by Jo McNally
“What’d you do, honey? Is Blake working you too hard up there at the resort?”
“Uh...no. He’s not.” Amanda Randall walked in. “Why would you ask that?”
Nora walked over with a plate of ginger cookies and a sly smile. Over the past few weeks, Cassie had given in to Amanda’s pestering about becoming a hermit and started joining the cousins and Aunt Cathy for their before-the-Sunday-rush coffee in Nora’s shop.
Nora set the cookies on the table and grabbed a chair. “Cassie said she overdid things yesterday and Cathy was worried. But I don’t think it was Blake who kept her busy.” Nora winked at Cassie, and she felt a sense of dread. “I think Nick West might be the one ‘overworking’ her these days.”
Amanda sat quickly, putting her elbows on the table and her chin in her hands. “Really? Do tell, Nora!”
Cathy’s eyes narrowed. “Nick West? That guy who was in the shop a few weeks ago and followed you upstairs? Cassie, what’s going on?”
Amanda laughed. “I told you that apartment was a love shack! Come on, Nora, spill what you know.”
“Hey, wait!” The last of the cousins, Melanie Lowery, rushed into the shop, smoothing her hair with her hand and looking flustered. “No spilling anything until I get some espresso and join in. I’m always missing the good stuff!”
Nora sighed and went behind the counter to make Melanie’s coffee. “Maybe if you weren’t always late to the party, Mel, you wouldn’t miss everything.”
The tall brunette waved a dismissive hand. “Honey, my fiancé’s been on the West Coast for a week. By the time his flight landed, we had a lot of...um...catching up to do, if you get my drift.” She took a cookie and sighed as she took a bite. “Oh, I love my gingers.”
“Got it, Mel. Sweet ginger cookies. Hot ginger fiancé.” Amanda fixed her gaze back on Nora as she rejoined them, delivering Mel’s espresso with a flourish. “Spill it, girl.”
Nora glanced out toward the empty sidewalk, making sure there were no customers heading their way, then leaned forward, lowering her voice dramatically.
“Well, I just happened to set some trash outside the back door yesterday afternoon to keep it from stinking up the kitchen. I always clean out the fridge and the display on Saturday afternoons to make way for the fresh Sunday baked goods...”
Amanda rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes, we know you’re the queen of organization. Get to the good stuff.”
“Seriously?” Cassie interrupted, glaring at Amanda. “Is this the ‘magic of having girlfriends’ you told me I needed?” No one paid any attention, all eyes fixed on Nora.
“Well,” Nora said. “Imagine my surprise when I saw Nick sitting in his Jeep out in the parking lot. Before I could set the trash down and wave, I heard footsteps on the back stairs, and there was Cassie—” all four heads swiveled in Cassie’s direction “—trotting down the stairs and over to the Jeep and hopping right in. Then they drove off together. On a Saturday afternoon. Almost like a date or something.”
Three sets of eyebrows rose, but Cathy was scowling. “Cassie, you don’t know this guy. Don’t you think it’s a little soon to jump right back into a relationship?”
Being the center of attention put Cassie on the defensive. “One kiss doesn’t make it a relationship.”
Oh, damn her filter-free mouth when she was nervous...
There was a collective gasp of delight from the cousins. Melanie rested her hand on Cassie’s arm.
“You kissed Nick West?”
She bit her lip, upset that she’d blurted that out, but also wanting the advice of women she trusted and admired. She hadn’t lied yesterday when she told Nick she had little experience at this. After college, Don had pretty much been her only relationship, and that was hardly the measuring stick she wanted to use for future ones.
Amanda’s voice softened. “Hey, guys, it’s a big deal to move on after what Cassie’s been through. If she doesn’t want to talk about it...”
“Actually, I think I do want to talk about it.”
“Oh, thank God! Tell us everything!” Amanda’s laugh made Cassie smile.
She gave the women a summary of the Nick-and-Cassie story. Their disastrous first meeting when she threw the stapler at him. Pepper-spraying him. Agreeing to let him help her with self-defense and fitness training. The playful teasing they did at work, with him hiding her stapler and her scattering reports across his desk in an untidy array that annoyed him every time. The bar Friday night, where she told him she would not go hiking with him. Nick showing up at her door anyway. The hike she thought would kill her. The kiss that nearly did. And finally, her and Nick’s agreement to not allow it to change anything. There was silence for a moment when she finished, then Amanda spoke.
“So you think you and Nick might be friends, and you don’t want to screw that up.”
She thought about that. She looked forward to going to work when Nick was there. She never knew what she’d find on her desk or where her stapler might be. He always dropped some off-the-cuff comment that made her smile. He drove her crazy with that stupid foam basketball. He also did his best to make sure she felt secure, while pushing her to try new things. She’d never had a big brother, but if she had, she had a feeling that’s what their relationship would be like.
She nodded at Amanda’s guess. “I like Nick. I mean, like him like a friend. A fun coworker. He’s a good guy who annoys me to no end, but he’s also...”
“He’s also someone you want to climb like a tree?” Melanie lifted her coffee mug in a toast. “I think we’ve all been there, right, ladies?”
The three cousins laughed and agreed, but Cathy wasn’t amused.
“Keep it in the friend zone, honey. If you get attached and have to...”
Cassie nodded. The go-bag sitting by her door upstairs was a constant reminder that she could end up running again. Changing her name again. Starting over again. It hadn’t been that hard to leave Cleveland, but leaving Gallant Lake? This move was going to hurt if it ever came. And getting involved with Nick West would make it that much more complicated. He didn’t strike her as the kind of guy to just let her leave. He’d want to rescue her, and the thought of him going up against someone as flat-out evil as Don made her shudder.
“It’s not easy to do.” Amanda sighed. “Blake and I were friends, and I worked for him, but after that first kiss... Well, as hard as we tried, the friend zone was toast.” Nora and Mel nodded in agreement, dreamy-eyed and smiling.
Cassie finished her coffee, trying to block the memory of yesterday’s kisses. Going down that path would only lead to heartbreak.
“Aunt Cathy’s right. I can’t let this change things. Yesterday was a surprise. And yes—” she rolled her eyes at Amanda’s snicker “—it was a nice surprise. It’s nice to know I can still feel desire for a man, and that a man might desire me. That I could melt like that...” And there she went, oversharing again. She needed to get better at this girlfriend thing. Nora stood as a group of customers walked in, dressed in their Sunday church clothes.
“I gotta run,” Nora said. “But if that man made you ‘melt,’ you should think twice before passing him up.”
Chapter Nine
“Man, that climb was turbocharged today, Nick! Was there a race that I didn’t know about?” Terrance Hudson took a long drink from his water bottle, then poured some on the edge of his shirt and wiped the sweat from his face. Nick, Terrance and the rest of the Rebel Rockers climbing club were sitting atop the Arrow Wall at the Shawangunk cliffs, known locally as the Gunks. “Shit, man. For someone who’s never climbed this sucker, you were on fire. I ain’t never seen a guy go up this wall that fast!”
Nick took a swig from his own water, pouring the rest of it over his head. The sun was high and hot today. He nodded to his climbing partner, whom he’d met only a week ago at his first meeting of the Rebel Rockers at the Chalet i
n Gallant Lake.
“Sorry for the pace. I tend to climb quick. That last part of the climb—what do they call it, Modern Times? That was pretty intense for a 5.8 rating. I just wanted to get it over with and get up here to relax.” Also, he was running from the memories of yesterday’s kisses with the not-so-shy-after-all Cassandra Smith. But Terrance didn’t need to know that.
“Yeah, that last stretch is a challenge, but man, the views, right?” Terrance nodded toward the valley that stretched out hundreds of feet below them. It was impressive, but it had nothing on yesterday’s view of Gallant Lake reflected in Cassie’s golden eyes right before his lips touched hers. He shook off the memory. So many reasons not to do that again. And so many nerve endings humming in his body, begging for more.
Terrance turned and started chatting with another climber—Sam something—leaving Nick to consider all the options with Cassie. As much as he’d dismissed the coworker issue, he knew how messy workplace flings could be. He’d seen the damage done at the precinct back in LA when two of his fellow detectives had a quick affair. She’d ended it, but the guy didn’t want to take no for an answer. Things got so ugly they ended up transferring the woman across town, which never sat right with Nick. She wasn’t the one causing problems.
And he and Cassie would probably end up being a quick affair. They had nothing in common, other than driving each other crazy with office pranks. He was still finding new places to hide that blue stapler every morning. He’d even snuck into the ladies’ room to set it on the sink in there. And ever since he told her how much he valued organized files, she’d started coming into his office and shuffling his folders or scattering them all over his desk.
But other than the office high jinks, what did they have? Well...hot chemistry, for sure. But besides that, what was there? He was restless and liked to be physically active. He hated sitting around, and that was her favorite thing to do—sit with her tea and a book. As much as she was improving her strength and fighting skills in their gym sessions, she was still jumpy and quick to take on blame. Always apologizing. He tucked his water bottle back in his pack.
She was a victim. He thought about Beth Washington going back to her brute of a husband over and over, until Nick shot the man dead. After Earl Washington had murdered his partner. Beth’s refusal to leave the man, to protect herself, had directly led to Jada’s death.
The fire of his physical attraction to Cassie started to cool as common sense prevailed. If she was one of those perpetual victims, then she wasn’t right for him long-term, and short-term wasn’t really an option when they worked in the same damn office. Problem solved. Sharing any more kisses was a no go.
“You ready for the return trip? Got your lines ready?” Terrance stood, his dark skin shining with sweat. He was sure-footed and relaxed, just inches from the cliff edge. Good climbers respected the mountain but were never intimidated by it. Nick stood and checked his gear.
“I’m ready if you are.”
“Cool. Let’s not race this time, okay? We won’t be back here until next month, so try to enjoy it, man.”
Nick nodded. His little self-talk had him settled down now where he could focus. From this point forward, he and Cassie were friends, and that kiss was an aberration that wouldn’t be happening again.
* * *
“Nick, I swear to God, you’re driving me crazy! I need my stapler!” Cassie slammed her desk drawer closed. She’d checked her desk twice and Blake’s desk once. She’d looked on the coffee counter and the storage cabinets and the empty office by the door. She’d pulled the curtains completely open, and checked under the air-conditioning unit. She’d gone through Nick’s office once while he was meeting with Tim in the surveillance room and was ready to toss it again, whether Nick was in there or not. And he was. Smirking at her from his desk chair, twirling his pen innocently.
She stood in the doorway and folded her arms, glaring at him. He’d upped his prank game this week to whole new levels. The stapler, of course. But, with Blake out of town and just the two of them sharing the office suite, he’d gone all out. Her desk phone went missing on Monday, hidden behind the drapes. On Tuesday her tape and the stapler and her notebook were sitting on Blake’s desk. Her wireless keyboard was tucked behind the coffeepot on Wednesday. Yesterday the stapler was inside the empty coffeepot. And today, when he knew damn well she had to put together presentation packets for Blake’s investor meeting this weekend, the stapler was nowhere to be found.
“Is there a problem?”
“Yes. A big, stupid problem who needs to get a life. Where. Is. My. Stapler?”
He tossed his pen in the air and caught it. That devilish grin made her heart jump. Damn, he was sexy. And annoying, she reminded herself. An annoying friend and coworker who was like a big brother and she wasn’t attracted to him at all. Nope. Not one bit. She hadn’t been attracted to him yesterday in the gym when he taught her how to use her elbows to break free from being grabbed from behind. Which meant he’d had to grab her over and over again, insisting that she get it right. Nope. Not attracted at all.
He’d been cool as a cucumber all week. He’d brought up the kiss first thing Monday morning, assuring her that it wasn’t going to be a problem between them, and they should forget it ever happened. It was nothing more than a Kissing Rock spell that had been broken as soon as they left the mountain. She’d felt a sting of disappointment that he could set it aside so easily after telling her he’d had a hard-on after kissing her, but his actions seemed to support his words. He’d been the same Nick he’d been the weeks before—joking, teasing, playing basketball with the foam ball, teaching her, clowning around with the staff.
It seemed Nick had moved on from their kiss with nothing more to show for it than a renewed enthusiasm for his job. And driving her crazy. He tossed his pen again, almost to the ceiling, and had to lean back to snatch it out of the air when it came down. She bit back a sigh of frustration. He’d wait her out until the offices closed if he had to.
“Where is it, Nick?”
“Where have you looked?”
Her eyes narrowed on him. She was done playing. She reached for his desk and tried to take his cell phone, but he was too quick for her. He held it over his head and laughed.
“Seriously? You thought you’d outmaneuver a cop?”
“You’re not a cop anymore, Nick. You’re just the jackass who won’t give me my stapler.”
A frown flickered across his face. He didn’t talk about his days on the LA police force. Amanda told Cassie last week she’d learned the beautiful woman in the wedding gown in the photo behind Nick was his former partner. And that she was dead.
He summoned a fresh smile and shook off whatever he’d been thinking about. “Check the coat closet. You might have to work for it this time.”
“Wonderful. As if I’m not already working.” She turned and went to the closet. She didn’t see it at first. She looked up and saw the edge of the stapler barely peeking over the top shelf. She called over her shoulder as she rolled a desk chair to the closet. “Nice job, Nick. There’s only an eighty percent probability this thing will bonk me on the head when I try to get it.”
She was just putting her foot on the chair and praying it would stay put when she felt Nick’s arm around her waist, pulling her back. “Are you actively trying to kill yourself? You can’t stand on a chair with wheels.” He sent the chair rolling back to the empty desk. “I’ll get it. I didn’t think about it hitting you, but you’re right...” He stretched and worked the stapler off the shelf with his fingertips, while still holding her waist with his other arm. Her skin was tingling, but he seemed unaffected. “If it was going to happen to anyone, it’d happen to you. Here.” He handed her the stapler, then rubbed his knuckles in her hair. Like she was his kid sister. Like she was a puppy. Like he had no desire for her whatsoever. And it ticked her off.
She swatted his hand away
. “Here’s an idea—stop hiding the damn thing! You’re not a twelve-year-old, Nick, and this isn’t grade school. What’s next? Putting gum in my hair? This is an office. You said you wanted to keep things professional between us, so why don’t you surprise me and actually act professional for once?”
“Whoa...easy!” Nick held up both hands in surrender. “What just happened?”
It was a fair question, but she wasn’t in the mood to answer it.
“Nothing. I’ve just got actual work to do, Nick. And I’m pretty sure you do, too.” She brushed past him and went back to sit at her desk. He closed the closet door and studied her, but she refused to make eye contact. She didn’t trust her feelings right now, especially with the traitor tears threatening to spill over. What was wrong with her? Hadn’t she decided that being friends was better than trying to follow up on that kissing business and possibly ruining everything? Wasn’t that exactly what she’d agreed to on Monday—pretend the kiss didn’t happen? Nick not being attracted to her was the best possible scenario. Besides, apparently the kiss really had been just a fluke for him, and that whole “chemistry lab on fire” that made him want a cold shower was a momentary phenomenon that had clearly passed. She was no longer the woman whose kisses made him hot and bothered. She was just a girl he liked to tease, whose hair he liked to noogie.
Nick walked over and sat on the corner of her desk, facing her. “Come on, kiddo, what’s going...”
Kiddo?
She was on her feet in a flash.
“I’m not your kiddo or your grasshopper or anything else.” And that was the truth. She wasn’t anything else to him. And that was a good thing, damn it.
“What the hell is wrong with you today?” He took her arm, but she pulled away. She was losing it. She needed to get away from him before she burst into tears or threw herself into his arms. Either one would be a huge mistake.
“I need to go.” She looked at the clock on the wall. “I’m taking an early lunch.”