Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set (100 page)

Chapter 21

She got into town less than an hour before she had to be at work at the bowling alley.

She decided to have a late breakfast at the diner, wondering if Nick would be at work when she got there.  She thought it was his day off but she wasn’t sure.  Her mind had turned into mush in the past couple of days.

When she parked her car in the parking lot of the bowling alley, Nick’s car was in its normal spot.  She was about fifteen minutes early, but she wasn’t sure that she wanted to face him yet.

Then she figured she might as well get it over with.  She went inside and saw Nick behind the counter with Penny.

They were having what looked to be an involved discussion.  Ami wondered if Penny was his girlfriend.  Nick turned to her and his smile faded.  Penny walked away. 

“Hi,” he said.

“We need to talk.” The alley was dead and there was still another ten minutes until her shift started.  “Come have a cigarette with me.”

He gave her a look that told her it was the last thing he wanted to do, but he grabbed his cigarettes and followed her to the door.

She lit her cigarette, not saying anything.  Finally when she figured she had given him enough time to suffer she said “So who is she?”

“Who is who?”

“Your girlfriend.  Is it Penny?  Why have you been too chicken to tell me about it for over two months?  What did you have to say to Carson and Ali to shut them up?”

He sighed.  “I know I should have told you, I just didn’t know how to do it.”

“Did you think I’d never find out?  Were you going to meet her at her place all the time after you moved all my shit out of my apartment when I told you not to?”

“Who told you?”

She wanted to smack him she thought.  He brought out the same feelings that Gabe did in her.  She couldn’t deny the powerful attraction, but she couldn’t deny that she wanted to strangle him every other time she was around him.

“It doesn’t matter.  Answer my damned questions.  Who are you dating and why the hell did you move me out of my apartment?   I don’t want to live with you.  Especially now that I find out you’re planning on marrying this girl you’ve been dating for over two months.”

“Who said I was planning on marrying her?”

“That doesn’t matter either.  Who is she Nick?”

“Her name is Carlie.”

“Uh huh.” Why couldn’t he look her in the eye she wondered?

“It is.  Penny is mad at me over something else.  She wants a raise, and I’d give her one, but Bobby said no.  He’s not making a lot of money right now.  He might have to get rid of someone.”

“Let him fire me.  Then you can finally be rid of me.”

“I don’t want to be rid of you.  I moved you into my place because I care about you.  I didn’t want you to be alone with Gabe bothering you all the time.”

“Up until two days ago, Gabe hadn’t really bothered me in at least two months, and you damned well know that.”

“What did he do two days ago?”

“None of your business.  Like your girlfriend is none of my business.  I’m not staying with you.  I’ll stay at motel if I have to.”

“No you won’t.”

“The hell I won’t.  I don’t need you to protect me from Gabe.  He promised to leave me alone.”

“Yeah right.”

“He did.”

“What did you have to promise him to make him say that?”

She smiled.  “I didn’t promise him anything.  I screwed his brains out for two days.”

Nick looked like he wanted to punch something, maybe her she thought.  “You did not.”

“I did.  I liked it.  Best two days of my life.  You shouldn’t care.  You have a girlfriend.  I’ll stay in a motel tonight and find another place tomorrow.”

“No you won’t.”

“I won’t pay you a cent in rent.”

“I don’t care.”

“Of course you do.  I’ll trash your place.”

“No you won’t.  I don’t care if you don’t pay rent.  It’s not the point.  I want you there because I care about you.”

“Yet not enough to tell me that you’ve had a girlfriend for two months.  I have to get to work.”

“Missy’s already here.  They’ll manage a couple minutes without us.  And why should you care whether or not I have a girlfriend?”

“Because you’re always so big on saying we’re friends.  I don’t give a shit whether or not you have a girlfriend.  Doesn’t she find it strange that everyone else knows about her besides your roommate who doesn’t want to be your roommate?”

“She understands.”

“You told her I was crazy or something didn’t you?  You’re an asshole Nick.”

“I told her no such thing.  Ami please, you know you can’t trust Gabe.  Stay with me where you’ll be safe.”

“How would I be safe there?  You’ll be with her all the time.”

“No, I won’t.”

“Yes you will.  You’ve got to be serious about her or you wouldn’t be with her.  You’re either with a girl for the night or some bullshit dream of forever.  Do you think I’ll die if you bring her over?”

“No.  I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“So you think it’s better to lie about it.  Great friend you are.  You know what, screw it.  I will stay with you.  You can bring your girlfriend over whenever you want.”

She smiled at her own private joke.  She was so going to walk around in the barely there lingerie that Gabe had insisted on buying for her, girlfriend or no girlfriend she thought.

“Why are you smiling like that?”

“No reason.”

“Uh huh.  I won’t bring Carlie over.  I don’t want to do that to you.”

“Don’t flatter yourself.  If I need to get laid, I’ll go back to Gabe.”

She turned around and walked back into the bowling alley.

Luckily, business picked up and Nick was busy in the office until he got off.  She knew that when he left he was going to see Carlie.  It hurt.  Even though she’d been with Gabe, she couldn’t fool herself into thinking that Nick wasn’t the one she really wanted. 

How was she going to live with him she wondered?  There was only one bathroom, so she’d have to share the shower with him.  What if he decided after a while that it was okay to bring his girlfriend over?  How was she going to deal with that?  She didn’t know.

When she got home that night, Nick wasn’t around.  She unlocked the door with the key that he’d given her and went inside.  He’d put all of her things into the second bedroom.  Her clothes were in the drawers.  It meant that he’d touched her panties and bras, unless he’d made his girlfriend do it.

She wanted to call Ali and yell at her, but her friend was probably sleeping.  She’d talk to her when she went to visit Jen again and see their new house she thought.  She wondered if Elijah had moved in with them.  He’d spent Christmas with his Mother but was supposed to be coming here shortly after. 

She was tired.  She bypassed the slutty lingerie that Gabe had bought her, and put on a pair of her old pajamas that weren’t meant to impress a man.  She crawled into bed and didn’t wake up until the next morning.

Chapter 22

It was nine a.m. when she woke up.  Nick wasn’t home.  It felt strange to be in his apartment without him, and even stranger to think that he must have spent the night at his girlfriend’s house.  She still couldn’t believe he had a girlfriend.  She wondered if he was going to bring her to Carson and Ali’s New Year’s Eve party.  She hoped not.  Maybe she’d stay home she thought.

She didn’t see Nick much for the next few days.  She wasn’t sure whether it bothered her more that he was staying away or that he was spending all his time with his girlfriend and avoiding her even more than usual.

On New Year’s Eve, the bowling alley closed at 6, since Bobby had his private party there after it was closed to the regular patrons.  She drove back to the apartment and took a shower.  She had no idea what to wear.  She settled on jeans and one of the shirts that Gabe had bought her after much deliberation in front of her closet.  The shirt was tight and low cut, but she didn’t care.

If Nick wasn’t going to be around the apartment to catch her in her lingerie, she’d make sure he knew what he was missing anyway she thought.

Ali had asked her to come over before the party officially began to help her set up, so Ali and the baby were the only ones there when Ami pulled up.  Ali opened the door, Jenesis in her arms. 

“She is so gorgeous,” Ami said.

“I know,” Alicia said with a tired smile.

“Has Brian been down to see her?”

Ali sighed, shutting the door behind them.  “No.  I’ve sent him a thousand pictures, but he keeps putting me off.  He says it might be another couple of weeks before he’ll be able to come down.”

The baby’s eyes drifted closed.  Ali gently laid her down in the travel bassinet in the living room.

“That sucks.  Hey Ali, I wanted to ask you a question.”

“Okay.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that Nick had a girlfriend?”

Ali let out another sigh.  “I’m sorry hon.  Nick begged me and Carson not to.  I don’t know why.”

“Because he’s an asshole maybe?”

“Men are crazy.”

“Where’s Carson?”

“Still at work.  That’s why you got elected to help me set up for this party.”

“Isn’t the noise going to bother Jenesis?”

“The nursery is way in the back of the house so it shouldn’t bother her.  I’ll have the baby monitor of course and I won’t be drinking because I’m nursing.”

“You’re no fun,” Ami teased.

“Feel free to get trashed.  It sounds like you deserve it.”

Ami laughed.  “I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“I’ve only been drunk once.  I don’t want to make a fool of myself in front of everybody.”

“It’s a New Year’s Eve party.  Everyone will be making a fool of themselves.  You don’t want to know how much money Carson’s spending on booze.”

“Probably not.  Is Nick bringing his girlfriend?”

“No.  She went to her parents I think.  Or it might have been her sister’s.  I don’t know.”

“What’s she like?”

Ali shrugged.  “Don’t know really.  Nick’s only brought her by twice.  She’s quiet.  Tall.  Big but not fat.  Hair down to her butt.  Weird contacts that make her eyes look really creepy.”

“Where did he meet her?”

“At the bowling alley.  On a weekend you weren’t working.”

“Great.”

“I think he planned on her being a one night stand but it turned into more.”

“Is he serious about her?”

“That’s a tough one Ami.  I would say yes because Nick doesn’t go out with girls he’s not serious about and he’s been with her for two months.  But he’s taken pains to hide her from you, so I’m thinking that you’re the one that he wants and he’s too stubborn to admit it.”

“I doubt that.”

“It’s just my opinion.  I still think that you two are going to be together by Valentine’s Day.  Now, we’d better get to work.”

Ami helped Ali put out bowls filled with chips and dips.  There were sandwiches and cakes and cookies.  Carson was bringing the alcohol, so the only drinks they put out were nonalcoholic; soda, bottles of water and a huge bowl of punch.  Ami wondered how much money they’d spent on the party.

Carson came home, kissed Ali and Jenesis, and then went about setting out the alcohol.

Soon guests started to arrive.  She spied Rick and Candy and gave her friends both a hug.

They couldn’t stay long, but both seemed to be in good spirits.

Ali snuck off about halfway through to nurse the baby.  Ami suddenly found herself alone with Nick, who’d just shown up. 

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi.” She started to walk away.  She didn’t want to talk to him.

“Ami stop.”

“No.”

He sighed.  “Come outside with me and have a cigarette.”

She’d been planning to have one anyway, but she didn’t want to go outside with him.

She didn’t care if there were other people around she thought.  She was pissed at him.  Finally, her nicotine craving won out and she followed him out the door.

And immediately started shivering because she’d forgotten to bring her jacket.  Nick draped his over her shoulders.  She wanted to shrug it off, but she really was cold.  She lit her cigarette, not looking at him.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“For what?”

“For moving your stuff when you told me not to.  For not telling you about Carlie.  I care about you Ami.  I’d really like it if we could be friends.”

“I don’t think that’s going to happen Nick.  We can be roommates, but not friends.”

He chuckled.  “It’s not funny.  How much do you really care about Carlie when you’re too chicken to tell me about her?”

“I care about her.”

Yet, there was a but in his voice she thought.  “Of course you do.”

“I do.”

“I don’t feel comfortable living with you.”

“Why not?  I’d never hurt you.”

“You’re afraid of me.”

He laughed but didn’t deny it.  “You never cease to surprise me Ami.”

“I’m a regular laugh riot Nick.  You know what?  I don’t care.  Bring Carlie over.  Screw her in the living room.  Just don’t pretend that she doesn’t exist on my account.  That’s a real asshole thing of you to do.”

“You’re probably right.  I didn’t mean it that way.  For either of you.”

“It sounds like you’re really ashamed of one of us.”

“Not true Ami.  I’m not ashamed of either of you.”

“Yeah.” She lit another cigarette.

“Did you tell Ali you were with Gabe again?”

She gave him a dirty look.  “No.  And you and Carson don’t need to gossip about it either.”

“Are you really planning on sleeping with him again?”

“It’s none of your business Nick.  I think it’s probably better if we don’t discuss our sex lives.  We’re not that kind of friends.”

“Yeah.”

He ran a hand through his hair.  It had started to get longer, and she thought he looked even better.  He looked so good tonight that she couldn’t stand to look at him anymore.  She pushed his jacket back into his hands and went back inside.

She left around one a.m.  Nick had already left, but he wasn’t home when she got there.

She sighed and went to bed.  He was there the next morning when she woke up, though there was no sign of Carlie, and for that she was glad.

He didn’t say anything to her, merely made a face at the fact she was wearing one of her teddies when she came into the kitchen, and then turned around and went back to his room.