only been on one date.”
“Two. The restaurant,” she reminded him.
“All right. Two, and that’s no basis to plunge into something, but… I can’t imagine living in this house without you. It was always yours. I just happened to move in. And if you want, you can be the one to buy this place.”
“What? You bought the place. That’s what Marty said Jennifer told Richard.” She laughed. “Okay, that sounded really strange. And talk about hearsay.”
“I signed on for a rent-to-own land contract. I’d planned to back out, but now I don’t want to. Will you consider giving up your apartment and moving in with me?”
Marty had warned her not to be impetuous when Nick returned. If Nick returned, Marty kept saying. And Ames had promised to be wise. She would date the man and see where it led. No head-over-heels jumping for her, she’d promised her friend.
But now Nick was standing here, streaked with red paint and asking her if she wanted to change her life completely. Ames, the woman who never took risks, who hadn’t even made it to the east coast to visit New York in all these years of dreaming.
Nick had taken a huge leap and now held out his hand and asked her to jump too. He was reckless, comfortable with violence, and she barely knew him.
But she loved him and trusted him completely. “Yes. Yes, please,” she said.
He drew her with him to the newly remodeled master bathroom. Ames cringed as they left traces of red on the pristine white tile, which had only just been installed, but it washed away once Nick turned on the shower.
Watching the pink water swirl around the drain, Ames couldn’t help but think of all the bloodshed that had swirled around her and Nick and how close both of them had come to being killed because of her brother’s crime.
Nick’s warm arms pulled her back against his hard body. Jets of water beat down on both their heads as he pressed a kiss to her temple. “What are you thinking?”
“That life’s really fragile. And short. And that my brother’s a real asshole.”
“He kinda is. That postcard you told me about. What a dick,” Nick agreed, hugging her tight. They rocked together under the stream of water. She heaved a sigh of contentment.
He must not have understood her happy sigh, because he slid his hands up and down her wet sides and said, “Ames? You’re so quiet. Maybe I shouldn’t have sprung the idea of moving in first thing. That was wrong.”
She looked at him over her shoulder, blinking the rivulets of water from her eyes. “No, it wasn’t wrong. I know exactly where you’re coming from after what we’ve both been through. When something feels so right, it seems stupid to postpone it.”
“Exactly. I want you in my life in every way starting like yesterday.” He reached for the brand-new puff and shower gel Ames had placed in the shower, worked up a lather and began to wash Ames’s back. The scratch of the puff felt good, but not nearly as good as Nick’s hand rubbing behind it.
His fingers slid over her back and sides, working her muscles under the slippery gel. The puff skittered down her leg and dropped to the shower floor as he curved his hands around her, pulled her back against him again.
She wiggled her hips and gave a breathless laugh when he growled in her ear. They made it out of the shower before the water grew icy, and made love on a damp pile of towels and bedding.
Afterwards, he opened his eyes and gave her a heavy-lidded smile. “Hey, I can see you’re starting in with the doubts. Just so you know, I don’t usually leave damp towels lying on the floor or bed.”
She got out of the bed, grabbed one of the offending towels and draped it over the bedstead. A cool draft touched her naked skin, which seemed to be more sensitive now, as if Nick’s touch had awakened more nerve endings. She sat on the edge of the bed and watched the muscles move under his golden skin. Before she could be distracted by his torso, she directed her gaze back to his eyes. “It’s more than that,” she said.
The lazy smile vanished. “Go on.”
“No, I don’t mean it’s bad. It’s just that maybe we should have one of those conversations you’re supposed to have when you’re dating. We’ve done the future, and I like that. But we skipped a