“How are you feeling now?” It took every ounce of self-restraint I had not to just pick her up in my arms and carry her to the sofa.
“Better. Just a little sore still. What brings you by?” My gut twisted watching her struggle with the crutches but I kept my distance, knowing how important it was for Vivi to do this herself.
“You.” The more my plan came together, the less afraid I was to be honest about my feelings. She didn’t know, well, I would make sure she knew.
“Where’s Norah?” She was nervous, trying to gauge my plans.
“Sleepover at Sally’s, where I’m sure she’ll learn more inappropriate lessons on adult relationships.” At least Vivi laughed at my psychological pain. “I thought we could hang out under the stars.”
“Nash, I can’t.”
She wouldn’t be Vivi if she did anything easy. “I’m happy to carry you like a perfect little cabana boy.” The way her cheeks turned pink went straight to my cock but I ignored it and smiled at her.
“Cabana boys wear cabana outfits. Those little leopard print briefs, I believe.”
I smiled back. Playful Vivi was my second favorite Vivi. “You buy the briefs and I’ll wear them for you anytime. Only you, though.”
“Deal. I still don’t think it’s a good idea.” I could see the fear written in those beautiful green eyes and I wanted to vanquish it.
“Afraid you won’t be able to keep your hands off me? I’ll make you a deal, Vivi. Let me carry you outside and you can feel me up all you want but only until I put you down. Same applies for the ride back inside.” Her gaze heated when I said ride and I had to remind my body that we didn’t come here for that.
Not that we’d say no, just that wasn’t the plan.
“I’m sure I’ll manage,” she said and I stepped to her, taking her answer as consent to go outside.
“If you can’t, the offer still stands.”
She groaned but I caught the moment she gave in. Her shoulders relaxed and a small smile played around the corners of her mouth. “Fine. Let’s go. And don’t think of getting fresh.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Those green eyes slammed into mine and I didn’t even care that they were filled with disbelief because I would change her mind. “Wrap your arms around me.”
She glared but did as I said. “You’re pushing it.”
“Not yet, I’m not.” When I stood, Vivi was in my arms and my whole body sighed in relief. This was where she belonged. My fingers brushed against her thighs and I felt the shiver as it darted its way through her body.
“You should probably…oh, Nash.”
Hell yeah, I felt ten feet fucking tall at the breathless way she said my name. It was half anguish and half longing. “I did good?”
She nodded. “Really good.” I could see she was a little emotional so I took my time walking over to the table which was covered in candles. Her gaze swept over the candles to the fiesta bowls filled with chips, salsa and her favorite, avocado mango salsa. “Damn, but you don’t fight fair.”
“No, I don’t.” I set her on the lounger and stared at her for far too long. But she was beautiful. Bare-faced and beautiful. And wary as hell. I pressed a short, hot kiss against her lips just to erase that wariness from her eyes. “Don’t you forget it.”
A low sexy growl sounded behind me as I turned to take my own seat. “What’s all this about?”
“I told you, I wanted to hang with you. Why is that so hard for you to understand?”
She laughed. “No, you’re right. It’s just that usually you don’t put in the extra effort like this. Not that I’m complaining,” she said and pulled the guac closer to her.
“I’m glad you noticed.”
“Kind of hard to miss three dozen lavender roses delivered by a singing telegram.” Her words held no bite and even she couldn’t hide that wide smile. “Nice touch, by the way.”
“I’m glad it’s working. Have you stopped thinking about me yet?”
“Nope. Not yet.”
“Do you want to?”
She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, her gaze never leaving mine. “I have to.” She sincerely believed that which meant I needed to step up my game.
“Why?”
“Because we don’t want the same things, Nash. That’s why.”
“But what if we did?” I slid over so I was sitting on the edge of her lounge, lifting her legs so they rested across my lap. “What if you and I wanted the same thing? What excuse would you give me then?”
Her legs went still under my hands but only for a moment. “Why are you doing this?”
“Doing what? Trying to talk to you so we can reach some kind of understanding?”
Anger flared in her eyes and she tried to sit up but the pain in her hip stopped her. “I don’t want a goddamn understanding, Nash! I want you to want me for me. To want to be with me. Not because you’re getting sex out of it, not because we’re already married so we might as well.”
She stopped abruptly, and though I knew it wasn’t smart to push her when she was so close to kicking my sorry ass off her property, “What makes you think I don’t want you, Vivi? Because I do. I really fucking do.”
“No, you don’t.” She smiled but there was no joy in it. “You’re a good friend, and a good father, so I get why you think pretending you want this is good. Because it’s good for Norah, but I meant it when I said that I would always be there for her.” Her bottom lip trembled and it twisted in my gut to watch her try to be so strong. It hurt doubly that she felt she had to be that way in front of me. “I meant that.”
“And I mean this, Vivi. I love you. I am in love with you, stubborn woman that you are. I’ve been trying to show you but I see now that you’re determined to misread all of my actions.”
“You what?”
I blinked at her and frowned. “You heard me.”
“I did but I must be having a seizure because I thought you said that you loved me.”
I leaned forward and pressed my palm to her forehead. “Nope, no seizure. Everything’s fine. And I did say that I love you, because I do. Love you.” Gathering her hands in mine, I pressed my lips to her every finger. “I’ll keep telling you and showing you until you believe me, Vivi.”
“Is that what this is all about?”
“Yeah, what did you think?”
Vivi began blinking very fast and she swallowed hard as her skin flushed. “I thought you were doing all this because of Norah. I know you love her and you know I do too and I figured…well.” She stopped, reluctant to say what we both knew she was about to say.
“You figured I’d get her the one thing she wants that was in my power to give her?” I laughed. “I don’t know if I should be pissed you think so little of yourself or proud that you think I have that much power over you. Wait, do I have that much power over you? Can I just command you to love me back?”
She opened her mouth to speak and nothing came out so, with a confused frown, she snapped it shut. Vivi tried again but the words just wouldn’t come and I felt my own hope slowly begin to fade. “I don’t know what to say to that, Nash.”
“Then I have my answer, don’t I?”
“No. I mean this was the last thing I expected you to say.” I could see the truth of her words written on her face. She was confused. Shocked. Bewildered. But she didn’t look happy or repulsed. “I…need to gather my words.”
“Go ahead.” I stood and blew out each of the candles before turning to her and lifting her in my arms. “Just know that I’m not giving up, Vivi. It took me a while to see what was right in front of me but now that I have, I’m not giving up until you see the truth.”
“I need to gather my thoughts and…let your words sink in.” She put one hand to my cheek so softly, so gently I felt it all the way down to my soul. “I’m not blowing you off, I swear.”
“I believe you.” I did and when I laid her down on the sofa and pressed my chest against hers, I couldn’t resist brush
ing my lips against hers; just a small taste of sweet peach tea on her tongue, the tangy lime from the guac left me intoxicated. I wanted more. Needed all of her.
But now was not the time. “Breakfast tomorrow?”
She nodded and licked her lips, and that was as good an answer as I would get tonight. But as I pushed away from Vivi, who still wore a dazed look on her face, I felt hopeful. “Sure.”
“See you bright and early, Vivi. Sweet dreams.”
She snorted. “Like I’ll be able to sleep.”
I smiled one last time. “That’s okay too, because I know you’ll be thinking of me.”
Vivi
I slept like total hell. Tossing and turning because there wasn’t one whole spot on my king size bed that was comfortable. It was too hot so I kicked the blankets off with my good leg and yep, it hurt like hell. Then it was too cool as the early morning began to dawn, but my leg ached too much to climb over the foot of the bed for the discarded top sheet. It was pure hell, thanks in part to the hot and sticky Louisiana weather.
That was, unfortunately, the least of my worries. Nash said he loved me. That he was in love with me. It was unthinkable. I literally could not even think about the fact that he’d stood in front of me and said those words.
“I love you. I am in love with you, stubborn woman that you are.”
He’d said those words to me and it wasn’t a line. Hell, we both knew he didn’t need a line to get me into bed. Just a crook of one of his magic fingers and I was wet, ready and panting for him.
So yeah, that’s why I was up at the butt-crack of dawn hobbling around the house in search of coffee. And pastries. Lots of pastries with plenty of sugar. Of course, there were none because I’d given Markus the day off since the man did have a life of his own to attend to. Every day I felt better and by better I mean the pain was no longer like someone had run me over with a car and then cut me open and put plates in my hip. Now it was more of a dull ache. A constant dull ache.
But I was too restless to sit still and in too much pain to do much more than limp around the kitchen while I made some apple cinnamon muffins for me and bacon and eggs for Nash. If he came. I cooked and I thought until so much smoke came out of my ears I thought the smoke alarm would go off.
Nash had given me a lot to think about and not much notice. How in the hell did the man manage to surprise me with news like that? I mean, I knew he cared about me. Liked me, even. But the big ‘L’ word? That was so far off base that my head was spinning. Nash Boudreaux loved me. He was in love with me and wanted to be with me.
And then that little sneak had left the ball squarely in my court, which left me with a decision to make. A big one.
To tell Nash the truth or not to tell him?
I knew I had to tell him. But how did a girl go about telling the boy next door—the big strapping single dad next door—that she was madly, deeply and crazily in love with him? I hadn’t had a lot of luck in the love department, and by ‘a lot of luck’ I mean I have a better chance of cleaning up in Vegas at the blackjack tables than of finding a good man. And I had no idea how to spill my guts to Nash.
How to tell him what I wanted.
Our accidental marriage to be real. And forever.
Which meant I had to do the one thing I vowed I would never do with another person, be vulnerable. But I had to be brave and strong if I wanted an ending close to Kade and Amber’s. I had to lay it all out there.
Take a risk.
Tell him how I felt.
Again, if he showed up.
My phone rang and yanked me out of circular thoughts that were doing nothing to settle my nerves or my racing heart and I absently grabbed my cell. “This is Vivi.”
“Vivi, it’s Brady.” My whole body went tense at the sound of my agent’s voice. Brady and I hadn’t been working together long but he was a solid guy and a straight shooter. And he’d gotten me a good deal for the last two books in the series. “How are you feeling? I hope that hip is healing up because we have to get you in shape for the book tour.”
Book tour? “What book tour?”
“Oh, didn’t I say?” Brady failed miserably at his attempt at innocence and I could just imagine his brown eyes wide and trying for guileless. “Now we know I loved your book, hell I read the damn thing in one night which pissed off Mona something good.”
“I bet it did.” My mind was still spinning from his words. “Book tour, Brady. Stay focused.”
“You’re no fun. Okay fine,” he sighed, and I could hear him adjusting the little knickknacks on his desk. “The publisher is excited. Like psychotically excited about Kade and Amber’s story and they’re putting everything behind it. Book tour, talk shows, and maybe even a movie deal.”
I let Brady’s words sink in for a minute because I was having trouble breathing and dammit, I really needed to sit down. Okay. “Is this real, Brady? Not just talks?” One thing I knew without a doubt was that most of the publishing industry was all talk. Big promises of deals, advances and big screen adaptations yet very few deals actually happened.
“This is all the way real. In fact, you’re getting another big check so your sole focus—after the book tour—is the final book in the series. Isn’t that wonderful? Tell me how great I am, Vivi.”
“You’re pretty great, Brady. Seriously.” He had yet to let me down which meant he was at the top of my list of trusted people for the moment. Well that, and he loved my book. And he was getting me good money, something no formerly starving artist would ever take for granted.
“I know, aren’t I?” Brady laughed and talked some more about the plans for the tour. “Just help up that hip because we don’t want anyone thinking you’re being abused or worse, old.”
“Thanks for your concern, Brady.”
“Anytime, Vivi. Now go out there and celebrate. Even bumpkin land has to have some late night entertainment.” I laughed and rolled my eyes knowing he couldn’t see me through the phone.
“The last thing I need is to get knocked over for trying to push through a bar with my hip. Sounds great, Brady, but I’ll crack open some bubbly right here at home.” I would either have two things to celebrate or I’d be drowning my sorrows. Either way, there would be champagne.
“With that big cowboy and his cute kid? I approve, Vivi. And it’s about time.”
I laughed. Not even a decade my senior, Brady liked to pretend he was my sage old uncle. “You’re focused on the wrong romance, Brady.”
“Never! Love agrees with you, which is perfect since it’s our business. And since I really need to go to bed now, you can tell me all about the celebration later.”
“Go to bed? It’s past eight.”
“Five, Vivi. It’s five in LA and that’s where I am. Tell you more later, love. Congratulations to both of us.” And then he ended the call, and I slowly stood and made my way to the oven to pull the muffins out and set them on a cooling rack. Looking at the bowl of whisked eggs and the bacon laid out on a sheet pan with a heavy sigh, I made my decision.
I would give Nash one hour to show up and then I would…well I would figure out what came next.
“Hey.” Nash sat on the coffee table with his elbows resting on his knees, smiling down at me with a twinkle in his blue eyes.
“Hey,” I said back, not even bothering to hide my sleepy state and my almost certainly messy hair. “What time is it?”
“Early. Late night?”
I nodded around a yawn and slowly sat up, taking care with my hip because the pain was the worst when I was still for too long. “Sleep doesn’t come easy when it hurts every time I move, Nash.” And though I planned to tell him how I felt, he didn’t need to know he was the cause of my sleepless night.
“Too bad. I thought maybe you were up all night thinking about us.” His lips twitched and I knew he hadn’t bought my half-truth. “I was.”
“Me too,” I told him because if I was going to do this, I would do it right. Aunt Mae had always told me to be bold an
d Daddy never discouraged me, so why was I being such a scaredy cat now? “But I would have slept at least a few hours if not for the hip.”
“Good to know,” he said, those full lips twitching again and I didn’t know whether to nibble them or smack them.
“What’s in the bag?”
“A surprise. Do I smell muffins?”
Nash tried to hide it, but his sweet tooth rivaled Norah’s. “Shredded apples and cinnamon.”
He groaned and stood, setting the bag down and holding me like I was the most precious thing to him. “How’s your pain today?”
“Ask me again in ten minutes,” I told him when I was finally on my feet. “When I’m moving the pain stays at a minimum but after sitting for a long time or sleeping, it’s the kind of pain that can change a person’s personality.” At the sound of a snort I looked up at him and his blue eyes sparkled with…mirth. “Are you laughing at my pain?”
“No. Of course, not.” He held his most charming smile and pressed a kiss to my forehead as he guided me into the kitchen, pulling out a chair and helping me into it. “It’s just that you’re so cute when you’re all feisty.”
“I’m always feisty,” I grunted back, daring him with my eyes to disagree.
“I know.” Nash’s lips lowered to mine again but this time all traces of playfulness were gone. His eyes, darkened to sapphire with desire, bore into me like a laser as they drew closer and closer until they were black. Then everything was black because I wanted to close my eyes and savor the kiss, and I did. Pouring everything I had yet to tell him into that kiss, that coming together of mouths was too erotic for this time of morning, but neither of us was willing to be the first to break away.
His lips were firm and strong, demanding as he drank from my mouth, turning the temperature up in my panties to about ten million degrees. His tongue teased mine, his lips controlled the dance and his hands, well they were doing all kinds of things to my ass and my boobs. “Nash.” I pulled back because my brain was low on oxygen but I quickly went back for more, making him chuckle.
Accidentally On Purpose: An Accidental Marriage Boxset Page 17
