Chapter Twenty-Three
N ick stepped out of the shower, dried off, and got dressed after a long, grueling day of meetings and endless debates about the best approach for the marketing campaign to roll out the changes to his company’s line of beach resorts.
He loved his job and found the work challenging, but he’d been distracted. Especially since seeing Em’s dance performance at The Foxhole a few nights ago. In fact, he’d been off his game at work since the night he and Em had spent together. The night she’d subsequently decided that his dating history was more than she could handle.
Nick tugged a black T-shirt over his head and groaned. The vision of Em moving across The Foxhole dance floor in that sexy little fire-engine-red outfit that showed off her strong arms, toned belly, sleek thighs, and firm bottom was living rent-free in his head. He’d recorded her performance, but he didn’t need to see the footage to recall every sway of her hips and the rotation of her waist as she and Carlos danced in sync. Like they were a single being. The dance was sexy and playful, and the chemistry between the two of them could have set the parquet floor on fire.
The way the older man had hugged Em after their performance and held her hand possessively as they talked to potential dance students… Nick’s fists and jaw clenched involuntarily every time he recalled the way Carlos had touched Em during and after their electric performance.
Nick had hoped to talk to Emerie before he’d had to leave for the airport. But she and Carlos had been… preoccupied.
Nick grabbed a glass from the coffee bar in his hotel room and dropped a few cubes of ice in it. He retrieved a can of soda and a bottle of whiskey from the minibar, poured both over the ice, then stirred. He gulped some of his drink and sighed.
How had he fucked up so royally with Em? More importantly, was there still a chance that he could fix things?
Em and Carlos had stared into each other’s eyes with so much heat and passion during the romantic moments of the performance. Was that why Em had been pulling away? Were she and that Carlos guy an item now?
Just thinking of Em with that guy made Nick want to scream. But he wasn’t mad at Em; he was angry with himself.
He’d been a coward, afraid to tell his best friend how he really felt about her because he’d been so damn terrified that he’d screw things up. But now it seemed so simple. He loved Em and would do anything for her. So they would navigate the challenges of learning to exist as a couple. Because they loved each other and wanted to be together.
Nick rubbed his forehead, his temples throbbing. Em’s plane had landed, and she was en route to the hotel. She was going to get settled into her room, and then they were going to meet at the hotel lobby before heading out to catch an early dinner at Melba’s Restaurant in Harlem, then get ice cream at the Sugar Hill Creamery. But food was the last thing on Nick’s mind.
He’d prefer to spend the evening showing Em just how much he’d missed her during an encore performance of their night together. Then they could order in afterward.
Nick rubbed his chin and sighed. He’d promised himself that he wouldn’t do anything that might jeopardize his friendship with Em. So they’d go on with the evening as planned and see where things went from there.
A knock at the door startled Nick. He couldn’t help smiling. His best friend was chaos personified. So of course she hadn’t stayed with the plan. She’d probably decided she was hungry now and had a taste for something altogether different.
Nick opened the door, surprised to see his friend toting her luggage. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Em’s adorable, goofy smile made his heart go wild.
They exchanged an awkward hug, then he grabbed her carry-on and pulled it inside, closing the door behind her.
“I thought you were checking into your room first.”
“It’s not ready.” Em glanced around his room before meeting his gaze again. “Is it okay if I crash here until we go to dinner?”
“Yeah, sure. Anything you want.”
“A shower would be great, actually. I feel a little sticky from the plane.”
“Be my guest.” Nick gestured toward the bathroom.
Nick sat at the desk and opened his laptop in an attempt to keep his wandering mind occupied while the shower ran. Instead, he found himself reading the same paragraph over and over as the vision of Em’s naked body, soaped up beneath that showerhead, robbed him of the ability to function.
Finally, Em emerged from the bathroom smelling like some heavenly combination of coconut and coffee. She wore a sleeveless, navy-blue dress with a white polka-dot pattern.
She shoved her hands into the pockets of the short, flared skirt and spun around, revealing the keyhole back.
“What do you think?” Em asked with an almost bashful smile.
“You look fantastic.” Nick got up from his chair and came closer, stopping a couple of feet in front of Em so she was just out of reach. “But then you always look beautiful, Em. No matter what you’re wearing. You always have.”
“But you never said that to me before I started doing all this…” She lifted the sides of the skirt, revealing more of the smooth, brown skin of her thighs that he’d gotten intimately familiar with.
“Doesn’t mean I didn’t notice.” Nick rubbed his jaw, his eyes scanning her legs, which looked a mile long in the thigh-length dress. “And that’s despite working damn hard not to.”
Em took a few steps closer, her eyes locked with his. “And why would you try so hard not to notice?”
Nick inhaled quietly, studying her inquisitive dark eyes. This weekend, he was prepared to lay everything on the line and hold nothing back.
“Because that wasn’t who we were, Em. We’d always been friends, and I thought the only way I could keep you in my life was to make sure it stayed that way.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me that on New Year’s Eve?” Em folded her arms.
“Because I didn’t want to screw up our friendship. But that’s exactly what I did by not leveling with you about my feelings and why I was reluctant to get involved. It wasn’t just you I wasn’t being straight with. I wasn’t being honest with myself about how my feelings for you have evolved. You’re not just my best friend, Em. You’re the most important person in my life.”
He’d barely finished his sentence when Em lunged forward and pressed her mouth to his.
Without hesitation, Nick kissed her back.
Maybe this was a mistake. But hiding his feelings for Em would be an even bigger one.
For the past two days, Emerie had been thinking of only one thing: this moment. The moment she knew she would kiss Nick, hoping he’d kiss her back. And as he snaked one arm around her waist, pulling her closer, Em’s heart danced with joy. She leaned into the kiss, her hands braced on his hard chest as he cradled her cheek.
Nick tilted her head, his lips gliding over hers as if he’d been anticipating this moment as much as she had. And when she parted her lips, her tongue seeking his, Nick responded in kind.
His mouth tasted like cola and whiskey. The sensation of his tongue gliding against hers only made her hungrier for his kiss and his touch.
Em took a deep breath. Her heart raced, and her hands trembled as she clutched the hem of Nick’s black T-shirt and slowly lifted the material.
“Wait… Em, are you sure about this?” Nick cupped her face, his thumb grazing her cheekbone. “As much as I’d love to take you to bed right now, things didn’t work out so well last time.”
“I know. I saw those text messages, and I overreacted,” she admitted. “I’m sorry. But I’m here now because I am sure that I want you, Nick.”
Em tugged her dress over her head and tossed it onto a nearby chair. “You weren’t wearing anything under that dress.” His dark eyes glittered with amusement as he gazed at her longingly. He slipped his strong arms around her bare waist. “Which means you had absolutely no intention of leaving this hotel room.”
Em glanced up at him with a playful grin and shrugged. “Seemed like a really good idea at the time.”
She captured his open mouth with a slow kiss and tried not to feel conscious about the fact that she was naked and completely vulnerable, asking her best friend to make love to her when she had no idea where they’d stand once this weekend was over. More importantly, in this moment, she didn’t care.
She only knew that she wanted to be with Nick. That she wanted to feel his hands and those incredible lips on her skin again. That she craved the euphoric sensation of Nick being inside her once more. They’d figure everything else out later.
Nick swept her up in his arms and carried her the few short steps to his bed.
Em climbed beneath the covers as Nick shed his clothing, then rummaged in his luggage for a condom. He put it on and climbed into bed with her, kissing her with a hunger and intensity that matched her own.
Em’s hand glided down Nick’s back, the muscles tense as he inched inside her until he was fully seated, their bodies flush.
Em inhaled deeply, her body adjusting to the delicious sensation of Nick filling her so completely.
“Fuck, that feels amazing.” Nick kissed her again, threading their fingers as he lifted her arms over her head, his hips moving slowly as first. “Being with you is amazing, Em.”
Em’s eyes filled with tears, despite promising herself she wouldn’t get emotional this time. But there was something in his tone, in his words, in the way his gaze met hers, that captured her heart.
Nick freed one hand, lifting her leg over his hip and shifting the angle of entry.
“Oh! Yes!” Em’s eyes drifted closed, the pleasure building as they moved together, his hand still on her hip. The sensation of Nick hitting just the right spot, combined with the grinding of his pelvis against her sensitive clit, drove her higher and higher until he’d taken her over the edge, his name on her lips, and her tears wetting the pillow beneath her.
Nick kissed her hard and shifted his position, his hips moving harder and faster until he reached his peak.
His body stiffened, and his back arched as he called her name, and it was the most beautiful sound she’d ever heard.
Nick hovered over her, their chests heaving as their eyes met. He traced her cheekbone with his thumb, then kissed her.
“I need to take care of this. But you have to promise me that by the time I come out of the bathroom—”
“I won’t be packing up your stuff and waiting for you at the door?” Em giggled.
“Well… this is my room,” Nick reminded her. “So that’d be kind of weird.”
Good point.
“I just need to know that no matter what, you will always be my best friend, Em. I want you in my bed. But I need you in my life. I don’t ever want to lose us .” There was sincerity in Nick’s voice and pain in his dark eyes. “Even if it means…” Nick’s voice trailed off and he sucked in a deep breath as if he couldn’t bear to say the words.
She understood exactly how he felt.
“We’ll talk when you get back, and everything will be fine.” Em kissed him. “Promise.”
Nick nodded reluctantly, then made his way to the bathroom.
Em slipped on Nick’s discarded black T-shirt, then climbed back into bed. She pulled her knees to her chest, her back pressed against the headboard.
She was glad that she and Nick were on the same page about their friendship being the most important thing. Even if they couldn’t find a way to fit a relationship into the mix. Still, the possibility that whatever happened between them that weekend might be the extent of their short-lived affair made her heart ache.
“Okay. Let’s talk.” Nick tugged his boxers on and slid into bed beside her. He opened his palm, and she slid her hand inside it. “You first.”
The eloquent words she’d penned on the plane and practiced in her head seemed to disintegrate. All that remained was the unvarnished truth.
“Nick, I don’t know how not to be in love with you.” Fat tears spilled down her cheeks the moment she admitted the truth to him and to herself.
Nick flashed a watery smile that made her belly do flips. He stroked her cheek and leaned in to kiss her again. “Good. Because I love you, too.”
Em’s heart danced, and her face was wet with tears. She honestly didn’t think she would ever tire of hearing her best friend utter those words. But her desire to start building a life was unchanged.
Was that what Nick wanted, too?