Sweet Nothings (20 page)

Joanie was still wearing her boots, but both of them had moved to the bed and were now eating the chicken strips and macaroni and cheese she’d brought from the grocery store deli. Nick had grabbed the food on the way through the house as if he’d needed sustenance to keep going. She would bring him chicken every day if it got her another round like they’d had in the kitchen.

“Don’t let me forget to take pictures before I leave tonight,” she said. She’d forgotten to bring her camera with her the night before.

“Are we taking pictures of us doing naughty things?”

She laughed. “No! I’m taking pictures of the house as it’s being worked on. To show them to GiGi during my visits.”

“
Hmph
. Not nearly as much fun. Which reminds me.” He pushed up and reached over to the small table she remembered having once been in her bedroom. He’d apparently dragged it in to be used as a bedside table. “I found something the other day I wanted to ask you about.”

He pulled a small piece of paper from the drawer.

No, not paper, but a picture. An old one.

“That’s you, isn’t it? You’re not blond in it, but you’re not really blond anyway.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her, implying he’d gotten a good look at the fact she was naturally a brunette.

She took the small square from him and studied it, her heart squeezing a little. It was her and GiGi. She’d been six and had just finished the piece of birthday cake GiGi had made for her. They were sitting in the swing that had once hung on the front porch, both smiling, her missing front tooth obvious, and Lucky’s head lolling on her lap. She remembered how happy she and GiGi used to be.

“Yeah.” She nodded. “That’s me and GiGi. Pepaw took that picture.”

“I wondered if that was her.” He put the picture back in the drawer and gave her a quick, hot kiss on the mouth, effectively erasing the melancholy mood that had threatened to creep in with the picture. “You were cute back then.”

“You saying I’m not cute now?”

He roamed his gaze down over her, making appreciative noises as he went. “There are other words I’d use these days.”

Good answer.

Rising up on her elbows, she took a sip of the soda they were sharing, handed it back to him, then looked down at herself to see what he saw. “Hey, my panties are still on.”

She turned to him. She’d forgotten they hadn’t removed them. “Why are my panties still on?”

Dark eyes traveled over her body again, slowly and with more intent, before landing right smack in the middle of her crotch. He licked the chicken crumbs off his fingers.

“Nick?” If he was suggesting he would like to lick something else, she
could get down with that. “My panties?” She wiggled her hips and watched his gaze grow warmer. “Why did you want them on earlier?”

A calloused hand stretched out and she began quivering even before he touched her. When his fingers did land, she lit on fire. He traced the triangle of her underwear as if in deep concentration, then gave her a fast, hot smile.

“Because I wanted to see you walk away from me in them.” He handed her the Coke and rose to a sitting position. “Did you know you have the best-looking butt I’ve ever seen?”

“Is that because you haven’t seen many butts or… oof!” She reached out her other hand to steady the drink as she found herself being flipped over onto her stomach. Nick threw one heavy leg across hers, straddling her thighs, and trapping her beneath him.

“The best ass,” he said, patting said body part. “Period.”

She smiled. He was fun.

She lifted her rear and wagged it at him and then squealed when she felt his teeth sink into her.

“You bit my butt,” she complained, looking back over her shoulder at him.

What she got in return was a wicked smile and a lecherous wink. “Hang on, babe. I’m about to bite it again.”

He did, instantly making her wet and wanting. The man knew what he was doing with a woman.

As he continued to gently tease at the flesh of her rear, she rested her head on her folded arms, over the lumpy mattress that should have been thrown out years ago, and enjoyed his ministrations. She’d come over the night before, fully expecting to find him there, maybe upset because she’d refused his “gift” of the cat, but also ready to put it behind them and move on. Or maybe she’d been projecting what she’d wanted to find.

Instead she’d found an empty house,
two
cats who’d wanted someone to play with, and the knowledge that his absence was making her jealous yet again as she wondered if he was out with Gina. Or maybe someone worthwhile this time.

Not that she had a right to be jealous. Sex only didn’t necessarily mean exclusive. Still, it had bothered her. A lot.

She’d called Lee Ann, who’d called her mother, who’d told her immediately that Nick was at the Bungalow having dinner. Alone. After he also hadn’t shown up for cupcakes today, Joanie had confirmed he’d gone home alone last night, too. Which meant what? He’d gone out for dinner simply because he’d been hungry, and then he’d been too busy for dessert today? Or he’d needed time away from her to think?

Probably it had been the latter. Especially since she’d been at the house until late and he hadn’t come home before she’d left. He’d been avoiding her.

After the small taste of being with him that she’d gotten at her house, she’d decided she would make it clear she was serious. She wanted a “relationship” with him. And she had come over tonight with the intention of pushing one. Thankfully, he’d already come to that same conclusion all on his own.

And she’d ended up riding high on a new kitchen counter.

She smiled as she felt his palms slide down her legs. She liked the way the rough spots on his fingers lightly scratched at her skin.

“I hadn’t realized until I saw it earlier that these things didn’t go all the way up,” he murmured, popping the elastic at the top of her thighs.

She peeked at him, glad she’d exchanged tights for stockings today. “They aren’t nearly as hot if they go all the way up.”

“I agree.” He inched farther down her legs and nipped on the inside of one thigh. She squirmed.

“Hold still before I have to spank you.” His low voice made her nipples hard.

She gulped. “You wouldn’t spank me.” Oh geez, would he spank her? One could only hope. She put the drink on the side table just in case this was about to get interesting.

Instead he began tugging on the zippers of her boots. When he got one loose, he yanked at it from the heel. As it came off, he leaned forward and nipped at her bottom again. This time she groaned.

“You’re teasing me, Nick.” Her breath was definitely not steady. “Do you think that’s fair?”

“Who said anything about fair?” He pulled off the other boot, and gave her a playful swat.

“Oh crap.” Her butt poked up in the air as if asking for more and she heard him chuckle.

In the next instant he began peeling down her stockings. He moved off her legs, but when she rolled to her side to help, he put a hand on her rear and held her down.

“I’m doing this, woman,” he said. “Stay put.”

No problem. She went back to her position on her stomach and enjoyed the feel of his hands slowly inching down her thighs.

“We’re going to be exclusive, right?” She mentally thumped herself on the head. She hadn’t meant to ask that. It made her sound so… needy.

His hands paused for a brief moment before he said, “We’d better be,” and then he continued moving on down her leg. When he got to her feet, his hands stilled and she smiled into the sheets.

“You’ve got socks on over your hose.”

“To keep me from getting so cold when I’m outside.”

“Hmmm.” He bent her leg at the knee and she could picture him craning his neck to look around to the other side. “They look like peeled bananas.”

“Yep.” She could tell from his tone that he didn’t get her style. “Aren’t they cute?”

He pulled them off. “Anyone ever told you you’re odd, sweetness?”

She slumped into the bed. “Plenty of times.”

She was on her back the second the words were out of her mouth, staring up at the giant of a man who’d just been worshipping her body with his hands.

“It’s a good odd,” he said. His look indicated that she needed to be sure she heard him.

“Okay.” She nodded. “Sure.”

He pressed a hard kiss to her mouth. “Good,” he stressed. “The kind that makes a room glow just because you walked into it. Everybody wishes they had some of that.”

Why was this turning serious? “Okay,” she said. “I get it. It’s good to be me.”

“It is,” he insisted. “And don’t you forget it.”

He kissed her again and then he was on her, touching her, and letting her touch him. When he finally pulled off her thong, she just smiled. She liked the idea of them being together in this way. It was a good one.

And if she had the occasional thought that it was also good to be him, she gave herself permission to have it. He was a really good guy. She even thought she might try to remember to lock her door that night just because of him.

Chapter Eleven

D
on’t burn yourself.”

Joanie smirked over her shoulder, about to point out she could handle a simple task, but instead simply paused. Nick was standing at the stove with his back to her, a dish towel draped over one shoulder, no shirt, and well-worn jeans riding low on his hips, and she wasn’t sure she didn’t whimper out loud at the sight. She also happened to know the jeans were not buttoned. She’d seen to that herself.

He was so insanely sexy.

Especially when he cooked for her. As he’d been doing all week.

She’d helped, of course, and one evening had even brought over a slow cooker full of stew she’d had simmering all day. But Joanie would give Nick credit. His meals were far superior to hers. And he seemed to like cooking. So she let him.

They’d developed a routine of sorts, with both of them working at the house after business hours, then dinner and a movie or maybe a televised hockey game, then whatever extracurricular activities came to mind. Unless one of them mixed things up and those extracurriculars came early. Like tonight.

“I’m sure I can grab rolls out of the oven without burning my fingers.” She finally pulled herself away from staring at him to reply to his comment. They’d gotten waylaid earlier when he’d gone to take a quick
shower to clean up from the day, so dinner was running later than usual.

“I don’t know.” He turned to her and leaned back against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest, and she started the staring thing again. She would have gotten stuck eyeing his pectorals if he hadn’t given her the kind of smile that perked her girl parts right up. “Your fingers tend to dawdle when they touch things,” he said.

If she were easy to blush, she’d be doing it right now. Because he had an excellent point. Her fingers did like to dawdle. All over his shoulders, and his chest… her gaze dipped… and his abs and his butt and those seriously well-sculpted thighs.

She bit her lip as she lifted her gaze back to his. He seemed to be thinking along the same lines.

“Dinner first,” he croaked. “I’m starved.”

A smile slid across her face. “Dinner.” She nodded. “First.”

She’d come over every night since they’d christened the new kitchen. Instead of her cleaning out the house while Nick continued with the renovations though, he’d ended up helping her out more nights than not. Because, he claimed, she wasn’t tossing enough in the trash.

Already her second bedroom was filling up with boxes of papers and documents she’d found, as well as collectibles. Who knew? Maybe when she had time to go through it all, she’d find some clue as to where her mother had been all this time. Possibly she’d corresponded with GiGi at some point. It
had
been twenty years. Hard to imagine anyone not making contact in that amount of time.

Joanie caught her breath at the thoughts rolling through her head. She’d never cared to know anything about her mother. Not since those first years when she’d stupidly thought her mother would return as she had all the other times. Her leaving had simply become a part of Joanie’s life.

“What’s wrong?” Nick asked. He came over to her, ducking down to try to catch her eyes. “You’re upset.”

“No.” She shook her head, failing when she tried for a smile. “Just thinking about everything I still have to get through before we’re done.”

She quickly faced the oven and opened it, reaching in to grab the rolls, but jerked back when she accidentally touched the cookie sheet with her fingers.

“
Damn
,” she muttered.

Nick grabbed her hand and held it under water. “I told you to be careful,” he chastised.

“I was being careful.”

“No, you weren’t. You weren’t paying attention because you were trying to avoid telling me something.” He made her look at him while still holding her hand under the cold water. “You do that a lot, but then always end up telling me anyway. Might as well go ahead and spill it. You know you want to.”

At her mulish look, he returned one of his own.

“Come on, sweetness.” He leaned down and nuzzled her neck. “What was it? You know you’ll feel better getting it out.”