Spice Box; Sixteen Steamy Stories
Page 119
“Yep. Have them right here. My treat.”
“Oh, no.” His mother sounded like Annie had just said she was going to be out after curfew. “You can’t do that. I insist we pay for them this year.”
“Absolutely not.” Annie’s voice sounded just as firm. “These are my gift to you and Frank. You know I always get them for your anniversary.”
Damn, he’d almost forgotten his parents’ anniversary in a few weeks. He wondered what the tickets were for.
“And we appreciate it. We love to watch you dance. Are you competing this year?”
There was a pause. Then Annie said, “Actually, yes. We decided to enter this year.”
“Oh, honey.” His mom sounded ecstatic. “That’s wonderful. I know you’ll do well.”
Do well at what? A dance competition?
“Thanks, Grace, but we don’t even expect to final.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. You’ve been training for this since you were five years old. And with Colin, I think you have a really good shot at finaling.”
Colin? Who the hell was Colin?
“I know. We just don’t want to jinx it. Anyway, I’ll get on this call.”
“Thanks, sweetie. And thanks for the tickets. We can’t wait.”
Silence followed, but Nic knew his mother well enough to know she’d make her way down to his office. And since his mom moved like a cat, he’d never hear her approach.
“Hello, dear.” Grace stuck her head through his door.
“Hey, Mom.” He leaned back in his chair, ready for anything. “Having a little trouble with your General again?”
“That man will never learn.” She huffed as she took his bait. “Between him and your father, you’d think the world couldn’t turn without their involvement.”
Nic’s heartbeat picked up its pace. “What do you mean? Is Dad working on something? He shouldn’t be—”
“No, no.” Grace cut in. “It’s not a case. I’m just trying to get Terry and Kathy together for dinner, but between your father’s getaways and Terry’s schedule, Kathy and I can’t get a weekend together to save our lives.”
The General and his mother had worked together for years. The Antons and the DeMarcos maintained a close friendship, which was one of the reasons Nic refused to go to anyone remotely connected to the military to deal with his caller.
Nic shrugged. “So just schedule it and tell them to be there. No one refuses you anything, Mom. You know that.”
Grace shot him a look that clearly expressed her disbelief in that statement. No matter how true it was.
“If that’s so, then how about dinner tonight? We can eat early if you have plans.”
“No plans. I’ll be there.”
“Good.” She eyed him. “You don’t look like you’re sleeping well.”
“Mom.” He didn’t need this now.
“Or eating well.”
“Mom.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Oh, alright. But I reserve the right to hound you tonight. I am still your mother, no matter how old you are. I’m heading home now.”
Effectively leaving him and Annie alone in the building. Janey and Mal were still in Pittsburgh and Jimmy was in Washington for a conference.
Thanks, Mom. Just what I need.
On Monday, he and Annie had gone back to their pre-kiss battle stances. They’d managed to avoid each other the past two days, mainly because he’d made sure to be out of the office most of the time.
He had a couple of cases pending, none urgent except the Jones case. Tiffany Jones had called last night, worried because her abusive ex-husband seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth.
Normally, that wouldn’t bother Nic. However, the guy was a complete nutjob. If he wasn’t in Philly, where Tiffany had finally left him, he was probably on his way to get her.
Nic had set Tiff and her little girl up in Baltimore. Maybe it was time for a little trip…
A half hour and a couple of phone calls later, he heard footsteps in the hall. Since his mother had already left, he knew it had to be Annie.
She hadn’t willingly come to his office all week so maybe she was on her way to Janey’s to drop something off.
No such luck. A few second later, she appeared in the doorway, here expression calm, dressed in a pale blue suit that made her skin look like porcelain.
“Nic.” Her voice was cool and expressionless, her fingers laced together in front of her. “I think you’re right. I think we need to talk.”
Annie surprised herself by stepping into the lion’s den.
For the past two days, she’d listened to him growl—at Jimmy, at his mom.
And it was her fault.
Last weekend, he’d tried to talk to her, and she’d practically ripped his head off. It was time to set things straight. She should have done it earlier this week but this was the first time she’d been able to catch him. He’d gone out of his way to avoid being alone with her.
She was tired of walking on eggshells. She’d been stewing about that kiss for days and she couldn’t take it any longer. She had to know why he’d done it.
“I’d like to apologize for treating you so poorly Friday night,” she began. “My manners were awful and I need to say I’m sorry.”
He frowned and confusion settled onto every inch of his expression. “Is something wrong? Did something happen.”
She controlled the urge to roll her eyes. “Everything’s fine. I simply realized I was rude and I wanted to apologize.”
If she was being truthful, at least with herself, she couldn’t stand the strain between them. It’d been different before. They’d built up a rhythm over the past seven years—avoidance, annoyance, antagonism. Rinse and repeat.
That had changed when she’d kissed him last week. And he’d blown any chance of going back to that rhythm after he’d kissed her Friday night.
Since they both worked here, and neither was going anywhere, they would have to find a way to get along. Rip the bandage off, so to speak.
And, since she was being so honest with herself, she wanted to know if maybe...just maybe…
Nic’s eyes narrowed as if he’d read her mind. She had his full attention now, and his gaze burned like the hottest flame.
Then he sighed and ran a hand through his hair, dragging the long, black strands away from his face. The man had gorgeous hair. For so long, she’d ached to sift it through her fingers. When he scrubbed a hand over his chin, his closely trimmed black beard rasped against his skin, reminding her of how it had felt against her cheek when he’d kissed her.
“Annie…” He sighed. “Alright. Apology accepted…if you accept mine, as well. I don’t really have an excuse. But I am sorry for frightening you.”
And now it was time to stop screwing around. She’d done a lot of thinking this week, mostly about what Janey had said. The time had come to test that theory. The theory that Nic wanted her.
With a small smile, she grabbed onto her courage with both hands and sat in the chair by his desk. As long as she was being honest with herself, she decided to admit she might have allowed her skirt to slide up a little higher, exposing more thigh than she normally would.
And had to hide a triumphant grin when his gaze slid down her body before snapping up to hers again. “You didn’t frighten me, Nic. You startled me. There’s a difference.”
His eyes widened slightly. “Oh yeah?”
“Of course. You caught me off guard. I wasn’t ready for it or expecting it, obviously. So…tell me why you kissed me.”
She’d spoken the words without stumbling over them but was disappointed when his only reaction was a steady look. Seconds ticked by while he sat there, staring at her. She refused to fidget or drop his gaze and was rewarded when he looked away first.
“I don’t think you want to hear the answer to that one.” The words sounded like a rumble in his chest.
“On the contrary. I’d love to know.”
Nic thought about wh
at to say, what he should tell her and what he shouldn’t. He couldn’t give her the truth. He couldn’t tell her he’d been waiting seven years to kiss her again. He’d just prove how much of an idiot he really was.
“You know, I think you had the right idea the first time.” He lifted his hand to rub at the ever-present ache in his neck. “We should just forget it.”
If he thought—hoped—she’d let it go at that, he was sadly mistaken.
“So, it wasn’t because of any…feelings you might have for me?” she asked.
Shit. Forcing his gaze up to meet hers, he took a good look. And realized, behind her mask of indifference, she stared at him with hunger.
His own hunger began to build, his blood beginning to boil. “What kind of feelings, Annie?”
Her mouth tightened but she didn’t back down and now a hard grin tried to break through his rigid control.
“Come on, babe. You got this far. Might as well spill it all.”
When she didn’t answer right away, he thought he might’ve pushed her too far. When she’d come in, he hadn’t wanted to discuss this but now… Now, he wanted her to talk, even if it was to yell at him.
“Oh, I don’t know, Nic.” Sarcasm coated her tone and made his cock throb. “It seems like you can’t stand me most of the time and then you kiss me. I’m sure even you can see where my confusion is coming from.”
“Yeah, I can. But maybe this isn’t the best place to have this conversation.”
Her chin tilted into the air but he couldn’t tell if she was angry or hurt.
With a shrug of her shoulder, she sent him a look he couldn’t interpret. “Fine. Then when can we have this conversation?”
He didn’t hesitate. “How about over a drink after work?”
She tried to cover her short, sharp breath but he still heard it. “Fine.” She rose from the chair and headed out the door, only to stop and glance over her shoulder with a look that singed. “Will you be finished by six?”
He had to breathe in before he could answer. “I should be.”
She nodded then head out the door. Nic watched her ass until she disappeared then he continued to stare through the doorway at nothing. Jesus. They had a fucking date.
His cell rang and he grabbed it without looking at the screen.
“DeMarco.”
“I don’t think you’re taking me seriously, Dominic. This is not a warning. This is a threat. I will hurt you. But first, I’m going to make you suffer. You can’t be everywhere at once. She’ll never be safe.”
The call ended with a bare whisper of a click.
And a black hole opened in his stomach.
Sonovabitch.
The voice was the same as last time, distorted. Creepy as hell.
More so because someone had it in for him and that someone had threatened Annie again. Who the hell was this bastard? A nutcase who only wanted to fuck with his head?
No. Instinct told him this guy meant business. He knew where Nic lived, where he worked, his cell number. More importantly, he knew about Nic’s feelings for Annie.
If this guy came for him, someone he loved might get hurt. And he didn’t think he could live through that again.
He scrolled through his contacts to call Jimmy.
“I got another call,” he snapped before his brother could say hello.
Jimmy didn’t miss a beat. “Oh, hell. How bad?”
Nic had his hand up, ready to put it through the wall, but stopped himself before contact. Broke a couple of bones for the effort years ago. Older and wiser, right?
“Bad. Sonovabitch.”
“I can be back in a couple of hours,” Jimmy said without hesitation. “Just let me tell these bozos—”
“No.” Nic cut him off then forced himself to ease down. “No, you’ve been scheduled to deliver this talk for months. No way are you going to weasel out of it and blame me.”
Jimmy’s snort sounded half-hearted at best. “I’m not trying to weasel out of anything, you wank. I’ll give the damn speech, but if you need me, I can be there in a few hours.”
Nic took a deep breath and tried to calm down. “I know. I guess I was just hoping… Shit, I don’t know. That maybe you’d produced a miracle. You’re usually good for one of those.”
“Hey, I’m good, but not that good.” Humor tinged Jimmy’s words but they were underlined with concern. “Look, I have a few minutes. What’d he say this time?”
Nic told him and waited for Jimmy to break the silence.
“Hmm. Doesn’t sound like the first call.”
Jimmy’s statement jolted Nic out of the fury-induced haze. “Damn, you’re right. Why the hell didn’t I notice that?”
“Probably because you’re too pissed off to hear it.”
“Yeah, but is it different enough to be someone else or is this guy just getting ready to hit?”
Nic heard Jimmy’s sigh through the phone lines. “I don’t know. I take it you haven’t come up with anything yet?”
“No.”
“Look, maybe you need to bring Mom in—”
“No. No way. I’m not telling her. You know she’d tell Dad and there’s no way I want him worrying about this.”
“Yeah, but, Nic, come on. Mom’s good at this stuff. And you know how pissed she’s gonna be when she finds out you hid this from her. And then she might cry.”
Nic winced at the thought. He’d only ever seen his mother cry once—when she’d walked into his hospital room in Germany, where they’d airlifted him from Afghanistan. “Damn it, don’t try to guilt me into anything. You know I can’t tell Mom.”
“Then what are you gonna do?”
“Hell if I know.”
***
Standing in the hallway outside Nic’s office, Annie heard Nic click off the phone and toss it onto his desk.
She felt like a cat in a yard, unable to move for fear of being caught by the sleeping dog, knowing if she moved, he’d hear her and pounce.
She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop. She’d been on her way to Grace’s office to drop of a piece of mail Grace had to deal with personally.
Then she’d heard him and he’d sounded so angry and she’d needed to know what had happened.
Now, she heard nothing at all coming from Nic’s office. No shuffling papers, no scratching pen.
He was thinking about that phone call, the one he’d told Jimmy about. Someone had frightened Nic. And that said a lot. She’d always believed nothing scared Nic. The man never flinched, never showed fear of any kind. Even shot and bleeding, he’d been able to drag his fatally wounded cousin out of a firefight and into a truck.
And now he was worried about a phone call? It didn’t make sense.
A chair creaked and Annie drew in a startled gasp. A second later, Nic stuck his head out into the hallway. His expression couldn’t have been less friendly.
“What the hell are you doing out here? How long have you been standing there?”
She stiffened at his tone. “Don’t you swear at me, Dominic. I work here, too, you know. I was on my way to your mom’s office.” She held up the mail. “Why? What’s going on? What’s got you so worked up?”
Nic’s blue eyes blazed like they’d been electrified. “I never figured you for an eavesdropper, Andrea.”
A blush heated her cheeks and she lowered her gaze. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I know it was a horrible breach of ethics on my part, but I couldn’t help it. Your door was open and I could hear you plain as day.” She hesitated then forced herself to go on, locking onto his gaze. “Are you in trouble?”
For the first time since she could remember, his eyes betrayed him even as his expression went blank.
“It’s nothing to worry about. Everything’s fine.”
Hot anger burned in her stomach at his deliberately cold words. “Oh no, you don’t,” she surprised herself by saying. “You are not going to get away with that blank act this time. What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” He turned
to face her, leaning back on the edge of his desk, arms crossed on his chest. “It’s not your concern. Just drop it.”
She drew in a sharp breath. Not her concern. A not-so-subtle reminder that he still considered her an outsider.
Her jaw locked in place and her eyes burned with imminent tears, which she refused to ever let him see.
“You’re absolutely right.” She forced a brittle smile. “No problem. I’ll just leave you to your business.”
Turning on her heel, Annie strode down the hall before she could say the bitter words springing to her tongue, knowing she was hurt and would regret them later. She snagged her coat hanging in the closet by the door, uncaring that the hanger nearly clipped her head before falling to the floor.
Would she never learn? An invitation for drinks did not mean the man was going to let her close to him. No matter how much she wanted it.
The roar in her ears intensified as she grabbed the front door, ready to make her escape. She’d just pulled it open when she found herself spun around to face Nic, his fingers tight on the forearms.
“You don’t have a clue, do you?” he ground out. “How the hell could you possibly not know what I think about you?”
She wanted to kick him in the shins to make him to let go but wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of losing her temper.
“You made yourself perfectly clear that I have no business being here. I think that tells me a lot.” Annie felt her words tumble over one another, tangling on her tongue. She could barely breathe, trying to hold in the tears. “But don’t worry. I’m actually pretty smart. I’ll make sure to stay out of your way—”
She stopped with a startled gasp when she saw the molten heat in his eyes.
“Goddamn it, Annie.” His voice sounded like boots on gravel. “What the hell do you want from me? You want me to stay away? Fine. I’ll keep my distance. You want me to kiss you and strip you naked and fuck you up against a goddamn wall? That’s fine, too, because damn it, I can’t stop thinking about it. Just make up your damn mind because I can’t read it!”
Stunned, she blinked up at a man she’d never seen before. Nic never raised his voice to her. Not ever. It was almost as if he didn’t care enough to get that worked up.