Sweet Nothings (31 page)

“If you do it before your birthday, I’ll take you somewhere really fun as part of your present,” he teased.

“Oh great, bribery. Is that what this relationship has come down to?”

She liked teasing him, he was so much fun. And she’d found she liked saying “relationship.” Almost as much as she liked being in one.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to get my way, sweetness.”

His words were true. Not that he’d had to try too hard, but every time over the last week she’d thought about saying no to something, he’d figured out a way to talk her into it. She’d been thankful he had. There was something to dating someone that just made her happy. It had been the best week of her life.

But at the same time, she realized she was changing. And that worried her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “You tensed up.”

“Nothing,” she shook her head. He wouldn’t understand her worry. He thought the curse was silly.

“We don’t have to go through the boxes until you’re ready,” he soothed. “I’m sorry. I’ll quit pushing.”

“It’s not that,” she said. “And actually, I’m almost ready to go through them. I want to see what’s in there almost as much as I want to avoid it, so that’s got to be a good sign, right?”

“Very good,” he agreed. He slid a hand up and down her arm. “So what’s bugging you?”

She sighed. Might as well tell him. He’d keep pushing until she did. “Just thinking about the curse. And everybody betting on it.”

Nick went very still. When he didn’t say anything, she blurted out, “What?”

“Can’t say.” He gave her a slow, very hot smile and she almost forgot what they were talking about.

“You’re keeping something from me.”

He nodded. “Yep.”

“About the bet?”

The blank expression that crossed his face was a dead giveaway.

“What do you know?” she demanded.

He shook his head, his mouth sealed.

So she decided not to play fair.

She rose from the couch to face him and began unbuttoning her sweater. It was a three-quarter-length sleeve, mint-green cashmere that she’d gotten for Christmas a couple years ago that had tiny buttons all the way down the front. It had sold her many a cupcake earlier in the day. Now it had Nick’s attention.

He reached for her but she stepped back.

“Uh-uh-uh,” she said. “I’ll just enjoy this all myself.” She slid her hands up over her chest, moaning as she touched herself. “Tell me what you know or I won’t let you play.”

Nick grinned as only a man could do. “Go ahead, babe. I can do this all night.”

She shrugged completely out of her top and watched him swallow his tongue. He hadn’t seen the lacy green number she had on before.

Nick couldn’t take his eyes off her. He’d seen Joanie in plenty of racy lingerie, but the light green lace she had on under this week’s outfit, with the lace just barely covering her nipples, had him forgetting his name.

She stepped another foot away from him and dropped her skirt to the floor, then stood before him in a matching thong and garter belt, and all the blood left his brain. She
was
playing dirty.

They had the lights off in the house, but there was still the fact that she was standing directly in front of the uncovered window, practically naked. He had a feeling that if any man drove by when a bright enough
picture flashed on the television screen, he’d run into a tree trying to peek through the window.

He should probably point that out to her, but was having a hard time staying focused long enough to get words to form complete sentences.

She bent down to look directly into his eyes, going for a serious look. “Tell me what I want to know,” she directed.

He couldn’t think straight enough to remember what she wanted to know. But her ass was now pointing to the window where he could see it reflected in the dark pane.

He gulped and shook his head. She really needed to play a different game if she wanted to get information out of someone.

She scowled at him but forgot to step back out of his reach, so he snagged her and pulled her onto his lap. He had her arms trapped low behind her back and her legs straddled on either side of his within seconds.

“No fair,” she muttered, but the words barely left her mouth as he unhooked the front clasp of her bra.

Joanie watched the heat rise in Nick’s eyes as he devoured her by sight, then shook in his hold as he closed the distance with his mouth. Instead of claiming her breast, he merely skimmed over it and headed up to her throat. Once there, he nibbled on her, right below and behind her ear. Right where she liked it most.

The touch of his lips sent quivers through her body as if she were experiencing mini earthquakes, one after the other.

“You’re not proving anything with this behavior.” Her words sounded lame to her own ears. He was proving everything.

Proving that she was ready to go the instant he touched her. That she absolutely could resist him nothing. And proving for the hundredth time that she was glad she hadn’t called a halt to things after GiGi had died.

She still didn’t completely trust this could go anywhere lasting, but she sure was having a good time seeing where it did go.

As he made his way to the other side of her neck, she wiggled on his
lap, and he brought one hand around to skim down her stomach until it reached the top edge of her panties. His fingertips dipped just inside the elastic, making her stomach muscles clench at his touch.

“Nick,” she begged. She thrust her hips forward, wanting him to touch her.

“Yes, baby?” he asked.

Darned man. He knew exactly what she wanted.

“Will you please quit teasing me?”

He lifted his head and slid his fingers another half inch inside her panties. “Nope.”

“You’re a nasty person.”

One finger slipped low enough to make her jerk. “I know,” he said. He closed his mouth over one breast then, scraping his teeth down over her tender flesh as she strained forward against the lock he had her in behind her back. “But you’ve got to remember that you started it by stripping in front of me.”

When he touched her between her legs this time, the noise that came from her throat did not sound human.

“Please?” she begged, now grinding against his hand.

He lifted his head and covered her mouth with his, curling his finger below and flicking it back and forth over her as she moved. She was already over the line and heading for home when he pulled his hand away and removed his mouth from hers.

Gasping, Joanie struggled not to topple over in her confusion.

“What are you doing?” she breathed out the words.

Before the sentence was finished, he had her down on the couch and was peeling her underclothes off her. He got everything past her feet, then brought his mouth to her tingly parts and started up where his fingers had left off. She lifted her arms, holding his head to her and begging for her release.

Again, right when she was on the edge, he stopped.

“Nick!” she shrieked. “Stop it!”

She reached toward herself, thinking she had to finish, but he caught her hand and shoved her away. “Put your arms above your head, babe.”

His words were hoarse and unsteady as he positioned her how he wanted her and then stood and shrugged out of his jeans.

“I just want to…” She couldn’t help it, one hand came back down toward the juncture at her thighs. “Nick, please. I need—”

“You’re about to, babe. I promise.”

He had on a condom now, his clothes strewn about the room, and positioned himself on his knees between her legs. Still, he didn’t enter her. Instead, he captured the hand that had been creeping closer, and guiding it with his, slid their joined fingers between her wet folds.

She almost came off the couch.

Then he bent, pulling her hand away and opening her, flicked his tongue over her most sensitive spot.

This time she let out a scream.

Again, he guided her fingers.

Then his mouth.

Until she was too buzzed to even know what was touching her.

Her entire body vibrated from head to toe, and she was pretty sure she’d gone blind several minutes ago. She was a strung-out mess.

Just when she was certain she couldn’t take it one second longer, he cupped both hands under her rear and slid himself deeply home.

He bumped against her clit and she exploded, her thighs squeezing against his as he continued gliding himself in and out.

She saw stars for a good fifteen seconds before finally drifting back to earth, only to open her eyes to watch the man she’d somehow managed to fall so deeply in love with she didn’t know if she’d ever recover from it. He was gorgeous as he continued driving himself higher, a lock of his hair flopped in his face, his dark eyes focused on her, and she knew that somehow, she wanted a world with him in it.

At the very moment she could see he was about to have his own release, she pushed herself up, her palms on the couch behind her, and met him halfway for a kiss that burned all the way to her toes.

They kissed and he shook, groaning into her mouth with his final thrusts. She gloried in the fact that she’d somehow managed to find him, sending up a silent little prayer that she could figure out how to keep him.

Chapter Eighteen

T
he bell on the door of Cakes-a-GoGo tinkled as Joanie came out of the back room carrying yet another tray of cupcakes. Business had certainly picked up over the last week. So much so, she’d had to skip her afternoon with Lee Ann the day before just to get a jump start on the week ahead.

“I’ve got to hire more help,” she grumbled to herself.

Lee Ann, who’d unexpectedly shown up to spend lunchtime with her, jumped from the seat where she’d been studiously working on the scrapbook Joanie had decided needed to be finished after all, and moved to the counter. “I’ll get them.”

Waiting on customers wasn’t why Lee Ann was there, but Joanie had no problem letting her help since she herself was exhausted. She’d worked all weekend at the house, sweeping, cleaning, and wiping down what seemed to be reproducing mounds of dust. They’d been preparing the walls for painting. The paint had gone on yesterday, and the flooring was being laid today.

Nick wasn’t allowing her back out there until it was finished, wanting to surprise her with the final result. Which was fine, as it looked as if she’d be working around the clock herself to keep up with demand.

She hadn’t even managed to make it over to the diner or anywhere
else in the last few days, but she wasn’t complaining. She was happy. A deep-down, full kind of happy.

The thought of the house being finished this week, though, brought mixed emotions.

It would go on the market on Friday. Her birthday.

She hadn’t decided how she felt about that.

Other than having the random, unwise thought. The kind where the two of them moved into the house together, she kept running her cupcake business, and Nick saved all of Sugar Springs from ugly houses, and then—maybe after a few years—they made little Daltons of their own.

She could already picture the backyard with a swing set and a soccer goal. She wanted a girl and a boy. At least.

But they
were
putting it on the market, it
would
sell, and Nick would go home. The thought almost stole her breath. He’d probably return to Nashville within days, actually. He’d already hired an office manager to handle any calls here.