way back to Nick’s, the sound of my heart racing drowned out the engine. At least that’s how it sounded to me.
“Sorry we cut out early,” he said, yawning. “I didn’t feel like sticking around when Selina turned up. Thanks for helping me out there, by the way.”
“It’s fine. I didn’t lie about being tired, and my feet hurt from all the dancing.”
“Sit back.”
“What?”
“Sit back.”
I did as instructed, then squealed as Nick swung my feet up onto his lap. What on earth was he doing? He took off my right shoe and dropped it onto the floor, followed by the left. Oh. Oh! He was massaging my feet. I tried to snatch them away.
“Lara, relax.”
“But my feet are icky.”
“They’re not icky. They’re perfect, just like the rest of you. Stop wriggling.”
My bones liquefied, and when Nick’s thumbs dug into exactly the right spot, I couldn’t have moved if I’d wanted to. Was it possible to have an orgasm from a foot massage? Because I was in serious danger of finding out. My head dropped back, and I’m pretty sure I let out a moan.
Then we were back at the house. Too fast. Far too fast. The driver opened the door, and Nick scooped me up, carrying me towards the front door with my shoes in one hand.
“I can walk.”
“Yes, I know, but tonight you’re not.”
He lugged me all the way up the stairs and deposited me gently outside my bedroom door. Although the last time he’d done that, he made it look easy, tonight his breathing seemed laboured. Had I eaten too much in the last few days?
Thoughts of the diet I should have been on vanished as he leaned in. Our foreheads touched, and his warm breath washed over me, smelling slightly of whisky I hadn’t noticed him drinking. Me? I froze.
Close. Nick was so close. Just half an inch away, and if I moved a fraction, his lips would be on mine. His eyes opened, and there was a depth to them I’d never seen before. An abyss I could fall into and never again see the light of day. Then the shutters came down, and the moment was lost. He kissed me softly on the cheek before pulling back.
“Good night, Lara.”
“Good night,” I whispered as he disappeared along the hallway.
The slam of his bedroom door echoed through the house as I quietly closed my own.
CHAPTER 25
IN ADLER HOUSE, I’d almost finished setting the table for lunch. Nick had complimented my fajitas last time I made them, and this time, I made sure to buy extra guacamole because he’d covered them in it. I held a tea towel, ready to take the chicken and vegetables out of the oven as soon as he got downstairs.
I’d flown back to reality a few days earlier. Or, should I say, my new reality, which was still so unbelievable I pinched myself every day. Nick had acted like the perfect gentleman on the trip, carrying my bag at the airport and stopping me from going through the wrong gate, but now things had changed. There were no more massages and no more dances. It was as if I’d dreamed that night, but I sure wasn’t imagining the distance between us since our return to Virginia.
Still, it was for the best. I mean, nothing would ever happen between Nick and me, and I found it easier to hide my feelings when he wasn’t nearby. Not only that, Emmy was around. She’d picked him up in her Corvette on two mornings this week.
He sauntered into the kitchen, free of his suit, wearing jeans and another of the washed out T-shirts I’d grown accustomed to seeing him in. I glanced down at his bare feet then quickly looked up again. What was it about seeing him with no shoes on? It made me want to fan myself.
“Do you want something to drink?” I asked as I laid out his food.
With the weirdness between us this week, I’d stopped setting an extra place for myself, and he hadn’t commented on that.
“Just water.”
I went to the fridge, and from the corner of my eye, I noticed him put his iPad next to his plate. Thank goodness. A little of the tension in my chest eased because he clearly wasn’t expecting conversation. While he ate, I’d pop outside and water the pots. The basil had started sprouting already, and I’d bought mint seeds to plant.
Except I’d barely gotten halfway to the door when my phone rang. Not the