Chapter Thirty Nico
Chapter Thirty
Nico
I’m not sure what I did in a past life to deserve this, but as I sit through this interminable dinner, forced to watch my mother flirt with the lawyer who has been sent to destroy my life, I’m guessing it was pretty bad. Like Vlad the Impaler bad.
‘Oh, Charlie,’ Claudia giggles, her hand lingering against his arm. ‘That is so fascinating.’
As Charles had been talking about the importance of good estate planning, I think fascinating is a stretch, but he only looks at my mother with a small, dazed smile on his face.
I have to hand it to her, the seduction plan is working a treat. I just don’t know if it’s going to help or if – more likely – she’s going to shatter his heart into a million pieces, leaving me worse off than ever.
The restaurant at the hotel where Ma and Charles are staying is all hushed piano music and crisp white table linens.
After working late, I thought I was having a quiet mother-and-son dinner with Claudia, but she had other ideas, and now I’m on edge, trying to second guess what’s going on behind Charles Saunders’ professional mask.
‘I interviewed Magda today,’ Charles says, as he cuts his chicken, working neatly around his plate in a clockwise direction. ‘She’s very fond of you.’
I clear my throat. ‘I feel the same way about her. She’s done an incredible job raising Phoebe.’
‘I can see that,’ Charles concedes, and I feel some of the tension loosen its grip on my chest. ‘And you and Ophelia seem to have taken to parenting very well.’ He dabs at his mouth with his napkin. ‘The two of you were already married when you found out about Phoebe, is that right?’
The tension is back, time to try not to trip over myself in this web of lies. ‘That’s right,’ I say, attempting to sound casual. ‘About a month.’
‘Mmm.’ Charles takes a mouthful of wine. ‘And the wedding in Las Vegas, that was… a spontaneous decision?’
‘Goodness no,’ Claudia jumps in, leaning over to top up Charles’s glass and offer him a look down her dress at the same time.
God, I could do with a whisky.
‘Nico and Lee are a love story for the ages, Charlie! Written in the stars and decades in the making. You should have seen the way Lee followed Nico around when they were children. We called her his little shadow.’ Her eyes have gone misty.
‘The sweetest girl you’ve ever seen, but so shy.
Like one of those nervous rescue animals that Nico works with,’ she says airily, and I wince because this keeps coming up – the whole town has made me out to be Dr Dolittle, and yesterday someone thrust a small (and extremely vicious) kitten into my arms just as Charles rounded a corner.
I suppose I should be glad it wasn’t the Gerbers’ teacup pig as originally planned. That little bastard has surprisingly sharp teeth and a real shitty attitude.
‘Lee knew straight away that my boy was special,’ she continues. ‘The most gentle soul. She felt safe with him, and I don’t think she felt safe very often in those days. Then again, it went both ways… Nico was at his best when Lee was around. They balance each other out, always have.’
I’m surprised by this insight, and I think about Lee standing in my kitchen, telling me I was her safe place while also allowing me to open up about something I’d been carrying alone. It does go both ways.
‘I’m just glad that Nico finally woke up and realised what he was missing.’ My mother treats me to a long look over her wine glass. ‘Only a real fool would let a woman like Lee get away.’
‘Yes,’ I say, mechanically. ‘A real fool.’
‘Good job you married her then,’ Charles arcs a brow, ‘otherwise I’d have to write that in my report.’
It’s another hour before I can prise myself away, and despite the fact that my mum has been pouring drinks into the man all night, I still can’t tell what Charles thinks about me.
He’s spent the last few days fading into the background, popping up just often enough to keep my blood pressure elevated. As well as interviewing Magda more formally (as both my employer and Phoebe’s other guardian), he’s spoken to Mei about Phoebe and her education.
He dropped by the inn to see me at work and I gave him a tour while he made nondescript humming sounds and wrote things in his notebook.
He set up an interview with Lee and me for Saturday, which marks the halfway point of his two-week visit.
It already feels like he’s been here for ever.
I’m definitely not made for a life of deception.
It doesn’t help that outside of our encounters with Charles I’ve been trying to keep a bit of distance from Lee.
Every morning without fail I’ve woken up pressed against her, wanting nothing more than to pick up where we left off on Sunday, and every morning I’ve forced myself out of bed and into a cold shower instead.
I had a plan, dammit, and it was one that didn’t end with Lee being hurt or confused so I’m sticking to it…
even if my resolve is hanging on by a thread.
At least tonight, with Phoebe at Magda’s, I can stay in her room and give myself a break from having to try and sleep next to the woman of my increasingly lustful dreams. I’m totally exhausted and running exclusively on caffeine at this point.
As I turn off the highway I realise there’s no point in going home. Lee’s gone out with the girls tonight and I offered to pick her up. It’s almost closing time at Darlene’s so I head towards town instead, and I’ve only just pulled into the car park when my phone rings.
‘Hello?’
‘Nico!’ Lee exclaims happily. ‘You answered!’
‘Of course I did.’ I can’t suppress a chuckle at how pleased she sounds. ‘I’m outside waiting for you.’
‘You’re here?’ She breaks off to talk to someone else. ‘I’m coming out now, two minutes. Don’t leave!’
‘I’m not leaving. Does anyone else need a ride?’
‘No, most people went when the Dollyoke finished. Kat and Mei already left, and Tara’s staying here.’ She lowers her voice to a whisper that somehow still manages to be very loud. ‘Luke’s coming over so they can have sex. Apparently Luke is great at sex.’
‘I’ll be sure to let him know,’ I say dryly.
I get out the truck and stand, leaning against the door, my arms folded across my chest as I wait for Lee to appear. When she does, it takes me a second to recognise her.
I didn’t see Lee before she went out, and part of me is glad about that because I don’t know how I would have sat calmly through dinner with this particular image in my brain.
Her legs are totally bare apart from the briefest excuse for a denim miniskirt and a pair of gold cowboy boots.
They’ve been paired with a matching denim waistcoat, snug fitting with a dangerously low neckline and a row of buttons marching down the front.
Her hair is down, a sexy tumble of snaky waves, and there’s glitter dusted on her cheeks.
Instead of a coat she holds a pink cowboy hat in her hand.
I feel like I’m having an aneurysm.
‘Hey, pretty girl,’ I call before I can stop myself. ‘Where’s your coat?’
She spots me and her face lights up. She rushes over to me, grabbing my arm.
‘Nico!’ she whispers, and her eyes are sparkling. ‘I did a crime! A very small crime!’
I’m already undoing my coat and slinging it round her, trying not to touch her bare skin, but it’s hard… there’s a lot of it.
I swallow. ‘What do you mean a crime?’
She glances furtively around the car park, which is empty apart from the two of us.
‘We mayonnaised Tyler’s truck!’ she blurts.
‘He was out with some other girl even though he’s been sniffing around Kat again, and so we wrote on his truck with one of Darlene’s mayonnaise dispensers.
Tara wrote “wanker”, but I made her change it to “banker” because that would be too much of a clue that the British girls were behind it! And everyone hates bankers!’
She looks so pleased with herself.
‘Excellent work, my little mastermind,’ I laugh, trying unsuccessfully to thread her arm through one of my sleeves.
She nods, biting her lower lip which is a deep rosy pink. ‘I did leave some money under his windscreen wiper,’ she confesses in a low voice. ‘So he could pay to have it cleaned off. But don’t tell the others.’
‘Your secret’s safe with me. Now, about your coat…’
‘I don’t have one,’ she says. ‘Kat said it would ruin the look. She was quite insistent that I wouldn’t feel the cold later.’ She glances around in surprise. ‘And she was right.’
Her eyes flicker to mine. ‘You called me pretty girl,’ she says. ‘You think I look pretty?’
She steps back, and my coat falls from her shoulders while she holds her arms out. I swallow again, and bend down to pick up my coat. This is a mistake as I’m treated to an up-close look at those legs, and I find I want to sink my teeth into her thigh.
‘You look very pretty,’ I say mechanically, and she doesn’t seem appeased.
‘It’s because of the clothes,’ she says, suddenly forlorn. ‘Because I don’t look like me.’
‘No, Daisy.’ I can’t stand the look on her face. ‘It’s not the clothes. You always look pretty.’
She lifts her eyes and focuses on me with a startling intensity. ‘Nico,’ she says, her voice suddenly serious. ‘I’m going to kiss you now. Not for pretend or practice.’ Her gaze drops to my mouth. ‘But because I want to.’
She starts towards me, and I’m frozen, my brain trying to catch up with what she just said.
I manage to hold up a hand, and she stops, right in front of me. ‘Lee,’ I croak.
‘Don’t you want to?’
‘Of course I want to,’ I grind out. ‘But—’
I don’t get any further because she drops her hat, reaches up and fists the front of my shirt, dragging my mouth down to hers.
And the entire world detonates.
There’s absolutely nothing tentative about this kiss. It’s open mouths and the stroke of her tongue against mine, the drag of her canine against my bottom lip, a husky whimper into my mouth as she presses herself against me.
My coat falls to the ground again as I lift one hand to cradle her head, my fingers spearing through her tangle of gold hair, pulling her closer.
I spin us around, pressing her into the side of the truck, and she makes a sound of raw approval as I rock against her, my mouth devouring hers.
Her legs come up around my hips, and I’m holding her up now, pinned between my body and the truck, my fingers digging into the backs of her thighs, the feel of her bare skin under my hands almost undoing me.
I kiss a delirious trail down the side of her neck. ‘Honey,’ I murmur, and my voice sounds like it’s coming from far away, ‘you always smell like honey.’ I press my tongue to the hollow at the base of her throat and she moans, writhing against me.
‘Nico,’ she murmurs.
She pulls on my hair, dragging my mouth back to hers and I have no problem with that. This kiss is a demand, she knows what she wants and I’m happy to give it to her, to give her anything, everything.
It’s only when her hand dips between us, towards my belt, that I come briefly back to my senses. I pull away too fast, and Lee stumbles. I reach out to steady her, my fingers wrapped around her arm and her back against the truck as she blinks up at me.
Both our chests are heaving. Her mouth is swollen, her eyes enormous. The top button of her waistcoat is undone and I have no memory of doing that. There’s a glimpse of black lace on display and a low, wild sound rumbles through my head. At least I hope it’s in my head.
We’re parked in the middle of town, right outside Darlene’s where anyone could walk by, and she’s been drinking.
Fuck.
My gaze drops to Lee’s legs, and the impression of my belt buckle is pressed into the tender skin on the inside of her thigh. Something about that is so obscene and such a turn on that my brain fogs again. I want to run my fingers over those pink lines, to soothe them away with my tongue.
‘I’m sorry,’ I force out. ‘I shouldn’t have let things get so out of hand.’
‘I’m not sorry,’ Lee says quietly. ‘I want to be out of hand with you.’
I step forward, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, letting my fingers trace a slow, deliberate line along the side of her throat.
‘Tomorrow,’ I say in a low voice. ‘When you’re not full of alcohol, you and I need to have a talk about this.’
‘About my neck?’ she murmurs, dazed.
I feel my mouth kick up. ‘About every fucking inch of you, Daisy.’ I scoop up my coat and her silly pink hat. ‘Now, get in the car.’