Back on Solid Ground (34 page)

“Hi!  You
look nice,” Stacy said, giving him a hug.

“You were
great.  Everyone loved you!” he said, kissing her on the cheek.

The night
went by fast and before they knew it, it was already midnight and the party was
ending.  Everyone at Stacy’s table loaded up in the limo.  They went down to
Broadway 5050, and played shuffleboard and drank until they got kicked out of
the bar at closing time. 

“Where to?”
Holly slurred, as they walked out the door.

Stacy was
tired and drunk and she had her arm around Scott, leaning on him for balance. 
“I need to go home,” Stacy said.  “But you can have the limo after he drops me
off.” 

“Stacy,” Niki
called as she walked past.

Stacy spun
around and her heart stopped. “Niki?” she said in disbelief, and then it fully
registered. “Oh my God!”

Dennis and
Alex were on him in a flash, and Niki was having to fight both of them off to
get to her. 

“Alex, stop!”
Stacy yelled, trying to pull Alex off of him. “It’s okay! Stop!”

Alex turned
around, mid swing. “You know this guy?”

“Yes, he’s a
friend.” Stacy said, desperately trying to get to Niki.

Alex and
Dennis let go of Niki, and Stacy pushed past the two to get to him.  She  threw
her arms around Niki’s neck and he wrapped his arms around her and held her.  He
breathed in her perfume, taking in everything about her.  

“I can’t
believe you’re here,” she said.  She hugged him tighter then pulled back so she
could see his face.  “I didn’t think you were going to come.”

“That was
never an option.” His relief was so great that it was palpable. He tucked a
lock of hair behind her ear, then stroked his finger down her jaw line to her
chin, and the gesture sent her over the edge. 

Stacy burst
into tears. “Well what
took
you so long!” she said, shoving him
backwards. “You didn’t even bother to call to see if I was all right!” The
initial shock was wearing off, and the alcohol was taking over.

Niki laughed
and took her hand and pulled her back to him.  “It’s only been two weeks,” he
said.  He hooked his arm around her neck, and gave her the kiss that had been
simmering since the helicopter had taken her.  Stacy melted into him. 

“Two
very
long
weeks,” she clarified.

“Two very
long weeks,” Niki agreed. He held her close and rested his chin on top of her
head. “The two longest weeks of my life. I really missed you, Stacy.”

“You did?” She
squirmed out of his hug and looked him in the eye.

“Shit yeah! 
You’re all I thought about.”

Stacy wiped
her eyes.  “I missed you too.  And I can’t believe you’re really here.”

“Me neither. 
Can I take you home?”

Stacy nodded
and smiled.  “Yes.”

Niki looked
over at Stacy’s friends and motioned to Scott.  “Is he your boyfriend?”

“No, you’re
my boyfriend,” she said, and she wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed
him again. “Come on.  I’ll introduce you.”  She took Niki’s hand and pulled him
over to the group.  Stacy was beaming when she looked at Holly. 

“Everybody,
this is Niki. Niki, this is my best friend Holly and her date Grant, and that’s
Alex,
with the FBI
,” she said, looking at him for good measure, then
continued, “and his wife Alison, and that’s my friend Scott.”

“I’m stealing
your date, Scott.”

“I figured as
much.”

“I’ll be
right back,” she told Niki, then she did a little sidestep, and added, “I
shouldn’t have done those tequila shots.”  She left Niki with the group and
pulled Alex to the side. 

“The long-lost
boyfriend?” Alex asked.

“That’s him,”
Stacy said, looking over at Niki.  “Did you and Alison have fun?”

“Yeah.  We
had a great time.  Thanks.”

“I’m refusing
protection, Alex.  Will you let Dennis know?”

Alex looked
at Stacy and smiled.  “I’ll tell him.  You take care, okay?”

“I will.  And
I’ll miss having you around.”  She walked over to Holly and hugged her. 

“Can you
believe it!” Stacy whispered.

“Actually,
no, I really can’t.  But it’s great.  I’m so happy for you.”

“I’ll call
you tomorrow.”

Stacy said
goodnight to everyone and went back and stood beside Niki and leaned her head
against him.  He draped his arm around her shoulders and led her to his car.

They were standing
at the window looking out at the lights, Stacy teetering around in Niki’s arms.
The tequila shots had well and truly taken effect, and Niki had practically
carried her in from the car.  She had her arms wrapped around his waist, her
head against his chest.  “If I’d known you were coming, I wouldn’t have gotten
so tipsy,” she said. “I hope I don’t throw up.”

Niki laughed
out loud.  “Tipsy?  Well hell, I’d love to see shit-faced.”

“Are you
laughing at me?” Stacy slurred.

“Uh huh,” he
said, with a huge smile on his face. “It’s really good to see you, Stacy.”  He
tilted her chin up and looked in her eyes, and his stomach flipped. He swept
her up in his arms. “Where’s your bedroom?”

Stacy pointed
towards the hall, then flopped her head back, making herself dead weight in his
arms.  She giggled upside-down as Niki carried her to her room.  And as much as
he would have liked to have ravaged her on the spot, he couldn’t do it.  He
needed her in full control of her faculties to decide where she wanted to go
with their relationship, if it could even be called that. So he set her down and
helped her out of her clothes, and tucked her in bed.

She took his
hand and pulled him onto the bed beside her.  “You’re the best surprise I’ve
ever had,” she said.  Stacy closed her eyes and Niki brushed her hair back and
kissed her cheek.  “Good night, Stacy.”

“Good night?”
Stacy asked, popping her eyes back open. “Don’t you wanna have sex?” she
slurred.

“Fuck yeah, I
want to have sex . . . but not tonight.”

“You’re not
leaving are you?”

Niki shook
his head. “I’m not going anywhere.”  

Stacy nestled
in against his chest and she fell asleep with his arms wrapped around her and with
a smile on her face. Niki lay awake, not wanting to let go of the moment.  He
wasn’t sure that a sober Stacy would feel the same way, and he needed to milk
the time for all it was worth. When he finally dozed off, it was with his heart
beating underneath hers in perfect rhythm and harmony.

It was past
11:00 when Stacy finally woke up and her bed was empty.  She was beginning to
wonder if she had dreamed the whole thing when she smelled freshly brewed
coffee coming from the kitchen.  She got up and brushed her teeth and found
Niki in the kitchen. 

“Hi,” Stacy
said smiling.  She went over to Niki and put her arms around his neck and climbed
up him, wrapping her legs around his waist.   “I thought I might have dreamed
you,” she said, kissing him on the lips. “Sorry I was so trashed.”

Niki laughed,
thinking about it. “That’s okay, but it took everything I had not to molest
you. How do you feel?”

“Really hung
over.”

Niki set her
down on the countertop and put his arms around her waist.  “I had one like that
a couple of weeks ago,” he said.  “Worst hangover I’d had in years.”

“What’d you
do for it” she asked.

“I killed the
guy that took you.”

Stacy was
shocked.  “You killed Corazon?”

“I wasn’t
going to have him coming back to finish the job,” Niki said.

Stacy rested
her head on Niki’s shoulder.  “Sometimes that seems like so long ago.”  

“I saw the
motel room,” Niki said, running his hand through her hair.  “Do you have
nightmares?”

“Sometimes. 
Once when I was wide awake,” she said. It reminded her of Alex and Dennis. 
“Niki, the FBI has had agents on me ever since I’ve been back in case my dad
tries something.  He’s disappeared.  I didn’t say anything about you guys in my
statement.  I told the FBI that I had been in Colombia the whole time.”

“I knew the
FBI had you under surveillance.  I picked two of them out at your fundraiser.”

“You were
there?” Stacy said.

“For part of
it,” he said.

“You little
sneak,” she said, and then it hit her.  “Oh my gosh! You’re the anonymous donor.”

“I don’t know
what you’re talking about,” Niki said.

She leaned
back so she could look him in the eye.  “You are,” she said, then she pulled
him close and hugged him around the neck.  “Thank you.” 

“You’re
welcome.”

“Speaking of
anonymous, I don’t even know your name.”

“You’ll be
Stacy Lautrec,” he said, with a great big smile.  “It sounds good.”

Stacy
laughed.  “Your last name is Lautrec, as in Toulouse-Lautrec?  Nikolas
Lautrec,” she said, testing it out. “That’s an awesome name!  I bet people call
you by your last name all the time.”

Niki
laughed.  “They do,” he said.   “Will you go out on a date with me tonight?”

“A date?”
Stacy repeated.

“Yeah, like a
regular date.   I pick you up, we go out to dinner.  A date,” Niki said.

Stacy looked
him up and down and smiled.
You are just the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.
 “I
would love to go out on a date with you, Nikolas Lautrec,” Stacy said.  She
jumped down from the counter and poured herself a mug of coffee and her stomach
growled.  “How about a breakfast date?”

“It’s not the
same,” he said, pulling Stacy up next to him.  He leaned down and kissed her. 
“It has to be a dinner date.” 

“Okay, but
I’m hungry now.   Let’s get some breakfast.”

“Breakfast? 
It’s lunch time.”

“Okay, then
let’s get lunch,” Stacy said.  “Wait till you see my Batmobile.  I’ll let you
drive it.”

Stacy changed
into some sweats and a T-shirt and put her hair in a pony tail and they left
her condo and went to her car.

“You bought a
Viper?” Niki exclaimed.  He opened Stacy’s door and let her in, then he got
behind the wheel and looked over at her smiling.  “I’ll buy it off you.”

“No way.  Get
your own.”

Stacy and
Niki shared a pizza and slice of Italian cream cake at Cerroni’s Purple Garlic,
then he took her back to her condo.  It was 2:00 when they got back and Niki
walked her to her door. 

“What do you
mean you’re not coming in?” Stacy asked.  “Where are you going?”

“We have a
date tonight.  If I stay here the whole time, then it’s not a date.  It’s just
a continuation of me being here since last night,” Niki told her.  He kissed
her and turned around and got back in the elevator.  “I’ll pick you up at
7:00.”

Niki drove
back to his hotel and sat on the Riverwalk and read the paper.  He felt relaxed
for the first time since Corazon had taken Stacy.  He flipped to the Metro
section and read about Stacy’s fundraiser.  There was a picture of Stacy at the
podium making her welcome speech and Niki felt a stirring inside.  He read the
article, then folded the paper and sat back.  Just thinking of Stacy put a
smile on his face.  He wished more than anything that their relationship had
started out differently.   There was no way he could undo what had been done,
but he figured if he was ever going to get Stacy to agree to marry him, he was
going to have to bring some normalcy into the relationship. That was exactly
what he was attempting to do by asking her out on a date. He would court her
relentlessly and sooner or later she would realize that they belonged
together. 

When 7:00
rolled around, Stacy was nervous as a cat.  She had changed several times
before finally deciding on a short black dress, and she had worn her hair
down.  She was just about to pour herself a glass of wine to calm her nerves
when he knocked.  Stacy went to the door and rubbed her hands together before
opening it. 

“Hi,” Stacy
said, smiling. He got more handsome every time she saw him and tonight it made
her all the more nervous. He was wearing dark pants and a button down gray
shirt and he  exuded sex from head to toe.

Niki looked
Stacy up and down.  “Damn, you look hot,” he said, following her into the room.

“I was just
pouring myself a glass of wine.  Do you want one?” she asked, fidgeting with
the cork.

Niki walked
over beside her and he took her by the arm. “Come here for a second,” he told
her.  He took the bottle out of her hand and set it down, then he put his hand
behind her head and kissed her on the lips.  “I’ve been thinking about you ever
since I left here,” Niki said, and he pulled her close and hugged her.   He let
go of her and picked up the bottle and poured two glasses, then he set the
bottle down and handed her a glass, and lifted his glass to hers.

“Cheers,”
they said at the same time, looking each other in the eye, and each took a sip
of wine.

Niki looked
at her and smiled.  “Am I making you nervous?” he asked.

“Totally!”
Stacy confessed. 

“You’re
kidding,” he laughed.  “After everything we’ve been through, how can I make you
nervous?”

“I don’t
know,” Stacy said embarrassed.  “It’s this whole date thing.  Maybe because I’m
not in control.”

“You’re not
in control?  Stacy, you hold all the cards,” Niki said.  “Now cut that shit out
and get over here.”  He took her hand and led her to the couch and Stacy
climbed onto his lap and kissed him.  He leaned his head back against the couch
and looked at her and he got that familiar feeling in his gut like he had on
the island. 

“I like you
way
too much,” Niki said.

Stacy
smiled.  “Too much for what?”

“Too much for
my own good,” he said, running his hands up her back.  “When Corazon took  you,
I just about lost my mind.  I came here and talked to your father.”