Sweet Nothings (33 page)

When she ran out of air, she pulled back. She was breathing hard.

“You know,” he said, giving her another tiny peck. “If someone were to drive by and see us like this, you with that blindfold on, there’s no telling what would get back about what was going on out here.”

Her shoulders slumped. “Don’t I know it? I still can’t believe Gina saw us going at it on the couch. I thought the room was dark that night.”

“The TV was on.”

She lowered her hands and clasped them in her lap. She was far from a prude, but it had been in GiGi’s house, for crying out loud. “I suppose it could have been worse, but I’m having a hard time picturing what that would have been like.”

His teeth nibbled at her neck. “You could have been doing naughty things to me in front of the window instead of the other way around.”

Her breasts responded to the suggestion by getting all buzzed, her nipples tugging across the lace of her bra with each breath she took. If it wasn’t two in the afternoon, she’d seriously consider not worrying about what the neighbors might think and doing just what Nick was suggesting right there in the truck.
With
her blindfold on.

She licked her lips. “You’d better get me out of this truck, Nick.”

“Oh, baby.” He pulled her mouth to his again and gave her a hot, open-mouthed kiss. “Do not have those thoughts out here,” he whispered against her lips. “We have a big night ahead of us. I didn’t schedule time for something like that until later.”

She laughed, loving how she got to him.

“Hell,” he said, still sounding as if he wanted to do far more than show her a house. “You’re sexy sitting there like that. I’ve got to get that blindfold off you. Sit tight.”

She heard his door open and slam shut, and then her door was opening at her side. He pulled her down as she laughed, and practically dragged her to what seemed like the middle of the front yard. As promised, she’d stayed away the whole week, and she was so ready to see the finished result. He and the guys had wrapped everything up the afternoon before, but instead of letting her come out then, Nick had made her hold off until today. The whole thing was apparently part of her birthday surprise.

After they toured the house, Jane would come out for them to sign the agreement to list it, with the open house scheduled for the next day. Nick apparently had the second part of her present scheduled for later that night, but had yet to tell her what it was.

He stepped behind her and worked at the knot of the tie.

“I hope you like it,” he said. She sensed nervousness in his voice.

“I saw practically everything already,” she said. “Didn’t you just do the floors and walls this week?”

He pressed a quick kiss to her cheek and pulled the material away. “Pretty much.”

Her eyes blinked open and she stood in the middle of the yard, taking in the full view of the freshly painted white house and the new landscaping. There were now red shutters around all the windows, a matching front door, and the two dormers on the third floor looked cozy, and totally made the house.

The landscaping was top class as well, with green shrubbery and what looked to be azaleas winding around the front of the house. A tree on the corner of each end.

It was so perfect, she never wanted to leave.

“What are those trees?” she asked. They were small, but pink blooms covered each. She felt her throat grow tight with the emotion of how perfect everything was.

“Dogwoods.”

“They’re gorgeous.” She looked up at him. Scary or not, she could see them both living there. Raising a family there. “Can we go in?”

“Absolutely.”

Before moving toward the house, she pulled her camera out of the back pocket of her jeans and made a picture. The house felt inviting. She could no longer envision what it had been like before, and wondered how she’d ever thought she didn’t like the place.

As she stepped up on the porch, she stalled. There were the two rockers that he’d already put there, but also an old, large milk can sitting between them. It was black, but appeared to be the original paint. With the lid on, it made a flat surface across the top.

“Did that…” She paused and looked back at Nick, wracking her brain for a memory. “Did you find that here somewhere?”

She thought maybe it had been Pepaw’s, but wasn’t sure.

He nodded. “In one of the sheds out back. This looked like a good place for it. It’ll make a nice spot to set down a drink.”

He took her hand and threaded his fingers through hers. She gripped his in return. She had the strongest feeling that GiGi would have liked the new look. She moved her sights on around the porch, noticing the scrubbed concrete they stood on, but it was what hung at the end of the space that caused her to lose her breath.

“GiGi’s swing,” she murmured. Her chest ached when she looked at it. It was the one from the picture Nick had asked her about that first night they’d been together. Her eyes teared up as she remembered all the times she used to sit on this porch rocking with her grandmother. “Where did you find it?”

“In the same shed.”

She turned loose of his hand and went over to it, pushing it lightly, then closed her eyes at the sound of the familiar squeak where the chain rubbed against the hook at the top. Seeing it hurt her even more, knowing how she and GiGi had grown so far apart.

“Do you like it? It’s part one of your birthday present.”

She opened her eyes and looked at Nick. She nodded. How could she not? This was what belonged in this spot.

“Let’s go see the inside,” she said, suddenly eager to see what else he’d done.

They went through the house, checking out every nook and cranny, and she couldn’t help but be all smiles. It was more than she’d ever imagined, but at the same time, it was exactly what she’d imagined. She glanced at Nick. How had he known what was in her heart?

The wood floors were rich and homey, the matte, cream walls were empty canvases, just waiting for a family to fill them with life, and the staircase literally glistened with polish as she made her way up. Nick had done well. It was a showplace.

She stopped in the room that had once been hers and looked out the back window, her heart swelling at the additional landscaping he’d planted in the yard. He had envisioned something spectacular, all right. Nick stepped up behind her, the heat from his body drawing her to him. He put an arm around her waist.

“Close your eyes and tell me what you see,” he whispered. It was the same words he’d said to her that first day. She’d seen nothing then. But today…

She closed her eyes. “I see life. I see happiness.” She swallowed past a lump. “I see hope.”

He kissed her temple and she wished GiGi had gotten the chance to see the house. She would have loved it.

When she opened her eyes, she was still looking out over the yard. He’d even created a little oasis in the back corner with a hammock and a water feature. She could picture the two of them lying there talking, relaxing after a long day at work.

“You did a lot this week,” she said.

“I called in some favors from guys back home or there was no way this would’ve all gotten finished in time.”

“It’s beautiful,” she whispered. Whoever bought this house would love it.

Her eyes backed up with tears eager to come out. She wanted to live there.

She didn’t want to sell it.

“Wait’ll you see the third floor,” Nick announced. He grabbed her
hand and led her to the small staircase that wound up one floor as she worked to put her emotions about the house back where they belonged. Out of sight.

When they reached the top, she stood in the middle of the room, unsure what to check out first. There were the two small nooks in the dormer windows. Nick had put navy throw pillows and small reading lights in each, with a long bookshelf running underneath. The slant of the roof took space away from the room, but gave it an intimate feel at the same time, while the darker walls, more of a warm caramel color, added to the feel. She could imagine escaping up here with a husband when they needed a few moments alone from the kids.

She looked at Nick, picturing him escaping with her.

Then she turned to the bed he’d put in the room. It sat in the middle of the floor, and wasn’t the lumpy mattress, cheap headboard piece of furniture that had been in the room he’d been using downstairs. This was a rustic-looking, carved wooden bed with thick spindles in a light-honey color. There was a navy-and-green quilt smoothed over it as a bedspread. She sat down and gave a little bounce.

“Is this a new mattress?” She ran her palm over the cool wood of the footboard. “And bed?”

Nick lowered beside her, picking up her hand and holding it in his. “I found the bed in the garage and cleaned it up, but the mattress, yes. I bought that new.”

“Why?” she asked. “For staging for the open house?”

The other rooms hadn’t had furniture in them. He’d even moved his stuff out of the bedroom he’d been using. She supposed it was hidden away up here now.

“For sleeping in tonight.” He cupped her cheek and kissed her so tenderly that she whimpered when he pulled away. “I want to spend the night in this room with you. I want to spend many nights in this room with you.” He whispered the last sentence and she had the thought that he was saying more than “until the house is sold.”

Until then… she nodded, already picturing the candles she had that she could bring over. And some big fluffy towels to go in the connected
bathroom. There was a giant tub she’d spotted in there that she wanted to try out with Nick.

“That sounds like a lovely way to spend my birthday.”

He laughed, the sound so warm she caught herself leaning into him to soak it up. “Oh sweetness,” he said. “Spending the night in this room is not your birthday present. It’s simply a bonus for me.”

With that, he pulled a box out from under the bed. It was wrapped in a pretty pink paper.

“You got me a present? A real present?” She couldn’t remember the last time anyone other than Lee Ann had gotten her a gift for her birthday.

“Of course I did.” He set it on her lap. “Open it.”

Childlike anticipation flooded her as she forgot about being an adult and ripped into the paper. Once she had the ribbon and wrapping tossed to the floor, she sat staring at the white box, so excited she almost didn’t want to open it. Just getting something was enough.

“Open. It.” He enunciated carefully.

She did.

Inside was an authentic Nashville Predators jersey with her favorite player’s name and autograph on it. Alongside it were two tickets for seats on the glass. For tonight’s game. Her eyes went round.

“You have got to be kidding me!” she practically shouted. “On the glass?” She shoved everything off her lap and attacked the man sitting beside her, knocking him to the bed as she crawled on top of him, planting kisses everywhere she could reach. Straddling him, she pushed up off his chest and smiled. “Now that’s a birthday present.”

Nick put the truck into park for the second time that day with Joanie sitting on the seat beside him, and prepared to show her a house. Only this time, they were in Nashville, and the house was his. They’d wrapped up at the Barn earlier, signed the papers with Jane—even though he’d almost suggested they hold off—then Joanie had changed into her jersey and they’d headed to Nashville.

“Wow,” Joanie said. She leaned forward on her seat and peered up at the two-story brick.

“You like it?” He pulled the keys from the ignition but didn’t make a move to get out yet. When they’d left Sugar Springs, he’d been on the fence about whether to show it to her or not.

In his mind, it didn’t really matter at this point. He couldn’t see her living there with him.

But he could see himself living at the Barn with her. He just had to hold that one close to the vest until she was ready to hear it. And hope like hell it didn’t sell before he could talk her into it.

In the end, simple pride had driven him to his decision. He’d wanted to show Joanie the house he’d built. The one he’d once pictured bringing a wife home to and filling with kids. Now it was not much more than a place to go to bed at night. That’s all it had been for years.

But he was still proud of it.

“I love the natural colors in the brick,” she said. “Far better than a boring red brick. And the front porch is so cozy.” She looked at him with a grin in her eyes. “You going to show me the inside or is this all I get?”

He laughed and opened his door. “Mess with me, woman, and I’ll show you my bedroom first.”

She shot him a wicked grin that made him consider his threat, then met him at the front of the truck. They walked hand in hand to the front door. It felt good having her with him like that. It felt right.

“Yoo-hoo,” a singsong voice rang out from the street. “Hello, Nick.”

He and Joanie turned at the same time to find his neighbor, Nancy Porter, standing at the end of his driveway. She had on black yoga pants, some sort of light-blue exercise top, and bright white tennis shoes that had probably never done a day’s honest exercise in their life. Also outfitting her was an iPod strapped around her bicep, earbuds wrapped around her neck—but not in her ears—and the various diamond rings she’d convinced her husband to buy her, all circling her fingers.