About half an hour later Lyndsey came downstairs and walked over to where I was sitting reading a magazine.
“Hi,” she said, the exhaustion seeping through her words.
I stood up and gave her a hug, keeping one arm around her shoulders afterwards. “Hey, how’re you doing?”
“I’ve had better days,” she said shakily.
“How about I take you home and we get you some food?”
“That sounds great, but don’t we both have our cars here?”
“I’ll bring you back to get yours later,” I answered.
She didn’t argue, so I gathered up her bag and her worn-down spirit, and I took them both home.
Chapter 7
Lyndsey
The sun was streaming through the window in my bedroom, and I could tell it was later than when I usually woke up. I tried to move and realized that the weight on my legs was much heavier than my comforter, and much warmer. Suddenly it all came rushing back: Raoul collapsing, the hospital, Leesa’s grief, and Nick. Nick taking care of me, taking care of The Grill. Nick coming home with me last night, and . . . Oh hell, Nick Carlisle was in my bed.
I gritted my teeth and moved an inch away from him. He was plastered against my backside with his leg thrown over mine. Shit, shit, shit. How did I get myself into this? And more importantly how was I going to get myself out of it? I wiggled a little further away from the sleeping hunk of man behind me. Then a little more, at which point Nick sighed and yanked me closer again.
“If you think you can slip out of here and leave me all cold and lonely, you’re way off Goldilocks,” a raspy voice next to my ear said.
I squeaked a little, surprised that he was awake. He nuzzled my neck, his whiskers scratchy on my skin. Then, in a movement so fast I couldn’t have countered it if I’d tried, he flipped me on my back, wrapped an arm around my waist and looked down at me.
His blue eyes were the color of the ocean before a storm, languid and cloudy this early in the morning. His hair was sticking up every which way, and he had an 8:00 a.m. shadow, but it only served to soften him up more, blurring the sharp lines of his square jaw.
“You were going to run off, weren’t you?” He looked at me like I was his breakfast.
I blinked at him for a moment, resisting the urge to reach up and run my fingers through all of that messy hair. “Um, I was going to get out of bed. Does that count as running off?”
He looked at me skeptically. “Really? Just get out of bed? Not sneak out the front door and hope I’d be gone when you got back?”
I sighed. He had me. In more ways than one. I smiled. “Okay, yeah.”
He moved his knee in between my legs, while he looked sort of dreamily at my lips. “Mmm,” he hummed. “You’ve got to quit running away from me, you know that?”
I could feel my insides melting into a puddle as his knee wound up putting pressure on that magical spot at my core. “Nick?” I breathed out, barely able to form words.
“Yeah,” he mumbled as he started kissing my neck. I could feel his hot breath in my hair.
“What are we doing here?”
“Saying good morning.” He took his exploration down to my shoulder where he moved the strap of my tank top to the side so he could lick my bare skin.
“Look, I know I asked you to stay with me last night, but it was only to sleep. I don’t want to mislead you, and I’m not sure this is such a good idea . . . Oh, yeah, that’s really not a good idea.”
He chuckled and pulled his head up from my neck to look me in the eyes. “Do you remember what I asked you last night behind the bar at The Grill?”
I sifted through my jumbled memories of the previous evening and afternoon. I remembered Nick coming around behind the bar, and me trying to tell him he couldn’t be back there, and then . . . oh, yes. “You asked me to go out with you,” I answered.
“So,” he whispered as he kissed me gently along my jaw, stopping just shy of my lips. “What’s your answer?”
“I can’t . . . I don’t . . . I’m not . . . Okay, Nick, you’ve got. To. Stop. That.”
He laughed harder this time, but drew back and smiled at me.
I huffed out a big breath, trying to steady my overwrought nerves. I could feel everything south of my belly button spring to hot, damp life. I couldn’t let my hormones lead me astray here.
“Was I distracting you?” he asked, the picture of innocence—if innocence were wrapped in two hundred pounds of sexy man.
“I’m not sure we should date,” I finally blurted out.
“Why not?” His brows drew down in a scowl.
“I don’t really think I should date anyone right now, I mean Raoul’s sick and Leesa’s going to need me at the restaurant. It’s bad timing, you know?”
He flipped over on his back, taking me with him so that I was lying on top of him. I realized at this point that there was a sheet in between our bodies. I guess he was more of a gentleman than I’d given him credit for. I wiggled a little, trying to slide away from him, but his arms were clamped firmly around my waist. I rolled my eyes at him. He smirked.
“Bad timing, huh?”
I nodded.
“You know what I think? I think you’re scared. I think you can tell we’ve got something going here that could be great, and you’re scared. Admit it, I’m right, aren’t I?”
I quit my half-hearted attempts at rolling off of him and lay my head down on his chest, just under his chin. I could hear the strong thump-thump-thump of his heart. I thought about Leesa laying her head on Raoul’s chest knowing soon the thump-thump of his heart would stop. Knowing no matter what you did, this body that held everything most dear to you in the world would stop. Just stop.
“I don’t think I can take it if it doesn’t work out, Nick. Everyone I’ve ever needed in my life has left, or failed me somehow. Raoul’s going to leave me now too. I can’t need anyone again, I just can’t.”
He stroked my head as a single tear rolled out of my eye and onto the soft T-shirt covering his beautiful chest that held his glorious beating heart.
“Hey,” he said very quietly. “Nothing in life is for sure, but do you think Leesa would trade her time with Raoul even if she’d known this would be the outcome? I know my parents would never give up what they’ve had together, even if they knew one of them was going to be hit by a bus tomorrow. I’m not going anywhere, Lynds, and I just want a chance. A chance to get to know you . . .” His tone shifted. “Because I think you’re great, do you get that? You’re like the cherry on my sundae, the cream of my crop, the chocolate chip in my cookie . . .”
I giggled as he continued with the terrible comparisons between me and food. “Alright!” I hollered, lifting my head off of his chest and looking at his smiling face. “You win, you can have a date, but it may be the only one you ever get, so make it a good one,” I demanded as I sat up on my knees, grabbed a pillow, and threw it at him before I scrambled off the bed and ran to the bathroom where I locked the door, creating a barrier I knew was only temporary between me and the guy who was slowly worming his way into my heart.
* * *
Nick dropped me off at my car at the hospital with a promise to come by The Grill later that afternoon. He said he’d get Gabe and they’d even bus tables if we needed the extra help. I had phoned Leesa, and Raoul was being released later in the day. Leesa wouldn’t be in, but we’d gotten the relief cook to agree to work some extra days and I’d called all the wait staff to help out, so it looked like it’d be business as usual at least for this Saturday night.
I took Jack to work with me and opened up the restaurant for the lunch shift. The cook was settled, I had Carly hostessing, and three girls in to wait tables so that I could stay behind the bar and run everything from there. We hadn’t even let customers in yet when Gabe and Nick strolled in, looking like they owned the place and were ready to get the party started.
Carly was lighting candles on tables and setting out flatware. Everyone knew she
was a big fan of Gabe, including Gabe himself, so he immediately made his way over to flirt with her.
Nick sauntered over to me and leaned across the bar. “How you doing?” he said looking me over a little more slowly than was technically necessary.
“I’m okay,” I answered as I lined up bottles of liquor and a variety of glasses along the shelf behind the bar. “Raoul’s getting released in a bit, and Leesa will stay home with him today. She thinks we should close tomorrow since it’s usually a slow day anyway.”
“Have you got all the staff you need?” Nick asked. He glanced over his shoulder for a moment and frowned.
I looked past him at Gabe who was in the process of kneeling in front of Carly while she knighted him with a set of silverware.
“Jesus, he’s an idiot,” Nick said turning back toward me.
I laughed, thankful for the distraction from my thoughts of Raoul. “Yeah, but a lot of girls like that. You know, he’s entertaining and funny.” I bent down to the mini fridge under the counter and took out a bowl of sliced lemons to keep behind the bar. The scent was strong enough to make my mouth water briefly. It reminded me of Nick’s cologne, also mouthwatering.
“So, is that what you like?” He played with a drink stirrer on the bar top, spinning it in little circles.
“Me? No, I go more for the tortured, sex-god type. You know tall, serious, dark past.” I kept arranging condiment items along the counter.
He smiled at me. “Oh yeah? Like what? Six two, good with surfboards and dogs, that kind of guy?”
I laughed. “Something like that.”
“Come here, Goldilocks.” He crooked his finger at me, and I leaned forward across the bar toward him. He put his index finger under my chin and coaxed me a little further in his direction, but stopped just shy of touching his lips to mine. A tiny shiver worked its way down my spine and lodged in my stomach. The stomach in question promptly flipped over and then trembled.
“Nick?”
“Mmmhmm.”
“Since you’re so good with dogs,” I whispered. “Will you go to the kitchen, get Jack off the back porch, and take him on a walk?”
Nick pulled back and started laughing. “Well, that wasn’t what I was hoping you’d say, but alright, I am here to help, so I guess I’d better man up.
“Gabe!” he hollered. “We’ve got important restaurant stuff to do. C’mon dude.”
I heard Carly whine about Gabe leaving her, but in a moment he jogged over and the boys disappeared back to the kitchen as I finished setting up and went to turn the sign to Open for the day.
* * *
Sixteen hours later, my feet were killing me and I was ready to get down on my knees and beg the last two tables of guests to leave. Somehow standing for a whole night seemed a hell of lot harder than walking around as a waitress. I’d spent hours slinging beers and cheap mixed drinks to other college students, and glasses of wine to cougars out prowling the local scene. I’d even seen a group of them hit on Gabe and Nick. That didn’t bother me nearly as much as the forty-five minutes Nick spent talking to a girl from our math class. I knew I had no right to be jealous, and that if I had any sense I’d keep things as casual as possible, but the little green monster inside of me didn’t seem to care about good sense and logic.
It was 2:45 a.m. when the last stragglers finally headed out and the wait staff finished cleaning up for the night. I was more tired than I could ever remember being in my life, and I felt sticky all over from the sweat and the sugary drinks I’d been splashed with all night. Gabe had taken off with Carly to do who knows what, but Nick was still there, propping up the bar like he had been most of the afternoon and evening, sometimes doing schoolwork, quizzing me on math theories, sometimes drinking with Gabe, sometimes just watching me work.
I locked up the front door and came back into the main room. “Well, I think that’s everything. We did it. I’ve got the receipts and cash drawer all locked up and Leesa will come by and deposit those in the morning. You able to crawl out of here?”
Nick stood up from his barstool and stretched, revealing a strip of those amazing abs. He caught me staring and smirked. “See anything you like there, Goldilocks?”
“Oh get over yourself, surf boy,” I snapped back at him as I headed toward the door to the kitchen.
He reached out and grabbed my arm as I went past him. I stumbled when he altered my direction and fell right into his chest. I looked up at him and he chuckled as he lowered his head to mine. “Got you where I want you now,” he murmured.
I felt my heart speed up and I swallowed as I looked up at him. His gaze fell to my lips. “So, about that date . . .”
“Yeah?” I answered so quietly I almost didn’t hear myself.
“Am I allowed to kiss you before then?”
“Um, I don’t know . . .”
“Well, I was kissing you this morning. I mean granted, it wasn’t on the lips, but it was still kissing. And as I recall there was quite a kiss yesterday when I first asked you out. A little more couldn’t hurt, right?” he queried, as he ran his thumb along my lower lip.
I blinked at him.
“Say yes, Lyndsey,” he whispered as he moved even closer, his lips now mere centimeters from mine.
My answer was really just a breath as he closed that last tiny distance and his warm lips touched mine like two butterflies meeting in mid-air. The tip of my tongue came slowly out of my mouth as I licked my lips.
“Mmmm,” Nick moaned as he drew me up tight against him.
His tongue reached out and met mine before dipping into my mouth. I felt electricity jolt through me, and my racing heart nearly pounded out of my chest. Our open-mouthed kiss deepened and his hands moved around to cup my ass. I ran my fingers down his chest, touching on every smooth bump I felt beneath his T-shirt until I reached the hem and slowly moved my hands up underneath to meet warm, smooth skin.
Nick’s breathing was ragged, and his fingers moved up and around to the front of my body where he tugged on my Hanalei Bar and Grill T-shirt to untuck it from my shorts. Then he placed his big heated palm on my stomach and I jerked at the contact. I felt him smile through our kiss. “A little jumpy are we?” he whispered as he kept exploring my mouth. I responded by pressing even closer to him as his hand moved up to my breast and everything inside of me went haywire.
I was panting like I’d run a race, and Nick’s fingers rolling my nipple through the lace of my bra were only making the situation worse. I ran my hand down his abs, stopping to slide them across the silky hair that trailed down below his waistband. Then I dropped my hand lower to stroke his erection through his shorts. He was big and hard. Everywhere. The urge to grind against all that hardness was overwhelming.
He groaned and pulled back a fraction of an inch. “Christ girl, if you’re going to keep that up we’ve got to go rent a room or something.”
I paused and tried to catch my breath. I slowly moved my hand back to his waist and put a few more inches between our bodies. He leaned his head down on my shoulder, burying his face in my neck and nuzzling there for a moment.
Finally, he lifted his head and looked me in the eyes. “Sorry,” he murmured. “It’s uh, it’s been a while, I might not have as much self-control as I should.”
I smiled weakly, still overwhelmed at the feelings coursing through my body. “Same here,” I said, my voice somewhat hoarse.
“I also don’t want to get to all the good stuff before our first official date.” He grinned as he took my hand and led me to the kitchen. “Anticipation is half the fun.”
I raised one eyebrow at him, feeling calmer as we put distance between us. “Don’t get your hopes up, Romeo, it’s only one date.”
We entered the kitchen where Jack was waiting for me to take him home. “That’s all it takes, Goldilocks,” he answered. “Just once.”
Chapter 8
Nick
I spent the next week bouncing between classes, The Grill, and the beach. Raoul was back
behind the bar, but I could tell that he wouldn’t be able to keep it up much longer. Lyndsey seemed pretty determined to act like everything was normal, but I could see she was hurting. I didn’t know what to do to help, so I tried to be there for whatever people seemed to need, and a lot of days that was some normal conversation and a little discreet manual labor that Raoul really wasn’t up to anymore.
Friday morning I walked into math class and loped up the stairs to sit next to Lyndsey. She shifted in her seat as I sat down, but didn’t smile at me. I nudged her arm with my elbow. “What’s going on Goldilocks?”
She sighed then looked up and I could see all her pain. It made me hurt too, deep inside my chest, in a place I’d thought couldn’t feel much anymore. I leaned toward her and put my arm around her shoulders. She slumped into my embrace and I rubbed her back. “Oh, gorgeous girl. Has it been a rough day? Tell me what’s going on.”
She was quiet for a minute then sat back in her seat while I picked up her hand and held it. All I could think about was touching her. Not in an “I want in your pants” way, but to let her know somehow I was there for her. I hoped she got the message.
“Raoul’s doctor wants to start him on chemo next week,” she said.
“Oh, Lynds, I’m sorry.”
She nodded as she tried to get her emotions under control. “Thanks. I mean it, Nick. Thanks for everything you’ve done. From the minute this all started you’ve been with me. Raoul and Leesa are the closest thing I’ve ever had to parents, and . . . God . . . this sucks.” She sniffed a little and cleared her throat.
I reached out and cupped her cheek in my free hand. “I meant it when I said I’ve kind of got a thing for you. I want to help you, and I think Raoul and Leesa are great. I’m sorry this happened. I just wish . . . I wish I could somehow make it all better for you.”
She smiled at me then, and even though it was sad, it was a smile, so I felt like I’d done something worthwhile with my day. Getting this woman to smile could be my full-time job and I’d be happy.
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