Threads Of Desire (Creative Hearts Book 3) (11 page)

Gabby didn’t bite. Only tasted, relishing the tender pressure of his lips. Enjoying the absolute feeling of rightness of their mouths meeting. Then he leaned in, increasing the pressure as she inhaled, causing her chest to expand, her body reaching up to meet his. Nick angled his head and opened his mouth ever so slightly, allowing Gabby the pleasure of experiencing the taste of her curry in a whole new way, with wine and heat and passion giving it a spice she never expected. Her body was drawn to him, everything on alert, tentatively arching up, her curves instinctively trying to mold with his hard planes. His tongue darted out just a bit at the same time as his large hand came around the back of her head and intertwined with the curls at the base of her neck as he brought her in closer. She fully breathed him in, feeling slightly tipsy. It was as if she were being drugged by his kiss.

The sensation of their tongues intertwined and stroking caused her eyes to roll back, a moan to escape the back of her throat, and her thighs to clench together as she imagined being stroked somewhere else entirely. It was an intimate dance they did for those few moments—she coming up toward him, heart thudding, and him balancing above her, so very carefully as if afraid to go too far and scare her off. Her breasts rose to meet his hard chest, and it felt so good as his fingers tightened more in her curls and he sucked harder on her tongue. Gabby’s nipples hardened against him as their heartbeats seemed to fall into sync.

But as the same time Gabby felt she was rising, she began to inwardly sink as she felt herself get lost in him. Heard the sound of the blood pumping through her veins and felt her arousal going into overdrive. Warning bells fought with chimes of desire as she sank deeper and deeper, getting lost in their kiss. Then he let out a groan and gave her bottom lip a nip, sending a dangerous shockwave of passion straight to her core. She wanted him so badly it hurt. So badly it made her skin tingle and her toes ache. Wanted him so much that she was ready to jump on him then and there, and to hell with the look he gave her tomorrow. It would all be worth it just to have him inside her now.

Right now.

Gabby’s eyes shot open, and she put her hand to his chest as her past mistakes and fears came tumbling back on her like an avalanche. “You know what? Maybe there is something to that hotel idea. Clearly, you are not one to be trusted.”

Nick stilled and swallowed, breathing heavily. “Me?”

Gabby swallowed too, mimicking him. “You were the one with the looks and the lean-in and the smooth talk.”

Nick lowered his gaze, looking momentarily embarrassed. Suddenly he backed off and held up two hands in a posture of surrender. Gabby had a flash run through her mind of what she’d like to do with him in such a position. She pushed it aside.

“Okay, okay I give. I’m sorry. It was a moment of weakness.” He put his hands down. “But really, how could I resist after a meal like that and with you looking as good as you look.”

Gabby felt her chest clench in pain. 
A moment of weakness
. It was just as she’d thought. That was all she was to him. All she’d ever been. A closet chick. Someone to fool around with for the night and nothing more.

So what’s wrong with that? It’s not like you really want him?
 The voice in her head sounded suspiciously like the one that spoke up every time she was about to screw up royally. She silently told it to STFU, and told herself to grow a backbone and a little willpower as she pushed at Nick hard, sending him off the edge of the couch.

“Ouch, what was that for?”

“You are such an ass! Barely a week out of your yoga chick’s bed and already you’re trying to fuck with my head? What is it with you? Is it because you think I’m easy pickings and you have that constant need for someone to stroke that that little ego of yours? Well, I’m not biting. Not tonight and not any night. I’m much more than anybody’s moment of weakness and way past being yours.”

She stood up as best as her shaky legs would let her and then bent over the table, gathering her sketching utensils, snatching them up, and clutching them to her heaving chest. She stepped over Nick’s body while trying her best to ignore the anger in his dark eyes. She couldn’t help but notice the way his delectable lips, that just seconds ago were on her own, were now set in a firm, wide line. If looks could kill. She felt a little bad at the satisfaction it gave her seeing him react this way. But still she prodded at the tiger, causing him to growl as she got to her bedroom door. “Have fun stroking your own ego tonight. Just keep it down. I’m a pretty light sleeper.”

Chapter 8

“So everything is fine?”

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

“And Gabby’s good?”

“Yeah, she’s good.” Nick leaned back in his desk recliner and listened to the accusatory silence on the other end of the phone. “Steve?”

“What?”

“Did you call for anything else? You want to tell me about your new job? Or did you only want to ask about Gabby?”

“Nah, man, the job is great. It’s fantastic being out here on the set and you should see how they set us up. They flew us out here to this island and it’s looking just like 
Survivor
, only we’re not starving. It’s like the world’s best summer camp. Our gear packs were outfitted with so many condoms you’d think it was a gift bag from the fucking Olympic committee.”

His brother cracked up at his own joke. Nick stayed silent.

“What the hell? That was funny, bro.”

“Yeah, it’s real funny.”

Steve was quiet again. One beat then another before he spoke. “Yeah, that’s just what Gabby said too. You sure she’s fine?”

“I said she was, didn’t I? Why are you asking so much? I said she’s okay and so did she, so get off it.”

“You find a place yet?”

Shit. Nick felt like he was being suffocated. “I’ll be out by the time you’re back. I’ve got my assistant working on it. Look, I’ve gotta go. Later.”

He hung up and stared at the phone for a moment. He knew there was no excuse for taking his frustrations out on his brother. It wasn’t his fault that “Wimp” and “Avoidance Pussy” were now his first, middle, 
and
 last names. But there it was. He had taken the coward’s way out for the past week, ducking and dodging Gabby like a cub scout in a heavyweight fight. Now it was 7:45 pm. and he couldn’t really avoid going home any longer. He inwardly grimaced. It was ridiculous. He needed to be concentrating on work, on the Sutton account, on the Claire situation, on his apartment hunt. Now was not the time to be worried over Gabby’s oversensitive feelings. He felt his lips curl up. He had hoped she was over the past, but clearly she was not.

Nick thought once again of the scene that had played out with the two of them that night. It had taken all he had not to take her advice and take things into his own hands, so to speak, once she’d stomped off. She’d had him so riled up after that kiss. It was mind blowing; kissing her was like an erotic experience on a whole other level. Nick could only imagine how he would respond, if he was let loose to really explore her body like he wanted. Their all too short past encounter was only enough to keep him hungry and longing for more all these years. The thought brought a rush to his head and a pull to his groin that had him cursing under his breath.

Shit. It was wrong. Damn it, he’d thought he was over her. He 
needed
 to be over her. She was not the woman for him, and he was surely not the right kind of man for her. He couldn’t set her up for that kind of hurt again. Nick lowered his eyes, momentarily closing himself off from his files and his office and losing himself in a daydream of Gabby. He went with it, blissful, for just a few moments before the voice of his father crackled in his head. Doors slamming, screaming, and then tears. No, he wouldn’t do that to her, and he damn sure would not do that to himself.

“Fuck.” Nick cursed out loud this time. He knew what he wanted and needed. Which was a woman who could keep the personal on a professional level. And he also knew that Gabby deserved so much better than what he’d ever be. She was a dreamer, always had been, and a woman like her, no matter the tough edge she tried to display, wanted it all—the love, the care, the promise of forever that it took a better man to give. The kind of man he wasn’t bred to be. Nick turned and looked out his office window, taking in the view of downtown Manhattan the sliver of glass afforded him. He looked at the twinkling lights, watching the nightlife of the city come to life. He thought of the light in Gabby’s eyes and how much he loved seeing it. The lump that was becoming perpetually lodged in his throat jumped again.

The extreme distrust in her eyes when she looked at him now was totally warranted. He’d hurt her once and seen that pain, that hurt, that utter disappointment, he never wanted to see that expression on her face again.

But not hurting her wasn’t something he could promise. He disappointed people. Like his mother. Oh, his father had broken her heart, but it was Nick who’d killed her in the end. They’d fought late one night over her stress and heartbreak for his father’s philandering ways after the man had run out on them again, off to one of his girlfriends, no doubt. Nick had called her weak for crying over a man who didn’t deserve her, and ran out of their apartment. When he got home, she was already gone. A heart attack at forty-six. They said she’d died peacefully in her sleep, but he knew it wasn’t peaceful, and it would haunt him forever that the last thing he’d said to his mother were not words of love, but judgment and condemnation. She’d died with hurt from the man who was supposed to cherish her forever and from the boy who was supposed to love her unconditionally.

Nick felt his jaw clench and everything in him go tight. He swallowed and blinked back tears. His father had drunk himself into a stupor, his liver giving out not long after mom’s heart did. At least, there was some justice if you could call it that. Nick didn’t know anymore. He didn’t even know if he cared. What was the use, anyway? It was too dangerous to care.

But being around Gabby made him forget that momentarily. Nick let out a sigh and was pissed at himself for it. He wasn’t the sighing type. With her, there was too much potential for loss and he wasn’t about to do that to either of them. Better to have a life of passing acquaintances than a lifetime of hurting the one you love. He only wanted to see light in her eyes—never that type of pain that he knew with him was inevitable.

She, more than anyone, made him think of comfort and home and family—all that he fought so hard to distance himself from. Nick closed his eyes as the pain of the past came crashing to the present. He still felt it. Felt how real it was when his father would drink and be mad at the world when yet another job didn’t come through or another bill was past due, and he’d look at Nick and see himself—only twenty years younger and still full of hope. Yeah, he’d never once let the opportunity go by to not throw in his son’s face how he was just like him, top to bottom, and his legacy would live on. Well, Nick was going to prove him wrong. He just had to stay on his game—and that meant securing his partnership, making it in this business, in this city, and yes, having the right woman at his side. Preferably one where there was a mutual admiration and respect, but a love where he could lose his heart and, worse yet, she could? No, that he couldn’t handle.

With someone like that, someone like her, he’d be off his game and off his hustle.

“Don’t you think you should be packing it in?”

Nick looked up, startled to hear the voice at his door. It was Chuck Barker, another associate at the firm.

“You make us regular twelve-hour-a-day working stiffs look bad,” Chuck said.

Nick chuckled, fighting to come out of his dark mood and into the here and now. “Yeah, I’m going home soon. Just shutting down.”

Home. Home to Gabby. The thought gave him a lump in his throat.

“Well, you’d better get a move on.” Chuck said. “They’re talking the possibility of power outages. I’d get to wherever you need to get to and make sure you have the necessary supplies, if you know what I mean.” He raised an eyebrow. “Hey, I heard about you and Claire. That’s tough, but I know some girls that could get your mind right, right quick.”

Nick shook his head. “Nah, man, you have at it.”

Chuck shrugged and soon departed. He made a few final notes, powered down his computer, and grabbed some files to peruse once he got home since he’d be meeting with the Suttons next week. Picking up his bag, Nick headed out the door.

On the street, the heat hit him hard. Maybe Chuck was right about the possibility of a power outage. Nick checked the battery life on his phone. It still had a quarter charge and his mind immediately went to Gabby. He hoped she was already home and safe.

Nick’s brows drew together. It wasn’t his place to worry about her. There was no emergency, and it wasn’t like she was sitting home pining for him. More than likely she was hoping he wouldn’t make it back tonight after the way he’d come onto her before. He’d been keeping scarce and it was probably best to keep doing so.

But still the image of her was there. Looking up at him as she did from the couch. Eyes glistening, lips full and kissable, her throat and collarbone a long column that led to the swell of those perfect breasts. He fisted his hands; they ached for the feel of her breasts. Gorgeous, lush, round. Just like everything about her.

Nick swore to himself and a woman passing by shot him a look. Just great. Now he was cursing in the middle of the street. Shit. He couldn’t go home feeling like this. He was too wired up. And he couldn’t trust himself to stop and have a drink. Nick looked to the left and let reasoning take over as he stepped off the curb and into the crosswalk. Instead of going uptown to Gabby’s place, he made a beeline toward his old apartment and his nearby gym where hopefully he could work out some of his pent-up frustration.