Shallow (14 page)

I saw Nick’s face as he watched me come down the staircase and I could see that he was surprised by the change in my appearance. “Your hair...it’s curly. Another surprise.” His smile grew and he reached out to pull some over my shoulder. “It’s beautiful.”

“Thank you.”

I went to get my purse and keys and wondered which car we would take. “Want to take my car or yours?”

“We’ll take mine.”

I liked it when he drove, so that was fine by me. I walked over and set the security alarm for the countdown. “Ready.”

As Nick had previously done, he opened the car door for me but this time I was expecting the drop to the passenger seat. “I think I did that a little more gracefully this time.”

“Nothing you do is ungraceful,” he said huskily before he shut my door.

Nick used the drive to the supermarket to quiz me about Dane because he thought Dallas was interested in him. He wanted to know how many girls Dane had dated and if he had ever cheated on one. He fit the role of protective older brother perfectly and it made me see a side of him I liked even more.

We went inside the supermarket and pushing a shopping cart with Nick felt so strange and...domestic. Going into a grocery store wasn’t something I had ever done on a date. Wait. Was this a date? If it wasn’t a date, what was it?

Nick insisted on fresh cuts, so we were waiting for the butcher to slice our steaks and I decided I wanted to surprise Nick with a dessert. “Be right back.”

I looked up and down the aisles but came up blank. I only entered the kitchen to eat and not cook so I texted Claire for an idea.

Being the perfect little Suzy Homemaker that she was, she instantly texted back, “
Strawberries, pound cake & whipped cream. No cooking required.
”

I loved her. She had the answer to everything.

After getting the cake and whipped cream, I walked to the produce area to get the strawberries and noticed a pretty girl watching Nick at the meat counter. When she pulled her compact out of her purse and applied lipstick, I knew she was about to approach him and my possessive inner biotch surfaced.

I eased over closer to her. “He’s hot, isn’t he?”

She jerked around to look at me and her expression told me that she thought I was strange for approaching her. I looked around as if I was afraid I might be overheard and leaned in to whisper. “It’s really too bad he has the crabs.”

“What?” she screeched.

I leaned in a little closer. “It’s true. He gave my friend the crabs and it took weeks for her to get rid of them. She didn’t know what it was and someone told her the only way to get rid of them was to put alcohol on them. Let’s just say that everyone in a five mile radius had to cover their ears. I don’t care how hot he is, no guy is worth the crabs.”

She promptly closed her compact and slipped it back into her purse. “Gee, thanks for the heads up.”

I held my palm up for a high five. “My pleasure. Chicks before dicks, am I right?”

She reached up and her palm met mine with a loud slap. “Absolutely.”

She went on her merry way and I laughed as I searched through the strawberries for the best looking ones. That was so wrong of me but it served that chick right for what she thought she was about to do with my Nick.

My Nick? Where had that thought come from?

My stomach did a flip as I thought about how that kind of thing probably happened to him all the time, girls throwing themselves at him. No wonder he had an unknown number.

“Ready?” I heard him ask when he walked up behind me.

“I think so.”

He looked at the ingredients in my arms. “Strawberry Shortcake?”

“Yep. No cooking involved. Is that okay?”

“Whip cream is always okay with me.”

My eyes got big and so did his smile.

Whip cream is always okay with me.
Was he talking about food or something entirely different? My mind was obviously in the gutter because on the ride home, I couldn’t stop thinking about the soft, sweet cream and all the ways I could use it.

I had to get my mind out of the gutter. “Why do you race? Is it for the money?”

“The money is nice, but I have a little habit I can’t kick.”

Oh, no. Was he on something? Marijuana? Heroine? Meth?

He started laughing when he saw the look on my face. “Don’t look so scared.”

Drugs were a deal breaker for me. “Tell me what you’re talking about and then I’ll decide if I should be scared or not.”

“I’m an adrenalin junkie. I love endorphins. And they’re not illegal. I discovered the feeling when I was a kid. I started out with trick skating. I liked the feeling I got from tricks on ramps. The ramps kept getting bigger and bigger and I moved up to BMX stunts and Motorcross. It takes more for me to achieve that rush so I’ve escalated to street racing.”

“What’s next? Stunts with planes?”

“Maybe one day."

He was serious. “Is that the real reason you want to be a police officer? You need that rush?”

“Possibly.”

He was so cryptic. “Couldn’t you just go bungee jump or something like that?”

He was quick to answer. “Done it.”

Yeah, I should have guessed that one. “You’re weird.”

“Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it.”

Maybe he was on to something. “Your car has a lot of power.”

He grinned because he liked that I noticed. “It’s not exactly legal. It has a lot of bells and whistles I’ve added to it.”

I remembered the way his car made me feel the night I had to drive him home. “When I drove your car, I liked the way I felt when I was in the driver’s seat.”

“See? You could be a closet adrenaline junkie.”

I looked around at the Highway we were on and didn’t see any other cars. “Show me.”

He looked at me and then back at the road. “Show you what?”

He didn’t get what I was talking about. “How fast you go when you race.” He looked back at me to see if I was serious and I gave him a wink. “Give me a rush.”

He was smiling, dimples and all. He was proud of what he could do and he wanted to do it with me in the car. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Show me what this
mutha
can do.”

“Okay.”

I grabbed the edge of my seat and felt my entire body tense as he sped faster and faster down the highway. It felt like we might lift off the ground any minute. “Shit! How fast are we going?”

“Speedometer cuts off at 120. I’m guessing around 140 miles per hour, but that’s as fast as I’m taking it with you in here.”

He started slowing down, but I wasn’t finished getting my rush so I lowered my window. “What are you doing?”

“I want more.”

I unbuckled and got up on my knees to put my head out the window. He was right. I liked this rush thing. I kicked my shoes off and pushed up until I was sitting on the door ledge. I raised my arms up and let the wind completely take me over. It was so exciting I couldn’t contain my squeal. “Woo hoo.”

I felt the car slowing down. “Shit, girl. You’re crazy. Get your ass back in this car before you swallow a bug.”

I slid back in the car like a Duke and pulled the visor mirror down so I could try to tame my wild hair. “That rocked.”

≈ ≈ ≈

I had calmed down from my rush by the time we got back to my house. We hit the kitchen as soon as we got back and started getting dinner ready. I washed the potatoes and wrapped them in foil first and then washed and cut the strawberries while Nick prepped our steaks. Surely, I couldn’t mess that up and I silently prayed I didn’t; I didn’t want him to think I was a total flake.

“These won’t be as good as they would have been if they had marinated longer.”

“I’m sure they’re gonna be great.”

“You’ll have to let me grill for you when they have time to marinate overnight.”

That meant getting together again. “I’d like that.”

He went outside to light the grill while I finished cutting the strawberries and I watched him through the window as I stood in front of the kitchen sink. I remembered what Claire told me about the way he looked at me when he thought I wasn’t looking and I dared say I probably had the same look on my face right now.

An hour later, we ate dinner and Nick was true to his word. No one grilled a better steak than him. “You weren’t kiddin’ You’re quite the skilled grillsman. I ate the whole thing.”

“I learned from watching my dad.”

“I like your dad. He was really nice to me the night he drove me home.”

He half-smiled and then quickly changed the subject. “What about dessert? I want you to show me your culinary skills.”

There was little skill involved in what I had done. “You mean lack of?”

“I’m sure that isn’t true.”

He was placing way too much confidence in my abilities because he’d never seen me in action in the kitchen. “Unfortunately, it’s very true, but I don’t think you’re in any danger with the strawberry shortcake.”

I cut two slices of pound cake and then topped them with whipped cream and strawberries before I placed his in front of him. “Bon appétit.”

“Looks great.”

I tried to make it pretty and I guess I didn’t do a terrible job but it didn’t look like anything I’d ever gotten in a restaurant. Hopefully, I didn’t screw it up royally in the taste department.

I waited for him to take the first bite because I was too nervous to try it myself. “It’s really good.”

I felt relief wash over me. “Really? You’re not just saying that to keep from hurting my feelings, are you?”

“It really is good. I promise. Here. Have a bite.” He reached over and offered to feed me a bite of his although I had my own right in front of me. Shiz, that was sexy. The thought of putting my mouth where his had been caused my stomach to do another one of those fluttery things.

My eyes never left his as I leaned closer and took the bite he offered. He watched my mouth as I licked my lips and I hoped he offered me another bite because it was so damn sexy.

“You’ve got a little...” he said as he pointed to the corner of his mouth.

I reached with my finger to one corner of my mouth and slid it downward.

“Let me,” he said huskily as he leaned over and kissed my mouth. “Tastes even sweeter this way,” he whispered as he smiled against my mouth and that was it; I was a lost. I was his puppet and he was my master; he could do with me what he wanted.

Nick’s mouth was still against mine and I could feel the warm rush of his breath against my lips and I suddenly wanted a dessert that didn’t include strawberry shortcake. “What do you think of a night swim?”

He smiled against my lips. “I think I like that idea very much.”

I nibbled my bottom lip for a second as I convinced myself to back away. “Give me a minute to change.”

I dashed up the stairs and heard the kitchen faucet running and dishes clanking so I knew Nick was clearing the table and rinsing the dishes. He was hot as hell
and
considerate. Could this get any better?

I looked at my still wet white bikini and wondered if it was worth putting the cold thing back on or if I should get a dry one. Nick loved it on me, so I decided it was definitely worth the freeze I’d get when it hit my body. Besides, it wouldn’t last but a minute.

I looked in the mirror and my eyes were immediately drawn to my very noticeably erect nipples. I hadn’t planned to put my cover up back on but I guessed I would until those things decided to calm down.

I walked into the kitchen and Nick had it completely cleared with our dishes in the dishwasher. “Thank you, but you’re my guest and you didn’t have to do that. I would have gotten it later.”

“It was no problem. I’m used to it since it’s me, my Dad, Jake and Dallas.”

His mom. He didn’t talk about her and I wondered why. Maybe she passed away and it was too painful for him to talk about. I’d ask him about that later, but not now. I didn’t want to spend this time alone talking about parents.

We walked out and I flipped the pool light on. Going into the pool this time was different; it wasn’t quite so playful as we eased down the steps into the shallow end.

I dropped down until the water covered my shoulders and then dipped my head backwards. I rose up and pushed the water away from my face. “I love to swim at night.”

He wasted no time getting in my space as he bobbed up and down in front of me. “I’ve never swam at night, but I think I’m gonna like it a lot.”

“And just what makes you think that?”

“This.” He reached out and grabbed my waist, pulling me close to him, and I couldn’t resist putting my arms around his shoulders as we both stood on our knees in the shallow end.

It was a gentle kiss, very much like the others we had shared. His lips moved slowly and deliberately as his tongue entered my mouth and rhythmically danced with mine. His lips moved from my mouth to my chin toward my neck under my ear and I tilted my head to the side to encourage more of what he was doing.