“Okay, so let me get this straight. You meet this girl. Your neighbor. She’s got an ex-fiancé and she wants to get him back so she asks you to help her make him jealous?”
“She didn’t exactly ask. I kinda offered.”
“You’re fuckin’ nuts. That is the craziest motherfucking idea I’ve ever heard.”
“I didn’t think it would lead to anything. She seemed like a nice girl.”
“But you thought she was hot, right?”
“Hell yes, I thought she was hot. But seriously, she’s a sweetheart and I thought I’d help her out so I took her to the wedding—the ex was there and well, that was it. I started falling for her.”
“But why this girl? Why now?”
“I tell you, this one is special. I’ve never met a woman like her before.”
“You sound completely whipped. What’s the longest relationship you’ve ever had? Three months? Maybe four?”
“Fuck off. I know I don’t have a great track record when it comes to these things.” But he also knew that Nikki was different. If he could make it work with anyone, it would be her. Nikki was strong and had her head together. Her ex was a real douche bag and she was still willing to take him back, and that told Dallas she was loyal. She was a woman who’d stick by him, even if things got tough. When they hit a bump in the road, she wouldn’t run out on him. Not like his mother did. He winced at the very thought of his mother. The point was that Nikki was loyal, and he realized that was one of the qualities about her that he loved the most. Loyalty from a woman was something he’d never known—and maybe that was because he’d never given anyone a chance. Or maybe because he never felt he could trust anyone the way he wanted to trust Nikki.
“So what are you going to do about this massive clusterfuck you’ve gotten yourself into?” Conrad asked.
“I don’t know.” Dallas took a long slug from his beer and ran his hand back through his hair. “I just hope I didn’t blow it.”
Chapter Thirteen
Nikki handed Dallas the elevations and renderings she’d worked up and watched his very kissable lips curve into a smile. He wore a tight T-shirt that showed off his perfect pecs and magnificent biceps. He may have been a successful photographer, but as far as she was concerned, Dallas belonged in front of the camera, not behind it.
“And see here,” she said, leaning over his shoulder, pointing to the drawing, “we extend this wall. And this is the best part: if you want, we can even give you a separate entrance to your studio, right over here. That way your private living space is kept completely separate from your work world.”
He nodded. “You’re a genius. This is brilliant. I love what you’ve done here.”
Nikki came back around and sat next to him on the sofa. She took a deep breath, letting the smell of his spicy clean aftershave fill her head.
“So what’s our next step?” he asked.
She drew another big breath. This was the part she dreaded. Her estimate. As she reached into her folder and handed him the six-page document on her new letterhead, she said, “Now remember, this is just an estimate, so don’t freak out. We can always cut back, make some modifications. This is a starting point, okay? I just wanted to show you the general ballpark of what it would take to do all this.”
Dallas scanned down the first page and nodded before moving on to the second one. When he arrived at the final page, he stared at the bottom line for what felt like an eternity. She watched his strong jaw twitch.
“I know it seems like a lot,” she said, crossing her legs, bobbing her ankle up and down as she anxiously studied his face. “But keep in mind that I’m working with the top contractors in their fields and—”
Dallas looked up at her and placed two fingers lightly on her lips. “Relax. It’s fine.”
Fine? Did he say it was fine? “It is? Even the deposit?” she mumbled into his fingers.
“Even the deposit.”
Wow. Nikki was ecstatic. Without thinking, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. “Oh, thank you. Thank you. You won’t be sorry. I promise you.”
“I’m not sorry right now, I can tell you that much.” He drew her in even closer.
She caught hold of herself and pulled back. “Sorry. I—I got so excited.”
“And you got me excited.” He glanced down at the bulge in his jeans.
Oh, how she wanted to run her fingers along his hard-on. She wanted to unbutton his fly and slip her hand inside and caress what she’d been dreaming of. But this job was too important to her and to the future of her firm. She couldn’t afford to get lost in the lust of him.
“Listen,” she said, forcing her eyes away from his enticing crotch, “I’ve been thinking—”
“That’s your problem right there. No thinking allowed.”
“I’m serious. I’ve been thinking about this and well, you’re now officially my client and—”
“That’s right,” he said, leaning in, kissing her neck. “I’m the client, so you’d be wise to listen to me.”
“Seriously, Dallas.” She forced herself to pull away. “You’re my client. Not to mention my neighbor, and what happened the other night was great. No��” She shook her head and felt her stomach roll at the memory of his beautiful mouth on her core. “No, it was so much better than great. It was mind-blowing. Amazing.”
“I think it was, too.” He ran his hand up her thigh.
His fingers set her on fire, and Nikki heard herself moan, almost giving in to his touch before she pulled away again. “But I think we should try to stay focused on your project. It’s gonna get too weird if we, you know…” She rotated her wrist, indicating every erotic thought rushing through her mind.
“You know what I think?” He stood up and pulled her to her feet. “I think we should finish what we started here the other night.”
She was inches away from him. His eyes were locked onto her, holding her in place. She swallowed hard. “I was afraid you were going to say something like that.”
“At least that tells me you’ve been thinking about it, too.” He took a step forward.
She took a step back. “How could I not think about it?”
“You were hot, Nikki Norris.”
God, how she loved it when he said her name like that. Nikki Norris. Nikki Norris…
“Really hot,” he said, coming another step closer, forcing her back another step. “And you’ve got so much more inside of you. That was only the tip of the iceberg.”
Nikki backed up again until her shoulders were flush with the wall. There was no place else to go, and this steamy, gorgeous man was coming her way. She felt the brick behind her and Dallas’s hard, stiff body in front of her.
Brushing his lips against hers, he said, “This time I want you to really let yourself go. I want you to come like you’ve never come before.”
Didn’t he know she already had? The thought that it could be even more intense made her body quiver. His cock pressed into her thigh, and it drove her crazy. She couldn’t help rubbing herself against him. He parted her lips with his tongue and gave her a slow, deep kiss that made her stomach flip and her insides start to melt.
“Look,” he said gazing into her eyes, “we both know it’s just a matter of time before you and your ex are back together. If you want me to back off, I will. But we might not ever have this chance again. I don’t want to have any regrets. Do you?”
Nikki considered what he said as she reached up and touched his wavy brown hair. It was true; Matthew had been being very attentive lately. He’d called her every day since she started working on Dallas’s project, leaving messages, calling to say hello, asking how her work was going. He said he still wanted to get together and talk, but she’d been too busy to meet with him. The fact that she wasn’t dropping everything to see him made Matthew all the more persistent. And Nikki wasn’t sure what to do about that.
“He is coming back for you,” Dallas said.
Nikki had a feeling Dallas was right. Only
now she didn’t want Matthew back. She wanted Dallas, and only Dallas. Being with Matthew was nothing like what she’d experienced with Dallas. Part of her thought that if she didn’t let herself sleep with Dallas, it would haunt her for the rest of her life.
She decided that she needed to be with him, to get him out of her system, so she’d be ready when the right man came along. A man who, unlike Dallas, was ready for a relationship with her. Maybe she’d even learn a few things. She decided that a few tricks from Dallas was what she needed to spice things up with her love life. God knew she needed some help in that department. Nikki reasoned that fucking Dallas’s lights out was a sure way to improve her relationship with her future Mr. Right—whoever he was and whenever he’d come along. She knew that sounded absurd. She was rationalizing. She knew there was an illogical logic to her thinking, but she bought into it because she’d never wanted anything as much as she wanted this experience with Dallas.
She ran her fingers over his shoulders and felt his hand moving up her leg, sending a shimmer of anticipation through her body.
“I want you, Nikki Norris,” he said, breathing hard into her lips.
“I—” She stopped but started again. “I want you too, Dallas.”
He peeled off her dress and in one fluid motion pulled his T-shirt over his head. The first glimpse of his naked torso sent a ripple of heat to her core. She placed her fingertips on his chest, as if making sure he was real. That’s how perfect he was. And while she admired his muscles and ripped abs, he unhooked her bra. Suddenly it was skin on skin and she thought she’d lose her mind. He slid her panties down her legs until she stood naked before him, her back still flush against the wall, quivering over what was to come next. Oh God, this is really happening.
Keeping her eyes on his, she reached for his jeans and unzipped him.
He shucked his jeans and tossed them aside.
Her mouth went dry. Commando. How European of him. His cock was hard and beautiful, pink and thick. The veins stood at attention when she touched his long, rigid shaft.
He let out a moan and kissed her neck. His fingertips brushed over her nipples as his mouth moved down her neck to her breasts.
And oh, the things this man could do with his tongue made her breath catch. Keeping one hand on his cock, she ran her other hand through his hair, urging him down to that place burning for his mouth.
“Tell me what you want, Nikki Norris. Let me hear you say it,” he whispered in a husky voice.
She couldn’t bring herself to verbalize it. All she could do was moan when his tongue reached her stomach, her hand forced to leave his throbbing cock to caress her own breasts.
“Want me to taste you? Want me to eat your sweet pussy?”
“Please. Please, yes.”
He knelt down before her, lifting one leg over his shoulder as he kissed and licked and nipped at her inner thigh. Nikki’s breath grew more and more shallow as she waited for what was about to come. “Please just…just taste me.”
That’s when she felt him lift her other leg onto his other shoulder, so that she was suspended completely off the ground. She was so close to his mouth, she could feel his warm breath on her. She tilted her hips forward and finally his delicious, soft tongue licked her center.
“Hmmmm, you are so wet. You taste so good.”
He teased her with a light, rhythmic flicking of his tongue, and then he changed his strokes. His middle finger slid slowly in and out of her wet opening. In and out until her body started to shake.
When she thought it couldn’t get any more intense, he added a second finger and took the hard tip of her clit between his lips. His tongue worked her into a frenzy, making her tremble and quiver.
She cried out his name as wave after wave of pleasure shook her foundation.
Kissing each inner thigh, he gently set her legs back on the ground. He slid up her body, kissed her deeply. “That was amazing,” he said. “Don’t move. Don’t you dare move.”
He reached for his discarded jeans and pulled a condom from his pocket, rolling it onto his cock. With his hands on her ass, he gave her another mind-blowing soft, slow, sensual kiss as he lifted her up against the wall.
“Wrap your legs around me,” he said, kissing her neck.
And she did, gripping his hips as she closed her eyes.
“Nikki,” he whispered, his breath hot against her ear. “Open your eyes. I want you to look at me.”
She did as he said and her eyes locked with his just as she felt him guide himself gently into her slick opening. She moaned as he went in deeper and deeper, until she had all of him. She was still looking into his eyes. Mesmerized. I finally get it. This is why sex drives people wild…
Her calves clutched him tighter and tighter with each thrust; his balls slammed harder against her. She cried out, dragging her nails along his broad shoulders as he pumped into her over and over again. She was about to explode as he grew even harder inside her.
“Oh,” she panted, “you feel so good. So good.” She couldn’t help herself and her body began to move on its own, her hips rolling and grinding into him.
“That’s it Nikki, ride me. Ride me all the way.”
He picked up his pace and the friction built on top of itself. All the heat got cranked up a notch higher and higher until she started to shake all over again, moaning and crying out his name, “Oh, Dallas. Oh, Dallas.”
“That’s it, Nikki. Come. Come for me. Let me hear you. Just let it go.”
And she did, in a shattering release that made her body spasm and drained her to the bone.
Dallas had his eyes closed, his thrusts more urgent, his cock more rigid until he let out a series of guttural growls and then finally, “Oh, Nikki, Nikki—” And she felt his entire body let loose.
Afterward they stayed like that, clinging to each other, Nikki’s legs still wrapped about him. They were panting and kissing, the two of them saying at the same time, “Wow.” They laughed as she dropped her head to his shoulder and he cupped her butt in his big, strong hands.
“That was amazing. You were amazing.” Nikki kissed his shoulder as he gently set her down. Her legs were nothing but rubber.
He excused himself for a minute and came back wearing a white robe, handing a second one to her. They wrapped themselves in mounds of terry cloth and curled up together on his couch. Dallas opened a fresh bottle of wine, and even though it was the middle of summer, he lit a fire. She watched the flames cast their shadows over his strong features and she knew she was in trouble. No doubt about it—she was falling for him. Falling fast and hard.
“You know,” he said, “before your ex comes back into the picture, you have to do one thing for me.”
Her ex. She wanted to moan, and not in a good way. She couldn’t even think about Matthew at a time like this. “And what is it that I have to do for you?” she asked, running her fingers across his chest, thinking there wasn’t anything she’d deny him. “Tell me what I have to do for you.”
He looked at her and kissed her lips. “You have to let me take you out on a proper date. A real one this time.”
Nikki rested her head on his strong shoulder and scooted in closer to him. “I can’t think of anything I’d like better.”
Chapter Fourteen
When Dallas stepped out of the shower, he saw a new message flashing on his phone. “Hey, Troy, it’s me, Cliff. Thought I’d try you again. I’m hoping we can get together sometime soon. I found some of Mom’s things that I think you’ll want…”
“Yeah, well, you thought wrong,” Dallas said and click—he deleted the message. Why would his brother think he’d want anything from the woman who’d abandoned him? Cliff needed to understand that as far as Dallas was concerned, his mother didn’t just die recently. No, she’d been dead to him for years. After Dallas had started to make a name for himself as a photographer, she’d tracked him down—probably looking for money. But he’d screened every phone call, sent back every one of her letters unope
ned. It was too late for him to forgive. The woman had messed him up enough, and he wanted nothing more to do with her.
Dallas finished getting dressed and knocked on Nikki’s door to pick her up for their date.
“C’mon in,” she called from the bedroom. “Door’s open.”
When he stepped inside her apartment, he noticed the flowers. Roses. Yellow. White. Pink. A dozen standing, tall and proud. There was only one person they could have been from. And that asshole couldn’t even send her red ones. Nikki had them in a vase, right on her desk, and Dallas pictured her working throughout the day and pausing every now and again to smell them, or maybe reread the card. Bollocks. Between his brother’s voicemail and those damn flowers, he was now in a shit mood.
“One more minute,” she called to him again.
“Take your time.” He turned away from the flowers. He didn’t know why they bothered him so. Dallas knew the ex was coming back for her. Not a doubt in his mind. And in part, he was to blame. Dallas understood the male ego all too well. He got the competitive nature of men. After all, he was one of those competitive alpha males himself. And as juvenile as it seemed, nothing made a woman more desirable than knowing she was desired by another man. Dallas admitted that may have been part of his initial attraction to Nikki, but now that he’d spent time with her and gotten to know her, he didn’t like the idea of any other men lurking around, wanting to take his place.
But still, even if this incredible woman was free and available and felt a fraction of what he felt for her, he knew it wouldn’t work. Despite Nikki’s being loyal and the kind of girl who wouldn’t run out on you just because things got rocky, deep down Dallas had his doubts. And not about Nikki, but about himself.
Part of him was still that six-year-old boy, standing at the front door, watching his mother walk to her car with his brother in tow. He remembered pressing his palm to the glass and crying out as the two of them drove away, leaving him behind forever. Every Christmas, every birthday he wanted only one thing, and that was for his mother to come back. He waited for the phone calls and cards that never came. Until it was too late. By the time his mother reached out to him, he wasn’t interested. He hadn’t even bothered going to her funeral last year.
Love Thy Neighbor Page 11