Healing Nicole (The Maynard Series Book 1)

by Rachel M Storm

"Yeah, so don’t worry about it okay?" I say. "Goodnight Mace,"

  "But Nikki-" I end the call before he can finish whatever it was he was going to say and drop the phone just as tears start streaming down my face.

  "I hate them so damn much," I sob softly, curling into a small ball on my couch. I never thought I was capable of feeling hate toward anyone, but Donald and Gabriella brought it out of me and now because of that, I refuse to give what this thing with Mace might turn into a chance.

  My boyfriend of many years proposing to my best friend of even longer, losing my unborn child, hearing the news of Donald and Gabby expecting a baby and last but not least the feel of Mace's soft lips against mine and knowing I can’t let it happen again although I enjoyed it are the last thoughts running through my mind as I cry myself to sleep.

  ****

  MACE

  "Motherfucking shit damn it all to hell!" I curse, throwing my phone across the room. Did she seriously just blow me off and then hang up on me? By the way she kissed me back I know for a fact that she enjoyed that damn kiss. What the hell went wrong? Is it because I left afterwards? Fucking shit, why the hell did I leave!?

  I contemplate just driving back to her place to kiss some sense into her. I know she is attracted to me just as much as I'm attracted to her. The way she checked me out that day Ang and I helped her move in, the way she licked her lips when we had pizza at her place and that way she always flushes when she sees me confirms it. So why the hell would she say that shit?

  It shouldn’t have happened and we should never let it happen again? No, fuck that! I'm not giving up, the attraction between us is too strong. I know at first, I just wanted to be her friend but shit, now I want more, I want her and I will get her.

  I start to grab my car keys but then curse as I realize just how pissed I am right now. I can't go to Nikki in this state. I need to calm the fuck down. Instead, I go grab a beer from the fridge and then hunt for my spare phone because I doubt my phone survived that crash against the wall.

  As soon as I find the phone I start to dial my twin when someone violently raps on my door. I rush to go open it thinking that it might be Nicole.

  "What the fuck man!" Chase says as soon as I rip the door open. Well shit it's not Nikki. It suddenly hits me that it couldn’t have been her because she doesn’t know where I live.

  "What, Chase?"

  "The fuck is wrong with you?" He pushes past me. "And why the hell is your damn phone off?"

  "Nothing-"

  "Don’t bullshit me Mace, I could feel it!" Right, the twin connection ratted me out. That's the thing about identical twins, when the other is feeling some intense emotion like anger, sadness the other can feel it. It just hits you out of nowhere.

  "It's Nikki," I sigh, defeated.

  "She make you break your phone?" He says, gesturing to the pieces still lying on the floor.

  "I kissed her tonight,"

  "And that pisses you off so much that I can actually feel that there’s something wrong with you?" He's confused.

  "No, what pisses me off is the fact that in so many words she said that the kiss was a mistake," I say plopping on my couch.

  I expect Chase to burst out laughing but he surprises me sitting across from me and looking at me intensely.

  "You really like her, don’t you?" He asks seriously.

  "Yeah," I answer honestly as I bury my face in my hands.

  "And what are you going to do about it?"

  "I'm not sure what it is I can do Chase, I know she's attracted to me, what I don’t get is why she won't give it a chance,"

  "You're right about one thing, you two are definitely into each other, we can see it in the way you two look at each other," he states the obvious. I know all that, but it doesn’t solve my problem. "Again, what are you going to do about it?"

  "I don’t fucking know, Chase!" I groan.

  "You know what, fuck you!"

  "What?" I'm shocked at his outburst. What the hell is his problem?

  "You are a Maynard, stop feeling sorry for yourself and start acting like it damn it! Start working on getting your woman!" Well that was unexpected.

  "I'm just not sure what to do man!" I'm frustrated.

  "Woo her with gifts, shit, fuck her into submission Mace, I don’t know. Just do something about it."

  He's right, I need to do something. I stand and quickly grab my keys.

  "What the hell are you doing?"

  "Going to Nikki's," I say, grabbing my jacket.

  "It's 11:30 at night you idgit," he says, rolling his eyes. "Get some rest, you can go get her tomorrow," shit, he's right.

  "Fine," I say.

  "Good. Now go take a shower and get all the glitter out, you look like you went on a date with a damn unicorn," at that, I laugh because it reminds me of what Nikki said earlier.

  "You staying the night?" I ask.

  "Yeah, I'm too exhausted to go back to my place."

  "Alright," I say. I start to walk toward the bathroom but then stop to look at my brother. "Thanks man," I tell him.

  "What else was I supposed to do? Feeling your intense mood killed my boner while with a smoking hot chick you jack-ass, we can't have that shit, I have a rep to uphold,"

  "There's the Chase Maynard I know," I chuckle. He's talking out of his ass because he's wearing the sweat pants he only wears at home and he never brings girls to his house. He usually picks them up, fuck them at my hotel then forgets their names the next day.

  Without another word, I make my way to the bathroom to take a shower. Tomorrow will be the day I get the woman I want. That’s a fucking promise.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  NICOLE

  I wake up the next morning feeling like a zombie. Mind you I have no idea how zombies feel but if I had to guess, I'd say this is it. My eyes feel swollen and I have a headache that feels like someone is pounding a sledgehammer in my head. Gosh, I hate cry hangovers! And on top of that, I slept on the couch last night so my neck is just killing me right now. All in all? I feel like I borrowed someone else's head and sewn it on my body Frankenstein style.

  I maneuver my body into a sitting position and watch as more than a dozen tissues fall to the floor.

  "Great!" I groan into my hands. I'm back to being pathetic little Nikki who cries herself to sleep.

  Is this really how I want to live? To spend the rest of my life afraid to take chances? To be afraid of any and all relationships. I can always have friends, or a lover that kisses like a god, but keep my walls up high enough to shield my heart. Right?

  Angela and her brothers are good people and I like them. Why the hell should I force myself into becoming a lonely old woman with fifty cats?

  No, screw this. It’s time I start living again. Donald and Gabby took everything away from me, I can't let them take away my social life as well, I refuse!

  With my new found determination, I stand from the couch, gather all the tissues and make my way to the kitchen where I throw them into the trash before making some coffee. I need to start my day right. A lot of coffee a day keeps the moods at bay.

  After drinking the divine substance that is coffee, I start to make my way to go take a shower when a knock stops me in my tracks. I glance at my phone to check the time. Who in the world would be knocking at my damn door at nine on a Sunday morning? It’s too damn early and I probably look like crap.

  I walk over, open the door just to be met by an unfamiliar young guy with red roses and a box of chocolates in his hands. I glance behind him where there are about six other guys, also holding roses.

  What the hell?

  "Miss Parker?" The guy asks.

  "Yeah?" I say warily looking at them.

  "A delivery for you," he says handing me the roses and chocolates.

  "For me?!" The words come out as a small squeak through my mouth as I take all of them in. They're wearing jeans and shirts so they don’t look like delivery boys. "From who?" I continue to ask, this time sounding like my nor
mal self.

  "The card will explain," he says.

  "Can we put these inside for you?" The guy with the dirty blonde hair standing behind the guy with the darker hair who just gave me the roses and chocolates.

  "Um, I guess," They all nod before one by one they walk into my house with roses and then out with nothing.

  "Have a good day, Miss Parker." The guy with the dark hair says as they all walk to leave.

  "Thanks, you too," I say before closing the door behind me. I walk over to the biggest bouquet and grab the card and open it.

  I disagree, that kiss should have happened and it will happen again. That's a promise. But the next time will be when you ask me to kiss those soft lips again.

  PS: I'm picking you up at 3 for a barbeque

  Mace

  I read and reread the card over and over again, my smile getting bigger with each read. I blame it on the fact that he actually showered me with a romantic gift. I've never been spoiled because Donald did not have a single romantic bone in his body- well, when it came to me that is. After everything was out in the open he sent romantic cards, flowers, chocolates, dinners and even took her away for a weekend getaway. Those are the things he never did when he was with me. The night I asked if we could go out for dinner runs through my mind.

  "Babe, how about we go out for dinner tonight?" I ask as Donald and I get comfortable on the couch.

  "Why? The cupboards are full of food," He replies, his attention fixed on his phone.

  "Because it's kind of romantic,"

  "Nikki, you know I love you. I don’t see why I need to do romantic shit to prove it," he says, still not looking up from his phone.

  "Never mind, it was just a suggestion," I say. He doesn’t look at me but just smiles at his phone. I swear, sometimes it’s like he's in a relationship with that phone instead of me.

  "I'll make some stir-fry,"

  "Okay, sure." He says, still not looking at me.

  I shake my head out of the memory, disappointment dripping from that shake. How I never saw it coming that he never loved me boggles my mind and it will haunt me for life.

  I grab my phone to text Mace. The card still in my hand. He can be so alpha-cocky sometimes. I think I like it.

  Me: Thank you for the flowers and chocs

  Instead of answering my text, my phone starts ringing in my hand, Abs, the name I stored him as flashing on the screen. I just had to program his name as such because those God damned abs have been playing in my head since I saw them up close and personal. They really are perfect and it doesn’t help that abs along with big strong arms are my weakness.

  "Hi," I answer, a blush creeping up my neck because of where my mind just went. Thank goodness he can’t see me right now.

  "Hi," he replies, his voice sounding so damn sexy. "And you are welcome," he continues, I can hear the smile in his voice.

  "I meant what I said in that card Nikki,"

  "Who's having a barbeque?" I ask, I don’t want to dwell too much on his promise stated in that card.

  He sighs before answering; "My family,"

  "Okay, I'll be ready."

  "Good, I'll see you later then," he says.

  "Okay," I'm about to end the call when he speaks again.

  "And then I'll be ready to hear you ask," he says before ending the call.

  Oh, dear God!

  By the time Mace knocks on my door at 2:55 PM, I'm ready. Dressed in white skinny jeans and a loose blue blouse with matching shoes, light make-up and my long dark hair in a high ponytail. I open the door to an, as usual, hot as hell Mace, dressed in dark jeans and plain white button-up shirt with the top three buttons undone, the arms rolled up to his elbows as usual but this time the shirt is not tucked in. I bite my lip to stifle a laugh when I see that his hair is still sparkling a bit from glitter.

  "You look beautiful," he says. My heart pounds against my chest when he leans in but instead of kissing my lips, he plants a soft kiss on my cheek.

  "Th-thank you," I can't help the light whimper that runs through my body.

  "You ready to go?" He asks as he slowly pulls back, a knowing smile playing on those lips that just made me whimper.

  "Yeah," I answer, stepping outside then locking the door behind me.

  "So, who's having this barbeque, one of your brothers or Angela?" I ask when he hops into the driver's seat and starts the car.

  "My parents," he smiles.

  "What!" Is he crazy? It’s another thing hanging out with his siblings, but his parents? What the hell!?

  "Mace I ca-"

  "Too late to back out now Banana Girl," he cuts me off as he chuckles under his breath.

  "But-"

  "If you keep trying to argue, I won't wait for you to ask," he says, his eyebrows dancing up and down suggestively.

  "About that..." I trail off.

  "Yeees?" He drags the word out.

  "I think I'd rather we just be friends, Mace."

  "Is that so?" I didn’t expect him to sound amused.

  "Yeah," I answer. I might be ready to socialize freely again but I don’t think I can do romance just yet. The car suddenly comes to a halt and he turns to face me.

  "Okay, Nikki. Say that looking me in the greens." He says smiling.

  "I..." I pause when his head inches closer.

  "Yeah," he drawls, the huskiness of his voice making me a bit wet.

  "I'd rather we..." I try again but fail to finish again as his lips get so close to mine that another whimper sprints through my body.

  Shit! Damn traitorous body!

  His smile widens as he pulls back; "The way your body responds to me and the way you're staring at my lips right now disagrees with your statement," he says starting the car again.

  My eyes snap up from the lips I wasn’t even aware I was staring at. Shit! How can one not be aware of staring! Mother buffer!

  The rest of the drive is quiet with me stealing glimpses at a smiling Mace. He is so sure of himself, well I guess I can blame that on my body that just doesn’t want to work with my brain. I make it too obvious that I'm attracted to him.

  We finally come to a stop in front of a massive mansion with huge black steel gates with a big gold letter M in the middle. The gates start to open, splitting the golden M in half as they do and we drive in before stopping right in front of the massive house. Mace jumps out before running around to open my door for me. I step out gawking at the beautiful grey-stone house that looks like something out of that TV show Celebrity Houses.

  "Oh my God," I say in awe. "Are we at your parent's house or the president's?"

  Mace chuckles before shaking his head; "Come on, Banana Girl,"

  "Oh, dear Lord," I groan. "Please don’t call me that in front of your parents,"

  "Well that depends,"

  "Please don’t say on me asking you," I say, my eyes widening and the jerk in front of me winks before leading me into the house. Again, I’m awestruck by the beautiful, massive, sleek, vintage room I walk into with pictures of smiling and happy kids lining walls.

  "Come on, everyone is outside." Mace says grabbing my hand and leading me to the sliding door on the other side of the room. He smiles down at me when I shiver at his touch.

  I'm seriously starting to hate my body!

  "Nikki!" Abby squeals as she runs towards us and giving me tight hug.

  "Hi honey," I hug her back. Shocked that she's so happy to see me. I mean she's only met me once.

  "Thank you for the SIMS game, it’s a lot of fun!" She says excitedly just as Connor approaches.

  "Aw you're welcome," I smile at her.

  "Hey, where's my hug?" Mace asks, a playful pout playing on his lips. Abby giggles as she jumps into Mace's arms.

  "It's about time you two got here," Connor says as he too gives me a hug. I have to say this makes me feel kind of awkward, I mean he is my boss after all.

  "We're not at the office Nikki, don’t sweat it." He laughs.

  "Huh?" I'm surprised.<
br />
  "You actually just said that out loud," Mace leans in to whisper in my ear.

  "Oh, nooo!" I groan into my hands causing Mace and Connor to burst out laughing.

  "I made myself little sisters and brothers!" Abby says excitedly as Mace puts her down.

  "What!" Mace exclaims the same time Connor groans.

  "What do you mean honey?" I ask, watching as Mace and Connor's eyes widen in a don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to way.

  "With the game!" She answers. Well I'm not sure why Mace and Connor gave me that look because her answer is not that bad. Right?

  "I see," I smile as I answer.

  "Daddy, can you fall pregnant tonight?"

  Connor's eyes widen in shock and Mace turns around to hide his face but I can see his shoulders shaking with laughter, and me? Well I almost swallowed my tongue! I did not see that question coming.

  "Honey, daddy can’t get pregnant," I say when the two men don’t seem to know how to answer.

  "Why?" Abby asks, her forehead creasing in confusion in the most adorable way.

  "Well, only girls can get pregnant honey," I try to explain.

  "But why can't boys also get pregnant?" She asks again.

  "Because we are awesome," I say in a whisper before winking at her. Her eyes light up in excitement as she bobs her head up and down in agreement.

  “Daddy I’ve changed my mind about what I want next year for my birthday,”

  Connor’s eyes light up. “What’s that princess?”

  “I don’t want just a mommy, I want a pregnant mommy,” The light in Connor’s eyes die immediately as his face pales.

  Aaaah, now I get why they didn’t want me to ask her.

  "We’ll see honey. Why don’t you get grandma and tell her the fire is ready," Connor tells her.

  "Okay daddy," she replies before running toward the house.

  "Holy fucking shit!" Connor says his eyes still wide and Mace bursts out laughing, unable to keep it in anymore.

  "Classic!" Mace says through his chuckles.

  "Not funny jack-ass." Connor glares at Mace. "She learned that game so damn fast, she has been making her character pop out babies left, right and freaking center!" The horror on his face is just too hilarious not to laugh at so I join Mace in the chuckling.