A Little Light Magic (23 page)

Was it already too late to stop her? Maybe not. Maybe he should head over to her place. Try to talk things out. Maybe if he laid all his cards on the table, as Alex had suggested, he could make her listen to reason. Maybe…

And then he saw her.

She wasn’t home at all. Or with Chelsea and Mags. She was right there below him, on the beach, standing in the shadow of the access stair. She wasn’t facing him, but he had no doubt it was her. She was wearing a hot-pink halter dress he’d seen before. A bright streak of color against the sand.

Then he recognized the man she was with.

Johnny.

Nick went still. Tori’s conversation with his brother looked intense. Too intense. Johnny was leaning close. Too close. Nick stared as his brother framed Tori’s face in his hands.

And then he kissed her.

Johnny’s lips covered Tori’s. His fingers sifted through her hair, coaxing her closer. Her feet slipped in the soft sand. She lost her balance and pitched against his chest.

Oh, my God.

What was happening here? Dr. Gavin Hunter kissing reporter Macey Lark? Or Johnny Santangelo kissing Tori Morgan?

Which did she want it to be?

She liked Johnny. A lot. She appreciated his good humor and honesty, and his ability to share freely what was in his heart. He was sensitive and artistic. Spontaneous. He liked late-night walks on the beach, was willing to believe in magic, and he could charm the salt out of the Atlantic.

He might’ve been Tori’s perfect man, except for one tiny detail.

He wasn’t Nick.

There. She’d finally admitted it. She was in love with Nick Santangelo. Hopelessly, ridiculously in love. She didn’t want to be—she’d known from the first it would be a bad idea—but there it was.

She drew back gently, breaking the kiss. Johnny’s arms relaxed, but he didn’t release her completely. She caught a glimpse of vulnerability in his eyes before the mischievous glint returned.

“How’d I do? Think I’ll get the part?”

“I’m sure of it,” Tori said weakly. “They’d be crazy not to—”

“Goddamn it, get your hands off her.”

She froze, heart pounding into her throat. She met Johnny’s eyes.

“Nick,” she whispered, not turning.

Johnny’s expression hardened as his gaze shifted to a point behind her. His hands stayed exactly where they were, on Tori’s bare shoulders.

“Yo, bro. ’Sup?”

Tori turned slowly. And there Nick was, not three strides away, glaring down at her. His frown was so intense his eyebrows were nearly a single dark slash over his angry eyes. She took in his navy blue business suit. She’d never seen him dressed so formally. His shirt was white, his necktie dark and unimaginative. Of course.

He looked wonderful.

Johnny still had one hand on her shoulder. Nick’s arm shot out, colliding with Johnny’s chest. “Get away from her. Now. She doesn’t need to be mauled by the likes of you.”

Johnny stood his ground. “What Tori and I do is none of your business.”

“Like hell it isn’t.” Nick took a menacing step and caught a fistful of Johnny’s Hawaiian shirt. His left arm drew back, fingers clenched.

Tori made a grab for his forearm. “Don’t you dare hit him!”

“Damn it, Tori.” Snarling, he shook her off. “This is between me and Johnny.”

“No! He’s your brother! I won’t let you hurt him!”

“Hey, I’m not too proud to accept help from a girl. I’ve got a pretty face to protect.” Johnny smirked, but his stance had widened, and his eyes were deadly serious. The muscles in his forearms flexed, his hands fisting. “Hold him for me, Tori, why don’t you, while I beat some sense into him.”

And then, without waiting for assistance, Johnny let loose a wicked right hook.

His fist connected with Nick’s jaw. There was the sickening sound of knuckles smacking flesh.

“Umph…” Nick’s head whipped to the left as the air vacated his lungs. He took a stumbling step back.

Tori stared, stunned beyond speech, her own breathing completely stalled.

Nick recovered quickly, regaining his balance in the soft sand. Johnny stood, chest heaving, hands fisted at his sides, eyes wary.

Slowly, Nick brought his hand to his lower lip and touched blood. He stared in disbelief at the crimson smudge on his fingers.

Then he seemed to snap. “You little shit…”

His arm went back. Tori snapped from her shocked daze. “No!” she screamed, springing forward. She leaped at Nick’s arm and hung on. “Don’t you dare hit him back!”

“Let him go, Tori. I’m ready for him.” Johnny’s fists flexed.

“Shut up,” Tori told Johnny. “Just shut up. I can’t believe this—the two of you brawling on the beach like teenagers. Cut it out now or…or…or I’ll tell Rita! And Nonna, too!”

Nick swore. “Fine.” He jerked his arm down so abruptly that Tori, who was still holding on, lost her grip on his coat sleeve.

She stumbled, and Nick caught her.

She smelled alcohol on his breath. “You’ve been drinking.”

“Not nearly enough for this kind of shit.” His eyes bored into her as his arm tightened around her waist. “What the hell are you doing, Tori, kissing that lowlife?”

She tried to disentangle herself from his embrace, and failed. “I’ll kiss who I want.”

“Like hell you will.”

Johnny snorted, arms crossed over his chest, regarding his brother with some disgust. “Did I stumble onto the set of
10,000 B.C.?
Did I miss the part where Tori went up for sale? Back off, Nick. You don’t own her.”

“She’s got better things to do than slum in public with you.”

“Like what? Sit by the phone and wait for
you
to call?”

Nick’s jaw worked. Tori had a clear view of the vein bulging at his right temple.

He let her go and took a step back. Tori stood, locked in place by his eyes. There were so many emotions there. She couldn’t even begin to sort them out. But she did see fear, and a good measure of lust.

Something deep inside her heart clenched.

“Come on, Tori.” Johnny grabbed her elbow. “We’ve gotta find the others before the fireworks start.”

The fireworks had already started, as far as she was concerned.

“You go ahead.” She rooted around in her purse and found a tissue. Going up on tiptoe, she blotted the blood from Nick’s lip. “Nick’ll drive me home…won’t you?”

“Yeah,” he said thickly. “I will.”

Johnny blew out a long breath. Tori could see him moving at the edge of her vision. “Damn it, Tori. I hope you know what you’re doing.”

She didn’t, she realized. She didn’t have a clue.

She and Nick left the Boardwalk, fighting the fireworks crowd. Nick took her hand as he shouldered his way through the throng, not speaking. He retrieved his truck from the casino valet, tossed his suit coat and tie behind the seat, and pulled onto Pacific Avenue. All still in silence.

They were halfway home when he flexed his hand on the steering wheel and sighed. “I was way out of line back there.”

She turned in her seat, facing him. “It wasn’t a real kiss, you know.”

His jaw locked. “Looked real enough to me.”

“We were practicing a scene for Johnny’s screen test.”

“Jesus, Tori. Please don’t tell me you really believe that.”

She didn’t answer.

“Johnny’s no good for you. He’s too young. Unstable. He’s got a week-to-week lease and no money in the bank. He falls in love with a different woman every couple months.”

“At least he talks to me. Unlike some people.”

A few heartbeats passed during which the temperature in the truck seemed to dip fifteen degrees. Finally, Nick answered. “I’m sorry about that.”

“Excuse me?” Tori put a hand to her ear. “What did you say?”

Nick shot her a look. “Nothing.”

“Was that an apology? Because if it was, please repeat it. It’s been
so
long since I’ve had the opportunity to faint dead away.”

“Very funny,” Nick muttered, his eyes fixed on the road.

She stared at his profile, her chest tight and aching. She hated him like this, so cold and distant. She wanted to see his eyes spark with laughter. She wanted his slow, sexy smile.

She stared out the passenger window, blinking hard. The heavy, sodden silence hung between them as they approached her street.

But to Tori’s surprise, Nick didn’t drive to her house. Instead, he made a hard left and drove to the beach. The truck lurched to a stop at the seawall.

Tori braced her arm on the dashboard. “This is a no-parking zone.”

“Too bad.”

Nick’s hands still gripped the steering wheel. He stared straight ahead, though the road had come to an end.

“Did you do it yet?” he asked quietly.

She bit her lip. “Do what?”

The streetlight cast his face in harsh angles. “Don’t jerk me around, Tori. You know what I’m talking about.”

She swallowed. “No,” she said. “I didn’t do it.”

Nick’s grip relaxed, but only slightly. “Why not? Isn’t it about the right time of the month?”

Tori shifted in her seat.
I didn’t do it because I love you
didn’t seem quite the thing to say.

“Yes, it’s the right time of the month. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought it seemed too…”—she cast around for the right word—“impersonal,” she finished lamely.

“So.” His voice was deadly quiet. “You’ve decided Johnny is less, what…
impersonal
?”

She sat up straighter. “Johnny? What are you talking about?”

“Johnny has no idea what it means to be a father, you know. None at all. He certainly won’t be the kind of father your child deserves.” His hands flexed again on the steering wheel. He shot her a grim look. “Stay away from him, Tori. You’ll only get hurt.”

Her jaw had gone slack. “You thought…You think…You think I want to get pregnant with
Johnny
?”

“Don’t you?”

“Of course not! We’re just friends.”

“Friends.” He laughed harshly. “Friends who put their tongues down each other’s throats. Either you’re an idiot or you think I am.”

“God,” she spit out. “You really are a jerk sometimes.”

“So you’ve said.”

She made a sound of frustration. “Johnny and I are just friends. Why can’t you believe that?”

He turned fully toward her then, one arm draped over the steering wheel, his dark gaze searching. Heated.

“I don’t believe it because I can’t imagine any guy being just friends with a woman like you. You and I could never be ‘just friends,’ Tori. Shit. When we’re together, all I can think of is how long it will be before I can get inside you again.”

Her body responded violently to the crude declaration. Her nipples tingled; her womb clenched. Her thighs grew moist. She braced her arm on the dashboard, trying desperately to drag in enough oxygen to inflate her lungs.

He reached with his right hand to stroke her cheek. Then he slid his fingers around her neck and into her hair. His touch was like a velvet flame. She wanted to get lost in it and burn up.

“Ah, Tori. You make me lose my mind.”

“Is that so bad?” she whispered.

“Oh, yeah.” His grip tightened in her hair, anchoring her head in his grasp. “It’s bad. If you had the sense God gave a rock, you’d see it.”

He tugged her close, until his lips hovered a bare half inch from hers. She smelled wine on his breath, mingling with the spice of his aftershave. “I’m not ready for this,” he said. “For you. For us. I wanted to go slow. But you? You insist on a fast track to disaster.”

“Nick, I—”

“You want to mix everything up. A baby first. Then marriage. Then love. You want everything ass-backward.” He drew back, releasing her, a new, disturbing energy crackling around him. A spurt of panic rushed through her.

He got out of the truck and slammed the door. Rounded the hood. Wrenching the passenger door open, he closed his fingers around Tori’s wrist. “Come on.”

He yanked her down from the cab before she had a chance to reply. He slammed the door shut behind her and started walking.

“Nick, wait.” His grip on her wrist was unrelenting. She stumbled, trying to keep up with him. Up the seawall steps, then down, to the beach. Then out across the soft sand.

She lost one sandal. Desperately, she kicked off its mate. He didn’t seem to notice.

“Damn it, Nick, stop! What do you think you’re doing?”

He stopped abruptly and turned. He didn’t release her wrist. She gasped, catching her breath.

Then she looked up at him.

And immediately wished she hadn’t. She was only just beginning to realize how very angry he was.

“What am I doing?” He repeated her words slowly, his voice growing more intense with each syllable. “Why, I’m getting ready to have sex with you. Right here on the beach. That’s what you wanted so badly before, isn’t it?”

His grip burned hot on her wrist. “Well, yes, but—”

“You wanted a guy who doesn’t care about the rules, right? One who doesn’t give a shit about what’s practical, what’s safe. What’s right.”

Bending suddenly, he slid an arm behind her knees and picked her up. She cried out and flung her arms around his neck. He strode toward the ocean, his arms tightening with each step. His breath came harsh and hot on her cheek. He stopped just short of the water’s edge. Her feet touched the sand.

With a groan, he anchored her head in his hands. “Tori…”

She had one brief second in which to read his intent before his mouth covered hers. His lips were demanding, almost brutal. He kissed her, robbing her of breath, of will, of any notion of resistance.

Her arms snaked around his neck and held on.

Just as she surrendered, he tore himself away. “Is this what you want, Tori? Is this who you want me to be?”

He was hard. She could feel him through his trousers and her sundress, hot and demanding against her belly. There was a desperation in his voice she’d never heard before. A vulnerable note that struck a chord deep inside her. Because she knew how painful it was when you weren’t the person—the daughter, the lover—that someone else wanted. And she couldn’t believe she’d done that to him.

“Nick…Nick, I—”

“No. Don’t talk.” He kissed her again, more gently this time, some of his control returning.