Laughing, Nick threw an arm around her shoulder and settled back amongst the cushions with her nestled by his side. “Plenty of time for that later, Shannon. Don’t want you to overdo on that ankle just yet.” Gesturing over his shoulder, he indicated, “Mr. Allen is taking care of our luggage, and somewhere in the deep recesses of the upstairs, my housekeeper, who just happens to be Mrs. Allen, is no doubt busy organizing everything for us.”
“Mrs. Allen?” Shannon queried. “Do you mean your housekeeper is married to your driver? Wow! How convenient.”
“Well, convenient, yes, but it didn’t start out that way. That old curmudgeon must have some serious romantic moves, because somehow he sweet-talked my mother’s longtime housekeeper into marrying him. Mrs. A, as she likes to be called, takes care of this big old house and coordinates my life with the precision and ease of a staff sergeant!” He chuckled. “Oh yeah, and she reports my every move back to my mother so”—he mock glanced at his watch and smiled—“I suspect there will be a flurry of phone calls later tonight about your sudden appearance in my otherwise boring and predictable life.”
Shannon gasped and turned shock-filled eyes his way. “Oh my god, Nick. Is that okay with you? I mean, your mother, and well…” she drifted off. “What will you say to her?”
Nick laughed into her shocked face. “Actually, babe, its fine with me this way! Mrs. A will fill in all the blanks… y’know, all that ‘what’s she like’ stuff. The usual women’s chatter that, as a man, I don’t understand. By the time I talk to Mom, she’ll know plenty, believe me!”
He was really laughing now. “Shannon, don’t worry so,” he teased as he put two fingers on the bridge of her nose where a frown was frozen in place. “My mom will be fine.” He shrugged. “I’ve never brought a girl home before. This will be a first, and I’m pretty sure she’ll be hearing wedding bells without much input from us!”
“Wow.” Shannon sighed. “This is really happening, isn’t it?” She turned into him and searched his eyes. “I don’t know how to react.”
Nick watched the emotions flashing through Shannon’s expression and noted each and every one. There weren’t any more roadblocks, but there was apparently an awful lot of uncertainty and hesitation fluttering around the edges. He supposed that couldn’t be helped. After all, everything between them had come together rather quickly. A week ago he’d been a focused, single-minded, hardened businessman. The grinning, relaxed, and undoubtedly happy individual who looked back at him from the mirror now was a complete departure from that other person.
Would people be shocked that he suddenly turned up with Shannon on his arm? Of course they would. That was the reality of the world he lived in. But his mother would hear the whole story in short order if he knew anything at all about how the female mind worked, and that’s all that really mattered to him.
First Mrs. A would sound the alarm, and eventually Jules would chime in with her take on what was happening. By the time he had to say anything at all, the conclusions would already be drawn and Shannon’s presence by his side would answer any remaining questions.
“What about your parents, Shannon? Have you told them yet about us? Do they know you’re bringing me to the celebration?”
Shannon laid her head back against his arm, smiling softly. “I called home to let them know when I would be traveling and Dad answered. He’s such a…” she chuckled, “cloud chaser! I could have told him we were flying in by sleigh and reindeer and he would have written down all the details without ever stopping to ask a single question!” Her obvious affection for her doting dad was evident.
“I asked him to tell Mom I was bringing someone special, but who knows how that tidbit will come out in translation.”
Shannon was happy with his arm around her shoulder and realized her free hand had been playing with the buttons on his shirt. Since their explosive lovemaking in the clouds, she’d been in a state of semi-arousal. She could still feel him inside her. Recalling the moment he’d lost control, thundering his powerful hips against hers, was keeping her on the edge of sanity.
“Shannon,” Nick murmured. “It’s alright to tell our families that we intend to be married, isn’t it? I don’t want there to be any doubt about our relationship.”
Letting a single button slip through its hole, Shannon slid tentative fingers into Nick’s shirt in search of skin. Even such a small connection was enough to clarify in Shannon’s mind what her answer should be. After all, when she’d said ‘Yes’ to him on the plane, she had effectively agreed to his master plan. The physical intimacy, the sacred promise of the future they’d been gifted. He was completely serious about marrying her, she knew that, but she’d never been the type to fantasize about weddings, so she didn’t exactly know how to react or respond.
“It’s okay, Nick, really. It’s just that, like you said, everything has happened so fast and all this is new and, well…I don’t know what I’m doing, is all.”
“Ah, honey,” he replied as he tucked a finger under her chin and made her look at him. “How about we just try to enjoy each other and settle in slowly to the whole experience?” With arching eyebrows and a sinfully devilish grin, Nick added, “When we go into the city tomorrow I plan to find the biggest diamond I can lay my hands on to let everyone know you belong to me, and then I’m going to put a public address system on the roof of the Barrett office building and shout to all who can hear that Nick Barrett adores Shannon Reynolds and that I’m the luckiest guy on the planet because you have agreed to make an honest man of me.”
If she beamed any more at him he’d need sunglasses, Shannon thought with delight at his playfulness. As was her female prerogative, however, she switched gears in a nanosecond.
“Would you be disappointed if we got married quietly without a lot of fuss?” she asked in such a serious tone that Nick immediately lost the kidding quality to his voice when he replied.
“Shannon, little one. I will marry you right now, just the two of us, and I’m completely serious because I can throw a bit of Barrett influence around and get a judge out here in the next hour to make it official. I don’t care about the specifics as long as at the end of the day you belong to me and I belong to you and nothing ever again gets in the way of our being together.”
Hugging her tighter, he said, “If you want to get married in St. Patrick’s Cathedral with a ton of paparazzi and a zillion guests, I can make that happen, too. It’s all good, my love. But don’t get stressed trying to figure it all out at once, Shannon. Let’s enjoy what we’ve got and let the rest just…happen.”
“Well, I know what I want to have happen right now, mister!” Shannon joked. “I want the grand tour of this fabulous house, and then I want to meet this Mrs. A. Maybe we can give her all sorts of juicy things to tell your mom! Then I want you to take me to bed and remind me again why I said yes.” He laughed, she smiled. All was right in their world.
“Even with the time change, I’m done, so let’s get this show on the road before I open all these buttons and manage to get you naked. Now that would give your Mrs. A an eyeful!” Shannon hooted as she shoved back out of his embrace and started getting to her feet. Holding out her hand, she said “Come on. I want to see that library room up close and personal!”
With that, Nick smiled as he adopted his very best tour guide impersonation and began leading his woman on what he termed the five-cent short tour, moving quickly from room to room of his magnificent home, telling her every step of the way about work that had been done and filling in the renovation story with tales about the building’s history.
It was after they’d moved to the upper floors that they encountered Mrs. Allen as she was coming from the master suite carrying a huge basket of laundry. As she spied them walking hand-in-hand toward her, the smile lighting her face was enormous.
“Nicholas Barrett!” She grinned. “With all your many talents, somehow you missed the part where you learned how to do your own laundry!” Stowing the basket by her si
de, Mrs. Allen looked Shannon up and down asking, “And who might this be?”
“Now, now, Mrs. A! You know that fancy digital washing machine you made me install is your favorite gadget of all time, so enough with the snarky comments! You love having anything to toss into that behemoth setup!” Nick answered as he stepped forward and gave the woman a hearty hug.
“Watch it now!” She laughed as she swatted at him. “Don’t be bothering with any of that billionaire charm on me, and stop changing the subject. Introduce me to your lady friend before I say something that will really embarrass you!”
Shannon enjoyed their easy back and forth and was glad to see that Nick had good people around him. Mr. Allen had been friendly and obviously fond of his boss, while his wife, Mrs. A, seemed as open and welcoming as a warm toddy.
She was only about five and a half feet tall and dressed in a sensible black skirt with a white blouse and a charcoal grey sweater that screamed conservative. The impish smile on her face, though, and the familiar way she kidded with Nick told of a lifelong relationship that went way beyond employer and employee. Shannon suspected that Mrs. A and his mom were more friends than employer-employee.
With his very best cowboy-pirate-artfully-disguised-as-billionaire-tycoon manners on full display, Nick puffed up like a proud peacock strutting his stuff, saying formally, “Annabelle Allen, allow me to introduce Shannon Reynolds. Ms. Reynolds will be,” he hesitated just a fraction before adding, “staying with me.”
Turning toward Shannon, he continued, “Shannon, this is Mrs. Allen. Please don’t be fooled by all that mother-hen stuff she’ll try out on you. She’s actually a drill sergeant in disguise!” His obvious affection toward the older woman was plain for all to see.
Shannon immediately stepped up and offered her hand in welcome, managing to get out a quick, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Allen,” a full half-second before the tiny woman took her hand and pulled her into a tremendous bear hug.
“Ms. Reynolds! Welcome, welcome!” she cried enthusiastically before giving a quick side-eyed nod of approval to Nick. “I’m delighted to meet you, my dear. That old rascal husband of mine called ahead and told me Nicholas had a guest, but I never expected…oh, good heavens! Listen to me rattling on like a nosey busybody!” She chuckled.
Releasing Shannon and stepping back, Nick’s housekeeper did a head-to-toe assessment followed by an inscrutable back and forth between her and Nick before plastering a wide smile on her face.
As she had with Ned and Jules after the truth of her relationship with Nick came out, Shannon was suffused with quiet joy at the straightforward way his family immediately embraced her presence in his life. It was obvious from the woman’s reaction to her unexpected appearance that Nick bringing a woman to his home was a big deal. A very big deal, indeed. She felt special, and the way his eyes followed her every move reflected the pride and joy he felt toward her and made Shannon melt inside. In more ways than one.
The sexy, come-hither look she threw at him while he stood by in satisfied silence watching Mrs. Allen and Shannon get to know each other went off like a hand grenade in Nick’s personal space.
As satisfying as it was standing there watching Shannon interact with her demure, respectful attitude toward his housekeeper, Nick was suddenly eager to unleash the seductive wanton who had writhed in sexual abandon under his relentless pounding in a most unladylike way just a few short hours ago.
Shannon, to her credit, sensed the shift in Nick’s attention practically the second it occurred. He was remembering, and the awareness of how he had caused her to lose control in an unrestrained response to his overpowering male carnality was shredding her composure. She continued listening to Mrs. A babble on and even managed to get out a few short answers to questions being asked, but all Shannon was truly aware of was the intensifying heat wave that seemed to be building in the hallway where they stood.
Her heart picked up a beat while she focused on saying good night to Nick’s housekeeper, watching the woman walk away hauling the overflowing laundry basket on her matronly hip. Nick hadn’t moved, although he had politely bid Mrs. A good night.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Once the housekeeper had left them alone in the hallway, a seductive silence fell. He was watching her, the cowboy pirate. Waiting for her guard to drop. Stalking his quarry. Shannon stood her ground for less than a second before the ferocity of his hungry gaze sent her stumbling backwards into the shadows of the long, dark hallway. She watched in fascinated expectation, rather like balancing on a knife’s edge, as his huge body followed hers into the shadows until nothing but an inch stayed between them as he backed her against the wall.
His heat immediately surrounded her, making Shannon shiver in awareness as his large frame completely covered her own. His scent assailed her senses with his nearness as she gulped in shaky breaths of much-needed oxygen. When he pressed his hands on either side of her head, placing her squarely in the cage of his arms, she all but slithered to the floor in a boneless heap.
It was only the urgent thrust of his rock-hard body against her smaller, trembling one that kept Shannon on her feet. He lowered his head and growled in her ear, reminding her of the primal response they’d unleashed earlier in their wild coupling. He didn’t have to say anything, didn’t have to do anything. Just standing there, covering her, pressing himself against her softening curves was enough to send Shannon on an express-lane, one-way journey to a sensual meltdown that had her whimpering quietly in growing need.
She placed her hands on his sides and felt the soft, luxurious cloth of his crisp white shirt. The contrast against the heat radiating off the skin underneath infused her touch with deepening awareness. She pressed against him and felt the outline of his impressive musculature. He was a magnificent specimen of male perfection.
Slipping her hands along his waist, Shannon wasted no time in sweeping her ultra-sensitive fingers up his back and then across his wide shoulders until her hands were wrapped around his neck as she held on for dear life. The light cotton dress she wore was no barrier to his heat or the insistent contours of his hardening body. She could feel the ridge of his arousal pressing into her belly, making her stretch up onto her toes for a better, more intimate fit.
What had started as a growl grew into a sharp grunt followed by a strong nip on her ear when Shannon shimmied against him on her tippy toes till she found just the right spot to bring them both a surge of excitement that may have been the tipping point for what happened next.
Nick’s arms crushed her to him, both hands gripping her bottom as he pressed her back into the wall and ground his hips against her trembling body. After biting her ear, he opened his mouth, licking at her neck, leaving wet nips along the length until settling at her most vulnerable spot, where her neck and shoulder met. There he simply gnawed on and suckled at her skin in a way that made Shannon go limp in his arms.
He was marking her yet again, and the thought thrilled her in a raw and basic way. She was totally his as she speared her fingers into his hair to hold his head where he was. The sensation of his open-mouthed kisses and the sounds of their low moans when he sucked on her neck sent Shannon hurtling into a sensual fog that did not take into account where they were.
She demanded his mouth, and Nick let her have what she wanted in a kiss as incendiary and out-of-control as to threaten to engulf them both in flames of blazing desire. He devoured her. She gloried in his mastery. At some point, Shannon had pulled Nick’s shirt from his pants and had gotten most of the buttons undone in her never-ending desire to touch some portion of his bare skin.
Her hands were deep inside his shirt, splayed against his back, pressing him closer. When the kiss went supernova and Shannon started to come apart, she ran desperate fingers down his shoulders, marking him in return.
Dimly, she became aware that Nick was trying to calm them both down with long, slow caresses meant more to soothe than arouse. He was struggling to breathe, as was she. Awarenes
s returned with each shuddering gulp of air she took, making Shannon remember that they were standing in the hallway. This was most definitely not the place for the type of searing passion they had been showing.
“This is the part where you take me to bed, Nick,” Shannon whispered in the silence of the hallway. “Don’t make me wait.”
* * *
Yeah, he needed to get control fast, Nick thought. He had to watch himself, he realized, because it apparently didn’t take much to throw a match on the ready-to-combust energy they were creating. Hell, he’d almost just taken her here in the damn hallway, he castigated himself in silent derision. The series of terse swear words cluttering his mind summed up what Nick thought of his crass behavior at this moment.
She deserved better than to be manhandled out in the open where anyone could have come upon them. Okay, well…maybe manhandled was going a bit too far. She was right there with him and loving every second of his aggressive approach, and he was pretty damn sure he had the scratches on his back to prove it.
Take her to bed? Yeah, he intended to take her to bed where he would then proceed to kiss her stupid before devouring every inch of her heavenly body with his hands and mouth. When he was finished with her, she would be, without a doubt, well and truly loved. Losing himself inside the heated inner core weeping with her arousal was all he could think of, all he could focus on.
Resorting to the caveman tactics that had served him so well this past week, Nick swept Shannon off her feet and stalked off in search of his bed where he intended to have his way with her. The feel of her bottom against his arm where he clutched her against him shot into his senses like a thunderbolt. When she started kissing his neck and rubbing her ample breasts against his chest, he suspected he was in danger of losing his normal cool in a spectacularly animalistic way. She most definitely brought out the beast in him.
Breathing Shannon’s scent in deep lungfuls, he detected the presence of her unmistakable arousal, something that, to his amazement, was making his knees a bit shaky. The relief he felt when they arrived at his enormous bedroom was welcome indeed. He wanted her behind closed doors as soon as possible where he could have her naked and writhing underneath his thrusting body. He was desperate to make love to her. Wanted to savor each sensation until she came all around him in wave after wave of creamy spasm as she cried out his name until he joined her in that special, rapturous place.
Love Redone Page 27