Chapter 28

ChapterTwenty-Eight

Nick

Snow crunches under the weight of Allie’s tires as she pulls up to the house. I twist in my office chair, glancing out the window and seeing Sadie laughing with Allie. I’ve always liked Allie. I’ve always liked her for Trevor. They had their rough patches, dating in high school, falling away, exploring other people, and finally, after years of jealousy, frustration, and fights that made little to no sense to me at all, they finally found their way back to each other.

Trevor hadn’t been the same man without Allie. So I’m happy he has her. And now I’m happy my girl has her. My girl...

The passenger door opens, and Sadie kicks out a foot, but her body is still twisted and she’s still talking to Allie. Whatever they’re talking about has her full attention. I can’t take my eyes off her as her hands come up to cover a laugh, big, shocked eyes focused on Allie. Knowing Allie, she said something crazy—and knowing Sadie, she’s blushing.

Sadie left early this morning, and she’s been gone all day. I didn’t realize how lonely my house felt without the presence of a woman. My house comes alive with her in it, and when she’s gone it doesn’t feel right. Even the cat meowed his agony at the door, doing this for a solid thirty minutes before I came out of my office, gave him a scratch behind his ears and invited him inside with me. He curled himself up on the chair in the corner next to the bookshelf, and that’s where he stayed for hours waiting for her. Just like I waited for her.

She makes a crazy hand gesture at Allie, and I wonder what they’re talking about as Allie laughs, throwing her head back against the seat. Sadie does something else before she leaps out of the car, calling out something to Allie as Allie hangs over the console to yell back. Sadie responds, and the girls laugh again before she pulls open the back door, tugs a lot of bags into her arms, and closes the door.

She starts for my house, and I watch, my heart warming in my chest with the anticipation of seeing her. I have to stop myself from meeting her at the door like a puppy.

What the fuck has gotten into me?The woman—Sadie—sunshine and seduction. That’s what’s gotten into me.

Geez.

I hear the front door open and close, the sound of bags hitting the floor as she kicks off her boots and strips from her jacket. I itch to greet her. But I feel so fucking pathetic that I sit in place. I left my office door open, so I figure she’ll pop in and say hi. She always says hi, always stops to chat with me while I work whenever I leave the door open for her. So I expect it now. I can’t wait for it.

I want to see her in my space. I want to pull her against my chest and inhale her scent.

I want to taste her mouth. I want to claim it, and devour it, and sink deep inside it.

But she doesn’t stop at my office. She’s a brunette blur in a soft green sweater and black leggings as she races past. Now, I know she saw my door was open. And I know that her not popping in is weird. The fuck?

I push away from my desk as the door to the spare room opens and she darts inside. I can hear that she’s running, her feet hitting the floor in quick pitter patters.

Why is she running?

What is she running from?

Is she running from me?

I move across the distance of my office quickly, but Claus beats me to the door. He’s just as excited to see her as I am, and probably just as confused as to why she’s running away from us. I move down the hall quickly, seeing her drop her bags onto the bed—but I’m confident she’s kicked something under the bed as well as I lean my shoulder into the doorframe. I study her as she spins, her cheeks red and her eyes bright, to face me.

Breathlessly, she greets, “Hey.”

“Hey,” I return as Claus weaves between her feet before he jumps onto the bed.

“How was your day?” she asks innocently. She’s hiding something. I know she is.

I want to know what.

“Good. Yours?”

“It was great. You know you have the best stuffed French toast here, right?”

“I can’t say that I’ve ever had it.” My eyes drag the length of her as she stands on guard in front of the loot she’s placed on the bed. Or maybe it’s not the loot on the bed, but whatever she’s kicked under it she really doesn’t want me to see. It’s cute as hell that she thinks I’m buying whatever it is she thinks she’s selling right now.

“Well, it’s the best so you’ll definitely have to try it.” She’s trying to distract me, I realize, as she sets in describing the stuffed French toast.

She’s talking about the creamy filling when I interrupt, “See you did a lot of shopping today. What’d you find?”

“Oh, this and that. There’s a lot of cool shops. A lot of stuff to see.” Her face is getting redder and redder as she keeps up with her act. She’s nervous, and I like knowing she’s shit at hiding things. “I could spend another day in town. Just wandering around.”

I decide to let her off the hook, just a bit. “We get a lot of tourists with the ski resort. It’s in the town’s best interest to have some shops to go with it.”

“Well, that’s me. I’m a tourist.” She licks her lips and snaps her fingers. “So, they hooked me right in.”

“Yeah?” I lift my chin, my eyes not leaving hers. “What’d you get?”

Her chest rises on a sharp inhale, and she drags her palms over her thighs. Yeah, she’s definitely nervous. She’s also cute as hell when she’s freaking out.

But I want to know why she’s nervous. I want to know what she’s hiding in that bag under the bed.

“Umm,” she stutters as she thinks about her answer. I fight the grin I feel pulling at my mouth. “Clothes. A cute little snow globe for Katie of the ski resort—stuff.”

“Ahh,” my pitch lowers. “You know you’re in my room now, right?”

“Yeah.” Her face starts to pink again, and her hands begin tapping a nervous rhythm against her thighs.

She would make an awful poker player, I think, and make a mental note to never allow her near the game.

“Then why are you dumping your bags in here?”

“I—um—I didn’t want to mess up your room.”

“Baby, I don’t mind if you mess up my room. While you’re here, it’s yours too.”

She glances back at the bed and nibbles on the corner of her lip.

Yeah, she’s freaking out. “Well, then I guess I’ll just take it all up then.”

I shift making room for her to pass by me as I call her bluff. “Sounds like a good idea.”

I want to see if she’ll leave whatever it is she’s trying to hide from me.

Her eyes get big, and she squeaks when she asks, “Now?”

“There a problem with now?”

“Nooooo.” My little liar drags out the word, searching desperately for another excuse to linger with her hidden loot and I very nearly bust a gut, but at the last moment I swallow my bark of laughter, pinning her with dark eyes.

She shivers, and desire swells in my chest. This woman is so responsive to me, even my gaze makes her shiver. For a moment, we’re locked in each other’s gazes before Claus has had enough of being ignored, and he leaps off the bed to rub his body between her legs. She blinks down at the cat, bending to give him a scratch as I watch her.

When she looks up at me again, her lips parted, her eyes bright, I can’t help myself—I can’t resist anymore, and I cross the distance between us, catching her around the nape of her neck, my hand sliding between warm skin and silky hair as I pull her up from her crouch. Finally, like I wanted to do all day, I claim her mouth. She whimpers as my tongue invades, and my body presses hers into mine as I wind my other hand around the small of her back, pinning her to me.

This woman is like a drug. I was hooked on the first hit. Now, I don’t think I could survive a day without her—without tasting her.

When I pull away, her lips are red and bruised and fucking beautiful. I’ve never been a man interested in marking a woman, but if I could tattoo my name on this woman, I would. I want the world to know she’s mine.

Iwant to know that she’s mine.

“I’ve got another hour of work and then I’m taking you to dinner.” I drop my hold on her, listening to the sharp inhale that she pulls into her lungs and force myself to move to the door when all I want to do is throw her onto the bed and ravish her. “Get ready, yeah?”

She nods but doesn’t speak as I pause at the mouth of the hall. My eyes give one more pointed look to the bag she’s shoved under the bed before I let her off easy as exit the room.

I think I hear her sigh of relief, and a grin splits my face.