Lori Wilde - There Goes The Bride (18 page)

Nick leaned over the edge of the ride just as they were cresting the top. “Hey,” he shouted down at the operator. “We want off.”

“Thank you,” she whimpered. “Thank you very much.”

His pulled her close against him. “It’s okay. I’m here. I’m sorry for laughing at you. I didn’t realize you were really scared.”

Delaney went stock-still as his chest made contact with her breasts and a surge of unwelcome desire ripped through her. His body heat warmed her and the connection of his raw, masculine power overwhelmed her. Even more unsettling, his comforting scent of nutmeg and leather invaded her brain.

She wanted him.

Desperately.

Oh, this was a terrible state of affairs.

Nick tilted her chin up, forced her to look him in the eyes. “Are you okay?”

Emotions she couldn’t deny, but had held in rigid check ever since she’d met him, surged inside her. Stunned, she could barely nod.

“You’re safe,” he murmured. “I promise.”

The thing of it was, she did feel safe. He made her feel safe. Safer than she’d ever felt with anyone. And that was far scarier than the Ferris wheel ride. She was loopy and frightened and she wanted him to kiss her even more than she wanted off this contraption.

He dipped his head toward her and she was already opening her lips. Already eager and ready for him.

He’s going to kiss me, yes, yes, yes.

But he didn’t kiss her.

Just as his lips were about to softly brush against hers, the ride stopped.

And so did Nick.

Leaving her hanging, quite literally, her mouth open and wet and wanting him.

He pulled back, raised his head, removed his arm from her shoulders, and did not look at her.

Her mind spun with sensory overload. What was happening to her? The taste of frustrated anticipation lay bittersweet in her mouth. The lonely sound of the metal bar clanking echoed in her ears. The feel of the empty space between them as he got out of the car stretched long and lonely. The smell of ocean breeze and cotton candy came rushing in to fill the void left by his leaving.

But Nick did not stray far. He turned and reached back for her. Offering his hand to help her step out. His touch was a furnace, his body heat seeping into her skin.

She took his hand and he pulled her gently across the seat toward him.

Delaney felt the material of her pants tug tightly across her bottom. She heard a soft ripping sound, like the tearing of silk. She jerked her head around and saw that the seat of her pants had snagged on a small jagged hole in the aging metal. When she stood up, she felt the air against her bare skin and put a hand behind her to examine the damage.

The tear was much bigger than she’d feared. She gasped at the six-by-six-inch square of nearly severed material that had once been covering her left butt cheek, but was now flapping in the Gulf breeze. Unfortunately, she also happened to be wearing thong underwear.

“Hey, Uncle Nick, that was fun.” Nick’s twin nephews came walking toward them.

“Please, you’ve got to help me out here,” Delaney whispered urgently to Nick. “Before the boys see me.”

“What is it?” He ducked his head.

“Put your hand on my backside and you’ll find out.”

“An unorthodox request,” he said, “but okay.” He pressed his large palm flush against her bare flesh. “Uh-oh.”

“Uh-oh is an understatement.”

“Here, boys.” Nick reached into his pocket with his free hand and pulled out several one-dollar bills. “Go get yourselves some cotton candy.”

“Mom said we can’t have any junk,” Jack said. “She says it’ll spoil our lunch.”

The boys were peering at her curiously. Delaney gave them a shaky smile. “What kind of kids is your sister raising?” she whispered out of the corner of her mouth. “They can’t be bribed with cotton candy?”

“Kids that will have all their teeth?”

“Look at them, they’ve already lost teeth.”

“Baby teeth.”

“This isn’t funny,” she said.

“Yes, it is.” He grinned.

Her initial impulse was to get upset. Torn pants that had cost her a fortune. A blow to her dignity. Then she realized it
was
funny, and to get huffy was exactly like something her mother would do. It was just a pair of pants. No major catastrophe. As for her dignity, big deal. She was loopy from a cheap amusement park ride. Dignity didn’t figure into it.

Delaney giggled. “Any suggestions, Detective? On how to make an exit without everyone”—she waved her hands at the twins—“seeing my . . . er . . . exit?”

“I’ve got you covered. I’ll send the boys on ahead of us and I’ll walk with my arm around you, holding up the flap of the loose material with my hand.”

“I’m going to need a new pair of pants. I can’t meet with the real estate agent and your grandmother looking like this.”

“You and Gina are about the same size. I’m sure she’s got something at Nana’s that you can wear. Maybe not as snazzy as your outfit, but at least you won’t be naked.”

“Stop teasing,” she pleaded. “I can’t hold still while I’m laughing.”

“Where’s your car parked?”

“Along the seawall about a block up.”

“Come on, boys, we’re walking Delaney to her car. You guys lead the way to the seawall.” Nick’s arm circled snuggly around her waist and his big palm rested hot and heavy on her butt.

Animal instinct tussled with her sophisticated demeanor. Her pulse pumped. Her skin tingled. Self-control had been drummed into her from birth, but nature was nature. Polished manners and civilized etiquette didn’t stand a chance against pure animal magnetism.

Delaney wanted to scurry back to her car as fast as her legs would carry her, but with Nick’s leg in the knee brace, he couldn’t move fast, and she was left plodding along at his pace.

“Ask him,” Jack whispered to Zack.

“No, you ask him.”

“You.”

“No, you.” The boys pushed each other.

“Ask me what?” Nick said.

Jack and Zack cast looks over their shoulders at Delaney and Nick. “Is she your new girlfriend? We hope she’s your new girlfriend ’cause we heard Mama telling Nana that if you didn’t get a new girlfriend soon, you were going to turn into a grumpy old man and she’d have to go find Amber and kick her skinny butt for breaking your heart.”

“My heart’s not broken,” Nick growled.

“But you are grumpy,” Zack pointed out.

“Who’s Amber?” Delaney felt Nick’s arm tighten around her waist.

“Nobody important.”

“Amber was his old wife,” Zack said.

“Mama says she ran away on their honeymoon,” Jack added.

“With a famous guy from TV,” Zack supplied.

Delaney looked at Nick. “What’s this?”

Nick rolled his eyes. “I’ll never live this down.”

“What?”

“Gary Feldstein. My wife left me on our honeymoon for Gary Feldstein. Can we drop it?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Hey,” he said. “Don’t apologize. You weren’t the one doing the horizontal tango in our stateroom with Feldstein. You have nothing to be sorry about.”

She could tell he was embarrassed. She remembered hearing something on one of the tabloid television shows about the fact that comedian Gary Feldstein’s new bride-to-be had met him during her honeymoon with another man. To think that Nick was that man made her heart ache.

“Your sister sounds really protective of you,” she said softly.

“So is she your new girlfriend?” Jack asked. “Or not?”

“Delaney’s just a friend.”

Just a friend.

Why those words would make her feel sad, Delaney had no idea. She couldn’t be anything more to Nick than just a friend. She didn’t want to be anything more than just a friend because she was engaged to another man. A sweet, kind, generous man who would be tremendously hurt if he could see her now, strolling down the seawall with Nick’s arm around her waist, his hand splayed across her bottom.

She didn’t know how to deal with this conflict of emotions. Wanting Nick to like her as more than a friend, but very glad that he did not. Guilt over the fact she was here with Nick, instead of with Evan, and not feeling very badly about it.

Honestly, she was a little miffed. Evan had gone off and left her for six weeks just before their wedding. But being miffed made her feel guilty again because Evan was doing such great work in Guatemala. What kind of person was she to be jealous of that?

A small, petty person, that’s what she was.

She started to draw away from Nick, eager to remove herself from his proximity, but then she remembered he was the only thing standing between her and revealing her bare butt cheek to the tourists strolling the seawall.

Her stomach was in turmoil, her mind a mess. She wanted to sprint to her car and sit down ASAP, but of course she could not. She had to smile and walk slowly and pretend that she wasn’t turned on by the feel of Nick’s calloused hand. Meryl Streep couldn’t have done an acting job this good. Luckily, years of trying to please her perfectionist mother came in pretty handy at times like these.

After what seemed an eternity, they finally reached her car.

“This you?” Nick stopped beside her silver Acura.

“Yes, yes.”

“Boys,” he said, “stay here on the seawall while I walk Delaney around to the driver’s side.” Thankfully, the twins were arguing about Hank Blalock’s batting record and not paying them any attention.

“You asked me why I was here,” she said. “Do you still want to know?”

“Sure, if you want to tell me.”

“Remember when we were driving past and I told you I thought I saw my mother here?”

“Yes.”

“She was talking to a patch-eyed woman and I came here to find her to ask her why my mother was talking to her. I found out her name was Paulette Doggett.”

“Why don’t you just ask your mother?”

“I did. She lied.”

“Did you talk to Paulette Doggett?”

“No. It’s her day off. But I was wondering, since you’re a cop, if you could do a little investigating for me and find out exactly who this woman is before I approach her.”

“I could do that,” Nick said.

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

“Don’t mention it. Apparently this is my day to be chivalrous.”

Delaney unlocked her car door while Nick’s hand stayed firmly in place. Heart thumping crazily, she turned her head to look at him. “I’m going to sit down now, you can let go.”

“Ah,” he said. “All good things must come to an end.”

Blushing, she sank down into the seat.

“See you later, Rosy.” Nick shut the car door and walked back to the boys, who were now seeing who could spit the farthest over the side of the seawall.

She sat there with the engine running, watching Nick corral the kids and feeling an emotion she couldn’t describe. She hadn’t found the one-eyed woman or her mother’s secret reason for visiting the amusement park, but what she had found was a part of herself she never knew existed.

What she didn’t know was if she liked what she had discovered about herself.

Or hated it.

Nick brooded through Happy Meals at McDonald’s with his nephews. His maneuverings at the amusement park had backfired spectacularly.

When he’d seen Delaney standing in the midway, looking out of place and a little forlorn, he’d made up his mind to put his plan into action. He’d flirted with her and crowded her personal space. He’d coaxed her onto the Ferris wheel ride. The torn pants had been an added bonus. He’d felt her tension, knew he’d unsettled her.

But she’d unsettled him just as much.

Using sex appeal to chase her off definitely had its drawbacks. If this was going to work, he would have to keep his mind on his objective—talking Nana out of selling the family home, while at the same time keeping his mind off this powerful attraction to Delaney.

Nick plowed a hand through his hair. How had he gotten himself into this ugly kettle of sharks? He wanted a woman he could not have.

His sister, Gina, would call it fate.

Nana would call it the whammy.

But Nick didn’t believe in all that bologna. Not anymore.

And yet, in a matter of days, Delaney Cartwright had burrowed deep under his skin and he couldn’t figure out why. Why her? Why now? Why did he think she was so special? Once upon a time, he’d thought Amber was special too.

Maybe it’s you. Maybe subconsciously you’re looking to turn the tables and get even with fate by falling for someone who’s already spoken for.

Nick grimaced. He hated to think that.

And yet, here he was, pining for a woman with a huge engagement ring on her finger.

Aw, crap. The truth of it was, he was too screwed up for this. Even if Delaney wasn’t engaged—which she was—he had a lot of baggage he needed to unload before jumping into another relationship.