deal me any more blows, it got up and punched me in the face.
How was I supposed to get over this? What should...?
My brain gave up mid-thought and led me into darkness.
I woke in the early hours, desperate to use the bathroom. My mouth tasted like day-old pizza, and of course, I didn’t have a toothbrush. I’d need to borrow a spare from the vanity and replace it tomorrow.
Sleeping in jeans had given me stripy legs from the seams, and my polo neck left me sweating. Once my mouth was minty fresh again, I stripped down to my underwear, flushed the toilet, and headed back to bed.
Everything else would have to wait until morning.
Or so I thought. Fate had other ideas.
I’d only gotten one toe under the quilt when the door flew open. In a near repeat of our first meeting, I stared down the black barrel of the gun Nick pointed at me.
What was a girl to do? Well, I took the only sensible option and screamed.
Unlike last time, Nick lowered the weapon right away, and with the gun out of my face, I realised there was one significant difference to last time.
Nick wasn’t wearing black.
In fact, he wasn’t wearing anything. Holy hell!
“Baby, what the fuck are you doing here?”
Oh, crap. I dragged my eyes up to his face. “Uh, someone’s been in my apartment, and I was scared.”
“What do you mean, someone’s been in your apartment?”
“They used my toothbrush,” I squeaked. “And I panicked and threw up. And do you think you could put some clothes on because I’m having trouble looking at your face?”
Hell, did I just say that last bit out loud? Please, just raise the gun again and shoot me. It’d save me from having to do it myself.
Nick merely smirked as he nodded in my direction. “That’s hardly fair. You’re not exactly dressed yourself.”
Oh freaking fudge, I wasn’t! I snatched up the quilt and wrapped it around myself, then squeezed my eyes closed so everything would go away.
“Why are you here?” I mumbled.
“I live here.”
“But you haven’t been here all week. I didn’t think you’d be back.”
“I wanted to talk to you. I thought I’d wait for you to arrive in the morning.”
This was it. He was going to fire me, wasn’t he?
“Well, we’re both here now. So if you don’t want me to be your housekeeper anymore, you can just say it.”
The pause was so long I cracked an eyelid open to check he hadn’t disappeared. Although if it turned out I was dreaming, that would have solved a lot of problems.
But Nick was still there, natural as life and twice as large. And then he shrugged. “I don’t want you to be my housekeeper anymore.”
CHAPTER 41
SOMETHING INSIDE ME broke. No, not something. My heart, or what was left of it. Pieces pierced every atom in me as it shattered into a thousand tiny pieces. I closed my eyes again. They say the eyes are the window to a person’s soul, and I didn’t want Nick to know mine was bleeding.
So I didn’t see him move. Or hear him. I only felt his lips on mine, gently caressing as his tongue coaxed my mouth open. When I allowed him in, he kissed me deeply with the sweetness of a fresh apple pie. Delicious, moreish, and if you tried hard enough, you could almost believe it was good for you.
I almost didn’t want to open my eyes, but I had to. I needed to look at him. When I did, he pulled back.
“Baby, if you want me to leave, tell me now and I’ll go. But if I stay, I’m not stopping for anything. Time could end and the world could fall apart, but that wouldn’t stop me from making love to you tonight.”
“Stay.”
Emmy popped briefly into my head, but I trusted Nick. Bradley must have been right about their romance being over. Nick wouldn’t cheat on her, would he? He was far too much of a gentleman.
Although there was nothing gentle about his next kiss. Fire burst through my veins as he pulled me against him, and the quilt slithered to the floor. Then we were skin on skin. Nick hardened against me as he ravaged my mouth, and I wrapped my arms around him. The results of his hours in the gym rippled as I ran my fingertips up his back. Wow.
We fell back on the bed, and his weight pressed onto me, sending my pulse on a crazy gallop. I wanted