Just One Night (2 page)

Chapter 2

Nicole slipped out of the taxi she had
grabbed at the train station and hurried into her family's beachside home.
 
She was able to sneak in through the front
door without being noticed since most people at the party were either outside
or in the immense great room at the back of the house.

Dragging her suitcase upstairs, she hurried
to her bedroom.
 
She was already so late
for the party that she had decided during the cab ride not to waste time and
change out of her interview suit, but then she caught sight of herself in the
mirror.

Her dark, nearly black hair was scraped back
from her face into a serviceable topknot that made her face look severe and way
too serious.
 
The bright white of the
shirt and dark grey of the suit were extremely professional and definitely not
party wear.

Boring
, the little voice in her head complained, but she ignored it.

Their guests would understand that she'd just
hurried home from New York City and hadn’t had time to change.

Do you really want to
look like someone's Old Maid aunt
?
the
annoying voice
in her head shouted and as she glanced at the mirror again and grimaced at what
she saw, it was way
to
hard to ignore that voice.

Do I?
 
Do I want to look like this when it could be
the last night I see
Jase
for a long
long
time?
she
asked herself.

For all her life, she'd played it safe.
 
She’d been the good little girl who did
everything that her parents asked.
 
Straight A student.
 
Never broke curfew.
 
Never did
anything that would make someone raise an eyebrow in surprise.

It was why she’d never done anything about
her attraction to
Jase
.
 
Well, at least nothing anyone would know
about.
 
In the quiet of her room during
those long summer nights, she’d definitely done lots to satisfy the need that
Jase
had made her feel.

But maybe tonight was about doing something
different.
 
Maybe tonight was about doing
something that no one would expect.

Not even
Jase
.

With that thought in mind, she marched to her
walk-in closet and searched through the racks of clothes her mother had bought
for her and which just collected dust for the most part.
 
The words
Nickie
and
fashionista
were never used together.

She flipped through outfit after outfit until
her gaze settled on the bright crimson dress and the matching three inch
stiletto heels just beneath it.

It was the kind of dress that said, “Look at
me.”

As for the stilettos, her girlfriends would
call them “Fuck me shoes.”

Her hands shook as she grabbed the dress and
shoes, hoping he would look.
 
Hoping he
would possibly do more.

As she dressed, hesitation set in again, but
she pushed it back and walked toward the mirror, but she still wasn’t satisfied
with what she saw.

There was just one more thing to do.
 
She undid the clips holding her hair back,
shook her head and her cascaded onto her shoulders.
 
Suddenly a different woman stood there, gazing
back at her from the mirror.

A sexy and
confident woman.
One who would know what to do with
Jase
.

She prayed that she wasn't about to make the
worst mistake of her life.

* * *

Jason Hart mingled through the crowd, sipping
his celebratory glass of champagne.

Not that he felt much like celebrating,
although he should.

Today had been a monumental day in his life.

He had graduated from college, the first in
his family to do so.
 
And since being
commissioned, he was now officially an officer in the United States Marine
Corps.

Oohrah
.
I should be happy
, he thought and took another sip, but he'd been
nursing the bubbly for so long that it was warm and had gone slightly
flat.
 
It was a lot like the flatness he
was feeling about his life right now since despite all his achievements, he had
no one really special to share them with.

Across the way, his parents were chatting
with some neighbors attending his best friend Tommy's graduation party.
 
His graduation as well, but his parents were
planning a much smaller and less luxurious party in their new North Carolina
home.
 
Like so many Jersey folk, they'd
fled harsh winters and even harsher taxes for an easier life.

A few feet away, Tommy and his parents
mingled with their guests.

His family and Tommy's were special to him,
but as he
scoped
out the area, he acknowledged that
the one really special person who would have made it feel different was
missing.

Shoving away thoughts of
Nickie
because it would only bring disappointment on a day that should be filled with
joy, he mingled with the guests attending the party.

It was a day to celebrate and he wasn't going
to let
Nickie's
absence ruin the joyful mood of the
night.

She'd show up eventually and they'd say hello
and act as if there was nothing going on between them.

There wasn't, not really.
 
For years and years and years, he'd been
attracted to his best friend's older sister.
 
Only he hadn't really done anything about that other than tease her a
little.

Okay, maybe he'd teased
her
a
lot, not that she'd ever seem to notice or do anything about it which
had made him back off to avoid coming off as a stalker kind of guy.

As a waiter passed by, he exchanged his warm
flat glass of champagne for a fresh one.
 
Sipped it as he mingled and waited for the one person who could make
this the special kind of night it should be.

He waited for
Nickie
.

* * *

Jase
Hart stood out
from the crowd gathered down below much like he always did
,
Nickie
thought.

He was dressed in his Marine uniform, looking
oh so beautiful and handsome.
 
Much like
she had pictured him during the fantasy on her long train ride home.

He’d taken off his white dress hat and it was
tucked under one arm, exposing his sandy blond hair. In the summer months, the
sun would streak those strands with brightness, giving him that perfect surfer
look.
 
Especially when combined with
those wide shoulders that tapered down into lean hips.

His amazing eyes, looking a little more blue
than green thanks to the color of his dress uniform, were alert and focused on
the man before him.
 
At something the man
said,
Jase
smiled, displaying that boyish dimple on
one side of his all too tempting mouth.

All she had to do was walk down the stairs
and over to him.
 
It was such a short
distance away physically, but despite her earlier thoughts and bravado, it
occurred to her that
Jase
was untouchable for way too
many reasons.

He was her younger brother's best friend.

He would soon be gone and risking his life.

He would never
ever never be interested in a woman like her.
A woman who
couldn’t seem to make up her mind about what to do about him.
 
A woman who lacked the strength to reach for
what she wanted most.

Jase
needed a strong woman by his side.
 
One who could man the home front while he was off to
war.
 
One who wouldn't be indecisive or
wimpy.

You only have one night
left.
 
Take a chance
, said the voice
of the dreamer that she repressed way too often.

With those conflicting thoughts rattling
through her head, she sucked in a deep breath, tossed her shoulders back, and
walked down the stairs.

* * *

Jason caught sight of Nicole de Silva as she
glided down the sweeping staircase in an eye-catching red dress that hugged
every enticing curve of her body.
 
The
color set off the creamy color of her skin and dark as midnight hair that
spilled down across her bare shoulders, thick and with a life of its own as she
moved.

More than once he had imagined tunneling his
hands into that hair and pulling her close.
 
Kissing her until she was clinging to him and he could take her to bed
and do what he'd wanted to do to her for way too long.
 
As his gaze drifted down her long lean legs
and to the enticing red stiletto heels, he imagined dragging them off her feet
as he kissed his way up her body.

“So where did you say you were deploying?”
the man beside him repeated, pulling him away from thoughts of
Nickie
.

Nickie
was off limits,
he reminded himself.
 
The
 
Bro
Code demanded that he had to keep
his hands off even though he itched to run them all along that fabulous body
and have those incredible legs wrapped around him as he made love to her.

“Afghanistan,” he finally answered, but then
his attention to the man fled as he realized
Nickie
was walking his way.
 
“Would you excuse
me for a moment?” he said, sidestepped the man and hurried toward her.

He met her halfway across the crowded great
room in her family's home.

They stood there awkwardly for several
hesitant heartbeats, staring at each other.
 
With the high heels, she was almost eye level with him and her mouth was
just inches away.
 
Her
luscious mouth done in an enticing red that dared him to lean in and kiss her.

But instead he just stood there, not really
sure where to begin.
 
Anxious
about what to say and where it might lead.
 
Feeling like a total fool
for being so indecisive.
 
The only
thing that offered him any relief was that she was obviously as unsure of what
to do as he was.

She nervously played with the small black
clutch in her hand before hesitantly saying, “Congratulations,
Jase
. It must be very exciting to be done with school and
earn your commission.”

“Thank you,
Nickie
.
 
I hear you're doing well.
 
How's medical school?” He dragged his gaze
away from her hands and to the soft swell of her breasts visible above the
neckline of the body-hugging dress before meeting her gaze.
 
Her eyes were a gorgeous light hazel color
with flecks of chocolate brown and hints of gold.

“Good, thanks.
 
I'm enjoying the challenge,” she replied,
looked away from him and glanced around uneasily.
 
“I really should mingle, you know.
 
I've already missed too much of the party
because I had that interview in New York.”

Disappointment slammed into him, but he hid
it.
 
He was a fuckin' Marine for God's
sake and he wasn't going to let her see just how much he wanted that she spend
some time with him before he left.

“Sure,
Nickie
.
 
I
guess I'll see you later,” he replied.

She turned and started to walk away, but then
she stopped and faced him again.

“I’m going to miss you,
Jase
,”
she said and then rushed off.

I'm going to miss
you ,
too.
 
A lot
, he thought.

Feeling the need for something stronger to
wash away the sense of defeat that had filled him, he marched to the bar and
ordered
a bourbon
.
 
The bartender poured him the drink and he was about to step away when
Tommy sauntered up and clapped him on the back.

“What's your poison, dude?” Tommy asked and
shot a quick look at his glass.

“Bourbon,” he answered and his friend jerked
his chin in the bartender's direction.