Page 18 of Fox in Plain Sight

9

Michelle wrapped the large bath towel around her still damp body and tucked in one end to hold it in place. Her hair was still wet, but she’d combed it. Considering the heat in D.C., it would dry in no time. With a last glance in the mirror, she turned the doorknob and opened the door.

She found Nick sitting on the couch—fully dressed now—staring into the TV. He turned his head.

“Hey,” he greeted her with an easy smile.

“I’ll be just a minute more,” she told him. Her gaze fell on the TV and she had to do a double-take. “You’re watching the Hallmark Channel?” What guy did that? Was Nick a true romantic at heart with whom she could actually watch sappy romances on TV? This was too good to be true.

Nick hastily reached for the remote. “Uh, no, ah, actually, I was just channel-surfing, trying to find ESPN.” He pressed a button, and the channel changed. Then he moved to the next one in the lineup as if to prove that he told the truth.

Michelle chuckled. “Sure you were.” She turned toward the bedroom.

“I was!” he called after her. “I was looking for a sportscast.”

She didn’t reply and walked into her bedroom, closing the door behind her. As she dropped her towel onto the bed and rummaged through her closet to find something appropriate to wear, she smiled to herself. Nick was unusual, she had to give him that. When they’d made love, he’d been intense and demanding, while simultaneously proving to be a very considerate lover, one who not only took care of her needs, but seemed to actually have a need to satisfy her. And he had. Satisfied her. Immensely.

But outside of bed, Nick was different: gentler, sweeter, almost shy. And he seemed embarrassed, almost flushed, when she’d caught him watching a made-for-TV romance, as if he didn’t want to reveal that softer side of himself. A side she really liked.

Michelle slipped into a thin summer dress and took a matching cardigan from the hanger. She opted for high heels, wanting to feel sexy tonight. She inspected herself in the full-length mirror inside the closet door and twirled in front of it. She definitely looked presentable.

Taking a deep breath, she left the bedroom and walked back into the living room. The TV was off, and Nick wasn’t sitting on the couch anymore. She turned on her own axis. Had he left without her?

“Nick?”

Footsteps coming from the kitchen made her turn. He came walking back into the living room, jerking his thumb over his shoulder.

“Hope you don’t mind. I helped myself to some water.”

Relieved, she exhaled. “Of course not. I’m sorry, I should have offered you something to drink earlier. I’m such a bad hostess.”

He walked up to her, his eyes fairly drinking her in. “Oh, I wouldn’t say that. You were very welcoming.” He graced her with a smoldering look, one that made her knees tremble.

She wiped her suddenly damp hands on her dress, fidgeting.

“You look very nice,” Nick murmured, taking another step closer that brought them chest-to-chest. With his index finger, he tipped her face up. “Absolutely stunning, in fact.” He brushed his lips over hers in a feather-light kiss. “Now you’re making me really hungry.”

She swallowed hard, knowing he wasn’t talking about food. And suddenly she didn’t care about dinner anymore.

Nick took her by surprise when he stepped back and reached for her hand. “Let’s go and have that first date, shall we?”

Almost disappointed that he hadn’t thrown her down on the nearest flat surface, she followed him to the door. He took the small backpack that he’d tossed there upon entering her place and opened the door. Turning to the side table, Michelle grabbed her keys and shoved them into her handbag, then slung it diagonally across her torso, following Nick out and letting the door slide shut behind her.

Muggy air greeted her when she stepped outside and walked along the sidewalk next to Nick. Though it was still light, and would remain so for another few hours, dark clouds hung in the sky and she could almost smell the coming thunderstorm.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked, giving him a sideways glance.

Nick pointed in the distance. “It’s only three blocks. Are you okay walking in those shoes or would you rather take a cab?”

She was touched by his concern. “I can walk, no worries.”

“Good.” He paused. “Tell me a little about yourself, Michelle. I’m curious about your life. Are you from D.C.?”

Hesitant to reveal anything about herself, she asked, “Are we doing twenty questions?”

“No, but we are on our first date, and from what I recall about first dates, people tell each other stuff like where they’re from, what their favorite color is, things like that.”

“From what you recall?”