An Accidental Love Affair

by Davida Ann Samenski

  ~ ~ ~

  Reece was up, sitting in the kitchen, when Nicole stumbled in the following morning. She winced and covered her eyes at the sunshine blazing in through the windows.

  “Is there coffee?” she asked, making a beeline to the coffee pot. He didn’t answer but watched silently as she poured herself a big mug and swallowed it down. She quickly refilled it, gulping that down as well. On the third cup, she finally moved to the table and sat, staring down into the depths of liquid.

  “How’s your head this morning?” he asked, sliding a bottle of Tylenol in her direction.

  “I have an African safari stampeding through it.”

  “Do you think you’re going to die?”

  “No. Why do you ask?”

  His hand came down on her wrist, trapping it to the table. “I’m seriously contemplating murdering you.” She struggled to break his hold, but his grip tightened.

  “Reece, that’s my bad wrist. You’re hurting me.”

  “A sore wrist should be the least of your worries right now.”

  She froze. “Why?”

  “Do you know the hell you’ve put me through? I was trying to find you for days.”

  She frowned. “Why? If my foggy brain remembers correctly, you ceased caring about me.”

  He eased his grip. “I never said that.”

  “You called off our engagement, Reece. What else was I supposed to think?”

  “You’re supposed to think I had a good reason for saying what I did.”

  She yanked her arm back, rubbing away the soreness. “I know you have a good reason. You don’t want me anymore. I’m too needy, too demanding . . .”

  “Too damn neurotic.” He forcefully shot away from the table. “You have this overwhelming sense of inferiority when it comes to us. You’re never going to think you’re good enough for me, are you?”

  “I thought I was,” she mumbled. “I thought things were good with us, but we’d been arguing. The next thing I knew, you were jilting me on national TV. I had no idea what was happening or why. I hadn’t spoken to you in three days, Reece. Then boom. We’ve decided we don’t suit.”

  “I never said we didn’t suit.”

  She ignored him. “And then, not two minutes later, my mother is on the phone, yelling at me about her ruined plans. The love of my life just dumped me, and she was worrying about the money wasted on crab cakes and pork bar-b-cue.” She noticed he was trying not to laugh. “It’s not funny. Why couldn’t her first thought be about me and my feelings, instead of what other people would think?”

  He sobered. “I can’t answer that. Why couldn’t your first thought be to call me instead of running away?” He moved back to the table, leaning on his fists. “You’ve put me through hell.”

  “I put you through hell?” She snorted. “That’s rich, coming from you. Let me give you a brief walk through of our history together. You say you’re only using me to pass the time. You accuse me of trying to steal your home. You steal my manuscript. You trick me into an engagement. You tell me I’m needy, neurotic, and break up with me in front of the entire nation and the world. Does that about sum it up for you?”

  Reece sat down, pulling his chair close toward hers. “I only told Marcus that because I didn’t want him to know the truth about us.”

  “You were embarrassed about being with me.”

  “No, crazy woman, I didn’t want him trying to control our relationship the way he controlled everything else in my life.” He raked his hand through his hair. “Secondly, I didn’t know my mother sold the cottage to you until Marcus told me. By then, he was trying to separate us by any means necessary. Third, I didn’t steal your manuscript. We both know the guilty party in that scenario. Fourth . . .”

  “No need to continue with this, Reece, we know you have an . . .”

  He grabbed her chin, forcing her to silence. “You’re going to be quiet. You’re going to let me have my say. You’ve laid a lot of accusations at my feet. I have a right to defend myself.” He released her. “Fourth, I didn’t trap you into an engagement.”

  She slapped his hand away. “Was I in my right mind when you asked me to marry you? Did you even ask me? I wouldn’t know. I was so out of it, I don’t remember anything. For all I know, this engagement was a scam to build publicity for the movie and enhance your career.”

  His mouth gaped open for half a second. Did she really believe that? “We’re going to come back to number four in a minute. Fifth and last, I had a very good reason to break up with you. I wanted the press out of our lives for a while. I figured, if all the media outlets thought we were through, they’d leave us alone, so we could get back to each other. I had plans set in motion for us.”

  “If that were true, why did you keep me in the dark? I was blindsided! I was in my room that night, thinking how lucky I was to have you in my life. Five minutes later, you’re on the air destroying everything we had together.”

  He winced. “Maybe I should have given you a heads up, Nicole, but I wanted to surprise you.”

  She stood, carrying her mug to the sink. “I was surprised, all right.” She turned around, leaning against the counter. “I went from being on top of the world to being sunk like the Titanic. Thank you, Mr. Collins.” She moved toward the kitchen door.

  “Where are you going now?”

  “My fuzzy, hungover brain seems to recall, you reminded me this is your home, and I don’t belong here. I’m going to pack my things and go.”

  He shot to his feet. “You take one more step . . . I swear to God, you’ll regret it.”

  She stopped, turning on her heel. “I don’t believe we have anything left to say to each other.” She took one backward step. He moved faster than a whip.

  “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he swore as he scooped her up, tossing her over his shoulder.

  “Reece Collins, you put me down right now,” she demanded, her fists pounding his back.

  He carried her down the hall toward the bedroom, dumping her on the bed, face down, pressing his knee into her back to hold her there. “You’ve been in need of a spanking for a while now.”

  She lifted her head off the mattress. “If you so much as lay a finger on me . . .” Whack! His hand came down on her backside. She yelled in affront. “That’s it. We’re through.” Whack! She screamed. “I swear to God, Reece Collins . . .” Whack! “Stop spanking me. I’m not into BDSM. This is so not sexy.” Who the hell was she kidding? Her backside was tingling in the most exciting ways.

  Whack! “I’m not trying to be sexy. I’m trying to teach you a lesson.” Whack!

  She moaned, her buttocks rising. “You’re not my father, Reece.”

  Whack! He noticed the way her body moved toward the slap. If he didn’t know any better, he’d think she was getting turned on . . . which was turning him on as well. Whack! “No, your father should have spanked you a long time ago.” Another slap—her legs spreading. He caught a muffled moan. Whack! “You wouldn’t be so headstrong otherwise.” Whack! His hand moved between her legs, cupping her. She was wet; the cotton of her sweats was saturated. She practically hummed with arousal. His restraint broke.

  He was breathing heavy, and his exhalations were coming out in forced pants. “I’ve never loved anyone as much as I love you. I’ve never had to fight so hard to hold on to someone either. I’m beginning to wonder if you’re even worth it.” He flipped her over.

  Nicole stopped struggling, staring up into his eyes. “Are you giving up on me?” She didn’t want that.

  He kissed her hard, yanking down the waistband of her sweats with his hands. “It would serve you right if I did.” His mouth moved to her ear. “You’ve led me on a merry chase, but it ends here.” He tossed her pants to the side. His fingers were rough as they moved up her inner thighs, spr
eading her to his view. “I’m not chasing after you anymore,” he swore as he popped the button on his jeans—the zipper flying down on its own. He settled his hips into her natural cradle.

  “So, this is what it’s come to? Beating me like a dog and forcing yourself on me?”

  “I’m not forcing you, Nicole.” His fingers were thrumming against her flesh. “You want me inside you as much as I want to be there.”

  Her hips bucked against her will. “It’s not fair to use my body’s reactions against me.” Her hands were scraping up his arms.

  “Your body is telling me what it wants. You can lie to yourself, but not to me—not anymore.”

  Her nails dug into his shoulders. He winced in pain. She smiled.

  The gauntlet was thrown. He took up the challenge. “You are the most maddening woman. Stop fighting me.”

  She yanked his hair. “You beat me like a dog.”

  “I didn’t beat you. I spanked your ass to get your attention.”

  “You raised your hand to me in anger. You hurt me.”

  He paused for half a second. “I may have hurt your ego or your maidenly sensibilities, but you’re as turned on as I am right now.”

  “No, I’m not,” she swore.

  He plunged home, her moaning loud and ringing in his ears. “Liar, liar, ass on fire.”

  Her eyes rolled in her head from the pleasure of his invasion, which showed how perverse she truly was. “I really hate you, Reece Collins.” Her hips rose to meet him.

  He withdrew and thrust again, harder, grinding his body against her writhing frame. “I’m not overly fond of you at the moment, Nicole Delancey.”

  And their argument ceased as their bodies danced away and back again.

  He lifted her legs, wrapping them tight around his waist. “I will tie you to this bed and ravish you over and over.”

  She clasped his head, her nails raking through his hair and pulling in great clumps. Burying her face in his neck, she bit down hard on his shoulder as she came.

  “Bloody hell, you damn vampire!” he swore as he joined her on the other side.

  Nicole rode the wave of one orgasm after another, her heart pounding against the walls of her chest and her lungs clamoring for air. She clung to Reece, but her thoughts were in a blur.

  He lifted his head. “Are you well, Nicole?”

  Her eyelids rose. She stared deep into his eyes, trying to form the words she needed to say, but all that escaped was a sob.

  Reece was instantly contrite. Had he been too rough? “Did I hurt you?”

  She continued to cry, clinging to him as if she wanted to climb inside him.

  He realized her tears were an intense reaction to their lovemaking. He kissed her softly, small pecks across her forehead and cheeks as she brought herself under control.

  He slid to the side, giving her room to breathe. She was staring up at the ceiling. He swiped a lone teardrop from her nose.

  “You could’ve told me to stop.”

  Her eyes cut to him and away. “We both know I didn’t want you to stop. We’ve always done our best communicating that way.”

  In that instant, he saw the misery and fear in her eyes. The storm was over.

  “Why did you run, baby? As soon as you heard the announcement, why didn’t you call and demand to know what was going on?”

  She wiped at the tears on her cheeks. “I didn’t think our engagement was real, as much as I wanted it to be. I thought that since the film was released, you’d call it off, and you did. But I didn’t think you’d announce it to the world without talking to me first.”

  “You thought our engagement was a publicity stunt?

  “Not at first, but then I overheard some crew members talking about how it was a scam. Suddenly, everything made sense. You didn’t want to marry me. It was a ploy to keep the press and the public interested in your movie.”

  He flared backward. “You can’t be serious.”

  She rolled to her side, facing him completely. “Of course I am. I mean, every time I asked you about plans for the wedding, you blew me off.”

  He was incredulous. “Did it ever occur to you that I might have plans of my own?”

  She shook her head. “I figured the fantasy bubble popped, and you realized you were wasting your time with me.”

  He scooted toward her on the bed, cupping her cheek. “Nicole, I was wasting my life before I met you. I was wandering in circles, waiting for it to begin. Then you whirled into my stratosphere and set my world on fire. You’re the reason I started fighting for what I wanted. You gave me the courage to put my foot down and tell my brother and the studios no. You, and no one else.”

  He pushed her to her back, leaning over her. His hand trailed down her arm until their fingers entwined. “You are my best friend, Nicole. I wouldn’t endanger that bond for anything. I considered you my friend long before we became lovers.”

  “It wasn’t that long, Colin.”

  He breathed a sound of relief. “You called me Colin again. That means I must be on the road to forgiveness.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch, buddy.”

  He chuckled, kissing her palm and laying it against his cheek. “Nicole, I fell in love with you the moment you recognized me on the plane, with that look of awe on your face and staring at me with a black eye. No one could have resisted that sight.”

  “Took your breath away, did it, Maverick?”

  “You have no idea. I loved you. I wanted you. I was going to do whatever was necessary to keep you. Like I said, it’s been a merry chase, but I’m never letting go.”

  “You sound more obsessed than in love.”

  “Love is an obsession, and you’re mine.” His gaze focused on the engagement ring. “I didn’t trick you into accepting my marriage proposal.”

  “I don’t remember it. A girl likes to remember being proposed to.”

  He tucked her against him. “Should I tell you about it?”

  “It would be nice.”

  “I came out of the house that day with you, unconscious in my arms, and your dad and my mum on my heels. We hailed a taxi to take us to the hospital. Of course, the paparazzi followed as quickly as they could and set up outside the emergency room doors.”

  “Mum got us checked in, and they led us back to a private room. I told them we were engaged. It was the only way they’d let me stay with you. You woke up enough to tell them how much pain you were in. They gave you medicines to help with that. I knew the moment they took effect because your head turned and with a big goofy grin on your face, you asked me to marry you.”

  She lifted her head. “I asked you?”

  He nodded. “You said you didn’t want to be without me anymore, and we should get married. I said yes. Then you passed out.”

  “And I forgot about it?”

  He chuckled. “Obviously. The doctors gave you what they like to call truth serum. I can’t remember the clinical name of it, but when someone is under its influence, the truth has a way of coming out. The hospital staff take immense pleasure in listening to what people have to say. They told me one woman told her husband she didn’t like him very much. She thought he was an arsehole. The nurses laughed about it.”

  “I’m glad my feelings were a tad more flattering.”

  “I’ll say.” He kissed her forehead. “While you were unconscious, I made a call to a jeweler. He brought me a few samples to consider. I’m sorry you didn’t like my choice. Lindsey said you would have preferred a sapphire.”

  She grimaced. “Lindsey shouldn’t have opened her big mouth.”

  “We can get you a different one.”

  “I don’t want a different one.”

  His gaze was rueful. “You h
ate this ring, Nicole.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t hate it. I just don’t love it, but it’s growing on me. I was devastated when I couldn’t find it. I swore I wouldn’t take it off again, and I haven’t.”

  “Because you love me so much?”

  “No, because my damn finger is swollen. When you broke our engagement, I wanted to hurl it across the room, but it’s stuck on my finger.” She reached down and pulled. The ring came off in her hand. “That figures.”

  “It’s because you’re dehydrated.”

  Her eyes lifted to his. “It’s an omen, Colin. We’ve had so many stops and starts, I think the universe is trying to tell us something.”

  “Yes, it’s telling us to get on with it.” He sat up, taking her with him until they were both sitting on the edge of the bed. He took the ring from her palm, sliding to one knee before her. He took a deep breath, gazing deeply into her eyes. “Nicole Elizabeth DeLancey, you are my heart, my soul, and my best friend. I don’t function right without you. Please put me out of my misery. Marry me.”

  Nicole’s eyes filled with tears. “You’re not going to change your mind again, are you? You can only patch a broken heart so many times."

  He bowed his head. “I will try to never break your heart again.”

  “Famous last words,” she mumbled, laying her forehead against his. “I’ll marry you on one condition.”

  He rubbed his head back and forth against hers. “What’s the condition?”

  “You never do a film with Melanie Daniels again.”

  He laughed. “I wish.” He cupped her cheek. “You know I can’t promise that.”

  She sighed. “I know, but it was worth a shot.”