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  Trent breathed deeply as his eyes met Nicholas’s. “I know I’m asking a lot of you, Nick, considering everything, but there’s no one else I can ask. You know how Uncle Paul feels about Dad, so I can’t ask him.”

  Nicholas sat in a leather chair behind his desk and nodded. Trent had paced his office several minutes before he’d finally asked for his favor. “And you think there’s something physically wrong with your father that he’s not telling you about?”

  “Yes, I think there’s something about his health that he’s keeping from me. I’d feel a lot better while I’m on that cruise to Africa for three weeks if I knew someone was here for Dad, since I won’t be. I want to give his housekeeper, Mrs. Green, the name of a contact person just in case something comes up while I’m gone.”

  Trent tilted his head and looked across the room at his best friend. “I’ll understand if you’d rather not, Nick. I know my father hasn’t been the easiest man to know and get along with over the years, but he’s still my father, and I care for him deeply.”

  “And you should. Of course you can tell Mrs. Green to contact me if anything comes up.”

  Nicholas’s words helped soothe the look of worry that had lined Trent’s forehead. “Thanks, Nick.”

  “You don’t have to thank me. If our places were switched I know you’d do the same for me. Nothing and no one will ever have a bearing on our friendship. No matter what.”

  Chapter 17

  At precisely seven that evening Shayla opened the door for Nicholas. Any misgivings she’d had about his visit faded the moment she saw him. He was wearing a pair of jeans, a black pullover sweater, and a Jacksonville Jaguars leather jacket with colors of teal, black, and gold. This was the first time she’d seen him in jeans, and the sight of him suddenly made her mouth water. He looked so good.

  “Hi,” he said, sending her a smile and staring at her with his intense gold eyes.

  “I thought there was a chance you wouldn’t be coming,” she said softly, almost not recognizing her own voice. Her heart slammed against her chest when the extent of Nicholas’s sexuality hit her full force.

  He took a step closer. “Why wouldn’t I have come?”

  Shayla breathed in slowly as she cocked her head, emphasizing the snow that was falling outside behind him. “The weather.”

  He chuckled, and Shayla found the sound so incredibly sexy that it sent warmth up her spine. “It would have taken a lot more than bad weather to keep me from coming to see you tonight, Shayla.”

  The sound of her name from his lips made her mouth suddenly go dry. She squelched the temptation to ask him to kiss it until it was wet.

  “It’s sort of cold standing here. May I come in?” he asked, flashing her a heart-melting smile—as if her heart needed to melt any more than it already had.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said, quickly stepping aside. When he entered she closed the door behind him. “May I take your jacket?”

  When he handed her his jacket she noted it was still warm from his body. She had the urge to smother her face in it to absorb his manly scent. Instead, she tried to keep a tight hold on her impulses. “You may want to come in closer to the heat.”

  The first thought that crossed Nicholas’s mind was that he didn’t think he could get any closer to heat than he was now. Just being in the same room with Shayla was generating plenty of heat. Instead of telling her that he said, “Thanks. I’d like that.”

  She led him into another large room, which had a blazing fire roaring in the fireplace. Nicholas glanced around. “This is a really nice place.”

  Shayla smiled. “Thanks. It belonged to my parents. It’s really too big for me, but I don’t have the heart to sell it. It holds too many memories. This is where I lived most of my teenage years. We moved from D.C. when I was fourteen.”

  Nicholas nodded. He understood. His mother still lived in the house where he had grown up. Although he worried about her living in the huge house alone, he knew that whenever he went to visit her, it was truly like going home. She had even kept his bedroom the same.

  Shayla cleared her throat. “Can I get you something to drink? Coffee, tea, soda, wine, beer…” Shayla stopped midsentence when he came to stand directly in front of her.

  “After coming in from outdoors, a cup of hot coffee would be wonderful.”

  She had to swallow the sudden lump in her throat at his closeness. “All right. I’ll be back in a minute.”

  “Take your time,” he said in a throaty whisper, barely audible against the crackling logs in the fireplace. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  Cheeks flushed, Shayla quickly nodded before escaping to the kitchen. Once there, she leaned against the door to get her bearings and to calm down her racing heart. The strong sexual chemistry was there between them, as always, and just as potent. She could feel it. It was just that intense. If she didn’t get herself together she would never last through their talk, and that was the purpose of his visit, for them to discuss things.

  Yeah, right, she thought. She couldn’t help wondering how much discussion they would get through before their raging hormones kicked in. Taking a deep breath, she walked over to the counter to begin making coffee. A whole pot should do it.

  Nicholas stood looking out Shayla’s window at the thick and heavy snow that was falling. The weather report had been right. A snowstorm had been headed this way. He was glad he had left his home before the roads were too difficult, or nearly impossible, to drive on. He was always amazed at the differences in the weather between Chicago and Florida. With Easter only a week away, the weather in Jacksonville was in the eighties, with beautiful sunny days, but here in Chicago it was snowing.

  He moved away from the window and walked over to the fireplace. Curiosity made him pick up a picture frame to take a closer look at the people standing with Shayla. The man and woman, a nice-looking couple, were probably her parents. Another photo showed her and a very attractive woman in her late thirties or early forties, who he assumed was another family member.

  He turned when he heard Shayla approach. She was carrying a tray holding a coffeepot and two cups. He walked over to help her with it. Their fingers brushed when he took the tray from her hands. He heard her intake of breath at the same time he heard his own. He also felt the tiny electrical jolt that passed between them with that touch.

  “I’m still trying to thaw out. Do you mind if we sit on the floor in front of the fireplace for a while?” he asked quickly.

  “No, I don’t mind. I’ll grab some pillows off the sofa.”

  Minutes later, he looked up when he heard her returning with a couple of huge pillows under her arms. “Here you are,” she said, dropping a pillow in his lap. Undoubtedly, she had decided not to take a chance on handing the pillow to him for fear of them touching again.

  “Thanks.”

  He watched as she sat across from him, at what she felt was a pretty safe distance. He handed her a cup of coffee he had poured, having no intention of setting it down on the hearth beside her. If she wanted it, she would have to take it from him and risk them touching.

  She saw the obvious. Taking a deep breath, she took the cup from him. Once again that tiny jolt passed through them when their fingers touched.

  “Don’t be bothered by it, Shayla. I’m not.” He’d decided to address the issue, which was so blatantly clear, instead of ignoring it.

  She nodded and took a sip of her coffee.

  For a long moment neither of them said anything. The silence suited Nicholas just fine. As far as he was concerned Shayla was a woman who deserved a man’s complete attention, and he wanted to give it to her tonight. He didn’t want to think about the space he’d always craved. He had a strong desire to get as close to this woman as possible.

  The flames from the fireplace were reflecting in her hair, highlighting her dark brown strands with reddish streaks. She was wearing what his mother had often called a lounging outfit—pants and a tunic top. Made of silk, it looked co
mfortable, soft, and feminine.

  “You look nice tonight, Shayla.”

  From studying the coffee in her cup, she lifted her gaze to his. “Thanks. So do you.”

  “How about some more coffee?”

  Shayla shook her head, thinking how easily he had taken on the role of host. “If you’re filling me up with coffee because you’re worried about me dozing off on you,” she said with a little laugh, “then don’t be. I usually don’t go to bed until late.”

  “Really? That’s good to know,” Nicholas said with a blatantly sexy smile. “The time you usually go to bed.”

  Shayla swallowed, realizing the folly of her statement too late. She cleared her throat. “Uh, you wanted to talk.”

  Her words reminded Nicholas of the reason for his visit. He placed his cup aside, took the one from Shayla’s hands, and did the same. He reached across the distance that separated them and interlaced her fingers with his, trying to ignore the heat automatically passing between them. His voice was seductively low and husky when he spoke. “When I left you in Hong Kong I promised to call you. At the time I had every intention of doing so,” he said, looking at her, wanting her to see the truth in his eyes. “But when I got to Jacksonville things got hectic, and I couldn’t…at first. Then I made the decision not to.”

  He felt her hands stiffen under his, and he tightened his hold. “The reason I made that decision, Shayla, was that the more I thought about it the less I understood what had happened between us in China. I’ve been sexually attracted to women before, but never the way I was immediately attracted to you. And it didn’t just start in Hong Kong. I was fiercely attracted to you that day I interviewed you.”

  Shayla nodded in understanding. She’d been fiercely attracted to him that day, as well.

  Determined to get things out in the open, Nicholas continued. “I had decided not to hire you because of that, but Paul convinced me that I could be a complete professional where you were concerned.”

  “Paul did?”

  “Yes. He picked up on the fact that I was interested in you for more than employment reasons. He knows my rule about not dating my employees.”

  Shayla nodded. “Oh, I see,” she said quietly.

  Nicholas shook his head. “No, I don’t think that you do. But I believe that Paul did.”

  Shayla frowned. “I don’t understand.”

  Nicholas took a deep shaky breath. “Paul knows me better than anyone, other than my mother. He knows that since my father’s death I’ve been so caught up in Chenault that everything else, especially my social life, has become nonexistent. My last serious involvement with a woman was more than a year ago. So when Paul saw how attracted I was to you, he figured it was about time something else besides work captured my attention. That’s part of why he goaded me into changing my mind about hiring you.”

  His hand reached out and caressed her chin. “I thought I had everything under control until that night I kissed you. Never in my life have I shared a kiss with a woman that left me so shaken. It only made me want to taste you again and again and again. It also made me want to get to know you intimately, to feel your warm body against mine, and to join my body with yours in the most primitive way.”

  He inhaled slowly and recaptured her hands in his once more. “That night we made love, I experienced the ultimate in pleasure. You claimed my mind and my body completely. There was nothing about that night that was half-measure. You got into the deep recesses of my soul.”

  Nicholas shifted, uncomfortable with what he was admitting and even more uncomfortable hearing himself admit it. “After leaving you in Hong Kong and returning to the States,” he continued, “I panicked at the realization of just how deeply you had gotten to me. To find an excuse for it, I tried convincing myself that everything between us had merely been physical, that what I had felt for you was lust, nothing more. But today, after seeing you again, I had to honestly admit I was wrong.”

  He glanced down at the hands he held in his before looking back up and meeting her gaze again. “Oh, don’t get me wrong, there’s still this physical thing between us. I can feel it even now. It’s there every time we come within ten feet of each other. But then there’s something else, too, and it’s more than just physical,” he said in a tremulous whisper. “It’s something I’ve never felt before.” He stared at her for a long moment. He’d never been good when it came to saying certain things to a woman. However, this thing with Shayla was different. It was strong. It was unique. And he didn’t fully understand it. All he knew was that he needed time to try to understand it, and come to terms with what he was feeling. He didn’t want her to walk out of his life while he did that. He needed time with her. “I don’t understand what’s happening between us, Shayla, but I do want to.” He sighed. “And maybe I should regret what we did in Hong Kong, but I don’t.”

  He angled her a look. “The reason I wanted to talk to you,” he continued, “is that I want us to take things slow, get to know each other, spend some time together, and see what happens from there. What do you think of that idea?”

  In truth, Shayla didn’t know what to think of it. They had already been intimate, and she knew for a fact that she loved him. But she also knew that she had deceived him. Her sole reason for seeking employment with his company had been to destroy it. How would he feel when he discovered that?

  She toyed with the idea of being completely honest with him right then and telling him about it, then changed her mind. It was not a good time. He wanted them to take things slowly and get to know each other. Maybe after he’d spent time with her and gotten to know her better, he would understand.

  Satisfied with her decision not to tell Nicholas everything until later, the corners of Shayla’s mouth lifted into an easy smile. “I think taking things slowly and getting to know each other is a good idea, but what about your rule?”

  Nicholas frowned. “What rule?”

  “The one about not getting personally involved with your female employees.”

  “I’ll break it.”

  Shayla pulled her hand from his, shaking her head and letting out a quaint chuckle. “You must have put it in place for some reason,” she said. Probably to deal with aggressive women like Cindy Davenport, she thought.

  He smiled. “There was a time when the rule was definitely needed. I wanted to concentrate on running my office, not on running willing females out of it.”

  “And now?”

  “And now it’s standing in the way of me having something I want very much.”

  “Which is?”

  He caught her chin in his hand. His voice was just as intense as his expression when he said, “You.”

  Unable to speak, Shayla just stared at him. She wanted him very much, too.

  “There hasn’t been a single night that I haven’t lain in my bed thinking of you, remembering our time together, wishing you were there in bed with me—to talk, to make love again, to talk, then make love some more,” Nicholas said in his deep husky voice. “I want you, Shayla, but I don’t want to hurt you by saying words I don’t mean just to make you feel good. I want an honest relationship with you. I won’t make idle promises to you.”

  Shayla’s pulse rate increased with Nicholas’s words and at the look of raw hunger she saw in his gaze. “I don’t need promises, Nicholas, idle or otherwise. I’m willing to take one day at a time with you. I lie awake at night thinking about you, too—wishing you were with me to offer me your warmth when I’m cold, to hold me in your arms whenever I feel lonely, and to want me when I need to feel wanted.”

  Her gaze remained locked with his when she added, “And to make love to me when I want to be made love to…like right now.”

  Her bold statement set off an immediate ache within Nicholas. He searched her face for a long probing moment. “I thought we just agreed to take things slowly,” he said huskily, dragging in a deep breath.

  “And we will,” Shayla responded, the words coming from her in a sensuous w
hisper. She sat staring at him, total desire etched into her features. “I want us to take things really slowly.” She loved him, and for her, for now, that was all that mattered. She was willing to risk her heart to be with him, to love him. And one day, when there was complete truth between them, she would tell him everything, including the fact that Thomas Jordache was her biological father.

  “Make love to me again, Nicholas. This time, unlike the last, let’s take things…slowly.”

  Nicholas’s eyebrows drew together. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”

  She smiled. “Yes, I’m sure.”

  Nicholas didn’t speak for a moment. He just sat and stared at her with the firelight dancing over her, emphasizing her near-perfect features. His blood was running hot from what she wanted, from what he wanted. He reached out and cupped her nape in his hand and pulled her into his arms. “We will take things slowly this time,” he whispered mere seconds before settling his mouth firmly on hers. Her lips parted in welcome, and he felt a satisfying sigh escape her mouth, to be captured by his. He was determined to make his kiss gentle as he thoroughly reacquainted his mouth with the texture and taste of hers. He soothingly nipped her lips lightly, bathing them in moisture with the tip of his tongue. He stroked her mouth with heated kisses, making the very air surrounding them sizzle with fierce sexual awareness and overpowering need.

  “Nicholas…” Shayla could barely breathe out his name with the lips he was tormenting in a slow seductive way. Then, ever so slowly, ever so intently, he angled his mouth purposefully on hers, easing his tongue inside and coaxing hers to mate with his, possessing her stroke after tantalizing stroke.

  They sat there kissing for the longest time before she felt his hand come up between their bodies and begin loosening the buttons on her top. She moaned deep within her throat when she felt the heat of his hand on the lace of her bra moments later. And when he undid the front hook and she felt the warmth of his hand touching her bare breast, a jolt of pure unadulterated pleasure swept through her.