Not a Fairy Tale: HarperImpulse Contemporary Romance (9 page)

The shooting pain was almost as much as he could bear. He’d need a pain pill to face the return journey, but he’d wait until Nina was distracted before he swallowed the one stashed in the pocket of his shirt.

She looked up at him through her long lashes, all innocence. “Yes, but you’ve never had to run with puppies the size of these.” She cupped her breasts and fluttered her lashes. Innocent? Yeah right.

And naturally, with an invitation like that, he couldn’t resist looking, even though he knew exactly what he would see. Nina’s breasts were gorgeous, full and round and perky. Were they natural? God, he would give anything for a feel.

He swallowed his grin. “Want to bet? When you can outrun a speeding car wearing heels, a wig and fake boobs,
then
you can complain.”

Again, they ate breakfast in the dappled sunshine of his deck before heading to the dojo, where he started her on some basic martial arts moves. Beyond the doors of their training room, out on the main floor, a class of six-year-olds were being put through the same moves.

Unlike the six-year-olds, Nina was a quick learner, with good posture and even better balance.

“You should have done martial arts rather than cheerleading,” he commented. “You could have gone far.”

Her mouth quirked. “I did go far. All the way with the school’s star football player, in the back of his father’s Beamer.” She sighed dramatically, laying a hand over her heart. “He was my first.”

He took revenge by tripping her off her feet and pinning her to the ground.

“I didn’t see that coming,” she cried. “That’s not fair!”

Neither was the fact that he couldn’t do worse to the footballer, whoever and wherever he was. It was stupid, it was irrational, but the thought of anyone laying a hand on Nina made him want to do bodily harm.

He lifted himself off her before his body could betray itself anymore. “Just for future reference, your heart is on the other side,” he said, turning away.

Lunch was nothing more than a couple of ready-made sandwiches grabbed on the way to the race track, where yet another friend of his awaited them, a former race-car driver turned stunt driver. She was certainly getting her money’s worth, being trained by some of the best in the business.

While Evan taught Nina how to shift gears and work the car’s clutch, Dom sat on the sidelines and scrolled through the gossip websites. The reporters had taken the bait. There were pictures of ‘Nina’ at the airport and a ‘source close to her’ had revealed she was on her way to a romantic tryst with the new love of her life in the Bahamas. At least Chrissie had come through for them and bought them some time.

By the time the sun dipped toward the horizon, Nina had managed several circuits of the race track without stalling Evan’s car. They pulled up in front of where Dom waited in the pit lane.

“Thank you for your time,” Nina said, kissing Evan on the cheek. Her face was flushed and her eyes bright. If that was how she looked after taking a few corners at moderate speed, he couldn’t imagine how she’d handle the adrenalin rush of being shot off an air ram.

It was after dark when Dom finally rode her home on his bike. They parked in the garage beside his shiny, new, fire-engine-red Jeep Wrangler and Dom unlocked the door and let them into the yard. Light spilled from the house and the glass sliding door on the patio stood wide. Visitors? Nina sighed. She didn’t feel up to facing any of Dominic’s sisters.

But it wasn’t one of Dom’s sisters this time. A teenaged boy sprawled on the sofa, his attention focused on the large flat-screen TV, the Wii controller in his hands.

He bore a striking resemblance to Dom, with the same light-brown hair cut short, the same green eyes. The kid was leaner and wirier than Dom, but the resemblance was so strong that she froze at sight of him. It hadn’t even occurred to her Dom might have a child. Or children.

It was one thing for him to play the devil-may-care bachelor, travelling the world, partying until all hours, a different woman every week, but if he had kids…

She shook her head. Dom didn’t seem like the kind of man who shirked his responsibilities.

“Hiya, kid,” Dom greeted him, swinging his gym bag onto an armchair. “You and your mom fighting again?”

The kid grunted a reply, his attention still riveted on the game.

“I need a shower,” Nina said. She had to cross the teen’s path. Only when she obscured the screen did he notice she was even there. He looked up and his eyes widened. “Hey, aren’t you…?”

“Yes, she is. Now get your shoes off my sofa and greet my guest.” Dom bumped the kid’s feet to the floor. “This is my nephew, Eric. Eric, this is Nina.”

Eric’s eyes were still wide. “Good going, Dom! I thought you only dated waitresses.”

“Nina and I are not dating, and whatever gave you the idea I only date waitresses?”

“Mom. She told Aunt Juliet the other day you’re never going to settle down if you keep dating waitresses and barmaids.”

“And your mother thinks you never listen to her.”

“I don’t listen when she’s talking about boring stuff. Why does she think you only date waitresses?”

Dom looked over at Nina. “Weren’t you going to have a shower?”

“It can wait. I want to hear the answer to that question, too.”

He rolled his eyes. “I don’t only date waitresses. I only date women who aren’t looking to settle down. I like women who don’t expect anything more of me than I’m willing to give. The fact that most of the women I meet who fit that description work those kinds of jobs is purely coincidental.”

Grown-up translation: he only did casual sex.

“Feel free to tell your mother that too,” he said to Eric.

“Shouldn’t you be getting married at your age?” Eric asked.

Dom sent him a quelling glare. “Now I
know
that’s your mother speaking.”

“It’s a good question. What’s wrong with getting married
at your age
?” Nina teased.

“Aren’t you the one who told a room full of people that you aren’t the marrying kind?”

“Yeah, but I’m nearly ten years younger than you.” She grinned, stepping out of his reach.

Dom rolled his eyes and headed for the kitchen. “If you’re staying for dinner, kid, you should let your mom know where you are.”

Nina headed for the shower. She’d turned it into a joke, but it wasn’t just an age thing. She had no plans for marriage and babies.
If
she married, some day in the distant future, it would be part of her career strategy, not because she was ‘settling’ for anything. And whoever she married would need to bring a great deal more to the table than even Paul had.

Her sister Jess was the settling kind, the one who’d married her college sweetheart and lived in domestic bliss, desperate for a baby to go with the picket fence.

Nina was too focused on her career to even have time for a relationship. Paul had been the first guy she’d dated in years who hadn’t complained when he came second to her career. Because she’d come second to his, too. It had been a happy arrangement until he’d spoiled it with that stupid proposal.

And until yesterday she hadn’t even contemplated living with a guy.

She showered and changed into a shift dress and sandals, dusted her face with make-up, pulled on a light cardigan against the evening air, and returned to the living room. The only concession she didn’t make to vanity was that she opted for her glasses instead of contacts.

“It’s a lovely evening,” she said, heading for the kitchen cabinets where Dom kept the crockery.

The swift look of appreciation in Dom’s gaze went a little way to soothing the knot inside her that had grown every time he’d touched her then just as quickly pulled away, as if she’d somehow stung him.

She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Shall we eat outside?”

He nodded and she moved to set the table on the deck for dinner. They ate out on the patio, in the soft yellow light of the oil lamps hanging from the grapevine trellis. Their citronella smell filled the air. The sound of distant breakers on the beach and the mellow music of the wind chime filled their silences.

“So what did you fight with your mom about this time?” Dom asked his nephew when they were done.

The boy shrugged. “She thinks she knows everything.”

“Your mom’s a pain in the ass, but she usually knows what she’s talking about.”

Eric shrugged again. “But she’s not a guy. She doesn’t understand guy stuff.”

“Want to try me?” Dom asked.

Eric was quiet for a long moment. He glanced Nina’s way and she looked away, pretending to listen to the night sounds, pretending not to hear. Just like she did in public when strangers called her name.

“There’s this girl…” Eric told his story in halting sentences. Nina stole a glance at Dom and their eyes met. He grinned, eyes crinkling, and winked.

While Eric poured out his heart to his uncle, Nina cleared away their dishes and fetched a beer for Dom and a soda for Eric. When she returned to her seat, she risked another glance down the table. Dom had schooled his expression, listening seriously to his nephew.

“Your mom might be right,” he said. “But I’m going to give you a little man-to-man advice. Girls don’t want you to talk about feelings and shit. They want you to listen to them talk. So next time a girl asks what you’re feeling, ask her how
she’s
feeling.”

Nina rolled her eyes.

“You don’t agree?” Dom asked.

She turned to Eric. “I don’t think you should be asking your uncle for dating advice. He might be great at getting a woman into bed, but he’s not so great at keeping her there. If you’re serious about this girl, you need to talk to her. You need to tell her you what you feel for her.”

“Give the kid a break. He’s only sixteen. He’s hardly looking for a life partner right now.”

Eric nodded fervently. “Exactly.”

“And neither’s she.” Nina shrugged. “But what do I know? I just remember what it was like being a 16-year-old girl.”

“Did you have a serious boyfriend at 16?”

“Not exactly.” That had been her
annus horribilis
, the year she preferred to forget. She’d had bigger worries on her mind than who she’d be going to the movies with on a Friday night. “The only thing a girl of any age wants is a boy she can be herself with. No pressure. No expectations. So start by being her friend first.”

Eric nodded slowly. “I can do that, I guess.”

“Why don’t you bring her round here sometime? We can go to the skate park and you can hang with your cool uncle.” Dom suggested.

Eric didn’t look convinced and Nina laughed. “Yeah, because what every kid wants is to hang out with
old
people like us.”

Eric’s expression brightened. “Would you be there?”

She shook her head. His girlfriend didn’t need to see Eric starstruck over a famous movie actress. Nina knew exactly how that would feel. Not unlike how she’d felt walking down the red carpet at the
Vanity Fair
party a few yards behind Scarlett Johansson. “I’m lying low. I probably shouldn’t be seen in such a public place just yet.” She caught Dom’s eye. “Though I’ve always wanted to learn to skateboard.”

“Didn’t you once skateboard in an episode of your TV show?” Eric asked.

“That was my stunt double.”

“The unsung heroes of the movies,” Dom said.

“Yeah, your lot make my lot look so good.” She grinned back. “But I did my own roller blading, if that’ll make you think better of me.”

After Eric left, Nina moved to pack the dishwasher while Dom took out the trash. Then he came to stand beside her, arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the counter.

“Eric’s mother, Moira, is my eldest sister. She’s very bossy, but she hasn’t had it easy. She married her college sweetheart, then a few years ago he left her for his dental hygienist. He’s moved back east and started a new family, and Eric misses having a man to talk to.”

Nina closed the dishwasher door. “You seem to be doing a pretty good job.”

He uncrossed his arms and stepped closer, crowding her in against the dishwasher. His mouth curved in that crooked grin. “That’s not what you thought earlier. And I’m good at getting women into bed, am I?”

“So rumor has it.” She batted her long eyelashes, which was hard to do with glasses on. That was the one distinct disadvantage of having eyelashes other women would kill for. “Are you flirting with me, Mr. Kelly? Because if you are, I should probably warn you that I’ll expect you to follow through.”

He held her gaze. Now that it was clear that he wanted no-strings, and she wanted no-strings, commitment-free, completely-not-settling-down fun, would Dom make a move?

Her body thrummed with anticipation.

No such luck.

He stepped back.

“Following through would be a very bad idea. Sleep well. We leave for our run at six- thirty sharp tomorrow morning.”

He turned and headed upstairs to his room, and she was left in need of yet another shower. A cold one this time.

Dom hadn’t been kidding when he said there’d be no time for play.

Every morning started with a run on the beach, and every morning she woke swearing, desperate for another ten minutes of sleep. On the plus side, he hauled her out of bed so early they practically had the beach to themselves. The few surfers who were there before them seemed to know Dom and, beyond a waved greeting, left them alone.

For Nina, it was bliss to hang out in a public place without having to pose for pictures or sign autographs. Not that she got to hang out much. Every day Dom pushed her further, and though she was sure her legs wouldn’t make the distance, every day she felt stronger and fitter. By the end of her first week she was able to run the full distance from pier to pier without feeling as if she wanted to die.

Back again was a different matter.

By the time they returned home each day, she was wide awake, fully focused – and ravenous. Wendy was usually there before them, and as they ate breakfast she ran through all Nina’s business: the invitations, phone calls, scripts, and errands.

After breakfast, Dom and Nina spent several hours at the dojo, where they worked on her tumbling and martial arts skills, and on strengthening her core muscles. This was her favorite part of the day, just the two of them together, laughing, joking, teasing.

The afternoons weren’t so easy. Some days, they practiced shooting clay pigeons at an outdoor range in the hills. Some days she had driving lessons with Evan. Not just driving – by the end of her first week he had her doing hand-brake turns and controlled skids. And one afternoon Dom took her trampolining. She could barely walk after that one.

She needn’t have worried about being alone with Dom. They were hardly ever alone. He had so many visitors drop by in the evenings, she began to wonder if he’d planned it. His nephew and niece, his sisters, his friends, even his neighbors stopped by one evening to share a bottle of wine. Nina refused to feel guilty for hiding out in her room and pretending to sleep. Exhaustion wasn’t merely a convenient excuse to avoid being sociable. Every night she was so tired that she dragged her aching body to bed at least two hours earlier than her usual bedtime.

But just because she didn’t have time or energy didn’t mean she didn’t think about sex. A lot.

Every time Dom touched her, she thought about sex. And he touched her a lot. Massaging her calves when she got a cramp, a hand on her arm or her shoulder or her waist as he corrected her stance or showed her how to do a move, his hand against her lower back as he guided her through a door…

It was so long since someone had touched her in any way that wasn’t intended as foreplay. It drove her so crazy, it might as well have been foreplay.

But while her temperature seemed to spike so often she was sure she had to be running in a state of constant fever, Dom appeared completely unaffected. It was impossible to miss that he was a tactile person. So how was it possible that he, the legendary seducer of anything in a skirt, didn’t feel as desperately tempted as she did to take this further?

As much as she thought about it, she made no move to take it further either, though. Her fragile self-esteem couldn’t take any more rejection from him.

“I haven’t heard from you since forever,” Jess complained. “Why don’t you call me anymore?”

Nina shifted the phone to her other ear. “I’m sorry, Sis. Dom’s been working me so hard I barely get a moment to sit.”

“How
is
the hottie?”

“Still hot. Have the reporters stopped calling?”

“Yes, thank heavens! They all want to know where in the Caribbean you are. You won’t believe some of the things I’ve been offered in return for a tip-off. They tell me you’re with your new lover. Is there anything I should know?”

“Nothing at all.”

“You and Dominic haven’t…?”

“Definitely not! How’s Gran?”

“She’s good. She asked me to tell you that you did the right thing. She saw one of Paul’s movies the other day, the one where he plays that crooked cop, and she decided he’s far too intense for someone delicate like you.”

Nina laughed. She’d never felt more delicate than she did right now. Even her bruises had bruises.

“So how’s the training going?” Jess asked. “Or more to the point, how are you coping living in someone else’s space?”

“I’ve lost at least five pounds.” Not the answer her sister was looking for, she knew.

“Any idea yet if this ploy of yours is working?”

“Nothing.” But then she’d been too preoccupied this week to beat Dane’s door down for updates. “What’s new on your side?”

“We’ve decided to try for one more IVF.” Her sister dropped the bombshell as if she were discussing going out to buy milk and bread. Maybe, after nearly five years of trying, that’s what it had become.

“Can you afford it?” Nina’s heart contracted as she spoke. It was a stupid question. Of course Jess couldn’t afford it, but she’d do it anyway. Her sister wanted this baby so much she’d bankrupt herself for the chance. “Just tell me how much and I’ll cover the costs.”

“You don’t have to.”

“Don’t be silly. Of course I want to help.”

And money was by far the easiest way to help. She still wasn’t entirely sure if her sister’s comments over Christmas dinner had been serious or not. “You could have one for me,” she’d said. “It’s not like your lifestyle would have to change. We’d raise the baby.”

Nina prayed it was Jess’s sick idea of a joke. She loved her sister and wanted her to be happy, but there was no way she was putting her body through pregnancy for anyone. Bloating, stretch marks, scars… she had enough trouble keeping herself in peak shape without
that
. Not to mention half a year off work… There was no way she’d be able to play a role as physical as Sonia with a baby growing inside her.

“Thank you.” Jessica gulped down an uncharacteristic sob on the other end of the line. “So what do you have planned for the weekend?”

For the first time in forever, Nina didn’t have any plans. No parties, no red-carpet events, no ‘show your face to the producers’ visits to fancy restaurants.

“I’m hoping I get to catch up on some sleep this weekend.”

Dom, entering the kitchen where she sat perched on a stool at the counter, shook his head. “We work,” he mouthed.

Her heart gave a tiny skip.

“Dom’s telling me he’s going to make me work all weekend.” She sighed dramatically. “He’s such a slave driver.”

“Then why do you sound so happy?” her sister asked.

“I’m hanging up now,” Nina warned. “Give my love to Lucas and to Gran.”

“Who’s Lucas?” Dom asked, stretching out on the sofa in the living room.

Nina moved to sit beside him. “My brother-in-law.” She eyed the big bowl of buttery popcorn between them on the sofa. She couldn’t remember when last she’d eaten popcorn. Quite possibly not since she was 16 and she’d decided to make herself over as the new, slimline, popular Nina. “What’s on TV tonight?”

“You’re not going to bed yet?” There was a glint in his eye.

“It’s Friday night. I’m going big.” And for once there were no visitors. No one she needed to keep up appearances for, and no reason to hide in the guest bedroom.

Dom offered her the bowl. She shook her head. But it wasn’t the most convincing shake. Surely she could risk one tiny handful? But that was the thing with popcorn – once started it was impossible to stop.

“I thought you were going big?” he asked, the glint turning into that full-blown, mischievous grin.

No one here but Dominic to see if she snuck the smallest handful of popcorn. She pressed her lips shut, but that couldn’t stop the smell of warm, buttery popcorn from teasing her nostrils. Her mouth watered.

“Was that your sister on the phone? Tell me about your family.” He reached into the popcorn at the same moment she did and she snatched her hand back as if she’d been bitten.

She shrugged, sitting on her hands to stop them straying again. “There’s not much to tell. Typical nuclear family: mom, dad, two kids. End of story.”

“Sounds very normal. So what makes them such superheroes?”

She shrugged, hoping it appeared offhand and not as tense as she suddenly felt. “They’re all first responders of some kind. Cops or nurses or firemen. Jess is a trauma counselor for FEMA and her husband works for FEMA, too. My mother’s a nurse. These days she works with the Red Cross, travelling all over the world from one disaster to the next.”

“And your father?”

“He died when I was 16. Then we moved in with my Gran. She was a nurse in Korea. That’s where she met my grandfather.”

They were all heroes, saving the world in their own ways. All except Nina, who was the only one who’d ‘chased her own self-serving ambitions’ as her mother had so delicately put it the last time they’d been in the same room together.

She was the anti-Sonia.

Dom nodded, seeing way more than she wanted him to see. She tried not to squirm under his gaze.

“Does your sister have children yet?”

Ouch. She shook her head.

“Is she older or younger?”

“Older, by just 18 months.”

He grimaced. “Two years between me and Juliet.”

“I can’t imagine how your mother stayed sane with five children. And something tells me you were just as much work as the other four put together.”

He laughed. “Yes, but I had five mothers. Juliet may only have been a toddler when I was born, but she picked it up from the others soon enough.”

“I noticed.” Though his housekeeper, Hana, came in three days a week, his sisters still babied him. They dropped in unannounced with fresh groceries. Sometimes it was just a note on the kitchen counter. One day there was a calendar page with a date the following week circled in red and the word
arthroplasty
.

“What’s an arthroplasty?” she’d asked.

Dom screwed up the page. “Nothing.”

Nina stretched now beside him on the couch, her arm brushing against his as she crossed them over her chest. Anything to keep them away from that bowl of temptation. As she turned her head, she caught the flare of interest in Dom’s eyes, a moment before he suppressed it. Hmm…maybe not so unaffected after all?

She couldn’t give in to one temptation, but the other… “My neck is sore. Will you massage it for me?” she asked.

He nodded and sat up straighter on the couch, moving the bowl of popcorn aside. She allowed herself a momentary victory grin as she moved to sit before him on the floor and pulled off her shirt.

His intake of breath was audible. Definitely not as unaffected as he made it seem.

She sat before him wearing nothing but a pair of leggings and her lacy black bra, praying no one would choose this moment to drop by. Her eyes fluttered closed as Dom kneaded and massaged her neck and shoulders. His fingers were warm and supple, strong enough to work out the kinks in her muscles, gentle enough that the usual fantasy began to spin itself through her head. She closed her eyes and let it play against her eyelids.

She knew what he was. She knew he’d had more women than she cared to think about. If scuttlebutt on set was true, sometimes he’d had more than one at a time, too.

But she’d also heard enough from her make-up stylist to know that sex with Dom would be good. Better than good. It could be life-altering.

And considering she and Paul had been nothing more than okay together… she couldn’t quite suppress a needy moan at the thought of just how good that orgasm could be.

Dom jerked his hands off her and she blinked her eyes open.

“It’s late,” he said. “You should get to bed. We have another early start tomorrow.”

Fine. If that’s what he wanted. But she didn’t put her shirt back on when she rose.

As she got ready for bed and set her alarm clock she heard Gran’s voice.
Do something that scares you every day
.

Gran had encouraged Nina to chase her dreams, to become an actress when everyone else said it was a long shot and a bad idea, and she should stay in college and get a real job.

Nina pulled the bed covers over her head and lay still in the dark, listening for the soft sounds of movement from the floor above, where Dom was also getting ready for bed.

No matter how well he pretended to be unaffected by the chemistry sizzling between them, he wasn’t that good an actor. The same tension that bubbled beneath her skin affected him too, she was sure of it.

Tomorrow she would do something very scary and she’d make a move. If he shot her down again, then so be it. She’d swallow the rejection and put him out of her mind – somehow – and get on with her life. But if he didn’t… she smiled into the pillow. If he didn’t shoot her down, it could be life-altering.

On Saturday morning, Nina only hit the snooze button once before Dom strode into the room and stripped the bed covers off her. “I want you ready to hit the beach in ten minutes.”

“Go away,” she grumbled. “It’s Saturday.”

“You don’t get weekends off, and you’re late again,” he barked, suppressing a grin.

She lifted her head off the pillows and craned her neck to look at the illuminated face of the alarm clock. He didn’t need to look to know what numbers stood there.

Nina gasped. “Half past eight? How did it get so late? I am
so
sorry.” She swung her legs out of the bed. “Okay, I’ll be ready in ten minutes.”

“You have five.”

“What happened to the ten minutes you told me I had?!”

“You wasted five of them arguing with me.” He ducked out the door before she could throw anything at him, and headed back to the kitchen to make them fruit smoothies, allowing himself a grin only when her bedroom door closed between them.

He swallowed as Nina entered the kitchen. She stood with hands on her hips, looking like an angry pixie. “I checked my cell phone. It’s not even six yet!”

He unpeeled his tongue from the roof of his mouth and held out a tall smoothie glass to her. “Good, then you have time for this before our run.”

She didn’t move to take it, so he set it down on the counter.

“You should thank me. I finally fixed that problem with your alarm clock.”