Just Tell Me (The Justice Series) (22 page)

“
Give me five minutes” he sent a message to his phone and finished his drink “Come on guys lets drink up, we have a car waiting for us outside”, they stood up, the excitement was contagious. 

Nicole stopped at the toilet, she looked at herself in the mirror, her face was flushed with excitement and her eyes sparkled, she applied her lipstick and the door
opened. Alex walked in and stood next to her, the two women exchanged glances through the mirror and Alex spoke.

“You need to go easy on him Nicole”.

“What do you mean?”

“You might see Daniel as he is tonight, but it has been me that picked up the pieces, he’s more fragile than you
might think, don’t mess about with him again you will break his heart”.

Nicole glared at
Daniel’s friend, she wasn’t having this.

“
You don’t know the half of it Alex, believe me, walking away from him was the hardest thing I have ever done and hurting him is the last thing I would ever want to do” she looked into her green eyes “It’s been the hardest year of my life.  Who has picked up the pieces for me?”

Alex’s eyes softened as she saw the
sorrow in Nicole’s eyes.  “Ok look I’m just looking out for my friend, I wanted to make sure you are into him for the right reasons”

“If you mean am I another money grabbing bitch after an easy life, you’re really off the mark Alex, I don’t care about any of that, I just care about Daniel,
God you have no idea” her eyes flashed and Alex turned to look at her. “I swear I would never do anything to hurt him, it’s more likely that he won’t want me” Alex looked her in the eye, she could see she was telling the truth and she hugged her.

“Believe me he does. Come on, let’s go and party!”
Her eyes danced and Nicole cringed, she wasn’t a party animal. 

As their friends got to the d
oor Daniel pulled Nicole back “We have so much to talk about, so much to decide on, but lets make this night amazing, a night to remember, lets treat it like it’s the first night we have ever met, start all over again”.   He looked at her, a wicked glint in his eye and Nicole just wanted to be with him all night. 

She felt more alive than sh
e had ever felt before, she was charged, and she had forgotten how he made her feel.  He radiated a confidence that was contagious, he was so charismatic in real life, she struggled to put the insecure voice on the phone to this man. 

“Oh
God” she smiled weakly “I’m going to meet the person I’ve seen in the papers tonight aren’t I? Go easy on me you know what a lightweight I am” 

She spoke nervously, but he just put his hand out and said “Daniel
MacIntyre, nice to meet you” she took his hand and laughed as she remembered the first time they shook hands on the train.

“Well at least I got your last name this time, I’m just Nicole” Nicole r
aised an eyebrow and he laughed, keeping hold of her hand and leading her outside.

They walked
out into the night air, Daniel’s black car was waiting for them outside the bar, his driver got out and Libby looked at it in awe.

“Bloody hell Nicole” she whispered and they exchanged glances.

“It will be a squeeze to get us all in the back of here” Daniel said laughing and he grabbed Nicole so she could sit on his knee, his arm was round her waist as they all got into the car.  He dropped his hand onto the side of her thigh.  His fingers drew a pattern on her skin as he joined in with the banter in the car,

Nicole took a breath as his hand edged higher up her thigh under the discretion of her black dress.  She turned to look at him and he glanced at her.  He slightly raised his eyebrow and a smile played on his lips as he carried on talking to Paul.  

He knows exactly what he is doing to me
, Nicole thought,
and I have no control over the situation, everything I thought about him was wrong,
she put her hand on his and moved it into sight. She thought it would be easy to see Daniel again. After he broke down on the phone she felt like she had the upper hand, but tonight she realised she had lost the battle with herself. She realised she was totally and completely in love with him. 

This game he was playing tonight was a dangerous one
, she wasn’t sure what was going to happen. He could have any woman he wanted and she felt the same insecurities as when she was in the hospital, she worried he would get bored of her when he realised she was just Nicole. A solicitor from Manchester with a baby.  The exact feeling she had worked so hard to avoid, he wouldn’t want a family dragging him down. 

They pulled up outside the club, the bright lights shone down on the waiting mass of
people; a red rope signalled where to queue.  The doormen analysed each person making sure they had what it required for entry into Edinburgh hottest club.

“Oh
God” Paul said “We will never get in there, do you know how much it costs?” he looked at Riz who shrugged his shoulders “It’s invite anyway we will never get in”

Daniel let go of Nicole’s hand as they climbed out of the car a
nd he walked towards the door. The doorman opened it for him and Daniel turned round and smiled “Come on guys”  They were shocked as they walked past the queues, Libby had hold of Nicole’s arm and she turned round to look at her.

“Nicole this is going to be amazing, he’s so hot
, you lucky thing” Nicole smiled sadly, yes he was but he wasn’t her Daniel tonight, he was the film star version and she felt intimidated by him.   

A woman dressed in black with a headpiece in her ear lead them upstairs, the beat of the music vibrated through the floor as she
took them into the VIP area. They could see the whole club from up here, there was a small bar and a spiral staircase leading down to the main dance floor. It was loud enough to feel the atmosphere but quiet enough to hear each other. Daniel ordered some Prosecco as they were lead to their table, Nicole sat down next to her friends and they toasted the air with their glasses.  Daniel sat in a chair on his own, he took his jacket off and sipped his drink, watching her as she chatted excitedly with Libby. The way her hair fell in ringlets down her neck, how she held her glass and that beautiful complicated mind of hers.  The faint scar on her forehead, a reminder of the time that had passed.

He loved this woman with all his heart, he wished he could tell her how he felt, cut t
he bullshit and just tell her. A surge of excitement rushed through him, but tonight they had met for the first time. He chuckled, remembering her face in the car when he slid his hand up her leg, she looked shocked. She was still so naïve he loved that about her.  He remembered now how she made him feel when they were together, like a complete person with no paranoid insecurities. He was captivated by her.  She charged him in a way he had never experienced before and he could spend a life time just watching her. 

Daniel caught her eye and they looked at each other, his body reacted beneath his composed posture.  She looked away
and smiled, his eyes travelled down her dress and legs.  She glanced up at him, caught in a conversation between Libby and Alex. He held his glass tightly and couldn’t take his eyes off her. 

A song came
on that they all loved and they jumped up “I love this song” Libby said, grabbing Nicole’s hand, “Come on lets have a dance” they ran down the staircase and danced, Nicole loved dancing she had forgotten how it felt to be lost in the music and she looked over for Daniel. He was stood in the viewing area above the dance floor, he raised his glass to her as he watched her move, their eyes met once more and he placed his glass down as he walked towards the stairs.

He couldn’t take his eyes off her as he pushed through the crowds; the lights caught her face in the flash of the strobe
as Rudimental started playing. He couldn’t stand it any longer, he just needed to hold her and he put his arms round Nicole’s waist to pull her close to him.  He felt her body through the soft fabric and traced her neckline with his hand. 

“Starting again, right?
” he let his hand travel down her neck towards her chest and round her waist. She put her arms round his neck, her fingers ran through his hair as they slowly danced to the music. He lent into her and traced her lips with his finger, before finally kissing her gently, keeping control of himself even though every part of him wanted to take her home and make love to her. She responded to his kiss and felt herself float way, lost in the music and Daniel. His tongue found hers and he trailed his hand down her back, sending shivers down her body, she thought she would fall over if he hadn’t got hold of her.  

The song changed and he stepped away from her, taking her hand and leadin
g her back up the stairs to one of the comfy leather sofas. She finally felt relaxed with him as she looked up into his eyes, he had kissed her and broken her insecurity. Daniel poured some more Prosecco, handing her the glass, his face suddenly serious.

“So what’s the plan tomorrow?”  He asked, bringing Nicole back to reality as she remembered why she was here with him “I wish you could come to my house, we could cook some food, spend the night together, I don’t want to let you go ever again”

She laughed “That’s a very forward thing to say to someone you have only just met, I bet you say that to all the girls” he sipped his drink and kissed the top of her head, breathing in her smell.

“Only the one I want to spend the rest of my
life with” he whispered “God I love you Nicole” but she couldn’t hear him through the music. Libby came over to find Nicole, she had been dancing with Alex and her face was glistening with perspiration, she took a drink from her glass.

“
Shall we go outside, get some air? It has gone 3am, the night is young and I fancy a kebab” Alex came over and stood next to Libby, she held her hand and whispered something in her ear which made Libby giggle. Nicole glanced over at Daniel and looked back at her, silently exchanging their thoughts, she tried not to laugh but there was certainly something going on between those two. Paul and Riz had disappeared and the four of them walked out into the darkness.

“A kebab?” Daniel had hold of Nicole’s hand and he pulled her back
from the others “I’ve never had one before will you guide me?”

“
Oh my God you have never had a kebab?” Nicole laughed “You’ve never lived, where have you been?”  She bought him a kebab and they walked to the park, feeding Daniel a piece of kebab meat from the greasy packaging.

“
God this is gross” Daniel spat out the meat and the girls laughed at him “And what the hell am I sat on” he got his Blackberry out and used the light to check the park bench before they sat down.

Alex and Libby w
andered away leaving Nicole and Daniel talking, Daniel had taken his jacket off and wrapped it round her shoulders, she shivered as she picked at the kebab. The park was lit with low lighting and they could hear the sounds of Libby giggling in the distance. She sighed and laid her head on his knee and he gently stroked her hair as she spoke to him.

“I love being in the park, you know the best park ever is in
Rome called Villa Borghese” Daniel knew the one she meant “My friend Anna is getting married in Italy next month, we are going over”

“We?”  Daniel didn’t miss the collective. 

“My parents are coming” she realised she had to be careful, the last thing she wanted was Daniel finding out about George because of a linguistic fuckup.

“Can I come?”

“You want to go to a wedding of two people you have never met?” 

“I was thinking I could be your plus one? As your boyfriend?” Daniel went quiet and Nicole realised he thought she didn’t want him to go with her, she burst out laughing it was absurd
and she sat up. 

“I hate the word boyfriend it’s like we are 15” she was still laughing and he smiled at her
, but his eyes were serious, the reality hit her and she felt distraught about George again. When could she tell him?  He didn’t reply and she went quiet as he ran his hand down her back and kissed her shoulder, breaking her thoughts, she spoke again “I can’t believe I’m finally here with you” she looked over at him “I’m sorry it’s just it feels like a surreal dream, it seems like a lifetime ago when we first met, we have spent so little time together” 

Daniel thought for a moment “A
ctually thinking about it, that’s another six hours we have clocked up, and to my calculations that’s at least two more dates”

“But we only met tonight remember”

“Ah yes, well that’s two dates, and actually if I think back I had better be careful or you might try and seduce me again”

Nicole started laughing “Y
ou had better watch yourself then; you don’t know when I might pounce on you”

“Taking my socks off has never been the same since, I always check for beautiful women in red silk dressing gowns before I do”

She lent over and straddled him on the bench, his hands ran up her thighs under the soft material of her dress “You mean like this?”  She murmured and he kissed her deeply. 

H
is hands travelled further up and he felt the fabric of her underwear and she gasped as he touched her and she could feel him getting hard under his clothes.