If I Trust You (If You Come Back To Me #4) (12 page)

She pointed to the left of the street. “That was my friend Grace Schetel’s house, and there’s Mari’s family’s old house.”

“No old boyfriends used to live on Sycamore?”

She shook her head with mock somberness. “No such luck.”

He chuckled. “There’s a story there, I’m thinking.”

“I had a huge, unrequited crush on Mari’s older brother, Ryan. But that was nothing unusual. Half the girls in Harbor Town did.” They slowly approached the attractive white, colonial revival house on the right. She pointed to her mother’s house. “There’s the summer house. My bedroom was the corner one facing the street. I think I spent almost two entire weeks during my thirteenth summer in that window there, staring down Sycamore Avenue, waiting for Ryan Itani to come home on his motorcycle. I was heartbroken he didn’t know I existed.”

Nick gave her a wry sideways glance. “I find it hard to believe a guy didn’t know you existed.”

“Quite a normal phenomenon for a skinny as a rail thirteen-year-old girl, trust me,” Deidre assured, grinning.

Nick turned the sedan off Sycamore Avenue a few minutes later. Deidre reached out and touched his thigh.

“Thanks,” she said when he glanced over at her.

“For what?”

“For reminding me that while there are a lot of sad memories associated with that street, there were even more wonderful ones.”

As they returned to Cedar Cottage, Deidre coaxed him into talking about his parents.

“They’re all good memories of your mom and dad, even though they died when you were so young,” she said later as they pulled into the driveway. “You’re lucky in that aspect.”

“I am,” Nick agreed as he put the car in Park.

“Is that part of why you didn’t want Lincoln to become a true father figure to you? Out of loyalty to your real father?” she asked in a hushed tone.

He kept his face turned in profile. “Maybe.”

“It’s confusing, isn’t it?” she asked in a burst of honesty. “I feel so guilty at times, disloyal to my dad—Derry, I mean—because I wanted to know Lincoln so much. I feel guilty in regard to Lincoln, too. He might have been hurt if he knew when I think of ‘Dad’ I automatically think of Derry.”

“I can’t speak for Derry, but as far as Linc goes, I bet he would have understood completely.”

Deidre nodded. “He had a huge heart,” she murmured, thinking of what her mother had told her about Lincoln. “I wish my heart was so forgiving.”

She turned when Nick touched her, sliding her chin into the palm of his hand. He caressed her ear with his fingertips. A powerful surge of sexual awareness went through her at his touch.

“I wouldn’t sell yourself short on that,” he said gruffly. “Even the most generous of hearts needs time to heal.”

“Thank you,” she whispered. “After seeing Mom today, I’m feeling a little more optimistic about things. Like...maybe the hardest part is over.”

He touched his lips to hers. Deidre closed her eyes and ran her fingers through his hair. The kiss started slowly, their mouths teasing and molding. Nick’s teeth lightly scraped at her lower lip and she sighed.

His tongue slid into her mouth and she was lost.

“Do you want to come inside?” she whispered shakily a minute later as he pressed his hot mouth to her neck.

“I thought you’d never ask,” he replied.

Chapter Eight

O
nce they were inside the cottage, Nick whipped his coat off and draped it on a kitchen chair. Deidre was trying to unbutton her coat when he interrupted her by cradling her jaw in both of his hands and lifting her face. He seized her mouth in a searing kiss.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you all day long,” he said a moment later as he helped her draw her coat off her arms. He laid it on top of his, took her hand and led her out of the kitchen.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you, either,” Deidre admitted as she followed him. When they reached the bedroom, Nick switched on the bedside lamp to its dimmest setting. He drew her in front of him and began to unzip her dress. His breath came in uneven puffs of warm air against her neck.

“I hope you don’t think this is crass,” he mumbled as he brushed the dress over her shoulders, “but this first time might be short and sweet. I feel like the past twelve hours has been ten years, waiting to touch you again.” He groaned when he pushed the dress down to her ankles and she stood wearing only a black bra, panties, thigh-high hose and heels. He ran his hand along her naked hip and stifled a groan. “God, you’re beautiful. Better make that very fast and very furious.” His glance at her was hot and entreating. “I’ll make it up to you afterward. I promise.”

Deidre laughed, flattered by his admission. She turned in his arms. “I believe you,” she said truthfully. She went up on her toes and met him in a kiss. Their mouths clung when he lifted her against him and moved toward the bed, sitting heavily on the edge of the mattress. Deidre’s knees parted as she straddled him. She couldn’t get enough of the taste of him or the sensation of his molding lips and searching tongue. She shivered uncontrollably when he ran his hands over her from shoulder to hip. He placed both hands on her bottom and slid her closer into his lap. She moaned feverishly into his mouth when she felt the strength of his arousal.

No wonder he’d said things would be fast and furious.

Her sex clenched tight at the mere thought.

She became transported with heat...with need. She whispered his name as she rained kisses along his collar and began to tug at his tie. He helped her and she was free to unfasten his shirt. She opened the fabric a moment later and ran her hands over his chest and the erotic swell of his shoulder muscles. It felt so good she leaned down to sample the dense flesh with her teeth.

Nick hissed and his hold on her buttocks tightened. Deidre heard the hard edge of arousal in his tone, and it thrilled her. Her mouth moved over him hungrily, sampling his chest, tasting a small, rigid nipple. She felt feverish...liberated by her desire. She went lower, leaning down and tilting her head to scrape her teeth lightly against the side of a rib.

She began to unbuckle his belt, holding his gaze as she unfastened his trousers.

“Deidre,” he grated out when she took his length into her hand. She wondered anew at how hard and heavy his erection felt against her palm and stroking fingers. His eyes seemed alight with need as he watched her through narrowed lids. “This is how you treat a man when he tells you he’s hurting for you?”

“It’s how I treat
you,
” she whispered back in a quiet challenge. She braced herself with her hands on his thighs. She slid between his legs until her knees hit the carpet.

“Damn it, Deidre,” he groaned when she took him in her hand again. He combed his fingers through her hair and cradled the back of her skull, the gesture gentle and possessive at once. He halted her from leaning forward.

She looked up at him, admiring the image of his lean, muscular torso between the opening of his white dress shirt, his tie draped around his shoulders. She recalled all too poignantly how she’d once considered him cold, relentless and calculating. He seemed the opposite of that in that moment. He seemed undone by desire, and she loved it.

“I want to,” she told him, her lips moving but no sound coming from her mouth.

His jaw tightened and his nostrils flared. “Far be it from me to stop you then. But I’m going to get you back later.”

“I look forward to it,” she assured him before she leaned forward and tasted him.

* * *

A while later, Nick landed one last kiss along the softness of Deidre’s thigh and rose over her. She lay naked on the bed, her head on the pillows. He was glad he’d left the light on. He wouldn’t have wanted to miss the sublime expression on Deidre’s face at that moment for the world. He lightly licked her upper lip and tasted her sweat, letting it blend with the essence of her on his tongue.

“So proud of yourself for getting back at me so well,” she murmured with a hint of a smile. He dipped his tongue between her lips and heard her soft moan of renewed arousal.

Who had he been kidding? he wondered hazily as he plundered Deidre’s mouth and she responded so wholly, so sweetly...without an ounce of reservation. He’d thought he could maintain at least some level of objectivity when it came to her, but that had been before he’d tasted her...before he felt the perfection of her deepest embrace.

This courageous, beautiful, wounded woman deserved only happiness, and he knew now he would never do anything to intentionally hurt her. But what if they discovered she wasn’t really Lincoln DuBois’s daughter? Would she blame him for the pain she felt if that were true? Would she blame him if he were honest with her about facts over which he had no control?

She arched against him, her breasts pressing against his chest. He answered her need wordlessly, gritting his teeth as he entered her, feeling her muscles clench around him, drawing him deeper, urging him into the center of her heat. He thrust and watched her face through a narrowed gaze, unable to look away from the image of Deidre’s desire, of her acceptance of him.

It’d slice him deep if she withdrew that acceptance.

The thought of Deidre being alone in the world cut at him even worse.

* * *

The next morning was a gray, leaden day. Nick said he had a conference call with his San Francisco staff, so he rose and showered while Deidre snuggled in bed, missing his solid warmth. After Deidre had cleaned up, Nick lingered in the living room, sipping the coffee Deidre had made.

“I thought you needed to make a call at nine-thirty,” Deidre reminded him.

“I do,” he said, sitting down on the couch. “But I’ll give them a call and tell them I’m running a few minutes late.” He held out his arm and Deidre sat down next to him, her legs folded beneath her, her body curving into Nick’s embrace like a pea in a pod. To her, he looked—and smelled—every bit as wonderful as he had last night wearing his dark gray suit. This morning, he even had the added bonus of a slightly disreputable, sexy scruff on his jaw.

“What are you grinning about?” he murmured, running his fingers through the still-damp hair at her nape. She shivered at his touch.

“I was thinking you really look the part of a corporate cowboy this morning.”

“Is that a bad or good thing?”

“Oh...very good,” she assured him before their lips met in a kiss.

“Do you want me to fill you in on what the meeting is about today? You can come and listen, if you like,” he said a moment later, his forehead pressed against hers. “It wouldn’t hurt for you to slowly start to absorb some of this stuff. It doesn’t mean you have to do anything with it, but knowledge is always good, right?” he added when he leaned back and noticed her bewilderment.

“Right,” she admitted. “Why don’t you just fill me in?”

She listened with a tight focus while Nick gave the names and job titles of the people he would meet with this morning. Each man or woman was the president of a major DuBois global unit or subsidiary company. Deidre realized he was trying to begin to convey to her the overall structure of DuBois Enterprises. It began to dawn on her just how vast the corporation was.

“...real estate and development—Travis Moore, health and agricultural sciences—Emmit Chandis, media—Melanie Marcraft, and computer and space technology—Spencer Jones,” Deidre repeated back to him the major global units and their presidents a while later.

“Perfect score,” Nick said before he checked his watch. “I really should get going. All the aforementioned people are going to be waiting for me.” He glanced back at her as he stood. “If you want to learn more about DuBois Enterprises in general, why don’t you just check things out on your laptop? The website has a pretty good overview.”

Deidre stood along with him. “I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but I don’t own a laptap or iPad or anything remotely techy except for my cell phone.” She saw his slightly stunned expression and blushed. “See? What did I tell you? I’m the last person Lincoln should have ever considered to co-run his company. I’m a twenty-first-century dinosaur, according to Colleen.”

“I don’t think a qualifier for the position is how many pieces of personal technology you own,” Nick said.

“I should be getting the call pretty soon about the genetic testing,” she said quietly as he put on his coat, voicing a thought that had been haunting her all morning.

His expression sobered. It was the first time since they’d become intimate with one another that they’d mentioned the genetic testing out loud.

“Yeah. I know.”

The moment felt strained. Deidre was confused. Nick’s faith in her seemed to be growing by the hour, but he still was worried about what they’d discover in regard to her paternity. The awkward silence proved that.

He reached out suddenly and cradled the side of her head. “I have a surprise for you.”

“Another one?” she asked, laughing, thankful he’d broken the tension.

“It’s not a huge one. It’s really just an excuse for me to spend time with you this afternoon. Can I pick you up at around two?”

“Yes,” she whispered, ensnared by his eyes.

He kissed her softly and then deeply enough to make her toes curl in her slippers and her fingers grip at the lapel of his coat.

The second the front door shut, she already missed him.

* * *

Deidre ate a late breakfast and took a call from her brother Marc. He had a recommendation for an attorney who specialized in estate law and contested wills.

“His name is Mike Bonella, and he has a national reputation as being one of the best. Malone will know of him, and he won’t be so quick to try and take advantage of you if he knows you have Mike in your corner. Why don’t you give Mike a call? He’s very interested in speaking to you. Of course, in all honesty, there’s not an estate lawyer in the country who wouldn’t want to be retained for such a high-profile case,” Marc admitted wryly.

The shell of euphoria surrounding Deidre after her night and morning with Nick started to crack at Marc’s words. Reality started to leak in.

“Deidre? You okay?” Marc asked when she remained silent.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Has Malone been giving you a hard time?”

“No, it’s not that at all, it’s just...” She bit her lower lip. Marc would kill her if she told him she’d been foolish enough to get romantically involved with Nick Malone. If she considered things from Marc’s perspective, she
was
behaving idiotically. “I should hear any day now about the genetic testing. I guess I’m just hesitant to call a lawyer and make any big plans when my life is so uncertain right now.”

She heard her brother sigh. “Yeah, well I guess it couldn’t hurt to wait a couple days. Although I’d prefer you at least had Mike Bonella’s name behind you. Are you starting to get nervous? About the test results, I mean?”

“Starting? My nerves have been fried since before I even went for the testing. It just gets worse every day.”

“I can imagine,” Marc admitted.

“It’s kind of stupid for me to be nervous, isn’t it? I mean...it’s not like Mom slept around. If she says my natural father was Lincoln DuBois, it was Lincoln DuBois, right?”

“Right,” Marc said.

“So how come I still feel so nervous?”

“Probably because you know things will
really
start to get hairy when you discover for certain you are Lincoln’s biological child.”

Deidre wrote down the information about the lawyer, feeling unsettled the whole time. Her night and morning with Nick was still too vibrant in her memory—still singing in her flesh. The phone call with Marc had interrupted her happiness and made her question her loyalties. She thought of how Nick had begun teaching her some of the basics about DuBois this morning and how he’d recommended she contact Abel Warren, Lincoln’s personal attorney. He was starting to support her, mentor her, even. But surely Nick would understand that she might need her own legal counsel, given the possibility of how things may unfold?

She glanced down at the piece of paper with Mike Bonella’s number on it. If she ended up calling Bonella, it would be because Nick told her he was taking her to court. A sick, uneasy feeling grew in her stomach.

She dressed in a scarlet sweater and tucked her black skinny jeans into her tie-up snow boots. She took time styling her hair and with her makeup, trying to distract herself from her anxiety. Afterward, she ran a few errands and stopped by Liam’s and Natalie’s house to collect their mail.

Despite her eagerness to see Nick, nervousness started to twine with her anticipation as two o’clock approached. Her heart seemed to leap into her throat when she heard his car door slam in the driveway at a few minutes past two.

“Hey,” he greeted when she opened the door and cold air rushed across her face.

Seeing his tall, shadowed form against the brilliant backdrop of the sunny winter day and glistening blue lake brought back every detail of last night. The passionate connection they’d made was special, wasn’t it? Unique? It certainly had been in her experience.

He’d changed into jeans and boots. He stepped toward her, taking her in his arms. She realized she’d been gaping at him like she hadn’t seen him in months instead of hours.

“Hi,” she muttered, her gaze stuck on the dazzling sight of his dimples and sexy smile.

“You can do better than that,” he murmured before he edged toward her, leaned down and kissed her. Deidre went up on her toes and improved her greeting enthusiastically. His grin was long gone by the time he lifted his head a moment later.