by Claire Adams
“I think you’re going to be even more famous than Lynn someday. I’ve seen the Hoover Dam photographed hundreds, maybe even thousands of times in my life. This one brings it to life better than anyone I’ve ever seen.”
I felt honored by his words and practically speechless by the intensity he said them with. “Thank you, Nicholas.”
He grinned at me and began to say something else, but before he could, the master of ceremonies was at the microphone announcing that dinner would be served. Nicholas took my arm again and led me to the table we would share with Lynn. He pulled out my chair, and when I sat down next to Lynn, I whispered, “Where is your guy?”
She smiled. “He just texted and is on his way. He ran into some traffic.” She looked at Nicholas then and said, “Hello, Nick.”
Still standing, he went to her and leaned down to give her a kiss on the cheek. “Lynn, you look beautiful tonight.”
“I do, don’t I?” she said. He laughed.
“I love that confidence.” He took his seat on the other side of me as Lynn introduced me to another couple at the table that I didn’t know. They were both photographers from Boulder and had some photos for sale, as well. We made small talk while the waiters were distributing the meals. Once ours were in front of us and my napkin in my lap, I picked up my fork and then almost as quickly, I dropped it. It hit my plate with a loud thunk.
“Emma, are you okay?” I couldn’t tear my eyes from the sight that had shaken me. Nicholas looked in the same direction. Miguel Esparza was strolling right up to our table. I felt like I was going to be sick. I was so focused on him that I didn’t notice Lynn standing up until he was right there at the table. I watched in shock as Miguel kissed either side of her face and then slid an arm around her waist. What the hell was going on?
CHAPTER TEN
NICHOLAS
What the hell? “Emma, Nicholas, this is my friend Miguel.” Lynn was talking, but my eyes were on his. He was giving me that predatory, dark-eyed stare and a fake smile was plastered across his too-pretty face.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” he said. That’s when his eyes moved from my face to Emma. I could see the change in them. The predatory look was still there, but as he looked at Emma, they were tinged with lust. Maybe she could see it, too, or sense it. She was looking at him with a wide-eyed stare almost like he made her nervous. I didn’t realize how much time had passed in silence before Lynn cleared her throat and said,
“Let’s sit, Miguel.” In what sounded to me like a shaky voice, Emma said,
“It’s nice to meet you, too. Lynn, before you sit, maybe you’d like to accompany me to the ladies’ room?” I knew that women liked going to the bathroom in pairs, but something about the way Emma said it was urgent. I wondered what the hell was going on, but I wouldn’t have minded a minute alone with my stalker.
Lynn looked puzzled and Emma looked like she was trying to convey something to her friend with her eyes. Then, Miguel leaned in and whispered something in Lynn’s ear and she giggled like a school girl and told Emma,
“You go ahead, honey, I’m okay.” Emma looked nervous for some reason and when she excused herself, I waited a few beats and followed her. I wasn’t really interested in watching Miguel whisper sweet-nothings into Lynn’s ear, anyways. I found the ladies’ room and waited outside for Emma. It seemed like a long time before she finally emerged, and she didn’t look any less anxious than she had when she went inside.
“Nicholas, is everything okay?”
“That’s what I was wondering. You looked…worried about something when you left the table. Are you alright?”
She looked like she was thinking for several seconds. “Everything is fine. I’m sorry if I worried you. I guess I just have a nervous stomach tonight because of my art being on view.”
I didn’t really believe that there wasn’t more to it than that, but I decided the gala wasn’t the time or the place to press her about it.
“Your art is almost as beautiful as you.” It wasn’t a line, I really meant it. I was rewarded by one of her shy, sweet smiles and I wondered, not for the first time, how she could possibly not know how incredibly hot she is.
“Thank you. I suppose we should get back. Our dinner is probably waiting.” I nodded and held my arm out for her to take. She slipped hers through it and said, “Do you know Lynn’s date?”
I felt my own muscles tense. I stopped and said, “No, not exactly. I ran into him this week, more than once. I get a bad feeling about the guy. What about you? I noticed some tension when he showed up. Have you met him before?”
She looked down at her feet and when she looked back up at me, she said, “No, but he gives me a bad feeling, too. I worry about Lynn sometimes.”
“Yeah, this guy is some kind of assistant to the advisor of the King of a sovereign island off the coast of Spain. I have my men checking into him.” I felt her muscles tense. I stopped walking again and looked down at her. “Hey, Emma, what’s going on? What is it about this guy that is bothering you so much?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “Like I said, just a bad feeling. We should get back.”
I was convinced that Miguel Esparza’s reason for following me wasn’t so much about me as it was Emma. I was even more determined now to find out why. Maybe I did need that background check on her, after all.
Dinner was waiting for us when we got back to the table. Emma and I slid back into our seats and although I couldn’t speak for her, looking at Esparza’s smug smile across the table just about caused me to lose any appetite I had.
After dinner was over, I was asked to come up on stage and announce the winners of the silent auction. I had pledged to match each price, with the money I put up going 100% to the children’s charity. I gave Esparza a hard stare before I left the table as if to say, “Watch yourself.”
The look he gave me back was a huge, fake smile that clearly said, “Fuck you.”
The whole time I was up on stage, I had a hard time concentrating on anything except what was going on at the table. I suddenly couldn’t wait for this gala to be over so that I could ask Emma what was really going on. She was sitting demurely with her back to Miguel and Lynn, listening to my speech, I presumed. But, she still had that worried frown on her pretty face.
After my speech, I had to shake a few hands and sign some legal documents before I returned to the table. The band was playing by then and instead of sitting down, I took Emma’s hand and asked, “Can I have this dance?” She smiled and stood up.
As I took her into my arms, I saw a dark cloud pass through Esparza’s eyes. It made me wonder if they had history together and why, if that was the case, Emma wouldn’t just tell me. I led her out to the dance floor and pulled her into my chest.
As we began to sway in time with the music, I put my mouth close to her ear and whispered, “I like you very much, Emma…but I don’t play games. Please be honest with me about what’s going on or what was going on in the past with you and that Esparza character.” I felt her body tense in my arms and there was a long pause before she said,
“We do have a history. It ended badly, and I don’t care to talk about it any further. You’ll just have to accept that.”
I was slightly taken aback. I wasn’t used to people talking to me that way. But at the same time, part of the reason I liked her so much was that she wasn’t one of the women that kissed up to me looking for a date with the billionaire. “So, Lynn obviously doesn’t know.” It was low of me, but I had every intention of using her love for her friend to get her to tell me what’s going on.
“Apparently not,” she said. “I’ll talk to her.”
“Was he abusive, Emma? Is that why you’re so upset to see him with Lynn?”
“Nicholas, please,” she said, pulling back to look up at my face. “I really don’t want to talk about it.”
I sighed and pulled her back in. “I’m sorry. I just feel really protective of you already.”
“Be
lieve it or not, I’m pretty good at taking care of myself.”
“I believe you, but if I’m in your life, I’m not going to let anyone hurt you, even emotionally.”
She pulled back again. God, she’s beautiful. When she looked up at me the way she did then, I forget everything that was on my mind previously. I might have even been convinced to forget my own name. “Thank you, Nicholas. He’s not hurting me. I was just surprised to see him. He’s not a nice person, and the fact that he’s with Lynn does bother me. I don’t want to see her hurt.”
“Is he dangerous, Emma?”
“No, just an annoyance.” I saw her eyes flit over to the table. Lynn and Miguel were no longer there. Once again, I felt her tense in my arms. “Where are they?”
My eyes scanned the dance floor but there was no sign of them. “Maybe they’ve gone back to look at the art.” She was so anxious all of a sudden that she was shaking. I didn’t like that.
“We should find them,” she said, robotically.
“Okay, Emma, that’s it.” I took her by the hand and led her across the dance floor and to the front door of the ballroom.
“What are you doing, Nicholas? Where are we going?”
“We need to talk.” I propelled her out the doors and down the long hall toward the back exit. I opened that door and we stepped out underneath the almost full moon and stars. When I turned back and looked down at her, I had to remind myself why we were out here. I wanted to kiss her so much. “Now, tell me the truth, Emma.”
“I told you.”
“No. You told me you used to date and it ended badly. That could mean so many things. Is Lynn in danger? Are you?”
“He has a temper. I don’t like the idea of her being alone with him.”
“Has he ever hurt you, Emma?” She looked down at the ground and said,
“No.”
She was good at making eye contact when we talked. Even when we’d touched on sex and her face was bright red, she’d looked me in the eyes. She was lying and I had a sudden, horrible thought.
“The bruises on your back…that son of a bitch did that, didn’t he?”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
EMMA
“No, Nicholas,” I protested. I looked up at his handsome face. It was hard to lie while looking into his eyes. “He didn’t hurt me. I fell down the stairs.”
“I don’t believe you. Think about your friend, Emma. Lynn is your best friend. If he would do this to you, what might he do to her?”
I was thinking about Lynn and my stomach was in knots because of it. I didn’t want Nicholas involved in this. Nicholas was rich and powerful in the business world, but Miguel’s family’s power is far-reaching and much more sinister.
“He wouldn’t hurt her.”
“How do you know that?”
“He doesn’t have any reason to hurt her.”
“But he has a reason to hurt you?” I didn’t say anything and he continued, “The longer we play this game, Emma, the more of a chance there is that he’s hurting Lynn.”
“I told you, he won’t hurt her.”
He changed his tactics again and caught me off guard by saying, “Where did you meet this guy, Emma?”
“I met him here in Las Vegas while he was on vacation. We didn’t date long.”
“So, now he’s back and he’s stalking you. He’s been following me ever since the night we had dinner, and now he shows up here with your best friend. I don’t believe you fell down the stairs, either. I saw the look in your eyes when that guy walked in – it was fear. We’re calling the police.”
“No! No…this has nothing to do with you, Nicholas. You can’t control my life. We’ve barely started seeing each other. Who do you think you are, stepping in and telling me what I am going to do?”
I hated talking to him that way. It made my heart hurt. But I could see that I made a mistake getting so close to him so quickly. I should have run when I had the chance. Miguel had been following him. His anger at seeing me go into Nicholas’ penthouse was going to be taken out on him instead of me. I’d put both him and Lynn in the middle of all of this.
There were rumors back home about Miguel’s family and the way they dealt with those that crossed them. It was one of the reasons I’d dreaded marrying him so. They were scary people, and I’d put the only two people here that care about me right in the line of fire. I’d made a terrible mistake. “I’d like to go home now.” I pulled my hand from his and turned away.
“Emma, I only want to help.”
“I know. I just don’t want your help. I’d like to go home now. Should I call a cab?”
He sighed and said, “Of course not. I’ll take you.”
“You don’t have to leave the gala; if you don’t mind just having your driver drop me at home—”
“I’m going,” he said. It was both exasperating and touching that he was so set on protecting me. He hardly knew me. I didn’t have the energy to fight with him, so I just said,
“That’s fine.” While we waited for the car to be brought around, I started to call Lynn but decided it would be better to wait and talk to her in person. I just had to believe he wouldn’t hurt her. What I told Nicholas was true; Miguel didn’t have any reason to hurt her. He knew where I was. If he wanted to hurt someone, he could easily find me.
We rode home in silence. Nicholas was tense and I could tell that it was taking all his self-control not to question me more about Miguel. That was good because after tonight, he wasn’t going to be a part of this any longer. I was going to leave this time, and then Miguel would leave, too, and my friends would be safe and out of his realm. I almost felt guilty that I was kind of happy he’d be busy with Lynn tonight. That would give me a chance to pack up and get out of town while he wasn’t watching.
The car pulled up in front of my building and I looked at Nicholas and said, “Thank you, Nicholas. I’m sorry the night didn’t turn out the way we’d planned.”
“I’m walking you up,” he said. His jaw was set and he looked angry. Once again, I wasn’t going to argue with him. I got out of the door the chauffeur was holding open for me and didn’t wait for him. He caught up to me in about two steps and by the time I reached the front door, he was right next to me.
I didn’t know him all that well, but I was willing to guess the guy was always up for a challenge and I wasn’t going to challenge him on the small stuff. I reached for the door, but he beat me to it. When he pulled it open, I brushed past him and headed for the stairs.
“Thank you, Nicholas; this is far enough.” He just stood there looking at me with those intense eyes. I rolled mine and started up the stairs. He followed me. When I got to the door and took out my key, he took it out of my hand. Once again, I rolled my eyes, but I wasn’t going to wrestle him for it. He unlocked the door and stepped inside, flipping on the lights as he did. The room was suddenly flooded with soft light and everything was in its place.
“Okay, see, nobody here. You can go now.” That was all I got out before he reached out and grabbed me around the waist. He pulled me up against him, and I let out a little cry as my body collided with his. Everything was hard and when his mouth came down on mine, I didn’t fight it.
His kiss was moist and hot and demanding. His probing tongue explored my mouth hungrily and made my toes curl and set my body on fire. I was clutching onto his shirt, mostly to keep myself from sliding down to the floor. My legs felt like wet noodles. We kissed frantically for a long time.
He turned and pushed me against the wall finally, and pulled back, putting his hands on either side of me and using his legs to hold me up. He was panting, and the look on his face was so intense that it almost frightened me. I tried to speak, but I was so out of breath that it didn’t even sound like my voice,
“Wh-what was that?”
“I’ve wanted to do that all night, even when we were arguing.”
“So you just…do it?”
“I didn’t feel any resistance.”
“Well, I don’t want to do it again.”
He laughed. “Is that why you’re breathing so heavily and shaking all over?”
“It’s from the shock that you’d take such a liberty.”
He laughed again. “Sometimes you talk like a much older woman than 21.” He ran his thumb across my swollen bottom lip. Before I knew what I was doing, I let out a long, deep moan. I felt his body shake as he chuckled.
“That sounded like strong resistance there. I’m not going to force you to do anything,” he said in a serious tone, “but just for a while, I need to hold you…please. I’m worried about you. I’ve only just gotten to know you and I already can’t stand the thought of anything happening to you.”
His voice sounded strangled and it went straight to my heart. There had been so few people in my life that cared enough about me to worry. My own parents only worried about the kind of impression I made on people in public. Behind closed doors, I raised myself and my siblings in the presence of cold and uncaring nannies.
I lost my mind…just for a second. I reached up and ran my hand along the side of his face, and then without thinking it through any further, I pulled his face down so that our lips met and I kissed him.
His arms surrounded my waist again and locked around my lower back. I brought my hands down from his face to his chest. I could feel the heat surging through him even through his shirt. I needed this. I needed him. Just for tonight.
I slid my tongue alongside his and whimpered. My hips shifted against his, and he let out a sexy moan into my mouth. My nipples tightened so hard that they felt like they might rip right through my dress. He slid his hands up slowly as we kissed until they landed on the side of my face. He rested his palms against my neck and used his thumbs to rub slow, sexy circles across my lips and jaw. My fingers curled and flexed against his chest, new feelings surging through every part of my body and every nerve I possessed was raw.