Love Thy Neighbor (11 page)

“Well…” Jenna grabbed a throw pillow and hugged it to her chest. “I have to say I think your plan worked. Matthew is definitely jealous.”

“I know. He
was
acting jealous, wasn’t he? It’s not just my imagination.”

“Believe me, he’s jealous all right. So what’s your next move?”

“I don’t know. I have to finish the walk-through at Dallas’s loft. Take measurements. I need to work up my preliminary ideas and an estimate. And I don’t know how I’m going to do any of that without wanting to jump him.” Nikki stopped when she saw the big smile on Jenna’s face. “What? What’d I say?”

“I was talking about what your next move was with Matthew. But apparently, you’ve got someone else on your mind.”

Nikki squeezed her eyes shut and fisted up both hands. “Please, I can’t even think about Matthew right now. All I can think about is Dallas. What am I going to do? I cannot fall for someone like him.”

“And why not?”

“Because it’s all an act. I mean, yes, sometimes it seems like he’s actually into me, even when Matthew’s nowhere around. And that part
is
confusing, I admit. But now he’s my client and I should not be trying to bed down my client. As if he’d even want to bed me down. I need to get over myself. I mean, he’s gorgeous. He wouldn’t want someone like me.”

“You’re gorgeous, too,” Jenna said defensively.

“And besides, he’s already made it perfectly clear that he’s not into relationships. In his words, ‘I don’t want to be tied down.’”

“Well, that part sucks. But maybe it’s because he hasn’t met the right woman.”

“Trust me, I’m not the right woman for him.”

“You don’t know that.”

Nikki puffed up her cheeks.

“You know what your problem is,” Jenna said. “You’re still thinking of yourself as that
slightly
overweight—”

“Slightly? C’mon, I was a total chub.”

“No, you were not a total chub. You had an asshole for a fiancé who made you feel like a chub.”

“And a loser.”

“You were never a loser. That was all dickwad’s warped bullshit perception.”

“Whoa, don’t hold back, Jenna. Tell me how you really feel about him.”

“I’m serious. The point I’m trying to make is that you’re not that girl anymore. You’re bright and talented and you’re getting back on your feet. You’ve got a killer body. You’ve always been gorgeous, and best of all, you don’t have to settle for someone like Matthew.”

“Oh, Matthew.” Nikki squeezed her eyes shut again. “What am I doing to him? It’s not right. I’m trying to manipulate him and right now, I don’t even think I want him anymore.”

“Honey, Matthew’s a big boy. He can take care of himself. And you know the way he is—he doesn’t like the idea of someone else playing with his toys.”

Nikki thought about Blondie’s picture popping up on his phone and she knew Jenna was right. Matthew was territorial. He prided himself on having the newest car, the biggest flat-screen TV, and the latest gadgets. It drove him insane if someone else had something he wanted, or something better than what he had.

“And do I need to remind you,” Jenna said, “that the little asshat broke your heart.”

It was true, but still, Nikki didn’t like the idea of messing with Matthew’s head. Yes, he’d hurt her; yes, he was clearly dating someone new, but he hadn’t cheated on her. He hadn’t hit her or lied to her. He just grew tired of her, which in some ways was almost harder to accept. But still, he didn’t deserve to be played with. Nikki wasn’t a mean-spirited person. She didn’t want to inflict pain on anyone, not even on Matthew. So despite what Jenna said, and despite loving the attention she got from Dallas, Nikki decided she was through playing this “let’s make Matthew jealous” game.

Chapter Ten

That Tuesday, at half past five, Dallas wrapped up his photo shoot for the day. By six o’clock he was antsy and shooed his crew and the models out of his place, saying he had a meeting at seven. And he did. Nikki was coming over to do the walk-through on his place and take measurements.

He hadn’t seen her in two days, not since her ex showed up, and he was a little curious to see what had transpired between the two of them after he left her place.
A little curious
—that was an understatement. He’d been like a teenage boy all day, finding it hard to concentrate on the shots or his models, and instead, he thought about seeing Nikki later.

What was it about her that tugged at him so? Again, he worried that maybe it was because he knew he couldn’t really have her. Maybe he was no better than her wanker of an ex, only in it for the challenge. For the chase. But in his heart he knew it was more than that. Yes, she was in love with someone else, but still, he couldn’t stop thinking about her.

Dallas headed for the shower to get washed up. He lusted big-time for Nikki, but this desire went beyond his usual flirtatious romps. He didn’t know if it was her innocence, or the curve of her waist when he held her in his arms, or the feel of her skin when he’d touched her firm, smooth thigh the day they’d gone running… Whatever it was, he was definitely hot for her.

He leaned back into the spray of the shower, breathing hard, still thinking about the way her breasts had pressed up against his chest the night he danced with her. He could tell they were real breasts, too. Soft and supple, not two bags of silicone like most of the women he’d dated. He’d fantasized about touching those perfect breasts, running the tips of his fingers and his tongue over her nipples. He reached for the soap and lathered up. Shit, he was hard again, but vowed that he was not going to make a habit of jerking off in the shower. No, that was pathetic. He blasted the nozzle on cold and tried like hell to get control of himself.

He was sure he’d gotten a handle on things and gotten his testosterone in check, until Nikki showed up and stepped inside his loft. She must have done some more shopping, because she wore a tight black skirt that hugged her hips, accentuating every curve. And her bare mile-long legs were sporting some serious high heels. This girl was a complete knockout.

But he was impressed by more than the tight skirt and the heels. She had come armed that evening with rulers, tape measures, a legal pad, and a form that looked like some sort of checklist. She was ready to get down to business.

“Can we start upstairs?” she asked.

“After you.”

He was dying, keeping his eyes on her ass, shifting from left to right as she climbed the spiral staircase. He could only imagine what she had going on underneath that skirt. When they reached the top, she glanced around the sitting area.

“Okay,” she said, eyeing the space, “do you entertain up here?”

“Yeah. I have from time to time.”

She nodded and jotted down some notes. He wasn’t sure, but he swore her brow furrowed at his answer, as if she’d envisioned him having other women up there, which in truth, had been the case. Not that any of them had been all that memorable to him. She made more notes and he realized he probably read too much into it.

“How do you feel about this sofa?” she asked, leaning over to touch the cushions, giving him a nice shot down her blouse, the lacy edges of her bra cupping her beautiful full breasts. “Are you attached to it?”

“Attached?” Hell, he couldn’t even remember where he got it or how long he’d had it. “No, definitely not attached.”

“Good. I think you should go with something overstuffed, comfortable. And you could really use something on the walls in here. It’ll warm the place up. I’d also like to rethink your window treatments.”

“You’re the boss.”

She went like that, from room to room, her perfume trailing behind her, driving him crazy. Meanwhile, Nikki asked more questions: “What colors make you feel alert, inspired? What colors soothe you? Which ones relax you? Do you like leather, velvet, suede, horsehair?”

When they finished up in his office, she turned to his bedroom. “Let’s start in your closet.” She opened the doors and let her hand skim his suits, shirts, the racks of jeans and shoes.

She folded her arms and smiled at him. “You’re a neat freak. You are full of surprises, aren’t you?” She looked at him from over her shoulder.

“I’ve got so much clutter all around me with my work, I need to know that at least one corner of my life is under control.”

“We could build in some more compartments, give you some more hanging room.”

“That would be brilliant.”

She took copious notes, and about two hours later, after they had gone through every room, they were done and back downstairs. He poured a couple glasses of wine for them while Nikki went over to the couch. He watched as she leafed through her notes, her lips pursed and deep concentration registered across her stunning face.

“Now, one thing we need to discuss is your studio. I’m going to need at least two, maybe even three weeks to get in here and do what I need to do. Are you going to be able to shut down for that long?”

He smiled, admiring how she approached this. He knew he was hooked on her, and it wasn’t just her body or her dark brown eyes, her satiny hair or that deceptively innocent smile; it was her mind. He loved the way this woman’s mind worked. He explained that he had a location shoot coming up. “You’d have full run of the place for at least three weeks.”

“Okay. Then we could start with the studio space—that’ll be perfect.” She made more notes in the margin.

Dallas had never seen this side of her before. She was all business. He was impressed yet slightly disappointed. He supposed that meant their run-in on Sunday morning with her ex-fiancé had worked. Dallas knew he’d made the guy nervous as hell. He figured the poor wanker probably begged her to take him back before Dallas had even made it across the hall and into his apartment.

He knew that was what Nikki wanted and that made him happy, but at the same time, he couldn’t say he wasn’t hurt over it. He couldn’t say that he thought it was in her best interest. Plus, he couldn’t deny that he had wanted to take this woman into uncharted territory. She had a fire inside her that she’d never had lit, and it saddened him to think that he’d never get the chance to be the one to show her how sensual she really was.

But hell, it was probably better this way. Now that she had her fiancé back, it was time for him to move on. What he needed to do was focus on his work.

He had to block out a week’s worth of shots and hopefully find a way to pick up the shots he’d lost the day the client rethought their wardrobe selects. He had to scout locations for a magazine cover he had coming up. Another client wanted him to fly to New York for a casting session. There were meetings with clients and agents, and somewhere in between all that, he hoped he’d have time to get organized for the Antarctica expedition. That was, if he could get all his assignments wrapped up so he could go.

His West Coast rep, Marco LaRousse, was coming from L.A. to Chicago to meet with him. He said he had some projects coming up, and Dallas would have to break the news to Marco that he planned on taking a three-month hiatus to go to the South Pole. They already had
National Geographic
on board, and his pal Conrad said the Discovery Channel wanted to document them. It was turning into a lucrative assignment, but Dallas didn’t care about the monetary gain. He wanted to capture the glaciers and create some awareness.

Dallas promised himself that as a soon as Nikki left tonight, he’d call Conrad and he’d get serious about this shoot in Antarctica. He knew he should probably call his brother back, too, but he wasn’t ready to deal with anything having to do with his mother.

“All right then,” Nikki said, straightening her papers as a lock of hair fell forward against her cheek. “I need to work up the ideas we talked about. I’ll get some pricing and then I can give you an estimate.”

“Sounds great. Thank you.” He smiled and without thinking about it he reached over and hooked that strand of silky hair behind her ear.

She looked up at him with a surprised expression and a hunger pouring off her.

Dallas knew how to read a woman, and there was desire in this one’s eyes. So maybe she hadn’t patched things up with her ex after all. She couldn’t have, not with the look she just gave him. She breathed hard and her lips parted ever so slightly. She wanted the same thing he did. Only he was certain that they wanted it for different reasons.

“Dallas—” She said his name like she was short of breath. “You’re confusing me. I don’t know what you want.”

He looked into her eyes and reached up and stroked her cheek. “Oh Nikki Norris, I want you, I do. But I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I don’t want to get hurt, either. Matthew told me to be careful about you. He says I’m too vulnerable right now.”

Matthew. Bollocks.
Did she have to bring him up right now? Dallas dragged his hands back through this hair. “I know you’re vulnerable. I know you are. And you know I can’t give you what Matthew could. I’m not looking for that in my life right now. But I also know that something—some light went out inside you when you were with that guy.”

She gave him a puzzled look.

“I know you love him. I get that, and I’m not trying to tear him down, but he told you he was bored. And I look at you sometimes and I worry that you think of yourself as boring. And that you blamed yourself for the breakup.”

She licked her lips and closed her eyes. He had hit a nerve. “It’s just that…” She stopped and shook her head. “No, I can’t, it’s too embarrassing.”

“Talk to me. You can tell me.”

She drew a deep breath and ran her hands down the front of her skirt. “It’s just, well, I’ve never felt like I was any good at… You know…sex. I never felt like he was all that into it. Or maybe he wasn’t all that into me. I was never sure if he was ever really satisfied.”

“Were you?”

“What?” She looked at him like this was a foreign concept to her.

“Nikki, you have so much you’ve yet to experience. So much to learn. Tell me the truth, did you ever really let yourself go with Matthew? With any man? I mean have you ever really been able to let loose?”

She swallowed hard. “Of course,” she said, practically panting as she folded her arms across her chest, keeping herself guarded. He could tell that she had no idea what he was talking about.