From This Moment On (9 page)

Nicola was so beautiful—so incredibly vulnerable as she stood there in front of him—that he had to focus hard just to get out the words, “I know.”

They stood like that for way too long, staring at each other without speaking. At last, Lori said, “Come sit over here where no one will accidentally kick you in the face.”

Someone turned on the music as he and Lori walked away from Nicola. “I didn’t think you’d act that way around her,” she hissed
.

Marcus mirrored back his sister’s frown. Had Nicola told his sister about meeting him? About going back to Smith’s house and falling asleep on his lap?

No. Lori wasn’t capable of holding something like that inside. She would have called him hours ago to demand to know what he was doing fooling around with someone she worked with.

“Nico has to deal with people stuttering and acting weird around her all day long, just like Smith does. I asked you to come because I knew you’d roll with her fame and wouldn’t make a big deal out of it.”

Partway through getting chewed out by his baby sister for the way he’d acted, a light bulb went on in Marcus’s head
.

Holy fuck.

“
Nicola
is the pop star you’re working for?”

Lori looked at him like he’d left his brains out to fry on the sidewalk. “Her name is Nico. And you know she’s the one who hired me to work on her video. Why are you acting so weird
?"

Marcus suddenly realized where that hint of familiarity had come from the night before. Lori must have shown him pictures of Nicola after she was hired to work on the video, but all he could remember was a lot of makeup and a sparkling bodysuit.

Thankfully, Lori didn’t have time to wait for his answer because one of the dancers was calling out to her for guidance. Shooting one last disgruntled look at him, his sister moved back onto the dance floor.

Nicola’s back was to him, but he could see her face reflected in the mirror. God help him, he couldn’t keep from staring at her. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail and he could tell how hard she’d been dancing by the damp tendrils that were curling around her face.

All of the dancers had incredible bodies, but for Marcus, the curvy shape of Nicola’s hips and breasts threatened to make him rock hard in the middle of the studio.

Her eyes met his briefly in the mirror and she quickly lowered her head. Lori moved to Nicola and put a hand on her arm, leaning in to say something. Nicola shook her head, then moved into position.

A heartbeat later, Lori turned the song on and Nicola went into action.

Jesus, she was beautiful.

Marcus was mesmerized as she sang along with the surprisingly great song and danced in the center of her troupe. No wonder she’d become a star—he didn’t have a prayer of taking his eyes off her
.

He remembered the way she’d commanded the attention of everyone in the nightclub simply by walking into the room. Now he knew it was partly because she was famous, but even if she’d just been a regular woman, people would have stopped and stared.

As her curves shifted and grazed the thin Spandex barely covering her skin, he couldn’t stop himself from wondering what she’d look like naked, her soft skin shiny from exertion as she writhed beneath him on his bed. Would her eyes light up for him the way they did when she was singing? What would those strong, flexible limbs feel like wrapped around his hips as he drove into her? What would she taste like—would the tips of her breasts be as sweet as her mouth had been? Would she be bare between her legs, covered with nothing but arousal?

As if she could read his thoughts, Nicola suddenly stumbled, knocking into a male dancer, and Lori quickly shut off the music
.

He knew he should leave, that he was throwing her off. But he wasn’t going anywhere.

Marcus Sullivan didn’t believe in hiding from his mistakes. Hell, his relationship with Jill was the only time he’d ever tried to convince himself that something wrong was right. He should have trusted his gut, but he’d been so focused on what he wanted to see, instead of what was actually there.

He knew exactly what was between him and Nicola, sparks that lit and sizzled so bright and hot he was still singed from their one and only kiss.

He’d been a fool to turn her down.

He wasn’t going to be an even bigger fool by walking away from her again.

Chapter Seven

Please leave
warred with
Please don’t go
inside Nicola’s head.

From moment to moment she vacillated between wanting Marcus gone and needing him to be so much closer. No wonder she’d barely been able to concentrate on rehearsing, with her brain and body pulled in two totally disparate directions the entire time he was there watching her with those dark, hungry eyes she knew she’d never be able to get out of her head.

When they were finally done for the night, the dancers quickly scattered, leaving her alone with Lori...and Marcus
.

Nicola had gotten over her nerves a long time ago. She’d had to, if she ever wanted to get anyone’s attention with her music. But Marcus made her incredibly nervous in a way she’d never been nervous before.

Shoving the rest of her things into her big dance bag, she was just saying, “Thanks for working us all so hard today, Lori. I’ll see you tomor—” when a knock came at the door and a guy wearing a Mel’s Diner shirt walked in carrying several large bags full of food.

“Marcus, this is awesome that you thought to order food for us!” Lori clapped her hands. “These are the best burgers and fries in the world, Nico. You can stay to eat something, can’t you?”

Nicola looked at Lori in alarm. What was Marcus doing? Had he forgotten that he’d turned her down flat this morning? Couldn’t he feel how awkward this was for her?

“I’d love to, but I think I’d better just call it a night. Besides, you two probably have some catching up to do, so thanks, but—”

“Stay for dinner. Please.”

Marcus’s low words pulled at Nicola, so hard that she could almost feel herself leaning toward him. It hadn’t been a request, not quite a command either. But whatever it was, it had turned her brain to mush. Just as his one kiss had stolen her control that morning.

A few moments later she found herself sitting with them at the small table by the window, unwrapping a burger she couldn’t possibly eat. Not with Marcus so close that her belly kept clenching.

“So what did you think, Marcus? Isn’t Nico amazing?”

Nicola felt like she was blushing with her whole body. During rehearsal, she’d tried to keep eye contact to a minimum, because every time she accidentally looked at him she lost her footing. As they’d gone over and over the song, she hadn’t been able to read his expression, couldn’t tell if he was impressed with her...or if he thought her song—and dancing—were total crap. She told herself she didn’t care if he liked it. Thirty-six-year-old men weren’t necessarily her core audience, after all
.

“Did you write that song?”

“I did.”

His mouth moved up into a small smile. “You’re very talented
."

Nicola let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding just as Lori’s phone started bouncing around on the tabletop. Whoever was calling had her jumping up and saying, “Sorry, guys, this will just take a sec
."

Nicola could see from the look on Marcus’s face that he wasn’t happy with the name and face he’d seen flash across his sister’s phone. True to her word, Lori was back after barely saying two words to the caller, but she was flushed and clearly flustered.

“I’m really sorry, but I completely forgot about something I promised I’d take care of tonight. Will you be all right without me until tomorrow, Nico?”

Nicola could tell something was wrong and she didn’t want to add any extra pressure to Lori’s life. “Of course I will. Don’t worry about it for another second.”

Looking relieved, Lori turned to her brother and said, “Marcus, could you make sure Nicola gets back to her hotel okay?”

“Of course,” he replied at the exact moment that Nicola said, “I’ll just get a cab.”

But Lori didn’t seem to hear either of them as she gave Nicola a quick hug goodbye and apologized again for needing to leave so suddenly. Nicola picked up her burger and dropped it into the trash as Marcus followed his sister to the door.

She didn’t mean to eavesdrop on their conversation, but they weren’t exactly doing a great job of keeping their voices down, so she couldn’t help but overhear.

“I thought you weren’t seeing him anymore. Didn’t we agree that he isn’t good for you and that you can do better?”

“I’m not seeing him anymore...and it’s complicated.”

“At least call me when you get back home tonight so I know you’re okay.”

“I’m a big girl, Marcus. I don’t have a curfew anymore.”

He was the perfect, protective older brother. Nicola could feel herself melting more with every word out of his mouth. Because even though she should be making sure her guard was all the way up, seeing how concerned he was about his sister got to her in a serious way.

When he came back over, running his hand through his hair, she had to ask, “Is everything okay?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. She says I worry too much about her, but I can’t help it.”

Certain that she was bound to do something really stupid if she hung around him any longer, Nicola said, “I’m not hungry, so I’ll just catch a cab back to my hotel.”

But before she could turn and leave, he asked her, “Why didn’t you tell me who you were?” The hunger in his eyes was still there, but so was a hint of anger that she couldn’t possibly miss.

Hating how off-kilter she felt around him, she knew she sounded defensive as she replied, “I didn’t lie to you. My name is Nicola.”

“You should have told me you were also Nico. Why didn’t you?”

“You wouldn’t understand
."

“Try me.”

She didn’t want to explain herself to him, but she also knew she was being stubborn and unreasonable. He had a point that it hadn’t been fair of her to keep her fame a secret from him, especially if the pictures taken of the two of them in the club had been good enough to print. And for some reason she wanted him to understand.

“For one night it seemed exciting just to be normal.”
To be myself again.
“I almost never meet someone who doesn’t know who I am.”

“Nico.”

She didn’t like the way he said her stage name, didn’t like the idea of Marcus treating her like everyone else did
.

“My name is Nicola. And I really need to go now.”

The last thing she expected him to say as she turned and headed for the door was, “I was wrong, Nicola.”

A smart woman wouldn’t have stopped. A smart woman would have just kept walking through the door and caught a cab outside to take her back to her big, lonely penthouse suite.

So then, Nicola thought helplessly, what was it about Marcus that always had her doing the foolish thing, instead? Shouldn’t she know better than to turn back to him and say, “What were you wrong about?”

Despite the fact that he hadn’t moved any closer to her, the way he looked at her, with none of the reserve from this morning, had her feeling like he’d just pulled her into his arms.

“About tonight.”

All of the desires, the hopes, she’d been trying to shove down and away immediately popped up to the surface.

Trying one last time to save herself, she said, “What about all of your reasons from this morning? What about how young I am? What about the colossal mistake you’re so glad you didn’t make?”

“I’m sorry for what I said this morning,” he said first, and then, “I want one night with you, if you still want one with me.”

His words were a caress over her skin. He hadn’t answered her question, and she knew their age difference must still be an issue for him. But just as she wasn’t able to walk away from him, it seemed that he couldn’t walk away from her, either.

“You know I still want you.”

The words had barely left her lips when he captured her hand and dragged her body tightly up against his. “Thank God. Because I’ve been dying to kiss you again all day
."

The next thing she knew, his mouth was pressing hard into hers, his tongue suddenly there in her mouth, tasting her, forcing her tongue to taste him too. No one had ever kissed her like this, like he wanted to possess her, body and soul. She forgot to be nervous, forgot that until Marcus, it had been six months since she’d kissed anyone, and even before that she’d hardly had much experience with kissing.

She didn’t need to worry about any of that with him, she realized now. He was entirely and completely in charge. All she needed to do was follow his lead
.

If the way his kiss was making her feel was any indication of what his lovemaking would do to her, she was being led straight toward ecstasy.

Her nipples throbbed tight and hard beneath her sports bra and sweatshirt and although she pressed them against his hard chest, it didn’t soothe the ache. She wanted—needed—more.