by Dawn Doyle
Then there was the hug…
He felt his body stirring just from remembering her body pressed up against him.
“Wanna talk about it?” Ryan asked as he plopped himself down next to him.
“Nope.”
“Come on. I’m going to be a married man soon. I can give you some helpful advice.” That comment caused Nick to raise his head and look at Ryan. “I’m just saying…” Ryan held his hands up.
“Ryan. You’re eighteen years old. How can you possibly give me advice?”
“Oh yeah, I forgot you’re an old man.”
“Whatever. You’re almost married. I can practically hear the slippers dragging on the floor already.”
“If you don’t be nice to me, you’re not coming to my party.”
“Oh dear God.” Nick groaned. Conversations with his eleven year old sister were more mature than with Ryan.
“Nah, seriously though dude. What’s up?”
“Emmy’s coming to LA with me tomorrow.”
“Whoa! For sexy time?”
“No! God Ryan! She’s coming to see the businesses I invest in there. We’re only going for the day.”
“So… no chance for sexy time?”
Nick grabbed a cushion and hit Ryan with it.
“Boys! Stop fighting!” Mia scolded them. “I swear you wouldn’t think one of you were getting married and the other was a business man.” She shook her head. “Speaking of…”
Here we go.
“Nick, do you have any plans for your birthday?”
That got Nick’s attention as he wasn’t expecting that question.
“My birthday is ages away. Why?”
“I was thinking that we could all take a trip. You know, have a family vacation. We haven’t done that in years.”
Not a chance.
Nick wasn’t about to spend even one week with his family. Not that he didn’t love them, he did, but he would end up hurting Ryan, yell at his Mother for probably trying to set him up and then arguing with his Dad when he laughed about it. The only one he wouldn’t get mad with was Cora. But then again, she’d started to tease him about Emily and it was beginning to grate on his nerves.
“I’ll be too busy, Mom. I’ve got a lot of new business going on and I can’t be away for long.”
“Or maybe because you’re a grumpy old man?” Ryan suggested.
“Or, would it happen to be because a certain person has a birthday around the same time?”
Nick closed his eyes and took a deep breath, slowly letting it out.
It was no secret that his and Emily’s birthdays were in the same week, but for his Mom to come to that conclusion irritated him.
“You mean my assistant?” He asked innocently. If he’d failed to acknowledge who his Mom was talking about, she would have picked up on it straight away.
“Yes. Would you rather have plans with her?” She asked with a smile.
“I wasn’t planning on having any plans. I was going to work like I have every other time.” His irritation was building and he could feel it coming to a peak. “Why now? Why ask for a family vacation? Is this some weird twilight zone I’ve stepped into where everybody thinks they have a right to pry into my life?”
“Nick, honey…”
“No, Mom. I’m getting tired of it. I’m not going to meet somebody. Ryan, I’m not going to have ‘sexy time’ with anybody, and Cora… Emmy doesn’t like me. So everyone just BACK OFF!”
“Nick you need to calm down, son.” David said, his hands up like he was dealing with a madman.
Nick pinched the bridge of his nose. He could feel a headache coming on and the only person he could think of to talk to was Emily.
But he couldn’t just pick up the phone. She would want to know why he was calling her out of work.
“I’m tired Dad. I need everyone to just…stop. It’s getting old and I can’t take any more.” He said, his voice hitching as he felt himself getting choked up about it.
“God, bro, I’m sorry…” Ryan started to apologize.
“I’m just going to go home.” Nick got up out of his seat and started to walk out the door.
“Nick don’t go! I promise I won’t tease you any more.” Cora said, with tears in her eyes.
“I have to, tiny. I’ll see you soon, ok? I’m not mad at you but I just want to be alone.”
I want Emmy.
Nick put on his helmet and rode away on his bike.
He needed a drink.
*****
Unable to sleep, Emily got out of bed and headed to her kitchen for a drink of water.
She was nervous about getting on a plane with Nick the next day.
The airport shouldn’t be too bad. She’d though about it and decided that being in a crowd, for a couple of hours, she could handle. Sitting next to him for the two and a half hour flight would be murder on her system.
Emily double checked her phone and saw that she had a text from Nick. She’d put her phone on silent, so she hadn’t heard it.
N: I’ll pick you up at the office tomorrow. 8am.
It was already past midnight so she thought it was a little late to reply. Especially if he was sleeping.
Sleeping. What if he’s sleeping with someone? Oh what the hell.
E: Yes Sir! 0800 hours sharp!
He didn’t reply so Emily assumed he was asleep, or busy.
Looking at her clock again, she saw that it was twelve thirty. Lying down again, she reached for her black cat with rainbow fairy costume and gave it a squeeze.
“Kitty needs a spanking.” Nick’s voice sounded.
Cuddling her cat, Emily tried again, to sleep.
The last time she looked at her clock, she saw it was two forty five.
Emily’s alarm sounded and she groggily got out of bed. Her head was banging because she hadn’t had enough sleep. It was six thirty and she was still tired after her nervousness keeping her awake.
Now she was worse than ever.
She couldn’t eat, her stomach was knotted so much. Even a hot shower hadn’t settled her.
Choosing comfortable clothes; black pants and a white short sleeve blouse that had small ruffles running down the buttoned seams, Emily dressed. She also chose her black flats in case she was going to be walking around for a while.
Drying her hair, she saw that her hands were shaking, holding up the dryer.
“You can to this, Emily. It’s just a few hours. Other people will be there.” She said out loud to herself, in the hopes that she would believe it.
She was about to go on a trip, To LA, with Nick… The man she was in love with, who had no idea about it.
He’s going to think I’m crazy!
Emily laughed out loud.
Definitely crazy!
Drinking her coffee, Emily tried to eat some toast.
She couldn’t.
Resigning to the fact that she wasn’t going to do herself any favours by worrying about it, she picked up her work bag, her black jacket, a couple of magazines and a book for the flight. There was no way she could carry on a conversation with him in such close proximity. She was worried what might come out of her mouth.
Taking a deep breath, Emily left the apartment and made her way to the office, in her brand new Mini John Cooper.
Taking the lift to the fifteenth floor, Emily stepped out and walked towards her desk and paused when she heard movement coming from Nick’s office.
Her stomach plummeted and her heart raced with déja vu from the last time she heard noise coming from an office she thought would be empty. This time though, she was scared at what she’d see rather than just feeling curious.
Approaching her desk, she saw Nick’s door open. She glanced in and saw Nick, alone. Standing there in a dark grey suit and white shirt. He wasn’t wearing a tie and his top two butting were undone, showing a little skin on his upper chest.
Emily felt relieved as she watched him rummaging through his desk draw.
When he lo
oked up, he smiled and winked at her, causing her face to flame instantly.
She looked away and quickly sat down on her chair, before she fell down.
“Good morning Emmy. Are you ready?” He asked as he closed his office door.
“Wha… um… yeah.” She stuttered as she rose to her feet, her knees still quivering. Nick’s scent wafted in her face and she held her breath so she wouldn’t sigh out loud.
“I gave Di the day off.” He said as they got into the lift.
Oh fuck! The lift!
Emily’s whole body was tingling as she was on edge. Nick completely unaware of the effects he was having on her.
“That was nice of you.” She managed to reply after finally taking a breath.
Her nostrils instantly filled with Nick’s clean smell of shampoo and soap. She glanced up at him and looked to his lips. Pink and perfectly proportioned, she wanted to run her tongue across them to see how they tasted, whilst running her hands over his stubble.
“She works hard, and besides… It gave her more time to spend with her niece over the weekend. She’ll be in her last year of college after the summer break.”
“Do you know her niece?”
Emily regretted asking him that. He could easily mistake that for her being jealous. Even though it was true.
“No.” He said, looking down at her. His grey eyes connecting with hers, framed by his long thick eyelashes. “Diane told me, a while ago, that she was in business school. Her girlfriend takes the same classes as her too.”
Girlfriend?
“Girlfriend as in friend who’s a girl or actual…”
“She’s gay.” He said with a smirk.
“Oh.” Emily felt her face flush again.
“You know, you’re really small without your heels.” He chuckled as they walked across the lobby.
“Hey! I’m five feet six, which is taller than average in the UK. Holly’s even smaller than I am.”
“I know, she’s a tiny thing. Alex looks like a giant compared to her.”
It was true. Holly’s five feet four inches were dwarfed by Alex’s six feet three.
“Yeah well, we can’t all be huge like you.” Emily cringed immediately after what she said.
“You think I’m huge?” Nick snorted a laugh.
“You’ve got to be at least six two so yeah, compared to me you are.” She looked down, her cheeks still hot with embarrassment.
“Good guess. I’m exactly six two.”
“Yay me.” She muttered, making Nick laugh.
Nick unlocked his car and opened Emily’s door for her and she paused, looking at him as he was being nice to her and seemingly unaware that he was doing so.
“What?” He asked, puzzled.
“Nothing.” She said quietly before getting into his car.
“No come on, tell me why you gave me a funny look for opening your door.”
“It was nice of you, that’s all.”
“I can be a nice guy, Emmy. I’m not always an ass, you now.”
No, but you have a very sexy ‘ass’.
“I know.” Emily looked out the door window as Nick got into his seat. His arm brushing hers as he reached for the gear stick.
The goosebumps rippled over her skin like rain drops hitting puddles and she squeezed her knees together in an attempt to halt the aching that pulsed between her thighs.
“Here we go.” Nick pulled out of the car park and turned into the direction of Seattle Tacoma Airport.
It was twenty minutes of business talk, followed by awkward silences as they drove to the airport and Emily was relieved when they got there.
She got out of the car and took a deep breath of Nick free air to calm the fire inside her.
“Was the drive that bad?” Nick snickered as he stepped up beside her.
“No.” She lied. “Um… Just happy to be out of the car.”
Nick narrowed his eyes but gestured for her to go in the direction of the check in.
The business departure lounge was very cozy.
Big, black and grey comfortable chairs on a beige carpeted area, next to large windows. The view of the Cascade Mountains and Mount Rainier was amazing.
There was also a complimentary bar and food station. There were a couple of people sat at the individual woking stations, busy on their laptops.
“Take a seat and I’ll get us some coffee.” Nick said as he placed his carry on next to a chair. “Do you want something to eat?”
“No thanks.” Emily replied but the growl of her stomach said otherwise.
“Emmy, have you eaten this morning?” Nick look concerned for her which only made things worse.
Stop being so nice! You’re killing me!
“No. I couldn’t. I don’t want anything.” Her stomach rolled again.
“You need to eat.” Nick walked away before she could argue with him and Emily plopped down into the seat like a sulking child.
He was taking care of her and it made her feel like a bitch. All of the things that she’d said to him over the weeks, not that he’d been a saint by any means, weren’t exactly pleasant.
She’d called him names and spoken badly to him. She knew he had been doing and saying things to get on her nerves, so he wasn’t exactly blameless. But sometimes she treated him like he didn’t matter.
But he did. He mattered a lot.
She only did those things because she was struggling with her feelings for him and when it got too much, something stupid would fall out of her mouth. Like mentioning Louise being his new assistant.
I’m such a cow!
Emily felt guilty.
She took a deep breath and promised herself that she would try to be nicer. Even if he didn’t like her the way she liked him, it wouldn’t matter. There was no excuse to be horrible to him.
“Here you go. I got you some toasted bagels. I didn’t know what you liked so I thought that was the safest option.” He said, placing the plate on the table between their chairs, and their coffees.
“Thank you. You didn’t have to do that though.” She said quietly.
“I know.” He replied before taking a sip of his coffee. “After your late night, I thought you’d need the energy.”
“What?” Emily wasn’t expecting that.
“Your text. It was after well after midnight when you replied. I didn’t get it until this morning though.”
“I couldn’t sleep.”
Nick looked into her eyes as if reading something there.
“What?”
“You look tired. What time did you go to sleep?”
“Oh my God!” Emily whisper shouted and she was about to tell him it was none of his business when she stopped herself.
Be nice!
“Almost three o’clock, I think. I don’t know.”
“Nervous?” He asked, the corners of his mouth turning up.
“Why would I be nervous?”
“Flying. Are you a nervous flyer?”
“No. I’ve flown half way around the world to get here and I was perfectly fine.”
“So why the nerves now? You’ve been on edge since the office this morning. Your lack of sleep, and breakfast, are symptoms of nervousness.”
Thanks, Dr. Phil.
“Just a little tired, that’s all. I’m fine.”
“If you say so.” He smirked, continuing to drink his coffee.
Emily picked hers up and Nick’s smile grew wider when he noticed the cup shaking in her hand.
Emily ate her breakfast in silence and Nick, answering emails on his phone, didn’t say another word until the call came through to move along for boarding.
Nick held his hand out to help Emily out of her seat. Putting her hand in his, the warmth of his palm travelled up her arm and down through her body. She pulled her hand back the moment she was up on her feet and wished she hadn’t. She liked how his hand felt around hers. Just like the day he’d caressed hers and then kissed her knuckles after punching his arm, hurting he
rself in the process.
Don’t go there Emily. He already knows you’re a bag of nerves!
Walking through to the boarding area, they were on board before the other passengers; The perks of flying first class.
Nick placed his hand on Emily’s lower back, guiding her on board ahead of him, and her skin prickled. Luckily she’d put her jacket on otherwise he would’ve seen the goose pimples on top of the already present goose pimples running over her arms.
Finding their seats, there were only eight in the cabin, Emily sat in first, as Nick gestured for her to and they sat down in the big white comfortable chairs complete with a footrest that popped out when the seat reclined. The centre armrest had a TV. A good distraction from the sexy, muscular, amazingly smelling guy that was sat next to her.
“It’s going to be ok.” Nick said gently from beside her after she took a deep breath. Inhaling the air that engulfed her whenever Nick was near.
“I’m not a nervous flyer.” She reminded him as she removed her jacket, placing it over the armrest.
“Well, whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll be fine.” He assured her.
Nick, if only you knew, you wouldn’t be saying that.
After all of the checks had been done and seatbelt were fastened, the plane taxied to the runway before taking off.
The engines roared and then they were moving. Faster and faster until the front of the plane lifted and then left the tarmac.
Nick turned his head to Emily and she could see him watching her for signs of her freaking out. She turned her head to look at him.
“See? Not a nervous flyer.”
Nick narrowed his eyes slightly, as if wondering what else could be up with her. There was now way she was telling though. That wouldn’t go down so well.
The reason I’m nervous is because being near you makes we want to tear off your shirt and lick you all over. Oh, and I’m in love with you.