Tempting Nora (3 page)

"Hey…
" Her cheeks burned.

"What on earth is this supposed to mean?"
Gideon waved his arm wildly to one side. "It was ridiculous."

"
Nothing," she sputtered, embarrassed.

"
Oh, really? I think you meant something by it. The massive amounts of head shaking you were doing suggested as much." He passed her the glass of milk. "Tell me, why are you so violently against getting my phone number?"

Her stomach sunk. Gideon had been watching her for longer than she thought.
That meant the man had seen everything, including Robert mouthing "Get his phone number!" and her frantic hand gestures that would make an onlooker assume she was having a seizure.

As she flushed, she realized the gorgeous man was still
watching her, waiting for a response.

"I just wouldn't see the point
of getting your phone number," she said.

"Why not?" He looked genuinely curious.

"Even if you gave me your number, I wouldn't want to go on a date with you." She shrugged and took a sip of her milk.

The man froze, his caramel eyes wide. It took her a moment to
realize that he felt insulted.

"Yo
u wouldn't want to go on a date with me?" He wrinkled his nose. "Why not?"

"
You don't seem like a bad guy," she said quickly. "I'm just not interested in you."

Dig yourself a deeper hole, Nora!
She definitely sounded like she was insulting him now.

"You
aren't interested in
me?" he said with unflattering disbelief.

Geez
, he made her sound like an ugly leper who was turning down a dazzling prince. Maybe she wasn't sorry she'd made it sound like she didn't like him.

"Nope,
" she said without hesitation.

"May I ask why not?" Gideon
still stared at her as though she'd grown a second head.

For a moment s
he debated lying her butt off, but then she decided against it. After all, she wasn't an untruthful person.

"You look like trouble to me." She hesitated before licking chocolate from her finger. "I don't do trouble."

"I look like trouble, huh?" A roguish grin re-appeared on his face. 

"Yeah." She nodded. "
You and I seem like different people. I work at a tea store and spend my free time relaxing at home. You look like you live for parties and women. We aren't compatible."

"But you find me attractive, don't you?" he asked.

"Naturally." For some people, beauty was a fact and not an opinion. "But I don't care about that. I want to date somebody who is loyal and supportive."

Somebody who won't abandon a daughter who desperately needs him
.

"Well, it's a good thing I don't
want to date you either." Gideon's eyes twinkled.

She was horrified
. All of that ranting for nothing. Abject humiliation, anyone?

"Oh,
well…" She shrugged. "That's good, then."

"
Yeah, but I do want something else," he said.

"R-really?" Why did she suddenly feel faint?

Gideon
inched his chair closer to hers. Stunned, she stared straight into his beautiful eyes. Every time she peered into them, she was reminded of caramel sauce drizzled over ice cream. His eyes were delicious. On top of that, she wanted to run her fingers over his skin.
No, wait. What's going on in my head? I never think like this. Never!
She was not the sort of woman who was tempted by men. Yeah, she found them attractive, but she was rarely overwhelmed by inappropriate thoughts. Now things were different. As Gideon leaned closer, she felt as if the world was going still. Everything about him was perfect from his sweet breath to his toned muscles. Heck, even his eyelashes—so thick they should have been feminine but weren't—tantalized her, making her want to draw nearer.

She let out a shaky exhale as Gideon seized her hand and ran his fingers along the inside of her wrist, tracing the light blue veins. The single touch was enough to make her feel as though a fire was burning within her core.

A dangerous, all-encompassing fire. One that had the potential to destroy her.

"Even though I don't date, I find you very attractive." He smoldered
at her. "I noticed you the moment I walked into the bar. I love your curves, your button nose, your full lips. You were right about me—I'm trouble. But trouble can be fun. Do you want to have some fun with me, Nora?"

His words enticed her. No, worse yet, they
tempted
her. Like a magic spell, his voice confused her brain, making her want the troublesome fun that she'd always avoided.

"I can make tonight the night of your life." He ran his fingers further up h
er arm. "One night of pleasure—no strings attached, no phone numbers exchanged. It'll just be you and me."

She licked her lips. Just when she was about to open her mouth
to respond, a bell clanged in her head.
Trouble…fun…Wait, what? Snap out of it, girl!
Even though she burned for the man before her, something was wrong. She would never be the woman who had one-night stands. She'd promised herself that. Even if this man was the most gorgeous person she'd ever laid eyes on, she couldn't do it. Besides, she should have been disgusted, not intrigued. This guy didn't even know her and yet he wanted to be intimate. What a pervert!

"What do you say, Nora?"
Gideon traced her elbow, unaware that his spell was broken.

Anger burned through her. She ripped her arm out of his grip and flew to her feet.

"No," she said.

Gideon
looked as if she'd slapped him.

"No?
" He gaped.

"No." She didn't care if everybody
in the room heard her. "You should be ashamed of yourself. You don't even know me."

Hushed
silence overcame the bar. She seized her purse and turned to leave, but Gideon grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Why?" he asked.

"Why?" She ripped her arm away a second time. "None of your business, that's why."

"
This isn't happening." He shook his head in disbelief.

"What, you've never been turned down before?"
She scowled at him.

At first Gideon appeared winded,
but then he nodded. "Never."

"Well, there's a first for everything," she snapped.

Then with her head held high, she marched out of the bar.

Chapter Two

The next
morning, Nora was still fuming. As she shampooed her hair, she cringed at the memory of last night. The nerve of Gideon, thinking he could coerce her into sleeping with him even though they'd just met! Plus, she couldn't stand the way he'd acted so disbelieving when she turned him down. Just because he was gorgeous didn't mean that she'd kiss the ground he walked on. Men like that were so irritating. To make matters worse, she hadn't even had the opportunity to eat her cake.

What a waste,
she thought, stepping out of the shower.

As she wrapped
a towel around her body, she heard Mr. Fleas barking maniacally.
That's odd. Is somebody at the door
? After she pulled on her work uniform—a boring turquoise t-shirt and a beige pair of slacks—she left the bathroom and headed over to the door. Mr. Fleas stood at attention, prepared to attack. Like always, he was oblivious to the fact he weighed only three pounds.

At first she thought the dog was yapping at nothing
, but then she noticed the deranged canine was standing on an envelope. Somebody must have stuck it under her door. She scooped up both Mr. Fleas and the envelope, frowning.

"
That's weird," she said.

The dog started licking her face with enthusiasm.

Perturbed, she sat down on the sofa and placed Mr. Fleas beside her. As the dog scratched himself so hard he fell over, she tore open the envelope and pulled out a note.

Gideon is more dangerous than you think. Be wary of him.

Her heart leapt wildly.
What on earth?
She'd expected a card from a friend or a note from the landlord, not this. Her hands shook. Robert was the only one she could think of who would play a prank on her, but she didn't recall telling him Gideon's name. Unnerved, she rushed into her bedroom with the Chihuahua at her heels. She pulled her phone off of the charger and called her best friend. He answered on the fourth ring.

"I'm going to kill you for calling me this early
," Robert said.

"Did you
stick a note under my door?" she asked, ignoring his bitterness.

"Note?" Robert grunted. "What the heck are you talking about?"

"I just got a note warning me about the guy I met at the bar last night," she said. "You must have stuck it under my door."

"Ugh, what?" Robert
said, sounding confused.

"You didn't stick
the note under my door?"

"Of course not,
" Robert said.

That wasn't good. Had somebody followed her home from the bar last night?

"Oh no," she said.

"Are you okay?" Robert asked.

"I don't know." She clutched the note. "Who would do something like this?"

"Beats me.
" Robert sighed.

"Robert!" She was looking for comfort but wasn't receiving it.

"Okay, fine.
" He sighed. "I can tell you're freaked out. What exactly does the note say?"

Who wouldn't be freaked out?
Somebody might be stalking her. Still she had to remain strong. The note had issued a warning, not a theat. It wasn't like the person had written, 'I want to chop off your head and eat your brain for breakfast.' This thought soothed her as she looked at the crumbled paper in her hand.

"It says, 'Gideon is more dangerous than you think. Be wary of him.'" She
wrinkled her nose.

"
Was Gideon the name of the guy who was hitting on you last night?" Robert asked.

"Yep." The handsome jerk.

"Is the writing feminine by chance?" Robert asked.

The writing did look feminine.

"Yeah." She nodded, though he couldn't see her. "I'm guessing a woman wrote it, even though I can't say for sure."

"
Then I have a pretty good idea of what's going on," Robert said. "You don't live far from the bar, so a jealous woman probably followed you home. She likely wants you to stay away from Gideon because she wants him for herself."

"Do you think so?" H
er shoulders slumped with relief.

"
Yeah. I don't know for sure, but that would be my best bet as to why somebody would give you that kind of note," Robert said. "Even if it isn't the reason, the message isn't malicious. At least, not toward you."

"That's true." She
nodded. "So I don't have to worry?"

"
Probably not," Robert said. "Just in case, though, you should probably carry pepper spray. You have some, right?

She lived in
a dangerous area of Chicago and was a single female. Of course she carried pepper spray.

"Yeah, I do." She nodded.

"Good." Robert yawned. "Do you work today?"

It was a Saturday. She always worked on Saturdays.

"Yep." She nodded and checked the clock. Speaking of work, she was going to be late if she didn't leave soon.

"What time does your shift end?" Robert asked.

"Four." She tousled her dark hair.

"I'll walk you home," Robert said. "Wait for me
at the door."

She
was touched. It was Robert's day off too.

"Thanks." She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, yeah." Robert groaned. "You owe me one, especially since you woke me up in the middle of the night."

"It's seven o'clock,
" she said.

"Exactly."

"Fine." She rolled her eyes. "Go back to bed, Mr. Lazy. Sorry I woke you."

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that," he muttered. "Bye, Nora."

"Bye." She shook her head.

After she
ended the call, she stared at the note, feeling a tad more confident. Unfortunately, that was when she heard the sound of banging coming from the kitchen, followed by a loud crash.
I forgot to feed Chubby!
she thought, wincing. Whenever she was late feeding the cat, he always knocked his food bowl across the room.

"Coming, coming," she said,
rushing into the kitchen as she heard an impatient meow.

****

As Nora examined a bag of mango green tea, she heard the door to the shop open. She whirled around, prepared to greet a customer, and stared straight into a pair of caramel eyes. It was the jerk, aka Gideon. She dropped the tea she was holding and gaped in horror. What the heck was he doing here? First somebody had followed her to her apartment, now this guy found her at work. After last night, she was scared he was going to yell at her.
Battle stance, Nora.
She balled her fists and glared at the man.

"What a
re you doing here?" she snapped, praying that this meeting was purely coincidental.

His grin widened. Any hope that he
'd stumbled upon her unintentionally flew out the window. Judging by his smirk, Gideon had been trying to find her.

"I came here to buy tea." Gideon
shrugged.

"Buy it somewhere else," she said.

"If your boss heard you say that, you'd be fired," Gideon said.

"My boss is
never here," she said. "Besides, I know you aren't here to buy something."

"Really?" Gideon raised an eyebrow. "Can you prove that?"

She sputtered. Somehow it wasn't fair that somebody this annoying could be so gorgeous.

"
You didn't look surprised to see me when you came in here," she said. "That alone is evidence that you were looking for me."

"Maybe you aren't good at reading people." He laughed.

He had to have been pushing her buttons on purpose. She was sure of it.

"I'm amazingly good at reading people, even when they're lying to me," she said. "Now leave."

"What are you going to do if I don't?" He raised an eyebrow.

His words made her pause.
Even if she wanted to drag him out of the store, she didn't have the strength to do it.

"
Well?" Gideon stared at her expectantly.

"Hmph." She glared at him. "I won't
ring you up."

Boy, she was queen of threats. Was that really the best she could do?

"Oh, you will," he said. "I'll make sure you do."

"I won't." She glared at him. "I refuse to."

Gideon threw back his head and laughed.

"I like you," he said. "You're feisty."

"Well, I don't like you." She crossed her arms.

"You seemed to like me okay last night," he said.
"At least, before you lost your temper and stormed out."

Reminding her of last night was not a smart move on his part. After all, he'd
been a womanizing, egotistical jerk. She spied a pen on her desk. For a moment she imagined stabbing him with it. She would even do him a favor and prick him someplace that wouldn't kill him. A twisted smile crossed her face as she seized the writing utensil. Gideon watched her and shook his head.

"
Why are you so angry I asked you to come home with me last night?" he asked.

He took a step toward her. Suddenly,
she felt nervous, even though she was the one armed with a weapon…well, okay, armed with a pen.

"None of your business." No way was she sharing her life story with him.

"Oh, come on." He cocked his head. "I just want to know why you turned me down. Not just anyone could have done it."

How egotistical could someone
be? What, did he think all women were susceptible to his good looks? Yeah, for a second she'd faltered because of his perfect face and beautiful body, but she'd snapped out of it. She didn't know why he acted like he had some sort of seduction super power.

"This is why I don't like you," she said. "Your head is so big I'm surprised you managed to squeeze it
through the door."

Her insult
only made him more amused.
Why doesn't he ever stop smiling?
she thought, her eyebrow twitching.

"
Yes, I think you've already made it clear that you believe I have a large ego." He took another step toward her and she could smell his sweet cologne. "But you're avoiding my question. You told me why you don't like me, but you didn't tell me why you turned me down."

She tightened her grip on
the pen.

"I turned you down
because
I don't like you," she said.

"I'm not buying it." He
lingered in front of her, his caramel eyes glowing with curiosity. "You acted like you wanted to be with me for a few moments, but then you got upset and started yelling. I'm here to find out why."

"So you
really didn't come here to buy tea," she said.

"Guilty as charged.
" Gideon shrugged. "I came to see you."

"How did you find me?" She was disgusted he'd located her so easy.

"Last night you said you worked in a tea shop. All I had to do was look up tea stores on the internet and locate the one that was closest to the bar," he said. "Walking in when you were working was sheer luck."

Luck
must have been on his side because it sure as heck wasn't on hers. The universe must have had something against her.

"I get
why you followed me now." She gritted her teeth.

"Well, you should," Gideon said. "I just told you."

She ignored his smug comment.

"It drives you crazy, doesn't it?"
She poked him in the chest. "You thought you were so handsome that no woman would ever turn you down, but I did. You loathe the fact that you didn't win me over."

The grin slid off of Gideon's face
. Ah-hah!
she thought triumphantly.

"So I'm right." She judged his expression. "That's why you're refusing to believe
I said no because I can't stand you. Well, Gideon, I hate to break it to you, but your charms don't work on me."

Gi
deon's eyes widened in surprise, but he didn't speak.

"And another thing." She placed her hand on her hips. "I want you to leave me alone
. You can't convince me to sleep with you."

She
paused, expecting him to be angry enough to storm out, but instead the man chuckled. What was she going to have to do to get through to this guy, kick him in the groin?

"
We'll see about that." Gideon licked his lips hungrily. "I believe you just issued me a challenge."

"W
hat?" She shivered in horror. "No, I didn't."

"You did." Gideon leaned down. "When somebody tells me I
can't do something, I always do it. You just said that I can't convince you to sleep with me, which naturally means I have to do just that."