Rumor Has It

by Tami Hoag

  When he drew her nearer and began to press kisses to the flaws that marred her skin, tears of relief flooded Katie's eyes. As weakness washed over her, her knees lost their strength, but Nick held her, his arms around her legs. He went on kissing her, tracing his lips over each line. When he finished, he rose and turned back the covers of the bed, lifted Katie, and placed her on the cool cotton sheets.

  She watched him undress, in awe of his male beauty. She had seen the power and athletic artistry of his body as he had danced. Everything he did he did with an unconscious grace—even getting into bed. He settled beside her with shining eyes and a sweet smile.

  “So, here we are,” he said.

  “Here we are,” she repeated absently, all caught up in the contrast of his dark skin against the snow- white sheets. Her gaze traveled the length of him as he lay stretched out on his side. She had seen most of his body before as he'd whirled beneath the hot lights of the stage at Hepplewhite's. The parts that were new to her were no less beautiful, no less male than the rest of him.

  Nick ran his hand down her side, over the curve of her slender hip. “You're so tiny,” he murmured. He was going to have to hold his passion in check, even though he wanted her more than he'd ever wanted any woman.

  “You're not,” Katie said, dragging her gaze upward and fixing it on the width of his muscular chest. He seemed bigger than ever, in her bed, dwarfing her in every way.

  “Don't worry,” said Nick, dropping a soft kiss to her lips. “I'll be so gentle with you, kitten. I wouldn't hurt you for the world. I love you.”

  “I love you,” she echoed.

  “Then come here and touch me.”

  He pulled her a little closer, then took her hand on a guided tour of his body. The first stop was his chest. Her fingers brushed over the mat of black curls, teased the brown nipples until they were pebble hard. His response to her touch brought about a mirror reaction in Katie's body. Her breasts tingled. He drew her hand down across the hard, flat plane of his belly, following the line of hair that skipped around his navel, down to the hard, proud shaft of his manhood. He closed her hand around him, groaning as she stroked him hesitantly. She groaned in return at the ache deep in her belly.

  Nick tipped her face up and kissed her. His hand set off on an exploration of her body, stroking, teasing, marveling at her softness. He wanted her so badly, he felt nearly frantic, but he clung to his control. Everything had to be perfect for her this first time. It seemed as if it were the most important task he'd ever had entrusted to him—to make love to Katie with complete tenderness, to make her feel beautiful and feminine and cherished, to show her nothing mattered more to him than the way he felt about her.

  He wouldn't rush her, but he couldn't stand what she was doing to him for much longer. He rolled Katie onto her back and made his way down her body, kissing and tasting. She squirmed beneath him, giggling as his teeth tickled her ribs, gasping as his tongue dipped into her navel. He burned a path down one silky leg and up the other.

  Finally he eased a pillow beneath her hips and knelt between her parted thighs. He stroked her with one hand and guided himself into her with the other, groaning as her velvet warmth closed tightly around him.

  Katie bit her lip and took all of him, stunned at the emotions that belonging to him evoked. There was love, achingly sweet and as special as she had always imagined it should be. There was a soaring joy entwined with a strong sense of being set free. Nick was setting her free from the bondage of her scars. If he never gave her anything more, it would be enough. She would love him for it always, for making her feel beautiful and cherished and whole.

  She reached out to him, wanting no distance between them. She wanted her arms around him, their hearts pressed together. She wanted to touch him, to feel the flex and strain of his muscles as he moved on top of her and inside her.

  “Kiss me,” she whispered as he lowered himself, taking his weight on his arms. His mouth moved across hers in a caress as sensuous as the caress of his body against hers.

  Their loving was slow and tender; they smiled and whispered their love. Gazes locked and legs tangled, they moved together, giving and taking until one could no longer be distinguished from the other. Need and pleasure built together, feeding on each other, growing to a climax that shook them both with its intensity.

  Afterward Katie snuggled against Nick's side, with her head pressed to his shoulder, her hand over his heart. She felt exhausted, utterly content, irrevocably changed in a way she couldn't explain.

  “Do I get to say I told you so?” Nick asked, his voice low and gravelly as if he hadn't the energy left to speak in his normal tone.

  Katie raised up on one elbow and smiled down at him. “I don't think that's necessary. Nick, I had no idea it would be so…” Words failed her, and her voice trailed off as she gave up her attempt to explain.

  He reached up and brushed back her bangs and murmured, “Me either.” He couldn't begin to tell her how special he'd felt holding her and loving her, feeling her body respond to his and knowing he was the only man who had ever experienced such joy with her. Making love was nothing new to Nick, but what he had just shared with Katie was entirely new. He couldn't begin to articulate his feelings, but he could see from the expression in her eyes, he didn't need to. Katie understood.

  She was all peaches and cream in the soft lamplight. He lifted a hand to cup her breast and smiled at her intake of breath. “Are you sure you're not Miss Nude Universe? You look a lot like her.”

  “I think you need your glasses, Leone,” she said dryly.

  “Naw, forget them,” he said. “They'd only be steaming up right about now.”

  Tracing a finger along the clear- cut edges of his lips, she said, “You have the sexiest mouth.” She leaned down and kissed him lightly. His right ear captured her attention next. “Your ears are nice too. I noticed them the first time we met.”

  “Did you?”

  She nodded, pushing a lock of dark hair back behind her own ear. “I thought you were very attractive, and it made me mad.”

  “Why would that make you mad?”

  “Because I didn't want to be attracted to you,” she said, deciding to be honest with him. There didn't seem to be any point in holding back now. “Because I was sure you wouldn't be attracted to me. Because I thought I could never have more out of life than I already had.”

  “And now?”

  “And now,” she said with a wry smile, “I'm willing to admit I was wrong. But don't spread that news around. It would ruin my reputation for being stubborn.”

  Nick's brows rose in mock surprise. “You? Stubborn?”

  “Don't get smart with me, Yankee.” She laughed and hugged him with more strength than she thought she had left, and then raised up to give him a challenging look. “Remember the way you made me feel a little while ago? I dare you to make me feel that way again.”

  His crooked grin flashed brilliantly across his dark face. “You're on, lady.”

  Katie woke up alone. Soft yellow sunlight and a fresh breeze spilled in through her bedroom window. From the direction of her kitchen came the muted clatter of pots and pans.

  So last night hadn't been a dream after all, she thought. Nick really had spent the night schooling her in the fine art of lovemaking. She stretched and groaned as her body protested at the movement, muscles she never had imagined having aching. Nick had been exquisitely careful with her, never letting her take his weight, never putting too much pressure on her back, but still she was stiff and sore.

  She eased herself to a sitting position and rubbed her eyes. Ordinarily she bounced out of bed in the morning, disgustingly chipper and ready to take on the day. Today she wanted nothing more than to sink back on the mattress and laze the day away with Nick beside her. She had to force herself out of bed.

  The reflection of her naked body in the cheval glass caught her attention. She turned carefully and faced the mirror. Her long dark hair tumbled wildly all around her. Sh
e was going to have a devil of a time getting a comb through it this morning, but she didn't really care. Nick had wanted it loose. He loved the feel of it against his skin, loved to bury his hands in it.

  Katie always had thought there wasn't much to her body. She wasn't shapely, didn't have the kind of figure that turned male heads. This morning she felt rounder somehow, more feminine than she had ever felt in her life, a hundred times more feminine than she had felt since her hysterectomy. And when she looked at the reflection of the scars that criss crossed her stomach, they didn't seem quite as ugly as they had the day before.

  Maybe in time they wouldn't seem very important at all. She wanted to think so as the beautiful sounds and scents of late spring poured through her window. Optimism was an abundant commodity on such a day, especially after a night spent in Nick's arms.

  Throwing on a blue silk robe, Katie padded barefoot to the kitchen. Nick was busy at the counter arranging bowls and utensils. He was barefoot, too, wearing nothing but his jeans. It seemed impossible for a man to look so sexy in a pair of worn denims, but he did. There was something about the way his back tapered from broad shoulders to his narrow waist and gorgeous backside that made her breath stick in her lungs. Her heart thudded in her chest as memories of the night came back to her. There wasn't an inch of his body she hadn't explored. He knew hers just as well.

  “Good morning,” she said softly, suddenly feeling shy. She'd never had a lover before. How was a person supposed to act the morning after?

  He'd been right, Nick thought as he glanced over his shoulder at her. Her voice was low and husky in the morning. The two words she'd spoken had him wanting to tumble her back into bed, but he knew that wasn't going to be possible. He had known better than to make love to her so long into the night when she was inexperienced, but Katie had been a very willing and persuasive partner. He could see by her careful movements, she was paying the price this morning.

  “Hi, kitten,” he murmured, turning completely around to take her in his arms. She snuggled against him, pressing her cheek to his warm, solid chest. “How are you feeling this morning? Any regrets?”

  She looked up at him, her eyes clear and full of love. “No. Do you have any?”

  He nodded. Her heart skipped. “I regret to inform you your kitchen is a wasteland. You have no food. No wonder you're so little.”

  “I have food,” she said in her own defense. “You must not have looked in the freezer.”

  “I looked in the freezer.” He frowned. “My mama would weep if she knew you were eating boil- in- the- bag cacciatore.”

  “Well, I don't eat it for breakfast. I'm sure there are some toaster waffles in there.”

  “Yeah. They're right next to the imitation fruit and cardboard turnovers.” Nick shook his head in reproach and turned back to the counter as Katie moved to stand by the sink. “I managed to scrape together the makings of French toast. You had half a loaf of unbearably stale bread. I can't think of anything better to do with it. I suppose I'll be lucky if there aren't baby chickens in these eggs. Fresh is too much to hope for.”

  “Fussy,” Katie muttered. She glanced at the clock on the stove and winced. “Oh, Nick, I'm afraid I don't have time for breakfast. I'm going to be late for work as it is.”

  He caught her by the arm as she headed back toward the bedroom. “You've got all the time in the world. I called Maggie and told her you'd be late.”

  “You what?” Katie asked, incredulous. “Nick, how could you?”

  He laughed. “It wasn't news to her. Myrtle Kelly already had informed her that my car was parked outside your house all night.”

  Katie covered her face with her hands and shook her head. Small towns! Every store clerk and gas station attendant in Briarwood would know before noon that the mysterious Nick Leone had managed to thaw the town's ice princess.

  Nick went still as he watched her blush. “Do you mind having people know about us?” he asked quietly. He pulled her hands down and held them in his, feeling uncertain. Katie had a position in the community. Being seen in public with him was one thing. Having everyone know they were lovers was something else. “Do you mind having the gossips speculating about you and the nefarious guy from Jersey?”

  Katie gave him one of her no- nonsense looks. “Oh, pooh, let them think what they want. My friends are the only people I care about when it comes to my reputation. They may not know exactly who you are, but they like you anyway. As for the rest of the town, they can gossip to their hearts’ content. I'm embarrassed, though, that you would just call someone up and tell them I'm too exhausted from making love with you to come in to work.”

  That was Katie, he thought, prim and proper. There certainly hadn't been anything prim or proper about her in bed, and Nick was the only one who knew. The thought brought him immense satisfaction.

  “I love you,” he said with an exuberant grin. Without giving her any warning at all, he swung Katie up into his arms and strode toward the bedroom. Instead of depositing her on the bed, he turned right and nudged the bathroom door open with his toe.

  “Just what are you planning, Mr. Leone?” Katie asked in a haughty tone.

  “You've heard of breakfast in bed. This is breakfast in bath.”

  The room was every bit as large as Katie's bedroom, but it was partitioned into two sections, and an enormous white bathtub with polished brass faucets and ball and claw feet stood in the center of the first. Potted ferns were grouped around it on the gleaming wood floor. A brass towel rack stood nearby.

  Nick lowered Katie to a vanity chair and started the water running in the tub. He selected a bottle of bubble bath from the small glass- topped table beside the tub and poured in enough for three baths. Katie suppressed the urge to giggle at the serious look on his face as he arranged the lush peach towels on the rack. Then he came to her, stood her up, and slid her robe off her shoulders, his gaze roaming hungrily over her body as the blue silk slipped to the floor. He swept her up into his arms, holding her high against his chest so he could nuzzle her breasts as he carried her to the tub.

  The water was hot and heavenly and silky from too much bubble bath. Katie sank down into it with a grateful sigh that turned to a sputter as the bubbles threatened to engulf her. She brushed them away from her face and tilted a smile up at Nick, who was looking very pleased with himself.

  “Did I hear you mention something about breakfast?” she asked sweetly.

  He knelt down beside the tub and ran a finger coated with tiny bubbles down her nose. “Yeah, but now that I see you in this tub I think I've changed my mind about French toast. I'm hungrier for you.”

  He tried to kiss her and got a mouthful of bubbles for his trouble. Katie laughed. “You'd better wait until the suds die down, Romeo.”

  “How long will that take?”

  “About as long as it takes to make and eat French toast.”

  While Nick was in the kitchen, Katie put her hair up with pins she kept on the table next to the tub. She leaned back in the steaming water and closed her eyes as the stiffness seeped out of her muscles and joints. It was nice to feel lazy and decadent for a change. It would be easy to get used to having Nick pamper her.

  Too easy, a little voice deep inside her warned.

  Katie ignored it. Hadn't she decided practically from the start to take one day at a time with Nick and let the chips fall where they might? So far things were working out. There was no sense worrying about some day in the future. Nick loved her. He made her feel special, made her forget about her scars. She loved him.

  “Breakfast is now being served in the bathtub,” Nick announced. The tray he carried in bore a single plate piled with French toast dripping in maple syrup, two glasses of orange juice, and a bud vase with flowers Katie recognized from her garden. He dragged the little vanity chair up next to the tub and sat down, balancing the tray on his legs.

  “This is heavenly,” Katie said with a groan of appreciation after Nick had presented her with the first bite
. “I taste apples.”

  “I found a couple that hadn't petrified in the back of the refrigerator.”

  “And I taste spices.”

  He shrugged. “A little cinnamon, a little nutmeg.”

  “This beats the heck out of a toaster waffle.”

  “I should hope so.”

  Nick ate, but mostly he watched Katie. She was glowing, smiling at the least provocation. There was rosy color in her cheeks. Making love all night agreed with her. He was glad, because he planned to make a habit of it.

  “Shouldn't you be at the restaurant?” she asked, brushing back a strand of hair that had escaped her haphazard topknot. “I thought today was the day they were putting in the much bally-hooed curb and gutter.”

  “It is, but not until later on. We have plenty of time to get there.”

  “We?” Katie arched a brow at him.

  Nick bit his lip and gave her his most hopeful look. “I was hoping you might be persuaded to help me sort through the plates and utensils I bought at that auction in Richmond last week.”

  “Is that what this breakfast in the bath business is all about?” Katie asked with amusement showing plainly through the stern expression she was trying to maintain.

  “No, I—”

  “It's going to take more than a little French toast, Mr. Leone.”

  “Really? What did you have in mind?” he asked, setting the tray on the floor and leaning over the tub. He dabbed at the corner of Katie's mouth with a napkin. “You have syrup on you.”

  “I can think of a more imaginative way to get it off,” she said suggestively.

  A wicked grin spread across his face. He leaned toward her, his tongue working at the dot of syrup, then probing the corner of Katie's mouth. She let her hands wander over his chest as they kissed, tracing wet patterns over his bare skin down to the waistband of his jeans. One finger dipped inside the denim to tickle him.

  Nick cleared his throat, lifting his mouth from hers just enough to speak. “Katie, what are you doing?”

  “Seducing you. Am I doing it right?”