Page 17 of Saving Meadow (The Next Generation #1)

XXX

N othing, I mean nothing, could pull me off the cloud I’d been floating on since Nick texted me.

Not even Beth. She’d made one nasty comment after another today.

This morning she was in her office when I got to work, which was unusual, but it did happen.

However, today she made a point of coming out and greeting me; that had never happened.

Before I had the chance to stow my purse, she’d started in.

Where’d I meet Nick, what did he do, did I know how good-looking he was, people would stare when they saw us together and wonder what was wrong with him.

She was relentless. I was getting ready to tell her to shove it up her ass when the boss came in, and she turned to sugar.

The same way she always did. They’d gon e into her office, and after he’d left, she stayed holed up in her bitch lair and hadn’t emerged since.

Thank God!

I had approximately two minutes until Nick said he’d be here to pick me up and my belly had decided now was the right time to start doing somersaults.

I couldn’t believe I’d sent him those texts.

I’d never admitted to a man I was turned on, and I certainly never texted like that.

It wasn’t exactly sexting, but it was skirting from R to maybe one X on the XXX rating scale.

I was kind of proud of myself. Not that I’d have the gumption to say anything like that to his face, but maybe I could flirt a little over text with him.

I could smell his cologne before I looked up and saw him standing in front of my desk.

Beth was right about one thing – he was damn good looking.

Way out of my league. He filled out a suit with his broad shoulders and trim waist. I’d felt how strong his chest was and his thighs were just as muscular.

He was a fitness model rolled up in an FBI agent package.

“Red?” Nick chuckled. “You okay?”

“Caught me staring,” I blurted.

“I don’t mind one bit. I’m finding I love it when your pretty green eyes are on me,” he said.

“Holy crap,” came from behind Nick. When he turned, Rory came into view .

Now she was more in his league, and suddenly I felt out of place. She was taller than me, had a killer body I knew she worked hard to keep, and her skin was flawless and made up perfectly. In short, she was everything I wasn’t. Whole.

“Sorry.” Rory shook her head and put her hand out to Nick. “Hi. I’m Rory. Sorry to interrupt.”

Nick took her hand and gently shook it before pulling it away and taking a step back, putting space back between them.

“Nick Clark. Nice to meet you.”

“Hey, Rory, what’s up?” I asked, not wanting to be rude but wanting this conversation to move along quickly.

“I was coming down to see if you wanted to go to lunch with me and some of the girls,” Rory explained.

“Sorry. I have plans, but thanks.”

“If those plans include Mr. Clark here, I’d turn down the offer too.” She stopped to wink before she finished. “Enjoy lunch.”

The way she said lunch had me rolling my eyes. She made it sound like lunch was code for a covert sex operation. Geeze. Not that I’d be entirely opposed to covert sex after Nick’s text but… Nick’s chuckle pulled me from my thoughts.

“Thanks, we will,” he answered.

“Meadow! ”

Holy shit, what now? My desk was turning into Grand Central Station. All I wanted was to escape this place and enjoy my lunch hour with hot Nick, but now Queen Bitch Beth was bellowing my name as if there was a football field between us and not twenty feet.

“Yes, Beth?”

“I need the Hoppers file when you get back from lunch,” she demanded.

“No problem.”

I didn’t bother waiting for a reply. I pulled my bag out of the bottom drawer of my desk and yanked when the strap caught on the metal, causing the cheap leather to tear.

“Crap!” I picked up my now broken purse and secured it under my armpit, determined to get the hell out of the office.

“I told you, you need to stop buying those cheap knock-offs and invest in a high-quality purse. My Coach bag would never rip like that,” Beth chastised.

“Good for you,” I mumbled and made my way to Nick. “Save me. Hurry, let’s run to the elevator before something else happens.”

Nick’s answer was to lean down and brush his soft lips against mine, stopping to linger just a moment before looking at me. “I’ll always save you, Red. On three we’ll make a break for it.”

I appreciated his humor and the accompanying smile made t he shit Beth had slung, Rory’s appearance, and my broken purse melt away. Nick was here. We were going to get lunch together. And he’d promised to kiss the hell out of me.

Best day!

As soon as we got to the sidewalk, Nick grabbed my hand and held it on the short walk to the burger place.

How could a gesture so small and normal feel so big?

I was giddy at the contact, and it wasn’t because I hadn’t held a man’s hand in so long, it was because it was Nick.

Last night after he went home, I’d plopped back down on my couch, picked up the throw pillow he had been leaning against, and held it to my face.

In a total stalker move, I inhaled, breathing in his scent, and wondered what the hell I was doing kissing Nick.

Albeit, it was only a peck, not a passion-fueled duel of the tongues.

But still. I wondered if I was latching on to him because he’d extended a branch of hope and he was nice to me?

Was I so desperate for attention I’d imagined things that weren’t there?

After careful thought, I’d decided my attraction had nothing to do with my attack, the lack of affection, or anything else negative.

It was simply because of him. I didn’t want him to save me; I wanted him to kiss me and touch me, and do all the other things he said he was going to do because I was a twenty-six-year-old woman.

There was nothing wrong with what I was feeling toward him.

And I’d al so made up my mind to stop over-thinking everything.

He’d said my scar didn’t bother him. I was going to believe him.

I had to if I was ever going to escape the self-imposed prison I’d locked myself in.

Bottom line? I was tired of feeling sorry for myself. Nick had opened my eyes to another way and now that they were opened I couldn’t bring myself to close them again.

“You’re quiet,” Nick commented as he opened the door to the burger place offering me to enter.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to be.” Damn. I was so used to being by myself I’d forgotten to talk. “I suck at small talk,” I admitted.

“I’m not complaining. Is everything okay? Is Beth breathing down your neck?”

“Yeah. But that’s nothing new.”

The hostess greeted us and walked us to a booth. I sat and Nick slid in after me, scooting close. The girl handed us our menus and told us the specials before heading back to her podium.

“The boss came down and was in her office for a long time. She hadn’t come back out until we were leaving. I’m sure I’ll get an earful when we get back. The file she wants is one of the clients she lost.”

“Hoppers? Isn’t that a restaurant?” he asked.

“Yeah. A bar and grille type place. There are three of them in the area. They have a new point of service system they put online. It makes updates to the menu, pricing, and specials. It only has to be done at one location and is pushed through to the rest. She lost the account. All three bars. I heard the boss was pissed; it was a big account.”

“I guess he would be.”

The waitress came and took our order. Nick being the gentlemen he was had me order first. When we were done, the server smiled and hurried away.

It was after she’d left the table that it dawned on me she hadn’t looked at Nick like there was something wrong with him.

The hostess hadn’t either. Neither of them flinched at the sight of my face or made comments.

All these years I’d let Beth’s words get in my head and take root, then it budded, and before I knew what was happening, a huge bush had grown.

A big ugly bush of self-doubt and loathing.

It wasn’t Beth’s fault; it was mine. I’d allowed it to happen.

“Where’d you go?” Nick squeezed my knee, and when he released his grip, he kept it there. Finding I didn’t mind his hand on my leg; in fact, I loved it, I left it there.

With the realization people were not looking at us or pointing at me, and with a new-found confidence, in a bold move I put my hand over his and smiled.

“Nowhere. Tell me about Sally and how you got involved with Homefront. ”

Over lunch, Nick told me how after he’d gone home to Georgia a few years ago, he’d met one of his uncle’s friends, Brian, and his companion dog.

His Uncle Nolan and Brian served in the Army together.

Nick said after he’d listened to Brian tell his story of returning from deployment and separating from the Army and how hard it was to adjust back into civilian life, Nick knew he wanted to be involved.

He explained because Brian didn’t have what the military considered PTSD, he hadn’t qualified for much help from the VA.

A friend of Brian’s hooked him up with Homefront, and they’d paired him with a dog.

That was all Brian needed, a small comfort; the loyalty of a dog and the security it brought to help ease his anxiety.

Nick called Homefront as soon as he got back to Virginia and started his training immediately.

Within two months, he had his first shepherd.