Stiletto Secrets (12 page)

“See it as a thank you for the favor you did me tonight.”

“I didn’t do it expecting to get anything back.”

“I know.” He stepped closer. The distance between them just seemed a little too much. “But I want you to have it.”

He stopped a few inches away from her, and he didn’t realize exactly how close he had stepped to her until she leaned her head back slightly looking up at him.

He stared down at her. “Take the damn shoes, Emma.”

Right at that moment his eyes had a will of their own and his gaze slipped to her lips. Beautiful heart-shaped lips that beckoned him to kiss them again.

Nicholas felt that familiar tingle of desire slowly pulse down his spine, and he had a huge fucking urge to press his lips against hers. He wanted to feel her soft mouth against his, and hopefully taste her as well. He noticed her chest rise and fall as she breathed, and he also noticed that she didn’t pull away as he leaned down, closer…closer…

“Would you two please hurry the fuck up? I have started the car, circled this huge-ass mansion twice and you two aren’t even changed yet.”

Fucking Adam.
If Nicholas had ever been close to shoving his best friend’s balls up his ass, it was now.

“We’re coming!” Nicholas barked, and Emma retreated.

“I’ll be quick.”

Nicholas watched as she walked down the hall to the bedroom. He had no idea what was happening. All he knew was that he really wanted to kiss her again, and not as part of a show.

Adam cleared his throat. “Ahem…what was that?”

“What was what?”

“That. You. Her. Almost doing the mouth tango.”

“The mouth tango? What are you, from the fucking seventies?” Nicholas turned around and headed in the other direction to his bedroom.

Adam followed him. “Whatever. You were going to kiss her, weren’t you?”

“So what if I was?” Nicholas pushed open his bedroom door, not bothering closing it behind him since Adam had no regard for personal space
whatsoever
.

“Nick, she’s not one of
that
kind of girls.” Adam shut the door closed.

Nicholas went to his closet, pulled out a pair of Levi jeans and a blue T-shirt.

“What do you mean
that
kind of girls?” Nicholas sat down on the bed and took off his shoes. “And since when did you become an expert in all the
kinds
of girls in the world?”

“I’m no expert, man, but you can see from a mile away that Emma isn’t a girl you can charm with tequila and fast cars. She has…” Adam sounded like he struggled to find the word. “She has…”

Nicholas looked up at Adam and saw that the guy looked like he wanted to hurl. “She has
morals
,” he finally managed to choke out and then made disgusting gagging sounds.

Nicholas cocked a brow. “Adam? Are you choking on the word
morals
?”

“God, I hate that word.”

“You’re such a loser you know that?” Nicholas took off his jacket and shirt and tossed it on the bed. “And, I know. She’s not
that
kind of woman.”

“
That
kind of woman you’ve been shoving your dick in for the last six years?”

Nicholas grabbed his shirt, balled it in his fist and launched it at Adam. Adam caught it before it reached his face.

“Yes, Adam.
That
kind of woman. I know, man, okay. I know she’s different.” Nicholas turned back and grabbed his T-shirt from the bed. “Maybe that’s what I like about her.”

“Whatever, man. But as your friend all I can say is, be careful with that one. She might just be the one with a heart. A heart you’ll break very easily.”

Yeah, Nicholas knew what his friend was trying to say. All the women he had had in his bed through the years, the women who he had seduced so easily—too easily—they all missed one very important piece of humanity…a heart. They never saw Nicholas as more than a pretty face and a big fat bank account. And he was okay with that. He didn’t care what they thought because he never wanted anything more from them than a good fucking anyway.

He knew Emma wasn’t like that. It was obvious to anyone who met her that she was different. Even Adam the man whore noticed it. But there was just something about her that was slowly drawing him in. Something powerful, something magical, something…familiar. There was something very, very familiar about her, but he just couldn’t figure it out.

Nicholas turned to Adam, starting to unzip his pants. “So are you going to stand there and watch me get out of my pants?”

Adam gagged and suddenly looked faint. “Oh good God, no. I’ll see you downstairs.”

Nicholas snorted as Adam stormed out of his room.

After he pulled on his jeans and shirt he went to stand in front of his bedroom window which overlooked the courtyard. The day he took Emma to see the garden was the day that he had realized that she was different. Good different. It was like he saw so much depth in her, more than just beauty and big blue-green eyes. And now, after tonight, seeing her all dressed up and looking absolutely breathtaking, he was more confused than ever. Cinderella was still right there in his mind prancing around in her high heels and making him feel like he would crash through walls and put Juggernaut to shame just to be fucking inside her, pun definitely intended. But now there was Emma, soft, beautiful, gentle Emma that almost had Nicholas thinking that there might still be women of worth left in the world. Sure she was just a maid, but at least she was putting in an honest day’s work. And from the little she had told him, he knew that she was sacrificing her own wants, her own dreams to let her sister have more out of life. More than what Emma had. And Nicholas respected that immensely.

“Dude!” Adam bashed on his bedroom door. “Hurry the fuck up would you!”

Nicholas took a deep breath and decided to go out with Emma and his friends, have a good time, and then call it a night. Even though he was really attracted to Emma, he had to keep it platonic between them. He couldn’t drag her into his shitty life. She had enough problems as it was. She didn’t need his and his father’s crap to deal with as well. And let’s face it, if Nicholas should really start to date Emma, his father’s wrath would be directed at one person and one person only…Emma. He couldn’t do that to her.

When Nicholas stepped out into the hall, Emma was waiting with Adam by the top of the stairs. She was wearing a pair of jeans, boots, and a white T-shirt. Nothing spectacular or grand. Just jeans, and a white shirt without the designer labels. But he loved it. He loved that she didn’t have the need to dolly up like all the rest of the women he had gotten used to. Her hair hung around her shoulders in waves, raven curls falling around her cheeks. God, she really was becoming more and more beautiful by the damn minute wasn’t she?

“Finally!” Adam threw his hands in the air. “What did you do? Wax?”

“Yeah,” Nicholas stepped up to them, “’cause that’s how I roll. You ready?” He turned to Emma, and she nodded.

“Well, I sure as hell hope you’re ready, because after a night out with Adam the asshole and his wingman, Hunter, you’re never going to be the same again. I guarantee it.”

“Whatever. Speak for yourself, pretty boy.” Adam shouldered past Nicholas and sped down the stairs.

Emma leaned into him and whispered while she continued to stare after Adam as he walked out the front door, “You’ve got my back tonight, right?”

“Definitely. Come on, if I know Hunter he’s about an hour away from getting himself in a brawl if we don’t join him now.”

“Oh, he sounds fun.”

“He sure is. Never a dull moment with him and Adam around.”

“I can see that.”

Both of them walked down the stairs side by side, but it was only when they reached the front door that Nicholas had noticed something very peculiar. Somewhere between the top of the stairs and the front door, Nicholas had taken Emma’s hand in his.

Doubly what the fuck.

Trying to make it seem as casual as possible, he slipped his hand away from hers and pretended to push the door further open for them to walk through. What the fuck was he doing? Did he, or did he not just convince himself five minutes ago that he would not entangle Emma in his life of
crap, crappy
, and
crappier
? Why did it suddenly feel like this night would either go down the toilet, or end up with him buried deep between her legs? He really hoped for the latter, even though option number one might be the safer one.

Adam honked the horn, and Nicholas looked up. “The convertible? Really, Adam? We’re just going around the corner. We can practically walk there.”

“Don’t care. You took your precious time, so I took my precious pick.” Adam glided his hands around the steering wheel, licking his lips like he was about to take part in some epically good foreplay.

Nicholas glanced at Emma, and without thinking he reached up and took a curl between his fingers. Velvet. Soft, soft velvet. That’s what it felt like on his fingertips. “Will you be okay in the convertible?”

Emma smiled brightly, and reached inside her pants pocket, pulling out a rubber band for her hair. With rough strokes she pulled her curls together in an untidy ponytail, missing a few strands that fell around her face.
Beautiful
.

“I’m good to go.”

Nicholas was completely entranced by how casual she was, yet utterly gorgeous. Why did he not see this the first time he saw her? Why did he not feel this the first time he looked into her eyes? “You’re amazing, you know that?”

“Nicholas—”

“Oh my God, would you two please hurry up. You’re slower than my grandmother on her way to church on a Sunday. And since church starts at nine and she leaves home at seven, that’s saying a fucking lot.”

Nicholas tore his gaze away from Emma and held his hands aloft. “Do you ever shut up, man?”

“Only when my mouth has something better to do which I’m hoping it will have by the end of tonight, if we can just fucking get going!”

“Come on, we better go before he stabs himself.”

He was about to reach for her hand again, but stopped himself and pulled back.

Nicholas let Emma walk first, and he followed. When they reached the car, Nicholas stopped at the driver side door and stared at Adam, telepathically conveying the message to get the fuck out behind the steering wheel.

“Oh come on, man, are you serious? I was just settling nicely into the leather.” Adam scooted his ass back and forth on the seat.

Nicholas stared at him. “Move, wise-ass.”

With a grunt and a moan, Adam climbed over to the passenger side seat. Nicholas raised a brow, and Adam noticed. “What?”

Nicholas just nodded his head toward the back seat.

Adam rolled his eyes. “You’re kidding me? Tell me you’re kidding?”

Nicholas shook his head, and loved the dumbfounded look on his best friend’s face.

Adam sighed, slumped his shoulders and climbed to the back.

“Un-fucking-believable. I get shoved into the back seat over a girl you met two weeks ago. Go figure. Bros before hos, man.”

Nicholas walked around to the passenger side door and opened it for Emma.

“Ignore him. I do.”

“So,” Emma turned in her seat and faced him when he started the engine, “tell me about this Hunter guy.”

Adam leaned forward sticking his head between Emma and Nicholas. “Hunter is one huge motherfucker with attitude. If I didn’t know him and had to run into him in a dark alley, I would scream like a schoolgirl and run in the other direction, and then need a clean pair of panties.”

Nicholas looked at Emma, and Emma blinked. “Well, he sounds very charming.”

Nicholas burst out laughing, and then pulled out of the driveway and off the estate.

They were at the local bar within ten minutes. Like he said, they could have walked.

The entire way there, Emma didn’t worry about her hair once.

Yeah, he totally noticed that.

Usually woman would grab hold of their hair, or wrap a scarf around their head and the minute they got out of the car, they would dart toward the ladies room to pull everything back in its place—including the ten pounds of makeup they wore. All she did was re-do her ponytail and tuck a few stray curls behind her ears. Nicholas loved that.

Billy’s Pub was a small bar in comparison to the rest of the bars in Chicago. But it had been in business ever since Nicholas could remember. Billy’s Pub was the first place Nicholas got drunk, the first place he picked up a one-night-stand, and the only bar he had ever had a brawl in.

When he opened the door, there was the familiar sound of bells chiming. He stood aside and allowed Emma to walk in first, but just as Adam came walking up, he intercepted and walked in before him.

“Asshole.”

“Dickhole.”

“Children.”

Nicholas and Adam both looked up. Emma shot them a half-grin and a sideways glance.

Adam leaned in closer to Nicholas. “She’s cocky. I like it.”

“Shut up.” Nicholas shoved Adam to the side.

Billy’s Pub had an Irish theme, decorated with everything Irish you could think of. The walls were covered with rugby pictures and signed jerseys, and the smell of onion rings hung in the air.

“Finally.” Hunter’s voice broke through the crowd, and Nicholas saw him walking their way. “I thought you guys had dropped out.”

Nicholas noticed Emma staring at Hunter with wide eyes as he towered over her, biceps bulging right in her face.

“Emma, this is Hunter. Hunter, Emma.”

Hunter held out his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too. I’ve heard a lot about you.” She reached out and shook his hand.

Hunter cocked a brow. “Like?”

“Like the fact that Adam would rather not run into you in a dark alley.”

“Hey.” Adam shoved closer, “That’s not what I said. I said that I would be able to take you in a dark alley.”

Nicholas noticed Adam pushing his chest out like a fucking peacock.

“Yeah right.” Hunter snorted. “Come on, I already ordered a round.”

The four of them found a booth in the corner, and Nicholas slipped in next to Emma. The thought of Hunter or Adam sitting next to her just didn’t go down well with him.