by Unknown
Oh God, she was terrible at this, didn’t have the first clue how to proposition Marcus for the second time in twenty-four hours. Last night, she’d been able to play off the loud music, the dark lighting, her leather dress and heels. But sitting here in a kitchen drinking coffee in an oversized sweatshirt...she had none of those sexy trappings to help her find her way.
The thing was, she already knew she’d regret it like crazy if she walked away from Marcus without even trying.
One night. She deserved one night with a guy like this, didn’t she? Just because she’d blown last night by falling asleep, didn’t mean she should give up. If that had been how she’d approached the music business, she never would have gone beyond playing open mics at coffee shops.
Of course, she’d have to tell him who she was if he agreed to another night with her. Heck, she knew she needed to tell him anyway. How unfair would it be to him if he walked out of here and got a call from one of his friends or family asking him why he’d been holding out on them about being Nico’s newest flame?
Not looking forward to that part of the conversation one bit, she decided to lead with, “I’m going to be in the city for a few more nights.” She picked up her cup again and gulped the rest of the coffee.
His expression was unreadable. She didn’t have the first clue what he was going to say to her proposition. But she knew she needed to make it anyway, or forever brand herself a coward.
Her throat felt tight and dry as she said, “I’ve got to get going in a few minutes, but I was wondering if maybe you’d like to try and get together tonight?"
She swore she saw heat flare in his eyes, the heat neither of them had been able to bank. Oh please, please, please let him say yes! Because now that she’d put herself out there, now that she’d admitted what she wanted—him!—she couldn’t stand the thought of not getting it.
“How old are you, Nicola?”
“Twenty-five.” She tried not to say it defensively.
“I’m thirty-six.” He pushed off his stool and picked up both coffee cups as he headed for the sink. “I shouldn’t have been in that club last night.” His shoulders were tense as he explained, “I was angry about something and I thought I could get over it by going to a club and taking someone home for sex.”
It was the first time either of them had used the word.
Sex.
One syllable, three little letters, sizzled between them. And, oh, it made her want him more than ever, even though he was trying to use the word to back away from her, trying to set up reasons why they couldn’t have their night.
Her parents had always said what a stubborn child she’d been, and nothing had changed for her as an adult. If anything, her experiences in the music business, dealing with almost constant rejection and having to bounce back from it, had only made her more stubborn.
“I had my reasons, too,” she told him. Only, those reasons had changed. Last night had been all about getting something everyone already thought she had.
This morning she didn’t care about anyone else, didn’t give a fig for what a bunch of strangers thought about her. Now her reasons were all about wanting Marcus entirely for herself.
“Even if I weren’t too old for you—”
Nicola cut him off. “We’re both adults.”
He looked at her, head to toe, and she knew he was taking in the too-big sweatshirt that went past her knees. Despite the fact that she knew she looked really, really young with no makeup on, she lifted her chin and said, “You thought I looked plenty old enough last night.”
His jaw tightened. “Last night was a mistake. And if you hadn’t fallen asleep it would have been a truly huge mistake.”
Wow. That hurt.
She had to turn away from him on the stool and scoot off so that he wouldn’t see just how bad his words had made her feel. She’d thought she was a pro at letting rejection just bounce right off her. Turned out she had a long way to go, if only a few words from Marcus could make her feel like crumbling inside.
“Nicola.”
She didn’t turn around to face him when he said her name, didn’t stop heading for the couch where she hoped her shoes and purse were. She stripped off the sweatshirt while she walked, wanting nothing more than to just leave, to get the heck out of the house and drown herself in work, the work she’d been drowning in for the past six months.
She was just bending down to pick up her shoes when Marcus beat her to them.
“It’s not your fault. Nothing that did or didn’t happen is your fault.”
She held out her hand and willed it not to shake. “Can I have my shoes, please?”
For a few seconds, she wasn’t sure he was going to give them to her, but then, he finally handed them over.
She made sure their fingertips didn’t touch as she took them from him, then sat down on the edge of the coffee table to slip them on. Somehow she was going to keep it together long enough to sweep out of the house like a woman who couldn’t care less if one man found her attractive or not. There were plenty of others who wanted her. One day, when she was feeling stupid and reckless again, she would find one of them.
“You’re beautiful, Nicola.”
She’d been certain nothing he could have said would have stopped her from stomping out of there.
Nothing but that.
“When you were sleeping last night, I couldn’t stop thinking how beautiful you are. I can hardly believe you came home with me last night.” He ran his hand over his face. “I shouldn’t be telling you that, but it’s so damn true, I can’t let you think otherwise. Last night I told myself I could sleep with a stranger and not worry about your feelings.” His eyes caught hers and held them fast. “I don’t know a lot about you, but you don’t feel like a stranger anymore, Nicola.”
A flicker of hope lit in her chest. “Neither do you,” she said softly.
This time, when she instinctively reached out for his hand, she let herself make it all the way there. She slipped her fingers through his and that contentment she’d felt when she’d woken up on his lap, with her hands in his, filled her again.
“You’re right, we don’t know each other very well yet, but I already know you make me feel good. And I also know you were the perfect gentleman last night.” She pulled herself up to stand in front of him, her breasts close enough to his chest to almost touch. “If we gave the night one more try, then maybe this time we could see what it’s like when you’re not the perfect gentleman anymore?”
Desire flared even hotter in his eyes than it had before and she could feel the evidence of it against her lower body when she shifted even closer to him.
“I just got out of a relationship. I’m not looking for another one.”
Ah. So that was what had him going to the club last night to pick up some hot thing to screw silly.
“I’m not looking for a relationship either,” she told him firmly. “I swear I’m not.” She put his hand on her hips. “Just one night to feel what it’s like to be touched by you.” She went up on her tippy-toes in her heels to gain an extra inch and be a breath away from his mouth. “Just one night to know what it’s like to be kissed by you.”
She could almost taste his kiss, knew how much he wanted to lean into her and take what she was offering. Her eyes were closing and she was puckering up when suddenly cold air rushed across her as he quickly let go of her and stepped away.
“It would be better for both of us if we didn’t go there.”
Anger and embarrassment caught her in their grip. “You don’t know enough about me to know what would be better for me!”
And, frankly, she was too pissed off now to want to tell him about who she really was. He’d just have to find out the hard way, by turning on his computer or opening a magazine and seeing the pictures in full Technicolor.
“You’re right.” A muscle jumped in his jaw. “All I know is that you’re beautiful, and that you’re too young, too sweet, for me to even think about doing any
of that with you. I made a mistake last night and I won’t compound it now.”
Young.
Sweet.
Mistake.
She was going to throw up.
Here she’d thought she was going to regret not getting up the nerve to ask him to be with her for the night. What an idiot she’d been, how sure she must have been that he’d jump at the chance to be with her again.
Because when was the last time anyone had turned Nico down?
Well, she wasn’t a famous pop star right now. She was simply a woman who wanted a man.
A man she evidently couldn’t have. Because all she was to him was a way-too-young, far-too-sweet mistake.
Turning from him, she pulled her cell phone out of her bag and called for a cab, giving the driver the address she remembered Marcus saying the night before. After hanging up, she was sorely tempted to storm out of the house like the little girl he thought she was. Lord knew, it would be so much harder to hold her head high like a mature woman and take her lumps.
But that was what she was going to do, damn it.
Turning back to him with a fake smile, she politely said, “Thank you for not taking advantage of me last night.”
That muscle jumped in his chiseled jaw again. “You don’t have anything to thank me for.”
She shrugged and the devil she didn’t care about restraining made her say, “Sure I do. I could have woken up in some guy’s bed this morning ravished and exhausted from doing it all night long. Instead I’m still just as pure as the driven snow and perfectly well rested.” She lifted the corners of her mouth up even higher into the smile she didn’t even begin to feel. “Thanks to you. The perfect gentleman.” She held out her hand. “Goodbye, Marcus.”
He looked down at her outstretched hand before finally moving toward her to grasp it in his own.
Uh-oh. She should have thought that hand-shaking thing through better, should have remembered that every time they touched her body went up in flames.
Because he had an uncanny knack of reducing her insides to a pile of ashes.
“Holy hell,” he said in a low, raw voice. “I shouldn’t want you this much.”
She’d barely begun to wrap her head around his words, when he was pulling her into him and crushing her mouth beneath his.
The kiss—their first kiss—was beyond anything she’d ever experienced. Every ounce of his desire, every ounce of his frustrated need, everything he was denying himself by letting her go, poured from his mouth to hers.
He didn’t taste her gently, didn’t learn the curves and contours of her mouth. Instead, he took what he wanted...and gave her something she’d never really known she wanted before.
Nicola liked to be in control of everything, especially in the wake of Kenny’s betrayal. For the first time in a very long time, she gave up that control to a man who knew exactly what to do with it.
His tongue owned hers, his teeth captured her lower lip, and she heard herself gasping and moaning as if through a long, narrow tunnel.
And then, just as quickly as his kiss had taken her over, it was taken away.
“Damn it. I didn’t mean to do that.” His expression was frustrated. “You need to go, Nicola. Now.”
She blinked at him, trying to clear her vision, about to tell him their first kiss couldn’t possibly be the end when it was the most glorious beginning she’d ever known. But then she got a good look at his face, saw the way his eyes were completely shuttered, totally closed.
And she knew there was no point.
He was done with her.
And she needed to be done with him, too.
Fortunately, that was when the taxi driver knocked on the front door. She and Marcus hadn’t exchanged last names or phone numbers. She had no idea how to reach him apart from camping out on his brother’s front step.
This was it.
This really was goodbye.
She wouldn’t let herself give in to the urge to take one last look at Marcus. She simply turned and walked away.
Chapter Five
Marcus couldn’t stop thinking about Nicola.
From the first moment he’d seen her at the club, he’d thought she was gorgeous. Sexy as hell in that leather dress, her bare legs toned and sleek in her heels.
But when he’d turned around in the kitchen and seen her with no makeup on, her cheeks pink with what he guessed was embarrassment at having to speak with him in the light of day, his heart may have actually stopped beating for a few moments.
What a beauty she was. And so young-looking. Despite the fact that she’d told him she was twenty-five, guilt roiled in his stomach at what he’d almost done with her the previous night.
“Marcus, how does that sound?”
He looked up at the men who were waiting for his decision about the new corks they were considering for his latest vintage. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his assistant, Ellen, frowning at him, obviously confused by his unusual lack of focus.
“The materials they’re using sound quite close to what we’ve been looking for,” she told him. She lifted up her iPad so that he could see her spreadsheet. “Of course, we should review their documents and my notes further before we sign any contracts.”
Ellen had started working for him in the tasting room and he’d quickly realized that, while she had an excellent touch with the customers who came by to try his wines, she was too bright and quick to be wasted there. Yet again, she was proving her worth to him.
“Yes,” Marcus agreed, “the specifications look good. We’ll review them further and get back to you.”
His phone buzzed and he looked down at it, hoping for a moment that it was Nicola even though he knew that was impossible. He hadn’t given her his number. And he didn’t have hers.
He’d done that on purpose, knowing even the faintest trail would find him heading straight toward her.
Especially after that kiss.
Jesus. That kiss.
She’d tasted so good. A faint taste of coffee, a hint of toothpaste, but none of that could disguise her own sweet essence.
What, he’d been wondering every single second since then, would her skin taste like? Not just on her face, her shoulders, her breasts, but between her legs, while she was spread open for—
His sister Lori’s face popped up on his phone and he realized he’d been doing it again: losing the thread of everything but Nicola.
“Excuse me, I need to take this,” he told the group before pushing away from the table and walking out into the hallway.
Family always came first for Marcus, just as Jill had accused. If one of his brothers or sisters or his mother needed him, he would do anything he could to be there for them. Even before his father had died, as the oldest there’d been an instinctive weight of responsibility on his shoulders. Of course, after his father died that weight had grown infinitely heavier.
“Hi, Naughty,” he said, using the nickname Chase had given Lori years ago.
He could almost see her expression, that faintly irritated look she had whenever they called her that. Despite her protests that she didn’t like it, Marcus knew better. Lori definitely liked people thinking she had a little edge. Especially since she would have hated being called Nice like her twin sister, Sophie.
“Are you still in the city?”
“I’m just about to finish my last meeting.”
“Great!”
Lori’s energy was palpable even through the phone. Dancing was the perfect career for her, considering she had more energy that two people combined. She’d been a terror as a toddler and pre-schooler. A really cute terror who knew just when to turn on the smiles to get what she wanted or the waterworks to get out of trouble.
“Do you have time to come by and see me at my video shoot before you head back to Napa?”
“I wouldn’t miss it. Text me your location and I’ll leave now.”
Ellen had things well covered here. And considering he couldn’t concentrate worth a damn
today, the meeting would be better off without him.
Hanging up, he walked back into the conference room. “I need to leave early, but as you already know, Ellen is well versed in what we’re looking for and can take it from here.”
She beamed at him, clearly pleased that he had enough faith in her abilities to leave her in charge of the negotiations. He shook everyone’s hand and said a silent thank you to Ellen. You’re welcome was evident in her returning smile.
Lori was just the person he needed to see. Even though Smith was a movie star, she hadn’t gotten the job working on the pop star’s video through her connection to him. She’d worked hard to get this gig all by herself, and Marcus, along with the rest of them, was incredibly proud of her.
He and Lori had always had a special relationship and he was glad she’d asked him to come watch her work.
It was the perfect way for him to forget all about Nicola.
* * *
Nicola lifted the water bottle to her lips and drained it. They’d all been working hard today in preparation for the filming that began tomorrow. Shooting a video was never cheap, but as soon as the cameras started rolling the costs went up exponentially. Nicola and the rest of her dancers needed to be ready to the nth degree by the time the director walked into the room Friday morning.
Yesterday, she’d thought she was good to go.
But today had been a disaster.
She couldn’t focus. Not after the call that had come in from her publicist just after she’d left in the cab. Nicola always had Sandra inform her of any pictures she saw circulating of her and whatever star of the week she was supposed to be dating so she’d be prepared to deal with questions.
This morning Sandra had come straight to the point. “I’ve just seen pictures of you leaving a club with some guy I don’t recognize."
Even though Nicola had expected this, her heart had pretty much stopped. Especially because she’d been too upset about her battered pride at Marcus turning her down to actually get around to telling him who she was and to mention some unexpected press might be coming his way in the very near future.