Tempting Nora (36 page)

"
Yeah, she does. When I told Gideon I was going to kick his butt, he said that you were at his place and had already made up with you," Robert said. "I called Chloe right away to let her know."

She breathed a sigh
of relief. One less phone call for her to make. Unfortunately, her happiness was short lived. Gideon hadn't mentioned that Robert had threatened him.

"I'm glad you told her
I'm okay, but there will be no butt kicking," she said. "I'm fine. Gideon and I, ugh, have come to an understanding."

"That's all well and good, but
I still see you as a little sister." Robert cracked his knuckles and turned toward Gideon. "I see it as my job to lay down the law with your boyfriends."

"Robert, no.
" Good grief, she was going to strangle him.

"It's okay, Nora." Gideon held up his hand. "If Robert wants to
hit me, I'll let him. It's what I deserve for making you cry."

Despite Robert's knuckle cracking, she had a feeling the guy
had never intended to throw a punch. Robert looked like a deer in headlights.

"
You're going to let me punch you?" Robert frowned.

"I deserve it." Gideon pointed
at his face. "Go on."

"Gideon, stop it," she said through clenched teeth.

"Nora, I'll be fine." Gideon glanced at her. "Go on, Robert. It will make you feel better."

"Well, okay…" Robert clenched his fist. "I'm going to do it."

"I know." Gideon nodded.

"I really am." Robert was staring at him desperately.

"Go on," Gideon said.

As Nora watched in exasperation, Robert groaned and threw the punch.
When the man's fist collided with Gideon's jaw, she heard an awful crack. Gideon stood as unmoving as a statue as Robert howled in pain, clutching his swollen fist. Nora shook her head and rushed to her friend's side. When she grabbed Robert's fist, she saw that it was swollen and red. She guessed that shouldn't have surprised her. Punching Gideon was the equivalent of hitting a brick wall.

"Oh
, Gideon, how could you?" She threw a dirty look at him.

"I didn't throw the punch." Gideon shrugged, though she could tell he was fighting back a smile.

While Robert staggered around, she found it hard to fight down a smile too.

"Is your face made out of iron?" Robert winced as he
straightened up.

"I've always
been hardheaded." Gideon winked at Nora.

"Figuratively and literally," she muttered under her breath.

Gideon heard her and grinned.

"Man
, I'm glad that's over." Robert shook his hand. "Still you and I need to have a talk, Gideon."

"Okay." Gideon
nodded.

Now that he'd
recovered, Robert had his bravado back. The man poked Gideon in the chest threateningly, even though he'd almost knocked himself over throwing a punch.

"Nora is
family to me," Robert said. "If you make her cry again, I'll beat you even worse than I did today, comprende?"

Judging by how Gideon's lip twitched, the man was fighting back a laugh.

"I completely understand," Gideon said, feigning soberness. "I assure you that I intend to never make Nora cry again."

The words seemed to appease Robert because he nodded. Nora thought he looked a little relieved too. Probably he was frightened of
trying to beat up Gideon again.

"What are your intentions toward Nora anyway?" Robert crossed his arms.

"My intentions?" Gideon glanced at her.

"Uh-huh." Robert nodded
.

"I'm going to marry her, of course." Gideon seized Nora and pulled h
er to his side. "The sooner, the better."

His
words made her suck in air and start to choke. As Robert's eyes widened in shock, she grabbed onto Gideon's shirt, unable to catch her breath as she hacked. Gideon merely patted her on the back as he gazed at her best friend.

"I had no idea you were th
is serious," Robert said.

"Oh, I am." Gideon grinned warmly at
her. "I know that Nora and I haven't been together long, but sometimes you just known when things are meant to be."

"Well…I…ugh…" Robert looked like he was torn between
maintaining his protective big brother stance and being delighted. "That's great. I guess I don't need to worry."

"No, you don't." Gideon laid a kiss on her forehead. "Right, Nora?"

Dumbfounded, she stared at Gideon.

"Nora?" Gideon squeezed her shoulder.

She still couldn't manage a response.

"I think I paralyzed her." Gideon looked at Robert. "I suppose the thought of marrying a great guy
like me made her go into shock."

His words re
vived her brain instantly.

"You oaf." She stepped on his foot.

As Gideon sucked in air, Robert clucked.

"Are you sure you want to marry her?" Robert asked.

"Robert." She scowled at him threateningly.

"Oh, I'm sure." Gideon grinned. "I have a few
tricks to make her calm down when she's irrationally angry."

"Gideon." She glared at him instead.

"You'll have to teach me some of those tricks," Robert said.

"If you use
any of them, I'd have to punch you. They're of an intimate nature." Gideon winked. "One of them is silencing her with a kiss."

I'm going to kill him…

"So it's those kinds of tricks." Robert looked thoughtful.  "Well, I wouldn't kiss her again, that's for sure."

"Guys," she sputtered.

"I'm glad," Gideon said, ignoring her. "I'm the jealous type."

"I don't think you have to worry too much," Robert said. "She scares
most men away."

"I can't believe this," Nora
said. "Just a second ago Robert threw a punch and now you're both ganging up on me. What kind of relationship is this?"

"We're
just having a bit of fun." Gideon winked.

"Fun my butt," she muttered, crossing her arms.
"Hmph."

As Gideon
faced her, she scowled up at him. He placed his hands on her shoulders and then pressed his lips against hers. At first she kept her mouth firmly closed—she was still aggravated, after all—but then he snuck his hand around her waist, rocking her closer. She wasn't sure what made her finally loosen up, but she thought it had something to do with his sweet smell and the way his lips expertly danced over hers. One second she was stiff against him, the next she was putty in his arms. As she sighed, Gideon stepped away and patted her head affectionately.

"See." Gideon grinned at Robert. "She's calm now.
A kiss works every time."

Robert started clapping.

"Who's calm?" She punched him in the shoulder.

As Gideon frowned at her, Robert snorted and shook his head.

"I don't know why I was ever worried about you two," Robert said. "You're perfect for each other."

"We really are, aren't we?" Gideon grinned.

Even as she shot him a glare, she managed a begrudging nod. Some things were too obvious to deny.

****

That evening, Nora stood with Gideon outside of a sandwich shop. Gideon was humming and looked five seconds away from breaking into song. She couldn't help but grin too as he squeezed her hand and kissed the inside of her wrist.

"Do you w
ant to eat outside or inside?" Gideon asked, still beaming.

The
temperature was warm today. Soaking up the sun sounded far more entertaining than eating indoors.

"Outside," she said.
"We can eat at the park across the street."

"Good choice." Gideon beamed and pecked her lips.

Several people stared.

"You're different now," she blurted out before she could stop herself.

"Am I?" Gideon cocked his head.

"
You seem happier than before," she said.

"I am happier." Gideon
pulled her against him. "Do you know how guilty I felt keeping secrets from you? I wanted to tell you everything, but I was worried what would happen if I did."

"
It was a pretty big secret." She didn't think she'd ever get used to the fact he was an angel.

"Precisely." Gideon tugged at a strand of
her hair. "Now that my secrets are out in the open, I don't have anything to worry about."

"
I don't know about that. You still have to worry about me murdering you," she said. "When you were ganging up on me with Robert, I was contemplating tossing you out a window."

"I think I'd even enjoy being tossed out
a window if you were the one doing the tossing," he said.

"
Well, I—I—" she sputtered, wondering how he could use a death threat as an opportunity to flirt.

"You're so cute when you blush." He kissed
her fingers and then pulled her inside.

All of the tables inside of the shop were full, but luckily the line to buy food was short. Still she wasn't concentrating much on sandwiches.
Gideon was gazing at her with a look of utmost adoration and it was hard to think about anything but his magnetic eyes.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Huh?" She glanced at his lips, misjudging his question.

"To eat, Nora." He snorted
, following her gaze. "We'll get to kissing later."

"That wasn't what I was thinking
about at all," she said.

"Uh-huh." He sounded like he didn't believe a word of it.

"Just order me whatever you're having," she said, embarrassed and wanting to shoo him away as quickly as possible.

"Gotcha." He was still smirking even as he
went to order dinner.

While Nora hung back—she needed time to recover from her embarrassment—a beautiful brunette woman
walked up to her.

"Your boyfriend is attractive," the woman said, sounding like she was testing to see if they were really together.

Nora's kneejerk reaction was to say that he wasn't her boyfriend, even though he was. After all, the two of them couldn't stay away from each other. Even as Gideon ordered sandwiches and proceeded to the cashier, he constantly glanced back at her, seeking her out time and time again. Suddenly, she didn't feel embarrassed for wanting to kiss him anymore.

She felt proud because she was the only woman who could.

"He's gorgeous and he's
all
mine." Nora shot a possessive look at Gideon that couldn't be misconstrued even by the biggest idiot in the world.

The
brunette looked startled by her announcement and scampered away. When Gideon returned with their meal a moment later, he was practically skipping as he escorted her out of the restaurant and over to the park. It was only when the two of them took a seat at a picnic table that she wanted to learn the cause of his smugness.

"Why are you smirking like that
?" she asked.

"
I just heard something pleasant." He whistled.

"
What was it?" She raised an eyebrow.

"'He's gorgeous and he's all mine,'" Gideon mimicked her.
"I believe that's what you said just a few moments ago, wasn't it?"

Oh no. He'd somehow heard her conversation with the woman
.

"How did you hear that?" She leapt to her feet.

"I'm an angel." Gideon tapped his ear. "I have superior senses."

"
Heaven help me." She groaned in her hands.

"
I like being all yours." Gideon seized her arm. "It's rather nice that you were jealous, but you don't have to worry. I'll never touch another woman except you."

The words pleased her, but she tried to hide it.

"I wasn't jealous," she said.

"Sure you were." Gideon pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her waist. "And I loved that. It means that you care about me. If you weren't jealous, then we'd have a problem."

For a moment she tried to come up with an argument, but it was hard to think when she was in Gideon's warm arms.

"Fine," she admitted. "I was jealous."

Gideon chuckled, making her whole body vibrate. As his warm hands tightened around her waist, he buried his face in her neck, laying warm, gentle pecks along her skin. She went limp, completely unable to fend off his advances. And she didn't want to either. As she whimpered, she realized that Gideon had been right when he'd said that his kisses could instantly silence her. If there was one thing that could put a stop to her temper, it was being embraced by Gideon. The man's touch was her kryptonite, the one thing that brought her to her knees.