by Jennie Adams
His hands curved, just once, around the soft flesh of her bottom. Shaped her while his imagination went wild. While he pictured them together at his grandfather’s cottage, making love night after night.
Except Nate didn’t do night after night with all it entailed. It was too easy to forget it in her arms. He fought for sanity. Fought to keep from losing himself. From freefalling into something that came as close to scaring him as anything could.
Instead, he grated words from a throat roughened with desire. ‘Tell me…what’s in your bag.’
‘Tell me why you went away.’ Her words were breathless, kiss-clogged, but as aggressive as she could make them.
‘I can’t do that.’ For the first time, he wished he could talk about it. Regretted the secret. Despite her anger, his fingers caressed her arms, ached even now to touch her bare skin. ‘What were those sheets of paper?’
‘You keep your secrets, but I can’t have mine?’ She wrenched free.
He didn’t try to touch her again, although he wanted to. Wanted to hold her close while he showed her again how volatile she made him feel.
‘I’m working on something that meant a lot to Henry, if you must know.’ At another time, her haughty anger would have made him smile. ‘And since it’s his project, and nothing to do with work, I don’t see why I should explain it to you.’
Nate saw, though. Remembered belatedly just why he needed her answer. He would get it in the end. ‘It’s late. Let me see you home.’
‘There’s no need. Gertie—’
‘Didn’t accompany you to work today.’ He knew, because Chrissy had arrived at work before him this morning. He would have seen the car in the car park, had she driven it. He noticed far too much about her.
‘Well, that’s right, actually.’ She floundered, and her pale face flushed again. ‘I forgot for a minute that I didn’t have the car.’ The admission was grudging. ‘But that’s fine, because I’ll just take public transport. I really don’t need a lift.’
‘It’s no big deal.’ He pushed the button on the elevator. When it opened again, he took her elbow and guided her inside.
His hand remained as the doors closed. He liked to believe it was choice that kept it there. ‘I’d like to meet your sisters, anyway. That is, if you expect either of them to be at your flat tonight? I understand they both know my grandfather reasonably well.’
This was the weekend, though. Parties. Dates. Clubs and pubs and lots of men on the prowl. The thought of Chrissy out on a date with any one of them made him grit his teeth.
‘Regardless of whether your sisters are there or not, I’m taking you home.’ Something primitive and possessive welled inside him. ‘So don’t argue.’
CHAPTER FIVE
‘YOU could do with being a little less bossy sometimes, but I’ll accept the ride, I guess, since you’re so insistent about it.’ Chrissy cast an unsteady glance in Nate’s direction. ‘As for your question, we live in half a terraced house.’
Who wanted to talk about anything when their senses still swirled from such a kiss? Oh, my, that kiss! Her body blazed from what Nate had brought to life in those moments in the hallway. His kiss had been so much more than just a physical mating of mouths.
You heard him question you about what was in your bag straight after. For all you know he might have staged the kiss to catch you off guard so he could get his answer.
It didn’t matter what had motivated him. Well, of course it mattered, but the kiss itself had affected him as much as it had her.
‘Half a terraced house exactly where?’ His question was innocuous enough. But he had a tight, leashed look about him that gave her a delicious shiver. The sort of look that warned, Just do one thing to provoke me and it’ll start all over again.
‘Um…’ She wanted to crow about that look. Wanted to do just one thing and see what happened. These weren’t the right reactions.
So he’s not the type to hang around. Why not do what he suggested on Monday, and take him up on the short-term liaison he had in mind?
Chrissy was actually tempted, which shocked her to the soles of her never-get-involved-with-a-noncommittal-man shoes.
‘Ah, the address is, ah…’ She gave him the details in a breathy voice she didn’t want to admit was her own. And yes. She expected her sisters to be there tonight. They had all planned very carefully to ensure that would be the case, but introduce Nate to them…?
Not if she could help it. The jealous, possessive thought made her gasp. Bella and Soph were beauties, while Chrissy was…just Chrissy. But she accepted that. She had never wanted to keep a man away from them before.
That’s because you’ve never cared about losing one to them before.
Deep down, she had to admit that was true. Her sisters had never tried to steal anyone’s attention from her, but it would happen anyway. Even their erstwhile parents, not exactly the best examples of commitment, had preferred Soph and Bella over Chrissy. Until Chrissy drove them to leave all three of their offspring.
She stifled a sigh and tucked the guilt back into its corner, where she could live with it in relative peace.
And talked on about her home, because she didn’t want a thickening silence with all sorts of possibilities floating around in it to tempt her. ‘We rent the upper floor. Our landlady is…batty, but nice. We’re really lucky to have the place.’
‘Dodging the issue, Chrissy?’ With those few words, he nailed her procrastination to the wall.
When he strode out of the lift, she had to trot to keep up. ‘I’m not dodging anything. I was simply discussing my home. Sorry if you weren’t interested!’
The sound he made had a definite sensual edge to it. ‘I think you can take it as a given that I’m interested.’
‘Oh, um, well.’ For a man who was interested, he moved as though he couldn’t get away fast enough. ‘Could you slow down a bit? My feet are about to fall off.’
He slowed, took her hand and tucked it through his arm, effectively clamping her to his warm, hard side. ‘Just match your steps to mine now and don’t try to fight it.’
Don’t try to fight it?
Her feelings were already on the rampage, and that was his best advice?
Feelings? I am not emotionally involved with this man. It’s a simple case of physical attraction. Y chromosome meets non-Y chromosome, and they just sort of, well…attract.
Even to her, the reasoning sounded weak. ‘Why are you so keen to meet Bella and Soph? For that matter, how do you know all this stuff about me?’
‘I have phoned my grandfather from time to time in the past six years, you know. Sometimes he talked about you.’
His bored tone couldn’t have made it plainer that he might want to kiss her, might find her physically attractive, but, as a person, she left him cold.
‘Good.’ She tightened her fingers on his arm and smiled through teeth that no longer wanted quite so much to nibble on his earlobe as to chomp a hole through it. ‘I hope he told you all about me.’
In the most boring fashion imaginable, right down to my fetish for toe socks with cartoon characters on them, and the fact that I can’t put those stupid ring-binders back together after I’ve opened them to add new plastic sheets.
Nate’s mouth twitcherooed. For the second time.
And Chrissy seethed. How dared he find her amusing when he had just insulted her?
Then he glanced at her and his smile faded, replaced by a sort of determined resignation that she didn’t understand. ‘Why don’t we drive out to the hospital before I take you home? We can say hello to Henry and report in about work, if he’s interested.’
Checkmated. That easily. She couldn’t refuse the chance to see Henry.
‘That’s a lot of trouble for you.’ He caught her out like that from time to time—being thoughtful and considerate—and it unnerved her.
As had happened yesterday when he insisted on knowing what Henry’s comment about Thursday lattes had been about, then took he
r out for her favourite coffee blend when she explained the weekly tradition to him. Aside from an underlying awareness of him that reared up from time to time, she had almost enjoyed that outing.
Admit it. The man can be a charming companion.
‘It’s no trouble, but why don’t you have your car today?’
She felt his stomach muscles move against her hand as he walked. It was just too distracting. ‘I…ah.’
‘Is there something wrong with it?’
‘Wrong with…’ Oh, right. With the car. ‘No. Gertie’s fine. Our mechanic looks after her.’
Joe was also their friend and neighbour and ran a successful suburban auto-shop, although he did a lot of the work on their car for free. He had even helped out with driving lessons for Chrissy and Soph. Bella had already been driving when they met him.
In return for Joe’s help, Soph styled his hair, Bella introduced him to men she thought he might find interesting and Chrissy occasionally blitzed his work office so he could find his desk again. It was an arrangement that suited all of them.
‘It’s just that it was really Soph’s week to have the car. Bella was last week. I’m supposed to be next week, but I’ll give most of it back to Soph. We mix and match to suit our schedules.’
‘Right.’ He probably had no idea what she was nattering on about.
Who could blame him? She should simply make the smart decision and back right away from him. So why didn’t she? She couldn’t really be contemplating throwing her hat over the short-term-affair-windmill, so to speak?
Getting involved with him would be insanity. Think about that instead of hats and windmills. Think of how you’d feel when he left!
When he led her to a retro convertible in the car park, she had to hold back a gasp. Long, sleek lines. Bright red paintwork. Cream top. Gorgeous leather interior. It was a shamelessly sexy car that pushed thoughts of restraint and caution from her head.
Indeed, this car roused some very sensual thoughts. What a great match for…Gertie. Yes. A smooth, powerful car that would set off the bug’s quaintness to perfection. Their cars should be parked side by side, to show them to advantage. Simply for the aesthetics of it. No other reason.
Chrissy suppressed a growl, disgusted with herself. No other reason, indeed. Next thing she would have the cars sharing a twin garage beside a cosy little house somewhere in the suburbs.
‘Suburbs, affairs,’ she muttered. ‘You wouldn’t know what you wanted if it came right up and bit you on That Feature That Shall Not Be Named.’
Nate seemed content to drive to the hospital in silence. Maybe because he thought he was travelling with a deranged lunatic who muttered to herself all the time!
The quiet should have given her time to pull herself together. Might have, if she hadn’t been overwhelmed by the sweet rumble of the car’s engine. By the plush welcome of its wide bench seat that carried a faint scent of…Nate.
Why did his car have to communicate the very essence of him? She felt as though the whole dratted vehicle was an extension of being held in his arms.
It was a relief to focus on Henry when they arrived. Until she realised that, although he was in better health, her boss was in poorer spirits. He did his best to sound cheerful, but she saw through it, and worried.
After a short discussion of a general nature, Henry started to fiddle with the bedcovers. He seemed almost furtive, which didn’t make sense. ‘Don’t work too hard, Nate. Just take care of the day-to-day things.’
He eased back against his pillows, his face pinched. ‘Leave the monthly tasks and so forth. I’ll be ready to take care of those more mundane things soon, anyway.’
‘I’m getting by.’ Nate said it gently, but Chrissy knew from working with him that he would never just get by. The man applied himself wholly to whatever he worked on. As he had proved when he kissed her.
No more kissy thoughts already!
They didn’t visit for long after that. Nate said he would return tomorrow. Chrissy noted the time and decided that her visit could wait until later in the day. Not that she felt driven to avoid Nate just because she couldn’t get his kiss out of her mind.
Oh, so fine, then. She really needed some distance so she could pull her head together! It was all Nate’s fault, anyway. He wasn’t turning out to be the simple, uncomplicated rat she had first thought him to be.
She settled into her seat in his car and clipped her seat belt with aggravated vigour.
‘He’s a far more complex rat,’ she muttered. A nice rat, with depths and layers she wanted to explore despite the clear likelihood of getting herself well and truly burnt as a result of her curiosity.
‘Were you talking to me?’ An eyebrows lifted.
Oh, good. He has bionic hearing as well as bionic eyesight. Did that mean he had understood her earlier mumbled comment, about the car and the suburbs and—just exactly what had she said?
‘Are the doctors happy with Henry’s progress?’ Her glare dared him to say anything about her muttering, now or earlier. After all, she hadn’t seriously considered throwing herself at his feet dressed only in a bright red bow and a smile and asking him to sweep her away for a few nights and days of grand passion.
Her grump factor notched upward. ‘What feedback have you had?’
‘They’re pleased with his recovery.’ He looked at her thoughtfully. ‘His speech has improved substantially and he’s no longer disoriented.’
All this aligned with her own impressions, and focusing on Henry was a good idea right now. It had to beat thinking about Nate and red ribbons. ‘But?’
‘Emotionally he doesn’t seem to be recovering as well as could be hoped. I would have thought you would take care of monthly reports and so forth, by the way.’
‘I do some of them, but there are others that Henry has taken over in the past year or so. I’ll be happy to do them again, but I’d rather Henry didn’t know. I don’t want him to think I’m stepping over the boundaries.’
‘Fair enough. They’re a few weeks off yet, anyway.’ Nate turned the car back toward the city and lapsed again into silence.
He didn’t seem to want to pull the car off the road and test out the manoeuvrability of its bench seating.
Chrissy shouldn’t be thinking about that, either. Her focus should be solely on the care of her boss. ‘I wish we could do more.’
She could be supportive, though. Tonight’s project would be a good start. With a sigh, she relaxed against the leather seat. ‘I’ll be glad to get home.’
‘Can’t wait to be out of my company?’
Just when she thought they had left all that behind, Nate brought it up again. Drat the man.
‘It’s not intended as an offence to you.’ Avoiding him was the wisest course. It didn’t mean she anticipated the idea with any pleasure.
She ran a hand over the dashboard. When she spoke again, it was to address something completely different. ‘Your choice of car surprises me.’
Are you as romantic as this car suggests?
He certainly wasn’t. The man might own a made-for-romance car, but he had a run-from-commitment outlook.
‘I rebuilt the car years ago. When I left Australia, Henry took over the registration. He’s had a mechanic looking after it, driving it occasionally to keep it in shape.’ Bland. Factual. Not romantic.
‘Oh. I see.’ Aspirations firmly squelched, she lapsed into silence and told herself to be glad he had reminded her of his true nature.
Inexplicably, she almost drifted off to sleep. She became fully alert in a hurry again when he found a parking place a few doors down from her home and climbed out of the car.
This was brush-Nate-off time. She should have been awake and prepared, not half-asleep with her head lolling in his direction.
‘Thank you for taking me to see Henry, and for bringing me home.’ Polite while firmly pushing him off. That was the way to manage this. Then she could go inside and collapse in private.
Or, at least, in a
s much privacy as a girl ever got when she shared an apartment with her sisters.
So brush him off now.
She didn’t jingle her keys or fiddle with her shoulder bag. No subliminal I’d-like-to-invite-you-in signals were sent. She didn’t want to invite him in. That would be stupid, now that she had remembered all the reasons they wouldn’t suit each other.
Yet Chrissy’s fingers itched. Positively itched. ‘That’s not because I want to jingle my keys. It’s because I’ve been neglecting my hand-cream applications. Dry skin. It’s nothing but dry skin.’
Nate pursed his mouth. A confused frown drew his brows down. ‘Pardon?’
‘Ah, nothing. Just thinking about an upcoming beauty treatment.’ By the time she’d got the explanation out, Nate had her halfway up the external stairwell that led to her home. ‘Well, thank you again for this. You must be in a hurry to—’
‘Open the door for you.’ He held out his hand for the key. ‘Not in a hurry, but, nevertheless, we should go in. It’s not exactly warm out here.’
Before she could A) hand her key over like a robotic ninny, or B) blurt out some brainless rejoinder like a robotic ninny, the door flew open from the inside.
Two gloriously beautiful women, one in skin-sticking black, the other in fluffy maroon, looked out.
‘You’re late,’ said Arabella, ever the older sister. Her shoulder-length blonde hair seemed to crackle with accusation. ‘You could have sent a text message or something. Where have you been?’
‘You’ve brought company.’ Sophia blinked rapidly, ridiculously long lashes fluttering madly as she did her best to hide her surprise. Her honey-gold hair was pulled back from her face, revealing her gamine features in a most appealing way.
Well, fine, so Chrissy didn’t bring guys home as a rule. Neither did her sisters. Much. Although Bella had muttered something about some man the other day. Chrissy had taken no notice. If her older sister decided to get serious about anyone, they would hear about it.
Said sisters both stared at Nate, eyebrows raised, curiosity stamped on their gorgeous faces. No way would they let him simply disappear, now that Chrissy had turned up with him in tow. Her hopes of getting rid of Nate were smashed, although she would make one final effort, anyway.
