Nick Of Time (Blue Ridge Romance 2) (5 page)

Her sweater was off in one quick move, and then he reached behind his neck and pulled off his shirt. She gazed at the tattoos covering his chest and ribs. Surely there was some meaning to them, but at the moment she didn’t want to know. She just wanted to run her hands over them.

He shuddered at her touch and his eyes burned down on her.

She made quick work of the button on his jeans. As she moved the zipper down, the only thing revealed was a thin line of hair.

No underwear.

She let out a small gasp when his erection snapped up into view. He definitely hadn’t rented the Vette because he was lacking in that area.

This was really happening. She was going to have sex with Tucker Matthews on the sofa at a strange cabin in the mountains.

He moved to help get his jeans off and then focused on hers.

Soon they were both naked and looking at each other. The normal nervousness of being exposed never came. She felt comfortable letting him look at her body. Even knowing he’d been with countless women didn’t make her want to hide from his gaze.

The way he was looking at her made her feel like she was the only woman he’d ever wanted.

“God, you’re beautiful, Nichole. I knew you would be, but I wasn’t prepared for this.” He smiled at her. “Better than all those fantasies I had when I was a kid.”

“You had fantasies about me?”

“All the time.” He bent down to claim her lips again, and their conversation turned to moans and gasping as he rolled on a condom from his wallet and slipped inside her in one thrust. No messing around or teasing her and making her crazy. Right to business, and he was so good at business.

He was quite skilled, especially in the small space on the sofa. He moved her leg to enter her deeper and she cried out at the way he filled her.

“You okay?” he checked.

“Yes,” she panted, not really sure if it were true. She had never been with anyone so . . . large. She felt the need to apologize to Corvette owners everywhere for the erroneous stereotype.

He smiled again and kept going.

She rarely had an orgasm with a new person the first time out of the gate, so she was surprised to feel the tension building. Her breathing became louder and more desperate and she didn’t care. Not even when her climax hit her hard, causing her to yell his name and dig into his back with her fingernails.

He didn’t seem to mind as he slammed into her twice more and with a groan collapsed on top of her, his weight making her feel warm and safe.

A few moments later, he shifted to the side and bent his head so he could kiss her again.

There wasn’t a lot of room to move, but he maneuvered her so she was against his chest and his arm was around her.

She couldn’t believe this was real.

She’d just had the best sex of her life with Tucker Matthews.

She tried to hold in the giggle, but soon she erupted in full-blown laughter, her body shaking uncontrollably.

In the tiny moments between gasps of air she could hear his laughter, too.

They must have laughed together for five minutes before it slowed to a few bursts of giggles. She wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at him as he did the same thing.

“What’s so funny?” he asked but started laughing again.

She got caught up in another bout but attempted to answer. “I can’t believe we just had sex,” she said. “And it was
good
.”

 

After a few more minutes of laughter they calmed down. Tucker couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed so hard.

“Thanks for being surprised I was good.” He shook his head and rolled his eyes. He had to admit he was also a little surprised by how well they worked together. She’d met him thrust for thrust. She hadn’t just lain there expecting him to bring it home on his own.

Not that he had a clear memory of all the times he’d had sex, but of the ones he could remember, he would have to say this one moved to the top spot.

“Sorry. I guess I forgot what it was like to have sex with a man who likes women,” she said as she laughed yet again. The sound warmed him even more than the fire next to him.

“Excuse me?” He didn’t understand what she meant.

“Come on; Cooper didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“That my fiancé and I broke off the wedding because he’s gay.”

She laughed, but it was a different kind of laugh. It was the one she put on when she wanted people to think she was all right when really she wasn’t.

He imagined she must have loved the guy if she’d planned to marry him. Regardless of why they’d called off the wedding, it must have caused her pain.

“No. I didn’t even know you were getting married. Cooper doesn’t tell me much about you because he knows I can’t stand you.” He winked at her.

“Why can’t you stand me?” she asked as she propped herself up on her elbow. She wasn’t offended, just curious.

He decided to tell her the truth. “Because you’re a snooty bitch.” She gasped in mock surprise. “Don’t act so offended. I know you don’t like me either.”

“Because you’re a womanizing bum.” She smiled as she glanced down at their naked bodies entwined on the sofa.

Tucker sniffed.

“For not liking each other, we’re sure good at this.”

That was an understatement. Nichole was nothing like he would have expected. As proper as she acted in her real life, she’d just done something wild and spontaneous.

“Please. Don’t pretend I’m special. I know how you operate.”

“See? That sounded a little snooty.”

She laughed. Her real laugh. “I guess it did.” She nodded. “I was pretty full of myself the last time we saw each other.”

“You had just got the job at the hospital. I had dropped out of school for the fourth time.” He twisted his mouth to the side. “I guess I was pretty much a bum.” He shook his head. “But not a womanizer.”

“Come on! You were in a rock band and you were bringing girls back to Cooper’s apartment every weekend.”

“Maybe, but the word
womanizer
makes it sound like I was out there hunting down women. They came freely, and I accepted what they offered. I didn’t pretend to be more than what I was.”

“You’re very good at justifying your actions.”

“Thank you. It keeps me from having to grow up.” He flashed his best grin.

“I wish I had a way to justify my bitchiness.”

“You do.”

“I do?” Her brows creased.

“Yeah.” He nodded and looked away for a second, before looking back into her eyes. “I know about your mom. Cooper told me how she holds you to a higher standard than normal humans.”

“He talked about me with you?” She seemed upset.

“It was one time, when I was complaining about you coming home with him for Christmas. I know you feel like you have something to prove. You want everyone to like you while pretending you don’t give a shit about what they think. The pressure makes you justifiably bitchy.”

She swallowed and tried to look away, but he put his finger on her chin and pulled her face back to his, forcing her to look at him.

“I’ve changed. I know I’m never going to please her and I’ve stopped trying. The only thing I can do is live my life for me. I guess I do still put too much stock in what other people think, but after that thing with Dennis, I’m starting to relax.”

“Good. And for what it’s worth, I’ve changed, too. I learned a long while back that filling my bed with strange women doesn’t fill anything else. And I do have a job. Probably not one that would impress a snooty bitch like you, but I’m not a bum.”

They laughed together until he rolled over on top of her, ready again. Thank God he always carried two condoms in his wallet.

They didn’t burst into laughter after the second time, which was somehow even better than the first. He’d taken a moment to pull out the sofa bed because it looked like they would be staying overnight. Plus he wanted the extra room to explore.

As the sky darkened outside, he stared at her, the shadows from the fire playing against her bare skin.

She smiled, as if reading his mind, then pulled him down to kiss him.

“Please tell me you have condoms in your bag. I only had the two.”

“Why would I have brought condoms for a day trip with you? I never would have thought I’d need a condom. A shovel maybe, but not a condom.” She was back to laughing, and he leaned down, taking the nipple of her left breast between his teeth, shutting her up pretty quickly.

He backed off, realizing this plan of attack was going to have repercussions.

“When was the last time you were checked out?” she asked as she sidled up closer.

“About two weeks ago, actually. How about you?”

“I’ve been dating the same guy for seven years, plus I have to get a screening every month at work.”

“So we’re clean.”

“And I’m on Depo-Provera.”

“Please tell me that’s some kind of birth control.”

“It is. A shot.”

“Thank you, God!” he said, knowing it probably wasn’t the best idea to thank God for the ability to have sex. But he was certain God would understand.

He tackled her, making her giggle. As her legs wrapped around him the way he liked, he found himself wondering how he could make this last.

Not the sex; he was fine at making that last. But the relationship with Nichole. Not that it was a relationship really. Not that he wanted a relationship.

He wasn’t making sense, so he gave in to the physical part and let his thoughts scatter in the wind.

S
he woke up next to Tucker. The afternoon and evening before felt like a dream. But sunlight was streaming in through the high windows, proving it was day, so she had no choice but to believe it was real. Especially when Tucker was sleeping next to her. Naked.

She started to shift so she could crawl over him.

“Don’t do it,” he mumbled.

“Don’t do what?”

“Go out there. Stay here.”

Not being one to listen, especially to Tucker, she pulled back the covers and then squealed.

“Holy shit! It’s cold.”

“I told you not to go out there.” He lifted his head to look at her. His shaggy hair was a mess. Well, more of a mess than normal.

“We have to go out there at some point.”

“Fine. Let me throw more wood on the fire, and when it warms up again we’ll get up.”

“What will we do while it’s warming up?” she hinted, trying to sound seductive and falling flat.

“Hmm. That look on your face should give me the proper motivation to hurry if freezing my balls off doesn’t work,” he joked and got up. He quickly tossed on two logs while Nichole watched his bare ass. It was really nice.

She had already been with him numerous times. More times in twenty-four hours than she’d been with anyone else. Including Dennis. Though with Dennis, she could now understand why he wasn’t really into multiple rounds of sex.

She felt the familiar pain slash through her heart, but she put on a smile and waited for Tucker to come back.

Nichole was smiling at him when he came back into bed.

He’d seen her smile plenty of times in the years he’d known her. He’d even thought she was pretty, and she’d been a favorite fantasy when he was growing up, but this was real.

She was really there, wanting him.

And she was absolutely beautiful. Long auburn hair flowed over the pillow. Her eyes were blue or green, depending on her mood or what she wore. At the moment, they were bright green.

He kissed her for a very long time before he rolled over and made love to her for probably the fifth time since they’d been there. But who was counting?

They giggled while trying to stay under the covers until the room heated up. Eventually, they were making their own heat, and the covers fell away. He touched her everywhere, loving the little sounds she made and the way she moved, completely uninhibited.

She wasn’t faking it; he could tell. He knew guys always thought they could tell, and maybe there were times before when he hadn’t been sure, but not this time. Not with Nichole. Mainly because he didn’t think she’d bother to fake for him. She would be more likely to call him out on it, or post it on a billboard if she wasn’t satisfied.

When they’d made it to the finish line at the same time once again, he flopped down next to her, pulling her against him so he could kiss her hair.

They didn’t speak for a long time, and unlike the night before, they didn’t break into fits of laughter either.

There was something else between them now.

Worry, maybe?

No. Uncertainty.

Where would they go from here? Would they go back to busting on each other and insulting each other every chance they got? Would they date? Did she want that? Did he?

“It seems we have something in common,” he said, trying to feel out what she might be thinking.

“Yeah. That song was really coming together,” she teased, and he felt a small wave of relief.

“That song is going to be a hit,” he told her while smiling up at the ceiling. Then he went for it. “What happens now?”

“I guess we’ll take a look outside to see if we’re still trapped. I saw some pancake mix in the pantry. Are you hungry?”

“You really have to ask? I did deliver the goods half a dozen times.”

“Please. I was already turned on by the Vette. Your rental car did most of the work for you,” she joked, making them both laugh.

He checked his phone and found he had a message from the tent guy. He listened as he looked around for his clothes, tossing her pants at her.

“The tent guy will be here in twenty minutes.”

“Oh!” She jumped up and started hopping into her pants. “I wish I had clean clothes and a toothbrush.”

“I wouldn’t mind giving that giant tub a try.”

“Maybe after he leaves?” She raised an eyebrow.

“We might not have clean clothes, but we could at least take a bath.” It seemed like a valid point. She nodded in agreement.

She made pancakes and started coffee while Tucker walked out to assess the road surface.

“It looks good out there. Everything thawed. It’s just wet.”

He wolfed down four pancakes before the tent guy showed up.

To his surprise, Nichole stayed inside and let him take care of it. When they walked back to the house she verified everything, but still it was a start. She hadn’t checked up on him.

Before the tent guy was gone the electrician had arrived.

They all walked out to the lake this time. He wasn’t offended; she was in charge of the electrician.

“So, can you run a cord to the house or do you have to use a generator?” Nichole asked a question he wouldn’t have thought to ask. Especially while following her down the trail, watching her ass.

“I can actually put up a temporary line and blend it in with the trees.”

“Excellent. I was concerned about the noise from a generator.”

“Good thinking, Nic,” Tucker praised her with a wink. He watched her cheeks turn red, either from his approval or the cold, he wasn’t sure.

With their duties complete, Tucker packed up his guitar as Nichole checked the house, gathering up any trash and making it look like the cabin hadn’t been transformed into a sex lair for the last twenty-four hours.

But even the clean sheets on the sofa bed and the pillows arranged just so didn’t mean it hadn’t happened.

The bigger issue was what happened now.

“I think I’m going to pass on the bath,” she said.

That was good. With his head swimming in thought, he didn’t think he’d be able to make the bath more than a cleaning event.

He needed to know what she expected.

He took her hand and led her over to the sofa. He took a seat on the chair, making sure to keep a safe distance.

“So, we should probably talk about this.”

“About what?” Her brows creased, and for a moment he wondered if maybe he had dreamed it.

“About what happened between us,” he said.

She let out a big, annoyed sigh. “What is there to talk about? We both wanted sex. It was great. End of story.”

Huh?

Women didn’t do that. He was expecting her to be clingy and demanding so he could push her away. He didn’t know what to do with this . . . this brush-off. Leave it to Nichole not to play the stupid games he was used to.

“And you’re okay with it being the end of the story?” he asked, making sure. Maybe it was some kind of trap. She was really smart. Cunning even.

She bit her bottom lip and looked at her feet for a moment before answering.

“Look. It was really great. And I don’t want to go back to us hating each other or being in a competition for Cooper’s affections. But I’m looking for something more . . . substantial.” Ouch. “I grew up with a father, four stepfathers, and a whole passel of my mother’s
friends
.” She made air quotes around the last word. “I don’t want that. I’m not saying I’m on a desperate hunt to find a husband, but I’m looking. I want a stable home, with a husband who sticks around, and kids someday. I know you don’t want that. So let’s just chalk this up to the right circumstances producing one amazing moment, okay?”

“Sure.” He was being dismissed. She wasn’t even going to consider him as stable-husband material. Shouldn’t he be cheering? Why was he wishing he could have a drink?

He swallowed loudly and flexed his fingers. He hadn’t felt the need for a drink in a while, but right now he wanted to numb the feelings and thoughts.

“Can you give me a minute?” he asked. “I need to make a phone call.”

He all but ran up the stairs. He locked the bedroom door before locking himself in the bathroom. He crawled inside the big tub and with shaky hands dialed Carmine Cruz, his sponsor.

“Hey. How is it?” the older man asked. Carmine was either in his late fifties or early sixties, with a fondness for brightly printed shirts and fedoras. He always answered the phone in the same way. Tucker wasn’t sure what
it
was. Maybe life? Sobriety?

“I’m having a moment of clarity. Not the good kind.”

“Okay. Talk me through it.”

“It’s a girl.”

“It always is,
pana
.”

“I’ve known her since I was seven. Always had a thing for her, but she was a total bitch, so I also hated her.”

“Hmm” was all he said in response.

“Anyway, we hooked up last night and, well, again this morning.” How many times wasn’t important. He waved his hands to erase the extra information. “We were having the after-talk, you know, and she totally brushed it off, as if I’m not good enough to see again because she wants someone steady.”

“You want to see her again?” Carmine sounded doubtful.

“Yeah. I mean, it was great.”

“Physically?” he asked.

“Right.”

He sighed. “Let her go.”

“What?” Tucker’s voice rose, not expecting this answer.

“She wants something you can’t give her. You’re thinking about it because she let you off the hook and you think everything in life should be a challenge or a struggle. It isn’t. A nice girl gave you a good time and now she’s letting you off the hook because you’re not what she’s looking for. She’s right. You’re not. Let it go.”

“That’s it?”

“Don’t make life harder than it already is.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

“You steady now?” Carmine asked.

“Yeah. I guess I just got stuck in my head for a second.”

“Don’t do that.” He made it sound so simple.

“Right. Thanks a million.”

“Any time.”

They hung up and he crawled out of the tub to go face reality.

Reality was sitting in the driver’s seat of the Vette with a big grin on her face.

 

She couldn’t believe he actually let her drive the whole way back to Roanoke. She was certain he’d come up with some excuse to take over, but he just sat there in the passenger seat with a smile on his face.

Occasionally, he would hum.

“You got any more words for our song?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I think the way it works is you say something and then something stupid flies out of my mouth. Then you write that down like it doesn’t suck.”

He chuckled and reached in the back for his notebook.

“Let’s test the theory.” He flipped through the pages. “What if I said, ‘You’re everything I need’?”

“Really? No food or water?” she joked, earning her a wet finger in the ear which caused her to scream. “Don’t do that while I’m driving a forty-thousand-dollar car!”

“Try fifty-three thousand.”

“Shit! Are you kidding?”

“No.”

She slowed down a little and held the wheel tighter. Then she took a deep, even breath.

“I would say, ‘my world is in your arms, take me there. Don’t ever let me go.’”

“Damn, Nic. You should ditch this doctor gig and become a songwriter.”

“Does it pay well?”

“Let’s see. I could’ve bought two of these cars from the royalties on the last song I sold, and that was for a commercial for an insurance company. I just used the word ‘trust’ a few times and gave it a powerful beat. Cha-ching!”

“I’m happy you found something you enjoy.”

He nodded but didn’t say anything.

“What is it? You don’t like it?”

“I do. I love writing songs and making music. It’s just that I had my dream come true and I totally blew it.”

“What happened?”

“I got sucked into the bad parts of being famous and got spat out the other side before I knew what hit me.”

“And you don’t want to try again?” she asked, genuinely curious.

“I do. I just haven’t had a song that will get me there. I’ve had a few good ones, but my agent wasn’t able to sell them with me singing them.”

“Don’t give up.”

“Reach for the stars?” he said with a chuckle. Maybe her advice sounded a bit cliché, but it was still good advice. “Do you like running the clinic?”

“Yes!” She could feel her face light up. “I get to do the fun part, helping patients. And because most of my patients are walk-ins they don’t make appointments, so my hours can be somewhat flexible. I just make sure I get my hours in for the week and it’s good. There are seven other doctors and the interns pick up the slack.”

“Sounds like a good deal.”