Bid Me Now (23 page)

“I’m so sorry, Miri.”

Miri opened her mouth to speak, but when he drew a deep breath as if to say more, she closed it again and waited.
 

He stared down at his hands, not speaking for endless moments, and Miri longed to reach out and touch him. “I walked out on you.” He paused to close his eyes for a moment. “I was a bastard…am a
bastard
.” The word tore from his throat, making her heart ache.
 

Miri shook her head firmly and fought the first prick of tears. “No. You had every right to be angry.” This was her guilt, and she wasn’t about to share it with Nick.
 

He reached across the space between them and took her hands. “But not with you.” His grip relaxed on her fingers, as if expecting her to pull away. His head went down again, and Miri heard the misery in his voice. “Every day I wanted to call you, but I was stubborn. And fucking stupid.”

Miri stared at the top of his dark head, bent so low that she could see the spiky dark hairs on the back of his neck. Tears welled, but she swallowed them away. She had to say this. “No, it was me. I was the stubborn one.”
 

He looked up, and for a moment a ripple of sad amusement passed across his face. “You,
stubborn
? No way.”

Not even his tease could stop her tears now. They spilled down her cheeks and over her chin, but there was no way of wiping them away with Nick holding her hands, and she couldn’t bear to lose his warm grip.
 

“Nick, don’t you see? I caused all of it. It was because of me that Ale…” She stopped, not wanting to say the name. “She did it all because of me.”

He stood and pulled her to her feet, gathering her in his arms. Miri closed her eyes and let her body sink into his, crying into his shirt, needing his strength to hold her up. “It wasn’t just Alex. There’s so much you don’t know. Marcus…”
 

“I know.”

“How?”
 

Miri felt his chest move against her face as he shrugged. “Just figured it out. As soon as we knew it was Lockart Construction, we put it together. Lockart’s built the medical center, and that was the link to Carter.” She felt a soft, humorless chuckle against her face. “I knew I should’ve flattened the guy when I had the chance.”

“But he knew all the time, and he said nothing because of me. Don’t you see? It’s my fault.”

Miri felt his hand slide up to stroke the back of her neck, so she angled her face deeper into the wet patch she’d made on his shirt, her body instantly warming to his caress.
 

“Look,” he breathed down into her hair, “if we keep apologizing to each other, we’ll be here all week. Besides, I have to tell you something.”

“What?” she whispered, terrified he was going to talk about Alex. She didn’t want to know. Not anymore.

“That I love you, Miri. So much.”

She gasped, and for a split second Miri was sure her heart actually stopped. “I love you, too, Nick,” she whispered, loving the words on her lips.

“Oh…” The word rumbled from his chest, and Miri pressed her cheek to the sound. Then he was easing her back, looking down at her with eyes so tender, her tears flowed harder.
 

“Does all this crying mean you’re happy?” His brow was arched in question, but he was smiling.

When she nodded dumbly, Nick wrapped his arms around her again and lifted her up to his height, his arms under her backside. “Well, that’s a relief, because I’m never leaving you again, my love. You’re stuck with me now.”
 

“Stuck,” she sniffled, slipping her arms around his neck and gripping his shirt collar.
 

Nick kissed her, and Miri parted her lips to welcome him. He’d kissed her hundreds of times, but this was the sweetest kiss ever.
 

The kiss of a lover. Her lover.

When he took his mouth from hers, she whispered into his cheek, “Do that again.”
 

He grunted and smiled. “Okay.” He kissed his way over and around her cheeks, nose, and chin before finding her mouth again. A million heartbeats later, he drew back. “I have something of yours,” he said, still holding her up like she weighed nothing.
 

“What?”

“
Lust
.”

“You don’t mean…?”

“Uh-huh. Cate bought it for me. It’s in my London office. A real conversation piece for the clients.”

“The auction house said it went to an anonymous buyer.”

“It’s beautiful. You’re a wonderful artist. How’s the library commission coming along?”

“Slowly. Am I getting too heavy for you?”

He laughed. “Hardly, but I’ll take the hint.”
 

Nick set her down before she could protest, so she looped her arms around his waist and snuggled close.
 

“Miri, there’s something else I need to tell you.”

He sounded so serious, Miri felt a stab of fear at what was coming. “What?” she whispered into the tear-stained patch on his shirt, squeezing her eyes shut as if to prevent the words.

“Fitz called last night to say the developer wants out of the mill deal. Probably scared off by the bad publicity and the town’s resistance to pulling it down. I know how this must look to you.”

Her fear receded. “How it must look? What do you mean?”

“That the mill is suddenly available.”

Miri leaned back to look up into Nick’s face, puzzled that he was so worried. “But there was a contract. You couldn’t do anything about it.”

“No, I couldn’t. The developer threatened to sue us. Anyway, now Fitz wants to sue the developer for breach of contract. The thing is, I want you to have the mill. But I’d understand if you no longer wanted it. Not after everything that’s happened.”
 

“I don’t know what to say…I can’t believe it.”
 

“If you’ve found somewhere else, Fitz will offer it to one of the other bidders. Anyway, it’s yours if you want it. Please think about it.”

Miri thought for all of two seconds before making up her mind. “I’ll take it. And I’ll pay you twenty thousand over what you paid,” she said, laughing when his eyebrows went up.

A moment later his eyebrows fell to a deep frown. “You understand that I bought the mill to make a profit, Ms. Jamieson?”

Miri angled her head coyly. “Well, there must be something I can offer you to change your mind.”

Nick’s throaty laugh had her sizzling. “I’m sure there will be.” He lifted her chin. “Seriously, would you accept the mill as my gift to you?”

Miri shook her head firmly. “No, I have to pay for it.”

“Well, whatever you want to pay will be fine. Or I could leave the money in as an investment.”
 

She smiled. “That might work. I’ll think on it.”
 

“You know,” he murmured, bending low to her ear, “I think I smell something burning.”

“Hell!” Miri unwrapped her arms from his waist and scooted for the kitchen. “Want some pizza?” she called over her shoulder.
 

She grabbed an oven glove and bent to take the pizza from the oven, conscious of Nick looking at her short shorts as he followed her. Oh, sweet joy. After dropping the hot pizza tray on the countertop, she picked at a lump of burnt mozzarella. “It doesn’t look very nice, does it?”
 

Nick came to stand beside her. “Nope. Can’t say that it does.”

 
“What about some of Bree’s lemonade?”

“Sure. Anything I can do?” he asked, turning his sleeve cuffs back to reveal his strong forearms.
 

Put those around me and kiss me again
, she thought wistfully. But Nick was walking to the bay window to look out at the garden, so she busied herself with the lemonade.
 

“Very nice,” he said, coming back to stand in front of her, his eyes drifting down her body.

“The kitchen?” she queried, then went pink when he grinned. “Oh…yes, it’s my favorite part of the house. Nothing has been changed since the accident.”

“I want to hear all about your folks.” He took her hands, his expression turning serious. “When you’re ready.”

Miri squeezed his fingers to reassure him she was okay. “You will, I promise.” She blinked at a sudden realization. She was okay. Really okay. She felt different somehow. Stronger. Loved. Ready to face her future, whatever that might hold.
 

Miri set the jug of lemonade and two glasses on the table while Nick sat. “Want some? Bree uses real… ” She shrieked as Nick pulled her onto his knee, wrapped his arms around her, and started kissing his way all over shoulder and down her arm.
 

Nick ran a finger along the small of her back, making her jump. “My God, you’re ticklish, right there.” He laughed when she jumped again. “How could I have missed that?”

“Please, no…not there!” Miri squirmed as he moved his finger to stroke along her ribs.
 

Nick stopped tickling and started kissing her shoulder again. “There’s so much we don’t know about each other,” he murmured, his breath warm on her skin. “I’m going to need a lot of time to find out about you. I intend to be based in New York from now on. I hope you can cope with me on your doorstep every day.”

“Oh, yes, please. But I’ll be on your London doorstep soon. Two of my works are included in an exhibition, and they’ve invited me to be there. And there are the library commission people to talk to.”

“Please say you’ll stay with me in London.”
 

“Oh, you can count on it.” She tucked her face into his neck. “I love you, Nick Brannagh,” she whispered, the words sweet on her lips.

 
His throat vibrated against her face as he breathed into her ear. “I know, sweetheart. I love you, too.” He pulled his head back to look at her face. “Now, about that thing you promised.”

Miri tried to think. “What thing?”
 

“To change my mind.”

“Oh, that,” she said carelessly. “Well, I’d have to show you the rest of the house first. Where would you like to start?”

Nick waggled his brow, sending Miri into fits of giggles. “You need to ask?”

She stood and took his hand to lead him out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Stopping halfway, she fingered a button on his shirt. “Nick…?”

“Yeah?” he asked, pulling her to him, his fingers working on the halter tie of her bikini top.

She undid the button. “Maybe it’s just sex between us.”
 

Nick kissed her hard. When he lifted his head, she watched him frown as he thought. “Nope, it’s definitely not the sex.” Bending to slide an arm around her butt, he pulled her flush to his hips, making Miri tremble with anticipation. “Didn’t feel a fucking thing.”

“Fibber,” she countered, snuggling against him.
 

“Ya think?”
 

Miri stood high on her tiptoes to kiss his chin as her bikini top fell away. “The bedroom is at the top of the stairs.”

“Right. I need to take a look at those pajamas first,” he mumbled down into her hair.
 

Miri sighed happily and undid two more buttons to make room for her hand. At this rate, they weren’t going to make it to her bedroom.
 

Well, they’d get there eventually. But for now…