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Her bedroom was dominated by a king-size iron frame bed that was covered with a range of colorful pillows just like the couches in her living room, and like the living room, her bedroom walls were also painted bright pink. Nick didn’t think he would find much in here, other than the bed there was just her closet and a dresser. Against his will, he found himself standing in front of her dresser. Feeling like a voyeur, he couldn’t seem to stop himself from opening her underwear drawer, rifling through it, and picturing how Aggie would look modeling the contents for him.
Before he got carried away, he deliberately closed the door and headed to the spare bedroom. This room was blue like the kitchen and was set up as an office. He wasn't going to bother hacking into her computer, it would take too long and really he didn’t need anything that deep. There was a shelf in the corner that displayed several trophies and medals. Intrigued, he headed to it, alongside the awards were several framed photographs of a teenage Aggie at various diving competitions.
Diving, that was good, all through school he’d been a swimming champion. Swimming, diving, they were pretty close, which would be helpful in continuing to gain and keep Aggie’s trust. Obviously, she loved the water, as did he, that could be a potential activity for them, even with her cast there was probably something water-related he could plan for a date.
Continuously playing Aggie was easier than he had predicted. Shewantedto believe in him, shewantedto grow closer to him, it was basically like taking candy from a baby. Which again made him feel worse than it should. Damn her for being so sweet and trusting.
Pleased with what he’d learned, he was ready to get going. Nick didn’t like being here in Aggie’s home, it made him feel too close to her, and he didn’t want to feel close to her. He wanted to do what he’d set out to do and then move on to the next thing. He didn’t like that she had somehow managed to lodge herself in his mind, and he was hoping that was the only place she’d lodged herself.
Aggie was quickly making herself a complication, and that was only going to get her taken out of the equation quicker than he had originally intended.
* * * * *
12:12 P.M.
“Okay, girlfriend, dish,” Summer said as she took a seat at the table and set out her lunch.
Most days they tried to organize it so that they could eat their lunch together. Sometimes they discussed cases, sometimes they chatted aimlessly about nothing much. Other days they discussed the men in their lives, or more specifically the man in her life since Summer hadn’t dated much in the six years since they'd first met. Today Aggie assumed the conversation was almost definitely going to revolve around Nickolas Sleigh.
“No, wait, first tell me how you're doing. How’s your arm?”
“Doesn’t really hurt much today. I have an appointment this afternoon to get some x-rays taken, check that the bones are set in the right place.” Her wrist really hadn’t caused her much pain since the morning after her attack.
“Your face is looking a little better.” Summer hooked a finger under her chin and tilted her face to get a better look at her cheek.
Aggie agreed, this morning the graze was showing signs of healing. It was going to leave a scar though, a permanent reminder of what had happened.
“How did you sleep last night? Did you have nightmares?”
“I slept okay,” she replied cautiously. Which wasn't entirely untrue, when she had been asleep she had slept well. Until a nightmare had her waking drenched in sweat and gasping, still swinging at her phantom attacker.
“I’ll take that as a resounding yes on the bad dreams. I would have spent the night again, all you had to do was ask.”
Smiling, Aggie knew she had really lucked out when she’d met Summer, who she considered more of a sister than a friend. “I know you would, but I need to learn to cope on my own. The nightmares will pass. Seriously, Iamokay. Sure, I'm shaken up but I'm holding it together.”
“Of course you are.” Summer smiled back. “I'd expect no less from you. No creepy pervert is going to tear you down.”
Her friend’s confidence in her bolstered her own. Summer was right. She wasn't going to let her attacker change her, she wasn't going to become skittish and hypervigilant and fearful of every shadow and every stranger. She wasn't going to let that man ruin her life.
“Now tell me about your new man. He’s cute by the way.” Summer grinned.
“He is,” Aggie agreed with a dreamy smile. Nick was the very definition of tall, dark, and handsome. But that wasn't why she was attracted to him. Aggie had dated the whole gamut of men from plain to heart-meltingly good-looking, and it hadn’t made a difference in how she saw them. What she really looked for in a guy was heart. A good heart was what you needed to make a relationship work. Someone who was caring and kind and thoughtful, who would be there for you through the good and the bad, who would love and support you no matter what. “But he’ssomuch more than that.”
Eyeing her shrewdly from intelligent dark eyes, Summer asked, “You’ve already fallen for him, haven’t you?”
Feeling somewhat giddy, Aggie nodded. She had indeed fallen for Nick. Head over heels. “I really think this is the real thing. I mean it,” she added upon seeing the skepticism cross her best friend’s face. “Nick is everything that I've been looking for. He’s perfect. I don’t know what else I could ask for in a man. He’s sensitive, sweet, funny, and smart. He planned an amazing date last night. I haven’t had such fun on a picnic since I was a little girl. We ate, talked, and then played on the swings and the slide. And then we kissed.” Images of last night tumbled through her mind. Nick’s hands on her body, his mouth on hers, the connection that she felt to him, she had known intuitively that he had felt it too. “He’s perfect,” she said again. “And he saved my life.”
“Okay, well the saving your life is definitely a point in his favor, a major point. But try not to get carried away. You’ve been here before. Here in this exact same spot. Believing the guy you just met is it, the one for you, and every single time you’ve been let down. I don’t want to see you get hurt again.”
“I've learned from my mistakes. And Nick wouldneverhurt me, I know that in my heart.”
“Are you in love with him?” Summer’s eyes had narrowed suspiciously.
A no was about to fall off her tongue. But that would have been a lie. She was already pretty close to declaring herself in love with Nick and deciding that he was the one. She was already envisioning a future with him. Maybe she hadn’t quite learned from her mistakes yet. But Aggie lived by her emotions, she let them guide her, she trusted them, and they were telling her that she could trust Nick, that he was the real deal, a truly decent guy who she would be lucky to spend her life with.
Summer sighed. “You are. Please just promise me that you’ll take your time and get to know more about Nick before you do anything rash and impulsive. You're like my sister, I really hate to see you suffer, especially when it’s self-inflicted.”
She wanted so badly to refute the self-inflicted comment, but sadly she couldn’t. Although she would probably more accurately describe her tendency to get hurt by guys she dated as that she allowedthemto hurt her by deliberately expecting the best from them rather than her hurting herself. Which okay probably was self-inflicted, she reluctantly admitted. But that was all in the past. This time she wasn't being blind, impulsive, or self-deluded. This time she was simply falling in love.
