What Now?

by Every, Donna

  “I’m not saying that, but there’s more than one way to take someone down. Please be careful, Nick. I won’t be there to watch out for you,” she teased, trying to dispel the feeling of unease.

  “Where are you going?” he demanded. The thought of Shari not being around was strangely disturbing. He had gotten used to her being there.

  “I’ve decided to go back home and work on the documentary. I’ve done most of the interviews; it’s only your family that I need to speak to. So I can start putting the information together with the footage that Brian has so that it will be ready as soon after the Holidays as possible. I’ll rejoin you in New York for the last concert.”

  “What am I supposed to do without you around, Shari? Who’s going to put me in my place or look at me with disapproval and challenge me to be a better person?”

  “I may challenge you to be a better person, but you don’t seem to be accepting the challenge,” she said drily.

  “Touché! You told me that you live in Raleigh, didn’t you?” She nodded. “You know we’re playing at the PNC Arena, right? I could come and hang with you at your place when we’re there next week. I wouldn’t want you to miss me too much before we meet up in New York,” he teased.

  “I don’t think so, Nick. I think we should keep things as they are. I’m not sure I want you getting into my life.”

  “Shari, I’m hurt. I just want to see where you live.”

  “Believe me, my place pales in comparison to all of the hotels you’ve stayed at and can probably fit in one of the rooms in your house.”

  “I don’t care. I want to see it anyway. I want to see you in your space. OK?”

  “I’ll think about it,” she evaded.

  “You haven’t forgiven me yet,” he accused. “Whatever happened to seventy times seven?”

  She grudgingly acknowledged that she should follow the scripture Nick had quoted, but if he thought that he could impress her with his knowledge he had another thought coming. As she had told her mother, even the devil could quote scripture.

  “OK,” she agreed reluctantly. She would let Nick into her space temporarily.

  Chapter 21

  Shari couldn’t believe that it was only four days since she’d left Fort Lauderdale and Nick because it seemed like forever. How could she miss him so much? She wondered if he even spared her a thought. It was hard for her not to think about him all the time because she was spending hours putting together the documentary, which meant listening to his voice on her recorder, or hearing someone else talk about him, or watching the videos that Brian had taken.

  She was actually very pleased with how it was turning out and once she’d sold Gerry on the reason why it made sense to come back into the office to get the documentary close to the finishing point, he pulled out all the stops to provide the resources she needed. Of course, the fact that they would save on the cost of a couple of hotels helped her case as well.

  The only thing he couldn’t help her with was the excitement that made her feel almost sick at the thought that Nick was in Raleigh and he had called to tell her he’d come over after the concert. He didn’t need to ask her address; after all, he had all sorts of people on staff to find out anything he wanted to know. She wasn’t going to the concert; Brian had said that he would go and get some footage since they should at least have some videos of Nick and the band in the station’s hometown, if nowhere else.

  She had cleaned her house from top to bottom (not that he would see everywhere) and had even gone out and bought some new accessories to spruce up the place. It wasn’t bad, but, as she’d told him, it didn’t even come a close second to any of the hotels where they’d stayed. It fact, it probably wouldn’t even have made it into the same race. Anyway, she wasn’t out to impress Nick.

  The sound of a car pulling up in the driveway sent her hurrying to peer through the window. Nick was getting out of a cab with flowers in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other. It was minutes to eleven and she knew the concert had started at seven, so he must have practically walked off the stage and into the cab.

  He had a bag slung over his shoulder. Was he planning to spend the night? She hoped that he didn’t think she’d changed her mind since their conversation by the Jacuzzi. Going to the door, she opened it before he could knock.

  “Hi, Nick. Come on in.” It was pretty cold outside.

  “Hi, Shari. It’s crazy how much I missed you.” He put down the flowers and wine on the hall table and pulled her into a hug. Shari hugged him back, feeling safe and comfortable in his arms.

  Reluctantly releasing her, he stepped back to feast his eyes on her. She was dressed in a faded pair of jeans and a white, light-weight sweater, but she looked incredible to him. He somehow knew that she’d decided not to dress up for him so that he didn’t get the wrong idea, but all kinds of ideas were running through his head anyway, none of which she would approve of.

  “These are for you,” he said belatedly, picking up the flowers and the wine.

  “Thank you.” She inspected the label. “Merlot is my favorite, but I’m not familiar with this brand. Must be out of my price range.” She laughed.

  “Hope you like it.”

  “Come into the kitchen while I find a vase for these. They’re beautiful, by the way. Thank whoever got them for me.” She knew that Nick had no time to buy flowers.

  “Can I get you a drink or some coffee?” Shari tried to sound normal, as if her heart was not thumping because Nick Badley was actually in her house. Her friends would freak out if they knew and they would have camped at her door to wait for him, which is why she hadn’t told them anything.

  “A drink, please.” He followed her into the kitchen, looking around the small house.

  “How was the concert? I should have asked you that first. Was it sold out? Is this your first time playing in Raleigh?”

  “Great. Yes and yes.” Nick smiled. He wasn’t used to Shari jumping from one question to the next so rapidly. His being there seemed to be making her nervous. He rather liked the effect he had on her because she had a powerful effect on him. He had barely restrained himself from kissing her just now; he was trying to honor the word he had given her on Fisher Island and he would respect the boundaries she set.

  “Something smells good. What’s on the menu tonight?”

  “I decided to go simple, so I made shrimp and chicken kebabs with a salad. I figured you’d be late, so I didn’t want to make anything too heavy. Speaking of the menu, you actually passed up a potential menu to be here?” She reminded him of their conversation at the AA Arena.

  “There’s only one thing I fancy on my menu tonight, if it’s available. Otherwise I’ll do without. I seem to have lost my appetite for substitutes.”

  “Really?” she asked in disbelief.

  “Really,” he confirmed. “You’ll be happy to know that I’ve been on the straight and narrow.”

  Nick’s idea of the straight and narrow would probably cause her to cringe.

  “What does that mean? That you only slept with one woman at a time?”

  “Shari, you have such a low opinion of me. I’ll have you know that I haven’t slept with anyone since Miami.”

  She supposed that he considered four days to be a long time. What would he say about four years?

  “So what’s the matter? Were you ill?”

  He knew he deserved that, given what she’d seen of him in the past. He didn’t know what was going on with him, but he was not interested in sleeping with anyone. OK, he knew what was going on. It was Shari. He could only liken it to having tasted gourmet chocolate cake made with the finest ingredients and then being offered a box cake. The box cake was OK when you didn’t know any better, but now he knew better, even based on the little sample he’d had by the Jacuzzi.

  “No, I wasn’t ill. I’ve become more discerning. Besides, I’m getting tired of meaningless one night stands where there is no connection to the person and sometimes I can’t even remember thei
r names.”

  Shari was elated, although her face remained expressionless. Finally, progress was being made. Her prayers were working. She’d started praying for Nick to begin to see how empty his relationships were, if they could even be called relationships.

  “Well, I’m glad to hear that, Nick.”

  “So, how is the documentary coming?” he asked, pulling out one of the chairs at her four-seater table. He liked that he could see her in the kitchen from her small dining room. From the brief glance he’d had of the place when he came in, it was cozy and well decorated. It certainly looked homier than his sprawling villa set on several acres of land. Although it was hard for his house to look homey when he was hardly home.

  “Great! It’s shaping up really well. When I meet your family and pull that segment in I think it will round things out nicely and give the viewers a different – and more positive – perspective of you.”

  “That should please Lily.”

  “Do you know if your parents have any videos of you as a teenager or a child still? Since you don’t want them on camera, we could have them speaking about you while we show home videos.”

  He groaned.

  “Do I want the world seeing my home videos?”

  Shari laughed. She put the kebabs on a plate, hoping that they had not dried out, and took the salad and her homemade dressing out of the fridge.

  “Would you like me to open the wine?” he asked. Shari hesitated. Was wine a good idea with Nick in her house?

  “Sure.” She’d just have one glass. She handed Nick a wine opener when she brought the food over to the table.

  “That looks great, Shari. I didn’t know you could cook.”

  “You don’t know a lot about me, Nick. I actually love to cook and experiment with new dishes.”

  “I like to experiment as well,” he said suggestively. “Maybe we can experiment together.”

  “Are you going to be good tonight or not, Nick? Let me know so that I can call a cab for you now.”

  “I’m always good, Shari.” He leered at her, making her throw her hands up in despair.

  “By the way, how are you getting back to your hotel? Is the cab coming back for you?”

  “I brought stuff to spend the night, if that’s OK.”

  “Of course it’s not OK, Nick! Are you out of your mind?”

  “Don’t you have a spare room? I meant that I could sleep in there or on your couch and maybe tomorrow you could show me around a bit; take me to work with you...”

  “Well, I suppose so. Gerry and the staff would be thrilled to meet you. I hope none of my neighbors saw you come in.”

  “Don’t worry. I’m sure they know that you’re a good girl and that it’s all perfectly innocent.”

  Shari fervently hoped that it would remain so. She really should flee from the temptation that Nick was offering.

  The meal was very enjoyable, with Nick praising it as if it was the finest meal he’d ever eaten. Shari basked in his praise since Rob had been very stingy with his. Granted, she had improved considerably since college days and was no longer cooking on a college budget. They talked about the concert in Atlanta and the upcoming one in Washington.

  “After that, it will be just New York and then you’re free. What are you planning to do, apart from going to your parents’ for the Holidays?”

  “I’m flying home for a week. I need to sleep in my own bed and drive my cars! Then I’ll drive to my parents’ on Christmas Eve and spend a few days before I fly to Barbados.”

  “You’re going to Barbados?”

  “Yes, I thought I’d told you. I managed to get the villa I stayed at last time for a week. So I fly in on the twenty-eighth and leave January fourth.”

  “Sounds like fun.” She hoped she didn’t sound as wistful as she felt.

  “I want you to come with me.”

  “Yeah right I’m going to come to Barbados with you.” It was a very tempting offer. She would love to see the place that her great grandparents were from and find out more about the history of the island.

  “You’ll love Barbados. And for the record, I wasn’t inviting you to sleep with me; I was inviting you to experience it with me. There’re six bedrooms in the villa and I thought I would invite Steve and Marie and some other couples, maybe Brad and his wife. I plan to throw a party on New Year’s Eve for a hundred of my closest friends.”

  She laughed as he had intended.

  He liked this side of Shari; the homemaker, rather than the career woman. Not that there was anything wrong with her pursuing a career, but she seemed softer and more relaxed in this setting. He realized that he was also more relaxed than he could remember in a long time. It was a great feeling; one he wouldn’t mind getting used to.

  “Will your party have the Who’s Who of celebrities, or at least who isn’t performing that night? Do you all know each other?”

  “Of course we don’t all know each other, but we still get invited to each other’s parties. It’s all publicity. Rihanna will be invited and, if she’s home for Christmas, she’ll probably be there.”

  “I forgot that she was from Barbados. OK, I’ll come, if only to see Rihanna.”

  “What? You’re not coming for me, but you’re coming to see another woman? This is taking things too far.”

  She laughed at his teasing, liking this side of Nick.

  “Actually, a week in Barbados in a luxury villa sounds wonderful. I’ll come if my boss agrees to give me the time off. If I finish the documentary early he may be willing to.”

  “We could drive back from my parents’ to my place and then catch a plane to Barbados together. I’ll need to get my PA to book flights soon because this is the peak season. Otherwise we’ll have to charter a jet.”

  He said that as if he was talking about renting a car. How could she have forgotten how much money he had? Not that he seemed to flaunt it. Except for his three cars, he seemed to live pretty modestly. No Rolex on his wrist or big gold chains. She liked that.

  “I’m getting excited. My mum will be there from December twenty-third to the end of the month. I know she’d love to meet you if you have the time.”

  “Of course I’ll have the time. Great! It’s agreed then. You can tell your boss that you’re doing a bit more research for the story.”

  “I wonder if he would buy that.” She got up and started to clear the table.

  “Let me help you,” Nick insisted, taking the dishes from her over to the sink before rinsing them and putting them in the dishwasher.

  “I’m amazed that you know how to do that,” Shari said, wiping the table with a cloth.

  “I’d like to amaze you with some of the other things that I know how to do.” He barely had time to move out of the way of the dirty cloth that Shari threw at him.

  “That is a declaration of war,” he said, filling up a glass with water and heading to where she was taking the mats off the table.

  Shari shrieked, dropped the mats and ran towards the living room, calling over her shoulder, “Nick Badley, don’t you dare.”

  He easily caught her sweater and pulled her back against him with the cup held threateningly over her head.

  “Let me go,” she laughed, struggling to get away.

  “You have to pay the price.”

  “What’s the price?” she asked breathlessly.

  “A kiss or two or three…” he murmured, bending his head to kiss her neck. Shari almost dissolved in a puddle at his feet as he found a particularly sensitive spot on her neck. Nick leaned around her to put the glass on the coffee table before turning her, almost in slow motion, giving her time to resist.

  “I always pay my debts,” she assured him, tilting her face up to his. Even as the words left her mouth she knew that she was inviting trouble. Nick needed no further invitation. At least she wasn’t working, technically speaking, she reasoned.

  Chapter 22

  Nick met her half-way, bending his head to taste her lips, still giving her ti
me to change her mind. Shari shivered and battled with herself over whether to pull away or let him go further. The battle didn’t last long as she gave in and silently gave Nick permission to deepen the kiss. Perfectly in tune with her, he quickly obliged, holding the back of her head gently in his hands as he angled it to the best advantage to explore her mouth. The surge of pleasure made Shari’s feet almost buckle and she quickly grasped Nick’s shoulders for support.

  Nick took the opportunity to pull her closer, molding her softness to him. Kissing her was like coming home after being on the road for months. How could she feel so familiar when he had only kissed her once before? His body leapt in response to her. If only her kiss was threatening to put him over the edge, he didn’t know how he would handle anything else with the necessary restraint.

  Nick’s kiss was devastating, but Shari knew that she had to stop before it was too late. She should never have started this in the first place. Pulling her head back, she broke the contact between them. Without missing a beat, Nick unerringly found that sensitive spot on her neck and nibbled it with just enough pressure to cause goose bumps to break out over her arms. Her legs would have given way if Nick was not holding her firmly against him.

  “Stop, Nick. I’m sorry, but we need to stop.” She sounded weak and breathless.

  Nick nuzzled her neck again before reluctantly pulling away to rest his forehead against hers. He was breathing fast. Kissing Shari affected him more than being in bed with many other women. He didn’t quite understand what was happening here. She wasn’t the most beautiful woman he knew, but whatever it was that she had – maybe it was pheromones – was beginning to possess him. He had to have her, but it was obviously not going to be tonight.

  She moved out of his arms and stumbled to the couch as if her legs were still unstable. He felt pretty shaky too, not to mention unsatisfied. He dropped down next to her, keeping a safe distance between them so that he wouldn’t be tempted to pull her back into his arms and overcome her resistance.