“Oh, I only lock it when I go to bed.”
“I noticed.”
He has?She landed a soft punch on his arm.“You worried about me, all alone in this big house in the middle of nowhere?”
“Yeah, actually.”
His admission turned her knees to jelly, but she held herself up.“It’s quite safe here.”
“I’m sure it is, but would you mind humoring me?”
“I promise to lock my door.Feel better?”
“Yeah.I do.”Nick paused, then touched her elbow.“Good night, Claire.Thanks for dinner.”
“Thanks for the dresser.”
They stood on her porch for just a moment, staring at each other, but the moment was long enough for Claire to notice a few things.She noticed the way the setting sun illuminated Nick from behind, making his dimensions seem all too attractive and comforting.She noticed the way he held his breath, just as she held hers.She noticed the way he lingered, as if trying to absorb her scent so he could remember it later.
And she noticed how the pit of guilt in her belly grew harder and heavier.
“See you on Monday.”
Claire nodded, at a loss for words.
Nick walked down the porch steps and ambled across the lawn toward the field.
Claire checked out his butt.Boy, it was fine.
“Okay,” she murmured, “you really need to stop.Whatever fantasy you have in your head, it’s not going to come true.”
About halfway across the field, Nick turned and waved.
Claire waved back.
Then, stricken with guilt, she headed back inside.She promptly locked the door, wondering when she’d stopped locking it anyway.Somewhere along the line, she must have stopped caring, but Nick was right.She was on her own, and needed to be careful.
Although, this evening, she’d felt a lot less alone.
She slowly started putting the takeaway leftovers in the fridge, but couldn’t ignore the cloying sensation in her gut.
Why did Nick Zorn have to be so sweet and so hot?It would have been much easier to carry on as usual if he hadn’t been either of those things.
Unsure of how else to spend her evening, Claire headed into the living room and turned on the TV.She flicked around the channels a bit, but then shut it off.
‘You worried about me, all alone in this big house in the middle of nowhere?’
‘Yeah, actually.’
She sighed.
He’d gotten under her skin, and now her pulse skipped into a rhythm she didn’t recognize.
Only one way to get him off my mind.
Claire marched upstairs to her bedroom.Stopping quickly to run a finger along her pretty new dresser, she sat on her bed.She rummaged in her bedside table drawer and pulled out a vibrator.Gripping the cool appliance, she almost laughed out loud.It had been her ‘boyfriend’ for the past couple of years, and it was probably the only one to which she was suited right now.
She lay down, ignoring Arthur’s gaze from the wall.She unzipped her fly, slid the vibrator between her legs and closed her eyes.
