Nerds on Fire (28 page)

Chrissy glanced around the very nice
waiting room with a faint air of disdain. “True.”

The phone rang, and Nina was grateful.
With an apologetic smile, she indicated the phone. “Since I’m the
only one here, I do need to answer that.”

Rylan’s former fiancée appeared to get
the message. “Right.”

She didn’t say anything else but
turned and left. Something about the way she carried herself made
Nina wonder if the woman had been a little in love with Rylan after
all.

Nina understood this concept all too
well now because the man had enthralled her. How had he crept in
and stolen her heart without her realizing it?

Fortunately, she couldn’t think
further on this right now because she had to answer the phone.
Never had she been so grateful for a patient who needed to
reschedule an appointment.

Chapter 27

“
Are you okay?” Mark cornered Trixi later that
evening when he finally tracked her down in the family
room.

“
What?”

Her expression seemed far away. As if
she wasn’t quite with him.

“
You seem really...
distant.”

She stared at him blankly. Mark gave
her time, because he appreciated when people allowed him space to
collect his thoughts.

“
I’m thinking,” she said,
her voice soft and gentle. Like her.

Her beautiful eyes shone in the
lamplight and caused intriguing thoughts to pop into his
head.

Seating himself beside her on the love
seat, he nodded. “I like to do that.”

Her sweet smile could have lit up the
entire room. But it was directed at him, so it lit him up instead.
Mark was grateful.

“
Sometimes you have to.”
Her eyes were downcast, so he reached under her chin to raise her
face to his. He wanted to see her eyes. They were fast becoming an
obsession. Like those adorable freckles splattered across her
nose.

Touching the delicate skin under her
jaw proved to be a mistake. Now he wanted to do nothing else. Her
silvery-blue eyes widened as they encountered his. Since his
thoughts scattered, he had to forcibly make them comply so he
didn’t look like a complete idiot. This was a new sensation for
him.

Nothing made his thoughts scatter.
Before this moment, he would have said such a thing was
impossible.

Now, gazing into those amazing eyes,
his life was forever changed. As though of its own volition, his
head lowered until their lips were a mere breath apart. Because his
fingers were still under her chin, he felt her gasp. Just a small,
breathy intake but it was enough to compel him to lean
forward.

He kept his movements easy and
careful. She didn’t rise, screaming, from the love seat. Instead,
she leaned a fraction closer. It was the reaction he
needed.

Mark settled his lips on hers in a
real kiss.

The fit of her lips was amazing. Her
feminine scent, a combination of vanilla and cinnamon underlaid by
a floral, swirled around him. From her warmth to her scent to the
sweet texture of her skin, everything about her appealed to him.
His father had promised the wait was worth it when you found the
right woman and he was thankful to prove that good man
right.

Overcome by the heat pouring through
him, he slid both arms around her to draw her close. He wanted to
tuck her inside himself, to keep her safe and away from predatory
males. He bit off the growl that nearly erupted and instead lifted
his head to refit their lips.

The gentle strength in her was heady.
He loved how she pressed against him like she didn’t want to be
anywhere else. How her arms rose to encircle his neck. She shimmied
closer. It was such a tiny movement, but the impact pounded through
him.

He traced her lower lip before delving
inside. With skill he had not perfected, but the knowledge came
instinctively, he enticed her tongue to come out and engage with
his.

Although quiet and a little shy, she
did answer his summons. Once her tongue tangled with his, all was
lost. The moment shot to his head. He wanted this woman. But his
senses screamed at him to proceed with caution or all would be
lost.

Trixi deserved a courtship. She
deserved to be wooed. Both old-fashioned words, but they applied to
his and Trixi’s relationship. Neither were adept in the mating
dance, and Trixi was a gentle soul. She deserved to be shown how
magnificent he found her. Because she was without equal.

“
I had a visit from Chrissy
today,” Nina said.

Rylan started and then examined her
straight back as she finished drying the last pot lid. She placed
it on the base before neatly spreading the towel out to
dry.

Something didn’t register.
“What?”

She repeated the statement. Even
though he was better prepared, it still shocked him.

“
Why would she bother
you?”

Nina smiled, a mysterious,
feminine curling of her pink lips and it distracted him. This
amazing woman was who he wanted now. He couldn’t imagine her not
being a part of his life. She gestured toward the family room and
he followed her without thought. This was probably a glimpse of his
future
—
him blindly
following her. Yet the prospect did not faze him.

It was perfectly natural for him to
sit beside her on the sofa. She leaned into him, as though seeking
to be closer. He concurred. Rylan enfolded her hands in his,
because he needed to touch her.

“
What did Chrissy
want?”

Nina stiffened. “I think to make
trouble.”

He swallowed before asking his next
question. “Did her attempt work?” His throat felt raw as fear
clawed up it.

“
No.” Nina’s beautiful
mouth curled down. “I think all it did was make me feel sorry for
her.”

It was the last thing he expected, but
on the same vein, he tumbled a little further under her spell. He
nodded and tightened his hands briefly on hers in approval. “What
did she say?”

“
She tried to convince me
the two of you were still engaged.” She shook her head. “I asked
where her engagement ring was.”

My woman is both beautiful
and smart.
“A great idea.”

“
She didn’t have it to show
me, of course. Said something about it being cleaned, but you told
me you broke off the engagement and why. In time, it all came
out.”

“
She didn’t love me.” His
murmur didn’t elicit the result he expected.

Instead, her head tipped to the side
as she contemplated him. “I’m not sure I agree.”

His eyebrows winged up. “What? You
think she did love me?” Internally, he rejected that preposterous
notion.

“
I believe it’s a definite
possibility.” She tugged her hand free to cup his cheek.

Rylan’s heart melted at her gesture.
It took a moment to focus on their conversation again. “No, she
didn’t love me. She might have loved what I possess, but not
me.”

Nina still didn’t look convinced, so
he didn’t say more, but on this he was certain.

“
Do you not think
you’re...?” She stopped, shook her head, and then slid right into
his personal space. He laughed, and grabbed her so she couldn’t
escape.

Her arms slid around his neck and it
soon became apparent she entertained no such thoughts. “I think
you’re wrong,” she whispered before her lips met his and anything
coherent fled as the fire ignited between them.

Inside, everything male in him roared
in triumph as his woman staked her claim.

“
Why?” Trixi asked. Her
huge, shadowed eyes gave nothing away.

“
Why what?” It was probably
gentlemanly to release her, but he wasn’t feeling in the least bit
courteous.

“
Why did you kiss me?” She
sounded so surprised he leaned back to peer into her
face.

“
Because it was
inevitable.”

“
It was?” Shock and
confusion intertwined on her expressive little face.

A surge of protectiveness crashed over
him. He tightened his hold. Just holding her was nice. Never before
had he felt this way. Never before had he wanted to.

“
Oh, yes. Expect to receive
a lot of kisses,” he warned.

She blinked rapidly. As though his
statement wouldn’t process.

“
Is this a
problem?”

“
No.” She pulled away and
he opened his mouth to protest, but something in her expression
alerted him that he needed to give her this space.

“
It better not be a
problem.” He ended on a growl, all but pounding his
chest.

“
The man of my dreams
doesn’t start kissing me out of the blue.” Her tone was
musing.

“
Man of your dreams?” The
chest-pounding male surged back, as triumphant as ever.

Trixi scowled at him. “What do you
want?”

That scowl, coupled with her
skepticism, quelled the chest thumper. “You.” He snatched her back
into his arms.

She gasped again, and braced herself
by placing her hands on his shoulders. Before she could protest, he
tucked her tight and threaded a hand through her hair. Anchoring
her, he fastened their lips together again.

All stiffness within her drained away
as her lips curled up. He suspected she moaned. Of course, it might
have been him, but he continued because he could. Because he had
to. Stopping this kiss made no sense, so he kept on, savoring the
precious woman in his arms, reveling in the wondrous feeling of her
soft curves filling his hardness.

“
I still don’t understand,”
she murmured when they finally came up for air.

She stared at him, looking completely
stunned.

“
Have you ever had a
boyfriend?”

“
Not really. I dated
briefly in high school and college, but those relationships never
amounted to anything.”

He nodded. “Exactly how it
was for me.” Then he tilted her face back up to his. “What these
kisses mean is we’re dating
exclusively
.”

Her lips curled up. “Like a monogamous
relationship?”

“
Yes.” He sealed their new
relationship status with a kiss. And he took his time, savoring
her. He intended to do this a lot.

In the back of Trixi’s mind, the
twelve-year-old who resided there but was usually quiet clapped her
hands to her mouth, screaming through them in girlish wonder.
Jumping up and down, exclaiming how happy she was.

In reality, Trixi, the
adult, was a lot less exuberant, and a lot more pessimistic about
this new relationship. Why would this fantastic man want
her
? She wasn’t
beautiful, wasn’t particularly wealthy, and didn’t have a fantastic
figure. All she had was this house. Was her house enough for a
man?

Yet, if his feelings really were in
his kiss, as the song promised, then he found her pretty amazing.
The man seemed to like her very much. He acted like he wanted to
devour her, and since she felt exactly the same way, she curled
closer, determined to enjoy these kisses for as long as they were
her privilege.

If they were in a relationship, then
she could kiss him whenever she wanted to. The resulting thrill
caused a surge of euphoric wonder.

When he arrived home much later that
evening, Rylan nearly groaned at the sight of the unwelcome car
parked ostensibly in front of his door. There was no missing it,
which was probably Chrissy’s point.

Instead of driving around to the
garages, he instead parked beside her and climbed out. It was with
some relief to see she was actually in the vehicle and not waiting
for him inside the house.

She gracefully exited when he
approached.

“
What do you want Chrissy?”
He kept his tone easygoing, when what he really wanted to do was
toss her off his property.

Her blue eyes swam with
tears.

“
Rylan, I can’t believe you
no longer care for me.” Her voice cracked.

His sigh was long. “I
don’t. I’m sorry, but I don’t want you in my life. I’ve moved on
with a woman I...” Love was the word
right
there
, and it made him gawk at Chrissy’s
car roof.

Love?
Oh man...
this is way bigger than
me
. He had known he was attracted to Nina
but this plunged much deeper. “Oh man,” he repeated because while
it had been quietly bubbling there all along, he hadn’t recognized
the emotion for what it was.

“
What’s wrong?” She placed
a hand on his arm. There was alarm in her voice.

“
I just realized
something.” Effervescence burst into jubilation at the
understanding.
He was in love with
Nina
.

Chrissy must have heard his ebullience
because her eyes turned soft in the light from a nearby lamppost.
“You realized what?”