Tempting Nora (5 page)

His shoulders were broad and he had the body of an athlete. When he wasn't smiling, his
caramel eyes were dark. He looked like the type of guy who had way too many secrets, which was why it was even more dangerous to get attached to him. But that didn't mean she couldn't study him when he hung around. At least he was easy on the eyes.

She must have been watching him for a bit longer than she thought because he gave a bewitching grin.

"You're staring," he said. "Like what you see?"

She
hurled a bag of tea at him. It bounced off his head and landed on the floor. He didn't as much as flinch.

"Way to damage the merchandise."
Gideon scooped up the bag of tea.

She shook her head and grabbed the tea from him.
I'm too tired for this.
With a frown, she glanced at the clock and saw it was one o'clock.

"Are you going to leave anytime soon?" she asked.

"Nope." He winked at her. "I'm going to harass you all day"

I'm going to kill myself,
Nora thought, her eyebrow twitching.

****

Four o'clock came surprisingly fast, considering the fact that Nora was being pestered by the world's most annoying fly. Or maybe time had passed quickly
because
she was being pestered. Of course, she wasn't happy about him hanging around. She'd spent the last three hours in a state of perpetual rage. In fact, she was so annoyed that she was certain she would be thinking about him tonight, even when he wasn't around. For some reason, the stupid man had wedged himself in her mind and stayed there.

"What are you muttering about?" Gideon eyeballed her.

She hadn't even realized she'd been muttering.

"You, of course." She seized her purse
, grateful her shift was over. "Did you enjoy spending the last three hours hanging around a tea shop for no reason?"

"I had a reason." Gideon smirked. "You're my reason."

She felt her face grow hot and gnashed her teeth. Why on earth was she blushing?

"Has anybody ever told you that you have cute cheeks?" Gideon leaned closer. "You have a dimple right there."

The man had the nerve to brush his finger against her cheek. The single touch made tingles zoom through her limbs, leaving her breathless. When she looked into Gideon's eyes, she let out a groan. He reminded her of a succulent dessert—rich, decadent, and completely unhealthy. The problem was she wasn't great at avoiding desserts. Heck, she'd had a piece of chocolate cake for breakfast. How could Gideon make her goo-goo eyed so fast? One second she was annoyed with the man, the next, she was tempted by him. 

As Gideon
kept touching her cheek, his words from the night at the bar echoed in her head:
"I can make tonight the night of your life. One night of pleasure—no strings attached, no phone numbers exchanged."
The words reminded her of Gideon's horrible intentions. This man was a danger to women everywhere. Heck, he probably carried more diseases than a sewer rat.

She slapped his hand away.

"Don't you dare touch me without my permission," she said.

Gideon recoiled, his eyes darkening.

"You're good," he said. "I'll give you that."

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I'm complimenting you." Gideon shrugged, the grin returning. "You have self-control like nobody else I've ever seen."

Yeah, right. Two nights ago
she'd eaten an entire package of brownies in one sitting. She had no self-control whatsoever. No, what she had was a brain.

"Whatever." She tightened her grip on her purse.

Just as Gideon opened his mouth to speak, the door to the shop opened and the evening clerk, Maura, walked into the room. Nora thought the woman looked like a pleasantly plump version of Jennifer Aniston.

"Hey," Nora said.

"Hey." Maura looked up. "It's raining like—oh."

Maura laid eyes
on Gideon for the first time. The woman gasped as her cheeks flushed.
Oh, great. Even Maura stops dead for this playboy.
As Nora gave a pained sigh, Gideon shot her a curious look.

"We
had a lot of sales this morning," Nora said. "I think the new strawberry green tea will be a big hit."

"R-really?" Maura was still staring at Gideon
and not paying attention to Nora at all.

For
heaven's sake, he's not that handsome!
she screamed in her mind. But when Nora turned to glance at the guy, she realized that he was. He looked like he'd walked out of a movie. If only he wasn't such an animal…Her eyebrow twitched.

"You okay there?" Gideon waved his hand in front of her face.

She was yanked back to reality.

"Fine." She turned toward Maura. "I'm leaving now. Mr. Fleas needs to be let outside."

"Mr. Fleas?" Gideon gave her an incredulous look.

"My dog." She spared him a glance before returning her attention to Maura.

"Right." Maura finally tore her eyes off of Gideon. "See you tomorrow."

"Bye." Nora waved.

When Nora headed to the door, Gideon followed her. She wasn't sure what was worse—the pouring rain outside or the fact that Gideon was her second shadow. She stopped just before heading outside.

"You
're not following me," she said.

"I'm just walking you to your car." Gideon bowed his head. "I'm trying to be a gentleman."

Gideon was about as gentlemanly as a slap to the face.

"I
walked here," she said triumphantly. "You can't escort me to my car."

"Do you have an umbrella?"
Gideon looked her up and down.

To her surprise, the man sounded concerned. It took some of the edge off
of her annoyance. She wasn't sure what to make of him when he was showing some humanity.

"
No, I don't." She tugged at her shirt. "I'll be fine, though. I've walked home in the rain before."

"I'm giving you a ride," Gideon said.

"No, you're not." She glared at him.

"Are you seriously being stubborn right now?" His jaw clenched. "I'm trying to take care of you."

"I don't need you to take care of me." She'd never needed anybody to take care of her. That was how she'd survived so many years without parents. "I can handle myself."

"I know you don't
need
me to take care of you." A vein throbbed in his jaw. "But I
want
to take care of you. Why would you make things harder on yourself?"

For a moment, she didn't say anything. She couldn't. This side of
him was new. She was used to the womanizing, perverted Gideon, not this. He obviously cared if she was cold and wet.

And she wasn't sure what to make of that.

Before she could digest the sudden change in him, Gideon swore and tugged off his leather jacket. He seized her arm and forced it into a sleeve.

Nora beg
an to protest, "I don't need—"

"I know you don't need my jacket," he
interrupted. "Take it anyway."

Before she could
jump away, Gideon zipped up the jacket. It was warm and smelled like sweet cologne and Italian leather. As she glanced at him in confusion, the man seized her hand. For a moment she was shocked by how warm he was—it was almost like there was a burning inferno inside of his body—but then he dragged her out the door before she could think more about it.

The moment she was outside, she was hit by icy rain that burned her skin like acid.
He started to run and she followed him. It felt like an eternity until he pulled her over to a black pickup truck. He unlocked the vehicle and opened the door for her. Teeth chattering, she hopped inside, her jeans already soaked through. She rubbed her hands together to try to make her skin warm. It wasn't doing her much good, but it gave her something to do other than focus on the chill.

Gideon climbed
behind the wheel. He started the truck and turned on the heater, but he didn't drive.

"You okay?" Gideon
faced her, his mouth thin.

"Uh-huh." She nodded, despite the fact she was shivering.

When he noticed she was rubbing her hands together, he seized them and warmed her fingers with his palms. Despite the fact that he'd been running in the icy rain too, he was still hot. She looked into his caramel eyes and saw concern. Strange. Very strange.

Wait a second. He's touching me. I shouldn't let him touch me.

She pulled back and straightened up.

"I'm fine," she said. "I'm already warm."

At first Gideon didn't say anything. Instead he just stared straight out the window.

"You can't stand it, can you?" he
finally asked.

"Stand what?" She had a feeling she wasn't going to like where this conversation was
headed.

"The thought of somebody helping you," he said.

Yep, she knew it. She hated these kinds of conversations.

"That isn't true,
" she said.

"
It seems true to me," he said.

"I let Robert help me."
She shrugged.

"Hmmm." Gideon's hands tightened on the steering wheel. "I'm starting to feel jea
lous."

"You have no reason
to be jealous." She and Gideon weren't together, after all.

"I don't know about that." The man chuckled and pulled out of the parking spot.

At first Nora didn't say anything. She stared out the window and saw a woman struggling to run through the downpour in jeans and a t-shirt.
That could have been me,
she thought, gritting her teeth. As much as she hated to admit it, Gideon had helped her today. She would have had a heck of a time walking a mile in this weather.

"
Thank you, by the way," she said.

"It's no problem."
Gideon nodded.

"
Just so you know, this doesn't change things between us." She shot him a half-hearted glare. "I still don't like you."

The man just threw back his head and laughed.

Chapter Four

That night,
Nora's eyes flew opened when she heard a distant thud. She rolled onto her side, convinced that she'd been woken up by Chubby knocking his food dish across the kitchen floor. That was when she spotted the fat cat on a chair, snoring surprisingly loud for a creature so small. Was it Mr. Fleas who'd made the sound? She looked down at the end of the bed and saw that the dog was also asleep.

I swore I heard a sound…

But if she'd heard something, wouldn't Mr. Fleas start barking? Yeah, it must have been her imagination. Or a part of a dream, maybe. She'd always had nightmares ever since she was young. Unfortunately, as much as she tried to tell herself that it was nothing, her mind didn't quite agree with her.

Groaning, she sat up. Maybe some chocolate would help calm her nerves. She cast a nervous look at the hallway that
led to the kitchen. As ridiculous as it was, she wished that Mr. Fleas was awake to keep her company. Yeah, he was so tiny that if there was somebody in the house, he wouldn't be of much use, but still...Unfortunately, even as she squirmed in bed, Mr. Fleas didn't so much as open an eye. She'd expect that from Chubby—the cat slept like the dead until it was time to eat—but not Mr. Fleas. Of all the times for the dog to be in a coma, it had to be now.

"Mr. Fleas," she said, poking the
Chihuahua.

The dog didn't
as much as move.

"Mr. Fleas," she said again.

Nope. No movement. Darn it.

"Fine," she said. "I was
even going to give you a treat."

The word treat normally would have made Mr. Fleas do anything, even run through
a bed of hot coals. Now he just let out a small snore. Yep, the dog was far gone. Well, so be it. She was an adult woman. It was ridiculous that she needed to bring her dog into the kitchen to protect her just because she was feeling a little uneasy. Plus, light switches were invented for a reason.

She
crept toward the door and turned on the light. It was amazing how much a little illumination made her feel more at ease, even though it shouldn't have. After all, if somebody bad was really in her apartment, the light beams wouldn't stop them from attacking. In fact, it would make it easier for the person to find her. She gave a shiver of apprehension. Great, she'd just scared herself again.

Groaning due to
her own stupidity, she headed down the hall and into the living room. It was empty too. Just as she breathed a sigh of relief, she froze. Something was wrong.

A chair wasn't where she'd left it.

Before she'd gone to bed, she'd moved one of her chairs over to the counter so she could pet Chubby while she flipped through the newspaper. She remembered leaving the chair at the counter before she'd gone to bed because the cat had jumped on it and stared at her, begging for another meal.

Now the
chair was at the table, not at the counter.

Suddenly, she couldn't breathe. She remembered the note and
shivered in apprehension. Quickly she rushed over to the door and checked her deadbolt. Her door was still locked. She laid eyes on the window in the kitchen. It was far too small for anybody to crawl through. Nothing had been taken either. Her laptop was still lying on the table and her less-than-impressive TV was untouched in front of her faded sofa.

Still the chair had been moved, darn it!

She rushed over to her phone and found Robert's name in the address book.
I'm going to call him. I need help. He'll be able to…to…what?
Oh, good grief. She didn't know.

She
gazed at the chair again. At that moment she realized how ridiculous she was being. She thought the chair had been moved, but maybe she was wrong. After all, she was the woman who'd once put her cell phone in freezer. Also, she wasn't even sure she'd heard a bang. And if she had, maybe she'd heard it from upstairs. The tenants above her were pretty quiet, but they did have three young children. One of them could have dropped something that made a sound loud enough to wake her up. On top of that, how could she assume that somebody had snuck into her apartment when the windows were all closed and the door was locked? Thieves and rapists were stealthy, but they couldn't walk through walls.

She let out a nervous laugh. Boy, she was ridiculous.
She'd always been a little paranoid before, but not to this degree. It was probably that stupid note. It was making her uneasy. She wished she knew who wrote it. Shaking her head, she debated returning to bed.
No, I don't think I'll fall asleep.
Her adrenaline still rushed, even as she soothed herself with logic.

There was only
one thing that could help her when couldn't sleep—double chocolate chip ice cream with whipped cream.

****

Nora had gotten less than two hours of sleep and felt like the walking dead. It was her own fault. The ice cream had made her hyper, not sleepy. It was a good thing it was her day off. She could take a nap later if she needed to. As she yawned and placed her teapot on the stove, somebody knocked. Mr. Fleas flew out of her bedroom and started yapping at the door. Chubby, not the type to welcome guests, padded into the kitchen and started whacking his food dish across the floor.

Who the heck is it?
she wondered. She hadn't brushed her hair yet and felt like the female version of Attila the Hun.

The person knocked
again.

"Nora, are you in there?" Robert
called.

Feeling exhausted, she padded over to the door and opened it. When Robert saw her, his mouth dropped open. He
stared at her as if she was as repulsive as a gaping wound. Charming. Maybe she shouldn't have answered the door after all.

"What the heck happened to you?" Robert asked. "You look exhausted."

"I was a bit paranoid last night and wouldn't let myself sleep." Since no one had attacked her, she knew she was the victim of an overactive imagination. "It's my own fault."

For the first time, she realized that Robert was holding a large box of donuts. She sniffed twice and the smell of chocolate made her mouth water.

"Boston cream?" she asked.

"Naturally.
They're your favorite." Robert nodded. "I bought them for you."

Uh-oh.

"Why are you bringing me my favorite donuts?" she asked suspiciously, holding the door open for him.

"
Because I'm your friend." Robert stepped inside.

Yeah, he
was her friend alright. The kind of friend who wouldn't have bought her donuts even if she was terminally ill.

"Robert." She sent him a dark look.

"Okay." Robert groaned. "So I may have bought tickets to a Trevor Malone concert."

Trevor Malone was a hot
shot singer who she couldn't stand, though she had to admit that his music had much improved since he started writing songs for his wife, Katherine.

"Right." Her teeth clenched.
"What about the tickets?"

"Well, I bought them for Meg, you know, as a surprise," Robert said.

"Uh-huh." She nodded again.

"
It turns out that she knows him personally and doesn't feel comfortable going," Robert said. "She's worried he might see her."

"She knows Trevor Malone?" Even she was shocked. Most people didn't know celebrities.

"Apparently the redheaded woman you saw at the bar dated him for a while and then dumped him for the man who's now her husband." Robert looked flabbergasted that anybody would dump Trevor Malone.

"Smart woman," she murmured.

"Hey." Robert gave her a dark look. "I like Trevor."

"I know, I know." She crossed her arms. "But what does
this have to do with me?"

"I
still want to go to the concert but not alone." Robert gave her a sheepish look. "Would you possibly—"

"No,
" she interrupted. She knew he wanted her to go to the concert with him.

"You didn't even let me finish," Robert
said.

"You didn't have to. I kno
w what you were going to say and I'm not going to the concert with you," she said. "There's got to be somebody else who'll go."

"I asked a few of my buddies." Robert squirmed uncomfortably. "
They all said no."

"Sell the
extra ticket." She leaned against the wall.

"
But I don't want to be stuck alone all night. You're my best friend." Robert opened the box of donuts. It was like he was opening a treasure chest with gold coins inside. "Go with me. Please."

The
donuts looked awfully good, but would they be worth listening to the most horrible music on the planet? No, she couldn't handle it, not even for a Boston cream donut.

"I don't think so." She shook her head.

"Chocolate cheesecake." Robert gazed at her hopefully.

"
Huh?" she said.

"Before the concert
, I'll buy you chocolate cheesecake at your favorite restaurant," Robert said.

"R
-really?" Oh no, she was caving!

"Yeah." Robert leaned in close, his voice a seductive whisper. "Imagine it, Nora. Succulent cheesecake covered in premium grade chocolate drizzle. Whipped cream. Cherries."

"I don't know." Her mouth watered so much she was worried she might start drooling.

Robert took a donut out of the box and held it under her nose.
Now that the donut was so close, it was a lot harder to resist.

"
This donut wants you to eat it." The smell of chocolate icing wafted from the top of the dessert. "But you can only have it if you say yes."

"Umm…"
Heaven help her, the donut did look delectable. She could swear it had grown eyes and was staring.

"I'll buy
you donuts every day for an entire week." Robert's grin was wicked. "And I'll bring you chocolate cake for lunch from my restaurant. On top of that, you get the cheesecake the day of the event. You want to go. You so,
so
want to."

Okay, so she did.
For heaven's sake, it was a Boston cream donut. Who in their right mind could say no to a Boston cream donut when it was right under their nose? It was like being offered a piece of chocolate slathered heaven.

"Fine." She
stole the donut from him. "I'll go with you to the stupid concert."

Robert laid a big, wet kiss on her cheek. Wincing, she ran her hand over
her damp skin, wiping away spittle.

"Do me a favor
," she muttered. "Don't ever do that again."

"Yeah, that was a little weird, wasn't it?" Robert looked sheepish.

"A little?" She shook her head. "I've gotten fewer goosebumps watching that weird homeless guy running naked down Main Street."

"
Geez." Robert feigned insult. "I'm hurt."

Nora ignored him and took a bite of her Boston cream donut.
Fluffy cream filled her mouth and she let out a groan of delight.

****

Nora had a stomachache because she'd eaten too much sugar. Yeah, that was unfortunate, but it happened to her sometimes. Okay, well,
all
the time. She was desperate for some relief. Maybe the pharmacy would have some of that yucky pink medicine that would settle her stomach. She grabbed her purse and left her apartment.

As she headed
down the stairs, she thought,
Tomorrow is another work day. Probably that means another day of Gideon. Ugh.
Even the thought made her eyebrow twitch. Still she had to admit that today had gone by painfully slow without him. There was something about bickering with the man that made time rush by.

The thought made her screech to a stop in horror
.
No
,
I will not see Gideon in a positive light. He's a nuisance, an evildoer, a womanizer.
Just because she didn't notice the passing of time when she was with him didn't mean she liked arguing with him. It just meant that she was too irritated to count the minutes until she was able to go home from work. Yeah, that was it.

Feeling better about herself, she
headed down the stairs again. Once she went outside, she took a breath of fresh air and…stopped.  She heard the sound of crackling foliage and peered through the darkness. All relief she'd felt faded.
It's probably just a raccoon,
she told herself. Just a few nights ago, she'd spotted a raccoon the size of a bear cub in the dumpster. Still what if it wasn't a raccoon? Gulping, she clutched her bag. If it was a thug and not an animal, she had pepper spray in her purse. No mugger or rapist would stand a chance against her.

Yeah, right.

Still uneasy, she stared walking again, glancing over her shoulder every few steps. As she headed down the sidewalk, she had the strangest sensation somebody was watching her. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end and her knees felt like they were made of liquid. She looked around when she reached the pharmacy at the end of the street. Nobody was behind her. It must have been her imagination.