The Goodbye Girl (25 page)

“Yeah, you do.”

Puzzlement now warred with anger.  “
What are you on about?”

“This is me, Nick
.  This is what I do.”  She pointed at the ladders and plank.  “I can’t change who I am or what I do because you might get angry and start that countdown.  This is what I was talking about at the pub the other night.”

 
Frustrated, he leaned down to eye her on a more level field.  “Look, Bree, I don’t want to change you.  Firstly, that countdown wasn’t anything to do with the fact that you wouldn’t get down immediately, or that you did it in the first place. It was for the crack about the crane.”

“What crane?”

“When I said I’d get you down if you didn’t come down.”

“I didn’t think when I said it.”

“I don’t like it.”

“I don’t see why it worries
you so much.  It’s my big bum I was cracking on about and- oh shit.”  Now she looked both annoyed and nervous.  “Your pupils just dilated.”

Was
it any wonder?  Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, another, centred his thoughts.  Hell, he’d fought in battles, led men through enemy territory, been under enemy fire, faced the enemy and obnoxious fellow soldiers, dealt with the snot-nosed young soldiers who came into the unit thinking they were hot-shit and prepared to push the seemingly easy-going Sarge a little.  He’d dealt with them all with quiet, calm efficiency, keeping a cool head all the way through.

The
n along came a luscious woman with laughing eyes and a smart mouth, and he lost his cool.  This one curvy woman could tie him in knots like no other person had ever been able to.

Because he cared.

And if he wasn’t careful, his caring was going to drive her away.  At the thought, his hands tightened almost convulsively on her upper arms.

Nick?”  Now she sounded worried.

Opening his eyes, he saw that he was correct.  Bree was gazing worriedly up at him.  “Yeah?”

“I’m sorry I made you mad.”  The apology was unexpected.

So was the unfairness.  It really wasn’t her fault.  With a sigh, Nick straightened, drawing her against him with one hand cupping her head, the other between her shoulder blades.  “I’m sorry, too, honey.  I’m not like this normally, I…”

The paint brush was tossed aside to fall in the dirt.  Her
arms slid around his waist and she rested her head against his chest.  “Are you all right?”

The unexpected concern was totally expected from this woman.  She had the power to bring him to his knees, though she had no
idea of it.  “Bree, you’re right, I over reacted.  Your apology isn’t necessary.”

“Yeah, it
is.”  She sighed in turn.  “You were concerned and I didn’t listen to you.”

“I don’t want you to change.”  He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, a couple
of silken strands tickling his nose.  “I never want you to change.  I love you just the way you are.”

“Sweetie, that’s the nicest thing anyone
has ever said to me.”  She squeezed her arms around his waist.

“I mean it.”  He nuzzled his nose in the
fragrant hair before dropping another kiss on it and leaning down a little to rest his chin on top of her head.  “It’s been so long - no, let me start again.  I have been concerned about people, I’ve cared about them.  I’ve done everything in my power to protect them.”

“Your mates and your soldier buddies.”

“Yeah.  But you, you’re different.”

“I choose to take that as a compliment.”  He heard the smile in her voice, felt her relax against him.

God, he loved that.  Loved how her soft body leaned into him so trustingly.

“It is.”  He slid his
palm down to the small of her back.  “I don’t think I can change, either.”

“I never asked you to.”

“I mean about my reactions to your actions.”

“I am so
surprised,” she said dryly.

Cheeky chit.  Nick smiled
wryly.  “You’re independent and you can take care of yourself.  I know that, I respect it.  But I’ll still go all gonzo on you when I see something you do that I think is dangerous.”

“Huh.”

“I promise to try and tone down my reactions.  I just can’t promise to not care or try to protect you.”

“I have a feeling that’s a big compromise for you.”
Pulling back just a little, she tilted her head back to meet his gaze.  Her eyes were warm, a smile curving her lips.

Relief spilled through him.  He hadn’t buggered it all up as he’d feared, hadn’t driven her away. 
“Yeah, it is.”  Reaching up, he tugged gently on her ponytail.  “Don’t take advantage of it.”

She still smiled, but her gaze
turned serious.  “I think that calls for some compromising on my part.”

Interesting
.  Waiting to hear what she’d say, Nick played with her ponytail.

“In turn,
I will try not to react to
your
reactions.  And I’ll listen to your concerns without going all gonzo on you.  Okay?”

“Okay.”  He paused.  “Are you going to promise to follow my suggestions?”

“Nick, sweetie.”  Patiently, she patted his chest with one hand.  “You don’t make suggestions, you bark orders.”

Catching her
hand, he brought it up to his mouth to drop a kiss on her knuckles.  Her hand smelled like paint, but he couldn’t care less if it was covered in diesel.  “I don’t have a problem with it.  It’s my job to bark orders.”

“You are such a dill.”  She laughed.

Unable to help himself, Nick ducked down and caught her lips, swallowing her laugh, covering her mouth in a kiss that started off as an impulsive gesture but went a whole lot further really fast.

One taste of her and he was
lost.  One press of her full breasts against his chest and he was swept away in a tide of pleasure that quickly turned carnal.  She was so soft against him, so responsive, kissing him back enthusiastically, her mouth eating at him as much as he feasted on her’s.

Wanting
her closer, needing her closer, Nick’s hands swept lower, cupping that generous bottom and hauling her up against him.  In response, her arms went around his neck and pulled him closer.

The kiss grew hotter, longer, and a damn sight more lustful.  By the time they broke apart, Nick was
more than ready to drag her inside and get a hell of a lot closer.  And naked.  Yeah, he really wanted her naked and beneath him.

Panting, Bree looked up at him.  “Wow.”

He couldn’t answer, not when those lush lips were moving right before him, giving him tantalizing peeks of that honeyed mouth that he knew the taste of and wanted more.  So much more.

So instead of answering, he kissed her again.  He didn’t even realise he’d backed her up to the house until
his knuckles hit the brick.  Good.  It meant she couldn’t retreat further and he had her trapped.

Dropping one hand to her waist where it indented sweetly between her lush hips and breasts, Nick braced his other hand on the wall and pinned her there, holding her immobile as he kissed her, licking deep, wanting her essence as he always did when he tasted her.

Drinking from her, tracing her lips with his tongue, nipping at her mouth before crushing it beneath his fiercely, taking over the kiss, mastering her, controlling it.

His hand under her jumper, slipping beneath her shirt, finding all that smooth,
warm, silky skin, fingers sliding upward to edge beneath the under wire of her bra and touch the bare under swell of one heavy breast.

Oh God, he wanted that heavy globe in his
palm, filling it, overflowing.  Wanted to find that beguiling nipple that was pebbling in desire even now, pushing at his chest through their clothes.  Find that nipple and engulf it in his mouth, suck on it and draw keening cries from Bree.

His shaft was so stiff, so hungry, pressing
urgently at the zipper on his jeans as it painfully demanded release.

Lifting
his head, he took a step back, bringing Bree along with him by the simple task of hooking his fingers in the bottom of her bra and drawing her forward.

She followed him trustingly, the
desire flushing her cheeks, her eyes bright with heat.

Trustingly.

She trusted him
.

Nick blinked, shook his head as the thought, both welcome and unwelcome, went
through him.

Welcome because he wanted her trust.

Unwelcome because if he took her inside now in her aroused state and made love to her, would not that be a form of coercement?  He’d promised her he’d never coerce her, he’d wait until she was ready. 

D
amn his sense of honour.

With a groan, he released her.  “Bree, we can’t.”

“Hmmm?”  Dreamily, she looked up at him.

Manfully, he tugged her shirt straight, then her jumper, securing it over her hips.  “We have to stop.”
  Man, he needed a bloody medal.

“Why?”

Seeing her kiss-swollen lips, he groaned.  “Jesus, I’m either a saint or an idiot.”  One step back that took him a lot of effort.  “Don’t take offence, honey, but I’m going out back.  Don’t follow me.”

He left her standing, staring after him in a haze of bewildered lust.

Leaving her to retreat around to the back of the house to regain control of his rampaging lust was a feat that beat any heroism he could think of.  Nothing had been harder to do in his entire life, and that included walking across enemy territory in the dark, hoping he didn’t step on a bomb
.
He’d done some nerve-wracking things in his life that had earned him a couple of medals, but leaving Bree when it would have been so easy to lead her inside and have her naked beneath him within minutes was the hardest.

The ever-loving, bloody, freakin’ hardest.

No medal could make up for that.

Sheba screeched at his feet,
the unholy sound sending a couple of birds shooting out of a nearby tree and into the sky.  The sound could make the nails pop out of the old barn walls.

F
ighting his raging hard-on, Nick sighed.  Obviously, karma was a bitch.

It
was awhile before he could walk back around to the front of the house without doing it gingerly.  His hair was wet from the cold water he’d pumped over it in the laundry, the chilling rivulets running down his neck and into his shirt helping to clear his senses.

Wondering
what Bree would say when he reappeared, he found her sitting on the top veranda step.  She watched him silently, her cheeks pink, her eyes steady, her lips still swollen from his kiss.

God, the woman could kiss back, too.

Without saying a word, Nick settled down beside her, bumping her gently with his shoulder when she didn’t say anything.  “All right, honey?”

“
Why did you stop?” she asked bluntly.

“Because you’re not ready.”

Half expecting her to argue, call him a jerk, something, he was surprised when instead she stood, ruffled his hair with her hand and moved down the steps to delve into a box sitting on the ground.  Taking out a new paint brush, she moved back to the ladder, casting him a look as she put one foot on the bottom rung.

Nick sighed but didn’t say anything, even though he really wanted to walk over, yank her into his arms, make hard love to her, then paint the bloody windowsill himself so she wouldn’t
be at risk of falling.  Instead, honourable drongo that he was, he stood and crossed to the ladder, holding it steady while she started climbing.

That
generous backside was on eye level and he couldn’t help it.  If he couldn’t hold it while plunging into her, then he could give it the other thing it deserved.  Reaching up, he gave it a light whack.

“Hey!” Looking
over her shoulder, she stared down at him.  “What the hell?”

“Five second rule, remember?” 
He arched an eyebrow at her.

“You’re such a control freak.”

“That’s right.  Control.”

“And a caveman.  I can’t believe you whacked me.”

“Remember the deal.”  He grinned.  “You were overdue for it.”

“Jerk.”  Placing one foot on the plank, she started sidling sideways across it.  Casting him a s
lanting look when she stopped near the tin of paint, she smirked suddenly.  “Didn’t feel it anyway through these pants.”

“I went light for the
first time.”  God, he loved her sassiness, and yep, there went the toss of the head and the swing of a jaunty ponytail.  “And short.”

“Take your kinkiness out the
back and fix my shed.  That should take the lead out of your pencil.”

The woman had a mouth on her, no doubt about it.  Laughing, relieved he hadn’t upset or offended her,
he started towards the back of the house.  “The tools and everything are in the shed?”