by Pamela Bauer
Following his directions, Nick took the footpath across the heavily wooded grounds to the swimming area. When he stepped onto the beach, there was no one in sight. There was, however, a red-and-white-striped towel on the sand. A pair of sandals, a denim shirt and a mystery novel occupied one end.
Automatically Nick’s eyes went to the lake. Cutting gracefully through the clear blue water was a solitary figure. It was a woman. When she saw Nick watching, she swam toward the shore.
The sight of Kika Mancini emerging from the water in a lime-green bikini that barely covered the essential parts of her body was enough to make him forget the purpose of his visit. She squeezed the water from her hair as she walked toward him, obviously not the least bit uncomfortable with seeing him. Nick wished he could feel as relaxed as she looked.
“Hi.” She gave him a dazzling smile that would have jump-started any normal man’s hormone production. Nick was not a normal man. He hadn’t been with a woman in nearly two years. The smile sent his hormones into overdrive.
“How’s the water?” he asked, trying not to focus on her chest, where tiny droplets disappeared beneath the lime-green fabric. The thought of what lay beneath the scrap of material made the droplets magnets for his eyes.
“Cold at first, but once you’re in, it’s wonderfully refreshing.” She picked up her towel and began patting the moisture from her skin.
His eyes traced her movements, watching as she dried her perfectly shaped arms, her slender thighs, her flat stomach. He noticed she had a tiny scar near her abdomen, a scar that was only visible when she lifted her arms over her head to drape the towel around her shoulders. As she covered herself, he felt both cheated and relieved.
“I’m surprised there aren’t more people swimming,” he commented, trying to act cool. At least his mirrored sunglasses hid his eyes.
She shrugged. “It’s lunchtime, I guess. Too bad you didn’t call before you came. I could have told you to bring your suit.”
Was she flirting with him? If she was, she wouldn’t be for long. He reminded himself of why he had come. He had a purpose.
“I think we need to get something straight,” he began.
She had bent over to slip on her sandals. As she did, the view of her softly rounded backside with the lime-green bikini bottom riding up over a delectable round of flesh caused Nick to lose his concentration. He didn’t continue.
She straightened and asked, “What is it?”
This was not going to be easy. “It’s about last night.”
“Is this going to take a while? Because if it is, maybe you’d like to get out of the sun.”
Did he have sweat forming on his forehead or something? If there was one thing he hated it was being caught off guard, and she had a way of doing that to him when he least expected it.
“What I have to say will only take a few minutes,” he told her a bit more sharply than he intended.
She shrugged and, to his surprise, gave him a grin, spreading her arms as she said, “The sand’s all yours.”
Nick knew that if he was going to sound intelligent, he was going to have to look at the lake, not at her. He focused on a sailboat that was drifting with the gentle breeze.
“When I’m with you I find myself doing things I normally wouldn’t do,” he told her.
“I’m going to take that as a compliment. From what I can see, your world is much too dull, Nick Miller.”
Out of the corner of his eye he noticed she was moving. He glanced at her to discover she had dropped the towel from her shoulders and tied it around her waist, leaving her torso bare except for the lime-green strings attached to skimpy triangles of cloth.
“Dull or not, it’s my world, Kika. That’s why that kiss last night—”
“You mean kisses, don’t you, Nick?” she interrupted.
“All right, those kisses,” he conceded. “Those kisses meant nothing.”
“Nothing?” She arched one eyebrow.
“Nothing.”
“I see.”
“Good.” He would have said more, but his gaze was trapped by the shapely flesh bulging forth from the lime-green triangles. Blood rushed to every corner of his body and especially to a place where he didn’t want it to be. Those kisses meant nothing, he repeated silently. “You’re a casting director in Minneapolis and I’m a mechanical engineer in Tyler,” he reminded her.
“Which means?”
“After the auditions are completed, you’ll go your way and I’ll go mine.”
“You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know, Nick.”
He wished she wouldn’t say his name. She had a way of making it sound like a term of endearment.
“Then we understand each other, right?” he asked.
“Definitely. I’m here on business. We both know that.” She stared at the sand and started drawing circles with her toe.
“Then it’s probably better if we don’t have dinner together tonight,” he stated quietly.
That brought her head up with a jerk. He could see she was disappointed. “You’re not going to give me one more chance to convince you Melody would be a good candidate for Fancy’s Baby?”
“I thought you said dinner was a thank-you for getting your car unlocked.”
“It is, but I am here on business,” she reminded him with a cheeky grin that begged for forgiveness. “Come on, Nick. Say yes.”
Despite his earlier resolution, Nick didn’t want to say no. It had been a long time since he had been out with a woman. Cece had suggested he think about dating again, and even Annabelle was trying to set him up with someone. Though, tonight would be a business dinner, it would give him a chance to ease back into the social scene.
“You said seven, right?” he asked.
Satisfaction gleamed in Kika’s eyes. “Seven,” she echoed. “Here at the lodge, casual-like.”
He nodded, then averted his eyes as she bent to pick up the rest of her things.
He must have frowned, for she said, “You don’t need to worry, Nick. The record is straight.”
“Good.”
When he turned to leave, she said, “I’m glad you stopped by.”
“So am I.”
As he drove home he tried to rationalize what had happened. He couldn’t. Nor did he want to. All he could think about was how her body had looked in that bikini.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“HOW COME WE can’t go with you?” Patrick demanded as his father headed for the shower.
“Because you’re having dinner at Auntie Cece’s,” Nick answered, then closed the bathroom door with decisive force.
Thank heaven for Auntie Cece, Nick silently prayed as the warm water pelted his skin. When sixteen-year-old Abby had turned down his offer of a baby-sitting job, he had seen it as a sign he shouldn’t be having dinner with Kika. But then Cece had phoned to invite the kids over for pizza. If opportunity knocked, he’d be foolish to ignore it, right?
When he had finished showering and shaving, he found Patrick still hanging around waiting for him. “Why can’t you bring Kika over to Auntie Cece’s?” the six-year-old asked as he followed Nick into his bedroom.
“I’m not sure she likes pizza,” Nick answered, opening his closet doors and assessing his wardrobe with a critical eye. Everything looked old and worn, reminding him that he hadn’t paid much attention to his clothes since Beth had died.
He remembered Annabelle had given him a new shirt for his birthday. It was buried somewhere in the stack of cartons still waiting to be unpacked. After a brief search, he found it in its original box.
“Is that a new shirt, Dad?”
“Yeah. What do you think?” Nick held it to his chest for his son’s inspection.
“It’s nice. I like green.”
Nick didn’t, which was why he hadn’t worn it yet. He would have returned it, but he hadn’t wanted to offend Annabelle. Now, as he surveyed it, he was glad he had kept it. At least it was new and wrinkle free.
He p
ulled it on and stood in front of the mirror. It made his stomach look flat, his arms muscular. Maybe Annabelle knew more about fashion that he had given her credit for.
Coupled with the khaki trousers he had just picked up from the launderers, the shirt looked surprisingly good. Kika had said casual. He gave himself one last look in the mirror, then grabbed his keys from the dresser and headed down the stairs, Patrick trailing behind.
As he passed the family room, he paused, calling out to Zachary, “It’s time to go to Auntie Cece’s. Did you pack a bag for Melody?”
“It’s next to the front door,” Zachary answered as he turned off the TV.
“Great.” Nick glanced at his watch. “Where’s your sister?”
“She’s hiding behind the sofa. I don’t think she wants to go,” Zachary answered.
Nick walked around the brown plaid sectional and found his daughter huddled in the corner, her arms wrapped around the white teddy bear Kika had given her. Nick crouched beside her and held out his hand.
“Come on, Mel,” he coaxed. “It’s time to go.”
She didn’t move a muscle, but sat staring at him, her tiny cheeks a rosy pink.
“You don’t want to go over to Auntie Cece’s?”
The red head slowly moved from side to side.
“You can bring your bear.”
Patrick had climbed up onto the couch and was perched over the back, his arms dangling close to where Nick squatted. “Maybe she wants a peanut butter samwich.”
Nick thought it was worth a shot. “Would you like me to make you a peanut butter sandwich to take along?”
Again, she shook her head.
“I think she wants to go with you, Dad,” Zachary informed him from the opposite end of the sofa.
Something in the way that angelic little face looked at him made Nick disregard the inner voice that begged him to ignore the possibility and ask, “Would you like to have dinner with me and Kika?”
Melody nodded.
Nick’s stomach tightened. What he didn’t need was to take a toddler on a date. Yet he was certain that if he forced Melody to stay at her cousin’s, she’d have one of her temper tantrums. How could he leave a screaming, kicking toddler with his sister-in-law?
It was a battle between common sense and hormones. Maybe he should bring his daughter along. That way he wouldn’t get any ideas that this dinner was anything more than a casting agent’s attempt to get him to agree to an audition.
Nick stood, shoving his hands to his hips. “All right. Melody will come with me.”
“No fair!” A duet of complaints filled the air.
“How come she can go but we can’t?” Patrick asked.
“Dad, you always let her get her way,” Zachary protested.
Nick was in no mood to defend his actions to his sons. “She’s coming with me and you two are going to Auntie Cece’s. That’s all that’s going to be said.” He held out his hand to Melody, who willingly placed her tiny one into it.
While the boys grumbled and stamped their way to the car, she walked smugly beside her father, dragging the big white bear behind her. Nick knew what they said was true. Melody did usually get her way. It wasn’t what he wanted, but under the circumstances, what choice did he have?
Fortunately, by the time they arrived at Cece’s and the boys saw that Jeff had put up a tent for them to use as a fort, all thoughts of spending the evening with Nick and Kika disappeared. Melody, however, was not so easily distracted.
“There’s been a change in plans,” Nick announced to his brother-in-law as the boys made a beeline for the tent. “Melody wants to go with me.”
“Is that going to work for you?” Jeff asked as Nick propped himself against the right fender of the Mustang.
He shrugged. “It’ll be okay.”
Jeff leaned over the door of the convertible and spoke to Melody. “Don’t you want to come inside and see Annie and Belle?”
The toddler shook her head. The look Jeff cast in Nick’s direction was full of sympathy. “I bet Cece would give you some ice cream.” Jeff dangled the temptation shamelessly.
Still Melody showed no interest, prompting Nick to say in a tone audible only to Jeff, “I’ve tried the bribery thing and it doesn’t work.”
“What are you going to do with your date? Make her sit in the back seat?” Jeff looked pointedly at the toddler’s car seat strapped into the passenger side of the Mustang.
“It’s not a date,” Nick contradicted, although he knew it was simply a question of semantics. “It’s a business meeting. How do you know about it, anyway?”
“Cece ran into Kika this afternoon.”
“So that’s why the pizza party happened.”
Jeff grinned. “We figured you could use a little help.”
“Yes, well, I appreciate it, but this isn’t exactly working out as I had planned,” Nick admitted, rubbing a hand across his smooth jaw.
“Why don’t you come inside for a cold drink and we’ll see what we can do? Annie and Belle are playing inside,” he said with a wink.
Nick knew what the other man was up to. He hoped that once Melody saw her cousins, she would want to stay and play.
It didn’t happen. Melody clung to Nick as he sat at the kitchen table, refusing to even get down from his lap. Although she looked with interest at Annie and Belle playing with their doll buggies, she didn’t want to join them.
Finally, Cece took matters into her own hands, cajoling and coaxing the toddler with a gentleness that reminded Nick of Beth. After only a few minutes, she was able to get Melody to sit on her lap.
It wasn’t long before Melody was on the floor playing with her cousins. When Nick announced it was time he get going, Cece suggested he leave Melody behind with the boys.
“I can’t do that. She’d be screaming before I got out the door,” Nick said in a low voice.
“She wouldn’t be the first child to cry when her parent leaves,” Cece assured him. “Nick, it’s common for kids her age to put up a fuss when Mom or Dad wants to go away.”
Nick sighed. “Melody’s different. You must have noticed that by now.” It wasn’t an easy admission.
Cece put a hand on his shoulder. “She’s missed out on something most little girls have, that’s true, but that’s why you brought her here. She needs to be with other kids, to be with family who love her and want to be there for her. Let us be tonight, okay?”
He knew what she said was true, but still he hesitated.
“Trust me on this one, Nick,” she persuaded gently.
“All right, but I hope you realize what you’re letting yourself in for. She can throw quite a temper tantrum,” he warned.
“She’ll be fine,” Cece said confidently.
As much as Nick wanted to believe that, he had his doubts as he walked away. Before he could get out the door, Melody caught him by the leg, tugging on his trousers.
As he drove away from Cece’s, his heart ached. He wanted to rush back in and take her with him, yet the things Cece had said made sense. Melody did need to be with other kids and she did need a woman’s influence. If only she hadn’t looked at him as if he was the most important person in her life and he was abandoning her.
Several times on the way to Timberlake Lodge Nick was tempted to turn around and go back to Cece’s. Only one thing kept him going straight: hormones.
* * *
KIKA BUTTONED UP the bodice of the pink knit dress and said, “Man the torpedoes and full speed ahead.” She eyed herself critically in the full-length mirror and was satisfied with the results.
She almost hadn’t packed the dress Frannie called her “manhunter,” a sleeveless ribbed knit with a split skirt. “Fit with flare,” was how the salesclerk had described it.
It clung in all the right places but flowed freely about Kika’s legs. She had thrown it in at the last minute just in case she needed it. It would be interesting to see Nick Miller’s reaction to it.
Ever since he had told
her their kisses had meant nothing, her ego had needed a little nurturing. Not that she believed for one minute that he wasn’t just as attracted to her as she was to him. He was. Having worked for seven years in the entertainment industry, she could recognize desire in a man’s eyes when she saw it.
There was a chemistry between them, pure and simple. Kika had felt it that first night she saw him in the airport. She didn’t like the fact any more than he did. All she could hope was that it would run its course and not interfere with the work she was here to do.
At six fifty-five he rang her room to let her know he would meet her on the verandah. Kika slipped on a pair of sandals, grabbed her wallet-on-a-string and headed for the main entrance.
She found him gazing up at the antique canoe hanging from the rafters. When he saw her, he lost the carefree look that had been on his face only seconds before. Instead of being invited to dinner, he could have been waiting in line to donate blood.
She stepped up to him. “Hi.”
As she had expected, the dress caught his attention. Nick Miller could tell himself all night long that the kisses between them had meant nothing, but there was no way he was going to convince her that he wasn’t attracted to her. It was there in his eyes.
As if he didn’t want her to see that attraction, he looked up at the old canoe once more. “This is an interesting place.”
“Isn’t it though? It’s an old hunting lodge. Can’t you just sense the presence of men smoking pipes and carrying their rifles?” Kika remarked. “Come. I’ll show you the dining room.” She slipped her arm through his and led him down a hallway.
He wore that same scent Kika had noticed the first time she had met him. As before, it teased her senses and made her want to get closer to him.
She had prepaid for dinner so no check would be brought and had made sure they would have a private table in the dining room. As the waitress handed them menus, Nick smiled, and Kika saw his dimples crease his cheeks. Her heart fluttered.
As soon as the specials of the evening had been rattled off and their beverage orders had been taken, the waitress disappeared. So did Nick’s smile. Kika wanted it to return.