Love Thy Neighbor (20 page)
Authors: Sophie Wintner
Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #Contemporary, #General
He came forward, shortening the distance between them until she could smell that familiar musky, male scent that was all Dallas. “Nikki, I promised myself when I got back from Antarctica that I’d find the courage and the way to tell you how I really felt about you. I went all the way to the South Pole to try to forget about you, and it’s just no good. You’re in my head, Nikki Norris. You’re in my heart. And I can’t let you get away again.”
He inched closer still, the space between them entirely sealed off as he brushed her cheek with the back of his hand. That simple gesture sent a current of electricity through her body. She’d never experienced such joy before in her entire life.
“Tell me this isn’t a dream, Dallas. And if it is, let me go on dreaming.”
He reached up and ran his fingers through her hair, giving her another rush of heat. “You’re not dreaming. I promise you. But you’re going to have to work with me,” he said, bringing his face closer to hers. “You know that I’ve never been able to commit to anyone up until now, but I want you. I want you forever. So if I freak out from time to time, just slap me up the side of the head and tell me to knock it off. ’Cause I never want to lose you again. Not ever. I’m scared of putting my heart on the line. But I’m more terrified of losing you.” He drew her into his arms and pressed his lips to hers.
She melted into his body as she threw her arms around him, her lips parting as she kissed him back, her tongue meeting his with all the longing and hunger she’d been storing up inside her.
“I love you, Nikki Norris.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “I’ve never said that before to anyone, but I do. I really do love you. I am so in love with you.”
All she could do was tear up and kiss him again and say into his lips, “Oh, God, I love you too. But—” She pressed her hand to his chest.
“But what?” His eyes grew wide with alarm as he set her back down on the ground.
“You forgot one very important thing,” she said, reaching her arms around his shoulders again, her fingers running through his hair.
“What’s that? What’d I forget?”
“You forgot to wish me a Happy New Year.”
He smiled and mumbled into her lips. “Happy New Year, Nikki Norris.” He picked her up and swung her around, her feet a good foot off the ground. “Happy New Year.”
Epilogue
S
IX MONTHS LATER
Nikki shut down her laptop and said good-night to her assistant and the new designer she’d hired to help her keep up with all the new projects she had. Normally she would have worked later, but it was her six-month anniversary with Dallas and he said he had something special planned.
“Don’t stay too late, you two,” she said as she slipped out the door and headed across the hall where she was now living in Dallas’s loft. About three months into their relationship he’d asked her to move in, and she’d since converted her apartment into the Norris Interiors office. Jenna liked to tease her about having such a rough commute to work.
Even from the hallway, she could smell something heavenly cooking. Dallas had told her that morning that he was going to make her a feast that night. She entered the apartment and found him in the kitchen, looking sexy and gorgeous as ever. She still couldn’t get over that he was her man. But oh, how she loved coming home to him every night.
She went over and kissed him on the mouth, softly, slowly, and sensually. “I missed you,” she said.
He kissed her back. “I missed you, too.”
He had a bottle of wine already opened on the counter and poured her a glass. As he handed it to her he touched the rim of his glass to hers. “Happy anniversary, Nikki Norris.”
Her cheeks ached from smiling so wide. The past six months had been the happiest time of her life. She remembered last winter and how they cuddled together before the fireplace and kept each other warm. They’d gone skiing together in Aspen, and for Valentine’s Day he surprised her with two tickets to Hawaii. Being with Dallas was like a never-ending fantasy. With each passing day she fell that much more in love with him.
In the very beginning she worried that he’d get scared again and leave her. But now she could tell that he’d put his fears behind him. He seemed happy and said he was more content now than he’d ever been before.
Staying true to his word, he’d freed himself from the fashion industry’s golden handcuffs and hadn’t done another shoot since Antarctica.
“Don’t you miss all those beautiful models?” she’d asked one night as she wrapped herself around him.
“You kidding me? How could I miss them when I’ve already got the most beautiful woman in the world right here with me?”
These days he was photographing a lot of Chicago architecture and had taken Nikki with him to Costa Rica while he shot the rain forests last spring.
Now it was summertime again and the windows of their loft were thrown open, letting in a slight breeze. He had candles lit around the living room, and Sinatra was playing on the stereo. A vase of flowers sat on the coffee table—the dozen long-stemmed red roses he’d given to her that morning. It was perfect.
“What’s cooking?” she asked, lifting one of the lids on the stove.
“Ah, ah, ah—no peeking. It’s a surprise.”
She closed the lid and raised her hands in surrender. “Whatever it is, it smells amazing.”
“Now go sit down and relax and enjoy your wine while I dazzle you with my culinary expertise.”
As she went over to the couch, there was a knock on the door. Nikki answered it and found a deliveryman standing in the doorway with a gift box his hand.
“Special delivery for Troy Dallas.”
Nikki signed for the package and brought it inside. “Ooh, look. Someone sent you a present,” she said.
“I wonder who that could be from?” He reached for a dish towel. “Do me a favor, go ahead and open it. My hands are still wet.”
Nikki went over to the couch and he came and sat next to her as she peeled back the packing tape and opened the lid. Sorting through the delicate layers of tissue paper, her fingertips brushed up against something satiny.
What the…
She held up a black silk nightgown.
“And who could this be for?” she asked, smiling, holding it up beneath her chin. “You always did have good taste in lingerie.”
“Happy anniversary, Nikki.” He kissed her and said, “Wait— There should be a card in there…”
Nikki riffled through the tissue paper and felt something else in the bottom. She pulled it out and—
Oh my God
. She swallowed hard. It was a Tiffany blue ring box.
Dallas reached over and lifted the lid, revealing the most gorgeous diamond solitaire ring Nikki had ever seen.
“Nikki Norris,” he said, dropping to one knee, locking his eyes onto hers, “these past six months you’ve taught me how to love. You’ve reached inside my heart and filled my life with more joy than I ever could have expected. You are everything I’ve ever wanted in a woman, and I love you with everything I’ve got. And I always will. Nikki Norris, love of my life, will you marry me and make me the happiest man in the world?”
She looked at him through tear-filled eyes, and as he began to slip the ring on her finger, she said, “I don’t know. There’s one small problem.”
“What?” His hand froze in place. The color drained from his cheeks.
“I can’t be your Nikki Norris anymore.”
“But why?”
“Because if I marry you, I’ll be your Nikki Dallas,
Babe
.” She smiled and watched the relief spread over his handsome face. “Yes, of course I’ll marry you. Of course I will!”
He scooped her up in his arms and she laughed and cried, kissing him with her whole heart.
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Acknowledgments
Special thanks goes to Candace Havens, Kevan Lyon, Sydney Joy and Juan Albert.
About the Author
Sophie Wintner
was raised in the Midwest and attended Kent State University. After graduating she began her professional writing career in advertising where she soon became an award-winning copywriter. Always a voracious reader, one day she stumbled upon a romance novel and has been hooked on them ever since—hooked on reading them and writing them! When she’s not working, Sophie, a budding gourmet cook, can be found in the kitchen experimenting with new recipes. She lives in Chicago where she is working on a new novel. You can visit her website at
www.sophiewintner.wix.com/lovethyneighbor
.
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