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When he turned to face her, he was disappointed to find her completely clothed. “Laura said I should wait in here for you.”
Her lips pursed. “Don’t sit on anything.” She flung the towel at him. “It’s still pretty dry. I only used it for my hair.”
He smiled as he perused her with her hair damp and straggling down her back, and her PJ’s worn and ratty. “You’re cute when you’re bedraggled.”
She didn’t smile back. “I don’t know why you’re here, Reece, but feel free to take a shower and get warm. I think I have a pair of my brother’s old sweats here that’ll fit you. And one of his old T-shirts, too. They’ll have to suffice until your clothes are dry.”
“We need to talk, Nicole.”
“I know, but not while you’re making a puddle in the middle of my bedroom floor.” She turned away. “I’ll give you some privacy. I’ll be in the office when you’re ready.”
He was disappointed she wanted to get away from him. “You don’t have to leave. I’m not going to try anything.”
Her fingers tapped against the wall and her eyes squinched shut. “I know you won’t, but I’m not so certain about my own intentions.” She heard his surprised chuckle as she walked out. She needed to get away from him before she made a complete fool of herself—again.
~ ~ ~
The rain had finally stopped, and the moonlight was shining through the window, landing on the poster of Reece. Nicole sat at her desk, pondering the way the light made his visage archangel beautiful.
She snorted. He was far from angelic. She’d never think of him as one of the good guys again. Bad guys wore white hats too.
She leaned her head against the chair, tilting it backward on two legs. She propped her feet on the desk, gazing at the poster, trying to put everything into perspective. Her fantasy love affair had come to its inevitable conclusion—the movie star basking in the glow of applause while the writer slinked back to her lowly existence.
“You really should keep your feet planted firmly on the floor,” he said from the doorway.
She jumped at the sound of his voice, thumping forward in the chair, her legs still elevated on the desk. It was an uncomfortable position with no easy way out of it.
“Would you like some help?” he asked with a laugh.
“No, I can do it,” she said, moving one leg down, causing her hips to bang into the seat, overbalancing her completely. She fell to the floor.
“Are you all right?” he asked, offering to help her up.
“I’m fine, Reece,” she said, staggering to her feet. She brushed off the seat of her pants. “Will you please tell me why you’re here?”
He held his hands out in front of him. “I’ve come to make peace with you.”
She considered him. “Peace as in restful serenity or piece as in . . . oh, yeah, I want to smack ‘dat ass?”
He pressed his lips together. “Maybe a little of both.”
She snorted in feigned disdain. “Sorry, buddy, that ship has sailed. My hormones are over the new look.” And thank God for that. For a moment there, she’d been hard pressed not to jump his bones. And what a disaster that would’ve been.
“So, you were tempted?”
She leaned against the desk. “For all of five seconds. Then I remembered why I was there, and all that lust disappeared.” It hadn’t but she wasn’t telling him that.
“Fair enough, but what about the other peace.”
“I think your brother pretty much destroyed any chance of a lasting peace between us.”
His face was full of remorse. “I’m sorry, Nicole. About everything.”
She waved her hand in the air. “You don’t need to apologize to me. I know where I stand in the big scheme of things.”
“And where is that?”
She held up her hands, one extremely high and the other very low. “Far, far from you.”
