Healing Nicole

by Rachel M Storm

  "Thanks for lunch Angela, I should be getting back." I tell her after glancing at my watch and seeing that my lunch hour is almost up.

  "We should do this often,"

  "Yeah, sure." I answer, hoping she's saying that just to be nice and doesn’t really mean it. I mean, I was quiet most of the time. Surely, she noticed that I'm not much fun, right?

  "Well, see you around Nicole,"

  "Bye," I say and we both go our separate ways.

  I sigh as I walk the short distance back to the office. So much for keeping to myself in the new town.

  CHAPTER NINE

  MACE

  "She's hot, I can see why you are so head over heels baby bro," Chase says as we come to a stop at the hotel.

  "I'm not head over heels Chase," I'm annoyed, I've been annoyed since Nikki left for lunch with my sister instead of me.

  Damnit, I wanted to take her out for freaking lunch. I wanted to apologize for my sudden need to leave on Friday when I said I would stay for pizza. I wanted to know how her weekend went. I wanted to know how her first day – wait,

  "Did you just call me baby bro?" I hiss at Chase. I know that's probably no reason to hiss at him but like I said- annoyed.

  "I sure did, baby bro."

  "Stop calling me that. We are the same age, you ass!"

  "Technically, I'm the oldest between us, I popped out first and you came like ninety seconds after me. So that means..." He lets his words trail off in a mocking way that just pisses me off more.

  I throw my head back, looking at the blue sky and groan loudly. "Seriously, Chase, did they freaking fry your brain at that retreat you went to?"

  "Why are you so annoyed?" He asks, looking at me like I just sprouted horns.

  "I'm not," I lie, because well, I know my brother and I'm not in the mood for his inquisitions nor do I want to give him more Nicole M.O to use against me.

  "Is it because she declined your offer to take her to lunch?" He ignores the fact that I just said that I am NOT annoyed.

  For the first time in my life, I hate that my twin knows me so damn well.

  "Chase!" I groan again. I don’t even have the energy to argue with him right now. Infact, I'm way too annoyed to even go work right now, I'm just gonna lose my shit at the new assistant in training who keeps undressing me with her eyes and looking at me like I'm her Christmas present ready for unwrapping.

  "Yeah, fuck this." I turn on my heel and jump back into the car. "I'm going to the gym," I tell my annoying twin. I don’t really care that it’s 2:30 in the afternoon. I need to punch something and if it’s not a punching bag it’s going to be Chase's face.

  He laughs; "Yeah, go work off all that sexual tension you've been sporting since you walked into her office," I flip him off before driving off.

  My two hour workout this afternoon didn’t help me much so now I'm holed up in my office at my house trying to catch up on work – not that I'm actually progressing, I've been reading through the first page of these damn notes that Vivian gave me for the past thirty minutes and I still have no clue what I'm reading.

  Another thirty minutes and I decide to quit because I'm not getting anything done. All that’s been going through my mind is Nikki, I want to see her. I grab my phone and dial my brother.

  "What's up?" Connor answers. Now I'm not sure I want to go through with the reason for my call.

  "I need a favor," I tell him, bypassing the hello.

  "Yeees," he says dragging the word out when I stay silent instead of just telling him what I want.

  "Can you give me Nikki's number?" The jerk bursts out laughing. "Ha-freaking-ha, hilarious. Can you do it or not?"

  "I can't do that, what kind of boss would I be if I gave my employees personal numbers to random guys?" I can hear the humor in his tone.

  "Please Connor," I plead. "And, I'm not just some random guy, I'm your favorite brother!" Yeah, I'm laying it a bit thick right now but I'm kind of desperate.

  "Fine, on one condition."

  "What's that?" I ask, dreading what's to come.

  "We have to watch that movie Eight Legged Freaks."

  "The one about the giant spiders?!" I didn’t mean to ask that in a high-pitched voice like a teenage girl – it just jumped out of my mouth, out of freaking nowhere.

  "The one and only," he laughs. "Oh, and you can't tell her I gave you her number, say you saw her CV on my desk and you couldn't help being a creepy bastard,"

  "Um..." My head is still reeling over his first condition. I don't like – no I freaking hate spiders. I don’t want to watch a movie of the devil's spawns.

  "So, we have a deal?" He asks.

  Maybe I should just wait till tomorrow and then ask her for her number myself? Or I can just drive by her house with a box of pizza, will she think I'm stalking her?

  "Mace?"

  "Fine, I'll watch the stupid movie!" A shudder runs through my body as the words leave my lips.

  "And you won't tell her I gave it to you?"

  "Yes, I'll tell her I'm a creepy bastard,"

  "Great, let me just find the number and I'll text you,"

  "Thanks," I say before pressing end on my screen.

  Five hours later my phone lights up with a text from Connor – Okay, I might be exaggerating a bit, it was about five or ten minutes but it felt like hours instead of mere minutes. For some reason I can’t explain, I really need to contact her.

  I save the number on my phone then send her a WhatsApp text quickly before changing my mind.

  Me: Hi, how was your first day?

  She immediately reads my message but doesn't respond. I wait and wait, but still nothing. I reread my message again then a groan when I realize that I'm an idiot, she probably doesn’t know who I am.

  Me: It’s Mace

  She almost immediately reads the text again but this time I see the little dots showing that she is typing back a response.

  Nikki: Oh hi, it was busy but good thank you

  Okay, so what do I say now? Usually with any other girl, this would be the part I start charming her panties wet, but I don’t know if that's the route I want to take with Nicole if I just wanna be her friend.

  Nikki: Can I ask you something about your abs?

  A face splitting grin forms on my lips at her text. Did she seriously just ask about my abs? Maybe charming her isn't such a bad idea then.

  Nikki: I mean BROTHER not ABS... I don’t want to ask you about your abs!

  At this, I burst out laughing like a lunatic. Yeah, if my brothers saw me now, I would never be able to live down the fact that I just burst out laughing at my phone. I decide that this is too good of a convo for just texting so I dial her number, hoping that she answers. She does.

  "H-hello," her shy voice brings a grin to my face.

  "So you want to know about my abs?"

  "Yes. I mean NO!" She says before softly cursing under her breath, I don’t think I was supposed to hear her cursing though. I can't help it, I burst out laughing again.

  "Your brother, I want to ask about your brother not your abs." I can actually hear the embarrassment in her voice.

  "Okay, so which brother?"

  "Mr. Maynard- err I mean Connor,"

  "Okay go ahead," I say hiding the fact that I'm slightly annoyed that she wants to ask about my brother.

  Please don’t say you are attracted to him, please. Please, Please. I say the mantra over and over in my head. Jeez, what am I, a freaking teenage girl?

  "Do you know why he wants me to start calling him by his first name?" She asks hesitantly.

  Oh, thank fuck! She didn’t ask something like; is he single?

  "I don’t know, maybe he just wants you to feel comfortable around him," I answer.

  I had wondered that same thing and asked my brother but he just brushed me off and left me hanging.

  "Oh, okay." The twinge of disappointment I hear in her voice unsettles me a bit.

  "Have you eaten dinner yet?" I change the subject. I'm n
ot in the mood to talk about my siblings.

  "No, was about to heat something up though. Why?"

  "I want to make up for leaving you hanging on Friday and bring over a box of pizza?" I say in way of question.

  I'm met with silence from her side and I take the phone from my ear to check if we have been disconnected then put it back to my ear when I see that she is still on the line.

  "Nikki?"

  "I'm not sure if -"

  "Look at it this way, then you can ask about my abs in person," I joke, cutting her off before turning me down again.

  "Oh dear God," she groans and the sound makes my blood shoot down to my traitorous appendage, making me harder than I've been in while. "If you promise to never bring that up again, I'll agree," she continues.

  I smile. "You sure you-"

  "Mace!" She groans again. Fuck, my poor dick will never make it through the night if she continues to groan like that- especially if she groans my damn name.

  "Okay then, I promise," I say.

  "You can come over,"

  "I'll be there in about forty-five minutes,"

  "Okay,"

  "See ya," I say before ending the call and throwing my phone on the couch.

  I glare at the bulge in my pants. Shit, I'm going to need a cold shower before attempting to face her.

  CHAPTER TEN

  NICOLE

  Damn it! Did I seriously just agree to Mace coming over? Why can't I seem to turn him and his family down? I came to this town with the intent of being a loner and staying away from any relationships but I have failed in keeping away from both Angela and Mace. I swear, that family has some weird freaking mojo that makes it impossible to decline anything they offer.

  A loud groan slips through my lips as I think back to my two time slip of the tongue. I can't believe I actually said I wanted to ask Mace about his damn abs! I blame it on the fact that those damn abs have been plaguing my mind since Friday. They are so damn perfect on his golden skin, I'm curious how he keeps in such good shape.

  "Shit sticks!" I curse when I glance at my watch that states I've been sitting here for nearly twenty minutes instead of getting ready. I need to get out of these yoga pants and shirt that's two times my size and take a quick shower before Mace gets here.

  Loud knocking startles me as soon as I step out of my very short shower and I curse. I quickly wrap myself in a towel and grab my phone from the basin counter.

  "Shit, he's ten minutes early!" I mutter to myself as I rush out of the bathroom.

  Another knock makes me pause at my bedroom door. "Shit!" I turn on my heel and rush to go open the door.

  "Hi," I say opening the door to a hot as hell Mace dressed in a red dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and tucked in black jeans.

  "Hi," he says an unnamed emotion fleeting through his eyes as he takes in my towel wrapped appearance.

  Shit! "Come on in and make yourself at home, will be out in a sec," I say as a blush creeps up my neck. I turn and practically run to my room without even waiting for him to answer.

  What the hell was I thinking? I shouldn’t have opened the door clad in just a freaking towel. Now he has seen me twice in that situation. I should have just texted him and told him I'll be right out instead of...

  Damnit, I should probably start getting dressed instead of just standing in the middle of my room thinking about should haves, what's done is done. I grab some underwear, jeans and a tank and quickly get dressed.

  "Sorry about that," I say as walk in the living room where Mace is sitting on the couch with two boxes of pizza and wine on the coffee table.

  "No worries," he says smiling up at me. "I brought some wine, I wasn’t sure where to find glasses and plates," he says.

  "Oh, that would be in the bathroom," I smile sweetly at him. Crapsticks! I immediately bite the inside of my cheek. What if he thinks my sarcastic remark is meant to be rude and not just a joke? I don’t know him well enough to be making such jokes.

  I breathe a sigh of relief when he chuckles and I try my best to ignore what that sound does to me. "Obviously," he says, his grin making me melt just a bit.

  " That pizza smells divine, I'll get the plates and glasses," I tell him.

  "You won't be eating?" He frowns when I come back with two glasses and just one plate.

  "I like eating out of the box, hope you don’t mind," He smiles at my answer.

  "Yeah, I prefer that too actually," I smile and give him the glasses before returning the plate to the kitchen.

  When I get back, Mace has the TV on some Korean channel. "You speak Korean?" I ask.

  "Fluently," his laughter tells me otherwise.

  "Is that so?" I smile as I take a seat next to him seeing that that’s where the food is. "Okay tell me what he's telling his mother," I point at the young man talking to an older woman.

  "Okay... he said Gracias,"

  "He did not just say Gracias," I laugh.

  "Oh? So you speak Korean then?"

  "Oh yes," I lie. "You take the guy and I'll take momma," I continue.

  "Game on!"

  "Okay, she just said that he should change that hideous shirt before going anywhere," I say motioning to the guys bright orange shirt with huge green dots. I have no clue what she really said but hey, I'm winging it.

  Mace laughs before saying his part. "This shirt will get - "

  "Oooh!" Mace and I say in unison when the woman and guy who I thought were son and mother lock lips in a heated kiss.

  "Your Korean sucks!" Mace laughs as he changes the channel.

  "Says the guy who mistakes Spanish for Korean,"

  "What? He was saying the Korean equivalent," he defends still laughing.

  "Aha, of course he did,"

  I reach for a slice of pizza at the same time Mace does and our hands touch. A tingling sensation runs through my body and my hand freezes for a split second before I jerk it back.

  "Uh, sorry," I say looking at him. Out of nowhere the image of him shirtless runs through my mind on repeat. Oh no, did I seriously just bite my bottom lip?

  "That's okay," he shifts a bit in his seat as the atmosphere around us thickens with sexual tension – from my side that is, I'm probably making him uncomfortable.

  Damnit hormones, this is not the time to go haywire on me!

  "How about a movie?" He asks, his low husky voice making me flush and I unintentionally lick my lips. Well shit!

  "Shit," he curses under his breath. "You pick a movie, I just need, um, to use your bathroom," he says standing up.

  Great, way to make things awkward Nikki.

  "Sure, down the hall, second door to your left," I tell him as he starts walking toward the hall.

  What in goodness name is wrong with me and my damn hormones? It's only been about seven months since I had sex but I have gone longer than this without sex and never had this problem before. Crap, I need to remember, no relationships are allowed. I may have failed in keeping to myself but that doesn’t mean I can't keep people at arms-length. Right?

  I mentally slap myself before going about choosing a horror movie. No way will I choose anything that may have any kind of lovey-dovey shit. I don’t need kissing scenes to fuel my hormones any more than they already are.

  Mace makes his way back just as I finish setting the movie. We watch the movie in silence and by the time it ends, it’s already eleven thirty. I can't believe time flew by so fast.

  "I should go," Mace says as he stands to his feet. "Thanks for having me, Nikki."

  "Your welcome," I reply, walking him to the door and opening it for him.

  "See you around," he says as he pulls me in for an unexpected hug. I stifle a moan as I hug him back and his divine smelling spicy cologne makes its way up my nostrils.

  Well damn!

  "Bye," I say pulling out of his hold.

  "Bye," he winks at me and I almost melt.

  The next morning has flown past quick because I've been too busy to take a brea
ther. I've had two different strategy meetings, taken the time to open a Facebook page for the company because like it or not social media can be great for marketing a business and I have sent fifty advertising packets out.

  I'm just about to pack-up for lunch when Angela strolls into my office holding a basket full of fruit.

  "Hey Nikki!" she says placing the basket on my desk.

  "Hey?" My greeting comes out as more of a question because I have no idea why she's here with a basket of fruits.

  "So, my little niece is having a birthday party this weekend and I need someone to help me plan it," she says walking toward the couch in my office. "Will you help?" She asks, making herself comfortable on the couch.

  "Um..."

  "Please. If I asked one of my brothers then this party would be a disaster!"

  "Okay, I'll help you out," I sigh. Like I said before, this damn family has got some type of mojo that makes me agree to anything they ask.

  "Yay!" She claps her hands once in excitement. "You're the best!"

  "What's with all the fruits?" I ask pointing to the basket resting on my table.

  "This guy I used to date keeps sending me all kinds of gifts and he won't stop," she sighs

  "So, you decided to give them to me?"

  "Well I kept almost everything he's sent, it would be rude to throw the gifts away. But I don’t like fruits, so I decided to give them to you seeing that I saw a lot at your place when we helped you with all those boxes," she shrugs.

  Judging from the way her eyes just lit up talking about this ex, I'd say Angela is enjoying all the attention from him.

  I'm about to tell her that when I see Mace and Connor talking just outside my office. A fierce blush creeps up my cheeks when Mace looks in my direction, a panty dropping smile playing on those lips that I had imagined doing all kinds of hot things to my body last night after he left.

  God, I still can't believe I actually dug out my long-time friend Mr BOB and used him while thinking of Mace.

  He waves at me and I do the unthinkable. I grab a banana from the fruit basket and wave it like a mad woman. His eyebrows shoot up just as Connor looks my way.