Tempting Nora (13 page)

"I think it's still edible." He
seized a glob of cake. "It's more like a cobbler now, but whatever."

"Aren't you going to at least use a spoon?"
she asked.

"I would, but a certain someone smashed it while rolling arou
nd." He held up the remains of the plastic utensil. It had been broken in half. "You can use your spoon if you want, but I think I'm going to use my hands."

He picked up another mangled glob of cak
e and popped it into his mouth. Eating the remains looked messy but invigorating.

"Come on, Nora." Gideon winked. "You know you want to
join me."

Suddenly, as she saw the boyish twinkle in Gideon's eyes, she realized that she did
. With a grin, she stuck her finger in the chocolaty mess and then sucked the warm icing from her finger.

Even mangled, it was the best cake she'd ever tasted.

****

Being sticky was
not as entertaining after a few hours had passed. That was why, when Gideon pulled his truck into her apartment parking lot, she breathed a sigh of relief. The first thing she was going to do when she got inside was take a hot shower. Probably it would take her ages to wash the chocolate from her face and hair. Still, despite the fact that she was covered in icing from head to toe, she didn't regret what had happened that day.

She gave a content sigh.

"You sound happy," Gideon said as he parked.

"I am happy." Nora shrugged.

"I'm glad." Gideon grinned. "You seemed so upset this morning."

"Not anymore." Somehow Gideon had made her problems go away.

As Gideon flashed her a smile, Nora gingerly opened the car door. Fudge icing smudged the metal door handle. After she jumped out, Gideon left the truck too.

"You don't have to walk
me to my door," she said.

"Sure, I do," he said.

"But I—"

"Nora, I'm going to walk you up." He touched her arm. "No amount of arguing on your part will change that."

She could tell from the look in his eyes that he was serious.

"What, do you think that somebody will murder me in the stairwell?"
She shook her head.

To her shock, Gideon's expression was sober. Normally, the man was all teasing.

"You'd be surprised what can happen in this world," he said.

She stared at him, unsure of what to say.
His mood change had been so swift.

"Are you
alright?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Gideon
nodded and forced a smile.

"If you're sure…
" Despite what he said, she had the feeling he was hiding something.

"I'm sure." Gideon nodded.

After shooting him a confused look, she went inside with Gideon in tow. As she headed down the hall, her skin prickled. Maybe she was still nervous about what had happened with the shadow after all. That was not good news. She'd been hoping to get some sleep tonight. If she was convinced some weird shadow was about to lunge out of a corner, that wasn't going to happen.

Get a grip,
she told herself as she stopped in front of her door.
I'm an adult woman. I'm not scared of spooks.

Yeah, right.

The truth was she still checked under her bed for monsters just like when she was a kid. The only difference now was that the fearsome entity she imagined happened to be a masked murderer instead of the boogeyman. She shivered in apprehension, glad that Gideon had decided to escort her back to her apartment after all.

"Want me to come in?"
Gideon asked.

She assumed
this was a sexual invitation. The answer was still, as it would always be, heck no. She narrowed her eyes at Gideon, hating herself for having warm thoughts toward him just a second before.

"I will never,
ever sleep with you," she said. "How many times do I have to say it?"

"Yo
ur mind was in the gutter again." Gideon's grin widened. "I didn't ask if I could sleep with you. I asked if you wanted me to come in."

"Oh." Her cheeks
caught on fire.

"I think I'm rubbing off on you." He leaned in so close she could smell the chocolate frosting on his face.
"Twice today you thought I meant something naughty when I didn't."

"You're not rubbing off on me." Heaven help her if he was
. "I just expect the worse from you and that's why I thought you were suggesting, well, you know…"

"
If that's the case, then why are you blushing?" He stared pointedly at her enflamed cheeks.

"
I always blush when I'm talking about an inappropriate topic." She wrinkled her nose.

"
You're the one who brought up that so-called inappropriate topic." The man was obviously fighting back a laugh. 

"But I didn't…I mean, yeah, I did…but I…" She suddenly couldn't figure out what to say.

"I think I'd better stop teasing you before you explode." Gideon's eyes danced with mirth. "I've never seen a person's face turn so red before."

Oh great. She let out an exasperated sigh and touched her enflamed cheek.
No doubt her skin was the color of a cherry tomato.

"I hardly ever blushed before you came along." She prodded his chest and was shocked by how hard it was. "It's
your fault."

"I'll take responsibility for my actions," he said
with mock solemnness.

Neither
of them spoke. For the first time, she realized how close she and Gideon were. She could even see a glob of fudge icing dangling from a dark strand of hair. She wasn't sure what came over her, but she reached out and tugged the chocolate from the strand. When she met Gideon's eyes again, he smoldered at her, his caramel eyes hot with desire. Boy, Gideon was still gorgeous, even while frosted.

She licked her lips and tasted chocolate, which was strangely
erogenous with Gideon staring at her so roguishly. Her eyes flickered toward his icing coated mouth. Heaven help her, she bet his lips would taste delicious.
No, wait a second. What am I thinking?
She let out a groan and fought the urge to start whacking herself over the head for losing control of her thoughts again.

As she
inwardly beat herself up, Gideon loomed closer.
He's going to kiss me,
she thought, her palms slick with sweat. When Gideon placed his hand on the wall behind her head, she quivered. She could feel his warm breath on her cheek, making her skin tingle. She was sure a kiss from him would be earth-shattering. Unfortunately, that was what made her panic the most. What if he kissed her and she begged him for more? After all, she was already having trouble fighting down her urges and the man hadn't even touched her yet. If she did screw up, Gideon wouldn't stick around. The man had said himself that his only ambition was to bed her. She'd be stupid to give in to him.

Even though she longed for his mouth on hers, she turned her head to the right so he would kiss her cheek instead. Somehow even the brush of his mouth against her
skin made a chill run down her spine. Gideon pulled back, staring down at her. She was hit with a whirlwind of emotions so strong they had the potential to send her to her knees.

Despite the fact she had no reason to feel guilty, she
longed to tell him that she'd wanted his kiss. The problem was she didn't want to want his kiss.

"Gideon, I…I…"
Good going, you ninny!
she berated herself.
Don't start a sentence before you know how you're going to end it.

To her surprise, Gideon
just smiled.

"
If you're not ready for me to kiss you yet, that's okay," he said.

"It is?
" She blinked in surprise.

"Uh-huh." He touched her cheek. "You have nothing to worry about. I understand."

Instead of trying to push her boundaries, Gideon stepped away. She could tell he still longed to embrace her—his eyes said as much—yet he respected her enough to hold back.

That
was the first time she felt a rush of attraction toward Gideon so powerful that she was lightheaded. Beyond all the sexual innuendo, Gideon was a nice man with standards and morals. Yeah, he was still a rogue who'd spent years jumping from bed to bed, but despite all that, he was a good guy.

"Thank you," she
said, fighting not to fall over after the shocking wave of attraction surged through her.

Gideon nodded
as her stomach did a strange flip. She stared at the floor, trying to get her bearings straight, and saw a handful of black feathers on the carpet.

"By the way,
I'd still like to come inside." He touched her shoulder. "Now, fellow gutter resident, I mean that in a completely non-sexual way."

She scow
led, wondering how she could like Gideon one second and then want to shove him down a flight of stairs the next.

"My mind is not in the gutter." She glowered at him.

"Don't deny it." He winked. "You have bad thoughts."

Gasping
, she shook her head.

"Why do you want to go into my apartment anyway?" she
asked, desperate to change the subject.

"I want to look
around to make sure you're safe," Gideon said. "Once I'm certain that there's nobody hiding inside, I'll leave. I just don't think I can sleep tonight unless I know you're okay."

The words left her more breathless than a punch to the diaphragm. She could tell from the look in his eyes that he
truly wanted to make sure she was safe tonight. During that moment, she realized that Gideon was the most complicated man she'd ever met. On the surface, he was a wild scoundrel, seducing women left and right. On the inside, he was a nice guy who made sure she wasn't about to be mauled to death by a killer shadow. Unfortunately, she had no idea what to make of his depth. Was he just being kind to seduce her? The thought left a sour taste in her mouth.

Still she didn't think it would be a bad thing to have him look around her apartment
, no matter what his intentions were.

"I'd appreciate it if you
looked around," she said.

"I'm
surprised you said yes." Gideon's eyes widened. "I thought I'd have to find a way to steal the apartment key from you and force my way in."

That would
be a very Gideon-ish thing to do.

"I'm just too tired to keep arguing with you.
That's why I've given up." It was a lie and she knew it. She wanted him to look around. It would provide her with a peace of mind.

"Uh-huh." Gideon gave her an incredulous look.

Frowning, she unlocked her apartment door and stepped inside. Nothing appeared out of ordinary. Still the apartment she'd always thought was safe now gave her the heebie-jeebies. Hopefully after a few days she would start to feel comfortable in her own home again.

"Where did you see the shadow?" Gideon asked.

She led him down the hall and into the dining room.

"Right there." She pointed at the corner.

Gideon walked over to the wall.

"Your neighbor's apartment is adjacent
, right?" he asked.

"Yep." She nodded.

He pressed his head against the wall.

"What are you doing?"
She raised an eyebrow, wondering if he'd gone crazy.

"I
'm listening to see if I can hear your neighbors." He pulled back.

"And c
an you?" She cocked her head.

"Yep." He nodded. "The wall is thin."

"I should have known." She grinned. "The rent here is cheap for a reason. Everything is shabby."

"
I never thought I'd make somebody happy by telling them they have a thin wall." He snorted. "Still I bet you anything my theory about what happened is correct. Your animals were probably hearing your neighbors. That's why they were going crazy."

"That makes me feel so much better." She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Still let me walk around to make sure everything's okay," he said.

"Sounds good."

She followed him into the living room. The man smiled as he looked at a framed picture of Chubby. She liked to have photographs of her pets everywhere to cheer her up.

"You really like your pets," he said.

"They're like family to me." She smiled affectionately down at the picture. "Both Chubby and Mr. Fleas were abandoned just like me. I took them in and they became my whole life."

At that moment
she realized she'd said more than she should have. Gideon watched her with sad, haunted eyes. The sight of him staring at her in such a way made her unnerved. She felt like he was peering straight into her bruised heart.