Hot For Nick

by Hot for Nick (lit)

  HOT FOR NICK

  Betty Womack

  EROTIC ROMANCE

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Erotic Romance

  HOT FOR NICK

  Copyright © 2009 by Betty Womack

  E-book ISBN: 1-60601-321-1

  First E-book Publication: April 2009

  Cover design by Jinger Heaston

  All cover art and logo copyright © 2009 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  HOT FOR NICK

  BETTY WOMACK

  Copyright © 2009

  Chapter 1

  Shelby set the phone back in its cradle and stared at it in stunned disbelief.

  “We’re finished.”

  He had just dumped her.

  The cold statement rang in her ears, even after he’d hung up.

  You should have expected it. It all happened too fast and you gave Nick Gualdoni everything you had like a love-starved hooker.

  The five-karat diamond on her left hand blazed in the light streaming through the window. Nick had put the ring on her finger less than a month after they met.

  She clenched her hand to hide the reminder of how quickly she’d fallen for him. In the past, there had been relationships, great men and romance that she’d broken off when the men became too possessive. She hadn’t been ready for the commitment they’d wanted.

  Until Nick. At first sight, she’d known he possessed every quality she wanted in a man.

  Playing hard to get would have been stupid and a waste of time. She wanted him.

  From the start, she’d been aware Nick always got what he wanted and had the means to buy it.

  Shelby flushed with anger. She deserved a decent explanation for his sudden decision. Before he came into her life, she had built a successful architectural firm and didn’t answer to anyone.

  The idea that he might be thinking she wasn’t high caliber enough for his world ticked her off. No, that wasn’t it. He’d probably found someone new.

  Don’t be stupid. He’s spent every waking moment on that project when he isn’t with you.

  All that seemed unlikely and she wilted under the idea he simply didn’t want her.

  The photo of them taken several months ago showed a tall dark, gorgeous man and her, stupidly happy just to be with him.

  Shelby got up to look out the window, staring down at the park where heat weary plants wilted in the sun.

  She agonized over the last words he’d said, clenching her teeth as the finality of them sank in.

  This was so unlike him, so cowardly. Hot resentment churned her stomach. How presumptuous of him, instructing her to meet him at their favorite restaurant. He’d said he had something to tell her. Hadn’t he said it all?

  Anger replaced reasoning, and she grabbed her keys off the desk.

  I have something to tell you, Nick.

  * * * *

  “Lord have mercy.”

  Nick Gualdoni muttered the words, hoping for some defense against sure defeat. He couldn’t see anything but Shelby Rand after she walked through the restaurant door. She looked mad as hell, showing it with the lovely lift of her chin and the high rose tone dusted over her cheeks like an Arizona sunset.

  Seeing her as a disagreeable stranger was impossible. His soul wouldn’t let him. He knew her intimately, every curve and hollow of her slender body. The tightening in his groin wasn’t unexpected. It happened every time he thought of her, every time he looked at her coral pink lips or into her blue eyes.

  He’d known from the moment he met her, Shelby was no ordinary woman, a tiger in a fight and a kitten in a clinch. Her pretty pink nails became claws if someone crossed her. It was a damned good bet she wore little under her short black coatdress, except the string of South Seas pearls nestled in the deep slash of her neckline.

  He shifted in his chair and relaxed his legs to allow the hot blood to move out of his crotch. His teeth clenched against the pain of a massive hard-on that would last for days if he couldn’t have her. And he couldn’t.

  As usual, she carried no handbag or briefcase, only a fancy key ring that made soft jangling music, as she got closer to him. Nick wondered how she could sashay through a man’s life with no idea of the havoc her presence created, not caring about anything but winning.

  Being a classy woman with a lot of power and she used her attributes splendidly. Shelby was a sleek woman with a mop of pale blonde hair and long, strong legs. Her outward beauty hid the intensity that lay just beneath the surface of her well-toned skin. She was five foot six inches of well-educated, self-assured dynamo, weighing in at one hundred twenty pounds.

  The woman had the ability to switch from cold steel to hot sensuality and he couldn’t forget the feel of her under his pumping body.

  Don’t be distracted by remembering how she can battle all day long with competitors and make love all night.

  Nick crushed the urge to meet her halfway like he normally would have. He stayed in his chair, casually watching heads turn in her wake. He understood other men’s interest in her. The scent of wild plum blossoms accompanied her was as unforgettable as the woman wearing it. The scent was hers exclusively. He inhaled deeply, automatically moving to stand up, but she waved her hand to stop him.

  “Don’t bother, Nick.” She sat down and raked a cool glance over the crowd before turning her attention back to him. “Do you really want to discuss this in a public place?”

  He signaled to the waiter, holding up two fingers to double his drink order and then looked back at Shelby. “I don’t give a damn where we talk. I just thought you might prefer to hold this little party in a place with witnesses.” He loved the slight show of annoyance in her eyes.

  She looked at her wristwatch. “We could have finished this discussion over the phone and saved us both time and money.”

  “Just hold on. You’re not leaving until I show you a few things and tell you what’s on my mind.” He allowed himself the agony of checking out the curve of her beautiful throat. She was exquisite. She cooled his hot blood with her icy blue gaze.

  “Say wha
tever it is you have to say. I have a full schedule today.”

  The waiter came back with two double scotches, and Nick swallowed half of his before the guy walked away. Hell, he should have ordered another one. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a letter-sized envelope. “This won’t take long if you tell me the truth.”

  Her chin went up several notches. That little show of indignation let him know she didn’t like his attitude, but he didn’t happen to be in the mood to be nice to her. He withheld the envelope for a few seconds and let her stew about it.

  “There’s more to this than your telling me to take a hike? Is that a list of things you want back, like some high school jock?” The tremble of her lips was barely noticeable and brief. “You didn’t give me a reason for wanting out of our engagement. Just saying that we’re finished didn’t give me much to go on. Care to tell me the reason now, or do I go through life wondering what I did?”

  Nick hated the icy wall between them. It hadn’t been that long ago they had turned the world upside down with their intense lovemaking. It could have been that morning and he would still have been hard for her. Shelby coursed through his blood and her larceny didn’t erase his love for her. His thought sometimes he might drown in that passionate and fulfilling love that he desperately wanted to shake. He shrugged his shoulders to ward off the memory.

  He took several photographs from the envelope and tossed them across the table. “I owe you squat.” He raised his glass and drained the last drop from it before getting the waiter’s attention again. “You, on the other hand, owe me your ass.”

  The momentary look of innocent confusion in her eyes angered him. He wanted to strangle the woman he loved and had wanted to spend his life with. He clenched his jaw and watched her sift through the damning photos.

  He tilted his head to one side and tapped the stack of black and whites with his forefinger. “I’m waiting.”

  She looked up to meet his steady gaze and gestured toward the scattered pictures. “Where did you get these?"

  “That's not the point, honey." He hoped she would tell him the whole thing had been a joke, but he knew it wasn't. "I got a call from a guy asking if I might be interested in buying some land he’d taken back from a loan default. You could have knocked me over with a feather after I got the aerial photos. And you know why? Another contractor had beaten me to it and with my own damned plans.“

  “You think I sold your prints to another builder?” His continued silence seemed to strike a fight chord in her. “You’re actually waiting for me to defend myself?”

  “Now really, sweetheart, where else do I turn for answers if not to you?” He felt angrier with himself than her. If she had ripped him off for every cent and maxed out his credit cards, he would still want to taste her and have sex with her until he became too weak to get it up again.

  He fought for control of his emotions, remembered the sting of being emasculated by her unforgivable disloyalty to him and their love. “We’re the only people with access to the blueprints. Isn't that right?” Was it his imagination, or had the frigid tone of his voice formed ice crystals on the air between them?

  She recovered with ease and no longer looked like a victim. The confusion in her expression smoothed into a cool mask of composure. Her spine had straightened and her sweet chin lifted and jutted in defiance. “Okay. I see why you could think that. It's insane, but I can see it.” She leaned forward to gaze at him. “Nick. I didn’t do this. I’m not asking for your forgiveness. I didn’t do it.”

  “Come on now. Damn it, Shelby. Those blueprints couldn’t have gotten into that bastard’s hands any other way except through you.” He grabbed his glass and downed the scotch in one huge swallow.

  Shelby pushed her drink toward him. “Here. Have mine. If you’re trying to get loaded, you're well on the way.”

  Unshed tears glistened in her heavily lashed eyes. The deep breath she took made her small nostrils flare in the effort. She hurt and he was to blame. He had to say something to cover the regret swamping him.

  “I don’t need your advice on anything, lady.” He sent the pictures flying with a sweep of his hand. Inhaling, he forced his blood to slow in his veins. “You were saying?”

  “You’re waiting for me to tell you how this happened?”

  “If nothing else, you’re very perceptive.” He gazed at her, thinking he knew how a hunting tiger felt.

  She laughed softly and tried to read his closed expression. “You’re not serious? You know I’m the only one with the prints to your project. I drafted them. I’m probably the only architect in Kansas City that would put up with your constant demands for plan alterations.”

  “This isn’t about me.” He ignored her swipe at his personality and gestured in his customary palm up manner meant to hurry her along.

  “And I’m still telling you, I didn’t do this.” His lengthy silence seemed to fuel her anger. “You really don‘t believe me. You’re an idiot, Nick.”

  She and several of the nearby lunch crowd jumped in surprise when he set the glass down hard on the table and ice bounced across the floor. “And you’re a thief.” He pressed his lips together to control his anger. “If you needed money, you could have gotten anything you wanted from me.”

  Her expression swung from shock to hurt and back to anger. He wondered what excuse her quick little mind conjured up.

  She leaned forward a little, toying with the pearls at her breasts, narrowing her eyes in undisguised disgust. “Well, now.” She turned her glass slowly, keeping her gaze on the tumbling ice until it fell to the bottom. “To think I believed your decision to walk out on our engagement was one of the heart, when all along it had everything to do with your wallet.”

  He leaned away from her as if he saw something objectionable. “You’re denying this is your handiwork?”

  “Of course I’m denying it. You know perfectly well I had nothing to do with this.” She spoke, words bitten off, cold and clear. “Why would I do such a thing?”

  “Motive? That wasn’t a stretch to figure out.” He studied her in an appraising manner, touching his fingertips to his jaw before gesturing in her direction. “You maintain one hell of a lifestyle. A classy address, Jaguar, the designer wardrobe.”

  She clenched her hands together on the table and bore into him with her steady gaze. “It’s beneath you to attack me like a wild dog. And, Mister Macho, as usual, you're thinking with your balls. I went through years of school and earned a degree in Architectural Design just so I could buy all that stuff before you rode into town. I didn’t have to rob you to get what I wanted.”

  “I’m not the only sucker you’ve known.” Her habit of checking the pale gold coil of hair at her neck took his attention for a second. “What do you propose to do about this?”

  She leaned to pick up the pictures from the floor and slowly straightened them. “I’m suggesting you seek professional help.”

  “Oh, that’s rich, Shel.” He grabbed the pictures and crumpled them in his fist. “You broke a trust with me.” Frustration loosed his temper. “Now, you’re shrewd enough to realize this is a serious matter.”

  She jerked back when the toe of her shoe touched his leg beneath the table. “I’m aware of every law pertaining to the ethics of builder and architect.”

  She touched the five-carat solitaire on her finger and began twisting the pricey platinum ring off her finger. To Nick it had to be the longest strip tease he’d ever watched.

  Her slender finger lifted to display the brilliant gem and it blazed with a white fire, stabbing him through the heart.

  He blinked. It finally came to an end. He struggled to recover his anger. Could it be he still harassed her to keep her close?

  His ears roared, and he wasn't sure he could speak. Shelby didn’t give him the chance to comment, quickly laying out ground rules.

  “Something else. You can be sure the contract you signed will be honored.”

  “That’s the one thing I ca
n be sure of where you are concerned.” She finalized the removal of the ring. “I’ll see my complex finished or your sweet ass will be hit with so many lawsuits that you won’t have time to screw anyone else. Literally.”

  “Stop the melodrama, Nick.” She clenched the ring in her palm and quieted for a heartbeat. “Of course I’ll honor the contract. I’ll spend as much time as possible at the complex, but you know I have other jobs going. You’re not exclusive.” She lowered her voice and enunciated her words. “I’ve always kept my word, no matter how big a bastard the person I’m dealing with may be.”

  She turned in her chair and met his accusing gaze. A beam of sunlight kissed the delicate length of her throat and played on the pulse he would die to be kissing right then. Even caught in a trap and threatened with a life of hell, Shelby ruled his world, and he would never ask for another thing as long as he lived if this nightmare would end.

  Knock it off, man. Get back to business.

  “You know what I want, Shel. The name of the scab contractor you sold my plans to.” He took several bills from his wallet and laid them on the tray the waiter had left. He didn’t want to see the hurt in her eyes and hadn’t counted on the look cutting his heart out. “Give me a name and this won’t go any further.”

  He knew before he made the offer, she wouldn’t accept his terms and would put up a great defense. She had taken on a new personality while he had been reminiscing. Like an expert tease, Shelby turned in her chair, just enough for him to see her suntanned legs, and then dangled a sandal. It fell to the floor with a soft thud. He ached to put it back on her small foot.

  “Nick.” She brushed at her sleeve with incredible nonchalance. “With nothing more than your fat ego to hold you up and not a shred of evidence to convict me, you're making threats like a kid that’s had his candy stolen.”