Nicky frowned suddenly. “Don’t get hung up on the money thing, okay? Andrew’s just an average guy.”
Watching her sister’s face, Amy slowly shook her head. “Somehow I don’t think he’s average at all. At least not judging by the way you look when you talk about him.”
Okay, Amy was right, Nicky thought as she hugged her sister and then drove away. Andrew wasn’t exactly average.
To be perfectly honest, Andrew wasn’t like any man she’d ever known.
He could hurt her. Badly. But she couldn’t seem to pull back now. Whatever this was between them had begun fast and seemed to be speeding toward an inevitable destination.
It had been out of her control since they’d welcomed the New Year in with a kiss.
FOR THE FIRST TIME in years, Andrew was home before six o’clock that evening. It was. the first time home had seemed more interesting to him than the office.
He’d gotten more than a few odd looks when he’d shown up at work with a bruised face. One of his vice presidents had half jokingly asked if he’d had an interesting New Year’s Eve. Andrew had very seriously assured him that he had, indeed. And then he’d walked away, leaving the man looking frustrated by Andrew’s refusal to elaborate.
Andrew had spent the entire day thinking about Nicole. Remembering.
That was something else that was new for him—he wasn’t used to anything interfering with his concentration at work. He’d even had to have his attention recalled once during the meeting, to the obvious surprise of his already curious co-workers.
He wasn’t sure whether to be more intrigued or alarmed by the effect Nicole Holiday had on him.
He was dismayed to discover that she wasn’t waiting for him when he got home from work. All of her things were gone from his bedroom, and he found nothing of hers in the guest room when he checked. He returned slowly to his own room, then stood in the middle of the floor, listening to the all-too-familiar silence of his home.
He could almost imagine that he’d dreamed her.
The hollow, dispassionate feeling inside him was also familiar. But it was even more disturbing now than it had been for the past few years.
For a few hours Nicole had filled him with emotions. Some pleasant, some disturbing, but all real. It seemed as though she’d taken all those emotions with her when she’d left, turning him back into the unfeeling robot his ex-fiancée had accused him of being.
Someone tapped lightly on his open bedroom door. He turned slowly, and emotion filled him again.
Nicole had come back.
She was dressed in a brightly colored sweater and dark slacks. Her hair was a glorious tangle of curls, and her mouth was curved into a warm, inviting smile that made his chest ache to look at it. “Martha let me in,” she said, hesitating in the doorway. “Am I disturbing you?”
He hadn’t heard the doorbell ring, which was just another indication of how deeply she affected him.
“No, you aren’t disturbing me.” Rather to his surprise, his voice sounded calm, normal. “I was just looking for you.”
“Well, here I am. How was your meeting?”
“Fine.”
He wanted to ask where she’d been. Who she’d seen during the hours they were apart. Whether any other man had noticed how snugly her soft sweater clung to her breasts. He said only, “I’m glad you came back.”
Her smile deepened. “Didn’t you invite me to see a movie with you this evening?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
She motioned toward his tailored gray suit. “Wouldn’t you like to slip into something more comfortable first?”
Oh, yeah. He’d like very much to slip into bed. With her. To rediscover the glorious, mindless satisfaction she’d brought him before. But he’d asked her for a date, and he didn’t want her to mistakenly think her body was the only thing that attracted him to her.
He nodded. “I won’t take long. Uh, stay and talk to me while I change?” he added quickly, when she moved as if to leave the room. He was strangely reluctant to let her out of his sight.
If she was surprised by the request, she didn’t show it. “Sure,” she said, and sat on the end of his bed, looking completely at ease. “Tell me about your day.”
He walked into his closet for a sweater and jeans. “There’s nothing much to tell,” he said, returning with the garments. “I had a meeting with the research and development staff, another meeting with a team from a new advertising agency we’re considering, and a conference call with two European distributors. Business as usual.”