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“I’m sorry, Nick.”
And then, just as quickly as it began, it’s over. Nick walks in front of me, lifts me from my position, and looks me in the eyes, wiping a single tear that I missed. This has never happened. It’s always been just fun, makes you hot and wet, and then there’s sex. But this is so much different. My mind is having a hard time wrapping around the intensity of my feelings.
Nick scoops me into his arms and walks with me to the couch in the living room. He pulls a blanket from the back of the sofa and covers me with it, holding me in his arms. He pushes the hair out of my eyes and leans down to kiss me on the forehead.
“Different than just a little slap and tickle before sex?”
Chapter Eleven
Nick
Allie nodsas I wipe another stray tear and then another. Her breathing is soft and warm, and there’s something about this intimacy that causes my chest to tighten with that unfamiliar feeling again. So different from the multitude of women I’ve had stretched out before me at clubs when the end game was just a little sex. She yawns and nuzzles into my chest, and even with the rest she had last night, it will take hours more for her body to catch up and recover from so many hours without sleep. I caress down the back of her hair, and she lets out a contented mewl.
“I’m sorry I lied, Nick. It had everything to do with you.”
I won’t tell her it’s okay because it’s not, and that’s not how we’re going to start the foundation of a relationship. “I know it did, Allie. I’m the one on the receiving end of those heat-filled looks.” I watch her cheeks flush a sweet color of pink. “We’ll talk later. Rest, love.” I stroke her hair, admiring the beautiful woman in my arms as she falls gently into a deep slumber.
It takes time before I’m willing to relinquish Allie, but work will not get done by itself. I shift her sleeping form, placing her head on the small decorative pillow in the corner of the long sofa, stretch her legs out and adjust the blanket, watching as she turns and snuggles into its softness.
My phone buzzes. “Hey, Scottie, how’s it going?”
Allie stirs slightly at the sound of my voice. I walk into the kitchen to talk and avoid keeping her from rest. Scottie’s not a man to mince words or skirt around the issue, and he doesn’t do it now. “I spoke with Liam and Trent last night. They filled me in on the security plans you laid out, and they looked solid as hell. The men are all coming into New York on different flights, and they’re laying over in different cities, but we have some more of the details now.”
“Great work. We should get the guys on a call later today and get the details layered into the plan.”
“Sounds good,” Scottie says “Oh, before I forget. Someone told Chase that you’ve been paying Trent and Liam to guard Allie. He told Jay to refund the whole month in total and reamed him a good one. Told him that if any of us ever need protection for our families, it’s a charge he’ll cover personally.”
“You’ve gone all quiet, Nick. Allie doesn’t still think Sheldon set that up, does she, lad?”
I run a hand through my hair. “Something like that, but I’ll get it sorted.” There’s no way that stubborn, beautiful woman would have accepted protection from me, and Sheldon did want security for all of Lexie’s friends and family. That wasn’t a lie, but me paying for it myself had nothing to do with that, and not telling her is probably going to piss her off to no end.
“Ah, well, good luck explaining it to the lass.”
“I’ll figure it out.”
“I have no doubt you will, lad.”
“I’ll get a conference call set up for later in the day, and we can finalize the plans as a group.”
“I just forwarded the flight numbers to you.”
“Sounds good, Scottie. Talk to you later.” I grab my laptop bag from the living room and pull up the information I need. It’s hours later when I feel satisfied with the updated plan for us to review and fine-tune later in the day. Allie stretches on the couch. I close the laptop and go to the couch and sit on its edge as she sits up, still covered with the blanket.
Deep green eyes full of emotion meet mine. “You slept the entire afternoon, love.” I stroke Allie’s cheek, so soft and delicate.
“Hi.” Allie wraps the blanket even tighter around herself and looks at me almost shyly, an emotion I’ve never seen her express before. She looks away and doesn’t say anything for a few minutes, and I give her the time and space that she needs.
“This is such a mess.”
I smile down at her and tap her nose. “What’s a mess?”
“This … you … I mean us. The whole thing. It’s just not something I do.”
My lip twists. How soon we forget. “I thought your spanking would serve as a good reminder that lying isn’t permitted.”
“That’s the problem. What I meant is not spanking. We both know I do those things. They’re harmless, no strings. I meant relationships. I don’t do relationships, Nick. I suck at them. They don’t work out, and I am at the ER or on call almost twenty-four seven. I go to the club every once in a while, and well, that’s it. I wasn’t lying, and you spank hard!”
I can’t help but laugh. “Just what relationship have you had that didn’t work out?” I ask, still half laughing.
