by Meg Lacey
It took Nicholas half an hour to calm down enough to think through his options. He’d paced the floor of the loft until he’d almost worn a track in the wood. Finally, he decided to find Raven and get this nonsense settled once and for all. He strode to the door, yanked it open and stepped into the second floor hallway. His long strides ate up the carpet on the way to Raven’s bedroom door. Shoulders squared, jaw clenched, he rapped on the wood.
“Raven.”
Silence.
He knocked harder. “Come on, Raven, open the door.”
Still, no answer.
“Raven, you’re behaving like a child. Open up.”
When there was again no answer, he took a deep breath and turned the knob. His tone softened. “Okay, Raven, I was wrong. I admit that, but we need to—”
He slammed to a stop as he took in the empty room. His gaze darted to the luggage rack. Her bags were gone, and more tellingly, the dressing table wasn’t littered with the paraphernalia that she used to enhance her appeal. Not that she needed it, he thought. At least not for him. Young, old, made-up or not, she’d always appeal to him. He knew that now.
He walked over to the dressing table and touched the lonely tube of lipstick that she’d overlooked. Feeling like an idiot, he picked it up and twisted it open to stare at the brilliant color, color he’d remembered kissing off Raven’s luscious lips. With a careful gesture, he replaced the cap and slipped it into his pants pocket, fingering it like a talisman.
“Dammit, Raven,” he swore softly.
He stood another minute, taking in the room again. It was lonely and cold without Raven’s vital presence. Just as his life would be if she weren’t part of it.
He’d hurt her. Hurt her because he’d discovered he was a coward. Externally, he was a shark when it was necessary. But business and law were rather impersonal, cool heads generally prevailed; regardless of how churned up he might be inside. That’s why he’d been so successful. Most of the time, his head was cool.
But not with Raven. Never with Raven.
When it came to facing his emotions, to opening himself to the full extent—he was terrified. He should have talked straight as soon as he’d discovered he was falling in love with her.
He’d said the words, “I love you”. But he hadn’t given her the rest of it, the rest of himself—his deepest feelings and emotions, his fears and terrors.
He’d remedy that right now.
With a firm, determined stride, he left the room, walked down the hall, descended the steps to the foyer and looked around for signs of her luggage. Seeing none, he quickened his pace and headed for the drawing room. A quick scan from the doorway revealed no Raven inside.
Instead Nana said, “If you’re looking for Raven, she’s gone.”
Nicholas glanced toward the windows to where Nana stood, straight as a tiny sentry, with a smiling Lorianne beside her.
“Where is she?”
Nana ignored him and moved toward him, shaking her finger as if he was a naughty child. “What do you think you’re doing, young man?”
He met her halfway and tried to smile. It fell flat. “Hell, if I know,” he muttered.
Nana bobbed her chin, sharply. “I’d agree with that—and then some.”
He glanced over at Lorianne, who still stood by the windows watching them, then gave Nana a somewhat wry glance. “I’m sure you would.”
“For a man with so many skills, you’ve showed remarkably few in your dealings with Raven.”
“I know,” he said again, feeling like a six-year-old being scolded for stealing cookies.
Nana turned to include Lorianne in the conversation. “From the minute I saw the four of you together, I’d anticipated some fun and,” she grinned, “some fireworks.”
“I hope you weren’t disappointed,” Nicholas said dryly.
“Not at all. It reminded me of my own courtship. Impulsive, misunderstood, romantic.” Nana sighed, walking over to the fireplace mantle to pick up a photograph. “It was wonderful.”
Nicholas wasn’t sure what to say, but Lorianne knew. She strolled over to Nana and gave her a hug. “I wish I could have known him.”
“You would have been fascinated, dear.” Nana smiled, eyes sparkling. “He did that to everyone. My parents didn’t want me to marry him, threatened to disown me, but I didn’t care. He was mine. I knew that the minute I saw him. Like Raven, he had a charm and a charisma that captivated anyone within two feet.” She chuckled. “I had to beat women off him with a stick half the time.”
Nicholas laughed. “I’ll bet you were up to the task.”
“That I was. I couldn’t live without him,” Nana agreed. She replaced the photo and turned to face him, her expression determined. “But this is about you, Nicholas.”
Nana walked over to him. She only came up to his heart, he thought, looking down with a slight smile, but she scared him silly. “From the first minute it was obvious to everyone that you and Raven, and Lorianne and Jackson belonged together. Somehow you got off track, no thanks to my son, J.R., so I decided to help a bit.”
“Thank you,” Lorianne inserted. “I think it’s working.”
Nana gave her an amused glance. “Of course it is. Men always want another dog’s bone. Jackson is no different.” As she turned a stern gaze back to face him, Nicholas had to fight the impulse to run. “Neither are you, Nicholas Demetrious.”
He frowned. “That’s not why I want Raven.”
“Why do you want her?”
“She’s Raven. That’s enough for any man.”
“Then you should have done a better job keeping her.”
“It’s complicated.”
“No, it’s not. It’s very simple.” Nana sent Lorianne an amused glance. “It’s just like a man to make it complicated.”
Taking him off guard, Nana attacked, her words sharp and staccato, “Could you live without Raven?”
At her fierce look, his voice raised until it was almost a shout, “No. I’m in love with her, goddammit. Now where is she?”
“Jackson took her to the airport,” Lorianne said.
Alarmed, he glared at her, then Nana. “What? When?”
“About ten minutes ago,” Nana answered, looking well satisfied with herself.
As Nicholas swore, long and fluently with strung-together words seldom used in polite company, Lorianne blinked, but Nana just laughed. “Oh this does remind me of the good old days.”
But she was talking to air. Nicholas had already left the room and was slamming the outside door behind him.
Nicholas left his car haphazardly parked in the short-term lot and raced to the small airport terminal. He almost ran over Jackson, who was on his way out as he was coming in. Grabbing his arm, Nicholas demanded, “Where’s Raven?”
“Buying a ticket.”
“She’s not gone then?”
Jackson sent him a meaningful look. “Not yet.”
Nicholas stared back at him for a minute. “Right. Thanks.”
“Nicholas.” Jackson grabbed his arm to stop him as Nicholas started past.
“What?”
“Groveling is probably a good idea.”
Nicholas eyes crinkled. “You think?”
“Oh, yeah. From what she had to say about you on the way to the airport, it’s definitely the best approach.”
Nicholas grinned. “I don’t grovel well.”
Jackson sent him an answering one. “Yeah, tell me about it.”
“Then, I guess we’d both better start learning, huh?”
With a gloomy glance, Jackson agreed. “Such is the fate of man.”
Nicholas chuckled. “We should put that on a plaque.”
“We’d probably make a fortune.”
“No doubt.”
They stared at each other for a moment before Jackson said, “Thanks for helping me get my head straight about Raven and Lorianne.”
“No thanks needed. If it hadn’t been for you, Raven and I would still be circlin
g each other.” Nicholas extended his hand to shake Jackson’s. “Good luck, Jackson.”
“You, too, Nicholas. You’re going to need it.”
With Jackson’s parting words in his ears, Nicholas went to look for Raven.
He found her standing in a long line at the main ticket counter for a western airline. For a moment, he just absorbed her, staring at her as if he’d never seen her before. Perhaps he hadn’t. Looking through the eyes of love changed things.
Her posture was a mixture of pride and dejection, he thought, and her hair raged around her head like a whirlwind. He wanted to hold her, comfort her and reassure her. She wasn’t perfect. Far from it. But then, neither was he. He’d certainly proved that all too recently. No, she wasn’t perfect. She was reckless, impulsive and damn near impossible. But she was Raven. She might make mistakes, but she had heart. Heart and humor and passion. Heaven and angels help me, I love her more than my life.
But as she suddenly turned her head to meet his intense gaze and he caught sight of stormy eyes with the tracks of tears still on her face, he had a feeling he’d have to fight his way to everlasting bliss first.
She looked around as if seeking an exit. He raced over to stop her and pulled her out of line, ignoring the interested stares from the surrounding crowd.
“Raven, what do you think you’re doing?”
“Leaving.”
“No, you’re not,” Nicholas said. “Not without me.”
Raven jerked her arm away. “You have nothing to say about it.”
“Yes, I do. I love you.”
“That doesn’t mean a thing.”
“It means everything,” he said, reaching for her again.
“No. When you really love someone, you trust them,” Raven said, poking him the chest. “You open your heart, you welcome them inside.”
“Is that what you did?”
“Yes.”
Nicholas grabbed her hands, holding them close. “Then what were all those games with Jackson about?”
“I didn’t say I haven’t made a few mistakes,” Raven said, pulling her hands from his.
“A few?”
Raven glared at him. “Don’t start counting, pal. Your record doesn’t stand straight up, either.”
“I know, I know,” he agreed.
“You should have told me about your little business deal.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t figure it out. I arrived at J.R.’s like an Antarctica explorer seeking shelter from a blizzard, for God’s sake,” Nicholas said, shaking his head.
With an annoyed toss of the head, Raven said, “I didn’t think too hard about it. You were just there so I—”
“Grabbed me, used me, abused me?”
Raven rolled her eyes. “As if.”
He stepped closer, whispering, “Want to abuse me some more?”
She shoved him back. “No. I’m too angry.”
Nicholas glanced at the people trying to pretend they weren’t soaking up the scene. He tried to pull her farther away from prying eyes, but she dug in her heels and didn’t move. “Raven, look, I was wrong, I admit that. Can’t we overlook that and move on?”
“Move on where?”
“Um, well…” He stumbled for a moment. He hadn’t thought beyond stopping her, getting her to talk to him again, and then begging her forgiveness. Finally he said, “To a relationship.”
“What does that mean?”
“What is this, Twenty Questions?”
“I think I deserve some answers before I decide if this is what I want for my future.”
“You deserve some answers? What about me?”
She placed a fist on her cocked hip and challenged him with, “Go ahead, ask away.”
His eyes narrowed. “Do you love me?”
“Yes. Next.”
“That’s it?” He blinked at her, then said in a disgruntled tone, “Very romantic. You might as well be ordering a drink.”
“Oh, now you want romance.”
He tugged at his hair. “God, you make me nuts. Okay, here goes.” He dropped to one knee. “This is against all known wisdom and my better judgment, but—” He took her hand. “Will you marry me?”
“Against your better judgment? That’s an unusual tactic, but is it guaranteed to get a positive response?” She jerked her hand away. “Not!”
Nicholas groaned, yanking his hair. “Oh hell, Raven. You could drive a saint to sin.”
“After that pitiful declaration, I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last man in the universe.”
He jerked to his feet as if a puppet master had pulled the strings. “You’ll have to because your family is damn near broke. You need me to keep you in your comfortable lifestyle, especially since Jackson has moved on to other pastures.”
“Are you calling me a gold digger?” she spat at him.
“If the shoe fits,” he spat right back.
“Ooohh! I can’t believe you said that.” Rearing back like a pitcher aiming for the strike zone, she whirled and took a swing at Nicholas, much to the dismay of the airline personnel staff, and to the delight of an amateur photographer who grabbed his camera and took a picture.
After a fast duck, Nicholas lost his patience. He moved in, bent and put his shoulder in her mid-section, lifting to toss her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes before picking up one of her bags and heading to the door, leaving laughter, catcalls and applause behind him.
A young airline porter, who looked scarcely old enough to shave, stepped into his path. “Uh, hold up, sir. What’s going on here?”
“Lovers’ quarrel.”
“Don’t listen to—owww,” Raven said, in response to Nicholas’s sharp tap on her backside.
He turned his attention back to the young guy. “There’s fifty bucks for you if you’ll get the rest of this luggage,” he said, raising his hand to show him a bag.
“Wow, that rocks, dude,” the porter gasped, before scurrying away for Raven’s things.
Nicholas walked out of the airport with a fuming Raven hanging upside down, pounding on his back.
“Put me down this minute, Nicholas Demetrious.”
“No. That could be dangerous.”
“You’d better believe it will be.”
Nicholas let her pound until he reached the car. Opening the door, he dumped her inside on the passenger seat. Closing and locking the door behind him, he turned to receive the rest of the luggage from the porter. He bundled it into his backseat before peeling off a large bill and handing it to the grinning guy.
A hint of uncertainty crossed the young man’s face as he glanced inside at Raven. “Uh, you aren’t pulling something funny, are you, mister?”
Nicholas grinned and pulled out his wallet to show the porter his ID. “Believe me, when my fiancé gets her hands on me, funny is the last thing it’ll be.”
The kid studied the ID, then Nicholas, then the luxury car. “Well, okay.” He jumped back as Raven pounded on the window. “Good luck. Man, I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes.”
Nicholas followed his glance. “I know what you mean.” He unlocked the door and slid inside behind the wheel.
Raven still pouted as she turned to annihilate him with a glance. “Now what?”
Nicholas turned the key. “Now we get married before I either break your damn neck, or that photographer back there sells his exclusive photo to the tabloids.”
“As a proposal, that still lacks something, darling.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Nicholas said, shoving the car into first gear and pulling away from the curb.
She waved her hand, indicating the airport. “But all of this isn’t the way I imagined someone proposing to me.”
He spared her a glance. “What did you imagine?”
“Moonlight, flowers, warmth, romance—not snow, slush, freezing cold and being tossed around like a feed sack.”
Nicholas looked in the mirror and whipped into the departure lane, before skidding into a circula
r byway at the far end of the terminals. He hit the brakes, slammed the car into park then pulled her into his arms. “If it’s romance you want, romance you’ll get.”
Ignoring the beeping horns, shouted expletives, and the camera being waved by the amateur photographer who’d tried to follow them, he kissed her, pouring all of his heart into it.
They emerged long moments later. Nicolas was shaken by the kiss and depth of passion it evoked, and judging by her expression so was Raven.
After a quick glance around at the cars passing on the highway, Raven grinned. “Holy hell, darling, when you let yourself go, you really let yourself go, don’t you?”
Nicholas grinned back and flipped the lever that reclined her seat. “Baby, you don’t know the half of it. But you’re about to find out.”
She fell back with a thump, but held him off. “What happens next?”
“A nice calm happy-ever-after, sweetheart.”
Raven laughed. “Nice and calm starring the two of us? That’s wishful thinking, isn’t it?”
He dropped a kiss on her nose. “Then we’ll make up our own ending as we go along.”
About the Author
I wrote my first novel in the sixth grade but my writing career didn't last. Instead I went into theatre before ending up in media as a writer-producer.
Over the years, I've been an actress, director, producer, copywriter, college instructor, creative dramatics teacher, author, mime, mom and a school bus driver. I’ve started two creative marketing companies and worked in all media from network cable programming to games and corporate initiatives, but always returned to writing. I have three married daughters, now creating chaos in someone else’s life. My true hero is Guy. He’s survived life with four women, two female cats and dogs, and still remembers how to tie his shoes. Visit Meg Lacey at www.meglacey.com.
Desire is a double-edged dance.
Lexie
© 2012 Kimberly Dean
Triple X, Book 1
Lexie Underhill works her tail off in hopes of winning her adoptive father’s approval. It’s never enough. The stinging proof? He’s brought in a reorganization expert. As if the prospect of losing her job in the family business isn’t enough, Cameron Rowe’s sexy, intimidating presence makes her palms sweat.