And Then He Kissed Me

by Southwick, Teresa

  Abby finally realized what that bad feeling was. She felt like she was losing her whole world. Again.

  As soon as the door had closed behind Nick, she’d had a flash of comprehension. She was in love with Nick Marchetti. But that was impossible. Or was it? She hadn’t spent any significant time with him. Or had she? Wasn’t it possible that falling in love happened in a less than orderly way like her parents? They’d had more good times than bad in spite of the way they got together. If they’d lived, they might have salvaged the marriage. She couldn’t make him happy.

  That thought broke her heart.

  Standing at the restaurant podium, Abby looked up from checking her dinnertime waiting list. Madison Wainright walked up to her. “Abby, could I speak with you?”

  “Of course,” Abby answered automatically. Shock at seeing the other woman had momentarily cut off the blood supply to her brain.

  She had a feeling she didn’t really want to have this conversation. She was fairly certain she wouldn’t like what Madison was here to say. If she and Nick had patched things up, that would be good news and bad. Bad because Abby had realized that she loved him. Good because if he was happy with Madison, she, Abby, couldn’t hurt him any more than she already had.

  After her anger had abated, she was appalled at how she’d sent him away. Countless times she had picked up the phone to apologize. Then what? She would be right back where she’d started. Loving him with nowhere to go. She’d decided that since the deed was done, it was best to leave it that way. If only she didn’t see the future in black and white. Without Nick, all the color had disappeared from her world. She was left with profound emptiness and an ache that didn’t go away, not even in sleep.

  “Why don’t we go somewhere quiet?” she said, indicating the hall leading to the manager’s office.

  “I’m not taking you away from work, am I?” Madison asked, looking around the sparsely filled restaurant.

  Abby looked at her watch, then shook her head. “It’s past the dinner rush. And rush is definitely the right word. My feet are killing me. This way,” she said.

  Abby led the way to the quiet room in the rear of Marchetti’s. “Have a seat,” she said, sitting behind the desk.

  Madison gracefully took one of the chairs facing her. “I’d like to talk to you about Nick.”

  Abby’s heart contracted at the sound of his name on the other woman’s lips. “Yeah. I didn’t figure you were here to discuss the price of pasta.”

  Madison smiled. “No. That’s not my area of expertise.”

  “Before you start, I just want to reassure you that Nick and I are nothing more than friends.” Liar! Not only did she love him, but they didn’t even have friendship anymore. “You have nothing to worry about on my account.”

  “Funny, that’s what I was going to tell you.”

  Abby blinked as she let the words sink in. “Excuse me? What did you say?”

  “Nick and I are just friends. You have nothing to worry about from me.”

  “But you guys are just taking a break from each other. You’ll get back together. If you give it a chance, I’m sure you can work out whatever the problem is.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Madison, you can’t give up on this. You won’t find a better man than Nick. He’s loyal, funny, smart, good-looking enough to tempt a saint.” Abby figured the years of all work and no play had finally made her crazy. Why else would she sell another woman on the man she loved? Because she wanted him to have the wife and family he’d longed for.

  “Yes, he’s everything you say and more.”

  “Then what’s wrong? I didn’t peg you for a quitter. You don’t get through law school by giving up on your briefs. You have to try. If you don’t, you’ll break his heart again.”

  “Again?” Madison looked confused.

  “Yeah, you know. Like that moron in Phoenix that he married.”

  Her confusion cranked up a notch. She looked ready to call the guys in the white coats. “What are you talking about, Abby?”

  “You remember. He told you. The woman who was pregnant with another man’s baby. The one he married to give her and the baby a name. Then the bozo came back and she dumped Nick—”

  Her gasp of stunned surprise was no act. She really and truly had no idea what had happened. Nick hadn’t confided in her. Oh lord, that meant she, Abby, was the first person he had told. That meant—that meant stuff she didn’t want to think about.

  “No, Abby. I didn’t know. Poor Nick. He’s always trying to take care of everyone. He needs someone to protect him from himself.”

  “He has you,” Abby said, really getting nervous now.

  Madison shook her head. “No. I did the right thing when I broke it off.”

  “But he cares about you.”

  The other woman shrugged. “As a friend. That’s not good enough for me. Besides, there would always be another woman standing between us.”

  “Who?” Abby had to ask even though she knew what the other woman would say.

  “It’s you, Abby.”

  She shook her head. “No. It can’t be me. I’m completely wrong for him.”

  Madison lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “Says who? If he isn’t in love with you, he’s awfully close.”

  “I don’t want him to care about me. I’ve been trying so hard to prevent this very thing.” Abby stood. “Madison, you’ve got to go after him. He’s been hurt twice and once was you.”

  “The last thing I want is a Marchetti man.” She shook her head vehemently. “Besides, I didn’t hurt him. But you’ll break his heart if you don’t stop burying your head in the sand and take what he’s offering.”

  “I can’t have him.” Abby felt a rising wave of panic, mixed with a healthy dose of pain. Why couldn’t things have been different?

  “I don’t understand what’s standing in your way, Abby. It’s obvious to me that you care about him very much.” She stood up, too.

  “Did Nick put you up to coming here?” Abby asked.

  “No. But I saw him recently. I’m on retainer for Marchetti’s Inc. He looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks. Your name happened to come up in conversation.”

  “My name?”

  She nodded. “I don’t remember why. But he said that you’re under the mistaken impression that he and I are still an item. I’m here to tell you that’s not true.”

  “You could try again,” Abby said hopefully.

  Madison shook her head. “I know when the evidence is stacked against me. He got that same look in his eyes that he always gets when he talks about you.”

  Abby knew it was wrong to glow at the words. The hope bubbling up was a mistake. To even contemplate something with Nick was asking for heartbreak. But again she had to ask. “What look?”

  Madison smiled sadly. “It’s an expression that I hope some man someday will get when my name comes up.”

  “What look?”

  “It’s hard to describe.”

  “What look?” she asked for the third time.

  “As if you hung the moon.” Madison sighed and shook her head.

  “Really?” The question was rhetorical. She suddenly realized why she’d known Madison wasn’t right for Nick. He’d never looked at her as if she held his heart in the palm of her hand.

  “Despite what you’ve heard about attorneys, I always tell the truth. Yes, really.” She moved toward the door. “One more thing. I like you, Abby. This would be so much easier if I didn’t. Nick met you first. I never had a chance with him.”

  “Madison, I—”

  She held up her hand. “Don’t say anything. I think I’ll go into the dining room and have a lovely glass of your very good house chardonnay.”

  Abby walked out with her. When they stopped at the bar, Luke was standing there.

  “Great,” Madison muttered. “Just what I need. Another Marchetti man.”

  Abby looked at the youngest Marchetti and thought Madison could do worse.
He was very handsome. Not like Nick’s charming, easygoing good looks, but with more of a simmering, dangerous appeal. In fact, as they stood in front of him, she looked from one to the other and thought they would make a striking couple—if Madison hadn’t already been involved with Nick. No matter what she said, Abby hoped she would change her mind and be his significant other. She, Abby, wanted him to be happy. More than anything else in the world.

  Luke smiled. “Hi, Maddie,” he said.

  “Hi, yourself,” she answered.

  “To what do we owe the honor of your presence?” Abby asked him.

  Reluctantly, she thought, he pulled his eyes away from the other woman. “I was looking for Nick. I’ve left messages for him all day, and he hasn’t returned them.”

  “I don’t know why you thought he would be here,” she said. “And before you ask, I don’t know where he is. It’s not my night to watch him.”

  Madison smiled a little sadly. “Before you ask, ditto for me.”

  Luke looked from one to the other. “Ma suggested I check here. I’ll just catch him at the office tomorrow.” He sat on one of the stools and met Abby’s gaze. “I thought you might like to know that the restaurant numbers are up. Good job, Abby.”

  “That’s great,” she said. If only the rest of her life could be fixed as easily. “Thanks for letting me know, Luke.”

  “No problem.” He turned his gaze to Madison. “You okay, Maddie? You look like you lost your best friend.”

  “No,” Abby said quickly. “They’re just taking a break.”

  “And you’re the Queen of Denial,” Madison said, smiling a little sadly.

  “I have to get back to work.” Impulsively, Abby hugged the other woman. “Thanks for trying to help.”

  As Abby walked away, she heard Luke ask, “Can I buy you a drink, Maddie? I have two shoulders. You can pick either one to cry on.”

  Abby closed and locked her car door. The wind was cold and her suit jacket was no protection. But it was the chill from inside that made her shiver. She hardly remembered the drive home from the restaurant. She was still reeling from Madison’s revelation.

  Nick never told her his secret.

  That meant she, Abby, was the one he felt closest to. Was it possible that Madison and Sarah were right? Did Nick really have deep feelings for her?

  Keys in hand, she walked through the apartment complex. As she approached hers, a man stepped from the shadows, startling her.

  “Hi, Ab.”

  “Nick,” she gasped, a hand to her chest. “You scared me out of a year’s growth.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to. And you can’t afford that. But I wanted to talk to you.”

  “You should have stopped by the restaurant. As a matter of fact, Luke was there. He was looking for you.”

  “I wanted to speak to you privately.” He stuck his hands in his slacks’ pockets, pushing up his suit coat. “I wanted to apologize for what happened with Sarah. You had a right to know what was going on with her.”

  “No, I’m sorry. I overreacted.” She fumbled for her apartment key. “I’d been scared to death, and I took it out on you when all you tried to do was be supportive.”

  “You know what they say about hurting the ones you—”

  “Darn it,” she blurted out.

  Her hand shook so badly, she couldn’t get her key in the lock. Nick gently took it from her. Their fingers brushed, and for that fleeting moment, she savored the warmth of his skin on hers. She wanted to tell him to go away. She wanted to tell him to never go away. She wished she could curl up, pull the covers over her head and sleep for a hundred years with Nick beside her.

  But that wasn’t going to happen, so she might as well get this over with. They walked inside and she flipped on the lights, then closed the door. “Before you say anything, I’ve got a question for you,” she said.

  “Okay.”

  “Why didn’t you ever tell Madison about Margaret?”

  “How do you know I didn’t?”

  Abby set her purse on the table and took off her jacket. Then she turned to face him. “She came to see me at the restaurant tonight.”

  “She did?”

  It was obvious Madison had told the truth. He hadn’t put her up to it. Abby nodded. “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “She wanted to assure me that you two were not seeing each other anymore.”

  “How did the subject of Margaret come up?”

  “I told her she couldn’t hurt you like Margaret did. She didn’t have a clue what I was talking about. What’s up with that, Nick? Why did you tell me first? Before your family, and before the woman in your life?”

  He rubbed a hand over his face. “It’s so simple I didn’t see it myself for a long time.”

  “I still don’t see it.”

  “Yes you do, Abby.”

  The intensity in his gaze held hers. She wanted to look away and couldn’t. She wanted to throw herself in his arms—and couldn’t. Was it too much to ask that they just go on like always?

  “Nick, don’t say anything else. You’re my boss. I don’t want to compromise our work relationship.”

  His laugh was just this side of bitter. “We’re way beyond that.”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head. “We don’t have to be. If we don’t talk about this, it will just go away.”

  “That’s fantasyland, Ab. It’s not going away. At least not for me.”

  “I don’t want to hurt you, Nick. I’m not right for you. I’ve got school to finish. So does Sarah. Then college. I have to work. I don’t want a relationship until I have the time to see if it’s right and make it work.”

  “When are you going to face what you’re doing?”

  “I face it every day.”

  He shook his head. “In a pig’s eye. You’re burying your head in the sand.”

  “That’s what Madison said.”

  He smiled grimly. “You know what happens when you bury your head in the sand?”

  “I have a feeling you’re going to tell me.”

  He came close to her, so close that she could smell the lingering, sexy scent of his cologne. So close that she could see the pulse in his neck pounding. So near that she felt his warmth and security. With his knuckle, he nudged her chin up so she had to look him straight in the eye.

  “I feel it’s my duty as your self-appointed guardian angel. When you stick your head in the sand, you leave that very shapely rear end of yours exposed.”

  “How do you do that?” she asked. “Maneuvering Marchetti. How do you manage to insult me and dish out a compliment at the same time?”

  His grin was fleeting. “It’s a gift.”

  “I wish I had the gift. Because I can’t give you what you’re looking for, Nick.”

  “Yes, you can. I’m asking for a chance—for us.”

  “I don’t have time.”

  He gripped her upper arms. “Hogwash. You’ve been hiding behind your responsibilities so long it’s like a fortress. You’re like the lonely princess in the ivory tower.”

  “This isn’t a fairy tale. And you can’t be my knight in shining armor.”

  “Yeah, I can. If you’ll let me.”

  “I’d like to—if you still feel the same way a couple years from now.”

  “Why can’t you have a life at the same time? You have a right to be happy.”

  “Do I?” she asked. Before he could answer, she said, “All I need is time. And your friendship. Just give me that, Nick.”

  “How about if I give you this instead?”

  He lowered his mouth to hers. The kiss was surprisingly gentle for all the fierce anger she sensed in him. His lips were warm and soft, persistent and oh so persuasive. She felt a tightness in her breasts, and liquid heat that trickled through her and settled low in her belly and her most feminine place. She tried to stay aloof, but he deepened the kiss, urging her mouth open with his tongue. He slipped inside and she sagged against him.

 
He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. When he lifted his mouth from hers, his breath stirred the hair around her face. He whispered in her ear. “Abby, I—”

  She pushed away from him. “I can’t, Nick.”

  “You mean you won’t.” Hurt filled his eyes. “You’re a coward.”

  “I’m not—”

  “Whatever happened to the courageous young woman I first met? The one who stood in my office and vowed to be the best employee I’d ever had? Because her parents had just died. Because she needed a job to support herself and her sister. That Abby was the bravest woman I’ve ever known. That Abby was the woman I fell—”

  “Don’t say it, Nick,” she held up her hand. “Please don’t say any more.”

  This was the second time in the last five minutes he’d tried to say the words. She couldn’t let him. If she could prevent it, maybe she could avoid being his strike three. Most important, she could prevent any harm to his heart.

  How she wanted to throw caution to the wind and go on the journey with this wonderful man. But her spontaneity had died in that accident with her parents. It had taught her that she couldn’t afford to be reckless. Disaster was right around the corner. She had to protect herself as best she could.

  “Abby, I—”

  She held her hand up to stop him. “It’s late. It’s been a long day, and I still have to study for exams. I appreciate you stopping by, but I have stuff to do.”

  The old stuff-to-do excuse. It sure didn’t diminish the pain she saw in his eyes. Gathering every ounce of her willpower, she forced herself to stand very still and not wrap her arms around him and tell him she was the worst kind of fool. And more important—she loved him and hoped he wouldn’t hold her stupidity against her.

  But all she did was watch him walk to the door and open it. The anger in his eyes made her flinch. “Strike three, Abby.”

  Then he walked out and slammed the door. Abby refused to let the tears fall. The wonderful, special thing they’d shared was over. If only she could give him what he wanted. If only things hadn’t gotten serious. And she had tried so hard not to let that happen. Because she’d been so sure that if she fell in love with him she would lose everything, including his friendship.