“Thank you. The worst part was that he could no longer fly. It was a tough time for us. He did recover from that stroke, but it took a long time.” She sighed. “I miss him. We all do, especially my grandmother. They were married for fifty years.”
“Fifty years. Wow.” Nick began to sculpt his cheek line with quick, precise strokes. His biceps flexed, he smelled fresh after his shower, and somehow, he managed to make shaving look hot.
The man definitely didnotremind her of her grandfather. But how she wished he’d go ahead and shave the whole thing off.
His hands paused mid-stroke. For a moment, he studied her closely, narrowing his eyes slightly before continuing, stretching his skin with one hand while shaving with the other. He finished quickly and, to her delight, finally uncovered the secret of why he smelled so good, pulling a bottle of Hermès H24 cologne out of his toiletry bag.
Jannie picked up her blush brush, feeling all warm inside as she watched him sparingly spray it. Her senses flooded with the fresh smell of grapefruit and wood, which softened into something intoxicatingly unique as it settled, mingling with the scent of his skin.
Getting ready together in the same bathroom was new yet somehow felt so comfortable, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Suddenly, she realized why: Nick made her feel safe. Not only could he protect her, which he had proved and was obvious, given his physique, but around him, she could be herself without worrying about saying or doing the wrong thing. And there was something else, too, something she couldn’t quite define, that made her calm and content just to be near him. These were feelings she had never experienced before.
She’d gotten too close, too fast, to Nicholas Kent.
Her four weeks off were almost up.
What was she going to do when this was over, and she had to return to Orlando, where real life and an empty house awaited her?
CHAPTER 19
Jannie
Oh, hell, no.
Even from a distance, Jannie’s stomach twisted. The dangerous metal beast was parked on a helipad suspended between the Mile High building and its adjacent sister structure.
Ugh.
If this was Nick’s surprise, she wanted no part of it. Her brother Adam said that helicopters were bags of bolts with too many rivets and too many moving parts, and she wholeheartedly agreed.
She halted, raising her chin and crossing her arms. “I’m not getting in that thing. Nothing you say can convince me to—”
“Neither am I.”
“You’re not?”
“Absolutely not.”
Jannie’s shoulders sagged in relief.
“I hate helicopters. One rotor vertical, the other horizontal …” He shook his head. “No, thanks. I have no desire to beat the air into submission.”
Perfect description, she thought. “Glad we agree.”
“We seem to agree on many things.”
He extended his hand, and she took it, her mind spinning, her heart rate spiking as his long, warm fingers enveloped hers.
“Then what are we doing up here?”
“We’re going to watch that thing lift off and pray for the passengers,” he snarked. “Come on.” Nick led her to the edge of the terrace, where theManhattan skyscrapers glowed in the night under the stars. It awed her, this city she had longed to see again, the center of world financial power, the perfect backdrop for Nick’s potent, magnetic presence.
“Oh,” she said softly. “It’s so beautiful.”
“You are the most beautiful thing I see.” He raised her hand to his lips, pressing a lingering kiss on her knuckles that sent electric tingles everywhere.
He stepped behind her, his hands resting on her shoulders. “Look.”
