If I Trust You (If You Come Back To Me #4) (7 page)

“I’m good as new,” she declared as she pushed back her empty bowl. She’d wolfed down two and a half helpings, much to her shock. Colleen’s cooking always had that effect on her, just like her mother’s used to when she was a girl.

“The soup was delicious, thank you.”

“You still need to take it easy and get plenty of rest,” Eric said. “You know as well as I do the way people can run themselves down after the death of a family member.”

“I might have slacked off a little bit on taking care of myself in the past few months, but I promise I’ll get strict again,” Deidre said quickly when she saw Colleen’s brow furrow. “I’ve been so preoccupied with Lincoln. It all caught up with me this afternoon, I guess,” she admitted as she watched Eric walk up behind the back of Colleen’s chair and stroke her sister’s shoulders. She grinned, happiness surging through her at the sight of Eric and Colleen’s tangible love for one another.

“Now that you two made up at the rehearsal dinner, I can see I’m going to have trouble prying you apart, aren’t I?” she asked the couple.

“That’s the plan,” Eric murmured silkily before he leaned down and gave Colleen a kiss. Deidre had liked Eric from the moment she’d met him a few nights ago. He was handsome, yes, but also aware of other people’s feelings and at the top of the bell curve of intelligence. She’d known enough doctors and surgeons over the years to judge that with confidence. The main reason she liked Eric, however, was that the man was clearly crazy for Colleen.

She cleared her throat as she toyed with her soupspoon. Eric and Colleen broke apart. “Did...did Nick leave after I fell asleep?” she asked, trying to sound casual.

Colleen nodded, suddenly serious.

“He’s a real puzzle, isn’t he?” Eric asked. “I got the impression from Colleen he was suspicious of you and this business of Lincoln DuBois’s will, but he was acting like he’d take on a whole platoon single-handed to ensure your safety when we got here this afternoon.”

“Nick was standing at your bedroom door like a watchdog when we arrived,” Colleen informed her quietly. “He looked so intense, I wondered if his stare could burn a hole through the door.”

Deidre’s cheeks turned hot. She knew precisely what Colleen meant about Nick’s stare.

“He’s an enigma, all right,” she said before she changed the subject.

Deidre had to promise Eric and Colleen at least half a dozen times she’d take it easy that night and get plenty of rest. The couple left at nightfall to go and pick up Coleen’s children, Brendan and Jenny, from Brigit’s house. Deidre took a long, hot bath once she was alone. At around five o’clock that afternoon, her cell phone began to ring. She tensed, dread welling up inside her. The response had been programmed into her since coming to Harbor Town. She’d been worried about her mother calling. Increasingly, she was also growing anxious about receiving the call about the genetic testing from GenLabs. She told herself she was being ridiculous. Surely it’d be a week or more before she received that call.

She checked the number and saw an unfamiliar prefix. She answered, her heart starting to race.

“Hello?”

“Am I forgiven?”

A rush of warmth went through her when she recognized Nick’s blunt, matter-of-fact voice.

“I suppose, seeing as you did your part to revive me,” she said, smiling.

“How are you feeling?”

“Embarrassed, mostly. That’s never happened to me before.”

“I kind of figured. You didn’t seem too happy about it. I guess it’s true what they say about doctors and nurses making the worst patients.”

She wandered over to the pretty Christmas tree and ran her fingers over some soft needles. “I was very compliant when Colleen fed me. I’m much better, I promise.”

“It’s amazing how the body needs little things like food and sleep,” he murmured mildly enough. Maybe it was her guilt that made her hear a hint of remonstrance.

“I’ll take care of myself. I honestly hadn’t noticed how run-down I’d gotten.”

“Neither had I. I knew you hadn’t had much of an appetite while you were at The Pines, but I’m kicking myself for not realizing how bad things had gotten.”

Deidre swallowed thickly. It wasn’t his job to monitor her physical health, after all. She couldn’t help but recall how Colleen had said Nick had been standing at her door like a watchdog.

A charged silence ensued.

“I’m sorry about shouting at you the way I did,” he said.

“You didn’t shout at me. What you said was true. I need to come out of my shell and look at the bigger picture here. There are a lot of people depending on DuBois Enterprises. Lincoln would have wanted me to understand that.”

Was that relief she heard in his ragged sigh?

“I’m going to give you the number for Abel Warren—Lincoln’s personal attorney. He’s handling the will. He’ll be able to explain the details of the will and give you the information for how to access your funds. He’ll probably want to fly out here to see you.”

“No,” Deidre said quickly. “I’m not ready for that yet. I’d rather wait for the genetic testing before I make any moves in that direction.”

“If that’s what you want, but I still want you to have Abel’s number. He can inform you of your legal rights, Deidre. I’ll text his number to you, and you’ll have it for reference.”

Deidre couldn’t find a reason to disagree with that. It was hard to explain to Nick that it was daunting to try to plan a life that was precariously perched on shifting sands, especially since he seemed like one of the aspects that might change at any moment.

“Do you think you’ll feel up to going out tomorrow afternoon?” he asked.

“I feel up to going out now, to be honest.” She smiled when she heard his doubtful grunt. “Don’t worry. I promised to rest up tonight. What did you have in mind for tomorrow afternoon? Do we need to discuss something else about DuBois?”

“I’d like to get your signature for the Vivicor transaction, if you’re still agreeable. More importantly, I just want to take you out, if you’re up for it.”

Her stroking fingers paused on the Christmas tree. “To do what?”

“It’s a surprise. I hope you like it. Just dress warmly—we’re supposed to have light snow—and be ready by two o’clock.”

She agreed and said goodbye. His mysteriousness only added to her sense of excitement in regard to spending time with him. He may have been secretive about the details, but she was fairly certain about one thing.

Nick Malone had just asked her for a date.

Chapter Five

S
he did as she’d promised and ate and slept well that night, feeling refreshed and stronger when she awoke. The morning was spent doing some light exercises and stretches, relaxing and reading. She was finishing brushing her teeth when she heard a car door slam.

She grabbed her coat, a scarf and some gloves when she reached the kitchen, slamming the door behind her as Nick paused in his ascent of the front steps. A red, black and white flannel shirt peeked from beneath his black insulated jacket. His hair was tousled and whiskers shadowed his jaw. He looked windblown and outdoorsy...and sexy as hell.

“Hi,” she said, suddenly feeling ridiculously shy when she looked into his gray eyes. The kiss they’d shared the other night had been smoking hot, but somehow, their stormy encounter yesterday had been more...intimate.

“Hi,” he returned, a small smile shaping his mouth.

Yes, something had definitely happened yesterday, Deidre confirmed when she saw his eyes move over her warmly. It was as if both of them had silently admitted that while there may be potential stress and unresolved conflict between them, there was also attraction—and plenty of it.

“Are you ready to go?”

She nodded, taking the hand he offered when she approached him. She gave him a smile and before she could take the first step on the stairs, he leaned down. A shiver of delight went through her when he touched his mouth to hers. He must have spent some time outdoors before he got in his car, because his lips were firm and cool. He’d meant it as a kiss of greeting, Deidre suspected, but it felt so good to be genuine in her attraction toward him. She put her arms around his shoulders and kissed him back, warming his lips with her own. It felt wonderful to give herself permission to kiss him. He smelled like spice and fresh air. He tasted like he’d just eaten something sweet.

“That was nice,” she said quietly next to his lips when she sealed their kiss.

His gray eyes flashed.

“I’ll say it is,” he muttered, and suddenly he was the one kissing her. He took her into his arms and lifted her against his body, until her boots left the porch. While Deidre’s kiss had been airy and teasing, Nick’s was demanding and consuming. She let go—surrendered to the sensation of him for an untold period of time. She blinked open her eyes when the pressure of his mouth left hers a while later and his lips brushed her nose.

“I’m not sure I can control what might happen if you start to be nice to me,” he said quietly, his warm breath causing vapor to billow between them.

She leaned back an inch and examined him with mock seriousness. “Would you rather I stopped?”

“Don’t you dare,” he growled softly.

She smiled and kissed him again. He groaned, seizing her mouth in a quick, voracious kiss before he set her boots back on the stairs. “Come on, or your surprise will get cold.”

“My surprise?” she asked, as she followed him down the steps, her hand in his. “What is it?”

But Nick refused to give a word of explanation concerning the enigmatic surprise when they got into his sedan, and he drove several miles through the white and gray, barren country landscape.

“McGraw Stables?” Deidre asked in confusion when he turned down a wooded lane and she saw a large red, gold and brown sign featuring a large barn and several galloping horses. As they got closer to several buildings in the distance, she noticed the trees lining the lane were decorated with white Christmas lights. “But I told you when we were at Lincoln’s that I don’t ride,” she explained. Both Nick and Lincoln were horse aficionados. Lincoln reportedly owned one of the finest horse stables in all of Nevada and California.

“I know. You won’t have to ride for this,” Nick assured her as he pulled his sedan into a turnabout before a long, low building and parked. To the left, Deidre saw an attractive white farmhouse. Her attention was diverted, however, by the sound of jingling bells.

“Oh, how pretty,” she said breathlessly. A man led a horse with a sleek brown coat toward them. The horse was hooked up to a wooden wagon decorated for the Christmas season with evergreen garland and tinkling bells. The man paused fifteen feet or so away from Nick’s car. The horse tossed her head and stomped her front feet in an impatient gesture.

“We better get going. Maybelle doesn’t like to wait, apparently,” Nick murmured.

“Maybelle? Is that her name?” Deidre asked a moment later when they’d alighted from the car. Snow flurries pelted her cheeks as she approached the prancing horse. “Hey there, Maybelle. You’re a beauty,” Deidre crooned when the mare turned her head and looked at her with liquid brown eyes. She glanced over and met the stare of the man holding Maybelle’s bridle. He had a bland, unremarkable face, but his hazel eyes were warm when he looked at her.

“Hi,” Deidre said.

He nodded at her in greeting. “She’s all ready for you. Addy put a thermos of hot chocolate under the seat, along with some of those sugar cookies you liked this morning, Nick.”

Nick laughed as he helped Deidre up the wooden steps of the wagon. “If I rode at your stables regularly, Addy would put twenty pounds on me in a month or two. Addy and Evan own the McGraw Stables,” Nick explained to Deidre, nodding toward the man before he clambered up the steps after Deidre.

“It’s a perfect day for this,” Evan said, stepping back when Nick took the reins and sat next to Deidre. “Hardly a breeze. You’re free to use any of the paths on our property that you’ve ridden before, and the old lake road, as well. Everything’s been plowed pretty recently,” Evan explained. “When you get back, Addy will have an early dinner ready for you.” He winked at Deidre. “It’s all part of the carriage rental package.”

Nick gave her an amused glance as he reached beneath the wagon seat and withdrew a hefty mug. He handed it to her and then reached for a thermos. “Addy is an excellent cook. We’d be fools to turn down the offer for dinner.”

Deidre laughed as Nick wedged the thermos between his thighs and unscrewed it. “Well, I’m no fool. It sounds wonderful,” she told Evan. Evan nodded and gave them a wave before he returned to the stables.

“How in the world did you find out about this place?” she asked as the delicious aroma of sweet chocolate wafted up to her nose.

He shrugged slightly and poured some of the steaming liquid into her cup. “I didn’t think it’d hurt to ask around about local stables since I was planning to be in Harbor Town for a while.”

“And you couldn’t imagine being anywhere without being able to ride for a period of time, could you?” she said, understanding hitting her. He’d ridden every day when he’d been at The Pines. She took a sip of the hot chocolate.

“Oh, yum.”

“Wait till you try this,” he said, replacing the thermos. He poked his hand under the seat and withdrew a baking tin from beneath the seat. She took it and opened the lid.

“Ooh,” she murmured, ginning as she picked up a perfect, delectable-looking iced Christmas tree cookie from the tin.

“They’re really good. I had a couple this morning when I came out to arrange the carriage rental.”

Deidre bit into the cookie. It melted on her tongue, tasting like fresh butter, sugar and Christmastime itself. She grinned happily and met his stare. “
These
are why you tasted so sweet,” she murmured as she chewed the cookie, referring to their earlier kiss.

He swept down and covered her mouth with his, pausing to slide his tongue along the seam of her lips. She went completely still next to him. He lifted his head. His gray eyes smoldered.

“Just wanted to experience the same thing you did. You’re right. Sweet,” he said, a grin ghosting his lips.

It took several heartbeats before she remembered to breathe.

He retrieved several folded blankets from beneath the seat, tucking them beneath her with brisk, mechanical precision. His hand moving over her hips and thighs felt the opposite of mundane to Deidre, however. Maybe he wasn’t as matter-of-fact as she’d thought, however, because his fingers lingered over the outer curve of her rear end. He looked up into her face, and Deidre felt that increasingly familiar swooping sensation in her belly.

She became entranced by the black specks in the iris of his eyes. They both blinked and glanced at the front of the sleigh when Maybelle snorted impatiently.

He released the brake and gave the reins an almost imperceptible twitch. Maybelle responded immediately, swinging the wagon in the turnabout. Deidre felt warm and content beneath the blankets, her steaming hot chocolate clutched in her gloved hand, Nick’s solid frame pressing against her side.

The paths that led through the McGraws’ wooded property were picturesque on the snowy winter’s day. Eventually, Nick directed Maybelle onto the old lakefront road. The road wasn’t used much anymore by vehicles, but it was maintained by the town for summer biking and Rollerblade use. Several inches of fresh snow lay on it, but Maybelle seemed to have no difficulty maneuvering through it, her trotting hooves tossing up snow with jaunty ease.

Nick and she conversed together comfortably, Deidre occasionally pointing out landmarks at the outskirts of town and asking Nick questions about horses.

“I’ll teach you how to ride, if you like,” he said as they rattled along and the bells attached to the garland jingled merrily.

“I don’t know. I’d probably make a fool of myself.”

“You won’t,” he said, so confidently she glanced at him in amazement. He gave her a sidelong glance. “You’re an athlete, aren’t you? And I’ve seen how horses respond to you. Remember when I came upon you when we were at The Pines stables and you were talking to that stallion? Horses are in your blood.”

Deidre kept her gaze on Maybelle’s gleaming hindquarters. For a second, her heart had jumped at his words. Was he starting to believe she was Lincoln DuBois’s daughter? With a sinking feeling, she realized a moment later he might have just been referring to her mother’s skills as a horsewoman. She’d discovered from Lincoln that Brigit had been a junior championship jumper as a teenager. Brigit had never once mentioned being an accomplished equestrian the entire time Deidre was growing up.

Nick and she were having such a wonderful time, she didn’t want to ruin it by asking him to clarify what he’d meant by horses being “in her blood.”

She shivered minutes later when a breeze whipped past them and snow flurries batted against her exposed skin. Nick slid his arm behind her back and pulled her against his side, still holding the reins with his left hand. She cuddled against him, her cheek pressed against his jacket, mesmerized by the sound of Maybelle’s trotting hooves and the feeling of Nick next to her. The lake stretched next to them like a swath of ruffled steel-blue fabric. Her nose felt cold, but her belly was warm from the hot chocolate. She couldn’t recall ever feeling such a strange combination of contentment and anticipation in her life.

They paused a while later when they came to the terminus of the road. Deidre pointed out the enormous sand dunes lining the lake in the distance.

“Have you ever dune dived?” she asked Nick.

He grimaced. “At the risk of knocking myself down a few notches in your estimation, I’ll admit I’m not much of a swimmer or diver.”

She gave him an assessing glance. “You’re an athlete. I could teach you,” she teased, repeating what he’d told her about horseback riding.

He laughed under his breath. “I doubt it. Teaching a cowboy how to swim is like teaching a fish to walk.” His gaze narrowed on the massive, tall dunes. “Don’t tell me you actually
dived
into Lake Michigan from those things.”

“Sure.”

His gaze ran over her face admiringly. “That’s something I’d like to see,” he admitted quietly.

“We’ll have to come back in July.”

Something flickered across his stark features that made her mirth fade. She studied her gloved hands on top of the dark red wool blanket, silently railing at herself for her impulsive words.

“Yeah,” he said before he flicked his wrist and chirruped to Maybelle and the taut moment had passed.

* * *

Mrs. Addy McGraw possessed the kind of face that was easy to like—open, weathered and nearly always smiling. Her girth was wide, but Addy appeared to be in robust health from her regular labor in the stables.

Addy met them in the turnabout near the stables when they returned late that afternoon. She wore boots, a parka and a beat-up old brown suede cowboy hat on her short gray hair. Addy directed Nick into the designated area of a large red barn, where they descended from the wagon. She started to greet Deidre, but became distracted when she noticed Nick starting to unharness Maybelle.

“Now, you’re a paying guest here, you leave that to Evan and I,” she scolded Nick. “You two run on inside to the kitchen. I’ve got some hot buttered rum on the stove for you. Evan and I will be there in a jiff, and we’ll have ourselves a nice early dinner,” she said, beaming at Deidre.

The kitchen of the handsome, white-shingled farmhouse was comfortably old-fashioned, with Formica countertops, a colorful tablecloth and dozens of interesting appliances that appeared to be manufactured anywhere from the 1950s to the 1970s. A divine aroma of chicken and vegetables emanated from the oven. Nick and Deidre sat at the kitchen table and sipped the delicious hot buttered rum and tried to guess at the purpose of some of the more unusual-looking appliances.

He looked so appealing to her sitting there, his hair windblown, his casual clothing perfectly fitting the farmhouse kitchen.

“I find it hard to believe you’re a CEO of a huge company when you look so comfortable here.”

He blinked and glanced around. “In a kitchen?”

“No,” she said laughing. “In a country setting. I remember thinking the same when I used to see you on the grounds at The Pines or in Lincoln’s stables.”

“I do miss the country when I’m in the city. But being comfortable in the country doesn’t mean you can’t also be a good businessman. There’s a lot in common between working with horses, for example, and being a CEO.”

Deidre laughed, sure he was kidding. When he sipped his buttered rum, however, his expression entirely somber, she asked, “You’re not joking? What do working with horses and being a CEO have in common?”