by Sara Orwig
“It doesn’t have to be,” Nick stated, studying her.
“This has been a nice evening, but we should each go our separate way now.”
“If that’s what you want, Grace,” he replied. As he buttoned his shirt, she struggled to get a grip on her emotions. Resisting the urge to walk right back into his arms and toss aside her declarations, she shook her head, smoothing her hair away from her face.
“C’mon, I’ll give you a partial tour and show you where you’ll sleep. You and I are in the east wing, where the nursery is.” He led her down a large hall.
“How did you ever get used to this?” she asked.
“I grew up in it. Parts were off-limits for play for years. When I outgrew that restriction, I went everywhere. This was my home and I got used to it just like you do your home.”
He directed her through an open door and switched on a light. She stood in an elegant suite with decor in shades of brown and tan.
“Here’s where I am, should you want to come talk,” Nick said. Grace gave him a sharp look to see amusement in his eyes.
“And my room?”
They returned to the hall and entered another suite. The pink and white looked done by a decorator, just as his had, with elegant white furniture and bright pink accessories. Pink and green Christmas decorations adorned the sitting room, which had a decorated white tree standing in a corner. Beyond the sitting room she could see a bedroom. When she stepped to the door, she saw a baby crib on one side of the room. Vanessa came forward with a book in her hand.
“Michael is sleeping. He hasn’t stirred since I put him in his bed.”
“Thank you so much,” Grace said.
“He’s a sweet, happy baby. I’ll go to bed now,” Vanessa said as she headed for the door.
“Thanks, Vanessa,” Nick said. “We’ll see you in the morning.” Nick and Grace strolled to the sitting room where Nick stepped ahead to hold the door for Vanessa. When they were alone, he walked back to Grace.
“I can watch him tomorrow morning.”
“Dad will want him with us for the opening of the presents. He’s been talking about this for a week and you know he has toys for Michael.”
“I can imagine,” she said.
Nick reached beyond her and pulled a sprig of mistletoe off the Christmas tree to dangle the sprig above her head. “One kiss beneath the mistletoe,” he said. Without waiting for her answer, he kissed her, holding her close.
She remained immobile for a moment, but then wrapped her arms around him, her exasperation vanishing instantly as desire fanned to life again.
She moaned and poured herself into their kiss, returning his passion, her senses coming to life as longing assailed her stronger than ever.
She had no idea how long they kissed, but she finally ended it. “Nick, nothing has changed since we kissed earlier.”
“I’ll leave now, but sometime you’ll want me to stay. You’ll let me make love to you because you want me just as much as I want you. We don’t have a battle between us. Because of my dad, you’re conjuring up demons. But you and I don’t have a real struggle going. Far from it,” Nick said, stroking a strand of hair away from her face.
“Nick, you should go,” she whispered, his words as seductive as his caresses and his kisses.
He brushed another kiss lightly on her lips, tossed the sprig of mistletoe onto a table and turned, walking to the door where he paused. “If you want to talk, I’m right there. Knock on the wall and I’ll come so you don’t have to leave Michael.”
“Forget any knocking on the wall,” she said in amusement. He grinned and left, closing the door behind him.
Looking around the suite, she noticed the mistletoe and picked up the sprig. With a glance at the white tree and its pink decorations, she noticed there weren’t any other sprigs of mistletoe. Had Nick put that sprig on the tree?
She peeked at Michael, who was sleeping on his knees facedown on the Co-Sleeper attached to the bed. He wore footed pajamas and had his stuffed bunny clutched in his hand. Filled with love, Grace touched his head. She couldn’t keep his grandfather from seeing him or being with him. She wished she could just trust that Eli didn’t intend to try to take Michael from her.
When she slid into bed, she guessed Nick would fill her dreams as he had every night for a week.
Christmas morning she showered and was dressed in a green sweater and slacks before Michael stirred. “Merry Christmas, love,” she said as she picked him up and nuzzled him. He smelled of baby powder and he clutched her shoulder while she carried him.
When she had Michael dressed in his red Santa suit, she left her suite. Nick’s door stood open and he appeared. “Merry Christmas,” he said, smiling at her.
Casually dressed in a navy sweater and chinos, he looked dangerous, sexy, appealing.
“Merry Christmas, Nick,” she said as he walked up to her to kiss her lightly.
“Merry Christmas to you,” she said.
“Good morning, Michael,” Nick said, and the baby smiled at him.
“Look at you, getting a smile first thing. He barely knows you.”
“He knows I’m his uncle,” Nick said. “And he’s glad to see me, just as I am glad to see you both. Sleep well?”
“Of course,” she answered.
“Let’s do Christmas. Dad can’t wait to give Michael a present. I don’t think he ever got excited over either Bart or me on Christmas morning.”
“He might have when you were very young,” she said.
“We were in his way when he was young. Now, he’s changed. His illness has turned him into a different man. Many of those driving goals he had are gone and the people around him get his full attention.”
“Michael is probably hungry. He’s a very good baby, but I don’t want to keep him waiting.”
In the kitchen Vanessa waited. As soon as she saw them, she came to take Michael from Grace. “How adorable he is,” she said, smiling at Michael. “Michael is happy all the time. I’ll feed him and you can eat your breakfast. Mr. Rafford and Megan are in the great room. They’ve already eaten and have coffee waiting for you in there.”
Grace handed over Michael and joined Nick at the table. The cook brought plates of eggs and toast. After they finished, they joined Eli and Megan by the Christmas tree. Little toys filled Michael’s stocking and his toys sat at the foot of the tree.
“Santa has been here,” Eli said with twinkling eyes. His color was better and he looked stronger than when Grace had met him, causing her to wonder how big an influence Michael was in his life.
Grace left to get her cameras. When she returned, she saw that Eli also had a camcorder and a camera ready, and she laughed. “I think this baby is going to be a celebrity this morning and he’ll have no idea what’s going on. It’ll be a thoroughly documented first Christmas.”
Nick smiled. “Dad wants every minute caught. We’ll start with Michael though I know he can’t open anything.”
“No, he would promptly put the wrappings in his mouth.” As Vanessa handed her the baby, Grace said, “I’ll put him on the floor and let’s see if he gets one of his toys first.” She set Michael down and picked up her own camcorder. He promptly crawled to a transparent ball filled with plastic butterflies and glittering spheres that played tunes when he rolled it around.
In minutes they were immersed in gifts and Nick handed her a box with a lovely blue ribbon that she intended to take home and keep. It was from Nick and as she opened it, she guessed he had one of the women who worked for him do his shopping.
It was a silver frame that would be perfect for Michael’s picture and she looked up, smiling at Nick. “You know I love this. It’s beautiful and perfect.”
“Great,” he replied, his eyes filled with a special look that thrilled her and made her forget they were in a room with others.
“Now I’ll open yours,” he said, taking a present and sitting near her as he tore it open. Startled, he looked up at her. “Where did you get
these?” he asked, surprise in his voice. He lifted out two framed pictures of the last rodeo he’d been in as he rode a bucking horse.
“I’d read about you in rodeos in a Texas magazine, so I called around and finally found the pictures. I hope you don’t already have them.”
“No,” he said, smiling. “I don’t, and I’m happy you tracked them down. Thank you,” he said, and she had another tingle because his tone made the statement personal, carrying silent meaning. He might as well have been blatantly flirting for the effect he was causing. She watched as he walked to the tree and picked up one of her presents for Eli.
The moment Eli opened the box and removed a scrapbook filled with photos of Michael, he smiled at her. “Grace, what a treasure! You couldn’t have possibly given me anything that would please me more. I’m so grateful,” he said, flipping through the pages.” He looked at her and his eyes filled with tears. “Thank you. This means more than you know,” he said, his voice cracking.
“I’m glad,” she replied, surprised by his reaction, which was far deeper than she had expected. She could feel the barriers around her heart develop cracks, a dangerous reaction.
It took most of the morning to get through the presents and to watch and film Michael, plus getting snapshots of him with each of them.
Lunch was long and leisurely, and filled with stories from Eli of other generations of Raffords, and then they spent another hour playing with Michael before he fell asleep. While Michael slept they went to the lavish entertainment room to watch a Christmas movie, which was timed perfectly with Michael’s nap that ended as the movie finished.
It was almost five in the afternoon before Grace told Nick she should go home. She thought Eli was beginning to droop. Goodbyes took another twenty minutes. Finally she was in the car with Nick. The day had become overcast, a fog settling in, bringing darkness early.
“You made my dad a very happy man today. You can’t imagine how much this meant to him.”
“That’s good,” she said, wondering how Nick truly felt about his nephew. Michael had to have cut into Nick’s life and caused upheaval in trying to please his dad’s wishes. She glanced back at the sleeping baby. “I think Michael is worn to a frazzle. His brief nap this afternoon helped, but he may sleep through the night now, since he ate just before we left your dad’s.”
“I imagine Dad is worn to a frazzle, too. He usually has catnaps and he missed them. All in all, the visit was fantastic.”
“You sound surprised.”
“I’ll have to admit, I am. I knew it would be good to be with you, but we had a house filled with people—Dad, Vanessa, Megan and the rest of the staff constantly present. I wanted to be alone with you, but today was enjoyable and I’ll admit, I’m surprised by my feelings for my nephew. I’ve never been around kids, never thought about them. I haven’t particularly cared to get to know any if I’m briefly around them. Michael is cute and he can certainly win you over, which is funny, because he can’t converse and he drools.”
She laughed. “So you like him after all. He’s adorable and who could resist him?” she said, her smile vanishing as she wondered if today had simply reinforced Eli’s determination to get Michael into the Rafford family and hereafter it would be easier to enlist Nick’s help.
“Don’t start worrying,” Nick said quietly.
“I hate that. You easily guess my thoughts while I never have the remotest idea what’s on your mind.”
“You should be able to guess exactly what’s on my mind,” he said, his suggestive tone carrying a sexy innuendo that made her forget the past day, problems and others.
“I want to be alone with you,” Nick said, his tone stirring more shivers. “We’ve spent Christmas without a single kiss.”
“We kissed early this morning when I first saw you.”
“That one hardly counts,” he said.
She didn’t want to tell him that even the slight brush of his lips on hers this morning had stirred a heated response. Nick’s looks, his presence, his kisses, always brought a reaction. He had to know the effect he had on women.
At her apartment Michael stirred and Nick waited while she fed Michael, changed him and put him to bed.
“He’s out for the night this time, I’m sure,” she said. “We’ll have our little Christmas tomorrow morning,” she said, coming back into her living room, which now seemed smaller than ever. Lights glowed on her tree and she wondered if she looked poor to Nick. He would never understand her refusal of his father’s monetary offer.
Nick crossed the room to her. “Merry Christmas,” he said, taking her into his arms. His gaze lowered to her mouth and she forgot everything else. His tongue parted her lips, thrust deeply into her mouth to stroke her tongue.
Melting, she clung to him, kissing him hotly in return, wanting to rattle him as much as he had her. He had sent her life into an upheaval with his passionate kisses. They were headed for a blowup because of their struggle over Michael. She was entangled with Nick now and there was no turning back on that. All she could do was fight to keep her baby, but she was beyond the point of resisting Nick. Each time they were together he became more important and had a stronger effect on her. When he wasn’t present, he was in her thoughts far too much of the time.
Continuing to kiss her, Nick picked her up to carry her to the sofa where he sat down with her on his lap. She could feel his arousal pressed against her, hard and ready.
He cradled her against his shoulder while his hand stroked her hip and slid to her waist. His other hand wrapped around her, his fingers slipping beneath her sweater to take away her bra and caress her breast.
While moaning with relish, she ran her fingers through his thick, short hair, caressing his nape. She wasn’t aware of his fingers unfastening her slacks until he shoved them away and slid his hand across her bare belly, his fingers moving lower, touching her between her thighs intimately.
She tried to twist away to protest, but he continued kissing her. She caught his hand to inch him away and he merely drifted to caress her breast. He sat up, gazing at her with a hooded, scorching look that was as sexy as a caress.
Mesmerized, she watched as he tugged off his sweater and tossed it away, leaving his chest bare. Hastily he pulled her sweater over her head.
“Nick.”
“Shh,” he whispered, cupping her breasts. “You’re beautiful, Grace. So gorgeous,” he added, leaning down to kiss her breast. His wet tongue circled her nipple and she gasped, closing her eyes, clinging to him while she ran one hand over his muscled chest.
Pleasure rocked her in waves, heightening desire as he could so easily do. He tilted her back against his shoulder while he kissed her on the mouth and his hand slipped low again, going beneath her silk panties.
His warm fingers touched her intimately and she moaned as she arched against his hand, momentarily yielding, taking pleasure in touching him and being touched, knowing she was sinking deeper in her relation with Nick with each second that ticked past, each caress that bound her closer.
“Nick, wait. We’re going way too fast and heading for intimacy, seduction, something I absolutely can’t deal with,” she said, pulling away.
His hot gaze traveled over her bare breasts and she couldn’t stop doing the same, with a seeking study of his strong shoulders and chest. Her insides heated, clutched, an ache throbbing low inside her.
With an effort, she lifted her gaze. “Nick, slow down.” She wiggled away, standing and pulling her sweater on, tugging her slacks back in place and fastening them.
Nick gripped her wrist. “Grace, come here.”
“Didn’t you hear me?” she asked as he pulled her toward his lap.
“Sit here with me. Let me talk.”
Suspecting that if she sat on his lap they would do little chatting, she still did as he asked, tense and ready to protest the minute he started to kiss her. She was intensely aware of his bare chest, which kept her tingly and wanting him. Lust was rampant. How long co
uld she successfully resist Nick? How badly would it complicate her life if she yielded to him?
“I want to tell you something. My dad does not give up easily,” Nick said, and she chilled, fear overcoming desire.
“He’s put me in a bind over Michael. If you legally changed Michael’s last name, it would not give him to my dad.”
“It would be a step in that direction and I don’t think your dad will stop there. Do you really think so?”
“I can’t imagine that he would ever try to take Michael from you. Especially after getting to know you. My father is not a monster. He’s just a man who’s determined to get his way when he wants something.”
“And he wants Michael with all his being. He has nothing else to focus on in his life now. All his attention is on Michael and wanting my baby to be a Rafford. There’s only one real way for Michael to become a Rafford and that’s to take Michael from me.”
“That’s not true. There’s another way.”
Seven
Dread filled her as she looked into his eyes. Whatever he suggested could not be anything she would want to do. It had to involve losing some of Michael in her life.
“What does your dad intend?”
“You’re right that his main goal is to get Michael in the family. He thinks I can accomplish this, so he’s put pressure on me because he knows he’s helpless to do much.”
Her trepidation grew. “I don’t want to know, but I have to hear. What are you instructed to do?”
“Bring Michael into the family. At least with the Rafford name and a promise my father can share in his life. Dad threatened me if I didn’t accomplish this. He’s changed his will.”
“Nick, this is so unfair. Your father is ruthless and you’re going to be the same way,” she said, moving off his lap and walking to her mantel to get some distance from him. A knot had formed in her throat and she had turned to ice. “All right. Tell me about this new will and how your father has threatened you,” she said, bracing for what had to be bad.