by Molly McLain
“Ah-ha!” He stood and lifted her legs to the couch before coming back down beside her, their bodies aligned from head to toe. His face—his grin—was millimeters from hers and their legs naturally entwined.
“Ah-ha what?” she asked hesitantly. He looked way too proud of himself.
“You’re right—I don’t like games—but I’m impressed you knew that. For that, you’ve earned thirty seconds of whatever you want from me. Kissing, a foot rub, whatever.”
“So this is about sex.”
“No, it’s about getting to know each other. Here, I’ll go next.” He put a finger to her mouth when she tried to protest. “Your favorite color is green.”
What the heck was he trying to prove? “That’s an easy one. That doesn’t count.”
“It totally counts. Now I get thirty seconds of whatever I want.” His gaze slid to her lips and suddenly she remembered.
“Is this your way of talking about Monday without talking about Monday?” She wriggled against him, but he didn’t budge. He was too big, too solid. And too sexy to fight.
“Maybe.”
“We shou—”
He cut her off when he leaned in and kissed her, slow and sweet and delicious. For thirty seconds.
“Okay, it’s your turn,” he said, stealing one more peck. “You can either tell me what you think you know about me, or you can ask a question. But if you ask me something, then I get the thirty seconds, not you.”
“Are you making up these rules as you go along?”
“Is that your question?” He eyed her mouth again.
“No!” God. “Okay, fine, I’ll play your silly game.” She sighed and nibbled on her lip, purposely avoiding eye contact—which was hard with him so close. “You’re a tell-it-like-it-is guy, but you don’t like confrontation. If a situation gets too intense, you’d rather take a step back and let it simmer for a bit before taking it on again.”
He arched an eyebrow. “That’s pretty deep, city girl.”
“But I’m right.”
He shook his head. “Not entirely.”
“No?”
“No. I usually like to deal with shit right away, but with you...” He shrugged. “I don’t like fighting with you.”
“When have we fought?” Because fighting implied something more than friendship and that made her nervous.
He smiled and grazed his knuckles down her cheek. His foot slid against hers and she shivered when his toes touched her instep. “Maybe we haven’t fought, but we’ve definitely disagreed.”
“About the money.”
“And the house.”
She held his gaze, even as he swept his thumb across her lower lip, eliciting goose bumps along her bare skin. “Are we still playing the game?” she asked quietly.
He nodded. “Yep, and you’ve earned a minute.”
“Can I bank it?”
“Absolutely, because I think I know where this is going.” He ran a hand along the curve of her butt, bringing her leg higher.
“Don’t be so sure.” She twined their fingers to keep his hand still, because if he continued to touch her, she’d lose her mind and get herself naked. “I believe it’s your turn.”
“Okay, but I’m asking a question this time.” Such an adorable grin.
“Forgoing your thirty seconds?” she teased.
“I’m pretty sure whatever you decide to use your time on will be good for me too.”
“Hmm. Cocky.”
He laughed and brought their hands up between them, holding them to his chest. “I want to know more about Chicago. Why you’ve had your heart set on it for so long.”
She should’ve known he’d ask for details sooner or later. One didn’t leave a good job for a similar one without substantial motivation. “It’s actually pretty silly. Just something Rachel and I started planning in junior high. We chose Chicago because it was far enough away from home to give us some independence, but yet close enough that we could drive home in a day if we needed to.”
“Rachel’s been there for a while already?”
She nodded. “She went there for medical school and is now doing her residency at the University of Chicago.”
“Why didn’t you go right away? Why’d you stick around Denver?”
“That’s two more questions. Are you keeping track?” She nudged him and he grinned.
“Believe me, babe, I’m not gonna complain when it’s time to pay up.”
***
She rolled her eyes, but continued on. “I didn’t go right away because I got married and Derek couldn’t leave Denver. When we divorced, I wanted to move ASAP, but divorces are expensive and I was in debt up to my eyeballs. It was easier to go to nursing school close to home.”
Couldn’t leave. Something he probably wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t dug around.
“No alimony?” From what he put together, Hodges had only just been drafted to the NFL at the time of their split, but he would’ve had an advance on his contract.
“They call it maintenance these days and no. I denied it.”
“Why the hell would you do that?” he barked, feeling like an ass as soon as the words were out of his mouth. “I mean,” he tried again in a much softer tone, “why not take what you could get?”
“Because I didn’t want his money. I didn’t want to be tied to him anymore. At all.” She let go of his hand to play with the collar on his t-shirt. “So it took me awhile to get things in order to make the big move. I had just started to get serious about it when Gran died. I almost put the plans on hold again, but then the hospital Rachel works at put out a call for nurses and I couldn’t deny fate, you know? I had an interview a few weeks ago and they offered me a job I couldn’t refuse. Everything was falling into place.”
“Well, not everything...”
She looked up at him and sighed. “Not everything, no. In order to take the job and to come here to take care of Gran’s things, I had to terminate my lease early, which cost me a small fortune, because they don’t allow subletting at my apartment complex. Then I had to put almost everything I own into storage, only to get here and have my car go to crap.”
“Usually how it goes.”
“Unfortunately.” She dipped a finger inside his shirt and smoothed it along his skin. “So I’m not usually this destitute. It’s just been a streak of bad timing. I’m sure things will get back to normal once I have a regular paycheck again in Chicago.”
“I can see why you’re in a hurry to get there.” Not that he was in a hurry for her to go, though.
“Am I a horrible person for that? For wishing Gran had better timing? God, that sounds so awful. Forget I even said it.” She bit her lip and looked down to where her fingers were driving him absolutely insane. A mere inch into his shirt and it felt like she’d put her hand into his shorts.
“You’re here, aren’t you?” he asked gently.
“Yeah, there’s that, I suppose.” She glanced up at him again, eyes wide and hopeful. “My turn?”
“Yep.” He shifted and slid an arm around her waist when her cell phone went off on the coffee table. “Ringing or an alarm?”
“Ringing.” She pulled her hand away from him to pinch the bridge of her nose. “Shit.”
“You wanna answer it? It’s late. It could be important.”
“It’s not.”
“How do you know that? Here...” He started to move, but she grasped at his forearm. The panic in her eyes overruled the light touch and his gut churned.
“Don’t. It’s okay.”
“Still my turn?” he asked, jaw clenched.
“Uh, yeah, I guess.”
“Who’s calling you at eleven o’clock at night?”
She didn’t look away this time. Didn’t even blink. “Derek.”
Motherfucker. “Why?”
“I know what you’re thinking and it’s not like that.”
“You have no idea what I’m thinking. Why, Nicole?”
“Tony, stop...” She tried to sit
up, but he shifted his hips and pinned her in place. She gasped and something that looked too damn close to terror flashed in her eyes.
“Jesus, I’m not going to hurt you.” He fucking hated that, for even a fleeting second, she thought he might. Loosening his hold, he placed a gentle hand on her jaw and brought down his tone. “Just tell me this, okay? Is he the one that did this to you? The one that’s made you afraid of me?”
Her nostrils flared softly and emotion rimmed her eyes. “I’m not afraid of you. Not like that,” she whispered.
“But you are afraid.”
She wet her lips and nodded.
“Why?”
“Because I’m falling for you and I can’t stay.”
Chapter Nineteen
Soon after her confession, Nicole went home, leaving Tony confused, but hopeful. She’d given him a scorching goodnight kiss that had him pulling her toward the bedroom so he could show her just how much he reciprocated her feelings, but she wasn’t having it. She merely kissed him again and was gone.
He’d stewed about it all day at work, trying to figure out what he would say when he got home to keep her from skipping out again. He had a semi in his jeans that wouldn’t go away and with any luck she’d help him take care of it.
“What’s going on?” he asked when he stepped through the door only to have Nicole shove Bri into his arms and steer him back outside.
“You owe me five minutes, remember?” she said with a mysterious smile turning up her pretty mouth.
“How do you figure?” He leaned down, trying to steal a kiss from said mouth, but she ducked away to open the rear door of his truck.
“I didn’t cash in my winnings last night. Now buckle her in.”
“Did I forget to mention the time limit? All rewards must be claimed within an hour. Not my fault you didn’t collect before you left.”
“Hush and play along, will you?”
He grumbled under his breath, but did as she told him because coming home to her like this beat coming home to her regretting all she’d told him last night. He still had a million questions, but they’d made progress and that was something.
“Can you at least tell me where we’re going?” he asked as he climbed behind the wheel.
Nicole grinned brightly. “The pumpkin farm.”
“The Barrett pumpkin farm? For real?” Not that it didn’t sound like fun—it just sounded an awful lot like a date.
“I want pictures of Bri,” she explained. “And some pumpkins for the front porch. Everyone is so festive around here and then there’s my boring house.”
“You getting comfortable with small town life, city girl?” And more comfortable with him?
She laughed and pointed to the road. “Just drive.”
***
She had no idea what she was doing, but when it came to her and Tony, that seemed to be where they always ended up. Flying by the seat of their pants. Seeing what would happen.
He knew about Derek now. Not all the ways he’d degraded her and manipulated her into doing what he wanted, but enough to understand and accept why it was so important she do some things on her own.
She hadn’t told him exactly who Derek was either, but suspected he’d figured it out. How, she didn’t know, but it didn’t really matter. What was important was his reaction when she’d told him she was falling for him. He didn’t freak out. Not even a little. He’d just kissed her soundly on the lips. And then once more when she decided to call it a night.
Which had been difficult, because all that touching and talking and Tony’s butt in basketball shorts... Mmm. Awfully tempting.
But the night had been a revealing one, and if she’d stayed, they would have ended up naked for sure. Her emotions were in a weird place, where she might confuse sex with something more. And while Tony had openly accepted her confession about falling for him, he hadn’t offered one of his own.
They pulled up to Ally and Luke’s parents’ farm ten minutes later and she bit her lips together to keep from grinning her face off. Both sides of the driveway were lined with hundreds of pumpkins and randomly placed displays of scarecrows and other scary, Halloween-ish creatures. Closer to the big barn, where a sign promised gourds, Indian corn, hot chocolate and other festive goodies, she spotted Luke’s truck.
“You know us showing up like this is gonna draw more attention than us leaving the bar together the other night,” Tony said as he parked the truck. “People are gonna thing we’re dating.”
She laughed at his use of air quotes. “Does that bother you?”
He gave her a crooked, dimpled grin. “Nope.”
Good to know.
***
If Nicole thought for one second their discussion last night had cleared the air between them, she was dead wrong. She’d left shortly after her confession, and he lay in bed for a good hour wondering what the hell they were gonna do about it.
He knew what he wanted to do—her, every damn chance he got—but given her eagerness to leave with nothing more than a goodnight kiss, he figured his plan had somehow misfired. The ill-timed phone call from her ex certainly hadn’t helped either, the fucking bastard.
Nicole planning this outing for them tonight had been unexpected. He wasn’t complaining—especially not about the prospect of them dating—but he hoped like hell tonight was about taking steps forward, not dancing around each other again.
He wanted to ask her if she minded people thinking they were seeing each other, but she hopped out of the truck and had Brianna in her stroller within seconds. And then Luke waved from the barn and walked over.
“Hey, man.” Tony stuck out his hand in greeting. Luke accepted, arching an eyebrow as he glanced pointedly between Nicole and Tony, in silent question. Tony shrugged, because hell if he knew what was going on.
“Hey, Luke.” Nicole turned the stroller around with a smile. “Ally here?”
“Just missed her. She had to close up Cedar Street tonight. She might be back though. I think she’s avoiding time alone at her place these days, if you know what I mean.”
Nicole nodded and Tony found himself annoyed. Other peoples’ relationships weren’t his concern. Especially when he had no idea what was going on with his own.
Fuck.
When the hell had he started considering this thing with Nicole a relationship?
“What do you say, Miss Brianna? Should we take some pictures before it gets too cold?” She bent down before his daughter and adjusted her little fleece blanket, but she looked up him, her eyes sparkling. “Maybe we can even get a couple with Daddy.”
Luke covered his mouth and fake coughed, and Tony shoulder-checked him as he moved past to take over the stroller. Yeah, his dick perked up every time she said the D word, but he wasn’t gonna act like a twelve-year-old about it.
“Ma’s got fresh cookies and hot cocoa inside the barn, too,” Luke called after him, as Tony pushed Bri toward the pumpkins and a little privacy.
They reached the biggest pumpkins and Nicole ooh and aahed with Bri about one monstrous one that stood knee high and, in no time, Nicole had Bri situated in front of it. She sprinkled some leaves on his daughter’s lap and even put one on her hat, before sitting cross-legged in front of her. Flashing one goofy face after another to make Bri laugh, she snapped a hundred pictures of his little girl on her phone.
It made him fucking hard, seeing Nicole interact so naturally with her. Made something in his chest burn, too. All he could do was stand back and watch, his hands tucked in his pockets, completely awestruck.
“Am I going to have to bribe you to sit down next to her?” Nicole asked sweetly, batting her eyes up at him.
“Yep.” He dug his phone from his jeans. “You first, city girl.”
“Me?”
“You get pictures, I get pictures.”
She eyed him suspiciously, but situated herself next to Bri, with her legs folded back behind her. “Good enough?”
“Perfect.” He squatted before them a
nd tried to ignore the nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach. This is what a family would feel like. This is what you could have with her if she stayed.
“Aw, how cute,” a voice sounded over his shoulder and he stiffened. “Don’t forget to take one for Shannon, though she’d probably prefer one without your girlfriend.”
Nicole cast him a confused frown, gathered Brianna into her lap, and stood.
“Laura,” Tony said, turning around and greeting Shannon’s friend with his jaw clenched.
His friend Travis stood beside her, looking uncomfortable, and Laura smirked, her eyes shifting back and forth between him and Nicole.
“Aren’t you going to introduce your new friend?” Laura asked.
Nicole moved up beside him and stuck out her hand. “I’m Nicole. Brianna’s babysitter.”
Laura snorted. “Is that what they’re calling it these days?” Travis gave her a light jab in the side and she put on a too-bright smile as she shook Nicole’s hand. “I’m Laura. Brianna’s surrogate auntie on her mother’s side. And this is Travis, my fiancé.”
Tony grunted, but refrained from calling her out. She hadn’t seen Bri more than a handful of times since she’d started dating Travis and he doubted she’d kept in contact with Shannon behind bars either. She was too self-absorbed for that. And as far as the fiancé bit, Travis looked just as surprised to hear the declaration as Tony was.
“Well, it was nice to meet you, Laura,” Nicole spoke up. “We were just headed inside for treats, weren’t we, pumpkin?” She jostled Bri on her hip and Laura lifted an eyebrow.
“You heard from Shannon lately, Tony?” she asked, pivoting toward him with a grin he didn’t like. Not one bit.
“Nope.”
“Ah, that’s a shame. You should really make a point of keeping in touch. You know, for Bri.”
And on that note, he’d had enough. He said goodbye to Travis and, placing a hand on Nicole’s back, led her and Brianna toward the barn.
Nicole kept quiet until they reached the doors. “That wasn’t awkward or anything.”
“She’s a friggin’ nutcase. And they’re not engaged. No way would Travis be that stupid.”
“Glad to hear it.”
He tucked the stroller off to the side of the barn doors. He probably should’ve relieved Nicole of Brianna, but she wasn’t complaining and, frankly, he liked seeing his two favorite ladies snuggled so close together.