Hot For Nick

by Hot for Nick (lit)

  “Just thought I might go to the club to hit some golf balls." He poured the tea and handed her a napkin. “Want to come along with me? We can talk while we walk.”

  The chilled drink went down hard and the stale Twinkie still knotted in her nervous stomach. She wanted to blab the whole story to her father. That’s what he expected, but this wasn’t something she knew how to tell him about.

  “Thanks for the offer, Dad. But I think I’ll go back to the office and finalize some contract details.” She laughed and patted his stomach. “Too many beers with the boys. Come over this weekend and I’ll cook you a low-cal dinner.”

  “That’s a date, honey. Call me later?”

  “Yep. I don’t think I’ll be busy for a while.” The word ever loomed hugely in her thoughts.

  * * * *

  She had shut the door to her office, laid her head on her desk and slept until Kate’s voice on the intercom jerked her awake. “I’m going home now, Shelby. Will you be okay?”

  Rubbing her eyes and straining to see clearly, Shelby gave a raspy answer. “Yeah, fine, Kate. Go ahead and have a good weekend.”

  When she heard the outer office door close, Shelby got up to stretch and stare out the window. A glance back at her desk reassured her the contracts she had been drawing up had been finished, and she could go home. She figured her clouded thoughts had cost her a pretty penny on the deals. Hell with it, she had to stop by the supermarket before calling it a night. Why had she agreed to go to that picnic? Matt would be hurt if she didn’t show up.

  She washed her face and winced at the puffy faced reflection in the mirror. Her descent into being a ragged-looking hag gained momentum. Rolling her eyes in disgust, she grabbed her car keys and left the office. The market might be closing soon and she wasn’t going to creep out of bed early in the morning to get ingredients for a cheese ball.

  The sound of her heels on the concrete floor of the garage reverberated around the dimly lit area. Something in the shadows moved and she gasped, freezing where she stood to listen and gazed into that dark corner. Her heartbeat boomed in her ears and the air in her lungs ballooned until she swayed in a near faint. “Who’s there?”

  She figured her ahoy had been courageous but stupid. No, she hadn’t been wrong. The shadow moved and it came toward her. Turning sharply, she raced for her car and screamed in terror seconds before headlights from a passing car lit up the entire level. Her key refused to work until she screamed again in frustration and fear. As if an unseen benefactor stood at her elbow, the key slid in the lock and the door swung open without resistance.

  She threw herself into the seat and slammed the door, pressing the auto-lock until she could be positive they would hold the frightening thing at bay. The car started with no stalling and the gears slipped smoothly into place. She drove out of the garage without looking back and sped away, convinced she had over-reacted badly to nothing.

  By the time Shelby walked into the supermarket, her hands had stopped shaking and she could almost laugh at her ridiculous actions in the garage. Screaming at shadows would have been a good laugh for Nick. To hell with Nick. She had a cheese ball to make.

  * * * *

  Smoke from several barbeque pits hung over the park like a blue-gray umbrella in the afternoon heat. Shelby sat in her car and looked over the throng of people gathered there. Matt wasn’t difficult to spot. He wore a pink ruffled apron and a regulation chef’s hat. He never turned down a reasonable dare and worked hard to keep his crew in a good mood.

  Several girls wearing super-short shorts and tube tops walked by her car. They made her sage-green walking shorts seem matronly. Before she got out to join them, she pulled the tail of her Tee shirt out and knotted it at her waist. No use letting them see her as an old maid with no prospects.

  While getting her food from the trunk, Shelby groaned in disgust. She noticed the deep scratches around the trunk lock and more on the passenger’s side. An image of a crawly rat came to mind and she shuddered in the ninety-degree heat. Just a car burglar and nothing to worry about. She gathered her things and started to cross the sun-baked expanse of dry grass, grateful for thick-soled sneakers. Her feeling of elation evaporated when her gaze touched a familiar tall frame. “No way.”

  The sight of him sent a quake through her that would have sent the seismic scale off the screen. After hearing several of the crew talking, she had been sure Nick would be out of town and this would be just the crew and their families. Her legs stiffened and her ponytail swung to and fro while she stomped off in Matt’s direction.

  “Why did you invite him?” She jerked her thumb in Nick’s general vicinity and put her platter on a table next to the cooking pit.

  “Who? You mean Nick?” Matt grinned and spoke in a conspiratorial whisper. “Well, I just about had to, Shel. He overheard us yakking about it and, well, I really couldn’t not ask him. He’s a nice guy most of the time and he does pay the bills.”

  “All right. I see your point. But, don’t expect me to stay a minute longer than is absolutely necessary.” She turned to look at the action on the ball field, anywhere to avoid eye contact with Nick.

  “Hey. Don’t run off. These guys eat a lot and fast.” He slopped barbeque sauce on the dozen steaks that sizzled on the huge grill. “I guess you can tell some of these folks have had a cocktail or two before lunch.”

  She tugged on his apron strings, laughing at the antics of the men involved in a game of touch football. “I just assumed they always fell on their butts and rolled around like puppies.”

  Matt grinned and pointed to the group of players out in the sun. “You think they let loose at a picnic, wait until we all go to that hockey game.”

  She could hardly hear Matt’s voice as Nick strode toward her, confidant, sexy and tempting. She couldn’t forget the permanent tingle his hands had left on every sensitive part of her body. “I’m sorry, Matt. What did you say?”

  “That’s okay, Shel. Why don’t you find a shady place until I holler it’s ready?”

  Her lips felt lopsided and her eyes were probably glazed. Where could she hide to be safe from her own drooling condition? Every bench had been taken and all the lawn chairs now turned over to create tents for the kids to play under. A sun-bronzed young man stopped next to her and pressed an ice-cold beer into her hand.

  “You want to bat next, Ms. Rand? I think Al’s too full to take his turn.” He gave her a crooked grin.

  “Thanks, Hank.” She sipped the beer and smiled at him. “I might take my turn later.”

  “Okay. We’ll put you in the rotation.” He jogged off to join his friends.

  Matt forked several of the steaks onto plates and handed one to her. “Wait a minute and I’ll give you potato salad.”

  “Oh no, Matt. I’ll get some of that nice salad and a cookie.” Shelby tried to avoid the mountain of potato salad he dumped onto her plate but moved too slow. “Okay, I’ll just sit over there under that tree and enjoy this.”

  “Hold on a minute and I’ll go with you.” Nick didn’t back away from the boxcar-sized cut of meat and took extra slaw and baked beans with his. “Okay, I’m ready.”

  Matt gave her an apologetic grin and paid particularly close attention to the coals in the pit. “There’s a nice shade over there under that elm, Shel.”

  “Thank you so much, Matt.” She tried to stop him, but Nick took her plate and carried it to the tree Matt had pointed out. “I guess you know I really don’t want to eat lunch with you.”

  “I figured that out already. Sit.” He handed her the plate and sat down beside her. “I thought in the interest of looking like competent people after what’s happened at the site and at the TV station, I should play the part of a man thoroughly flogged for his sins. Appease the women and give the guys a chuckle. So, what did you bring?”

  “Cheese ball.” She wanted to dump her food in his lap and go home.

  He coughed and laughed, taking a sip of his beer before commenting. “I should have kn
own. Of all things a person doesn’t want at a barbeque….”

  “Just shut up, Nick.” She stabbed her fork into a fry and raised it to her mouth. “I don’t want bug bites around my panty line either, but they’ll be there when I get home. I’ll ignore you as much as possible to avoid letting everyone know you’re a two-faced idiot. So shut up for the duration.”

  He chuckled when Hank’s wife walked over to them and set her huge radio down by Shelby. The energetic Rita giggled and yelled out toward the ball diamond.

  “Hank, don’t skin nothing.” Her dark eyes sparkled and she leaned down and spoke to Shelby. “Hank always talks about how nice you are. I felt jealous at first, but he said you and Nick had a thing going on. So, I’m glad you’re nice to my man.”

  Shelby smiled at her, not missing the real adoration for Hank in Rita’s eyes. She hated the twist of jealousy in her heart over the couple’s good fortune. “It’s not hard to be nice to decent and reliable men.” Shelby hoped her reference to decent men struck home in Nick’s rear end. It hadn’t. He seemed to be deeply absorbed in scraping mud off his sneakers.

  Rita held her hand out to Shelby. “Come on. We’re up. And Nick, you’re catching now.”

  Shelby choked on her beer and wanted to scream when she caught Nick’s half smile. He rubbed his finger over her chin and eyed the bottle she held.

  “You’re dribbling a little bit there.” He took the mitt Rita handed him and worked it onto his hand. “Not accustomed to drinking out of a bottle?”

  She made another bad decision, but Shelby tipped the bottle up, quickly drinking half its contents. She wiped the back of her hand across her mouth, giving Nick her most inane smile. “Want me to burp?”

  Rita bounced up and down, squealing with delight at Shelby’s show of barbarism. “That’s so funny.”

  “Wait until you see her bat. You’ll really get a good laugh.” Nick touched the glove to the top of Shelby’s head and trotted off to wait for her behind home plate.

  Shelby plodded along behind Rita to wait her turn at bat. She’d gotten into another fine mess and the man to blame stood several feet away, working his muscles under a white T-shirt. He twisted at the waist and looked back at her with what had to be his most sexy and inviting grin. Damnation, his faded Levi’s pointed out all the places she wanted to squeeze and cuddle, like his strong thighs and hard butt cheeks. She tried to stop the tremble in her arms and legs when he squatted and the strength of his back and arms drew her greedy gaze like neon arrows.

  When Rita fanned out, Shelby balked for a second in dread of doing the same thing. Drinking hemlock would have been preferable to letting Nick see her fail at anything. Inhaling hard, she picked the bat up and looked at it.

  Hank yelled at her. “You going to bat or what?”

  She gave him a weak grin and stepped to the plate.

  Rita chimed in. “Shut up, Hank. She’s going to hit a home run.”

  The soft laughter behind her angered Shelby. She looked back at Nick and tapped the bat on the ground like she’d seen the pros do. She set her feet and waggled her hips from side to side. Hefting the heavy bat up on her shoulder, she tensed her legs in preparation to run. The ball flew toward her and she swung.

  “Strike one,” Nick informed her in a bored manner.

  She ignored him and kept her eye on the ball, swinging with all her might when the ball came sizzling toward her again. The solid crack of the ball meeting the bat surprised her.

  “You did it,” Rita screamed at her. “Run, Shelby. Run.”

  Nick stood up and whispered in her ringing ear. “You had better take off, Shel. When you get back here, I’m going to tag your ass out.”

  Was she dizzy from victory or the brush of his chest against her back? There wasn’t time to figure it out. She dropped the bat, following Hank’s lead. She felt lighter than air as her feet slapped the hot chat of the diamond. First base had been easy and Hank yelled for her to haul it. When her foot hit second base, she looked at home plate and saw Nick standing with his hands on his hips, grinning as if he enjoyed the show. Rita’s shrill screams followed her to third base and on to the home stretch. Ahead of her lay home plate and Nick. She could see him, waiting for the ball to tag her out. “Over my dead body.” The base lay a few yards away when Hank yelled slide.

  She followed instructions, falling on her stomach and reaching for that ragged bag of dirt. It looked like gold to Shelby. The thud of hitting a solid object was her last lucid memory before swimming out of a pleasant nirvana. A familiar voice called her name and strong hands cradled her head. “Shel, baby. It’s me, Nick. Look at me.”

  When she opened her eyes, she saw a circle of worried faces peering down at her.

  “What happened?” Still groggy, she tried to stand, but promptly gave up the idea.

  “We kind of collided.” Nick gazed intently into her eyes. “I’m sorry as hell I didn’t move, honey.” He pulled her into his arms and hugged her close. “I’m taking you home.”

  “I can drive myself.” She quickly let her head fall back to his shoulder, giving in to the reeling sensation. She pushed on his chest. “Oh, my God. I’m going to be sick.”

  He carried her to the tree line and let her stand, holding her steady until she shuddered in revulsion and staggered in the aftermath.

  “Come on.” Nick swept her up in his arms again.

  “Where are we going?”

  “The nearest emergency room.”

  Chapter 7

  Nick ignored her mumbled arguments and loaded her into his car. A large crowd gathered around and tried to comfort Shelby with jokes about her being a ringer. Matt shooed everyone back while Nick belted into her seat and Nick drove away with her toward the hospital a few blocks away. Shelby leaned against him and scowled when he questioned her.

  “You going to stay awake, babe?”

  “Of course….” She slumped against him and smacked her lips. “I’m thirsty.”

  He broke a few laws, exceeded the speed limit and didn’t flinch at the screech of tires when he pulled into the emergency entrance of the hospital. He couldn’t wait for the staff to come out to help and ignored Shelby’s loud complaints about being taken from the car and carried into the antiseptic-smelling building.

  The place was crowded with the garden variety of sprains, bites, and one woman in labor. Nick figured he looked pretty desperate when a young intern met him in the hallway, leading him to an examination cubicle. Nick reluctantly laid Shelby on a gurney. He stood by her side while the intern checked her over. The scrubbed faced kid questioned Nick.

  “Car accident?”

  “No. Beaned by a baseball. Or rather, she slid into me at home plate….” Nick imagined he knew what a wife beater underwent. The disbelieving stare and shake of the intern’s head could only mean he thought she had been beaten. “It was an accident. Is she okay? She has a goose egg on her forehead.”

  The intern grinned. “Yep, and I’ll bet she has a real shiner in the morning.”

  Nick lightened up, reassured by the doctor’s attitude. That level of calm didn’t last long, the good doctor throwing him a curve ball from left field while making notations on her chart.

  “Is Shelby pregnant?” Nick’s stunned expression seemed to amuse the young physician. “We always ask that. It is a precaution if we administer drugs or do x-rays. A safety check.”

  “I can see that.” Nick breathed easier. “No, she’s not pregnant.” Now, why did he feel disappointment? Christ. That’s all he needed. A child with the woman that hated him.

  “She’s had a light sedative to ease the pain that will hit her later. And a prescription to take home.”

  When the intern finally left them alone, Nick could see Shelby felt no pain and grinned sweetly at him. She had to be high as a kite. His heart jostled him to be tender with her. “Want me to carry you to the car?”

  Her lashes fluttered and her rose colored lips smiled. “Want to make out again?”

 
“What a question.” The urge to kiss her wouldn’t go away, but he resisted. “Let’s go home.”

  She hugged his neck and snuggled against him, sighing and shaking his nerves. The situation already presented problems. He couldn’t go through another session of having his balls boiled in hot water and not let the volcano blow. “Lord, have mercy.”

  * * * *

  The moment they walked into his place, Nick had reason to question his sanity. It had been dumb bringing her to his apartment instead of her own, or even better, her dad’s place. His complete annihilation had only begun. She waged a fresh siege on his manhood as well as his temper.

  “I don’t want to wear that.” Her bottom lip pouted and her cat eyes narrowed in open distaste of the T-shirt he offered her.

  “Shel, I don’t happen to have a supply of nighties. I do have a bunch of T-shirts and that toothbrush you pretended to look for.” He reached into a drawer and pulled out a swatch of ice blue silk. “Look here. You have clean under pants.”

  “I’m dirty. There’s mud in my hair and I’m sweaty.” She tossed the T-shirt aside and began to systematically drive him nuts. After whipping her shirt off, she dropped her modest walking shorts to the floor and moved toward his bathroom.

  “Hey.” Nick tried to change her direction. She sidled by him and staggered into the room he called his private lair, skinning her panties off to flip them back at him. “Aw, damn it, Shel.”

  The fact she was high didn’t alter her sense of direction. She got the shower going and slid into the tub to frolic on her back like a young otter. He gazed at the sea nymph lying in his tub, water splashing on her and running off the curves and down the hollows of her lush body.

  “Hey.” Nick reached in the shower to grab her arm when she stood up and grinned at him. He could see this as a trial to be endured. “Sit down.”

  “I need soap.” She went through the motions of washing her breasts, looking pleased with what she felt beneath her hands.