Embracing You, Embracing Me (26 page)

“Anyway, I think he must have drunk way too
much because he told us that he was ignoring you to get your attention. We all
told him that he was going about it all wrong, but he was determined that it
was working.”

The light bulb went on as I listened to Sharon. “Well, well, well. Isn’t that interesting?” I said with a smug little smile. It all
made sense. Nico had been executing a devious little plan. He must really have
thought that I was a snotty brat if he thought I would be shallow enough to
respond to such psychological warfare. Never mind the fact that it
had
been
driving me crazy. I pushed that thought aside to examine later, and continued
to visit Sharon. I had my own investigating to do.

Later, sitting next to Evan at a large
table filled with our co-workers, sipping a Captain and Coke, I couldn’t stop
thinking about the intriguing new development.

Initially, I was furious to think that I
had been a pawn in Nico’s head game, but after a while my irritation waned. I
had to give him credit for taking a whole new approach. In a round-about,
socially awkward kind of way, it was a bit flattering. But I honestly didn’t
understand what made him think that being a jerk would be a sure-fire path to
securing a date with me. Sure it got my attention, but it wasn’t exactly my idea
of being wooed.

It crossed my mind to put him in his place
while there was a crowd, give him a run for his money. But that wasn’t my style
at all. I decided to use this new knowledge to my benefit and keep an open mind
to see how things would progress. I still wasn’t looking for a relationship,
but was intrigued enough with Nico to admit that I wouldn’t mind a casual
flirtation.

Nico finished his pool game and tossed his
cue stick to his friend. He snatched his beer and swaggered in my direction.
Pulling out the chair right next to mine, he spun it around and straddled it,
propping his forearms on the back as if he owned the joint.

I turned my body so that we were face to
face.

“Glad to see that you joined the rest of
us,” Nico drawled. His voice was deep, musical.

I ran my finger along the lip of my empty
beer bottle. “Yeah, I’ve been turning down invitations to things like this for
a while so it’s nice to get out again.”

An easy conversation developed. It was the
first time we had talked outside of work and without the odd tension fizzling between
us. We discussed how long we had been living in the area and where we had grown
up. It was nice to see that he wasn’t always putting on a front and I found
that he was intriguing to talk to. His vocabulary was intelligent and his
insight on politics and matters of the world were keen, unconventional and not
unlike my own.

Lost in conversation, I had been holding
back the urge to pee, but finally excused myself when I started to feel like I
was going to burst and float out of the bar.

The rest-rooms were by the exit, and when I
came out, Nico was leaning up against the wall, waiting.

He straightened with a grin. “It’s been
nice talking with you tonight, Roshell.”

“Are you leaving?” I was disappointed, but
knew it was getting pretty late.

Nico peered down at me, brows furrowed as
if trying to read my thoughts, “Yeah, I gotta work in the morning and I still
have about a half hour drive, so I should head out.” He reached out and grabbed
my elbow, “Walk me out to my car.” It was a statement not a question.

I already had my coat on as the bar had
been on the cool side, so I zipped it up and braced for the cold wind as we
stepped outside.

He kept a light grasp on my elbow and led
me toward a black Ford Ranger pickup. The temperature was frigid and the wind
had a bite. He opened the passenger door. “Hop in.” I stared at him. “Come on,
just for a minute. It’s warmer in there.”

I grabbed the handle on the inside roof and
hefted myself into the truck. Nico slammed it shut behind me and rounded the
hood to climb into the driver’s side.

He started the truck and turned the heater
to full blast.

I started to question my sanity, suddenly
feeling awkward with the situation. I wondered why I was sitting out in a bar
parking lot with some guy that I hardly knew. I rubbed my hands together trying
to incite some sort of heat, thinking of ways to extricate myself from the
scenario that was enfolding.

Without a word, Nico took me by surprise
when he turned in his seat and simply leaned forward.

I was lost in thought and saw the kiss
coming at the last second, before I could prepare or decline. When our lips
first met, there was an infinitesimal moment where I hesitated, shocked,
scared, I’m not sure, but I didn’t respond. Then his warm, relaxed invitation
beckoned me in and without thinking, I melted into it.

Nico took the kiss slowly at first but as I
gradually leaned into it and joined him, something inside of me caught fire. He
wrapped his fist in my hair and dared to take the kiss deeper.

I gave a sigh. My body was responding with
an intensity that I hadn’t experienced in over a year.

We drew back at the same time, each a
little astonished at the heat that had flared so quickly between us.

“Huh, who knew?” I quipped in an attempt to
show that I was unaffected, unruffled by the kiss. But I was actually quite
shaken by my response and wasn’t sure if I liked it or was terrified of it.
“And to think the whole time you were ignoring me just to create this exact
scenario,” I said. It was time to let him know that I knew his game.

Nico’s expression was passive, unreadable.
“Worked didn’t it?”

I gave a casual smile and shrugged. “Guess
so. Well I’d better be going now. I have to get home to my daughter.” I threw
the comment out as I slid across the seat and toward the door.

“How old is your daughter?” he asked.

I paused, my hand on the door handle.
“She’s two years old. Her name is Marissa.” My gaze was direct as I monitored
his reaction.

NICO:
I hadn’t heard that she had a child. One of my staunch rules is to
stay away from single mothers. I’m ignoring that rule, for now. I can find out
more about her child and her past later.

Nico bypassed my shock and awe comment.
“Hey, do you want to go out sometime? We could do dinner and get to know each
other a little.”

I had figured that he would have
high-tailed it out of there once he found out I was a mom. When he asked me out
on a date instead, I just shrugged and went with it. “Sure, that sounds good… I’ll
give you my number later this week,” and with that I hopped out of the truck
and ran across the parking lot and into the bar.

It took me by surprise when Nico stopped by
my point of sale the very next day. He waited until customers had filed away
and slipped me a folded post-it note with his phone number scrawled across it.

“Give me a call later this week, we’ll get
together,” he said with an easy smile then turned to finish his daily rounds.

“Yeah, I heard that Nico had been looking
in that direction,” Becca sneered, then stomped off to wipe down machines.

I gawked at Becca’s retreating back. Stacie
piped in, “Don’t worry about her. She’s got her panties all in a wad, because
she’s had her eye on Nico for some time. She can be catty, but she’ll get over
it.”

I chuckled. “I just think that it’s
hilarious. There really isn’t anything going on between us. Besides he’s kind
of intense and bossy. He’s not really my type,” I said, assuring myself as much
as to assure Stacie. “Plus, I found out last night that he’s like eight years older
than me. That’s too close to my age cut-off.

“Oh, and to soothe everyone’s curiosity-
he’s half Native American. I asked him.”

Stacie paused with a dumbfounded look,
“Huh, I guess we were all wrong.”

*

Two weeks passed. I didn’t call Nico and
didn’t see him around much. Then late one evening, while working overtime for
the second time in three days, a machine trilled out loudly, announcing that
someone had won a jackpot. I hustled down to the far end, hoping that it was
the little old couple that had been playing for hours and had been so adorably
sweet all night.

Rounding the long row of machines, I
immediately saw that it was them and my heart did a little dance. They were one
of my favorite customers and I loved to cater to their quirky requests. As I
approached, the elderly gentleman stood up, moving as if he were still a spry
fifty, and pulled me to him in a big hug. I could smell the scent of his sweet
cherry cigars as I looked over his shoulder at his round-faced, wrinkled wife
and gave her a wave.

I congratulated the couple and helped them
retrieve their ticket so that they could cash it out at the main cashier cage.

One of the security officers offered to
escort them. I smiled and said goodnight before they shuffled their way down
the paisley carpet, eager to reap their reward.

I turned and ran smack into Nico. He
reached out and grabbed my shoulders to prevent me from toppling over. “Whoa,
are you okay?”

I blushed, a little embarrassed that I had
spun into him so hard. “Yeah, I didn’t know that you were right behind me. Sorry.”

Nico was grinning from ear to ear. “I was
just watching you with that cute elderly couple. I didn’t expect you to turn
around so suddenly, it’s really my fault,” he admitted. He let go of my
shoulders and stepped back. He leaned against the point of sale counter. “You
haven’t called.”

I reached into my money belt and began to
fidget with the loose coins. “Yeah, well… I’m not really the type to call a
guy.” I bit my lip nervously.

“Oh, yeah, and why’s that?” Nico asked, interested.

I shrugged and scanned the floor to avoid
his searching brown eyes. “I don’t know. I guess I’m just kind of old-fashioned
that way. The boy is supposed to call the girl. That sounds silly, huh?”

“Not really,” He changed tactics, “Well
let’s just skip the phone call business. How about you make babysitting arrangements
and I’ll take you to dinner tomorrow night?”

I stopped jingling the coins and finally
looked at him; I wasn’t used to dealing with such a strong male personality.
Nico had a presence about him that commanded respect, and demanded things his
way. He had a way of talking that was pleasant but left little room for
argument and you just kind of ended up agreeing to whatever he was suggesting.
This was new for me. I was accustomed to calling the shots and had my own way
of bending situations to suit my own ideas. I felt challenged by his assertive
nature and wasn’t sure if I should retreat or rise to the challenge.

Ignoring my inner doubts, I agreed to meet
him for dinner the following evening. “Sure. Why not?”

I arrived at the seafood and steak house
wearing gray slacks, a casual white top, and heels that gave me some height and
showed off my new fire-engine red toe- nail polish.

Nico was waiting just inside the foyer and
immediately stood to greet me. We cordially hugged one another then followed
our waiter to a small table by a window that overlooked Puget Sound. Nico
pulled out the chair for me, and as I took my seat I did a quick mental scan
realizing that I had never been on an official date. I frowned and wondered
just what that said about me. How could I be nearly twenty-two years old,
divorced, and had never once been on what I would consider a traditional date?

I browsed the menu while we talked. Nico
asked what I was having and to my surprise, ordered for me when the waiter
returned with water and a basket of sourdough bread. His in-command personality
was still uncomfortable for me but I decided that change was good and it was
best to go with the flow. I had no idea what it was like to go along for the
ride rather than having to constantly be in charge and thinking of the next
step. I wanted to find out. I sat back and relaxed.

The food arrived, we were lost in
conversation, enjoying each other’s company and the wine was working its magic.
I discovered that Nico had an off-beat and slightly dark sense of humor that I
shared and fed off.

With dinner finished he invited me to swing
by his place before I went home for the evening. “I have a couple of movies
that I rented and thought that we could kick off our shoes and just relax for a
few hours.” He said it innocently enough, so I took the chance and agreed to
follow him to his apartment.

By the time I found a place to park, Nico
had already parked and was rushing over to open my door. “I have to confess
that my place looks like a typical bachelor pad, and is a bit of a disaster,”
he warned with his head cocked to the side and a look of apprehension.

I was a bit of a neat freak but usually
didn’t hold anyone else to my standards. With a handful of male cousins, I knew
all too well how messy they could be, so I shrugged off his warning.

When I entered the small but stylish
apartment, I did a quick scan of the room. The living area was cluttered with
books and there was an entire corner of the room that looked as if a computer
had exploded. Since he was a technology buff, I surmised that he was preparing
to do some sort of computer-geeky thing with the pile of metal scraps, and
decided to let him off the hook for that disaster.