Just Tell Me (The Justice Series) (28 page)

Daniel smiled wistfully back at her, he started to believe she was telling him the truth
again “I don’t want you to go back to tomorrow, it’s not enough time together, can’t you stay?” 

She shook her head “I
can’t, I have work, they wont let me just take time off at short notice” she sipped her wine, she was still on maternity leave, more lies “You know how important work is Daniel”. 

He understood, if it was the other way round he couldn’t just take time off either. 
He looked at his glass “Well there’s always next weekend, maybe I could come down to Manchester?”  He glanced at her expectantly and she smiled thinly back at him, silenced by his suggestion, not sure what to say. She couldn’t give away her true feelings as she felt her stomach knot up. 

“You know what I’ve been thinking?”  She said, a smile played on her lips, she
knew the perfect distraction “When you were on Single and Loaded”

Daniel’s
face darkened and his voice hardened, surprising Nicole. “You’re evading my question, damn it Nicole I have dealt with enough lawyers to know when I’m being sidelined by a distraction tactic, I feel like you are hiding something from me, why don’t you want me to come to Manchester?” He finished his glass and poured another large one from the bottle, his eyes blazed and he took a long drink from his glass.

Nicole stuttered “
It’s not that I don’t want you to come down Daniel, it’s just” she stopped for a moment, she wanted to tell him but he was angry and she could see the frustration in his eyes “It’s just, well a pokey little terraced house in the suburbs of a city, it’s nothing like all of this” she looked around the kitchen “God this room is the size of my parents downstairs alone, our garden is the size of your patio, and you have thousands of acres” she smiled but there was no humour in her voice, she realised this was true “I’m worried that you won’t want me anymore, we are from two different worlds”

“That’s it?”  His face softened “
You swear there’s no one else? You don’t have a boyfriend back home then? Or is it that you’re just not that into me?” the itch of insecurity returned to the surface as he spoke the words, numbed by the wine.

N
icole couldn’t help but laugh “You are joking?  Seriously Daniel?  You still think I have another man?” she thought of George sleeping in his cot,
Well, technically there is someone else.
He frowned at her, watching her reaction trying to judge her. “It’s nothing to do with that you know there has been no one else since last year, Jesus you are paranoid” she kicked him under the table and he kept hold of her leg his piercing eyes stared into hers and she felt like she was under interrogation.  He wouldn’t let it go until she convinced him otherwise, he really was intense. 

She had never dealt with a man this obsessive before. Was he going to hurt her like Andrew did?  She didn’t know. And he seemed to drink too much.  She watched as he poured more wine into his glass.

“You promise?” he still had hold of her leg and he relaxed his grip, he took another long drink “I’m sorry Nicole it’s just, well I have never felt this way about anyone before, I don’t know what to think”

He might not want to see her again when she told him the truth; she took a drink of wine and looked towards the window as the rain continued.  She was more concerned about how he would feel when he found out she had kept George from him now, than him finding out he had a child.  It was a question of time, and
it was running out for Nicole. She would tell him in the morning, she promised herself and this time she knew it was real, but first she needed some proper answers from him tonight even if she was going to tell him tomorrow.

The rabbit was tender, it had been slowly cooking in balsamic vinegar the baby carrots were sweet and
the new potatoes were buttery. Nicole picked at hers as they sat together round the table, the rain hit the windows fiercely. There was an atmosphere between them, the invisible cloud of unspoken words and they were both lost in their own thoughts. 

Daniel was quiet as he ate his dinner, the night wasn’t going as he wanted it to go and he was frustrated.  He had already drunk too much wine and he wanted to tell her so much but
he was still feeling deflated. He couldn’t find the words and was scared she wouldn’t feel the same way.
Something didn’t add up.
He thought of tomorrow, he knew Nicole had booked on an early train.
Why had she done that
?
Why couldn’t she take a later one and spend more time with me? Why couldn’t she just stay?
  The wine fuelled his paranoia.

He didn’t understand her, he had planned to meet Alex for lunch
seeing as Nicole was getting the early train. He was looking forward to seeing his friend, he needed some advice. She always knew the answers, he thought of him friend with her long black hair and how she always knew what to say to him.

Nicole looked up from her dinner “So then, as I was saying, remember those questions you were asked in your television interview?” 

Her voice pulled him back into reality “Yes. Yes I do”

“We have never spoken about this; you know I was so mad at you I threw the remote control at the television”. She laughed at the memory “Libby was convinced you were talking about someone else, right until the moment you spoke my name” 

Despite himself Daniel laughed “I was so hurt, I thought you didn’t want me and I wanted to get back at you, show you what you were missing” he heard himself and cringed “It was childish, I’m sorry”

Nicole took his hand “
it’s funny now, I look back on it and honestly it just makes me laugh, I can still see your expression when you mentioned the red fabric, but you don’t have an underwear fetish” they laughed, the earlier tension broken. 

“Seriously though Daniel” she looked at him, the air was thick with questions and she
was playing a dangerous game. “Tell me the real answers to the questions” He looked at her quizzically, a smile playing on his lips. She felt a tingle of excitement despite her earlier concerns,
God he turns me on when he looks at me like that. 
He looked out of control of his emotions and she wanted to push him further.

“Which question exact
ly do you want the answer to?” A smile played on his lips “Because you know what turns me on so that’s already covered”

“Your perfect date?”

“It’s here, right now”

“Ok not the children’s names” she winced inwardly as she said this “I can’t remember the others” she lied.

“Well let me ask one I remember” he took the chance “Have you ever been in love Nicole?”  He sat back in his chair and watched her.

“I’m asking the questions, so have you?”

Daniel’s heart was beating fast; he looked at her big eyes, the way her hair fell across her neck.  Her hand as she squeezed her wine glass a little too tightly as she waited for his answer. 

“Yes” he said, the word hung in the air.  “I met a beautiful woman on a train and fell in love w
ith her the moment I saw her”. He stared at her as he spoke, he continued “And then she broke my heart, but that’s all in the past because” he looked at his empty plate “She is sat in front of me now and I feel like the luckiest man alive” 

Nicole was speechless, she had butterflies in the pit of her stomach and she stood up and walked over to him.  He looked u
p at her expectantly and she straddled him as he was sat on his chair.  She held him and looked into his face, running her hands down his neck as she found his lips and slowly kissed him.

“What about Daniel
MacIntyre, womanising bachelor of the year?” she spoke quietly “How does he feel about her? Is he not going to get bored?” 

Daniel smiled despite himself “
He feels the same way, I never want anyone else I swear Nicole”

She laughed and kissed him “W
ell that’s good, because I feel the same way”.  

She had tears in her eyes now an
d he wiped them with his hand “Hey don’t cry” he laughed “I’m not that bad am I?”

He still looked nervous and she smiled through her tears “I love every part of you Daniel, I think I did the moment I met you, but I just want to say I’m sorry for lying to you and for everything” he shushed her with a kiss and picked her up in his arms.

He laid her down on the rug in the living area and she sat up on her knees, their foreheads touching. He ran his hands down her body and she put her arms round his neck, her hand ran through his hair.  She kissed him as she looked into his eyes, she loved him with all her heart and her whole body tingled with anticipation as he unbuttoned her top.  She pulled his jumper and shirt over his head and kissed his bare shoulders, they were muscular and toned and she moved to his neck and whispered “I love you” as she kissed his ear. She stopped when she noticed he was shaking as she ran her hands down his back.

“Are you ok Daniel?” she asked him and he looked down at her, his eyes were
bright and he smiled thinly. 

“I guess I’m overwhelmed,
no one has ever said that to me before, I don’t know what’s happening to me”.  He sat back on the rug.  “God do you know how much you have changed my life?  When I walked back in the hospital and found you had gone” he took her hand “I felt like my heart was broken, I know it sounds so corny but I didn’t think it was possible to feel physical pain like that from just emotion” he looked at her and she smiled thinly, he didn’t know the half of it “I know I’m too intense and drink too much, I’m a mess”.

She nodded her head “
You’re not a mess, I do think you drink too much” she reached up and kissed him “But love is unconditional, you don’t need to drink to block anything out anymore Daniel. It’s all in the past, right? Lets just move on, I had my reasons for leaving you, it wasn’t personal you know that” she took his hand, looking at his fingers, she felt like her heart was breaking as she thought about the words she knew she had to say.

“I love you Nicole” he pulled her hand to his face and kissed it.  She smiled and her stomach did another flip. 
God he was unbelievably sexy, she thought despite her mind being in turmoil.  “Come on, let’s go to bed”

Early the next morning
Nicole lay staring at the ceiling. 
Was it the last night she would spend here with him?
She felt so miserable and she turned to him in bed, felt his warmth and held him for what might be the last time. Her stomach churned and her nerves were on edge, sleep had left her and she knew she had to get up and prepare herself for the day ahead. She walked down the stairs and looked around in the silence of the kitchen and picked her bra from the floor, a memory from last night.

T
he rabbit was left over on the plates, the half drunk wine still on the table from the night before.  She hated this now, she probably wouldn’t come here again and she remembered how he had told her he loved her over this table. 

Nicole felt she had already lost him in the early morning sun.  She cleared the mess from the night before and made some coffee and couldn’t bear the thought
she might not see him again, her coffee sat untouched at the table.  She opened Daniel’s laptop, plugged in on the kitchen worktop and logged onto Facebook to kill some time and check her messages. 

George’s
photo stared back at her from when she had uploaded on Friday.  His chubby face and his blue eyes shone back at her on the screen and she smiled, he deserved to know.  She sent Libby a message

“H
ey you. I know it’searly just needed a chat. Daniel told me he loved me last nigh
t
today is the day Libby…. I’m going to have to tell him about George x”

S
he felt her chest tightening with the stress and needed to speak to her mum, hear her voice and make sure George was OK. 

She remembered her mobile was flat and looked for her charger in her bag
oh shit.
She had had left it in Manchester.  She found Daniel’s landline phone and walked across the hallway into the lounge as she dialled her house number.  Her mum answered “Hello” she said, sounding tired.

“
Hi mum it’s me, is George ok” Nicole just needed reassurance and her mum said he had a restless night but he was playing in his playpen, she could hear his happy gurgling in the background “How it is going there, have you told him yet?”

Nicole sighed unhapp
ily, her stomach was churning “He’s asleep mum but as soon as he gets up I will tell him everything I promise I will before I come back” she knew she meant it this time, she couldn’t wait any longer. She felt so sad, but he had a right to know he had a son regardless, and she couldn’t hold it back from him any longer. “Right I will be back after lunch, mum” she said “Tell George I love him and I can’t wait to see him this afternoon” she continued “give him a big cuddle and kiss from me, I have missed him so much” 

She put the phone dow
n and looked out of the window.  Daniel had booked a driver, he was meeting Alex in the city and she was surprised to see he was already here sat in the driveway.  She heard some sounds in the kitchen and walked through.  Daniel was sat at the kitchen table with a cup of espresso “Good morning” she smiled but he didn’t smile back, his eyes were glaring at her.  His whole face was hard with rage; she had never seen him like this and her blood ran cold.