by Petrova, Em
“I never expected to see you again, but I’m glad I have.” He couldn’t take his eyes off her. She was still as lovely as he remembered. “Do you live in LA?”
Prue shook her head. “No. I’m here on vacation, uh … with a friend.” She gave him a thin smile.
“I see.” His smile disappeared, the look of disappointment evident on his face.
He thought she was in Los Angeles with a man and she wasn’t about to dissuade him. As much as she wanted to she couldn’t let him into her life now.
They stood staring into each other’s eyes for a moment until Prue regained her muddled senses. “I – I must go. My friend will be waiting for me. It’s been good seeing you again.”
“Yes, it’s been good seeing you too.” Nicholas held out his hand.
Prue hesitated before placing her hand in his. Her mind wandered back to that night and how his gentle fingers had roamed her body so intimately, giving her so much pleasure. Her heart trembled when their palms connected and her face grew warmer.
Nicholas didn’t want to let her go, but when she glanced at her watch he knew it was his cue to leave. Another man was waiting for her. “Take care of yourself, won’t you?”
“Yes. You too.”
Nicholas Colton turned and walked out of her life for the second time.
Chapter Seven
Prue scrambled through the department store, her mind in a flurry, searching for Rachelle. She asked a staff member where the restroom was and made a beeline for the second floor. Rushing into the ladies, she called for her friend. “Rachelle? Rachelle, are you here?” she said, breathless. No answer. Where could she be?
She hurried out of the bathroom and headed back downstairs to the fitting room. Perhaps Rachelle had gone back to collect the outfits she wanted to buy. Prue dashed into the room. The cubicles were empty. She hunted through her purse for her cell phone, snatched it out of the bag and pressed the button. There were two missed calls from Rachelle. Why hadn’t she heard the musical tone? Because she had been too preoccupied with Nicholas Colton, that’s why.
Prue dialed her friend’s cell. Voicemail kicked in. Out of frustration, she dropped her phone back into her purse and gazed around the store, scanning the different sections for Rachelle. No sign of her. Where was her friend?
Someone tapped her on the shoulder and she swung around. “Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” she said, her voice strained.
Rachelle grimaced. “I had a migraine coming on so I went to find a drug store. I did try to call.” She placed a comforting hand on Prue’s arm. “Are you ok, hon? You look frazzled.”
“No, I’m not ok.” She changed the heavy bags on her right arm to her left. “I ran into Nicholas Colton. Or rather he ran into me. At the men’s cologne counter.”
Rachelle’s eyes widened. “What?” She glanced over her shoulder. “Where is he now?”
“Gone, I hope.” She brushed stray strands of her blonde hair from her flushed face. “I can’t believe he was here. I can’t believe we spoke to each other after all this time.”
“Why don’t we go get a coffee and take a break?” Rachelle looped her arm through Prue’s. “There’s a café on the street.”
Prue nodded and they headed along the walkway to the front of the complex.
Rachelle ordered the drinks then joined Prue at their table. “Feeling any better?”
Prue wasn’t sure how she felt. She had to keep reminding herself that not having Nicholas Colton in her life was the best thing for her and her daughter. But she realized she still had feelings for the man. A man who had made passionate love to her all those years ago. Why wouldn’t those feelings go away? Even though he fathered her child it didn’t mean she had to hold on to the emotions she felt back then, did it? “No. I’ve done everything I can to avoid Nicholas since he arrived at the studio, and now I run into him here of all places. How can that happen?”
“Serendipity,” Rachelle told her, a whimsical expression on her face. “I’m a big believer of fate, you know.”
Their coffee arrived and Rachelle took a cautious sip.
Prue looked into her friend’s eyes. “Do you really believe that? Do you think we were destined to meet?” She stirred a sachet of sugar into her latte.
Rachelle leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table. “You’re connected to him through Nikki. It was bound to happen sooner or later.”
Prue frowned. “She’s the reason I don’t want to complicate things. I can’t have her life turned upside down now. It wouldn’t be fair.”
Her friend reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “I know, but what are you going to do about how you feel? You can’t run away from your heart forever.”
“Yes, I can. I have to. I’m a mom first, my feelings don’t matter. I have to protect my daughter. I won’t let her be hurt.” A tear slid down Prue’s cheek and she brushed it away.
“Honey, you deserve to be happy too. What if he’s the one who can do that?”
Prue sniffed back the urge to cry. “Can we please not talk about it anymore? Let’s just enjoy our coffee and the rest of the day. Ok?”
Rachelle gave her a pained frown and squeezed her hand again. “If that’s what you want.”
Prue nodded. “It is.” Although she couldn’t get the look of disappointment on Nicholas’ face out of her mind when she’d told him she was with a friend.
***
When Nicholas arrived at his parked car he stopped and glanced over his shoulder. Why had he walked away from her again? Why hadn’t he asked her to have coffee with him? He knew the reason. She was with another man and he had no right to ask anything of her.
He pressed the button on the remote and climbed into his black BMW, closed the door and sat gazing out of the windshield, his mind wandering back to that night in Pittsburgh. They had made love to each other as though they were in love. By the time it had come to an end he realized he was in love with her. Foolish, he knew, to give his heart away so easily. But it had been a long time since his wife had passed away, and she always told him if anything happened to her he should find someone else to love, he was a good man who deserved to be loved. At the time, he hadn’t wanted to think about it and told her he would only ever love her. A promise he’d planned to keep.
It had been three solitary years when he’d met the lovely young woman who had shared herself body and soul with him, and he had always wondered about her. What she was doing. Was she happy? Why he had walked out of that hotel room without telling her how he felt? How could he be so stupid to walk away from her a second time? He gave a heavy sigh. Could she still be in the store? Could I have a second chance?
Nicholas opened the car door and stepped out. He had to find her, had to know if she felt the same way. He locked his sedan and hurried back into the complex. Making his way past shoppers to Macy’s entrance he rushed through the department store to the men’s collection. She wasn’t there.
He wandered through women’s fashion and thought he caught a glimpse of her, but when he got closer he could see it wasn’t her. His heart turned to lead in his chest. She was gone and he would never know her name or anything else about her.
Chapter Eight
It had been four weeks since she’d run into Nicholas at Macy’s and Prue couldn’t get him out of her mind, no matter how hard she tried. She had done everything she could to keep her feelings locked away, but seeing him again had changed all that. Prue knew it was silly to feel the way she did after only one night, but she couldn’t help it. Her heart wouldn’t allow her to forget him.
She plonked herself down on the sofa with a sigh, turned on the TV and lowered the volume. It was almost 12.40 a.m. and she couldn’t sleep, so rather than toss and turn for hours she decided to do something constructive. She flicked through the various channels and stopped at a late night talk show. At least she was keeping up with the other New York television networks top-rating talk shows, so technically she was
working.
After watching the show for half an hour Prue got up to make herself a cup of warm milk and honey during the ad break. She hoped it would relax her enough so she could go to back to bed and get some sleep. Thank goodness it was Sunday morning. She could attempt a sleep in, if Nikki didn’t wake up at the crack of dawn. Wishful thinking, she knew.
Prue sat cross-legged with the warm mug in her hands and waited for the last couple of commercials to finish. When the show returned she was shocked to see the talk show host hold up a copy of Nicholas’ book and introduce the author. He was getting a lot of air time for this particular novel. Maybe now she would find out what it was about as she hadn’t had a chance to read it yet.
“Let’s give a warm welcome to award-winning, New York Times and USA Today’s bestselling author Nicholas Colton.” He stood, walked over to the author and shook his hand, then both men moved across to the host’s desk and sat down. “Welcome. It’s good to have you on the show.”
“Thanks for having me. It’s great to be here.”
“So, Nicholas…”
“Please, call me Nick. Nicholas is too formal and only used for my novels.” He crossed one leg over the other and unbuttoned his jacket in an attempt to alleviate his nerves. He couldn’t get used to being in the spotlight no matter how many times he appeared on a talk show.
“Ok. Nick, your latest book is different to your regular format.” He held up the copy again. “A romantic thriller? That’s kind of off base for you, isn’t it?”
Nicholas chuckled. “Yes, I suppose you could say that. It was something I’ve had simmering in the back of my mind for a few years now and I felt it was time to put it down on paper.”
“Can you tell the viewers something about the plot?”
“Sure.” He turned to look at the audience. “A couple meets in a bar and decides to have a one night stand. Neither one has been in a relationship for quite a while and realizes they need to feel desired, no matter how brief the encounter. Unbeknown to them, they’re being watched by a psychopathic serial killer who has been stalking the woman for several weeks.” He smiled. “Can’t give too much away. Hopefully viewers will want to read the book to find out what happens.”
“Yes, of course.” He flicked through the pages. “So what was the inspiration behind this new storyline?”
Nicholas cleared his throat. “Well, some of it is based on fact and the rest is fiction.”
Prue realized she’d been holding her breath while watching the author discuss his novel. She let out the huge rush of air, drank the last of her warm milk and flicked off the television. The book was about them … with a thriller twist, of course. It had been simmering in his head for a few years? So he had been thinking about her too.
She sat the empty cup in the sink and padded down the hallway to her room.
At 3.06 a.m. Prue turned over, gave a heavy sigh, and glanced at the clock radio on her bedside table. Nicholas’ interview kept playing over and over in her mind. He had written the book about their night together. She wondered how much ‘fact’, as he had worded it, was in the pages of that novel.
Prue flicked on the lamp, threw back the covers and swung her legs over the side of the bed, the soles of her feet sinking into the soft blue rug. She padded over to the closet, opened the door and pulled the book from the purse she had placed it in when Rachelle had given it to her. She turned the book over, gazed at Nicholas’ handsome face smiling back at her and sighed.
She climbed back into bed, pulled the covers up around her, snuggled into the pillows and opened the book to the first page: Chapter One ~ The Rhythm of the Night.
At 6.05 a.m. Prue was awakened by her daughter tapping her on the arm. “Mommy, I’m hungry.”
Prue turned over, opened her eyes and blinked a few times to clear away the haze of sleep. She had only slept for about an hour after reading for the entire night. “Morning, honey.” She yawned and reached out to give her daughter a hug. “Mommy’s still sleepy.” She lifted the bedclothes. “Wanna climb in and snuggle for a while?”
Nikki shook her head. “My tummy’s growling. Can I please have some Lucky Charms?”
Prue sighed and threw back the covers. Nicholas’ novel slid off her bed and onto the rug. Nikki squatted, picked it up, stood and stared at the cover. “What’s this story about, Mommy? Looks scary.”
Not being the kind of thing she wanted her daughter exposed to, Prue reached out and took the novel from her hands. “It’s a grown up book, sweetie. Not something little girls should be looking at.” She smiled. “Ok. Let’s go get you some breakfast.” She sat the hard cover face down on her bedside table, took Nikki’s hand and headed to the kitchen, glancing over her shoulder at the book as she stepped into the hall.
Prue and her daughter talked about their Halloween plans over breakfast. Nikki wanted a minion costume. She asked her mom what she wanted to be. Prue decided to dress up as Columbia from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It was one of her favorite movies. She realized she would have to order the costumes online soon otherwise they might not arrive in time. This would be their first Halloween in The Big Apple and she hoped it would be a lot of fun for Nikki.
The telephone rang and Prue went to the kitchen to answer it. “Hello.”
“Hi, it’s me. I’ve scored four VIP tickets to the 8th Annual Lodge of Horror Halloween Bash at the Maple on Halloween Eve,” Rachelle said, excited. “What are you going to wear?”
Prue sighed. She didn’t want to go out for Halloween. She wanted to spend the time with Nikki, Yolanda, Jazz and Sammy trick-or-treating. But she realized that by the time the bash started the kids would be sound asleep. So there was no getting out of it. “I’m buying a Columbia costume online. Will that do?”
“Columbia? Who’s that?”
“She’s from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Haven’t you seen it?”
“Oh, of course I have. Love it. So avant-garde.”
“So what do you think about the costume?”
“Yes, sounds perfect. I’ll pick you up around nine thirty. Don’t want to be the first to arrive.”
“Let’s talk about it tomorrow.”
“Sure. It’s going to be sooo much fun! See you in the morning.”
“Bye.” Prue hung up and rejoined her daughter at the breakfast table.
“Who was that, Mommy?”
“Aunty Rachelle. She’s taking mommy out on Halloween Eve after we go trick-or-treating. We’ll see if you can stay over at Jazz’s.”
Nikki beamed. “That’d be fun. I love staying over. Her mom makes waffles with maple syrup and ice cream for breakfast. Can I leave the table now, Mommy?” Prue nodded and Nikki took her bowl to the sink then ran off down the hallway to play in her room.
Prue grabbed her laptop from off the buffet and found several online costume stores in New York. She decided to go with New York Costumes and ordered hers and Nikki’s outfits. She was relieved delivery would only take two to three business days. That meant they would arrive in plenty of time for Halloween.
Feeling exhausted after the long night, Prue shut her computer, stretched out on the sofa and closed her eyes.
Chapter Nine
Prue woke with a start to someone knocking on her front door. She gathered her sleepy senses and pushed herself up off the sofa. “Just a minute.” She was about to walk out into the hall when Nikki ran down the hallway and pulled the door open. “Hello,” she said, looking up at the man standing in their doorway. “You’re very tall.”
He smiled. “Am I? Well, thank you.”
Nikki frowned at him. “Do you know m…?”
Prue came into the entry hall. “It’s ok, honey. I’ll talk to the man. You can go play now.”
Nikki gave her mom a curious frown and remained where she was. “Why?”
“Because I asked you to.” She pointed along the hallway. “Off you go, please.”
Nikki turned around and skipped back to her room without another word.
“How did you find me?” Prue asked.
“That’s not important. Why you didn’t you tell me I had a daughter. Don’t you think I had a right to know?”
Prue was stunned. She didn’t understand how Nicholas could have found her without knowing her name or where she lived. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“The little girl, she’s yours, isn’t she? How old would she be? Five? Six? The numbers seem to add up, don’t they?”
Prue stepped out into the hall and pulled the door closed. “Will you please keep your voice down? She’s not your daughter. How did you find me?” she asked again.
“The day I was at the broadcast center delivering my books. You darted out of a side door and jumped into a cab. You thought I didn’t see you, but I did.”
“Why didn’t you say anything when we met in LA?”
“Because at first I wasn’t certain it was you that day. I had to be sure, so after seeing you in LA, I asked one of the receptionists. She told me your name, emailed me a picture of you, and here I am. It’s not difficult finding an address when you have a surname to go by. Now tell me again she’s not mine.”
“How did you expect me to find you?” She folded her arms. “We didn’t exactly exchange names when we exchanged bodily fluids, did we? I had no idea who you were until I saw you at the broadcast center.”
“Why didn’t you tell me then?” Why hide it from me?”
“We’ve been fine without you in our lives. I wasn’t about to disrupt my daughter’s life for your sake or mine.”
“That’s not fair.” He folded his arms. “I could have been a part of her life from birth if you’d tried to find me.”
“I didn’t know how. Did you try to find me before now?”
“As a matter of fact, I did. But…”
“Exactly.”
Right at that moment the door swung back. “Mommy, I’m thirsty. Can I please have a drink?”
Both Prue and Nicholas glanced at their little girl.