Lessons in Love (7 page)

‘Let’s get back then and discuss the terms of the sale,’ Nicholas said to him. ‘I realise it’s up for auction, but if possible I’d like the chance to negotiate with the seller. I don’t want to wait a month if I can help it.’ Emily was effectively out of the picture again, and waited impatiently for Nicholas to finish. They returned to the car, and Emily gazed back at the house once more, as she imagined Nicholas and his future bride and their children cheerfully ensconced within its walls. The thought was not a pleasant one.

‘Thanks again for coming,’ said Nicholas pleasantly as they arrived back at the estate agent’s office.

‘My pleasure,’ she said. ‘I rarely get to see inside houses like that.’ She smiled a little wistfully, and Nicholas looked at her penetratingly.

‘You really did like it, didn’t you?’ The question was rhetorical, she nodded in response.

‘It was lovely. I’m sure you’ll be very happy there.’

‘I hope so. We’ll catch up again later, Emily. Study hard!’ The last was said jokingly but she grimaced slightly.

‘Don’t remind me. Good bye Nicholas.’ He turned away, and she returned to her car, smiling sadly as she placed the key in the ignition. She sighed. How could two short weeks have made such a profound difference in her life? How could she have met a man who had such a dramatic effect on every aspect of her being? Nicholas was an enigma to her: at once he was distant, arrogant and cold, but at the same time, he could be warm, funny and almost caring. Unfortunately, where Emily was concerned, he would go from one extreme to the other without a moment’s notice, and she always felt the need to stay on guard.

With a final wistful sigh she turned her gaze to the road conditions around her and turned the key in the ignition, satisfied when the car started right away. She smiled, and put it into reverse, but the expected backward movement didn’t occur. Frowning she engaged the clutch again, shifted the stick into neutral and then back into reverse, but nothing happened.

‘Damn!’ she swore, banging hard against the steering wheel. She picked up her mobile phone and dialled the RACV, fuming inwardly.

The man told her they’d be at least half an hour, so resigned to a wait she turned on the car stereo. The last thing she needed now were more expensive mechanical repairs!

A knock at the window startled her and she jumped up in surprise, flushing when she saw Nicholas staring in with a frown on his face. She opened the door.

‘The car’s not working,’ she confessed with a grimace.

‘Again?’ He raised his eyebrows.

‘Be my guest, see for yourself. It wouldn’t reverse when I tried it; although the engine started without a hitch.’

‘Did you take the hand brake off?’ She rolled her eyes at him. ‘OK, OK.’ He held his hands up in surrender. ‘I’ll give it a shot. Perhaps I can tell you what’s wrong.’ She stepped out of the car and Nicholas took her place, having to adjust the seat well back from her seating position to accommodate his long legs. She gulped slightly as she watched the studied concentration on his features as he went through the familiar manoeuvres required to start the car.

‘OK, I concede. There’s definitely a problem with the car.’ Emily smiled in satisfaction. Did he really think she couldn’t reverse her own car? Or worse, think she’d engineered this little scene on purpose, to wait for his assistance?

‘The RACV should be here shortly,’ she informed him.

‘Unfortunately, there’s not much they’ll be able to do,’ Nicholas said. ‘I’d say the gearbox is shot.’ Emily winced and Nicholas smiled at her sympathetically.

‘I’ll wait with you if you like. Then I’ll give you a lift home.’

‘Thanks. I appreciate that,’ she replied. The thought had crossed her mind to refuse, but she wasn’t a masochist, and didn’t relish the idea of walking home in the rather impractical heels she’d put on that morning.

‘You may not realise this, but I do know what it’s like to drive an old car that’s likely to break down at a moment’s notice. Back when I was a student, I drove a 1970 Holden Kingswood.’ He laughed. ‘I was lucky if it drove for two weeks straight without a breakdown. I became quite proficient at doing some of the repairs myself because I couldn’t afford to get someone else to fix it for me. However, after a couple of years, and some savings made from a part time job, I traded it in for a newer model.’ Emily tried hard to picture Nicholas behind the wheel of a beaten up old Kingswood, but her imagination failed her.

True to Nicholas’s dire prediction, the RACV mechanic agreed it was the gearbox, and needed to tow the car to her mechanic’s. She dreaded to think what it would cost this time, but knew she had no choice but to pay whatever it took. She needed her car, and after her experience with buses the previous week, giving it up simply wasn’t an option. The RACV mechanic arranged for a tow truck to pick it up, and that dealt with, she saw little point in refusing Nicholas’s offer to take her home.

‘Thanks for driving me home,’ Emily said, smiling warmly at Nicholas as he pulled into her driveway.

‘It was my pleasure. Think of it as payment for the service you provided me this morning with the house.’

‘No problem.’ She shrugged slightly, wondering where to go from here. The polite thing to do would be to invite him in for coffee, but she didn’t want to construe the wrong meaning to him. ‘Would you care for a drink?’ she finally asked, reluctance in her voice. He raised a sardonic eyebrow at her.

‘Not if it’s that much trouble,’ he replied. She smiled in embarrassment and he relaxed his posture slightly.

‘It’s not. I could do with a strong coffee myself after this morning.’

Nicholas seemed only too pleased to accept her offer. Emily was temporarily comforted by the thought of Steven and Veronica’s presence in the house, but when she unlocked the door and stepped inside, she could hear only silence, and the piece of white paper in the centre of the table confirmed that her brother and sister had gone to visit friends.

‘What’s up?’ he asked, coming up behind her so suddenly that she started at his presence.

‘Nothing. Veronica and Steven have gone out, that’s all.’

‘Oh.’ The word carried with it some hidden meaning Emily was unable to fathom. Perhaps it had been nothing more than a comment, but maybe there had been something more to the single syllable. The latter thought sent a shiver down her spine, and in order to curb the unfamiliar feelings which coursed through her, she walked away from him.

‘I’ll put the kettle on,’ she said, taking a deep breath. He’s my lecturer! she reminded herself sternly. He offered me a lift home, and I’m repaying the favour with a cup of coffee. But something in the thought didn’t ring true. Was she actually hoping for more? And, more to the point, was he?

She stared at the kettle while it boiled, willing herself to say something, anything which would break the tension between them, but no words would come.

The kettle whistled, and she picked it up.

‘Is there something I can do?’ Nicholas asked from directly behind her. She yelped in surprise, and boiling water poured over her hand. ‘Emily!’ Nicholas grabbed her hand and abruptly pushed it under the cold water tap, which he turned on so hard the water splashed all over the pair of them.

She couldn’t prevent the laughter that bubbled out of her. ‘You’re OK?’ His voice contained a note of such sincere concern and worry that her laughter abruptly ceased and she turned to face him, feeling her insides liquefy as she looked into his piercing blue eyes.

‘I…I’m fine. It doesn’t even hurt anymore.’ She licked her lips softly and a groan issued from Nicholas’s throat.

‘Oh God, Emily. What the hell are we doing?’ She shook her head, unable to form any sort of coherent thought, let alone a coherent reply. He looked at the hand which he still held in his own, frowning slightly at the pinkened area where the water had splashed her. As he raised the hand to his lips, Emily felt herself shudder, and a liquid warmth filled her groin as he gently brought the hand to his mouth and kissed it.

‘Oh, Nicholas,’ she moaned, able to form words at last, but only barely. His mouth rained gentle kisses over her hand, and then with one swift, decisive movement he pulled her towards him and brought his mouth down to her own. His lips captured hers between them, and a wave of such intense pleasure washed over her that her legs almost gave way beneath her. Completely oblivious to anything but the feel of Nicholas against her, and her response to his touch, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, feeling the length of his body against her own, knowing instantly that he was just as in thrall to the passion as she was.

His tongue probed her mouth, and she reciprocated in kind, pleased to feel his body shudder against her as she did so. His hands, which had been wrapped around her back, now moved to explore the contours of her body, and as they did, she unconsciously writhed in response to his touch, which only seemed to inflame him further.

‘What…what time are they getting home?’ he muttered. For a moment she was so lost she was unable to answer, unsure what he was asking. Then she remembered Veronica and Steven, and a wave of guilt washed over her so suddenly that it shocked her into pulling abruptly from his embrace. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked, paling slightly at the look on her face.

‘I…we…can’t do this Nicholas. They could be home at any time and…and…we just can’t
do
this.’ All her pent up emotions threatened to burst out of her, and she wrapped her arms around herself in a primitive instinct of protection.

‘I’m sorry,’ he stated flatly. ‘I must have misread the signals you sent my way.’ He took a further step back from her, a frown creasing his features.

‘No…no. But Nicholas, you’re my lecturer! And…and what about your girlfriend? I thought you were planning on getting married, starting a family.’ Her voice was desperate, confused, but pleading with him at the same time.

‘My girlfriend? What about you, Emily? I may have been wrong about you and Mark Overington,’ he said, looking at her sharply as he did so, ‘but I can’t be wrong about that man I saw you with yesterday!’ She stared at him in open mouthed shock. What was he insinuating about her? If she did have a boyfriend, which she most assuredly did not, she would not be behaving in such a way with any other man! Would she? The frightening thought assailed her that maybe Nicholas Cavanaugh would have this dramatic effect on her whether or not she were involved. The thought was so discomfiting, she lashed out at him in anger.

‘You didn’t answer my question! What about that redhead I saw you with yesterday? You can’t tell me that the two of you are just friends. And you know full well this should never have happened! I may be attracted to you, but I did not initiate this encounter.’

‘Fine. We’ll end it right now, shall we?’ His voice was cold, barely repressed tension perceptible beneath the surface.

‘No. Wait. I’m sorry. I just…I don’t know where we’re going with this.’ Don’t leave, she pleaded with him silently. She couldn’t bear it if he walked out on her now. ‘And I have to know if there’s someone else. There’s not…I mean…I don’t have a boyfriend. I don’t know what you think you saw, but Sam and I are just friends.’

‘Just friends?’ He raised a sardonic eyebrow.

‘Yes!’ she said firmly, leaving no room for doubt. ‘We went to school together and were catching up. That’s all.’ Nicholas nodded slowly, cocking his head to the side in consideration.

‘Obviously we both jumped to conclusions,’ he said wryly. ‘The redhead you described is my cousin Wendy. I’ve also employed her as my secretary. I suppose I owe you a double apology then.’

‘Double?’

‘More like triple,’ he confessed. ‘First I made the foolish assumption that you and Mark Overington were having an affair. Then I saw you with your friend Sam, and assumed you were lovers. And not only that, but I’ve overstepped the mark as your lecturer. I meant to come here today and apologise for my behaviour on Tuesday evening. All of it. I was rude to you earlier, thinking you were involved with Mark. And afterwards…I was right that it shouldn’t have happened, but I didn’t want to take it back, either.’ He smiled down at her softly, and cupped her chin gently in his hand. ‘What are we going to do?’ he asked huskily. She shook her head gently in response, not trying to move away from him. She didn’t want to be away from him. In fact, every pore of her being demanded that she be as close to him as was humanly possible. She wanted to feel him against her flesh to flesh. She wanted to have him fill her in the most intimate way possible. She wanted to be touched by him as she’d never been touched by another man.

‘Oh Nicholas. I don’t know. I want you so much,’ she murmured, feeling heat rise in her body all the way up to her cheeks as she said the words. He smiled tenderly at her. For a moment they paused, eyes locked on each other, drinking each other in slowly, savouring each moment, growing desperate for more…much more.

‘They…they probably won’t be home for awhile,’ Emily said, breaking the silence at last, finally answering the question he’d asked an eternity ago. Nicholas smiled, drawing her towards him again.

‘Which way’s the bedroom?’

‘The last door on the right,’ she answered huskily. They’d turned a corner and there was no way back now. Nicholas leaned down and swiftly scooped her into his arms. She giggled softly, pressing her face into his shoulder, loving the way his body felt against hers, relishing the feeling of security she had in his arms. When he opened her door, and laid her gently upon the bed, a momentary rush of uncertainty filled her, but when he joined her, intimately running his eyes along the length of her body, all doubts were banished. This was the man she wanted. And this was the only place she wanted to be, with him, now.