by Vi Keeland
“Come on, I’ll take you out to grab a bite.” Although he doesn’t release the hold he has on me. He watches me for a few seconds longer and then smiles down at me. “What is it about you, Elle?”
It’s a question, but his face tells me he doesn’t really expect an answer.
Chapter 12
Nico
“I think I wanna go back in.” My words stop Preach in his tracks and he isn’t prepared for the shot I land into his sparring gloves. He winds up on his ass.
I extend a hand down to him on the floor and he gets up rubbing his hip. “Do you think you can tell me this shit when I’m not going to get a bruise. A fucking cup of coffee. Maybe we sit down over a cup of coffee and discuss things like normal people for a change.”
I shake my head at the drama of Preach. He’s bugged the crap out of me for over a year and then he complains at the way I tell him I’m ready. Fucking Preach.
“Why the change of heart son?”
“Does it matter? You’ve been up my ass for a year and now I tell you what you’ve been wanting to hear and you start questioning it.”
“How was your date last night?” A voice comes from behind me. I hadn’t seen Lily walk in. I’m starting to regret hiring her to do my books. Her timing sucks and she’s got a big mouth.
“The checkbook is upstairs.” I don’t respond to her question.
“Date?” Her comment gets Preach’s attention.
“Oh, you haven’t told Preach about Elle?” Lily drags out her words. She sounds like my sister teasing me. I’m suddenly glad that I grew up with three brothers who had no interest in gossip or my love life. I shoot Lily a look that says go away, but she stands her ground and her and Preach begin to talk about me like I’m not even there. She tells Preach about Elle and the two of them lap up the shit like two schoolgirls.
I’m stopped, waiting for Preach, and I feel my muscles starting to go cold. There’s a pause in their chatter and I dart into the conversation before they can resume. “Think we can get back to work ladies? I’m not paying both your asses to stand around and talk about me like I’m not even here.”
Lily smirks at Preach, but takes the hint and heads upstairs to get the books.
Preach lifts the pads he’s holding to block my hits back up and I bounce up and down a few times to get the blood flowing again before I swing my leg high into the air and land a strong strike in the middle of the reflector pads, exactly where I aimed the kick.
“The girl have anything to do with your decision to get back into the cage?” Preach says as he repositions himself for the blow he thinks will come next.
I decide to change it up with a roundhouse that lands just barely on the reflector pads. He wasn’t expecting another leg, and it catches him off guard, but he’s able to recover and protect himself at the last minute.
I again ignore Preach’s question about Elle. I don’t even know if she likes MMA, so I’m not getting back into the cage to impress her, if that’s what he thinks. The timing just feels right. I don’t know why or what changed, I just feel ready today.
Chapter 13
Elle
“I can’t believe you broke it off with William!” Regina claps her hands together in excitement as we tear into our lunch delivery. It’s almost three and we are just getting around to eating. The day has been so busy. Leonard is due back next week and I’ll be glad to go back to only dealing with my own caseload.
I’m surprised at Regina’s excitement over my decision to end things with William. I always thought she liked him. “I thought you liked William?”
“I do dear. It’s just. I don’t know...” Regina trails off.
“Say it.” I prompt her in a tone that tells her I really want to hear what she has to say.
“He’s very nice, and handsome too.”
“And?” I prompt.
“He’s smart and polite.”
“This doesn’t sound like a list of the reasons that you would be happy I’ve stopped seeing someone.” I pop a small cherry tomato into my mouth from my salad. “It sounds like the reasons you tell someone to start seeing them.”
Regina smiles, but her face turns serious when she speaks. “I had twenty years with my husband, and I don’t regret a minute of that time. He wasn’t always polite, he didn’t stand when I entered a room, he used foul language at the dinner table, but it was there.”
I furrow my brow. I know she is trying to be helpful, but I’m not quite sure how any of what she is saying supports my breaking up with William.
Regina sees my confusion and continues. “But when he walked into a room, he took my breath away. He made my heart race and even after twenty years of marriage, I still wanted to rip his clothes off when he looked at me and I saw things in his eyes.”
My mind goes to Nico. I feel those things about him. He makes my knees weak and tests my self-control like I’ve never endured before. I look up at Regina and see the pain fresh in her eyes. It’s been more than ten years, but she still misses him like it happened yesterday. It saddens me to realize the strength of what she had and now it was gone.
I smile at Regina and nod in silence, letting her know I understand what she’s trying to tell me.
“So let’s get to the good stuff. When are you going out with Nico Hunter? That man looks at you like he wants to eat you alive.” Regina wiggles her eyebrows suggestively. A look that she seems to use a lot when it comes to the subject of Nico Hunter.
I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I went directly from my break up with William to Nico’s place last night, so I leave out some of the sordid details. “I saw him last night.” My voice is low and sheepish.
“You dirty, dirty girl. I didn’t think you had it in you!” Regina is teasing, I can see she’s delighted at my news.
My face blushes as I think of what Nico looked like in his loft last night with no shirt on. He is quite possibly the most delectable thing I have ever laid eyes on. But I’m confused as to why he seems to put distance between us at certain times. Before we left to get dinner, I was sure that he was feeling what I felt. I could have sworn that I saw it in his eyes. There was desire there and I’m positive of it.
We had a great time at dinner too. There is no uncomfortable silence in our conversations and we both laughed through half of our meals. It’s like we’ve known each other for years. Time goes by so quickly with him, the restaurant was almost empty when we finally realized it was time to leave. That’s why I was a tangle of emotions when we got back to his place and he didn’t try to get me to stay.
“We just went to dinner. Although I’ll admit I was a little disappointed that he didn’t try to get me to stay afterwards.”
“I’m sure he was just being respectful Elle. Did you tell him you wanted to stay?”
“No.”
Regina is about to respond when a deliveryman walks in carrying a huge bouquet of wildflowers. “Delivery for Elle James.”
Neither one of us can wait until the deliveryman is out the door before I rip into the card with Regina peering over my shoulder. “Couldn’t sleep all night thinking about you after you left.”
Regina’s smile beamed, as excited for me as I was. Truly a great friend.
Chapter 14
Elle
I leave work at five, instead of my usual seven or eight on Friday night so I have time to get ready for my date with Nico. I shave my legs and put on a matching lace bra and underwear set…just in case. Not that I’m planning on sleeping with him tonight, but I’d be kidding myself to think I’d stop it if things started to escalate. Nico Hunter might just be my kryptonite.
The buzzer rings and I feel like I’m fifteen again. The cute boy is about to talk to me and I swallow my words like an idiot and embarrass myself when I choke as I try to bring them back up. What the hell is wrong with me? I am smart and in control, and I’m acting like a complete idiot. I open the door and smile. Actually, I think I might have swooned instead of smiled. Do people actually
swoon?
I step out of the way to allow Nico to enter. He takes one step inside and then turns to face me. My back is up against the door as he drops his head low to meet mine, brushing his lips softly against my mouth. “Hey.”
“Hey.” My response is breathless from just a whisper of his lips against mine.
Nico has mischief in his eyes that makes me want him to do things to me. It fuels my desire for his strong arms to pin me against the door and leave me powerless. It’s not a feeling I’m familiar with, and it scares me to feel it as much as it excites me.
He enters my apartment and suddenly it feels smaller with such a massive man standing inside. “You cooked?”
“If you can call it that.”
“It smells good.” Nico crinkles up his nose and it is an absolutely adorable face. One that looks like he’s five years old. I’m so enthralled by how such a large, powerful man can look so adorable, that it takes me a minute for his words to register. “But I think something is burning.”
Smoke billows out of the oven when I open the door. I grab two oven mitts from behind me and pull out the salmon that fell victim to my incapable culinary hands. The pretty peachy-pink color is now brown on the top. I don’t know how it could have burned so quickly, it had only been in there for less than half an hour.
Nico comes behind me and reaches to my side and turns the dial to the oven. “Bake, not broil.”
Looking up at him, he can see that his words meant nothing to me, so he explains. “You needed to put the oven on bake, not broil.”
Nico walks over to my refrigerator and opens the door to help himself. I see him grab something out of the cabinet, but I’m too busy trying to figure out how to salvage the mess I’ve made to pay any attention. He sets down a glass of wine he’s poured me on the counter next to me and leans back against the counter in my U-shaped kitchen.
I lift the glass to my mouth and take a long sip before turning to face Nico, a few feet away from me. “I’m sorry, dinner is ruined.”
Nico smiles at me and says nothing for a minute. “Come here,” his voice is low and soft and he extends a thick arm to me. I comply and his arms wrap around my waist, gathering me close against his hard chest as he lowers his mouth to mine. Our lips connect and I follow his lead as his open. His tongue slowly licks the outline of my lips, sending a shiver down my spine.
A low moan escapes my mouth and I feel his grip tighten in response. I surprise even myself when I bite down on his lower lip, drawing a low groan from him that makes what’s between my legs swell with excitement. Nico tilts his head and our kiss deepens, our tongues explore each other’s mouth with a passion I’ve never known or expected, yet it feels so natural and right.
We’re both panting loudly when we come up for air. “I missed you.” His voice is low and raspy. Sinful. It’s only been two days since we saw each other, but I’ve missed him too.
“Me too.” I manage to get out between breaths.
Nico’s grip tightens on me almost to the point that it’s painful, but I don’t care. His hands are at my lower back and when he pulls me closer, I can feel his erection against my belly and I want to reach between us and grab him. Feel his thickness that is throbbing against me.
I think he’s going to kiss me again, but instead he plants a soft kiss on the tip of my nose and then my forehead before engulfing me in a bear hug. It’s such a tender moment and so unexpected after the passion of his kiss just a minute ago.
Too soon after, Nico loosens his grip on me.
“Where is your menu drawer?”
“How do you know I have a menu drawer?”
“I’ve seen how you cook first hand now, remember?”
Playfully, I smack at his stomach with the back of my hand and it meets a brick wall. “Second drawer down to the right of the sink.”
Nico rummages through my menus. “You eat this junk?”
“Which one?” I look over at the pile of menus thinking he’s found one that he doesn’t approve of.
“All of them.” For the first time, I look at my heap of menus and recognize that it’s a pretty thick pile.
“Only when I want to eat.” I smirk and Nico shakes his head disapprovingly, but I can tell he’s teasing me. If I had a body that looked like his, I’d only feed it healthy food too. I might even learn to cook if I looked like him.
One menu catches his attention and seems to meet with his approval. “Is there anything you don’t eat?”
“I’m pretty easy.”
My response earns me a devilish grin before Nico takes out his cell phone and orders.
After we’re done eating, Nico shows me the movie he brought and I look down at the movie, then at his face.
“Do you really want to watch this?”
The corner of his mouth twitches upward in barely concealed amusement. “Not really.”
“Then why did you bring it?”
“I thought you’d like it?”
I tilt my head to assess the man. He earns credit for bringing something that he thought I would like, but I’m not going to let him off this easy.
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why did you think I would like The Notebook?”
“Because you’re a woman and women like this mushy crap.”
Taking his hand, I lead him to my closet off the living room and open the door to reveal two shelves filled with some of my favorite movies. He peruses the titles and then looks back at me in shock, as if I had just showed him the dead body I kept locked in the closet instead of a simple movie collection.
“You like action movies?”
“The more jumping out of planes, the better.”
Nico wraps his arm around my waist and turns me, pulling me to his chest before planting a chaste kiss on my mouth. He looks down at me. “Yep, totally worth it.” I almost don’t hear his words, they’re spoken so low.
“Worth what?”
Another kiss is planted on my mouth. “Nothing.”
***
Throughout the movie we have periodic make out sessions. Nico’s big hands glide up and down the side of my body. His fingers slow as they pass the curve of my breasts and his thumb just barely grazes the swell underneath so that I can’t be sure if his fingers touched me or just came really close.
As the movie credits roll on the screen, we’re locked in a steamy kiss that I don’t want to stop. My hands slowly feel their way down from his muscular chest and stop on his abdomen. I’ve never been the one to make the first move, but I don’t care at this point. I want more from this man. Need more. My hands slip under his shirt and I gently score my nails against his tight flesh as my hands retrace their path down, stopping as I feel the top of his waistband.
A low growl erupts from Nico and he guides my back down on the couch as he climbs on top of me. With his weight pushing into me, I can feel every muscle up against mine and I swear I might finish before our naked flesh ever meets. He’s just that damn incredible to feel. A low moan from somewhere within me escapes and our kissing becomes deeper, almost frantic.
Groaning, Nico sits up and leaves me breathless on the couch. My body is desperate and I need more. When I look up, I find Nico running his hands through his hair in frustration.
“Why did you stop?” My voice comes out like a whiney high school girl who is unsure of herself with her new boyfriend. But that’s what the man has reduced me to, heavy panting and desire with no happy ending.
“You have no idea how hard it is to stop.” His voice is raw and honest and filled with emotion. Somehow it makes me feel better knowing it isn’t easy for him. But it also confuses me. Why does he keep stopping?
“So why then?”
Nico struggles for a moment, “Because you need to really know who I am first, maybe then I won’t scare you away.”
“Why would you scare me away?”
He thinks for a long moment, before he responds. “Because it’s who I am.” Nico looks at me and
touches the side of my face gently with his thumb. “You’re a beautiful, smart, strong woman who is used to being treated like a lady.”
I’m confused at his words and Nico sees it on my face. He pulls me to him and buries his face in my neck. His breath is so close to my ear when he speaks, I feel the words throughout my body as he speaks them. “But when I finally get you underneath me, I’m definitely not going to treat you like a lady.”
Chapter 15
Elle
Regina buzzes in to tell me William is on the phone. It’s the first time I’ve heard from him since I told him I couldn’t see him anymore. When I told him I wanted to remain friends, it wasn’t just a line. Our friendship is important to me, and I’m glad he called, although I hadn’t expected to hear from him so soon.
“Hi.”
“Hey.” A second too long goes by that makes me feel like this might be an awkward conversation.
“I wanted to let you know that your letter was a success.” William’s tone is more business than friendship.
Momentarily, I’m not following the conversation. Then I realize what he must be referring to. “They’re going to let Nico out of the contract?”
“Yes, they seem to agree with you that it’s in their best interest to walk away rather than entertain a public lawsuit regarding their ethics.” My letter was a bit more underhanded than I normally would like. A thinly disguised, veiled threat to remind them we didn’t even have to be successful in a lawsuit over their ethics. The damage to their reputation would come through public persona, just from trying the case in a public forum.
“That’s great news. Have you told Nico yet?” My voice comes out a little more excited than I had intended it to.
“No. I called you first. If you want to call him and give him the good news, that’s okay with me.”
Briefly, I feel badly about wanting to be the one who tells Nico the good news. But another part of me wants to be the one that pleases him. William tells me he will fax over the termination paperwork for my review and I agree to look at it as soon as it comes over since they want a response quickly.