Tempting Nora (20 page)

"I guess that'll do," she admitted,
trying to maintain her composure.

Gideon laughed and tugged at a strand of her hair.

"You scared me," he said. "How could you even think that the redheaded woman was an issue? She can't compare to you."

She liked the way he talked about the
redhead as if she was a puddle of slime. 

"Call it a lapse of judgment?" She gave him a hopeful smile.

To her surprise, Gideon threw back his head and laughed.

"Yeah, we can call it a lapse of judgment,"
he said.

"Good."
She breathed a sigh of relief.

"By the way, would you care to have another lapse of judgment before we go inside and order dessert?"
He grinned roguishly. "I could sure use a kiss after that scare."

She frowned suspiciously at the door.

"You really weren't flirting with the redhead?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Nora
…" He rolled his eyes.

"Fine." She hesitated
before wrinkling her nose. "Just one."

"That's what you said last time," he said.

She shot him a glare that could have curdled milk.

"Okay, just one," he said quickly.

"That's better." She nodded.

For a moment Nora hesitated, but then she
lifted her head. As Gideon ran his thumb over her cheek again, she couldn't help but think of the words he'd spoken a few minutes before.
"I still desire you—there's no denying that—but I'm going to stay by your side no matter what happens."
Maybe she shouldn't have trusted his words, but she wanted to. Besides, maybe she needed to start believing in people again. She didn't have a reason not to put her faith in Gideon.

She eyeballed his lips, more ready to be
embraced at that moment than ever before.

His arms came around her. She melted against him, offering her mouth for him to kiss. His lips touched her
s, gentle and tentative at first but then gaining passion as he continued. He tangled his fingers in her dark hair as he groaned against her skin. Her heart stirred again. No, it more than just stirred. Her heart
soared
. She sighed, running her fingers over his strong back. Finally, after she'd touched him enough, she buried her fingers in his silky hair.

As she
succumbed to rapture, she decided maybe it was okay that she liked Gideon. She'd never liked somebody before. She was a twenty-eight-year-old woman who hadn't even known what longing and passion felt like until Gideon came into her life. At that moment, she decided she was going to accept her feelings for him. If she wasn't just a challenge to Gideon, then there was no reason she couldn't like him. At the thought, something dangerous within her was unleashed. Normally, Gideon was the one who led the kiss, his mouth roving over hers with wild desperation. This time, she was going to take control.

She tightened her fingers in his hair, forcing his mouth
harder upon hers. The man grunted in surprise before responding with equal fervor. Even the painful pressure of his mouth consuming hers was delightful. As she tasted him, his hands explored her body in a way that made her skin drip with sweat. This was desire. This was longing. This was want. She'd bristled about being kissed in public, but now she realized that the onlookers were the only ones keeping them from going too far. Remembering her scruples was all fine and good until Gideon embraced her.

Unfortunately, the man broke free at that moment, gasping for air.
Once he recovered, he looked down at her as if he'd never quite seen her before.

"What are you doing to me, woman?" Gideon
said. "With how I lose control, a person would think you were the one with special powers."

If she wasn't so dazed, she might have thought something was odd about
his statement.

"Woman…powers…uh-huh," she murmured.

"So it is my kissing ability that's melting your brain." The smirk returned to his face.

Th
e words woke her right up.

"Yeah, right." She crossed her arms.

"You're back to your feisty self." He grinned at her. "Good. Now let's go inside and order some dessert."

"Dessert." She perked up.

"Yeah." He was beaming. "I'll even order you more than one piece of cake."

"Gideon, I…I…"
I don't think you're so horrid after all.

"Are you going to get all sentimental on me just because
I'm buying you some cheesecake?" His eyes sparkled. "If you are, bring on the compliments."

"You're insufferable." She glared at him.

"Yeah, yeah." He winked. "I like you too. Now let's go."

He seized her hand and dragged her back into the restaurant.

****

While
Gideon drove down the road, Nora stared out the window, trying not to feel smug. The redheaded beauty who'd approached Gideon at the restaurant had shot dirty looks at her all through dessert, proving that the woman had truly been turned down. She knew that she shouldn't have been happy somebody else had been rejection, but she was. Heck, she was having a hard time not dancing in her seat.

As
Gideon pulled into her apartment parking lot, she grinned at him. Unfortunately, she saw that his fists were clenched on the steering wheel. All of her happiness disappeared in a flash.
I know he's concerned because of that Amon guy, but why the heck is he so worried? I told him the man fled when I threatened him with pepper spray.
Frowning, she placed her hand on Gideon's fist. The man met her eyes.

"I'm sure
Amon isn't anywhere around." And if he was, she'd douse him with pepper spray.

"Yeah." He nodded,
even though he still appeared uncertain. "But just in case, I want to look around your apartment again."

"That could be a problem." Mr. Fleas and Chubby were in
side.

"Why?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Mr. Fleas might try to bite off your leg again." The last thing she wanted was for the dog to attack Gideon.

"I'm
not exactly terrified of your three pound dog." Gideon laughed.

"Hey." She slapped his shoulder. "Be nice. My three pound dog has the heart of a
lion."

"
That may be true, but he doesn't have the body of one." Gideon climbed out of the truck and smirked. "I should be fine. I'm not worried about Mr. Fleas."

She jumped out
of the truck too and Gideon met her at the sidewalk.

As they walked side by side
, Gideon slipped his hand into hers. She wondered how she'd grown so comfortable holding hands with him. Before Gideon, she'd been an awkward mess, especially when it came to hand holding. Her palms would grow sweaty and she would tremble all over. The whole process made her wince. Maybe that was another reason why she'd never dated much. Holding hands and swapping spit hadn't been pleasant.

But then there was Gideon. Even when he annoyed the crap out of her, holding his hand
was nice. Heck, she was normally so busy bickering with him that she didn't have time to develop sweaty palms. Kissing him was great too. It led her to wonder why Gideon was so different from everybody else. He made her feel comfortable yet aroused, secure yet excited. For whatever reason, Gideon was just so…so…perfect.

She gave a small smile.

As they made it to the door of her apartment, Gideon tugged at her hand.

"What are you thinking about?"
He studied her.

She must have been making a strange
face for him to ask that.

"Nothing." No way was she telling him what she'd been thinking about.
The information would go straight to his head.

"Uh-huh." He
frowned in disbelief. "I bet you were thinking about me."

"You're right." She nodded. "I was thinking of all the possible ways I could murder you and
make it look like an accident."

"
You're a liar." He patted her head affectionately. "Fine. Don't tell me. But since you wore such a dreamy expression, I'll be angry if I find out you were thinking about Robert and not me."

"I
wasn't wearing a dreamy expression." She touched her cheek, horrified.

"You
were too." He leaned against the wall. "I'm surprised you didn't give a girlish sigh and say, 'Oh Gideon, you're so handsome and gorgeous and—ouch!'"

She pinched his arm. It was childish, but she couldn't help herself.

"Keep your cheeky comments to yourself or else I'm not going to let you into my apartment." She shoved her key in the lock.

"
How did you learn to pinch so hard?" He wrinkled his nose. "Geez."

"You're such a whiner." She shook her head and opened the door.

"And you're an abuser," he said. "Whenever I go on a date with you, I need to wear chainmail to protect me."

"Chainmail is heavy."
She stepped inside. "It would make it harder for you to outrun me if you really made me angry."

"That's true
." He stepped inside as well. "I could go for something lighter like a bulletproof vest, but I'm not sure that has enough coverage."

Scowling, she pi
nched his arm again.

"See what I mean." H
e rubbed the spot where she'd pinched him. "A bulletproof vest wouldn't have protected me from that."

"Yeah, yeah." She rolled her eyes.

As she headed down the hall, Mr. Fleas came barreling at them full speed. Normally the dog was all tail wags and joy, but now he was frothing at the mouth with his ears down. As Mr. Fleas yapped wildly, she seized the dog around the middle before he could bite Gideon's leg. The little canine flailed in mid-air, making her wince.

"
He's acting like a lunatic again," she said.

"It's normal." Gideon eyeballed the
thrashing dog with sad eyes.

Why did Gideon consider this normal
? Maybe some dogs attacked visitors, but Mr. Fleas would suck up to anyone, thieves included.

Shaking her head, she headed to the
hall closet and pulled out the travel kennel. She stuck the dog inside and petted his head, even as he barked. Once Gideon was gone, she would give the canine some quality attention. Maybe he was jealous or something. Still that didn't make much sense. After all, Mr. Fleas didn't mind Robert.

She stood up.

"I think I need to take Mr. Fleas to the vet." She watched the kennel vibrate as the dog rocketed around inside.

"He seems
fine to me." Gideon shrugged, appearing unconcerned. "He wouldn't be able to jump around like that if he wasn't healthy."

She nodded,
but she was still worried about the canine's behavior.

"Do you want
to look around now?" She hoped the dog might calm down if Gideon wasn't standing right in front of him.

"Yeah."
Gideon nodded. "I thought I'd start in your bedroom."

Even the thought of
Gideon in her bedroom knocked her worries about Mr. Fleas from her mind.

"
Okay, but I won't go in there with you." If she did, then she might lose control and do something she'd regret. "Do you want coffee? I can make us some while you look around."

"
Are you trying to prolong our time together?" His eyes sparkled.

Great
, now she was self-conscious again.

"I don't know what you're talking
about." She wrinkled her nose. "Do you want coffee or not?"

"Yeah, I'd love some." He was still smirking at her.

"And don't you dare do perverted things in my bedroom," she said.

"Wow, gutter queen strikes again."
His grin, if possible, widened.

"So help me
, Gideon, I will hurt you." Her eyebrow twitched.

"
Fine." He must have feared bodily injury because he held up his hands in defeat. "You make coffee and I'll look around."

As she
gnashed her teeth, she headed into the kitchen. Gideon disappeared in her bedroom. She heard a frightened meow and then Chubby rushed into the kitchen as well, his large eyes wide with fear. The cat shook as he cowered in the corner, his head burrowed between his front paws. She bent down and petted the cat's head. The animal met her gaze and meowed.

"Do you want a treat?" If something would cheer up Chubby, it was
food.

Unfortunately, the
cat still didn't look happy. Despite that, she pulled a meat chew out of the cupboard. When she dangled it in front of the feline's mouth, the cat turned his face away and whimpered mournfully. If Chubby wasn't devouring a treat, then something must have been wrong. The cat loved to eat so much she'd once come home and found the animal nestled in the bag of dry food.