Finally His

Finally His

Emma Hillman

Lucy has been in love with her brother’s best friend Nick
for years. Too bad their last blind date failed spectacularly. In a final bid
to make him see the light, she asks her brother to set them up again.

Nick has been trying to ignore Lucy’s curvaceous body for a
long time, but it’s getting increasingly difficult. When they end up naked on
the side of the road, he knows he’s in trouble for sure.

Trouble has never tasted so good. He needs more. He needs
her
.
He’s just not sure their relationship can survive the secrets it’s built on.

Chapter One

It was now or never.

Lucy watched the taxi drive away and hooked her purse higher
on her shoulder. Turning around, she caught her reflection in the restaurant
windows. She’d bought a new dress for the occasion, one that showcased her
assets and hid the bits of her body she wasn’t so fond of. She was even wearing
makeup, her lips tasting faintly of cherries, courtesy of the lip gloss she’d
applied earlier. All in all, she thought she looked good. But would it be
enough to get Nick to really see her, not as his friend’s sister but as a woman
in her own right?

She stepped inside and spotted him straightaway, the man
she’d loved for half her life. He’d made an effort tonight and was wearing a
jacket that strained at the seams. He’d grown muscles over the past year, and
between that and his blond good looks, he was so hot every time she looked at
him her heart skipped a beat.

He was leaning back against his chair, his posture relaxed,
a faint smile curving his lips. A smile she was afraid would disappear as soon
as he realized he’d been tricked into another blind date…with her.

The maître d’ murmured something to her, something she
didn’t hear, but she did follow him, her gaze still firmly stuck on Nick.
Why
did he have to be the one?
she thought for the millionth time. Why couldn’t
she shake this obsession and move on?

She watched his head turn, the smile still in place. His
features froze for a second. “No.”

Her gaze locked with his, she sat down opposite him. “Hey,
Nick.”

“No, no, no. It can’t be you.”

“Tada!” She dropped the red rose she was carrying onto his
plate. “I’m your date tonight.”

“No!” His voice rose along with his temper. “I told Alex I
didn’t want him to set us up ever again.”

“Guess he didn’t listen.” She licked her lips. “Actually,
don’t blame him. I was the one who asked him to play matchmaker again.”

“You’re kidding me. Why?”

“Because last time… Well, let’s just say it didn’t go
according to plan.” She deserved a second chance but she didn’t tell him that.
It was difficult enough as it was remembering their first date. Her hopes had
been so high and then everything had come crashing down, making things even
worse between them. She needed tonight to end well. She needed him to
understand, to finally see the light. Please, Nick…

“You think?” he replied so loudly the whole restaurant
turned around to stare at him. “It was a disaster! First, we got to the
restaurant to find out they’d lost our reservation. Then we got the table near
the kitchen and they upended a tray full of tomato soup. On me!”

“I know. I was there.”

“Exactly! You’re like this…this disaster magnet.”

Ouch.
“Come on, Nick, I’m not that bad. Look, I even
dressed up for you.” She pointed out her new dress. It was so low-cut her
breasts nearly popped out of it. Surely, he couldn’t
not
like that!

Something flashed in his gaze. Lucy leaned forward, hoping
this meant things were going to change. Instead, he jumped up and tossed a
couple of bills on the table. “I’m out of here.”

“Nick?”

She got up from her seat and hurried after him, pasting a
fake smile on her face. “Nick!” she shouted as soon as she was out of the
restaurant.
Damn man had long legs!
She panted as she ran after him. She
could see him swear as he patted his pockets, probably trying to locate his car
keys.

He finally fished them out and beeped the car open. He slid
in the front seat just as she wrenched the passenger door open and jumped
inside. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

His voice was so loud inside the tiny sports car she thought
she’d gone deaf for a second or two. “Wow, calm down. I just want to talk.”

“No,” he hissed through clenched teeth. “No talking. Ever.
Again. D’you want to know what happened the last time we talked? You started
giggling so much you spewed Coke all over me. And that was after I’d cleaned
myself up after that fucking soup accident!”

“But that’s a good thing surely. I was laughing so much
because you were funny and…” She let her voice trail when she spotted the way
his face was reddening. “Okay, so maybe it wasn’t very nice in the middle of a
first date, but—”

“I can’t do this now. Get out, Lucy.”

She felt her control snap. After everything that had
happened, she wouldn’t let him get out of this so easily. Couldn’t he see how
important this was for her? “Nope.” Grabbing the seat belt, she dragged it
around her, then settled back into the seat, her arms crossed her chest. “You
can drive me home, Jeeves.”

“What the hell? Who do you think you are?”

“Your date, dumbass.”

“Dumbass?”

She swore his head was going to pop. “Nick, I don’t have a
ride. I took a taxi earlier. Could you at least drive me back? It’s not asking
much, surely. I mean, you’re supposed to be my date tonight.” So what if she’d
made sure she wouldn’t have a ride back, knowing he would never leave her
stranded? Desperate times called for desperate measures.

“I swear, it’s the last time I trust your brother. No more
blind dates. No more fucking dates. I’m gonna have one-night stands until the
end of all eternity,” he muttered under his breath as he revved the engine and
sent the car flying onto the hardtop.

“You might try slowing down,” she finally said after some
long—very long—silent minutes.

“Did your brother see you go out like this?”

She blinked. “What?”

“Your dress’s too short.”

Lucy stared down at the hem, which stopped just above her
knees. “No, it’s not. What’s up with you?”

“What’s with me?” he repeated, his tone incredulous. “Are
you kidding me? And tug this down, for pity’s sake!” His right hand shot out.
Fingers grabbed hold of her dress, the sudden sensation of his rough skin
against her inner thighs making her moan.

He jerked at the sound, the wheel jerking with him. Nick
wrestled with it as the car began to spin to the left. He corrected the
trajectory, but she saw the road on the left and the gravel path that edged the
cliff on the right.

“Right, Nick. Go right!”

“What? No.”

“Right!” she screamed and he listened to her at the last
second.

The car veered onto gravel and then, after something that
resembled a boom, stalled.

Silence reigned in the car. The car had stopped just as the
path gave way to shrubbery, and feet away, the cliff’s edge.

“Shit,” Nick groaned, his forehead bumping the top of the
steering wheel.

Eyes wide, she asked, “Are you okay?”

“I’m never okay with you,” he replied, sounding defeated.

“Oh.”

“Let’s get out of here.” He opened his door and slid out and
she followed suit.

They stood there in the relative quiet as they stared at the
car. It was dead. Oh, it might run again one day, but it sure as hell wasn’t
going to get them back into town. Lights glittered in the valley at their feet.
They were so close and yet…they were stuck.

“I can’t believe this!” Nick snapped, his booted foot
connecting with the front tire. “I told you not to follow me. I told you I
didn’t want to date you again! Can’t you see what you did? Can’t you?”

“I didn’t cause this accident, Nick.”

“It’s that dress’s fault!”

“Nick, come on. Listen to yourself.”

“Listen to myself? Listen to myself?”

That was only the start of his rant. She watched him get
more and more agitated, waving his arms around as he swore. She tried speaking
out, tried to make him see it hadn’t been her fault, but nothing managed to get
through to him. He kept going on and on about her dress, as if her dressing
sexy for once was the end of the world. So she did the only thing she could
think of. Leaning against the trunk of the car, she lifted her hands and began
unbuttoning the ill-fated garment.

It took him a moment, but he finally asked, “What are you
doing?”

“What does it look like?” She looked back at him, her
fingers never stopping. “I thought your sensibilities would be less offended if
I took off the dress you so obviously hate.”

“Are you crazy?” He grabbed her arm and tugged her behind
the car. “Everyone can see you!”

“Everyone?” She looked around them. “No one takes this
shortcut but us.”

“You can’t know that.”

She rolled her eyes and pointed out, “It’s nearly fully dark
now.”

“I can see you!”

“So what?” she shot back, and with a shrug of her shoulders,
let the dress fall down her arms to the ground.

“Lucy, don’t…” He took a step back, almost as if he was
suddenly afraid of her.

“I’m not wearing it anymore. Happy now?”

“Hell, baby, I… Just… I don’t…”

He was speechless. She, the one woman he’d steadfastly
refused to date over the past ten years, had managed to render him speechless.
For the first time ever, she was aware of the power she held as a woman. “Yes?”
She smiled and, knowing it was now or never, slid her hands up her back. With
one quick jerk of her fingers, her bra snaps opened. Her fingers pulled at the
straps on her shoulders, dragging them down. She felt the cool air whisper
across her bare breasts, hardening her nipples. Or maybe it was Nick’s gaze on
them. Either way, it was working.

Shivering, she bent down and slid her lacy briefs down her
legs. Kicking them off, she stood back up, her gaze instantly meeting his. “I
want you, Nick. Please?”

That last word hung in the air between them until he took a
step forward. She got scared then. Scared he would turn her down again. Scared
he would tell her she was unworthy of him, she of the too plentiful curves and
soft flesh. Maybe he’d tell her she wasn’t his type.

No, he’d never been derogatory about her looks. Not once. He
was just…Nick. Her Nick.

His eyes were too bright, his palms sweaty when they found
her waist a moment later. “We shouldn’t do this. Your brother will kill me.”

“Please, Nick,” she repeated. “He doesn’t have to know.” Her
body nearly vibrated. She wanted nothing more than to snuggle against him but
she didn’t want to scare him away. She licked her lips once again, the taste of
cherries so faint she realized she’d eaten the lip gloss off. “I’ve wanted you
for so long.”

“I…know.” His gaze drew down, lingering over her breasts.
She took a step forward, making them brush against his shirt-clad chest. His
fingers slid down to her hips and squeezed. “Are you sure?” he asked, his voice
soft.

She didn’t answer, couldn’t answer, and simply leaned back
onto the cold trunk of his car.

“Fuck.” A ragged whisper.

She felt him step closer and widened her legs. He came to
stand between them, the harsh denim of his pants rubbing against the inside of
her thighs. “Are you sure?” he repeated, almost as if he needed to hear the
words from her before he could touch her.

She grabbed her courage in both hands and replied, “Nick,
I’m buck naked on your car. I don’t think I can make myself any clearer.”

And for the first time in ages, he laughed in her presence.
She felt it to her core, that chuckle. It probably had an even greater impact
because suddenly, he was there. Pressing down on her, his hands appeared on
each side of her head and his face loomed above hers. “Hey.”

“Hey.” She smiled, looping her arms around his neck.
Go
for it! Go for it!
“Kiss me, Nick.”

He was still grinning when his mouth met hers. And as they
kissed for the first time, she could feel her heartbeat slow down. This was it,
the moment she’d been waiting for all these years. Nick in her arms. Nick
kissing her, slowly learning what made her tick, what made her moan. Her
fingers ran through the too-long hair at his nape and she luxuriated in the
simple caress.

His lips left hers, her back arching as he licked and nipped
a way down her neck, nibbled her collarbone. He pressed soft kisses on the
sensitive skin of her breasts, making her gasp when his teeth clamped tight
around one taut nipple. He laved the fleeting pain away and did it all over
again to her other breast. Biting and sucking and making her feel so damn good
she was nearly writhing underneath him. The car was warm and hard underneath
her, as hard as the man leaning over her. Clasping both hands around his head,
she tugged him upward, licking her way inside his mouth, kissing him like she’d
dreamed of doing for so long.

His cock, unyielding inside his pants, pushed against the
juncture of her thighs. She rocked her hips up, rubbing herself against him.
Yearning. Wanting.

Laughing at her eagerness, he pulled back and continued on
his downward journey until he was kneeling on the gravel. She drew in a breath
just as he opened her up with two fingers. Air whooshed out of her mouth only
seconds later when he drew out her clit and flicked it.

“Ah!” she cried out, but he didn’t stop. He even upped the
ante.

His tongue found the small nub and circled it, hardening it
so he could nip it. He slid one finger inside her at the same time, the
pleasure suddenly so intense she felt her control snap. She tensed, her walls
clenched around his thrusting finger and then she was screaming.

Her shout echoed in the mountains around them. The world
froze for a second or two.

She came back to herself just in time to watch Nick sending
his jacket and shirt flying to a nearby bush. He didn’t seem to notice she was
staring at him as he unconsciously tugged his pants and boxers down. His left
hand curled around his cock, the muscles in his forearm flexing. She gulped,
mesmerized by that unknown sight of him. Hard and so very, very magnificent. He
fished his wallet from his back pocket and retrieved a condom, putting it on so
damn fast she nearly missed it.

She didn’t miss when he turned toward her and moved back
between her legs.