“Hmm. I’m over it. Actually, I was the one who did the walking, so she was probably just pissed off.” He added smoothly, “Maybe I can make a few suggestions for the next lady we try. It would be nice to meet a woman who was interested in someone other than herself. I’d like to find someone special, like you.”
Aw, there he goes again. Sweet enough to melt her heart. She sighed, and sat up straighter. She had to be strong. “I’ll keep my eyes open for the right person, Derek. I promise.”
“Sure.”
After they got off the phone, Christine replayed the conversation in her head, feeling a warmth settle over her. Derek had not complained when she’d slipped between the sheets with him on their first date. As a matter of fact, he wanted their sexual relationship to continue and had made that abundantly clear. It was she who was holding back.
Derek hadn’t fallen for the gorgeous Brigit. She pumped a fist in the air. Yes!
***
Nicole was home alone when there was an unexpected knock on the door. They lived in a gated community and so visitors had to be called in, their names left with security. The exception was UPS and similar carriers, and anyone else who might make regular deliveries or service.
It was an extremely safe neighborhood, so she did not hesitate to open the door.
She tried shutting it again when she saw Brett standing there. He stuck his foot in the door and held it open with his hand. “Come on, Nic, let me in.”
“I don’t have anything to say to you. How did you get past security, anyway?”
“They were busy giving directions to a landscaping truck, and they just waved me through the second gate.” He grinned. “Must be my honest looking face.”
“Well, they shouldn’t have.” She let him push his way in, but was still fuming that he was there. She didn’t want anything to do with him, and wished he would leave her the hell alone. The other night when she’d called Jake he’d said he’d tell him, but if he had Brett wouldn’t be here now.
“Look,” he said, “we have a history of breaking up and making up, and I want to get to the good part.” He touched her cheek, but she flinched and pulled away. “Come on, Nicole. You know you can’t resist me.”
“Oh, yes I can.” She folded her arms in front of her and walked away, over to the opposite side of the couch. “I really don’t know why you’re here. I’ve moved on, and you should too.”
“What do you mean? You got a boyfriend or something?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.” She didn’t like the look on his face, and wished she could get him to leave without having to call security.
“I don’t believe it. It’s only been a couple of weeks. How could you find someone that fast?” His eyes narrowed and his hands tightened into fists. “Were you cheating on me?”
Why hadn’t Jake told him like he said he would? She wanted to shout it out to him, tell him she was in love with his brother, but taunting him right now would be stupid and dangerous.
“No. And I don’t like this conversation or where it’s going. Brett, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me who you’re seeing.”
“It’s none of your frickin’ business.”
“Don’t say that. You know I still love you.”
“Well, I’m sorry about that, but it’s over and that’s all there is to it.”
“You’re sorry, hell. Look, I know I wasn’t nice to you all the time. I was going through a lot, trying to figure some shit out.” He took a step toward her. “Not that that’s an excuse, but it’s the truth.”
“It doesn’t matter now.” She eyed him warily and spoke more gently. “I’m sorry, but as I said, I’ve met someone.”
He crossed the room and grabbed her arm. “You haven’t told me who. If you want to get rid of me, you better give me a name.”
“Get out of here. I don’t have to tell you anything.”
He sneered. “Wait till I tell Jake. He has the hots for you.”
She shook his hand off. “You are so lame,” she said, although her heart was hammering inside her chest. Maybe Jake said had said something after all. Perhaps this was some kind of test.
“Yeah, poor, pathetic, crippled Jake. He used to be a real lady killer, did you know that? College quarterback, a real stud. Guess he won’t be getting any of that pussy thrown at him anymore.”
She knew he was egging her on, looking for a reaction. She wouldn’t give it to him.
“You’re the one who’s pathetic,” she said with disgust. “Get lost, Brett. Have a nice life.”
She turned away, but he snagged her around the waist, dragging her toward him, attempting to pull her close. “I don’t want a nice life, dammit! I want us back together.”
He tried to kiss her, but she pushed away from him, stumbling as her hip met the coffee table. The sudden movement sent the lamp flying off the table and onto the floor.
“Look what you’ve done,” she snapped. “You are such an idiot.”
She bent to pick it up, and he was right behind her. His hands were around her waist, and she struggled to get free. “Let go of me.” She slapped at his hands, but they only tightened.
“Not until--”
They heard the slam of the door. Christine strode in, looking like fury. “What’s going on here?”
Brett dropped his hands. “It’s nothing, Mrs. Bradley. I came by to see Nicole. I want her to move back, that’s all. I’m trying to convince her.” He grinned. “But, hell, she’s got a stubborn streak.”
“What part of this don’t you understand?” Christine’s voice was like steel. “Nicole left you and she doesn’t want to see you anymore. She has made her choice, Brett, and it doesn't include you.”
Christine walked over to her daughter and took her face into her hands. “You okay, sweetie?”
Nicole nodded, tears blurring her eyes. “Yes, thanks. Brett, will you please leave?”
He looked at them both, hesitated, then shoved his hands in his jeans. “I’ll leave, but this isn’t over, Nicole.”
Christine answered for her daughter. “Oh, yes, it is.” She looked him in the eye. “You’ll leave Nicole alone if you know what’s good for you.”
“You can’t threaten me.”
“I just did.”
Christine and Brett glared at each other. He turned away first. “We’ll see about that.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
After Brett left, her mother went to shower and change out of her day clothes, and Nicole decided she’d get dinner started.
She wanted to make a stir-fry and had an onion, broccoli, cauliflower, and chicken breast sliced and set aside. Putting a generous amount of olive oil in a wok, she turned the stovetop on.
She was dropping the cut-up vegetables into the sizzling pan when her cell phone rang. Seeing it was Jake, she grabbed it right away.
“Jake, did you hear what happened?” She had the phone in the crook of her neck and was trying to turn the heat down on the wok. Instead, she turned the gas the wrong way. The oil exploded, sending sizzling sparks into the air. A few of the sparks burned her arm, but more importantly, oil was splattering all over the stove and countertop.
“I heard that Brett paid you a visit,” Jake sounded angry. “I told him not to go near you, that you would get a restraining order if he kept badgering you. How did he get in?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t seem to know about you and me. Shit.” Nicole grabbed a tea towel and tried to lift the pan off the stove so she could rescue the dinner from getting burned. Unfortunately the tea towel dragged on the hot element and caught fire. Nicole dropped the towel and the wok. The towel hit the floor, still burning, and hot oil leaked from the wok, met the burning tea towel, and flames spread across the kitchen floor.
Nicole dropped the phone and grabbed another tea towel, trying to beat the flames down. She succeeded in spreading them instead, the new tea towel catching fire itself as her frantic fan
ning fed the flames. She yelled for her mother at the same instant the smoke alarm started shrieking and the fire reached the lower kitchen cabinets.
Wearing only a towel, her mother ran into the room. Seeing the fire, she whipped the towel off and used it to try to smother the flames. The cell-phone still lay on the floor where Nicole had dropped it, and even over the screaming of the smoke detector she could hear Jake yelling, wanting to know what was happening. She could only imagine what he was thinking at the other end. But she had no time for his worries, because they had enough of their own.
A few minutes later, though it seemed like so much longer to Nicole, they could hear sirens nearing the house, and then someone hammered on the door. Nicole looked at her mother. “I’ll get it. You get some clothes on.”
Her mother was still beating the fire, but she stopped suddenly and looked down at her naked body.
Two firefighters burst through the front door as her mother dashed down the hallway to her bedroom. The professionals quickly put out the fire, and Nicole was thanking them profusely when Christine returned, dressed in shorts and a T-shirt.
“I’m so sorry, but I’d just come from a shower,” she murmured, flushed with embarrassment.
“That’s quite all right, ma’am,” one of the young firefighter replied, grinning. “We’ll leave you now that everything is under control.”
Her mother thanked them and walked the two young men to the door. Nicole tried to mop up the mess.
“I’m sorry, Mom. It was all my fault.” She bit her lip, trying not to cry. “The damage isn’t too horrible. Looks like we might need some new cabinets though.”
“I never did like those old things, anyway,” her mother said, putting an arm around her. “It’s a perfect time to update the kitchen.”
Nicole looked around at the sooty, smoke damaged room and spotted the phone on the floor. “Yikes. I forgot about Jake. I was talking to him when the pan caught on fire. I’ve got to call him back.”
“When you finish with your phone call, go change. We’re going out for dinner.”
***
“Jake? Sorry, but I was using a wok and the oil exploded while I was talking to you. We had a small fire.”
“Good God. Are you all right?”
“We’re fine, but it got a little exciting around here for a few minutes. The firemen came, but we had it mostly under control by the time they got here.”
“Remind me never to let you cook.”
She laughed. “Right. Anyway, did you or did you not tell Brett about us? He was insinuating things, but didn’t seem to know for sure, and I wasn’t about to tell him when he was looking for a fight.”
“I didn’t want to shove our relationship in his face. I told him to stay clear of you, and explained that you and I are talking, and still friendly.”
“Why? Why didn’t you tell him the truth?”
“I’m worried about what he’ll do. Has he ever seemed suicidal to you?”
“Never. I’m not worried about him.” Her voice rose, “I’m damn well worried about me. What if he doesn’t stop harassing me? What if he kills me?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Jake snapped. “Brett isn’t dangerous.”
“Want to make a bet? He’s hit me a few times, and his anger is escalating. There’s no telling what he might do.”
“No way. If he’d been hitting you, why did you stay?”
“You don’t believe me?” she shrieked. “Look, Jake. I’ve had just about enough of you and your brother. I don’t want to hear from either of you again.” She sniffed. “And don’t worry. I can take care of myself.”
She hung up. Fuming, she took a shower to calm herself down, changed into a pair of sexy jeans and went out with her mother.
***
Derek and his sons were working on a platter of blue point oysters when Christine and Nicole walked into the Reef Grill. He didn’t see them right away; the sound of her voice made him turn his head.
“Yes, we’d like a table for two,” he heard her say. “A booth if you have it.”
She looked so darn pretty in her tight white jeans and a sleeveless V-necked top. At a quick glance, she didn’t look much older than her daughter. They were both tall and slender, but Christine was fuller in all the right places. She had a figure that most women her age would kill for, and the thing about her was that she didn’t even seem to know how attractive she was.
She probably also didn’t realize that most of the men in the bar area were staring at her breasts. Her damn nipples were showing. Just seeing those tight nipples was giving him a hard-on. Shit. Probably every dick in the place was sitting up and taking notice.
He glanced down at his plate, hoping the boys hadn’t seen him staring. Kevin seemed to have his eyes glued on pretty Nicole, while Kyle was busy eating the oysters.
Christine and Nicole were being led to a booth right beside their table. She stopped when she saw him. “Derek, hello.” She smiled. “Are these your boys, Kevin and Kyle?”
He said hello to both women and made the introductions. Christine continued to stand there for a moment, looking like she wanted to say more. There was a lot he wanted to say to her, but was it worth the trouble? She had made it clear she didn’t want to have anything to do with him, and he could handle rejection as well as the next guy.
“What’s good on the menu?” she asked.
“The blue points are a winner.” He took a sip from his glass of beer, wishing like hell she would sit down and let them eat. Since he wouldn’t be seeing her again, he didn’t want the boys to know he’d dated her.
Nicole had already slipped into the booth, and she poked her head around to look at her mother. “Mom? What are you doing?”
“Derek.” Christine ignored her daughter and locked eyes with him. “We had a little fire earlier on and my kitchen is in shambles. Would you be able to come over and take a look and see what can be done with it, or send one of your co-workers over? I think I may as well redo the whole kitchen.”
“Damn.” His jaw dropped. “I’m real sorry about the fire. The rest of your house is okay?”
“Yes, it was contained in the kitchen.”
“That’s good.” He rubbed a hand over his mouth. “I could probably make it tomorrow sometime. You going to be home?”
“If I’m not, Nicole should be.”
Nicole leaned around the table. “I have a ton of stuff to do tomorrow. I’ll be out all day.”
Derek raised an eyebrow at Christine. “So, what time works for you?”
“Let’s make it around noon.”
He nodded and said all right. Then he turned back to his sons. “Kev, are you finished with the oysters, because we’ve got to make room on the table? You’ve still got a grouper burger coming, and I’m having linguini and clams.”
Christine took the hint and sat down at her own table.
“Who’s that, Dad?” Kyle asked. “Why did you agree to do her stupid repairs?” Kyle’s dark eyes flashed his disapproval.
“You heard her. She had a fire,” Derek said.
“Why don’t you ask Arnold to fix her kitchen? He’s out of work.” Arnold used to work for Derek, and he did odd jobs around town.
“She’s a friend. I think it’s only right that I help her out.”
Kyle regarded him suspiciously. “I thought she was looking at you funny. Like she’s interested in more than her kitchen.”
Kevin laughed, sputtering his soda on the table. “Good one, Kyle.” He checked out his dad. “Hey, you’re blushing.”
“I don’t blush.” He wished his boys would stop staring at him and get off the damn subject. “She runs that dating service, Champagne For Two. She’s the lady who arranged for me to meet Brigit.”
The waitress dropped off their dinners, and he heard Christine ask for a Sonoma Cutrer chardonnay. He’d never been to Sonoma, but he’d heard they had pretty good wines. Maybe he should take a trip there one day. Drink some of the pinot noir. He wonder
ed why wine-tasters rolled the wine around their mouths and then spat it out. If it was good wine, what was the point of not enjoying it?
Nicole ordered a margarita.
Derek thought about another beer.
Kyle mashed his French fries into some ketchup. “You stayed out awfully late for someone who said they didn’t like her very much.”
Kevin grinned. “I saw Brigit’s picture. What was not to like? She was hot. Really hot.”
Derek could feel his skin grow several degrees hotter too. If he hadn’t been blushing before, he sure as hell was now.
“Looks aren’t everything, son. She wasn’t my type.”
“Not like Mom, you mean,” Kyle said. “I don’t think you’ll ever find anyone as pretty and as nice as her, so why even try?”
“Oh, shut up, Kyle. Dad has a right to date if he wants.”
“Eat your dinner,” Derek ordered both of them. “And don’t worry about me replacing your mother. I don’t mind a little companionship now and then. But I’m not looking for a wife.”
He thought he saw Christine’s head snap up, like she’d been listening to his conversation. She knocked over a glass of water, and he bit back a laugh.
“Hell, no,” he went on. “I’ve got it good right now, living with my two boys. I don’t want a woman messing with that.”
Christine jumped up, grabbed some extra napkins from a spare table, and shot a wicked glance in his direction.
“Good,” Kyle said, “’cause I don’t want anyone coming in and trying to be my mom.” He spoke louder than necessary.
“That won’t happen.” He watched Christine as she furiously mopped up the table. She looked seriously pissed.
“I like the way it is now,” Kyle was staring at the back of Christine’s head. “Just the three of us.”
“You don’t need to worry about that, Kyle. I’m still in love with your mother.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Christine went to her office the next morning and explained to Jenny and Helga about the fire, telling them she needed to take the afternoon off to take care of it. Then she called Derek and he agreed to meet at her home at one.
Her morning was taken up with a call to her insurance adjustor, and checking out kitchen decors on the internet. She had a pretty good feel for the cabinets and granite countertops that she would like to see in her home.
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE TRILOGY Page 42