Everly
EVERLY
“Thank you so much for watching Rhett for a little while, Dorothy,” I said, handing Rhett’s schoolbag to my neighbor. “I promise I’ll only be a couple of hours.”
Dorothy shooed me away. “It’s fine. I’m only in the kitchen baking a pie. Would you like to help me, Rhett?”
Rhett nodded enthusiastically. “What kind of pie?”
“Apple and blueberry. After we’ve made it, you can have a slice if your mom agrees.”
Rhett looked up at me, pleading written all over his face. “Can I, Mommy? Please.” He pressed his hands together.
I laughed. “It’ll spoil your dinner, but all right. On this one occasion.”
“I can feed him,” Dorothy said. “What about…” She tilted her head and pursed her lips. “Pizza.”
“Yes!” Rhett exclaimed.
“You really don’t have to do that,” I said, guilt now swamping me that I’d asked her. Watching him for a couple of hours felt like enough of an imposition without her feeding him, too.
“I know.” She winked. “Now go. Run your errands. Take as long as you need. We’re going to be just fine, aren’t we, Rhett?”
“Yep,” he said. “See you later, Mommy.”
I walked down the path, and by the time I reached my car, they’d already gone inside. Dorothy was a good neighbor. I made sure not to ask her for too many favors, but on the odd occasion I needed someone to watch Rhett, she was always more than happy to help me out, and I’d return her kindness by insisting she let me pick up her groceries or do a few odd jobs around the house. Her husband had died a decade earlier, and they didn’t have kids. Whether that was by choice or it just hadn’t happened for them, I wasn’t sure, but considering how her eyes lit up whenever I asked her to babysit Rhett, I’d guess the latter.
Asking for help didn’t come naturally to me, but given what had happened outside the school today, I had no choice. When I had this out with Nico, I couldn’t have Rhett present. My anger had simmered on the entire journey from the school to home, but as I pulled onto the freeway, heading north to PFK Racing, the simmer turned into a full-blown inferno. How dare he interfere in my son’s life! All he’d done with his stupid, macho antics was make things a lot worse. Thankfully, when I’d asked Rhett if Brad had given him any more trouble today, he’d said no, but it was only a matter of time. Mr. Wilson was a man who lingered on the edge of violence, and now his wife, whom I had hoped to have a sensible conversation with, was standing right alongside him, urging him on. All of this rage and vitriol would spill over into their son, and Rhett was the one who’d suffer.
Heavy traffic lined the freeway, drivers pointlessly dodging from lane to lane and making very little headway. I never understood why they bothered when every lane was as crammed as the one next to it. Only the carpool lane progressed at anything more than a snail’s pace, and envy filled my gut as those vehicles with multiple occupants swept by, probably laughing at all us poor suckers trundling along and praying for a miracle.
I pulled into the parking lot at PFK Racing, and slamming the car door, I marched over to the main building and strode inside. The place was empty except for Adele, half-hidden behind a mountain of paperwork.
“Is Nico in?” I asked, ice spiking my tone enough that Adele’s head snapped up.
“Oh, hey, . You scared me then. I was miles away.”
“Is he in?” I repeated, not in the mood for small talk.
Adele frowned, then slid her eyes in the direction of Nico’s office. “Um, I’m not sure.”
Her attempt at an obtuse response gave me the information I needed. “Thanks,” I said, marching past her and down the hallway.
“,” she called out. “Wait.”
Ignoring her, I shoved open his door without knocking. “I need a word with you.”
Nico raised his head, one eyebrow arched as he took in my red face and clenched fists. He set down his pen and pointed his chin at the chair opposite. “Have a seat.”
I kicked the door closed. I didn’t need to have access to a rearview mirror to know that if I left it open, Adele would reach for the popcorn and settle back to watch the show.
I stormed over to his desk and planted my hands on top. “What the hell do you think you’re playing at?”
He pushed his chair back and crossed his legs, then knitted his hands together and rested them in his lap. “Calm down, .”
I ground my teeth, fury pulsing through my body. “Calm down? After what you’ve done.”
“What is it I’m supposed to have done? Why don’t you enlighten me, love?”
“Love?”
A growl came from deep in my chest, and one corner of his mouth twitched. My anger shot through the roof, and, if it were possible, the look in my eyes alone would have sent him up in flames.
“I picked up my son from school today and was accosted by a furious Mrs. Wilson. Thank Christ it wasn’t Mr. Wilson. How dare you interfere in my son’s life without talking to me about it first! All you’ve done is make things ten times worse.”
He dropped the relaxed pose he’d adopted, rose to his feet, and towered above me. He mirrored my stance, palms flattened on the desk. “That man needed telling. I told him. I didn’t throw a punch or even raise my voice. He did both of those things.”
My eyebrows shot north. “He hit you?”
“He tried,” Nico scoffed. “I might have busted-up ankles, but I’m still faster on my feet than he is. The man desperately needs a gym membership.”
He smirked, one of his rare crooked smiles that showed off his dimple. I blinked, momentarily distracted. I took a deep breath, an attempt to halt the hurricane swirling in my stomach. Straightening, I pressed my fingertips to either side of my nose and closed my eyes. “This isn’t your battle to fight.”
“Well, I don’t see you fighting it.”
My mouth parted as the shock of his blunt assessment of something he knew nothing about hit me squarely between the eyes. I ran my tongue over my dry lips and jabbed a finger in his direction, much like Mrs. Wilson had done to me.
“Just stay out of my business, or I’ll have no choice but to remove Rhett from the program.”
I whirled around and strode over to the door. I didn’t make it. Nico hadn’t been joking when he said he could still move fast. He dodged in front of me, barring the one exit out of his office.
“You wouldn’t do that. You’re all about what’s best for Rhett, , and both you and I know that’s here.”
“Is it?” I hit back, blind fury blurring my vision and my logic. “You’ve overstepped the mark, Nico. You redrew the lines. You . Not me. So yeah, if you butt your nose into my business again, I might just stop Rhett from coming here.”
His hand snapped around the back of my neck so fast I hardly saw him move. His mouth slammed onto mine, hard, primitive, demanding. I pressed my palms to his chest and shoved at him. He captured my wrists and held my hands behind my back, spinning us until it was me backed up against the door and him in the power position. His hips pinned me in place, and his lips roamed over mine, his tongue demanding entry. Fear should have driven me to fight. Instead, my mouth opened beneath his, allowing him to take full advantage, to control the pace, the pressure. The moment.
He released my hands and grabbed my ass, pulling me against him. The thickness of his erection pressed against my stomach, forcing an unwilling groan to rumble through my throat. My fingers wound in the hair at the base of his neck, and I arched into him, my breasts flattening against his taut chest.
His mouth went to my neck, his lips softening as he began a journey filled with kisses and licks. He tugged down my top, revealing the swell of one breast.
“Jesus,” he muttered, slipping a fingertip inside the lace of my bra.
His nail grazed over my erect nipple, and I sucked in a sharp breath and uttered a moan of pleasure. He returned to my mouth, kissing me as if we were both about to take our last breath.
Hot. Desperate. Needy.
I came to my senses with a jolt. Sure, I wanted Nico, but not like this. Not when he was kissing me as a punishment for threatening to take Rhett away. I wasn’t stupid. I knew his interest began and ended with Rhett, especially as he’d shown such promise to excel at racing. I was just a bit of side action. He’d already told me on several occasions that he wasn’t interested. Nothing had changed.
I shoved at his chest, and this time he stopped. As he moved slightly away, I had enough space to duck to the side.
“What’s wrong?” He pushed a hand through his dark blonde hair, and it stood on end.
“I’m leaving.” I straightened my top and kept my eyes trained on the floor.
“Why?”
I refused to make eye contact, instead switching my gaze to the door handle, my route to freedom. “Don’t go near Mr. Wilson again, Nico. It’s my issue. I’ll deal with it.”
“, what the fuck are you doing?”
I briefly raised my eyes to his, then looked away again. “This was a mistake. You shouldn’t have kissed me, and I shouldn’t have let you. Now please, move.”
For a split second, I thought he was going to refuse and I’d have to yell for help and hope Adele was still at her desk praying for a trickle of gossip to reach her. Hell, if I had to fight my way out of here, past the slab of granite currently standing in my way, she wouldn’t get a trickle. She’d get a tidal wave.
Nico expelled a breath and then, without saying a single word, stepped to the side.
My fingers trembled as I turned the door handle, and my knees virtually knocked together on the short walk back to the main office. Adele’s mouth was agape as she watched me approach.
“, is everything okay?”
I nodded curtly, my body language and facial expression letting her know, in no uncertain terms, I wasn’t in the mood for idle gossip or to brief her on what had happened behind Nico’s closed door. Given our raised voices, she probably heard the whole thing anyway.
Climbing into my car, I rested my head on the steering wheel. I could still feel Nico’s lips on mine. Warm, firm, luscious. He’d kissed me only because I’d riled him up about Rhett, not because he wanted to. A man like Nico Palmer, all hard lines and alpha maleness, wouldn’t take kindly to threats from anyone, let alone a woman. That kiss had been meant to put me in my place, not as a precursor to something more. He’d made it perfectly clear on several occasions that nothing would happen between us.
And it was about time I started listening.