Her gaze darted to him. “We broke up a bit ago.”
“Interesting,” he murmured.
She started to frown.
Lucian stared at him.
And then he realized that his response was a bit odd. “It’s interesting because . . . most college relationships don’t work out.”
Okay.
That sounded stupid.
But then something flickered over Nic’s face before she quickly looked away, but he knew what she was thinking about. Hell, he knew what he was thinking about now.
Or whom, to be more exact.
Emma.
Dinner had been . . . enlightening.
That was all Nikki could think as she grabbed her purse from the staff office. She couldn’t even process what Lucian had told her about their sister and father. The de Vincents had some crazy drama in their background, but that was beyond anything she could’ve imagined.
And she had no idea how Gabe was dealing with it. She’d always had the impression that Lucian had never been close to Lawrence, but Gabe and Dev had been. Well, they had been as close to him as anyone could be to that man.
To learn that the man you thought was always your father wasn’t? And who was their dad? God.
Digging her keys out of her purse, she started to head out the back door but stopped.
Nikki remembered how bad it had been after their mother had died. They’d grown up thinking she’d killed herself, and this whole time, she’d been taken away from them by their sister.
How did one even begin to get over that?
As she stood in the small ten-by-ten room, she suddenly thought about the de Vincent curse.
What was it? Women never lasted long here. Yeah, that was it. They either lost their minds . . . or died.
Nikki never really believed in the curse and the brothers had always been so blasé about it, but now she was beginning to think it was onto something and that the brothers weren’t so dismissive of it, because sweet Jesus. Wow.
She looked over her shoulder, toward the back hallway. How would she feel if she found her dad wasn’t her father? It would kill her in a way. He’d always be her father, because he was who raised her and that was all that mattered, but still. And then to find out their own sister killed their mother because their sister was screwing her cousin and their mother objected?
Sorrow wrapped its way around her heart, and she was moving without telling her legs where to go.
In the back of her mind she could hear Rosie saying, Don’t listen to your bleeding heart. . . .
Unfortunately, she was listening, and it wasn’t that big of a deal. Not like she was in search of Gabe to throw herself at him. She just wanted—God help her—to make sure he was okay, really okay.
Because that’s what friends did.
She cut down the back hallway, making her way to the rec room. Some kind of bizarre sixth sense guided her down the long hallway and to the door that was cracked open. Placing her fingers on the engraved wood panel—the panel that Gabe himself had carved the vines into—she pushed.
He was alone.
Gabe was behind one of the pool tables, lining up a shot. The cue stick jutted out, smacking into the ball. It shot across the table, knocking into a red solid, sending it to spin into a corner pocket.
Her gaze dropped.
Gabe was barefoot.
Straightening, he looked up. “Nic?”
“Hey.” She stepped into the room, wondering what the hell she was doing. It was already dark outside, and Lord knows she didn’t have a track record of being smart once the night fell here, so she should be well on her way out of here, but here she was. “You’re playing pool by yourself?”
“Lucian wanted some alone time with Julia.” He placed the stick against the pool table. “So here I am, playing pool by myself.”
“That’s kind of . . . sad.”
One side of his lips kicked up. “Is it?”
“Yeah.” Dropping her keys back into her purse, she draped the strap over her shoulder. “I mean, pool is a game for more than one person.”
“Some consider it a sport,” he corrected, leaning a hip against the table.
She rolled her eyes. “I truly feel like for something to be considered a sport, you have to break a sweat.”
“You aren’t playing pool right if you’re not breaking a sweat.”
A smile pulled at her lips. “I’ll have to take your word on that.”
Gabe cocked his head, and a strand of hair fell forward, brushing his cheek. “I thought you had left.”
“I was going, but . . .”
Everything about Gabe appeared to go on alert. “But?”
What was she doing? She wasn’t so sure. Okay, she wasn’t being honest with herself. She was now wasting time and being stupid. “I wanted to check on your car.”
“Check on my car?”
“Yeah. The window?”
“It’s been fixed. My car is whole and happy.”
“That’s . . . good,” she said lamely.
A knowing look settled on his features. “That’s not why you’re still here.”
Hating that he could read her so well, Nikki took a deep breath. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry about everything that happened with your sister, your mom . . . and your dad.”
He stared at her for a moment and then looked away. “It’s no big deal.”
“No big deal?” she repeated, stunned. “Dude, that’s a huge deal. All of it. Every last piece of it.”
He let out a soft laugh. “And you only know half of it.”
“Half of what?”
A muscle flexed in his jaw as he turned back to her and a long moment passed. Long enough that Nikki began to really worry. “Thank you, though. For saying that.”
She didn’t miss that he hadn’t answered her question.
“But you don’t have to apologize.”
“I know.” She inched closer. “But I can’t imagine what you guys must’ve gone through—are going through.”
Lifting a hand, he brushed the hair out of his face. “What can we do, though? We can’t change what our sister did or the stuff with our mother and father. No point in dwelling on any of it.”
Fidgeting with the strap on her purse, she inched a little closer. “Do you and Devlin have any idea of who your father could be?”
He shook his head, but Nikki didn’t miss the way his jaw tightened. He may be standing there acting like everything was a nothing burger, but Nikki knew better. Maybe someone like Devlin would be wholly unaffected by the events but not the Gabe she knew.
Before she gave herself time to think about what she was doing, she sprang forward and all but tackle-hugged Gabe. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she squeezed him and said, “I really am sorry for everything that has happened.”
Gabe was utterly frozen. His entire body was so stiff she wasn’t even sure if he breathed or not, and for a really tense moment, she feared that she’d let her heart guide her into making another bad decision.
But then she felt Gabe’s chest rise under her cheek and his arms swept around her, folding across her back. He held her, and she couldn’t even remember the last time they’d hugged or been this close.
Actually, she did.
That night she’d gone to him they’d hugged and obviously that hug had turned into a hell of a lot more. Four years was a long time between hugs, and being this close to him again did crazy strange things to her senses. The entire front of her body tingled sharply and when she inhaled, she was surrounded by the crisp scent of his cologne.
It was just a hug.
That’s what she kept telling herself even as she knew she needed to pull away. It was just a hug—one that probably had little to no impact on Gabe while it was absolutely destroying her best of intentions.
Gabe’s arms tightened around her and she bit down on her lip when she felt his chin brush the top of her head. One of his hands moved, dragging down the line of her spin
e. His palm flatted at the small of her back.
Just a hug. Just a hug.
Her body wasn’t on the same wavelength as her brain. Heat flashed through her, intense and wanting. The feel of his chest against her and—
Oh my God.
Nikki’s eyes flew open. She felt him, hard and thick, pressing against her stomach.
Gabe suddenly let go and stepped back, putting distance between them as her wide-eyed gaze swung to his. “You should leave.” His voice was rough, deep. Abrasive. Nikki shivered. “Now.”
Resisting the idiotic voice that always got her into a world of trouble and wanted her to ignore what he was saying, she turned and got the hell out of there.
Chapter 14
Nikki didn’t see Gabe for two whole days after the hug apocalypse in the rec room, but then he’d brought her a banana-strawberry smoothie on Thursday, and from there, a routine began. For the next week, Gabe brought her a smoothie from D’Juice just after lunch, and he chatted with her while she prepped for dinner.
He’d asked her again about why she hadn’t found time to create the jewelry she used to be so obsessed with doing. She’d given him the same answer, mainly because she’d been too embarrassed to tell the truth.
What she used to enjoy had been tainted after that night.
Not that she’d ever tell him that, not when they were becoming friends.
He’d asked her about college. She’d asked him about how much his woodworking business had grown. She told him about her plans to find an apartment, and he offered to help her move when that day came.
A de Vincent moving her stuff?
She’d laughed then when he suggested it and could laugh now even thinking about it.
They didn’t talk about what happened with his sister or about his father and there was definitely no mention of what had happened during the impromptu hug.
Nikki was even beginning to think that she possibly imagined what she’d felt pressed against her. She hadn’t even told Rosie about that, and if she hadn’t imagined it, then she chalked it up to him just having a physical reaction to being close to a woman’s body.
Because Nikki seriously believed that some guys could get hard if the wind blew across their pelvic area.
After all, that was all it had to be, because Gabe showed no outward interest in her beyond what he’d said he wanted, which was to be friends.
It was Wednesday evening, right before dinnertime, when Gabe appeared in the kitchen. “Heads up,” he said, strolling past her. He picked up her braid and flipped it over her shoulder. “Ms. Harrington is in the house.”
“Ugh,” she muttered, already knowing that Devlin was planning to have dinner with her tonight. “Is her brother with her?”
“Unfortunately. Make it four for dinner,” he said, drawing her gaze to him. “No way am I leaving you to fend for yourself with them.”
Oh, that was . . . sweet, and sounded like the Gabe she knew. “Thanks.”
“And I have another purpose for being here other than watching you check the roast beef, which, by the way, smells amazing.”
She smiled at that and ignored the way her belly jumped around. “I think it’s going to turn out pretty good.” Closing the oven door, she faced him and got a little tongue-tied. Why, oh why, did he have to be so . . . freaking hot. “Why else are you here? I don’t see a smoothie.”
“No smoothie. Yet.”
“Oh.” She didn’t know what to say to that.
A half smile appeared. “What are you doing after you get off?”
Oh.
Oh my.
That was not a question she was expecting. “Uh, nothing. I was heading home.”
“So, no plans?” When she nodded, he said, “That works out perfect, because now you do.”
“I do?” she squeaked. Like a mouse. Ugh.
His grin kicked up a notch. “Yep.”
Now her heart was jumping along with her stomach. “What am I doing?”
“It’s a surprise.”
She stilled, barely breathing. “I don’t like surprises.”
“Whatever,” he laughed. “Yes, you do.”
“Not anymore.”
Pushing away from the counter, he slid her a knowing look. “You’ll like this one. Trust me.”
“But—”
Gabe was already strolling out of the kitchen, leaving her standing there with her mouth hanging open.
That was how Parker found her.
Because she had the worst luck known to man.
He walked through the main doorway. “Nikki.”
Her spine stiffened. “What are you doing in here?”
“Getting a drink.” He swaggered into the kitchen like he belonged in there.
Nikki knew damn well he knew to ask her father if he wanted a drink, which meant he snuck around her dad somehow.
“But now that I see you in here, I’ll let you do your job.” He flashed those bright teeth. “I would like a scotch on the rocks.”
Resisting the urge to tell him to help himself, she pivoted around and headed for the pantry where the liquor was stored off the kitchen.
“Make sure you get the good stuff.”
Nikki jumped at the closeness of his voice. She should’ve known he’d follow her. “You didn’t need to come in here.”
“Thought I’d keep you company,” he replied. “Just like Gabe was keeping you company.”
Climbing up the small ladder, she looked down at where he stood, blocking the damn door like the jerk-face he was. How long had he been waiting out in the hall to come in? She grabbed a top-shelf bottle.
“Gabe doesn’t like me,” he said, sounding indifferent.
Well, guess that answered her question.
What a creeper.
“I really wouldn’t know.” She came down the ladder. “Excuse me.”
He didn’t move. “He’s going to have to get used to me. His brother is marrying my sister.”
“Has Devlin picked a date yet?” The question came out of her mouth before she could stop herself.
His lips thinned slightly. “He will. Soon.”
“Hmm.” She stepped to the side. “If you want me to make you this drink, you’re going to have to move.”
“What if I don’t want to move?”
Irritated, she squared her shoulders. “Look, I’m just trying to do my job. Can you please move?”
He bent at the waist, lowering his head so they were eye level. “Say it nicely and maybe I will.”
She drew back, seconds from slamming her foot on his. “Can you please move aside, Parker?”
“That wasn’t really that nice, but I do want that drink.” He stepped back. “And I want you to make it for me.”
Swallowing a load of curses that would make a truck driver pleased, she went back into the kitchen and grabbed a tumbler.
“You don’t like me either.” He’d followed her back into the kitchen. “Don’t even deny it. I know you don’t.”
Well, he said not to deny it, so she kept her mouth shut as she filled his glass with ice.
“I don’t get it,” he continued. “You should be thrilled that I even notice you.”
Okay. Now she was unable to keep her mouth closed. “Perhaps that is why I don’t like you.” She poured the scotch and then picked up the glass, offering it to him. “Besides the fact you have no sense of personal boundaries? You’re arrogant because you’re rich and you’re used to getting whatever you want. That’s why I don’t like you.”
Parker laughed.
She wasn’t sure how she expected him to respond, but laughing wasn’t one of them.
Taking his glass, he stared down at her with what her mom would say were airs. Like he was a million leagues better than her. “I have some advice for you, Nikki.”
“Can’t wait to hear it.”
His nostrils flared. “You better improve that attitude of yours before my sister does marry Dev.” He reached out, placing a cool finger on her
cheek as he said, “Actually, you should start right now.”
Nikki jerked back. “Don’t touch me.”
“You’re not listening to me.” He smirked, lowering his hand. “You should be nicer to me, because even if you’re gone by the time Sabrina marries Dev, she can make damn sure that your parents no longer have a job here.”
Sucking in a shocked gasp, she stared up at Parker. A wicked sense of déjà vu swept over her. “You’re threatening my parents’ employment? Again?”
“You know it’s not a threat. It’s a piece of advice. Drop the bitch act and maybe when your mom is feeling better, she’ll still have a job.” He paused. “And considering her health, her and her husband losing their jobs because their daughter is a little bitch is the last thing they need.”
Her lips parted. Shocked, she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Why she was surprised in the first place was beyond her. That’s what he’d done the last time, when he tried to pull her towel off her and managed to shove his hand under it. He’d threatened her and it had worked. But now? Maybe it had to do with the fact he knew how sick her mother was and he was still threatening her employment.
Nikki was disgusted and horrified.
Switching his glass to his other hand, he reached out before she could move, dragging his damp finger along the curve of her cheek.
“Just something to think about the next time we cross paths.” One side of his mouth curled up. “Okay?”
Parker didn’t wait for an answer. Nikki bit back a curse as she watched him leave the kitchen just as her father appeared, looking harried and beyond annoyed.
Parker nodded at him as he passed.
“Is everything okay?” Her father hurried over.
Clearing her throat, she nodded, not wanting her father to worry. He had enough to stress over. “Yeah, everything is great.”
For what felt like the hundredth time since Nic got in his car, he glanced over at her.
She’d been strangely quiet for the drive into the city, sitting still and staring at the window. She’d been the same way during the dinner, barely making eye contact with anyone, including him. He’d thought she’d be in a jovial mood considering Parker ended up not joining his sister for dinner. Hell, he hadn’t even seen the punk ass.
Moonlight Seduction: A de Vincent Novel (de Vincent series) Page 15
