first time in too long.
Coming to her feet, she tugged on the tie of the sweats he’d given her. Then gave them a little push as she wriggled her hips, letting the material slowly slip down her thighs, leaving her only in a pair of panties.
His eyes glued to her body, he sucked in a breath and swallowed hard. “Danielle.”
“Please don’t turn me away.” She sat at his hip, her heart in her throat because she needed this, needed him, more than she needed her next breath.
He let out a groan and reached for her, tugging her down over the top of him, drawing her closer to his oh-so-warm body. His breath skimmed her temple, her hair, while his hands molded and possessed her, stoking the ache deep within her to blind, primitive need.
He seemed to be similarly affected. Scooping her hair back from her face in fistfuls, he drew her close, staring into her eyes until their lips touched in a long, melting kiss. Then he let her hair go to trail those talented, greedy hands down her sides, stroking her breasts, holding her up so that he could look at her nipples, which were thrust near his face, begging for attention. He put his mouth on one, drawing it into his mouth, using his tongue and teeth, until she cried out, hips arching into his. Pulling back enough to blow a hot breath on the wet nipple, he slid his hands over her, down her back, and then lower, cupping two handfuls of her bottom.
Her pulse had long ago scrambled, and now so did her senses. They had all night, she thought with a bittersweet mixture of joy and misery. She could make the most of every hour, every single second. Knowing that, she pressed into him, eliciting a rough growl.
“Is this what you had in mind?” he asked a bit roughly, slipping his hands into her panties, his fingers dipping and exploring.
She let out a helpless little moan.
“Is it?”
“Yes,” she gasped, as his hands slid between her thighs to where she was already creamy, hot and very, very wet. “Yes,” she gasped again when he hooked his thumbs in her panties, and holding her gaze prisoner in his own, slowly worked them down.
“Better.” He tossed them into the air, returning his hands to her body with a low groan. “Much better, but—”
A low whine jerked her right out of her sensual haze, as they both turned their heads. Nick let out a groaning laugh.
Sadie sat at their side, a pair of panties draped over one bloodshot eye, head cocked as she studied them closely. “Woof,” she offered, close enough to blast them with doggie breath.
Danielle’s muscles, tight and trembling under Nick’s incredible touch only seconds ago, let go, and she sagged over him. “Go to sleep, Sadie.” Please.
Sadie sat up straighter, still panting.
“Lay down,” Danielle pleaded. “Go on now.”
More panting.
Danielle looked into Nick’s frustrated but laughing eyes. “She failed obedience.”
“I’m shocked.” Nick narrowed his eyes and studied Sadie. “Is it my imagination, or is she getting ready to bite something?”
Sadie’s big tongue swiped over her mouth in a way that did indeed make her appear to be licking her chops in preparation of chowing down on something.
Or someone.
“Don’t worry, she hardly ever bites.”
“Oh, good.”
“We could just pretend she isn’t here,” Danielle suggested hopefully, noticing how nice Nick’s bare chest felt brushing her equally bare nipples.
Nick noticed how nice it felt, too, evidenced by the impressive bulge currently pressing insistently against her thigh.
“Just ignore her,” she tried desperately, slipping down for a kiss. He was such a good kisser, so warm and generous and…still staring at Sadie.
Who was staring right back at him.
Danielle covered Nick’s eyes and tried to deepen the kiss but it was no good. She most definitely did not have his entire attention. With a sigh, she sat up on him.
