Lorenzo nodded. “My wife and I decided it was for the best. The boys needed someone at home and she was earning more than I was anyway. I used to work construction, but I got into this nasty accident and broke my back pretty bad. It took months for me to fully recover. During that time, their mom was taking care of me and three kids under the age of seven, and working full-time as a bookkeeper.”
“Wow,” Rose breathed, a little awestruck. Her mom stayed at home to raise her and her five stepbrothers too, but she had full-time nannies and housekeepers to help her. She couldn’t imagine how Nick’s mom managed at all. “Your mom sounds amazing,” she said, turning to Nick.
“Our dad’s not so bad either,” he replied before throwing an affectionate smile at the older man. Lorenzo clutched at his heart dramatically and pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. Nick and Angelo laughed. It was such a cozy tableau, Rose felt her heart swell with genuine fondness and maybe something more. Oh dear. She looked at Nick. He looked back at her, smiled, and pulled her face in for a quick, tongueless kiss. Rose’s heart stopped and restarted in a rapid rate. He kissed her. In front of his family. In front of his dad. Why? What did it mean? And why did her heart feel like it could burst with joy?
She was suddenly very uncomfortable and she couldn’t bear to look anyone in the eye. She couldn’t bear to see how they would react to that open display of affection. She kept her gaze trained on Angelo’s busy hands.
“Their mom is amazing. You should meet her,” Lorenzo said. “Why don’t you come to our house for dinner tonight?”
Angelo paused in the middle of dicing a large tomato and rolled his eyes at Lorenzo. “Very smooth, Dad.”
Nick didn’t say anything, but Rose could sense him holding his breath, waiting for her answer. He reached over and gave her knee a squeeze.
“My wife Lena and I would love to get to know you. And you should see the house Nick bought us. It’s too big for just me and his mom, but maybe if someone finally gives us grandchildren, it won’t seem too big. Do you like children, Rose?”
Holy mother of all things shitastic!
Everything happened all at once. Angelo burst out laughing, Nick swore softly, and Rose jumped down from her seat so fast her stool screeched behind her. Her breathing turned shallow and she felt her throat starting to close up. She was just one more inappropriate comment shy of a full-blown panic attack. She needed to get out of there.
“Thank you so much for the invitation, but I’m afraid I have to work tonight.” The words flew out of her mouth in a rush. “Thank you, though. Really.”
“What work?” Nick asked. She could hear the frown in his voice.
“In fact, I have to go now,” she said, ignoring his question. “I just remembered something I have to do.” She said her goodbyes and headed back to the bedroom to retrieve her purse. Nick was close behind her. He leaned by the doorway, blocking her exit.
“Hey, slow down.”
“I really have to go, Nick.” She ducked and walked past him and didn’t stop until she was out the front door and in the hallway. She thought she was safe until she felt a tug on her arm. Nick spun her around.
“Why are you running?”
“I’m not.”
“You were literally running. Why? You got a hot date tonight you need to get ready for?”
“Maybe,” she said, not liking his challenging tone. “It’s none of your business.”
He chuckled, clearly not buying it. “The hell it isn’t. You’re my woman now.”
“I don’t belong to anyone but myself,” Rose said angrily.
“I owned you in that bed,” he replied in a low whisper. He relaxed his hold on her and slid his hand up to stroke her nape.
Rose screwed her eyes shut and ignored the delicious warmth that radiated from his soothing caresses. “You’re putting too much stock on a casual encounter. We don’t have a claim on each other. We’re not even dating,” she said, letting the rational part of her brain do the talking. Though she wasn’t sure who it was trying to convince. “That was just sex. Nothing else.”
Nick’s hand stilled and dropped to his side. His jaw hardened and hot anger flashed in his eyes. “Best sex you’ve ever had, need I remind you?”
Her face flushed pink with humiliation. “Like I need or want reminding that I’ve had nothing but lousy sex until a big, strong man came to awaken me,” she said sardonically. “It’s demeaning enough. And for you to lord it over me like that, like you own me now because of it is uncalled for and tacky. I never should have told you anything. I knew you’d use it against me.”
“Use it against you?” he repeated, looking utterly bewildered.
“You’re good, okay. You’re amazing. So far beyond the competition. Your penis is enormous and pure magic. Is that what you want to hear?” Her words came out as an angry hiss. “But that was Still. Just. Sex. Your shrew-taming tactics won’t work on me. An orgasm won’t magically change who I am.”
“What are you even—Who said I wanted to change you?” he asked. “Jeez, Rose, I just want to take you out—”
“And I already told you no,” she said, calm and matter-of-fact, despite the crazy rush of adrenaline pumping through her veins. “I find your sexist dismissal of my—”
“For fuck’s sake!” he said, throwing his hands up in frustration. “Are we back to that again? You’re nuts, Rose, do you know that? You walk around with a huge chip on your shoulder and all these hoops you make people jump through before you let them get close—”
“They’re called standards, Nick. Most people have them.”
“And I don’t meet yours?”
He actually looked hurt. Rose felt a dull ache in her chest—guilt and something she had no words for.
He huffed a breath and shook his head at her. Some of his anger had left him, replaced by confusion. “I got no idea why I’m chasing you,” he said quietly, dark brows furrowed.
And Rose had no idea what to say to that. She turned and started to walk away.
Behind her, Nick spoke. “How many times do I have to watch you walk away from me before I get a fucking hint, huh?”
Rose paused mid-step but kept on walking. It was probably a rhetorical question. Even if it wasn’t, she still wouldn’t know what to tell him.
Before the elevator slid shut on him, she heard him speak again.
“Thanks for the fuck.” Cold. Hard. Ringing with finality. The last thing she heard was his front door slamming shut.
CHAPTER 17
Nick’s groin hovered above Moira’s face, dangerously close. His face was nearly brushing her crotch. Thank God he wore a protective cup. And he’d thought the first time he ever grappled with a guy was weird. Doing it with a chick was so much worse.
“The North-South position is one of dominance, and the man on top can do pretty much anything he wants with the one beneath him,” his grappling coach said, addressing a group of about a dozen girls sprawled out on the mats, watching them. “I’m gonna teach you a bunch of escapes and how to transition this position into different chokes…”
They were only half an hour into the session and so far, Nick had already had Moira’s legs wrapped around his waist, had her sitting on his chest, and had grabbed a handful of her butt—not on purpose. He’d heard of guys getting boners when rolling with a girl. Nick wasn’t worried about that. He was a pro and despite jiu-jitsu being a close contact sport, it wasn’t something sexual for him. Fuck no! He did worry about inadvertently hurting Moira or making her uncomfortable. But she seemed pretty game. Still, he was careful where he touched her and how much weight he put on her.
Nick turned his head to the side so he didn’t have to stare at the juncture between her thighs. Then he spotted it, just outside the mat area. A pair of patent black stiletto pumps. Nick dragged his gaze up slowly, stopping at a pair of big brown eyes. Rose was looking down at him with that ice-cold resting bitch face of hers.
He rolled off Moira and sprang to a standing pos
ition. “Take over,” he said to one of his training partners who had been watching. Without another word of explanation, he walked off.
“Rose, hi. I was just…” he waved his hand distractedly at the jiu-jitsu lesson he left in the middle of.
“Yes, I can see that,” she said, keeping her eyes low and shuffling her feet.
“So, what brings you here?” He hadn’t seen or spoken to her in two days, not since Saturday morning’s fiasco. He shouldn’t be assuming that Rose was there to see him. She could have a dozen other reasons for dropping by the gym. That tiny sliver of hope he’d allowed himself to feel when he saw those sexy high heels of hers crumbled.
“I wanted to talk to you, if you have time.”
He didn’t. He had a full day of training and a publicity appearance scheduled. He’d promised himself he wouldn’t try to see Rose or even think about her until after the fight. She was messing with his focus. Joe told him as much when he chewed Nick out for skipping practice. Nick wasn’t too pig-headed not to see that for himself. But Rose was there now and she wanted to talk to him now. He would give this girl anything she asked for, he realized suddenly. He’d drag his balls through broken glass if that was what she wanted. “Sure. I got time.”
Rose still didn’t look at him. She was frowning at something behind him. He turned and saw they had an audience. The girls and his trainers were looking at them with frank interest.
“Why don’t you go to my office? You can wait there while I take a quick shower.”
When Nick stepped into the office a few minutes later, he found Rose perched on the edge of the couch, spine straight, looking painfully uncomfortable.
He took a seat next to her, stretching out his legs in front of him and spreading his arms on the back of the couch. “So…” he began with a quirked brow. “You wanted to talk?”
Rose shifted to her side to face him, keeping her hands primly on her lap. “I came here to apologize,” she said in a calm, steady voice.
“Apology accepted,” Nick said with a shrug.
She frowned. “But I haven’t even started.”
“There’s no need.”
She let out an exasperated breath. “Nick, please. I really need to do this and we really need to talk.” She wrapped her arms around herself, a sure sign of defensiveness.
This can’t be good, Nick thought. He was an idiot for imagining they could just kiss, make up, and get back to the fun stuff. He leaned his elbows on his thighs and fixed her with a gaze meant to be encouraging. “So talk, Rosie. But enough apologizing. I don’t need you to grovel.”
She took a deep breath and began. “I’m sorry for making a scene in front of your family. I know you don’t want to hear it,” she said when Nick started to interrupt her, “but I need to say it. I’m sorry if I embarrassed you in front of your dad like that.” She covered her face with her hands and shook her head. “God, what must he think of me?”
He was touched that she even cared. Gingerly, he took her hand in his and gave her a soft smile. She didn’t pull away but she eyed their entwined fingers warily, like it was a coiled snake ready to strike.
“My dad thinks you look like my mom when she was younger and that you have nice, child-bearing hips. His words, not mine,” Nick said when Rose glared at him. “And he knows he was out of line,” he added in a softer voice. “You know how parents get when it comes to grandkids. Your dad is the same, I’ve heard him. You gotta excuse my dad. He won’t put you on the spot again, I promise.”
Rose shook her head vehemently. “No! No, your dad is great. He’s so interesting. I would’ve loved to talk to him more. You’re right, I know how parents get. I should’ve handled it better. I’m sorry I freaked out a little.”
Nick arched one dark brow at her.
“Fine, I freaked out. Period. But there’s something else we should talk about,” she said, lowering her eyes to her lap. “I guess we should’ve talked about it before we let things…progress between us.” She swallowed nervously while Nick listened, unmoving. “Friday night was great…” She stole a glance at him, checking to see if he agreed. He gave her a single nod and she continued. “It was amazing…”
“But?” he said when she trailed off. Dammit, he did not like the direction she was headed.
“But sometimes when you have sex with someone, it starts to mean more for one than it does for the other. That can’t be helped,” she added quickly. “It’s biology. Sex begets attachment.” Her hand was gripping his tightly, betraying her anxiety. Nick didn’t think she was even aware she was doing it. “I guess what I’m saying is, I think from here on out we should both be very clear about what we are and what we aren’t to each other, that this is just sex. We shouldn’t do things that might muddle that line. If not, someone will end up getting needlessly hurt.”
Nick realized two things while listening to her. One, they were still going to have sex. Two, she was worried about him getting hurt. But really, his brain was pretty fixed on number one. They were still going to have sex. She wasn’t there to tell him what happened last Friday was a mistake that could never happen again. She said it was great. No, she said it was amazing.
His face broke into a broad smile. “Let me get this straight, you just wanna use me for my body?” He laughed at her shocked expression for his blunt speaking. “Rosie, I’m a guy. I’m perfectly fine with that arrangement.” In fact, his cock seemed to think it was a fantastic idea. He was hard before he even finished speaking.
“Don’t worry about leading me on and all that crap. I’m a big boy. I can take care of myself. But I can’t just hook up with you when you’re feeling the itch either. Believe it or not, I don’t roll like that. I gotta at least be friends with a woman.” Maybe when he was younger and new to money and success, he had slept with anyone he found reasonably attractive and willing. But he’d pretty much gotten that out of his system. Now he was much more discerning. “So how ‘bout that? Can we be friends the rest of the time we’re not fucking each other’s brains out?” He flashed Rose his most charming, most convincing smile.
He didn’t want them to be friends with benefits. Hell no. He would never be satisfied with that. He wanted her to be his girlfriend. His. And he was confident he could persuade her to see things his way given enough time and enough romps in the bedroom.
At the back of his mind, there was a lone voice of protest. How many girls had come up with the same inspired idea only to be rudely proven wrong? You couldn’t make someone love you through sex, even if it was great sex. Amazing sex. Nick should know, he’d broken his fair share of hearts that way.
This is a fucking terrible idea.
He didn’t know if it was a sense of self-preservation or maybe just plain common sense that was speaking. Either way, he shrugged it off. This was different. He and Rose were different. What they had didn’t come along very often, and four years apart couldn’t kill it. That alone made it worth pursuing. She just needed to get used to him, get used to having him around and being a part of her life. He just needed time to convince her. He’d take it any way he could, any time he could.
“We have time right now to not be friends, I think.” He tugged her arm and had her across his lap. He reclined her body and brought his mouth down on hers for a kiss.
Rose was still too stunned to do anything but lay pliant in his arms as his tongue stroked inside her mouth.
What the heck just happened here?
She thought she’d just told him she was afraid of getting too attached. She meant to ask him to be careful not to lead her on. But he took it the other way around. Rose was flabbergasted. First of all, she would never be that presumptuous and arrogant. Second, the thought of Niccolo Rossi not being able to help but fall in love with her was laughable. Utterly ridiculous. He seemed to think so too, judging from how funny he found it. She tried not to take offense, she really did. But the look of incredible relief on his face when he thought she told him that all she wanted was sex was a little insult
ing. He was a guy alright, she thought with equal parts disappointment, regret, and relief.
Nevertheless, she ought to set him straight. This was her fault. She shouldn’t have been vague with her pronouns. She braced her palms on his shoulders and pushed him away. She started to speak, but Nick beat her to it.
“I got one condition.”
Oh, now he has a condition? Rose kept her mouth shut out of spite.
“I don’t want you hooking up with other guys. I don’t share, Rosie. I’m no one’s side piece.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “The same goes for me. I won’t see anyone else.”
“Oh, well…” It never even occurred to her to see anyone else. There was no one else. He, on the other hand, probably had tons of options, and she didn’t think she had any right to demand exclusivity. Yet he was the one who was insisting on it. She felt her heart swell with gratitude, which was dumb. She was feeling grateful because Nick didn’t want to fuck anyone else for the time being. This was an all-time low even for her.
And this was why she didn’t believe in casual sex, despite having friends that swore by its many benefits. She knew firsthand how sex turned people stupid and left them at the mercy of the other. It was all a game of one-upmanship, and up until recently, she’d refused to play.
It was too late, she realized. She was already at his mercy. But Nick didn’t know that. It gave her some comfort to know that she’d get out of this with her pride intact.
“Now, where were we?” Nick whispered with a smile as he slipped his hand under her skirt. Rose watched as his eyes grew wide and his mouth fell open.
“Rosie, Rosie, Rosie,” he said, amused and unmistakably turned on. “Why aren’t you wearing any panties?”
Rose felt her face grow beet red. She stifled an embarrassed laugh and hid her face on his chest. “I was. I just took it off while I was waiting for you.” She sighed softly as Nick stroked the inside of her thigh. Her predicament was certainly not without perks, she thought, her body quivering at his touch
Submission Moves: An MMA Romance Page 12
