Resisting Her Rival (4 page)

Nick shot Abby an amused grin and answered. “We’re not. I think Abby would prefer to have my head mounted over the fireplace rather than date me.”

“I know what you’re thinking, Granddaddy, and you can stop it right there. Nick and I are not and will never be courting, dating, sleeping together, or even
thinking
about sleeping together.” Why did her voice have to crack when she’d said that last part? She already knew she was lying to herself. That didn’t mean she wanted everyone else to know.

“Then what’s going on? I might be an old man, but I picked up on the unfriendly way Abby’s acted toward you in the past. Now all of a sudden you’re cooking for her. Real friendly like,” Noah pointed out.

“You’d have to ask her the reason behind her earlier unfriendliness,” Nick said with a wink and a cheeky grin. He set a container of eggs on the counter and searched for a frying pan. “You like omelets, Abby?”

She nodded, and deciding it was best to throw some kind of explanation Noah’s way, Abby said, “You remember I told you about needing to expand the diner?”

“I do. You’ve been looking for a building.”

“Right. Well, Nick is trying to steal the building I want to buy.”

Unwrapping a block of cheese, Nick opened drawers until he found a knife. “Uh-uh. Don’t try to make me the villain. I did not try to steal it. All I did was talk to Oscar and show interest in the place.”

“Oh. If that’s all that’s going on, I’ll say good night.” Standing up abruptly, Noah yawned and stretched. “You don’t need me here in the middle of your sparring. I’ll head on to my room and give you two some privacy.”

Narrowing her eyes at how quickly he’d decided to leave, Abby said, “I mean it, Granddaddy.”

“What? I’m going to watch some television in my room. There are some reruns airing I don’t want to miss.”

“You don’t fool me.”

“I can’t believe you don’t trust me.” Noah’s voice was pitiful as he came around the table and kissed her cheek.

Abby tugged the front of his shirt. “Why don’t we revisit, in detail, what you did to Chad and Amelia?”

“Be nice,” Noah grumbled and shuffled out of sight.

Once Noah was gone, Nick was the first to break the silence. “What isn’t he fooling you about?”

“I can guarantee you that he’s in his room calling Henry so fast his fingers are likely to set a world record.” Abby watched the assured way Nick moved about the kitchen. She’d noticed that same assurance when they’d danced before. When he’d poured her wine. When he’d kissed her and left her hungry for more. When she’d ached for him.

Realizing he was staring at her with a quizzical expression, Abby blinked and gathered her runaway thoughts. “Sorry, what? I got lost in thought.”

“I asked if you wanted any bell pepper in your omelet.”

“Yes, but I can cut it.” Abby got up and hurried to take the pepper, hoping that keeping busy would steer her mind clear of Nick and his damned assurance. Bending, she took the chopping block from the cabinet and set it on the counter. Her hands weren’t quiet steady.

What is
wrong with me?

Obviously, she’d been working too hard. Coupled with not getting enough sleep, that was a bad combination. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be looking at Nick the way she was.

Behind her, he put his hand over hers when she reached for a knife. So much strength in his touch. Yet he’d been so gentle.

“I want to do it all,” he said slowly.

Goose bumps crept along Abby’s forearms. The warmth of his body heat behind her made it difficult to concentrate. One step backward and her body would be flush against his. Letting go of the knife, she managed to say, “I hope you’re referring to the cooking.”

“Of course. What are
you
referring to?”

Abby stepped quickly to the left to put some space between them and took two glasses from the cupboard. “What do you want?”

“Anything you have to offer.”

She shot him a sharp glance. “Some of my granddaddy’s prune juice?”

Nick laughed. “Touché.
Almost
anything you want to offer.” His laughter faded, and his expression turned serious. “This is nice spending time together. Even though we both want the same building, it doesn’t have to mean that we can’t develop a friendship while you fall in love with me.”

“I won’t fall for you, no matter what you say or do.” Abby rolled her eyes. “And you want us to become allies when we’re on opposite sides of a building war?” she asked in disbelief.

Nick slid two fluffy omelets onto plates and set them on the table. “We’re not at war. More like at odds with each other.”

“No.” Abby put a couple of forks on the table and took a seat. In all fairness, she had to make Nick understand what he was up against. “We
are
at war, and I will use everything in my power to make sure that you lose.”

Nick reached for the napkins. His lips quirked in a half smile. “Such as?”

“Whatever it takes.”

“Right back at you, Abby. I can handle it.” He sat across from her. “Unlike you, I seem to recall that though we’re pretty evenly matched, I know how to perform better…tactical maneuvers.”

Abby picked up her fork and pointed it at him. “That sounds like ego talking to me.”

“It’s not ego if you can back it up.”

Abby reached for the pepper shaker. “You do not want to get into this battle, Nick. I know that retreat is not in an ex-Marine’s vocabulary, but you should bow out while you still have your dignity because I don’t intend to lose.”

“There’s no such thing as an ex-Marine. I still bleed green, honey, and I’ve never run from a fight in my life, especially one where the stakes are this high.”

“That building is important to me.”

“Go ahead and give it your best shot.” His gaze touched on her lips.

Abby did her best to ignore the heated look in his eyes. “Oh, I plan to. You’ll never even see it coming.” She smiled, then cut a bite of the omelet and popped it into her mouth to distract herself.
So the man can cook on top of all his other accomplishments
.

“I just hope that you stay in such…” She paused, deliberately allowing her gaze to travel over every delicious inch of him that she could see. “…Good shape. When you renovate the building for me, you’ll need all your strength.”

“Nice to know you’ve noticed my shape.”

“No holds barred, anything goes in this battle. Agreed?” Abby said.

“Agreed. I look forward to seeing you surrender. Again.”

Gritting her teeth, Abby wagged her fork at him. “No innuendoes.”

“Backtracking already? You said no holds barred. If you can’t take the heat—”

“Oh, I can take it.”

“I know that.”

He was deliberately trying to fluster her, to bring everything back to that night. Breathing in through her nose, Abby silently counted to three. “I’m going to do my best to make your life hell,” she promised.

Nick leaned his head back and laughed. “I don’t mind the fire, sweetheart. I like it hot. But you’re forgetting I hold an ace.”

Frowning, Abby pushed back the rest of the omelet she couldn’t finish. “What ace?”

“I’m only fighting you for the building. I already know that I want you, so I’m not distracted by that battle. You, on the other hand, will be fighting yourself. You can’t even admit that you want me.”

“That’s not true,” Abby said. Granted, her feelings for Nick were purely sexual and her heart wasn’t involved, but just because she’d had a moment of weakness didn’t mean she was going to continue to puddle at Nick’s feet.
Anymore
. So what if he had that damned sexy smile? That body that— Abby hopped off that train of thought.
Dammit, exactly whose team is my mind on?

“Not fighting yourself, huh?” Easing up from the table, Nick grinned as if he could read her thoughts and picked up his empty plate. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

…

Several hours later, Nick rolled over in bed and punched his pillow. The moon peeked insistently through the window by his bed, illuminating the room. In the distance, a neighbor’s dog barked.

He’d only been able to catnap throughout the night and woke at every little sound. The clock ticked slowly toward a quarter past four, and his mind lingered on Abby. On her lips, her curves. Poking at her probably hadn’t won him any points, but he was damned if he was going to let her forget how good it had been.

Rolling over onto his back, he put his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. He just wished that
he
could forget. He was sick of standing under the cold shower when he couldn’t get Abby out of his mind. A man could develop pneumonia that way. Or shrivel up and… Was that a mosquito hawk on the ceiling? He squinted. He hated those things.

The doorbell pealed, and Nick felt like a fist had hit him in the center of his chest. Middle of the night always meant bad news. His mind went to his brother Elliot, an officer with the SEALs, who was often sent to handle bad situations. He leaped from the bed in one movement, stumbled over his shoes, and hopped, cursing, into the living room.

Jerking open the front door, he came face-to-face with Abby. He scanned her expression for any sign of distress, but she looked calm and beautiful as always. Relieved it wasn’t bad news about his brother, Nick said, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.” She reached into the pocket of her blue jeans. When she opened her hand, she held his wristwatch and wallet. “You left these on the counter.”

He’d taken off the watch when he’d washed up the dishes for her afterward in an attempt to make her think he was a great catch, but he didn’t remember taking out his wallet.

“Well, when you said there were no holds barred, you meant it. It’s the middle of the night. Hoping I’ll end up too tired to concentrate and make a mistake that gives you the upper hand?”

“Not at all,” she said in a voice as smooth as spreading butter over pancakes. “I’m on my way to the diner to get things started for the breakfast crowd. Your house was on the way. I assumed you might need your wallet.” She dumped both items into his hand and did a slow perusal of his body before she smirked. “Nice boxers, Batman.”

Nick looked down at the comic book hero boxers one of his brothers had given him for their family’s annual Christmas Eve gag gift. He normally never wore them, but he’d run out of clean laundry because he’d been busy finishing up two small renovation projects in the last week.

Changing the subject, he said, “Do you keep this schedule every day?”

“I like the early hours. But I understand your surprise. Most men couldn’t handle everything that I do.”

Nick raised his eyebrows. “Most women couldn’t handle everything that I do.”

She made a disbelieving noise and crossed her arms over the black Beatles Abbey Road T-shirt she wore. “I’ll bet I could.”

“And I bet I could take on whatever you handle.”

A sly smile slid across her lips, and Nick forced himself not to dwell on them.

“It’s a deal. Get dressed and I’ll wait for you.” She looked real happy about what she’d said. Too happy.

“Now?” Nick asked, knowing he’d just been outmaneuvered. She was up to something.

“Unless you want to power down and go back to bed? Leave the hard days to the ‘little woman’ maybe?”

“Come in. Give me a couple of minutes to get dressed.” Nick stepped aside so she could sweep past him. He didn’t know what he was getting himself into, but how hard could it be? She owned a diner.

Abby trailed her fingers along the arm of the comfortable leather sofa. “I’m not sure you’re up to this. It’ll be physically and mentally demanding.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” He caught the way her gaze roamed over his chest and lower, then lingered for a moment before she quickly looked away with a faint flush to her cheeks.

“Will you
please
go put some clothes on?”

She’s not as unaffected by me as she likes to pretend
. Nick grinned, and she scowled when she caught his delight.

“Back in a second.” Nick headed into the bedroom and flicked on the light switch, blinking at the sudden brightness. He grabbed a plain blue T-shirt off the back of a chair, sniffed it, and then tossed it aside. He had to get some laundry done.

From his closet, he grabbed the last shirt he had and quickly slid it on. If Abby thought he couldn’t take whatever she dished out, she was mistaken and he’d prove it.

While he might not be firing on all six cylinders on so little sleep when it was still dark thirty outside, he could handle whatever Abby was up to.

Bring it on.

Chapter Four

“Abby.” Amelia gaped as she lined up slices of freshly baked bread. “I cannot believe you’d be so underhanded. That’s not like you.”

Abby stopped stirring a pot of chili and looked at Amelia, then over at her other sister, Ann.
I will not feel guilty about this. Okay, maybe I feel a little guilty.
She glanced toward the diner’s open back door where she could see Nick still hard at work. He’d unloaded boxes from the truck for the past few hours. He’d taken his shirt off, and his muscled torso was a walking advertisement for a Hollywood superhero movie.

Captain America. No, more defined than that. Thor. Definitely Thor.

“If you can quit gawking long enough, could you explain why you’re doing this?” Amelia prompted as she fitted thick pieces of specialty dill cheese onto the bread.

“I warned him. Nick said he could handle whatever I gave him.” Abby couldn’t help but feel pleased with herself. Nick had no idea how difficult it could be to run the diner. Though she had employees, she was the number one go-to person for everything.

“But you don’t normally restock and do inventory on the same day, especially when you’re preparing food for a catering job on top of that. There’s all this chaos along with an exhausting to-do list. Are you really going to do that to him?” Ann asked.

Moving a box of lettuce away from a crate of red apples, Abby shrugged and when she was met with silence, turned to face her sisters again. “Don’t give me those side-eye looks. Nick and I are at war, and I have to get him to give up. I can’t lose that building. Look at how cramped I am.” Abby swept her arms around the kitchen. “Is it or is it not true that I need the space?”

“The way the business has grown, you do need the room,” Amelia said, nodding her head in agreement.

“Plus, with you handling more catering orders and having to hire temporary help for that, I agree that you need to expand,” Ann added.

“I’m all for the expansion. I’ve noticed how butt-bumping cramped it is when several people are trying to work in the kitchen,” Amelia said as she coated a pan with spices and slid the bread and cheese onto it.

“Then why the lack of enthusiasm from you two?” Abby demanded. She would have thought after telling them about Nick’s bid to steal the building out from under her that they would be on her side.

“You’ve just always been so above board with everything you do,” Amelia said. “This feels, I don’t know, sneaky somehow.”

“Above board? You mean the same way you were when you stole Chad the morning of his wedding? You don’t think that was sneaky?” Abby asked.

“That’s not really a fair comparison. While I regret some of the stuff that went on during that time, I don’t have any regrets now. I love the end result,” Amelia said.

“Because you believed you were doing the right thing and it turned out well,” Abby retorted. She walked to the sink and started washing apples for the apple cobbler she’d need to make later. Every summer the dish turned out to be one of her best-selling desserts.

“I also think,” she said when her sisters didn’t answer, “that I’m doing the right thing. Besides, Nick slash Thor can handle a little hard work.”

When a timer, sounded, she stopped washing apples and grabbed a couple of potholders to pull a peach pie from the oven.

When she set it aside, Ann stopped mincing onions and said, “Ooh, if you’re cutting that, I’ll have a slice.”

“I’m not cutting it. It’s for Oscar.” Abby grinned when her sisters looked at each other and then burst into laughter.

“So you’re working both ends? Battling Nick and appealing to Oscar’s sweet tooth?” Amelia asked.

“Girl’s got to hedge her bets.” Abby slid the pie into a container. She’d known Oscar longer than Nick had. Oscar might have said for her and Nick to work the sale out between themselves, but she was certain she could convince Oscar to sell to her. Even if she lost the bet. Which would never happen. Still, it never hurt to be careful. “Keep Nick busy while I go deliver this.”

“If you’re going next door, Nick’s got a clear view. He’ll see you,” Ann warned.

“Oscar went to the park to walk his dog. I’m headed there.” Giving her sisters a cheeky grin, Abby grabbed her purse in one hand and the pie in the other. Exiting the kitchen, she was immediately waylaid by a waitress.

“Abby, the woman in the corner booth is upset and says she needs to speak with someone about her bill.”

Abby looked toward the corner but didn’t recognize the elderly woman. “Hold Oscar’s pie for a minute.” She handed over the sweet treat to the waitress and made her way to the booth.

The older woman looked up when Abby approached. She had white hair and warm brown eyes, reminding Abby of someone. The minute Abby approached, the woman spoke in a wavering voice. “I’m sorry. I can’t pay for my meal. I don’t know what happened to my money.”

Tears sprang to the woman’s eyes and her hands shook as she produced an empty wallet and desperately searched through it. “I put it all in there when I left Texas this morning. I’ve driven a few hundred miles, and I had it when I filled up for gas. I don’t know where I could have lost it.”

“It’s not a problem,” Abby said gently, her heart going out to the woman. “Really. Lunch is on the house.”

The woman let out a long sigh. “I shouldn’t have come, not after all these years. I thought I’d know what to say, how to make up for my son’s actions. I got all the way to Kathleen’s door and—” She broke off and looked past Abby’s shoulder. “Nick.” There was relief and delight in the woman’s tone.

Turning, Abby brushed against Nick, and he put his hands on her hips to steady her, but she could tell his focus wasn’t on what his hands were doing. Instead, his attention was solely on the older woman. “Grandma, why are you here?”

The older woman’s lips quivered. “I wanted to talk to your mother.”

Nick exhaled slowly, and Abby felt his breath on the side of her neck. She shivered and stepped back, wanting to give them privacy and needing to be away from Nick’s searing touch. “Excuse me.”

“Abby, wait.” Nick stopped her with a hand to her arm. “This is my grandmother, Eunice, my father’s mother.”

Ah. The absentee father. Abby didn’t know the whole story, just rumors she’d heard in high school, but she could clearly see the pain on the other woman’s face.

Eunice reached out with her shaking hand toward Abby. “Oh, are you Nick’s wife?”

“I don’t have a wife, Grandma,” Nick said gently. “You’re thinking of Elliot. He and Sara have been separated for a while.”

Eunice frowned. “Oh. Of course.” She pressed a hand up to smooth her white hair, her eyes taking on a faraway look. She gave a self-deprecating laugh. “The memory’s not so good.”

“I’ve got to run an errand,” Abby said, backing away. “It was nice meeting you.”

As she turned to leave, she heard Eunice say, “Nick, I can’t find my money and that nice young woman there told me not to worry about paying for my meal.”

Abby was halfway back to the waitress to collect the pie when Nick caught up with her. “I need to stay and talk to my grandmother, but I wanted to say thanks.”

“No big deal. When was the last time you saw her?”

“She lives in Texas. I went to see her last year. I wanted—” Nick shook his head. “Never mind. It’s a long story. I’ll take care of her lunch bill.”

“It’s okay, really.”

The waitress approached Abby as a crowd flowed into the diner. “I’d better get back to work. Here’s Oscar’s pie.”

Abby looked at Nick.

His brows rose, and he folded his arms. “You think taking a pie to Oscar will help you win points?”

“You never know,” she said.

“You’ll have to do better than a pie.” Nick leaned closer and inhaled the scent. “Peach. My favorite.”

Abby moved the pie away. “Why will I have to do better than this? I happen to know that Oscar loves my desserts.”

“While you were busy putting that pie together, I sent one of your busboys to Oscar with a nice lunch and dessert.”

“From
my
diner?”

Nick wagged his cell phone. “Yes, and he left a voicemail saying he loved it. Said it was very thoughtful of me.” Sliding the phone back into the pocket of his jeans, Nick smirked. “Admit it. You underestimated your opponent.”

Why didn’t I think of feeding Oscar a meal?
He loved her chili.

Nick was doing the same thing she was. Despite him saying that they could decide who bought the building, Nick was trying to sway Oscar, too. Not for a second would she let him see how much that irked her. “Well, we can discuss this when we go pick up some supplies this afternoon.”

“More supplies?” Nick asked with a frown. “On a Sunday?”

Abby nodded, trying to hide her glee at his dismay. “I had to switch from my other supplier after they raised their prices. This new one is open seven days a week, and since I always stock up on paper goods at the same time I do inventory, I might as well take you along to help.”

“They don’t deliver?”

“They do, but by picking it up myself, I save on the delivery charge.”

“Oh, all right. Still going to take the pie to Oscar?”

Abby shoved it at Nick so that it bumped his chest. “No. Enjoy.”
That sneaky rat.
She marched back into the kitchen and told her sisters what had happened.

“So he out-sneaked you,” Ann said with a laugh as she elbowed Amelia. “I’d say our sister has met her match. I can’t remember ever seeing her so flustered over a guy.”

“You wait and see. Abby’s next on Cupid’s hit list. We’ll be dancing at her wedding before you know it,” Amelia said, joining in the laughter.

“Knock if off, you two. I’m not interested in Nick that way.”

“For someone who’s not interested, your face sure tells a different story every time you look at him. You practically drool,” Amelia said.

“Who wouldn’t? Every time he takes his shirt off, he looks like a mythical god.” Abby tried to prevent her mind from thinking about Nick shirtless, but the images refused to go away. Neither would the thoughts about him. He didn’t seem at all like the kind of guy she’d pegged him as.

“And how many times have you seen him with his shirt off? Some private sessions maybe?” Ann asked.

“Stop needling me, Ann. Shouldn’t you be baking?” Her sister’s shop, Chocolate Cravings
,
had thrived from the first week it was open for business. She’d recently landed a contract to supply her gourmet truffles to an exclusive department store in New York.

Even though she wished her sister the best, Abby missed her help with the diner’s books. Ann had always had a head for numbers. Unlike herself. Left up to her own devices, she struggled for hours every week over balancing the records.

“I’m letting my manager handle today so that I can have the day off,” Ann said. “Soon as I heard about the building battle, I popped over to help. I didn’t want to miss any of the good stuff.”

“You’re going to be disappointed. It’s all very civilized,” Abby said.

“For now,” Ann retorted with a wink.

Amelia regarded Abby as she loaded one of the grilled cheese sandwiches onto a plate to fulfill an order. “Does Nick know that you don’t normally come in to work this early?”

“No,” Abby said. “Before you feel sorry for him, though, on the way over this morning, I agreed that I’d take the day off and go work on a project with him tomorrow. So I’m sure he’ll get his payback.”

“He does renovations. You can’t even hammer a nail straight,” Ann protested, exchanging an alarmed look with Amelia.

“She’s right. You mangle nails,” Amelia said.

“So I’ll be a supervisor.” Abby grinned. “I can wear a hard hat and bark orders with the best of them.”

…

Working to keep his voice down so the entire diner wouldn’t know his business, Nick said, “Grandma, there’s nothing he can say to make up for what he did to us.”

“Honey, your father made a mistake.”

Mistake
. A word designed to pretty up those ugly actions. Actions that had left him hiding in closets as a kid and staying out as late as possible to avoid home.

Clenching his jaw, Nick said, “The last time I saw him, I was just a skinny kid. He knocked me around and tried to beat the hell out of Crawford. The only reason he wasn’t successful was because Elliot and I stood up to him. It wasn’t the first time. How is any of that a mistake?”

“I know this sounds like I’m making an excuse for my son, but he was only out of control when he was drinking. He started drinking because he couldn’t handle the loss. He went to rehab, and he hasn’t had a drink since. He’s a changed man.” Hands shaking, Eunice toyed with a tissue.

“He went into rehab because he was court ordered to.” Nick leaned back and took a deep breath to calm the tightness inside his chest. He hated the memories of the night his mother had to dial 9-1-1. The thunder growling so loudly. The flashing lights from the police car coming in through the tiny bedroom window, lighting up the room with alternating red and blue.

“I’m glad he’s stayed sober, but it doesn’t erase what he did.” Nick swallowed, trying to mentally shake the trip down memory lane. “The rest of us managed to hold ourselves together after Laney’s death.”

“I know that, but losing your baby sister to SIDS… She was the apple of his eye.” Eunice dabbed at her eyes with the tissue.

“Do you think the rest of us loved her any less?”

“No, of course I don’t. After you visited me, I realized that I’d let the shame of his actions and my own rob me of watching you boys grow up. I stayed away because I thought you all must hate me. I shouldn’t have. I could have been a help to Kathleen.”

“We managed.”

“I’m so sorry, Nick. I want to talk to your mother, to apologize for your father’s actions and mine.” She reached out with her blue-veined hand and patted the back of his hand. “I want a chance to make things right.”

Nick was struck by how much she’d aged since he’d seen her last. He took another deep breath. He and his brothers had stopped referring to John Coleman as their father the first time he’d laid angry hands on them.

“John needs to be man enough to apologize himself, though no amount of apologizing from anyone is going to erase the past.” Nick looked over his shoulder at the clock on the wall by the cash register. “I need to get back to helping Abby.” He took his keys from his pocket and removed a key. He slid it across the table, and Eunice picked it up with a questioning look.