Lucky (13 page)

Then she looked up, and for a moment, he lost himself in deep green eyes.

She looked away, quickly breaking the spell, and as she did, Nick’s sanity returned with a jolt. While part of her was healed, the old wariness that he’d seen before was still there.

“Hit me,” the other man mumbled.

Only then did Nick remember there was a game in progress and absently looked down at his cards. A queen of hearts stared blandly up at him from the table. Before he touched it, he knew that his hole card was going to be good. He could feel it with the instinct of a man who knew the game.

He felt Lucky watching him, waiting for him to make his play. He lifted the bottom card and turned them both up without missing a beat.

“Blackjack,” he said softly.

The other player snorted and tossed in his hand. “I’m busted,” he said, and finally relinquished his seat. With a vacant stare, he watched the dealer counting out Nick’s winnings and shrugged. “Oh, well, win some…lose some, I always say.” Then he winked at Lucky. “Have a nice day, miss. Lady Luck just wasn’t with me last night.”

As he walked away, he tossed a couple of chips toward Lucky as tips. Ever careful of the “eye in the sky” security system, she slid them across the table and into the slot on the table reserved for that purpose.

“Thank you, sir,” she said. But the man was already gone.

“Place your bet,” she whispered, and waited for Nick to slide a stack of chips into place.

“I’m out,” he said, picking up his chips as he stood. “This must be my lucky day. And I don’t believe in pushing it.”

Lucky couldn’t believe what she was hearing. He was winning and he quit? Johnny would have already been glassy-eyed and counting money he hadn’t even won.

Nick leaned forward and dropped every chip he’d just won into Lucky’s hands.

“Welcome back, baby,” he said softly. “Welcome back.”

She watched him walk away through a shimmer of tears. It felt good to be wanted, even though it scared her to death to know that he cared.

L
unchtime came and went, taking Lucky’s nerve with it. By two o’clock, she could hardly concentrate on the cards. When three o’clock rolled around and her shift was over, she was nearly sick from the tension of the day. After she cashed in her tips, she walked away knowing that a good portion of them had come from Nick’s generosity.

All she wanted was to get out of this place before she made a complete fool of herself and burst into tears. And just when she thought she’d accomplished that feat, she found herself face-to-face with the man she’d been trying not to think about.

He was just outside the rear entrance, leaning against his sports car with his arms folded and an inscrutable expression on his face.

“Do you want a ride?” Nick asked.

Lucky was shaking from nerves and exhaustion after
her first day back on the job, and now this? It was so much like a repeat of their first meeting at the bus station on the day of her arrival that she was struck dumb. He was even leaning against the same black sports car.

“What do you think you’re trying to prove?” she asked.

“I want to start over,” he said. “I can’t change the day we met, but if you are willing, we could start again.”

Lucky tried not to smile. She didn’t want to like this man. She did not want to trust him.

“And why should I believe that you are any more sincere than the first day we met?”

He grinned. “At least now you know I’m not a pimp.”

She laughed, and then hated herself for giving in even that much.

Nick’s expectations rose. One step at a time. For now, the smile he’d just put on her face was worth a lot.

“So…is it going to be me or the bus?”

Heat danced from the pavement between them as a hot gust of wind lifted her hair from her neck. Just thinking of the long, hot ride on a noisy bus made her ache.

“Just a ride? And only as far as my home?”

“Whatever you say, lady. Outside those walls, you’re the boss.”

She sighed. “I will probably hate myself later,” she muttered, well aware that he could hear everything she said. “But I guess I choose you.”

He chuckled. “Oh, hell, I can’t stand the joy. I’ve never had to beg to compete with mass transportation before. You give a whole new meaning to the term ‘hardheaded woman.’”

Lucky climbed into the passenger seat and tucked her
skirt beneath her legs. “You asked me if I wanted a ride. If you’re expecting me to grovel at your feet, you’re wasting your time. I need a ride, not a new set of problems from an unruly child.”

Nick grinned again. She was prickly as hell and he found himself beginning to like it…even expect it.

He slid behind the wheel. “It’s been a long time since anyone referred to me as a problem child.”

Lucky bathed him in a slow, green stare. “That’s just it, Nick. You’re not a child…and neither am I. Playing games is beyond the both of us. And playing with someone’s emotions can get a body hurt.”

He started the car and tilted the vents, giving her full benefit of the air conditioner’s frigid blast. “I only offered you a ride,” he said softly. “One day we’ll play, sweetheart, but I can promise it will be for keeps.”

She snorted softly, refusing to acknowledge his prediction by anything other than silent disdain.

Nick sighed as he swung into traffic. He’d known when he started that this wouldn’t be easy. But he’d never wanted a woman’s trust in his life as badly as he wanted Lucky’s.

The drive home was long, the conversation sparse. When they arrived, her hand was on the door before he killed the engine.

“Thank you for the ride,” she said. She had one leg out of the door before he could think of something to say.

“I guess this means I’m not invited in.”

She heard the wistfulness in his voice, but refused to let herself care. Just because he was being good to her now didn’t mean it would last.

“One ride does not constitute capitulation on my part,” she said.

Nick wanted to throttle her, but instead counted to ten before he spoke. “I don’t remember asking for capitulation, Lucky. I only asked for a second chance.”

She flushed. Her rudeness did not become her and she knew it.

“I know. But you have to understand things from my point of view. You gave me a ride. All I can give back is my thanks.”

“In other words, don’t push my luck?”

She nodded. “Or words to that effect.”

“I know I said you’re the boss, but don’t let it go to your head,” he grumbled.

She grinned and then slammed the door shut behind her.

Nick watched her long, angry stride as she started up the walk, noting the way the green fabric of her dress swung between those long legs. Then he looked away, unable to watch anything else touch her in a way he could not. When he started the car and drove away, he didn’t notice her aging landlady in the window waving, or that Lucky hadn’t climbed the stairs, but had headed toward Fluffy’s instead.

Fluffy yanked Lucky inside, kicking at the cat who made a break for the opening in the same breath that she started her inquisition.

“Well now, didn’t I see you get out of that fancy sports car?”

Lucky laughed at her landlady’s lack of tact. “You know good and well what you saw.”

Fluffy toyed with the black lace drape that served as a collar for a red organza dress that had seen better days.

“Well?” she prompted, giving Lucky a hard, inquisitive glare.

Lucky threw up her hands in disgust. “I’ve had a hard day, Fluffy. Don’t give me a harder time now.”

Fluffy relented and hugged her instead. “Come into the kitchen and have a snack with me while you tell me all about it. I’ve been cooking.”

“Again?” Lucky asked, and tried not to groan.

“You inspire me, dear,” she said. “You’re going to love it…trust me.”

The table was filled with platter upon platter of tiny finger foods. Most of them were the color of dirt. Lucky hoped that they tasted better than they looked.

“What’s this one?” she asked, pointing to an assortment of little brown lumps crowned with green sprigs that she hoped was not the catnip Fluffy grew on the back porch.

“Liverwurst on cocktail rye with watercress.”

“Ummm,” she said, and hoped that the groan passed for interest. “And how about these?” She pointed to another platter where the lumps had been formed into squares rather than droplets and had bits of something red and slimy slathered across the entire surface.

“Oh! Those are my favorites. It’s paté with pimento. I was out of diced pimento so I picked the middles out of a jar of green olives. Brilliant, right?”

Lucky laughed. Now she knew what it was that looked so slick. It was the olive oil. She tried not to shudder. Goose liver and olive-flavored pimento didn’t appeal to her as much as it must to Fluffy.

“Maybe I’ll try some of those first,” she offered, pointing to the last platter on the table. “It looks like…they sort of remind me of…” She picked one up and sniffed, then grinned. “Are these peanut butter and jelly?”

Fluffy nodded, then frowned as she poked a fingertip into the top of one near the edge of the tray. “But I got too much grape jelly in the mix and made it turn gray when it should have swirled, instead. It tastes better than it looks, you know.”

The anxious expression on her face was all it took for Lucky to choose some of everything. She told herself that if worse came to worst, she could feed what she couldn’t eat to Lucifer. That cat would eat anything without leaving crumbs behind.

“I’m sure it all tastes wonderful,” she said, and threw her arms around the aging woman’s neck. “And you’re a darling to ask me to share it. Pass me a plate.”

The smile on Fluffy’s well-painted face was all the impetus Lucky needed to stack her food high. To hell with the cat. She’d eat every bite of this if it killed her. And when she lifted a cracker square piled with pimento and paté too close to her nose, she knew that it very well might.

While Lucky basked in the glow of Fluffy’s love and attention, Nick was left to face the daunting task of trying to find out who wanted him and his father dead, and at the same time find the way into Lucky Houston’s trust.

He could tell she didn’t like to be rushed, so he vowed he would not rush her. She seemed to be frightened when he tried to move their relationship past casual friendship, so he would be just a friend first if it killed him. Even
though they had shared a kiss that rocked them both to their toes, he knew that for every step he’d taken toward her, she’d run two steps backward in return.

Hurrying into a relationship with this woman wasn’t going to happen, because if he wasn’t careful, there wouldn’t even be one at all. And when he remembered that she’d inadvertently admitted to being a virgin, he realized that there was only one way in which to proceed that wouldn’t drive her away.

For Nick, it was quite literally back to the playground. He wasn’t going to pull her hair to show her he liked her, but making no more demands upon her than a boy might make upon his first love was as far as he dared to go. And so the campaign to win Lucky Houston’s heart began.

“Time for your break,” Manny told Lucky. “Today is Maizie’s birthday. Nick had a cake delivered in her honor in the break room. She’s back there squealing and blowing out candles like there is no
mañana
.”

Luckily sighed with relief and stepped aside as another dealer moved into place. The fifteen-minute break she had coming would be more than welcome. She had a headache today that didn’t want to go away.

She headed for her locker for some aspirin, only to come up with an empty bottle instead.

“Oh, great,” she muttered. “Maybe someone has some I can borrow.”

She exited the dressing rooms, only to bump into Nick who was passing through the hall just as she tossed the empty aspirin bottle in the trash.

He guessed where she was heading. “I saved you a piece of cake.”

“I would settle for some aspirin instead,” she said, and rubbed at a spot between her eyebrows that throbbed with rhythmic regularity.

Nick’s manner changed instantly from teasing to solicitous. “Are you sick?”

She shook her head. “Just a really bad headache.”

His hand grazed her sleeve. “After you greet the birthday girl, come up to the office. I’ve got half a pharmacy in my desk.”

Come to your office?

The possible dangers of such an intimacy lasted in her mind only as long as it took the next pain to rip between her eyes.

“Well…I guess so,” she finally said.

“Don’t bother to knock,” he said. “Just come on in.”

He walked away before she could give herself time to reconsider his offer.

As she watched the way he moved through the crowd on the floor, she couldn’t help admiring his long, confident stride. She told herself that he was just another man. His kindness was nothing more than what he’d offer any of his other employees.

After giving Maizie a hug and having a bit of birthday cake, she went to Nick’s office. By that point she was about half an hour away from a real good cry.

“Here,” he said, and handed her the tablets and a glass of water. “You’ve got a few more minutes left on your break, haven’t you?”

She swallowed the medicine and then closed her eyes and nodded, praying for instant relief.

“Why don’t you lie down on my couch? It’s quiet up here. There’s no smoke or noise and I’ve got the phone off the hook. Close your eyes and take advantage of the silence while I run down to security and check out some tapes. I won’t let you go over your allotted break time…okay?”

Lucky didn’t know what to say. He had her cornered, and all he’d done was offer a quiet place to rest. No pressure, no promises she couldn’t accept.

“I guess it would be all right,” she said.

“Hey…in here, I’m the boss, remember? If I say it’s all right, then it’s all right, Lucky Lady.”

He walked out, closing the door quietly behind him. It took her exactly five seconds to consider the offer before she crawled onto the couch and rolled over on her stomach, using one arm for a pillow while trailing the other on the floor below.

She sighed and felt the tension sliding out of her body as she absorbed the solace of quiet darkness. Within minutes, she had fallen asleep.

Nick returned a short time later, wondering what he could find to talk about that wouldn’t make her mad or get him in trouble. But he found, to his delight, that talking was the last thing on her mind. Though overwhelmed by the need he felt to lie down beside her, he knew that he had to put some distance between them or get in worse trouble than he already was with this woman.

And so he sat in the chair behind his desk, as far away
from her as he could be and still stay in the same room. While he sat there, he contemplated why fate had dealt him such a hand. Day by day, he was falling deeper and deeper in love with a woman he had barely even kissed. And with every day that passed, he felt less and less certain that he would succeed in breaking the emotional barriers she kept between them.

“How, sweet lady, do I make you understand that the last thing I would ever do to you is hurt you?”

And as soon as he said it, he felt despair. There was nothing Nick could do to change her mind. Lucky was the one who would have to change. She had to learn to trust, and he didn’t know where to start.

He glanced down at his watch, then back up at the woman on his couch. It was time. He rose from behind his desk and started across the floor. A board squeaked beneath his feet and Lucky suddenly lifted up her head, her eyes wide with fright.

Shocked by her reaction to the sound, Nick stopped where he was and held up his hands.

“It’s okay, Lucky. It’s okay. It’s only me. I was coming to wake you. It’s time for you to go back on duty. Let me give you a hand.”

She sat up and rubbed her eyes, then stretched her neck, expecting pain. “My headache is gone!” The relief in her voice was unmistakable. “Thank you, Nick. Thank you so much.”

He extended his hand. Lucky hesitated only a moment before taking the help that he offered.

“It was my pleasure, sweetheart,” he said softly, and eased a strand of hair away from the corner of her eye.