“And you’re okay with it being the end of the story?” he asked, making sure. Maybe it was some kind of trap. She was really smart. Cunning even.
She bit her bottom lip and looked at her feet for a moment before answering.
“Look. It was really great. And I don’t want to go back to us hating each other or being in a competition for Cooper’s affections. But I’m looking for something more . . . substantial.” Ouch. “I grew up with a father, four stepfathers, and a whole passel of my mother’s friends.” She made air quotes around the last word. “I don’t want that. I’m not saying I’m on a desperate hunt to find a husband, but I’m looking. I want a stable home, with a husband who sticks around, and kids someday. I know you don’t want that. So let’s just chalk this up to the right circumstances producing one amazing moment, okay?”
“Sure.” He was being dismissed. She wasn’t even going to consider him as stable-husband material. Shouldn’t he be cheering? Why was he wishing he could have a drink?
He swallowed loudly and flexed his fingers. He hadn’t felt the need for a drink in a while, but right now he wanted to numb the feelings and thoughts.
“Can you give me a minute?” he asked. “I need to make a phone call.”
He all but ran up the stairs. He locked the bedroom door before locking himself in the bathroom. He crawled inside the big tub and with shaky hands dialed Carmine Cruz, his sponsor.
“Hey. How is it?” the older man asked. Carmine was either in his late fifties or early sixties, with a fondness for brightly printed shirts and fedoras. He always answered the phone in the same way. Tucker wasn’t sure what it was. Maybe life? Sobriety?
“I’m having a moment of clarity. Not the good kind.”
“Okay. Talk me through it.”
“It’s a girl.”
“It always is, pana.”
“I’ve known her since I was seven. Always had a thing for her, but she was a total bitch, so I also hated her.”
“Hmm” was all he said in response.
“Anyway, we hooked up last night and, well, again this morning.” How many times wasn’t important. He waved his hands to erase the extra information. “We were having the after-talk, you know, and she totally brushed it off, as if I’m not good enough to see again because she wants someone steady.”
“You want to see her again?” Carmine sounded doubtful.
“Yeah. I mean, it was great.”
“Physically?” he asked.
“Right.”
He sighed. “Let her go.”
“What?” Tucker’s voice rose, not expecting this answer.
“She wants something you can’t give her. You’re thinking about it because she let you off the hook and you think everything in life should be a challenge or a struggle. It isn’t. A nice girl gave you a good time and now she’s letting you off the hook because you’re not what she’s looking for. She’s right. You’re not. Let it go.”
“That’s it?”
“Don’t make life harder than it already is.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
“You steady now?” Carmine asked.
“Yeah. I guess I just got stuck in my head for a second.”
“Don’t do that.” He made it sound so simple.
“Right. Thanks a million.”
“Any time.”
They hung up and he crawled out of the tub to go face reality.
Reality was sitting in the driver’s seat of the Vette with a big grin on her face.
She couldn’t believe he actually let her drive the whole way back to Roanoke. She was certain he’d come up with some excuse to take over, but he just sat there in the passenger seat with a smile on his face.
Occasionally, he would hum.
“You got any more words for our song?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I think the way it works is you say something and then something stupid flies out of my mouth. Then you write that down like it doesn’t suck.”
He chuckled and reached in the back for his notebook.
“Let’s test the theory.” He flipped through the pages. “What if I said, ‘You’re everything I need’?”
“Really? No food or water?” she joked, earning her a wet finger in the ear which caused her to scream. “Don’t do that while I’m driving a forty-thousand-dollar car!”
“Try fifty-three thousand.”
“Shit! Are you kidding?”
“No.”
She slowed down a little and held the wheel tighter. Then she took a deep, even breath.
“I would say, ‘my world is in your arms, take me there. Don’t ever let me go.’”
“Damn, Nic. You should ditch this doctor gig and become a songwriter.”
“Does it pay well?”
“Let’s see. I could’ve bought two of these cars from the royalties on the last song I sold, and that was for a commercial for an insurance company. I just used the word ‘trust’ a few times and gave it a powerful beat. Cha-ching!”
“I’m happy you found something you enjoy.”
He nodded but didn’t say anything.
“What is it? You don’t like it?”
“I do. I love writing songs and making music. It’s just that I had my dream come true and I totally blew it.”
“What happened?”
“I got sucked into the bad parts of being famous and got spat out the other side before I knew what hit me.”
“And you don’t want to try again?” she asked, genuinely curious.
“I do. I just haven’t had a song that will get me there. I’ve had a few good ones, but my agent wasn’t able to sell them with me singing them.”
“Don’t give up.”
“Reach for the stars?” he said with a chuckle. Maybe her advice sounded a bit cliché, but it was still good advice. “Do you like running the clinic?”
“Yes!” She could feel her face light up. “I get to do the fun part, helping patients. And because most of my patients are walk-ins they don’t make appointments, so my hours can be somewhat flexible. I just make sure I get my hours in for the week and it’s good. There are seven other doctors and the interns pick up the slack.”
“Sounds like a good deal.”
“It is. Except that I’m also in charge of the fund-raising. That part kind of sucks.”
“There are sucky parts with every job. It wouldn’t be called work if every second was fun.”
“Right.”
She pulled in at the condo a few minutes later and found herself unsure of what to do or say.
Tucker came around to get in the driver’s side, and there was a weird moment when she wasn’t sure if he was going to kiss her. By the time she realized he was, she thought it would be on the cheek, but he went for her lips.
She could feel her face turn red.
“Sorry.” He laughed. “I guess we only had chemistry at nineteen hundred feet.”
“Maybe,” she agreed with a smile. “So, I guess I’ll see you on Friday.”
“Okay. Did you want to ride up together?” he offered.
“I’ll let you know.”
“Right. Then I’ll see you later.”
“Hey, Tucker?”
He paused.
“Maybe we should keep what happened between us quiet. If that’s okay.” She was starting to feel a little embarrassed about their hooking up.
“Sure. No problem.” He shot her his sexy grin before he got in the car and drove off. She kept watching until he was gone.
To her complete surprise, she kind of missed him.
“Huh.”
“Damn it!” Tucker mumbled as he slammed his hand against the steering wheel.
Somehow, during his fumbled good-bye, he’d left without even exchanging phone numbers. Surely he should call to check in. Girls got pissed if he didn’t check in after he’d been with them. It was insensitive or something like that.
He hated the awkward phone conversations, but part of his therapy was to respect
other people so he could respect himself.
Now he had no way to get in touch with Nichole, and he found it more of an inconvenience than a blessing. He found he really wanted to talk to her. He knew she was brilliant, but she was also funny and sweet.
He smiled, remembering the way she’d looked at her wine when she’d found out about his issues. Like it was a snake she needed to protect him from.
She had protected him in the past, and he was grateful. Unfortunately, no one could protect him from himself.
He sat in the car for a moment when he got to his brother’s house. Maybe he could come up with a way to get Nichole’s number without telling Cooper why he needed it.
Or maybe he should just show up at her apartment. Standard stalker. He could follow her and show up someplace where she was going to be to casually bump into her. Strategic stalker. Maybe he could cut himself and go to her clinic for stitches. Stalker with a scar.
With a sigh, he got out of the car.
Cooper headed him off on the sidewalk.
“How did it go?”
“Great. Everything will be ready. Nichole made sure they could run a line so there won’t be noise from a generator.”
“Oh! That’s good. I hadn’t thought of that.” Neither had Tucker, but he didn’t mention it. “Is Nichole okay? You didn’t upset her, did you?”
“Did you just meet Nichole? As if I could upset her.” He rolled his eyes. “The options are to annoy her or piss her off.”
“Did you do either of those things?” Cooper raised a brow.
“Did you just meet me?” He grinned at his brother, who simply shook his head and laughed.
The rest of the week hurried by, and soon it was Friday morning. Tucker didn’t see Nichole, nor did he have a chance to get her number from Cooper’s phone.
Once, when he asked where she was, Cooper informed him that she was putting her hours in at the clinic to make up for the time she would be missing later in the week.
It was the first time Tucker really understood that she worked. Hard. In his mind, he had always pictured her with her hair and makeup perfect, spouting orders to her underlings while picking lint from her long white lab coat. For some reason, she was also wearing four-inch stilettos, but that was a leftover fragment from a younger fantasy.
The rehearsal and the dinner afterward were in the same lodge where the reception would be held the next day. It was pretty swanky, with wood beams and stone everywhere.
They’d blocked off a bunch of rooms in one wing by the banquet hall for guests, but Tucker—paying for his own room—settled on a suite that looked out over the river. It had a balcony and a hot tub. He also paid for the suite on the opposite side of the building as a gift for the bride and groom.
The sight of Nichole when she walked into the lodge nearly knocked him over. She was wearing jeans and a sweater, nothing fancy. But he hadn’t seen her in a few days, and his brain had apparently been trying to downplay her sexiness as a defense mechanism.
As he’d helped Cooper with last-minute details for the wedding, he’d found himself thinking about Nichole. Of course now that he could see but not touch her, it was more than a little frustrating. Maybe they’d have more time together when the wedding was over. If he even wanted such a thing.
Surely the day in the cabin had been one of those situations that couldn’t be replicated. If they forced it, they would end up hating each other again. He remembered when he’d tried to kiss her good-bye and got jumbled up.
That was how they really were. The time in the cabin had been a fluke. He would never be good enough for someone like Nichole. He’d always known that. Even his stardom wouldn’t help him break into her world.
Although he wouldn’t mind testing the theory.
As Nichole got ready for the rehearsal and dinner, she had to admit to herself that she was taking a little more time in the hope of impressing Tucker.
It was stupid really. He was famous and had dated strippers and wannabe models. She barely remembered to shave her legs half the time.
Over the last few days, she’d kept waiting for the regret or shame to wipe away her happy memories of the cabin, but so far she was still just plain happy.
She even felt a little empowered. She’d let herself go—more than once—and it was an amazing feeling. Not something to feel guilty about. She knew a lot of women who were perfectly fine being on their own. Women who took casual lovers and kept their lives uncomplicated. Nichole wanted to be like that.
Who better to have an affair with than the king of casual?
Seeing him earlier that day had been a shock. She’d never paid much attention to him before, happy to ignore him altogether, but today she’d had some strange awareness. It was as if she was attuned to him, could feel him wherever he was.
She’d caught him staring at her twice. Both times he’d smiled unashamedly. That was Tucker. He was sexy without even trying to be. It was as infuriating as it was mesmerizing.
With a sigh, she looked in the mirror. It was the best she could do. She wasn’t horrible, she just wasn’t . . . amazing. At least not by rock-star standards. Unless one was stuck with her in a cabin during an ice storm, that is.
With another sigh, she tucked her key card in her tiny purse and went down to meet everyone for the rehearsal. She was ten minutes early and was shocked to find the only other person waiting was Tucker. He was usually late for everything.
She smiled and felt kind of shy as she walked over to him. Why did she feel shy? It was just Tucker. Tucker who had seen and touched and licked pretty much every square inch of her body. She shivered at the memory.
“Wow. Don’t you look nice?” he said, taking in her short gray dress.
“Thanks.” Her heart fluttered at his compliment as the others filed into the room.
“Seeing you in that dress makes me start wishing for an ice storm.” He grinned at her and she was immediately affected.
“Shh.” She looked around quickly. “You didn’t tell anyone, did you?”
“No. Why are you so worried?” he whispered.
“It was a good time. That’s it. I don’t want people reading more into it.”
“Don’t worry. I haven’t tarnished your good-girl reputation.” He smiled, and she felt herself wishing they had a few moments alone. “Don’t look at me like that, Nic, or I’ll drag you upstairs to my room and won’t care who knows.”
She quickly looked away, not realizing she was projecting her thoughts so clearly. He chuckled next to her.
“We’re both staying here for the next two nights,” he said in that sultry voice.
“Knock it off.”
“Fine.” He held up his hands, palms out. “I was just pointing out a fact.” He frowned and went to go speak to his mother, who immediately started fussing with his shirt.
The minister herded the wedding party into position, and Nichole gave Cooper a nudge when Roslyn was standing at the end of the pretend aisle.
“Are you ready for tomorrow?” she asked.
“You have no idea,” he answered with a big grin.
The thing was, Nichole did have an idea. She had been in love with Dennis. She’d thought she was going to spend her life with him, and it turned out he wasn’t who she’d thought. Somehow she’d forced herself to turn it all off and push it away, but it wasn’t fair. She should have someone.
Tucker interrupted her little pity party by scooting up next to her as the bridesmaids were instructed on how slow to walk.
“I just noticed another reason why I should have been the best man.”
“And what is that?” She half-turned to look at him. It was just the rehearsal. She already knew what to do: stand there. No one cared how fast or slow she walked when she came out with Cooper and Tucker.
“Having to stand behind you gives me a nice view of your ass, and I don’t think my tux pants are going to hide my massive hard-on during the ceremony.”
To her surprise, she burst out la
ughing, causing the minister to look over.
“Sorry,” she said quickly to everyone. Then to Tucker, she whispered, “Maybe you should wear underwear tomorrow.”
“No. I paid good money so I would own that tux and not have to worry about who else had worn those pants.” She glanced over her shoulder to see he was joking.
“You’re a piece of work,” she said.
“You’re a piece of—”
“Quiet,” she scolded as Roslyn’s bridesmaid, Lexi, walked down the aisle for the third time. Then Riley stepped into the room.
“Can I just say I have no urge whatsoever to sleep with the maid of honor?”
“That’s good, because she’s off limits.”
“Usually off limits makes it more of a challenge, but not this time,” he said by her ear.
“Maybe you’re growing up.”
“Maybe I have something better right in front of me.”
She couldn’t help but smile.
“Riley is very pretty,” Nichole pointed out as the girl took her turn down the aisle.
She was. Long blond hair and big hazel eyes with long eyelashes. She was petite and perfect. Almost like a doll.
“She’s short,” Tucker said bluntly. “I like long legs wrapped around my waist while I’m—”
“Shh,” she said, not because anyone was paying attention but because she was starting to get turned on, and it was inappropriate given that his mother was sitting twenty feet away.
He chuckled behind her but was otherwise well behaved for the duration of the rehearsal.
She made sure to keep her distance from Tucker, choosing to sit at the far end of the large table for dinner. She didn’t think she would be able to contain herself if she had to sit next to him and his roaming hands. He had pulled out a seat for her, but she’d walked past and taken a seat at the other end. They couldn’t get any farther apart and still be at the same table.
The offered seat went to Riley. The girl doll smiled up at him as she sat, and he pushed her chair in chivalrously. Nichole looked away from them as Cooper sat next to her at the head of the table, Roslyn directly across from her.
Nick Of Time (Blue Ridge Romance 2) Page 6