by Joanne Rock
Nico, on the other hand, didn’t seem to have any such problems. He wore his heart on his sleeve as prominently as his team logo and didn’t care who knew it.
After prying one eye open, Lainie stared across the pillow at the man who had flipped her world and her space issues on their ear. While awake, she’d never given herself permission simply to look her fill because God forbid she communicate too much attraction.
Now, at her leisure, she took in the stubborn jaw shaded with bristly dark hair. His powerful shoulders propped the bed sheet up high, creating a mountain of man and muscle, his bronze skin contrasting deliciously with the creamy white linens.
No question, waking up with a man in your bed ranked right up there next to double-fudge ice cream or the full-service manicures that included a dip in warm paraffin wax. But she’d never been a woman who indulged herself, even under the best of circumstances. And since Robert had betrayed her in every way possible, she’d retreated even further behind a wall of cool business practicality.
Even if she trusted in Nico’s old-fashioned code of honor and believed he’d never cheat on her, how could she ever trust herself to make things work with this incredible man? Perhaps part of her had always feared the reason Robert cheated on her was that she allowed their marriage to fall into a pattern of cool distance and well-defined boundaries. True, her ex was a slimeball no matter how she sliced it, but what if he’d been driven to cheat because she’d made a really lame wife?
Frankly, Nico deserved better than that. And she hated the idea of him waking up beside her one day and realizing she wasn’t the together, accomplished woman she appeared on the outside. She was a mass of personal insecurities that she hid very effectively beneath her professional successes. She identified with the wizard of Oz at the end of the movie—a big honking presence behind the safety of his curtain, but a serious goofball once Toto uncovered his hiding place.
“You’re not going to give me a chance, are you?” Nico’s scratchy morning voice startled her, his dark eyes now open and very much focused on her.
Stanching the urge to dive beneath the covers and wake him up with the same kind of sexual favors they’d traded all night long, Lainie forced herself to meet his gaze.
“I’m afraid to give me a chance.” She wanted him to know where the real fault lay.
“Same thing, isn’t it?” He propped an elbow on his pillow, his thigh sliding off hers beneath the sheets.
“Either way we end up apart when it would have been a damn good idea to stick together.”
She hadn’t been prepared for the frustration in his voice. The anger. But then, Nico was obviously better versed in a whole range of emotions she didn’t allow herself. Maybe it only made sense that a man who could fall in love so fast could also be quick to anger or quick to feel joy.
Which only reassured her she was making the right decision by walking away. Even if it hurt like hell.
“I don’t want to pretend I’ve healed after my marriage when I haven’t, and I think you deserve a woman who can love you with her whole heart. Especially after what happened with your former girlfriend.” She weighed the words carefully, hoped he’d understand.
“Don’t you mean that you’re just too scared to try?” The edge in his voice put her on the defensive when she’d wanted to be understanding.
“If I was scared, I would have said as much.” She tugged the sheet closer then wound a corner of the fabric around her finger. And felt all her own defenses kick into overdrive.
Nico slid out of bed, leaving her wrapped in the covers alone. He stepped into his pants and glared at her.
“Fine. Deny it all you want. But I want you to consider something.” He yanked his shirt over his head and slipped on his shoes. “If you ever decided to put half as much energy into your personal relationships as you pour into this business of yours, you might be a whole lot happier. You know what they say about all work and no play, don’t you?”
She bristled. “Are you calling me dull?”
He raked a hand through his hair. “No. But I still stand by the accusation that you’re scared, and I think that’s a piss-poor reason to miss out on something that could have been really good.”
She waited for him to walk out so she could indulge the tears that stung the corners of her eyes. But damn his arrogant, know-it-all hide, he continued to stand there.
“Feel free to go any time now.” She couldn’t even work up the necessary energy for the diva death stare since right now she felt too drained and too miserable and too worried that Nico was right.
“Just because I’m mad doesn’t mean I’m going to ignore my promise to look out for you. In case you’ve forgotten, someone may still be out to get you if Daisy Stephenson isn’t your kitchen arsonist.”
Lainie blinked hard to banish all threat of tears, then hauled herself out of bed, sheet wrapped around her like a messy toga. “You mean now you’re stuck with me even though you think I’m a coward?”
“Don’t feel bad. At least you’re not a dumbass who blurts out his every thought and feeling.” He backed toward the bedroom door. “I’ll be out in the living room and then we can go down to the taping together.”
Heart aching far more than her sore muscles from the most enthusiastic sex of her life, Lainie sought out the shower and prayed whoever had a vendetta against her would just make their move and get it over with today. She wanted Nico to be free of his commitment to her, and she knew he’d never walk away until he was certain she would be safe.
Yet Nico and all the temptation he presented felt like more of a threat to her well-being right now than any faceless prankster. She wasn’t sure how much more Nico—or heartache—she could take.
DAISY DIDN’T THINK she could take it anymore.
She’d never been a patient person and now she was stuck sweating it out in the Roman Retreat while she waited to clear the air with Lainie. And, all the while, a huge, intimidating hockey player was breathing down her neck.
“She’ll be out in a minute,” he assured her as he glared down his crooked nose at her. “But I don’t give a damn that you want to talk to her alone. I’m going to be right in the next room the whole time just in case you’re the one who’s causing Lainie all the grief.”
“Got it.” She stifled the urge to be defensive, knowing damn well Lainie’s self-appointed bodyguard wouldn’t change his mind anytime soon. Obviously, the guy didn’t know his girlfriend too well if he thought Lainie needed a watchdog.
Daisy had seen Lainie send grown men running in fear during the lean months when she’d been overhauling the resort into a viable business. That take-no-crap strength was what had scared Daisy from her first day on the job, even while she admired the woman’s grit.
Now Daisy shifted uncomfortably under Nico’s scrutiny. She took deep breaths and thought about Bram until she could relax. Amazing how the thought of him could make her smile under the most trying circumstances.
“You know, Lainie is a lot tougher than she looks.” She didn’t know why she felt compelled to share that knowledge with the hockey goon, but the guy looked totally ready to break her legs if necessary.
“That’s entirely not true.” Nico Cesare, who Bram had told her was some kind of big-time hockey god, played toss and catch with a Hacky Sack while they waited for Lainie to emerge from the bedroom. “She doesn’t like anyone to know it, but she’s not nearly as tough as she looks.”
The bedroom door jerked open and Lainie stepped into the living area, her sleek blond hair twisted into an elegant chignon that Daisy couldn’t have pulled off in a million years. She bet Lainie would be able to fit in among Hollywood jet-setters with ease.
Daisy stood, grateful her wait was over. “I just came by to apologize and, if you had a minute, I wanted to explain.”
“Have a seat.” Lainie gestured to the couch as she stole a glance at her huge, scary boyfriend. “Do you mind if I catch up with you at the filming?”
“And leave you
alone with the potential kitchen bomber?” Nico rolled his eyes, evidently not afraid of The Diva’s wrath. “I don’t think so. I’ll be in the bedroom while you talk, but you know our code for trouble.” He glowered at Daisy again.
Lainie waited for him to disappear into the next room and then waved her toward the couch again. “There’s no code.”
“Jesus. I heard that,” Nico shouted.
“You were saying?” Lainie seated herself on a white chaise and waited expectantly.
“I just wanted you to know how sorry I am about all the trouble you are having and to let you know that, in spite of that stupid note I had in my purse, it wasn’t me who planted the bomb.”
“Out of curiosity, were you the one who made the chef quit?”
“Honestly, I don’t think so, but I was talking smack in the kitchen a couple of weeks ago about what it had been like to work here. There’s a chance what I said influenced her decision to leave.”
“And even though you hated working here and want to see my business fail, you felt the need to come apologize?” Lainie folded her arms across the jacket of her formfitting blue power suit.
Defensiveness fired through her, but she tried remembering what Nico had said. Lainie wasn’t as tough as she looked, right? Gulping down her shallow breaths, Daisy focused on why she came here. “I wrote that note because I like to vent on paper and somehow you’d become one of my favorite mental villains. You know how on soap operas there’s always a character everyone loves to hate?”
Lainie didn’t appear to have a clue about soap operas, or characters that people loved to hate, but Daisy distinctly heard Nico snort in the next room.
“I think part of the reason I fixated on you is because you’re so strong and together. You’re everything I wished I could be but knew I didn’t stand a chance of becoming. And when you fired me—well, I was more than a little pissed.” Until she’d decided to leave South Beach and distance herself from the people who didn’t believe in her. Until she’d met Bram, who saw beyond who she was to who she could be.
“I know it was my fault for not doing my job. Took me a while, but I figured it out. Now, I’ve put myself on a self-improvement program of sorts, and I think it’s important to fix some past mistakes before I forge ahead. I’m moving to L.A. with Bram next week. Starting an on-line degree program.”
Holding her breath, she waited for some sort of reaction from the woman notorious for her cool demeanor. Sure, Daisy felt better about herself and her new direction in her life, but having business power-house Lainie’s stamp of approval would be a big confidence booster.
“Sounds like congratulations are in order.” Lainie’s affirming nod ranked as the most support Daisy had ever garnered from a fellow female in her life. But then, The Diva’s forehead furrowed. “You say this is part of a self-improvement program?”
“Yeah, like a twelve-step program for recovering screwups.”
To Daisy’s great surprise, Lainie laughed. Loudly.
“Let me know how it goes, will you?” Lainie peered over her shoulder at the door leading to the bedroom and lowered her voice. “I may be in the market for just such a thing one of these days. What are you studying?”
“Business.” While Daisy reeled with the thought of the ultimate perfectionist ever screwing up anything, Lainie scribbled something on a sheet of hotel stationery and then tore it off and handed it over.
“Here’s my e-mail address if you find yourself with business-related questions. I’ve expended huge amounts of energy to make myself an expert in the field, occasionally at the expense of the people in my life. Perhaps I can do a little self-improvement work on my end by lending you a hand.”
Daisy blinked. Had her aloof former boss just said she wanted to help her? Tears stung her eyes as the import of that act washed over her. First Bram and now Lainie going out of their way to be nice to her. To believe in her.
She knew she couldn’t spend her life trying to please others, but after a lifetime of being told by her mama that she would never amount to anything, this moment tasted mighty damn sweet.
“Oh my.” Lainie scrambled to her feet. She reached for a box of tissues and ripped out three before handing them to Daisy. “Please don’t cry. I haven’t made that much progress in the self-improvement arena to know how to comfort someone in tears.”
As if to prove the point, she patted Daisy’s shoulder awkwardly.
Oh, what the hell. Daisy threw her arms around her and squeezed. And even though Lainie seemed too startled to hug back, she didn’t scream in horror, either.
“Thank you.” Letting go, Daisy wiped her nose and smiled through her tears. “I’ll see you at the filming? Bram said the ending scenes are really scary as the killer finally catches up with the heroine. You don’t want to miss it.”
Lainie smoothed her hand over her already perfect coif as she reached for the door. “Absolutely. I’ve been dying to find out who’s the bad guy.”
15
NICO LAUNCHED OUT of the bedroom as soon as Daisy and Lainie said their goodbyes. He’d broken up his eavesdropping time by taking a quick shower, but for the most part, he’d listened in on their conversation.
For safety reasons of course.
Just because Daisy was out of jail didn’t mean she was innocent. Or so Nico had thought until he’d overheard the sharefest in which Lainie had bared more of her heart to jailbird Daisy than she ever had to him.
Lainie was already in the kitchenette, pouring some kind of green goo from a blender into a glass. She looked up as he joined her again, then stuffed a straw in the nasty looking drink and took a sip.
“There’s no way that’s edible.” He leaned closer to take a whiff and almost keeled over. “What the hell is that stuff?”
“What is it with you and Giselle? I got nothing but grief from her over my organic health drink, too.” She rinsed out the blender and finished the rest of her scary concoction. “I’ve got to get over to the filming today if you want to go with me. They’re doing the final scene, even though they still have another week of shooting. I guess they film it out of sequence and make sense of it later. Daisy said it’s going to be great.”
“That was damn nice of you to forgive her so easily.” He followed her as she moved out of the kitchen, drawn to her in spite of himself.
She shrugged as she stepped into her shoes. “She seems like she could use a break. Although landing herself a Hollywood hottie ought to go a long way toward smoothing over her troubles. Did you hear she’s going to L.A. with Bram?”
“He’s obviously crazy about her if you had to talk him out of following her to jail.” And Daisy apparently loved him back. How come Hawthorne got all the luck while Nico was running in circles chasing his own ass today? Still, he’d figured out a few things while listening to the women talk. “You remember what Daisy said about a self-improvement plan?”
Lainie gave him her cockeyed half smile and Nico wondered how he could walk away from her without seeing at least one more of those rare full-power grins. Selfishly, he hoped it would take a few more days for the cops to catch the kitchen bomber so he could have a little longer to talk her around, change her mind about him.
“Kind of like a twelve-step program for recovering bad girls?” She nodded. “I remember.”
“I was thinking it sounded like a good idea for me, too. Not the recovering bad girl part, of course. Just the concept of making myself a better person.” He turned to open the door into the corridor in an effort to keep the conversation light. Something told him if he wanted to introduce the subject of compromise, he’d better make it sound damn casual. “You ready to go check out the taping?”
Nodding, she reached for a leather binder she used for her work papers and led the way into the hall. “I promised the director I’d be on the set today in case they need anything. Do you mind if I ask what you think you need to improve?”
“Hard to believe I’d want to mess with a good thing, isn’t it?” H
e winked as he pulled the door closed behind them. “For starters I think I need to get over myself and my NHL career. I’ve spent nearly a year brooding about the hamstring injury and never competing professionally again, but I’m still coaching at the highest level. And seeing the peewee kids in hockey gear the other day made me realize how much I could be doing with my rink downtown. I should be running hockey camps in the summer instead of grousing about terminated contracts.”
“You might want to investigate product endorsements or franchising opportunities, too. I don’t know anything about hockey, but if you were as good as you say you were, then you might be able to trade on your name with your own line of skates, or whatever else players need.”
“Good idea.” He’d been impressed with her smarts the first time Giselle had told him about her business partner who was turning around Club Paradise. Now that he knew her better he found even more to admire.
“No wonder you’re running one of the most successful businesses on South Beach. You’ve got a good head for that kind of thing.”
After Lainie murmured a quiet “thank you,” they walked in silence for a moment, taking the stairs down to the floor where the final scene of Diva’s Last Dance would be filmed. Apparently, there would be a chase scene down the long corridor, and the action would wind up in one of the last rooms off the hallway.
“So I guess you don’t need any self-improvement.” He let the comment dangle for a moment, wondering if she’d bite. He’d heard her tell Daisy that she might need a plan of her own one day, and curiosity had been burning him up ever since. “You’ve already got everything running smoothly here.”
As he opened the stairway door out onto the corridor shoot location, however, he knew she wasn’t going to take the bait.
“I guess so.” Cool expression in place, she seemed anxious to join the gathering crowd and production chaos already in progress on the third-floor movie set.