Page 12

Her words took me by surprise. Doreen and I weren’t close. We mostly had a transactional relationship, although I did ask her for advice about this and that on occasion.
“Thanks.” Slowly, I looked at Nick. “I’m all yours, then. Let’s go.”
He flashed me an absolutely gorgeous smile. Were his smiles always this amazing, or was I noticing this one more for some reason?
“Come on, let’s go.”
We walked back through the house. A shiver went through me as we reached the front door. This was the first time I was spending time with Nick alone. Even when he stayed after the twins went to bed and it was just the two of us, it was different because there was someone else in the house. But now it was going to be just him and me, at least in the car.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked me as I closed the front door.
“Oh, this, that... By the way, I need to take a selfie of us.”
Nick’s eyes bulged. “Why?”
“For my mom. She didn’t quite believe that I was going out tonight, so she wants photos to make sure it happened.”
“Then by all means.” He cracked yet another devastating smile.
I took the phone out of my bag and held it toward me as Nick moved to stand behind me.
I smiled, too, and almost gasped as I felt his hand on my waist. He tilted his head closer to my shoulder to fit properly in the picture. I felt his hot breath on my cheek and his chest against my back. I swallowed hard and momentarily forgot what I was about to do.
Oh right, selfie.
I took a few pics. In the first one, Nick just smiled. In the second one, he was looking at me with a huge grin. I turned to face him.
“Why are you looking at me?” I asked as I kept clicking.
“Because I can. Isn’t that reason enough?”
Huh. What a strange thing to say.
I lowered the phone, and he let go of me, huffing out a breath. His eyes widened as if he couldn’t quite believe where his hand had been. He cleared his throat, looking at the ground for a beat.
“Let’s go to the car.”
“What are we doing tonight?” I asked.
“Everything in due course.”
It was so refreshing to be taken by surprise. I’d had to plan every minute of every day lately. It was good for someone else to take the lead so I didn’t have to think about logistics or anything else. The anticipation was amazing, and I was ready to have a fun evening.
Nick walked behind me, close enough that I could feel the heat of his body. I swear, I could still remember the way his muscles felt against my back. They’d been as hard and defined as I always imagined. Then again, he ran the most successful gym business in the country. Being fit came with the territory.
“You’re silent again,” he said.
I looked up, smiling sheepishly. What could I tell him?“I was just reaffirming to myself how hot you are”?
As I got in his Lexus, I thoroughly relaxed against the black leather seat. He joined me a few seconds later, and as soon as heclosed the door, I felt something shift in the air. For the first time ever, we were truly alone.
Why was I so obsessed with this? Perhaps because my skin simmered in places it had no business simmering. My pulse was more rapid. I licked my lips, glancing out the window at the porch. Was this all because of that selfie we took? Because we’d been so close?
Jesus, I wasn’t a teenager who’d never been close to a boy. Why was I reacting like this? Maybe because I hadn’t touched a man in God knew how long. Obviously everything was going to fire up.
Yep, that was a plausible explanation.
“Allison, are you having second thoughts?” Nick asked, and I realized that perhaps he was interpreting my silence as not wanting to go.