by V.K. Sykes
* * *
Nate peered out the front window through the slats of the vinyl blinds. There were no cars parked out front, and no one in sight on the street. At six-thirty in the morning, it didn’t surprise him that the streets were virtually empty. He’d been monitoring the area outside the house most of the night, hoping for a glimpse of Arnold driving by or hanging around.
The tantalizing aroma of brewing coffee wafted in from the kitchen. Holly had set the timer before she went to bed and the machine had kicked on a few minutes ago. Then he heard the shower go on in her bathroom, and his mind filled with images of all the showers they’d taken together, especially the long, luxurious ones at his Florida condo.
And what cock-stiffening images they were. Holly’s lean, sensual body, partly hidden by the rich lather of body wash, her back and bottom molded into him. Him covering the nape of her beautiful, elegant neck in kisses as he reached around to take her sweet breasts in his hands. His insistent erection crushed against her, seeking her hot, ready sheath as the warm water cascaded over them.
The torture of living so close to her was worse than he’d imagined it would be when he decided to move in. But he was committed to protecting her, and there was no way he was going to cut and run until he’d seen her through this crap with Arnold. He’d just have to suck it up and try to keep those delicious but agonizing memories as far from his conscious mind as he could.
Or, better yet, figure out how to capitalize on them, because he was pretty damn sure she was thinking the same things he was.
The water in the bathroom shut off. A few minutes later, Holly emerged with a towel wrapped around her head, wearing a shortie pink robe. Her gorgeous, tanned legs seemed to go on for miles
Shit. Talk about torture. There ought to be a law against what she was doing to him.
“Good morning,” she smiled, glancing at him before she turned into the kitchen. “Looks like the coffee’s ready.”
“Great,” he growled. “Pour yourself a cup and I’ll drink the rest straight from the carafe. Unless you’ve got a syringe in your doctor bag and can inject it straight into one of my veins.”
She wrinkled her cute nose in sympathy. “That bad, huh?”
“I was up a fair amount,” he hedged, not wanting her to feel guilty. “But it was okay. I don’t need a whole lot of sleep.”
“I heard you wandering around. It kind of sounded like an elephant was loose in the house.”
Her smile told him she was just pulling his chain. He smiled back. “Most people have a watch dog. I guess you’ve got a watch elephant.”
Her answering laugh hummed through his veins, blasting away his fatigue. It was the best thing he’d heard in weeks, and it made him realize all over again how empty his life seemed without her.
“I’ll be ready to go in about twenty minutes,” she said. “You okay with that?”
“Sure. I’ll shower after I’ll drive you to the hospital.”
“What are you going to do today?” she asked, taking a carton of blueberry yogurt from the fridge and pulling the top off. She grabbed a spoon and dug in.
“Oh, I have to go to the ballpark and get my ass kicked,” he said.
She stopped with the spoon in mid-air. “You have to what?”
He grinned. “I have to prostrate myself in front of the general manager, and beg Mr. Dembinski’s exalted forgiveness for going AWOL from the farm team.”
She bit her full lower lip, looking guilty. And sexy as hell.
“Oh, God. You mean you’re in trouble for coming here? I told you this was a bad idea.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll get a lecture, and maybe a fine, but what the hell,” he said. “Not that Dembinski’s exactly Mr. Sensitivity, but he should understand that a guy’s gotta do whatever it takes to protect his girl.”
Her eyes rounded, and her cheeks pinked. “Nate, I appreciate the thought, but I’m not your girl.”
He’d chosen his words deliberately to gauge her reaction. It had worked. There was zero conviction in her denial, and her expression seemed to contradict her words.
“Yeah, but I’m working on that.” He gave her another grin. “Resistance is ultimately futile, you know.”
“Seems to me I’ve heard that line before.” Holly gave him a veiled glance. “Twenty minutes, okay? I’ve got a meeting with Rosen and the lawyer at seven-thirty. The court’s hearing our application for an order in the Arnold case today.” She scooped the last of the yogurt into her mouth before tossing the container in the trash.
“You didn’t tell me that,” he said, surprised. If she had to go to court, he’d be sitting right beside her. “Do you have to testify?”
She shook her head. “Fortunately, no. It’s all being done by affidavit. Our lawyer said Arnold’s lawyer was happy to do it that way—probably because Arnold would do more harm than good to their case if he actually testified.”
He didn’t sense any apprehension on her part about the case. “So, that means you don’t even have to show up at the hearing.”
“No, thank God.”
“Will Arnold be there, do you think?”
She grimaced. “I don’t know. He doesn’t have to be, and I doubt that he’ll show after the threats he made, since the police would probably use it as an opportunity to question him.” She turned and headed up the stairs.
Nate went back to the front window to make another check. Five seconds later, a police cruiser turned onto the street and drove past the house at about ten miles an hour. He was pleased to see it, but it didn’t give him a lot of comfort. A half-dozen drive-by checks a day would not deter a nut like Arnold.
He went to throw on some decent clothes, glad that Holly had agreed to his offer—his insistence, really—to drive her in to work and pick her up at the end of the day. He had nothing to do except meet with the GM and then work out for an hour or so in the clubhouse gym. Maybe he could even do some repairs around her house. The faucet on the bathroom sink dripped, and he’d noticed some missing grout around the bottom of the bathtub. He liked the idea of doing chores for her—anything that would ease the stress in her life and make her happy.
And convince her that he was serious about his feelings for her.
After the initial round of hostility when he’d barged in yesterday—something he’d known would get her dander up—Holly had mellowed out and they’d spent a companionable evening eating, drinking and watching TV. He’d made her watch the old movie The Mummy Returns, and it had made her laugh. Although she’d kept some of her emotional distance, she’d curled up next to him on the sofa, even getting comfortable enough to reach past him for the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table. His hands had twitched to grab her, but he’d managed to keep his self-control.
But being this close to her again—just talking and relaxing with her—hammered home how much he’d missed her. How much she meant to him. It was going to take a lot of work to win her back, but by the end of the evening he didn’t have a doubt in his mind that he wanted to be with her. And if it meant some sacrifices on his part, changes in his life…well, so be it. Holly Bell was totally worth it.
Whatever it took, he vowed to himself as he ran back downstairs to meet her at the front door. And when the silent vow reverberated through his mind, it settled into place with a righteous click.
This time it really would be different.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
