Good Girl Gone Wild: When Lust Turns to Passion... (Good and Wild) (3 page)

Nick gazed at
her in stupefaction, then at Lisa who was gyrating easily on the crowded dance
floor with a hunk in a tight black shirt. “How do you know?” he finally shouted
back.

“Are you
kidding?” Kate shrilled. “They’re practically twins!”

Nick looked
again, and finally saw the resemblance. Same eyes, nose and mouth, but strangely
Nick felt none of the attraction he had felt for the sister. He looked back at
her, and Kate was considering him with impish glee.

After what
seemed an eternity, Nick finally convinced the girls to go to a quieter place.
Wendy elected to stay with some friends she met, so it was just Nick, Lisa and
Kate who sat at a quiet bar two blocks away. Lisa had by now been given the
facts of Kate’s acquaintanceship with Christine, and was busy in weaving her
hapless sister into her schemes. Nick was very attractive, and Lisa thought
Christine deserved to have some fun. She found a kindred spirit in Kate.

“I’ve known Nick
all my life, and even if he’s my cousin, I know he’s damned attractive,” Kate
confided when Nick got up to go to the bathroom.  “But he’s 27 and he’s never
had a serious girlfriend, and that’s not right.”

“The same with
Christine,” Lisa said. “She always stays home with a book, and she doesn’t have
any fun. I always tell her she acts like she’s 64 instead of 24!”

“I think your
sister made a real impact on him,” Kate said, earnestly regarding Lisa. “I’ve
never seen him like that before.”

Nick came back
just then, and Kate turned to him brightly. “Lisa was saying she lives near
here and could give us some coffee. What do you say?”

“Sounds good,”
Nick said, trying not to sound over-eager. He’d been cudgeling his brain all
night trying to find a way to get Christine’s number, and this seemed like an answer
to a prayer.

Lisa received
the announcement with equanimity, although she was inwardly quaking about
dropping in on Christine without warning. She glanced at her watch and saw it
was nearly 1 am. She would be sleeping, Lisa thought, then shrugged, bringing
out her cell phone. The phone buzzed 6 times before it was answered, and the voice
on the other line was definitely grumpy.

Christine had
been in bed for hours, but couldn’t sleep. She tossed and turned, counted
sheep, and drank warm milk without avail. She was finally just beginning to
feel drowsy when her cell phone rang. She tried to ignore it, but was tortured
by the possibility that it might be an emergency. When she heard what Lisa had
to say, she was very close to losing her temper.

“Now?” she
asked, outraged. “No way, Lisa, go somewhere else….what do you mean you already
asked? Well, tell them…Ok, fine!” She hit the end call button petulantly, and
then sighed.
Might as well,
she thought, slowly tying up her hair into a
loose knot and slipping into a cowled shirt and shorts.

Lisa
occasionally had friends over after a night out, especially on a Friday night,
but it usually wasn’t a spur of the moment thing. She made her way into the
kitchen, going into the large pantry to start the coffee machine and set out
mugs. Soon she heard Lisa’s key in the lock.

“I’m in here, be
with you in a sec!” she called out. She heard a low murmur of voices and after
a moment a step behind her.  She looked up and almost dropped the creamer she
had just taken down from the shelf.

It was
him
,
her heart rejoiced, and the sudden flood of feelings threatened to overcome
her. The pantry was large, but close quarters for two people, and she could
feel his presence all around her in the confined space.  She carefully placed
the container on the countertop next to the coffee machine.

“Hi,” Nick said,
smiling warmly. “I’m sorry if I startled you. I seem to do that a lot around
you,” he said teasingly.

“Yes,” she
squeaked, swallowing around her heart, which was thudding painfully in her
throat, it seemed. She tried again. “Yes,” and managed a small smile. “I didn’t
know you knew Lisa.”

“Just met her
tonight, at the new club,” he said, searching her face. His reaction to her had
nothing to do with her looks, never mind that she was beautiful. The sisters really
were remarkably alike, but he was again aware of the tug he had felt earlier
that day for Christine. The memory caused him to look at her arms, which were
still slightly red and covered with a clear cream. “You did get burnt,” Nick
said, concerned.

Christine raised
one arm, inspecting the burn. It didn’t even hurt, but the balm would prevent a
boil from forming. She showed it to him. “I’ll live,” she said, smiling. He
leaned closer to get a better look and his head was close enough to smell.
There was a light smell of cigarettes, but underneath was a clean, manly scent.
She breathed in deeply, closing her eyes, and when she opened them again his
face was on a level to hers, kissing distance.

Kiss me
, she thought, mesmerized as she stared
at his lips. Nick watched her eyes dilate and the gold in them seemed to sink
into the light brown as it darkened. He raised a hand to her face, lightly
stroking the line of her jaw and felt her quiver in response, lips parting
slightly. His level of excitement was rising, and he leaned in to taste those
delectable lips, anticipating their taste and softness.

“Did you guys
die in there?” Lisa called out gaily, and Christine jerked back as if
electrocuted. Nick straightened slowly, grinning ruefully as Christine handed
him the mug-laden tray with a shaky laugh. She took the coffee pot and motioned
for him to go ahead.

As they stepped
into the living room, Christine saw Kate who was animatedly discussing shoes
with Lisa, and stopped dead. She had completely forgotten about the girlfriend,
and felt her heart plummet to roughly the vicinity of her slippered feet.

Kate turned and
twaddled her fingers in a “hi’ya” gesture, not missing a beat in her soliloquy,
so Christine set down the pot on a protective mat on the coffee table and took
the tray from Nick to pour out. Nick looked amused, taking a position in the
doorway to the room. Christine handed him his coffee, not smiling and looking a
little stern. He wondered at the expression.

He had an
unrestricted view of Christine who was curled up in her favorite armchair, her
hands wrapped around her mug. She had a meditative look on her face, and Nick
knew for some reason that she was simultaneously not listening to the two girls
and upset at him.

Christine was in
fact furious. He had been within an ace of kissing her, and his girlfriend (his
wife?!) had been right in the other room, barely two feet away through the
wall! She wanted him for herself, she had admitted that while she lay in bed
sleepless earlier, but she knew it wasn’t to be. He was spoken for. The
unexpectedness of his arrival had thrown her off balance, and she had forgotten
that vital little fact for a second when he was so close.

She squirmed
slightly at the memory, and Kate caught the movement. “Oh, Christine,” the
sudden call almost made Christine drop her mug on her lap for a second
record-breaking time that day. “I told Lisa about how Nick almost demolished
your laptop at the café this afternoon.”
Nick
, she thought wonderingly,
his
name is Nick. What a lovely name. Nicholas? Dominic?

“So that’s why
you came back so early,” Lisa said, almost accusingly, her narrow stare
promising all sorts of repercussions for her reticence. Christine gave back a
wide-eyed one, giving nothing away.

“It wasn’t a big
deal,” she mumbled into her mug, refusing to look at Nick.

“Oh, no, he owes
you a dinner, at least, right, Nicky?” Kate said, grinning at Nick. Christine
felt like she was in a parallel universe. The girlfriend (wife?!) was setting
her up with Nick? Hope began to rise.
Maybe she’s not his girlfriend
,
she thought, risking a look at Nick. As always, his eyes were on her, and she
could feel herself getting warm. Her eyes dropped. Thank God she didn’t blush
easily!

“Definitely,”
Nick said firmly, pushing off from the doorway. “But I think that’s between us,
don’t you think?” He took his gaze away from Christine long enough to look
meaningfully at Kate. Lisa took the hint and jumped up.

“I was telling
you about these pumps I bought downtown, and they’re so cute. Come into my
room,” she said, and Kate followed with alacrity, tipping Nick a roguish wink
as she passed.

Christine sat
frozen, not knowing what to do. She badly wanted to follow the two girls to the
safety of the bedroom, but she also wanted to be alone with Nick. He came to
sit near her, and courtesy forced her to look at him. He looked uncertain, no
longer smiling, looking anxious.

“Don’t mind,
Kate, she means well, but sometimes she goes too far.” Nick searched her face
for a clue to her thoughts, and found himself gazing deeply into her eyes
again.
Has she hypnotized me?
he wondered, feeling out of his depth, his
breath starting to quicken as he was again enveloped by an irresistible
attraction to this girl.

“I-It’s fine,
you don’t have to buy me dinner,” Christine said, trying to catch her own
breath. She couldn’t look away.

“Oh, but I want
to,” he said, resisting the urge to touch her face again. “You must know I find
you very attractive, Christine. I would love to spend more time with you, if
you’re okay with that.”

Oh,
yes!
Her mind shouted,
but she temporized. “I don’t know. I barely know you. And what about --?” She
waved a hand at the closed bedroom door. She saw the confusion in his eyes, and
then enlightenment. He smiled.

“Kate’s
my cousin.”

Oh,
blessed relief!
Some of it
must have showed in her face, because Nick smiled wider.
So that’s why she
was upset,
he thought, pleased at the positive sign.

“About
knowing me, that’s what a date’s for,” he persisted. “How about tomorrow?”

She
nodded her head, smiling shyly. Nick knew he had a dopey grin on his face, but
he couldn’t help it.

“Okay
then, I’ll pick you up here, say 7?” he asked, trying to decide where he should
take her.
Somewhere romantic,
he thought, unaware that Christine was
fighting with an irresistible urge to brush back the hair that had fallen on
his brow.

He
looks so adorable,
she
thought, her heart constricting. Almost on its own, her right hand reached out
and she brushed back the lock anyway, and the skin contact was electric.

She
snatched her hand back, her fingers tingling. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I
did that!” She was horrified at her aggressiveness, and the wanting that she
felt radiating from her center.  Christine was not particularly interested in
sex, even seeing other people kiss made her uncomfortable, but she was
definitely sexually attracted to this man.

Nick
couldn’t answer; he was unprepared for the tingle that ran down his back at her
touch. Finally, he shook his head, swallowing the lump in his throat as desire
surged up for this lovely girl. He tamped it down grimly.
Easy.
“That’s
okay, you can do it anytime.” He managed a grin, and she visibly relaxed.

He
stood up, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “Well, we’d better go and let you
get some sleep. Kate!” He was afraid to stay longer; his wanting for this girl
was something he had never felt before, and he wasn’t sure if he could control
himself at the moment. She didn’t seem to be someone you could rush into a
physical relationship, either. He almost groaned aloud at the prospect of taking
it slow.

Kate
and Lisa appeared almost immediately, as if they had been listening at the
door. Kate looked all innocence, but Lisa was less accomplished at subterfuge,
and looked slightly shame-faced. Nick grinned, and he could feel the sexual tension
leak out of him.

“Time
to go. I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said, giving her a warm smile, shaking hands
with Lisa while Kate kissed the sisters with a flourish.

“Bye,
and thanks for the coffee!” she said breezily, preceding Nick out the door. As
soon as the door closed behind them, Kate hugged Nick’s arm, giggling. “Did I
do good?”

Nick
gave her a smirk, silently resolving to send her a dozen of her favorite
flowers.

Preparing
for her date that night was fast turning into a battle of wills. Lisa wanted
her to get her hair and nails done, her body waxed and to wear a very nice, very
provocative dress with a high hemline and peek-a-boo back and matching heels.
Christine refused all of these, choosing to dress her hair simply and her nails
alone. She also chose a russet-colored pantsuit with ¾ sleeves.

“You
look like you’re going for a job interview instead of a date!” Lisa complained
as she watched her sister brush out her luxuriant locks. All too often in a
knot or ponytail, Christine’s hair was thick and glowing with health, with a
natural wave that bordered on curly when allowed out of confinement. Pushed
back from her forehead by a headband, it cascaded down her back almost to her
waist. “At least wear a dress!” Lisa pleaded.