by James, Anna
When Kate ambled in a moment later Max stood behind the island, shirt rebuttoned and tucked into the waistband of his jeans. Nicole sat on the stool in front and watched while he mixed the dry cake ingredients with the moist.
“Hey, you guys, what . . .? Oh my gosh, are you making Nicole’s chocolate lovers’ cake?” Kate asked hopefully.
Max only nodded.
Something put Nicole on alert but she couldn’t identify what. Maybe it was the remote expression in his eyes, his hunched shoulders, or his stiff, wooden movements. Regardless, the sudden tension in the air indicated something was wrong. But what? Better yet, why? They hadn’t gotten caught so what happened to cause this change in him?
He poured the batter into the pan, placed it in the oven, and set the timer.
“What time will dinner be ready?” Kate asked.
Nicole turned her attention toward her sister. “In a couple of hours.”
“Great. I’ve got some studying to do. I’ll be upstairs in my room. Call me when everything is ready.”
Nicole nodded. “Will do.”
Kate headed upstairs, and Nicole turned back to find Max glaring at his cell phone again. Who kept calling him and why wouldn’t he answer? “Is everything okay?”
He only grunted, then shoved the phone back in his pocket again.
She would have pressed the point further, because clearly something was wrong, but Ashley and Reed chose that moment to walk into the kitchen. What she wouldn’t do for some privacy once in a while.
“It smells wonderful. Nicole, you’ve outdone yourself again,” Reed said. He took one look at Max and his eyes bulged. “An apron? Please tell me you didn’t go anywhere near the food.”
Max growled at Reed.
Nicole’s eyes widened. What happened to put him in this foul mood? Everything had been going great.
Reed rolled his eyes. “I was only kidding.”
“We still have a couple of hours before dinner’s ready, right, Nicole?” Ashley asked.
“Yes.”
“We’ll be in the living room. Call if you need help.” Ashley turned to Reed. “Come on. We’ve got to look at the meal options for the reception so I can get back to the wedding planner before we leave this afternoon.”
“Hang on a minute.” Reed yanked out his phone. “What the hell?” He glared at Max. “You want to tell me why your ex-wife has called me twice in the last half hour?”
“Shit,” he hissed.
Oh, damn. So that was who’d been calling him.
“Well?” Reed said.
“I don’t know, but I’ll take care of it.”
“Yeah, do that and tell her not to bother me again.”
Max turned to Nicole. “I’ve got to go.”
Chapter 12
Nicole sat at the sewing machine trying hard to concentrate on stitching Ashley’s dress, but it was no use. Her mind kept drifting back to Sunday and Max’s sudden departure.
She tugged on the fabric, straightening the seam. It was almost as if he’d been searching for an excuse to leave and Angela had provided it. But why?
She lifted her head at the soft knock. Max loomed in the open doorway. A part of her wanted to cheer because he’d finally come back. She squashed the traitorous impulse and pinned a neutral expression on her face. At least she hoped it was neutral because her heart was hammering so hard it just might burst.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi.” When he didn’t say anything more, she returned her attention to feeding the fabric through the machine.
“You’re upset.”
Hurt, the voice inside her accused.
No! No way would she go down that path. She stopped the machine, sucked in a long, slow breath and released it, then peered up at him. “Why would you think that?”
He sighed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left the way I did.”
She stared up at him and blinked back the tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “So why did you? You left without a word of explanation.”
He flinched.
Good.
“I needed to take care of Angela.”
“Ah. So you walked out on our date to go to your ex-wife.”
“Come on, Nicole. You heard Reed. She called him.”
“He didn’t call her back.”
“I couldn’t take the risk. At least I didn’t think I could.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I finally told my family the truth about the divorce.”
Her brain cheered and started doing the Snoopy dance.
No. Not going to get excited. Because he’d still stayed away. “Then why did it take you three days to come back? You didn’t even call.” Hell. Her voice sounded shaky.
His face turned red. “I, ah . . .”
Her heart sank.
Fool, her brain jeered.
Yep, she’d been right all along. He’d changed his mind about dating her and had used the issue with Angela to beat a hasty retreat. No big deal.
Except it was. She liked him a lot. More than she cared to admit. Tears burned in her eyes again, damn it, and she blinked them away. No way would she let him see her cry. She straightened her shoulders and swallowed hard to clear the lump in her throat. “Don’t worry about it, Max, I got your message loud and clear. I won’t make a scene.”
He frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“You don’t want to see me anymore. It’s okay. It wouldn’t have worked out anyway.”
“So, what? It was one big lie on your part?”
Her eyes widened. “Hey, I’m not the one who walked out.”
“I told you I had to deal with Angela.”
Fine, but he shouldn’t turn the tables and act as if she’d been the one to walk away. “That’s a load of crap, and you know it. You were looking for an excuse to leave the minute Kate walked in on us.”
He stiffened. “I wasn’t looking for an excuse to leave.”
“Then why did you?”
“I told you—”
She shook her head. Just drop it. It doesn’t matter anymore. “You should go now.”
“I don’t want to,” he said quietly.
She glared at him. “Then what do you want?”
He stayed silent for so long she feared he wouldn’t answer, then he spoke.
“Why didn’t I know?”
Why didn’t you know what?
He let out a harsh, scathing laugh. “God, I never even suspected. What kind of an idiot does that make me?”
She scrutinized him. Hurt and anger radiated off him in waves. Had she done something to upset him?
“You didn’t do anything. It’s not you. It’s me.”
Her lips tightened and she shook her head. “Another load of crap. That’s the oldest line in the book.”
He strode toward her, pulled her up from the chair and into his arms, and kissed her breathless.
“You didn’t do anything. It’s me. I’m the one with—”
He kissed her again. And, heaven help her, she kissed him back.
His hands stroked over her back, her shoulders and arms, then closed over her bottom and pulled her up against him. Then those masterful lips of his sought the hollow at the base of her throat and her whole body lit up like a white hot flame. Wave after wave of hot need coursed through her.
She slipped her hands under his shirt and groaned the minute her palms touched his warm, smooth skin. More contact. She needed more contact. Her nimble fingers made easy work of unbuttoning his shirt and sliding it over his strong shoulders.
He kicked it away when it hit the ground.
He yanked her shirt over her head and tossed it in the
same pile where his had landed. His fingers slipped under her bra and caressed her breast.
“Max,” she cried out.
He froze and stared down at her, a look of horror on his face, then pulled his hand away.
“You’re right. I should go.”
“What!”
He’d already grabbed his shirt off the ground, put it on and was buttoning it. “I’m sorry.” He strode toward the door.
No damned way! She ran and inserted herself between him and the exit. “You don’t get to walk out. Not after what just happened between us.”
“Please—”
She let out a growl of frustration. “What the heck? If you don’t want me then why—”
Color flooded his face. “I told you, I’m the one with the problem.”
“Well, you certainly didn’t have a problem the night you stayed in Ashley’s room or—”
His eyes widened. “That . . .”
“That what?”
“Actually happened?”
She stared up at him. What game was he playing at now? “Oh what. You’ve suddenly developed amnesia?”
“I told you, things were a little fuzzy and—”
She folded her arms across her breasts and glared up at him.
“I remember kissing you and . . . You said I didn’t do anything I needed to apologize for.”
“Who asked you to apologize?”
“So, you wanted—?” A hint of uncertainty glittered in his eyes.
What did she have to do? Shout it from the rooftop? Of course she wanted him. How could he not know? Wait a minute. What had he said earlier? Why didn’t I know? I never even suspected . . . She drew in a quick breath. Why didn’t I know? As in didn’t know his wife preferred women over men. I never even suspected. Meaning, even when they were together, he hadn’t suspected the truth. Holy crap.
He shoved his hands in his pockets and turned away from her.
He wasn’t kidding. He really did have a problem. She wasn’t surprised. The man had found his wife in bed with another woman after years together. “Angela messed up your head but good.”
He let out a harsh laugh. “You must think I’m a complete moron.”
No. She didn’t. Who had more insecurity when it came to the opposite sex than her? She was the queen of self-doubt. “Well, if you are then I’m one too. I’m just as uncertain when it comes to male/female relationships as you. Why do you think it took me so long to agree to go out with you in the first place?”
He turned back to face her, his eyes wary. “I find that hard to believe, given you kissed me less than five minutes after we met.”
She stiffened. “Yeah, well that was a one-off thing.”
His eyebrow winged up.
She understood his disbelief given her impulsive behavior. “I . . . Ah . . .” Heat crept up her neck and flooded her face. He’d confessed his problem to her it was only right she do the same. “I’d been sort of . . . fantasizing about what kissing you would be like.” She swallowed hard. “Since I saw your picture on Reed’s desk.”
He flashed another of his sexy smiles, then his mouth settled on hers.
Nicole sighed and gave herself up to the sweet tenderness of his kiss.
He drew her into his arms long minutes later and she snuggled in close.
“Are we okay now?”
She nodded. “As long as you don’t walk out on me again the next time we’re in the middle of—”
He laughed. “I won’t.”
“Good.”
Heat blazed in his eyes as he stared down at her. “I don’t want to talk anymore. I want to make love with you.”
She wanted it, too, had from the moment she found him sitting in the conference room going through her files a few short weeks ago. “Then what are you waiting for?”
He scooped her into his arms and strode toward the bed.
Tingles of anticipation radiated through her as they made their way, and she came alive for the first time in . . . too long to remember. The need to taste him, become one with him overwhelmed her. Grasping his head, she drew it down, pressed her mouth to his, and savored the lush softness of his lips.
He groaned. “Dear God, woman. Kissing you is enough to make me come right now.”
She smiled, and a sense of her own feminine power soared inside her.
He lowered her to the ground and gazed down at her, a burning intensity blazing in his eyes, then his lips lowered to hers again.
Just the slightest brush of his mouth over hers, but the sweet tenderness was almost her undoing. She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder and his arms tightened around her. He held her there, in the warmth and security of his embrace, for long moments, then eased her away and removed her bra and jeans.
She stood before him clad only in her navy satin panties. His fingers brushed over her cheek and he stared into her eyes.
“You’re beautiful,” he said.
His words warmed her heart. Lifting up on her tiptoes, she captured his mouth and drank in the sweetness of his kiss.
“I want to touch you.” With unsteady hands she unbuttoned his shirt and shoved it over his shoulders and down his hair-roughened arms. It slid off and landed in a heap on the floor.
Her eyes feasted on his bare chest while her hands roamed over every exposed inch of male flesh, learning each curve and plane. His shoulders . . . solid, strong. His chest . . . hard, firm, and oh, the soft, silky dusting of dark hair covering his pecs . . . Her fingers stroked through the swirls and traced a path down until it disappeared below his pants.
He sucked in a deep breath when she reached inside and wrapped her hand around his engorged shaft. She ran her fingers over the hot steely length of him and he shuddered.
“Nicole . . . Oh . . .” He pulled her hand away. “It’ll be over before we even start if you do that.”
She let out a husky laugh. “We wouldn’t want that.” Then she pulled him, and they collapsed on the bed together. His eyes gazed down into hers while his fingers skimmed over her ribcage, her belly and the swells of her breasts. She closed her eyes and immersed herself in the sensations storming through her.
“Oh,” she gasped when he took the weight of one breast in his hand and traced tiny circles around her nipple with his thumb.
She unbuckled his belt and removed his trousers and boxers with one quick pull. “I want you inside me now.”
He gave her a wolfish smile. “Not yet. I’ve wanted this from the minute I laid eyes on you and I’m going to take my time and explore every inch of your gorgeous body.”
Oh, God. She swallowed hard imagining what he might do to her and trembled as his tongue caressed the hollow at the base of her throat then moved to capture the tip of her breast. He tasted, teased, building the wanting to a fevered pitch.
“I promise it will be worth the wait.”
She didn’t think she could wait much longer. Dear lord, those lips, that tongue. Her body quivered as his hands floated over the soft lines of her waist, her hips and then glided down to probe the moist heat of her core. “Max,” she cried out when his mouth replaced his fingers. Never had she experienced the mind-blowing pleasure coursing through her. Never had she wanted anything this badly. “Now. Please!” she begged between ragged gulps of breath. His tongue darted inside her and an orgasm ripped through her fast, hard and brilliant.
He gathered her close and held her until her breathing slowed to a normal rate.
“You okay?” he asked quietly.
She gave him a satisfied smile. “More than okay. I’m fantastic.”
He grinned, rolled on top, and plunged into her.
A moan of ecstasy slipped through her lips as he moved inside. She wrapped her legs around his waist and surre
ndered to his masterful seduction.
“Baby . . . I . . .”
They soared toward the stars. Two separate souls rising together, bursting into a million pieces, then melding into one.
Long hours later Nicole lay cocooned in the warmth and comfort of Max’s strong arms trying hard to refute the undeniable truth. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t. She loved Max. The kind of heart-pounding, pulse-soaring, head-over-heels, forever kind of love that had you planning a life together and walking down the aisle. When the attraction turned to love, she wasn’t sure. She only knew that it had. The notion terrified her because sooner or later she’d have to tell him her secret and her shameful past.
There’d be no happily-ever-after for her when he learned the truth.
Chapter 13
Nicole sat in rush hour traffic the next morning humming along with the radio as the car crept along at a snail’s pace. Her cell phone rang and with a click of a button she connected the call.
“Hi, Nik. It’s Reed. What time will you be in today?”
“I’m heading into work now, why?”
“Can you take a meeting for me at eleven o’clock? I have some permitting issues on another project and will be tied up most of the day.”
A quick glance at her watch confirmed she’d arrive in plenty of time, even with the bumper-to-bumper traffic. “Sure.”
“Great. I’ll leave the file on your desk before I head out. I really appreciate this.”
“No problem. I’ll see you later.” She cut the connection and continued to make her way through the heavy morning traffic. “Did you forget to tell me something, Reed?” she asked when the phone rang again a moment later.
“This isn’t Reed.”
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. “Carlo.”