“Only about twenty times.”
Soft light from the tapered candles on their table seemed to dance in her eyes. Nick’s gaze drifted over her cleavage, displayed in a stunning red dress that was damn near daring him not to behave like a gentleman in public. Unable to resist touching her, Nick reached under the table and squeezed her thigh. He was rewarded with her sexy laugh as he continued to stroke her leg beneath the silky material of her dress, mesmerised by her beauty. His gaze slipped from her face to the graceful line of her neck, which was exposed, since her curly hair was tamed into a low side ponytail he couldn’t wait to pull free.
“I’m glad you love my dress.”
That’s not all I love.
“That dress is designed to distract and enchant men.”
“It’s definitely working on you.” Terrah tilted her face up to his with that teasing smile he adored.
Nick bent his head and kissed her. “Babe, I can’t wait to show you just how well it’s working.”
Terrah placed her hand on top of his. “Mmm…I can’t wait either, but it would be a shame not to finish our dessert, here.” She looked at the huge aquarium in front of them. “I still can’t believe you did all of this…setting up a special dinner in the hotel where we had our first kiss and sending the limo—very romantic.”
“I wanted tonight to be as memorable for you as that night was for me.”
“You’ve succeeded, but you should know that night was very memorable for me, too.”
“Oh, yeah? Was it the kiss by the fish?”
Terrah giggled. “Yes.” She paused for a moment. “I’m glad we’re ending this day together after the news you got.”
“Me, too.”
He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her wrist. The familiar, intoxicating scent of her perfume filled his nostrils, making him want her even more. It was important to him she knew how much he needed her in his life, too.
“I want to thank you for not giving up on us when you first found out about Jocelyn. I know you considered it.”
“I’d spent too much time in the Hawaiian sun with you to just walk away.”
Nick smiled. “Let’s get dessert to go.”
He wanted her all to himself…no interruptions, no distractions.
“To go? What about your suite here?”
“We’re going somewhere else.”
Terrah frowned. “Okay…”
“So we’re going to get our dessert to go and then I’m going to whisk you away to a secret location.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. Does that sound good?”
He nipped her wrist with his teeth as Terrah nodded with a grin.
“Let’s get out of here, then.”
Nick signalled James, their private waiter for the evening, who came over instantly.
“James, we’ve decided to take the dessert with us.”
James smiled with a slight nod of his head. “Of course, Mr Tasso. I’ll have it boxed and ready to go immediately. I’ve been informed that there are some members of the press milling around in the lobby, hoping to catch a glimpse of you two together.”
Nick glanced at Terrah, who had stiffened in her chair. “Great.”
“If you wish to avoid them, I can show you both out through another exit.”
“Thanks, James.”
Nick waited until James had taken their dessert and walked away from the table. “We’ll get out of here without the press knowing.”
“I hope so. We haven’t given them any new photos to splash all over for a few weeks now.”
He could see the tension in her body as she took her napkin off her lap and placed it on the table.
“I know how you feel about having those pictures of us in Hawaii used as the subject of discussion on that morning talk show.”
Terrah gave him a bright smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Did I tell you I gave up morning talk shows?”
“No.” Nick stroked his thumb over her pulse. “We can avoid the press right now, but there’s no guarantee we’ll be able to in the future. This thing with Jocelyn is going to break as big news again.”
“I realise that. I just don’t want to deal with it tonight if we can avoid it.”
In the future…
The last three words of his sentence rattled in his head as she held his gaze.
He wanted a future with her, and hoped like hell she did with him. Terrah had all the qualities he could’ve ever hoped to find in one woman. He loved her caring spirit. He loved being around her. She was beautiful, smart and down-to-earth, plus the sexual chemistry between them was amazing. But, most of all, he loved how they could talk to one another. She wasn’t awestruck by his job and she understood the modelling business and all that came along with it.
Later tonight, when they were finally alone, he’d tell her exactly how he felt about her.
“Ready to make a break for it?”
Terrah nodded with a wry grin as James approached their table with their coats, and two neatly wrapped boxes tied with purple ribbon.
“Is there anything else I can get either of you?”
Nick glanced at Terrah who shook her head. “No, I think we’re good.”
“Thank you, James. Please tell the chef the lobster… Everything was delicious,” Terrah said as she stood up.
“Yes, send my compliments along as well.”
James bowed slightly. “Will do. Just follow me and I’ll get you guys out through the east exit. The limo should already be waiting.”
“Perfect. Thanks, James.”
“No problem.”
Terrah slid her hand into Nick’s as they followed the waiter through the dimly lit room, past a door labelled ‘Hotel staff only’ and into the hallway. James held the door open and they stepped outside. The night air was warm, carrying the sound of wailing sirens off into the distance.
“Here we are. Hmmm… The limo’s not here yet,” James said with a frown, and lifted his walkie-talkie to his mouth.
Nick turned to Terrah as James inquired about their limo. “Which dessert do you want to try first?”
Chapter Twenty
“Mmm…the crème brûlée.”
Nick pretended to be shocked. “What? Not the devil’s food cake?” He wrapped his arms around her as she laughed.
“I want to taste them both”—Terrah rose up on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear—“but not half as much as I want to taste you.”
Her words ignited the flame of desire he’d been trying to keep tamped down all night. His cock stiffened as Terrah kissed his chin.
“I’m gonna hold you to that.”
“I’m counting on it.”
James cleared his throat and they both turned to face him. “I apologise for the wait, but the limo should be here in a couple of minutes. Do you two want to wait inside until it gets here?”
“We’re good, unless you do?” Nick looked at Terrah.
“We can wait outside—it’s a beautiful night.”
James nodded. “All right, well, just knock on the door if you need me. I’ll be close by. Have a good night, you two,” he said, opening the door again.
“We will.” Nick handed the waiter fifty dollars as James stepped back inside the hotel. “Goodnight.”
“‘Night.”
The door closed and they were alone in the alley.
“Can you wrap me back in your arms?”
Nick grinned as he pulled her close. “Of course. I love having you in my arms. You feel so good, Terrah, and you smell delicious.”
Terrah giggled as he breathed in the scent of her perfume. She wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest.
“Likewi—”
“There they are!”
Nick cursed as two members of the paparazzi appeared around the corner of the building, illuminated in the headlights of the limo pulling up from the opposite direction. The two men rushed forward as he guided Terrah towards the approaching limo.
/>
“Mr Tasso, have you spoken to Jocelyn since you learned of her miscarriage?”
“No comment.” He barely glanced at the reporter asking the question as the limo came to a stop and the driver got out and opened the door for them.
How the hell had they found out about that already?
“Is it true you dumped the supermodel to pursue a relationship with Ms Bryant?”
Nick resisted the urge to snatch the guy’s camera, knowing his reaction would be caught on film. He took hold of Terrah’s arm. “Get in.”
He helped Terrah into the back of the limo when another photographer snapped off a few photos. It took all of his control not to punch the guy upon seeing the anger in Terrah’s eyes. He slid into the leather seat and cursed again as another flash from the photographer’s camera momentarily blinded him.
“Perhaps Ms Bryant would like to com—”
Nick closed the door hard, effectively ending the barrage of questions coming his way. “Drive.”
“You got it,” the limo driver said, pulling off within seconds.
He waited until the partition was up between them and the driver before turning to Terrah.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” Terrah said as the limo pulled into traffic. “I thought we’d escape that circus this evening.” She took in a deep breath, still seeing bright spots from the camera flashes.
“I know, and I’m sorry.”
She turned her face to his, noting the hard look in his eyes. “How are you? I know you wanted to deck that guy.”
It was obvious he was just as frustrated as she was about what had happened. “I did. I didn’t want you to have to deal with that crap tonight.”
“It’s not your fault, Nick.” Terrah leant back into the soft leather seat and watched the lights of the city whiz by. “It comes with the territory. I couldn’t believe they knew about Jocelyn already.”
“Me either. I hope that little fiasco didn’t ruin our evening.”
“No way.” She shifted her body closer to him as she met his eyes. “Tonight was incredible. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I love romancing you.”
Her heart skipped a beat as his last sentence sank in. For a split second, she’d thought he was going to tell her he loved her. She pushed back her feelings of disappointment.
“I’ve got two more weeks here in New York before my next shoot in Alaska.”
“Alaska?”
Nick laughed. “I know. This will be my first time going. It should be interesting…and cold. Want to come with?”
“No way. I couldn’t, even if I wanted to.”
“Well, before I freeze my ass, I’m free for the next two weeks. And I’m looking forward to it.”
“And it’s such a nice ass, too.” Terrah returned his smile as he traced a circle across her knee. “That’s terrific. You deserve the break.” She glanced out of the window again as the limo began to slow down, cruising through New York’s Upper East Side.
“Here we are,” Nick said as the limo came to a complete stop.
“Here we are?” She looked at him incredulously before peering out of her window at the beautiful apartment building they had pulled up outside. “We aren’t going to a party, are we?”
She didn’t want to ruin whatever plans Nick had for them, but the last thing she wanted to do was socialise with a lot of people.
“It’s a surprise.”
Nick winked at her. She waited for him to join her, then took his arm as he led her under the green awning towards the doorman already opening the door for them.
“Nick, please tell me we aren’t going to a party.”
“We aren’t going to a party.”
They crossed the lobby to get to the elevator and Terrah breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness.”
Terrah could see their reflections in the gleaming steel of the elevator doors in front of them.
“I wouldn’t dream of sharing you with anyone else tonight.” Nick glanced at her. “I’m guessing you’re feeling the same way?”
Terrah smiled and absently rubbed her temples. “Yes, I am.”
“What’s wrong?” Nick asked, observing her movements. “Your mood seems to have shifted since we left the restaurant.”
“I’ve got a little headache coming—it’s nothing.”
Terrah slipped her hand into his. Her mood had changed. Maybe the reporters had got to her more than she wanted to admit to Nick, or herself. She felt on edge…tired…crampy.
Great.
PMS… You are PMS-ing.
The elevator doors opened and they stepped inside.
“Well, it’s a good thing we left when we did.”
Terrah agreed, observing Nick pushing the penthouse suite button. “Care to tell me why we’re going up to the penthouse suite?”
“Not yet.”
His sexy grin made her feel a little better. The elevator doors opened, they exited the lift and Terrah gave him a questioning look. She followed him forward and wondered what he was up to. There were only two doors in the entire hallway and he led them to the second one. Terrah smiled when he lifted her wrist to his lips and pressed a kiss onto her skin.
“Tonight, we are going to eat our dessert alone.”
His devilish smile made her chuckle. He extracted a set of keys out of his dinner jacket pocket and her eyes widened when he slipped the key into the lock. He winked at her before opening the door and flipping on the light switch.
“Oh, wow,” Terrah gasped. She stepped past Nick into the gorgeous, fully furnished suite, which was elegantly decorated with modern furniture and colours.
“Do you like it?”
“Like it?” She tore her gaze away from the amazing, panoramic view of the city to find Nick watching her. “I love it.”
“Good. It’s mine.”
Her mild headache temporarily forgotten, Terrah’s mouth fell open as Nick started to laugh.
“Are you kidding me?” She gestured around the luxurious space. “You bought a penthouse suite on the Upper East Side?”
“I’ve been considering buying property in New York for a while. Now seemed like a good time to buy.”
Terrah wondered why, but held off asking the question as she slipped out of her heels and padded across the plush carpet to stand in front of the fireplace. “Well, you’ve made a sound investment in this place. It’s absolutely gorgeous. Show me everything.”
She followed Nick through the spacious suite as he showed her each room. There were two bathrooms and two bedrooms, along with a living room and dining room, all fully furnished.
“This place is huge, and the interior decorator hit all the right notes in each room,” Terrah said as they walked into the kitchen. She admired the dark wood cabinetry with glass windows that allowed her to see the fine dining ware in place, just waiting for use.
“I know. The moment I saw this space I could see myself living here.”
“Congratulations, Nick.” Terrah walked back towards him as she ran her hand along the kitchen island’s marble countertop. “I’m so happy for you.”
She placed her arms around his waist, loving the feel of his strong arms wrapping around her as he pulled her close.
“Thanks. This place is great, but do you want to know what makes me really happy?”
“What?” Terrah whispered, her body warming instantly at the look in his eyes.
“You…us, together like this.” He kissed her forehead as he hugged her.
“I feel the same way.”
She melted in his warm embrace and groaned when he moved away.
“Why don’t you make yourself comfortable on the couch and I’ll bring over our desserts? Do you have something to take for your headache?”
“In my purse,” Terrah said, moving through the open kitchen to the living room. “You wouldn’t happen to have any chocolate ice cream here, would you?” She giggled when Nick came around the corner and looked at her wit
h an amused grin.
“You want chocolate ice cream, crème brûlée and devil’s food cake?”
Terrah shrugged. “I’m PMS-ing.”
“PMS…” Nick lifted his head. “Oh, I gotcha. Well, I don’t have any chocolate ice cream here, but I’ll get some.”
“No, it’s no big deal.”
Nick held up his hand. “Hey, if my babe wants chocolate ice cream, I’m going to get rocky road, double fudge brownie ice cream.” He chuckled as Terrah laughed. “There’s a minimart right down the street.”
He disappeared back into the kitchen, only to return with bottled water tucked under his arm and two plates with their desserts on top. Nick set the plates on the coffee table before handing her the bottled water.
“Here you go.”
“Thank you.”
She took the water, grabbed her purse and took out her small vial of aspirin. “Seriously, I don’t want the ice cream as much as I just want you to join me here”—she tapped the supple leather beside her—“on this couch.”
“Are you sure?”
Terrah nodded, swallowing the pills as Nick took a napkin-wrapped fork and spoon from his back pocket and sat down. “Very.”
She watched him dip the spoon through the glossy top of the crème brûlée. Terrah smiled, parting her lips for a taste as he brought the flatware to her mouth. “Mmm…it’s even better than it looks.”
“Wait…” Nick took the fork and sliced into the chocolate cake. “You have to taste this next, so you can tell me which one you truly love the best.”
Terrah took the offered bite, savouring the chocolate on her tongue as she closed her eyes, lost in pure choco-bliss. She opened her eyes when she heard Nick laughing.
“I guess I’ve got my answer.”
He handed her the plate with the chocolate cake and picked up the other dessert.
“It’s sinfully good. Are you sure you don’t want some? I’d be willing to give you another bite.”
“Enjoy it.” Nick grinned. “I’m getting more pleasure out of watching you lick chocolate off that fork.”
Terrah sighed with delight and then smiled, savouring another taste of the cake. “Any other time, I’d have chosen the crème brûlée.”
“Sure.”
“I’m serious, but tonight… I’m afraid this baby is all mine.”
Ample Delights Page 17