You Say It First
Page 33

“You were great,” she told Nick as they left the Saunders property. “I appreciate the support and the way you stood up for me.” She pressed a hand to her cheek. “Which is kind of the same thing. How much wine did I have?”
“Not that much. I was happy to be there and act as your dinner boyfriend buffer.” He paused. “Your mom is interesting.”
“That’s one way to put it.”
“I wonder what happened to her when she was little.”
“What do you mean?”
“Libby has some issues. A lot of what she’s doing doesn’t seem like it’s about you. You’re just the familiar punching bag, and she’s reacting without thinking. Whatever demons she’s wrestling are about her.” He glanced over and smiled in the dim light of the car. “Of course, I’m a guy. I could be wrong about all of this.”
Pallas stared at him. “Oh my God! I can’t believe you said that. No, I can’t believe I never thought of it before. What if you’re right? What if it isn’t about me at all? I could never please her but I always thought I wasn’t good enough. What if it was never about me?”
She’d fought with her mother, had tried to please her mother, had thought about leaving, the way Cade had, but never seemed to find the courage. The one constant in her life had been her difficult relationship with her mother. What if none of that had been about her?
“My head is spinning,” she admitted. “I’m going to have to think on that. A lot.” Mostly when there hadn’t been wine with dinner.
“Family is tough,” he said. “I’m glad you have Drew and Cade to protect you.”
“They’re good guys,” she said with a sigh. “Cade was always there when Mom got on me. Drew, too, although he didn’t live with us. It helped a lot.”
“It was the same with my brothers,” he told her. “We had each other’s backs. Del and Aidan weren’t interested in working with Ceallach, so our dad pretty much ignored them. I knew that had to hurt. Ronan, Mathias and I got all the attention, which was both a blessing and a curse.”
“Plus your dad had the excuse of an artistic temperament.” Something Nick would never say, she thought. He was incredibly gifted, yet acted so normal.
“You have no idea,” he said, turning by the river. “Remember when I told you about the show my dad and I did together? It was all glass. It was in New York. I’d never been, but Dad had. We stayed in a huge suite with views of Central Park. There were parties every night. My dad ate it up. He was the reason they were all there and made sure everyone remembered that.”
Just hearing about it made Pallas uncomfortable. What he described was so not her thing. “But did you enjoy it?”
“At first. There was a lot of attention.”
She smiled. “By that we mean women?”
“Maybe.” He chuckled. “Yes. I was way out of my league. I dated my first model. They really don’t eat very much at all.”
“What a surprise,” she murmured drily. “What about a threesome with twins?”
“They weren’t twins.”
She swung her head to stare at him. “Seriously? For real?”
“Yeah, it wasn’t my thing.”
Good to know. For a second she thought about asking how a threesome worked, exactly. Because once a man was done, he was unavailable for at least some period of time. Of course Nick had been in his twenties and it had been a threesome, so maybe...
“Best not to go there,” he told her.
“I think you’re right. So who else?”
“There was an actress. I fell hard for her. We dated for three months, then she dumped me on a national talk show. Told the host she was totally over me. I was waiting in her dressing room, along with the rest of her entourage. From their lack of surprise, I was the last one to know.”
“That’s horrible.” Breakups were difficult enough but to have one happen that way... She couldn’t imagine it.
Nick pulled into her driveway. He turned off the engine, then angled toward her. “I’m fine. It was years ago. I learned my lesson and went home. My point is all families are weird in their own way. Some just happen to be a lot closer to crazy than others.”
He touched the side of her face. “At the end of the day, you’re doing what you love and you’re doing a hell of a job at it. You have friends and people who love you. Don’t let your mom get you down.”
Was it just her or was Nick the best guy ever? Before she could decide, he pulled her close and kissed her.
His mouth was warm against hers, his lips firm yet tender. He kissed her slowly, deeply, offering as much as he took. The truck console was between them, so she couldn’t get as close as she would like, but even just kissing was pretty darned fun. His mouth was warm, as was his body. Plus the man had protected her—it was a powerful aphrodisiac.
He drew back and smiled at her. “So here’s the thing. I’d love to come in.”
Her body went on alert, then surrendered. Desire rushed through her, making her girl parts all tingly. Then panic set it. Was her house a mess? Were her sheets clean? When had she last shaved? Would he mind if she brushed her teeth first?
“But,” he continued, “I have this feeling you need more time. Am I wrong?”
No! No. Of course not. Who needed time? She opened her mouth to say that, but what came out was, “A little.”
She held in a groan. Had she really said that? “What I mean is—”
He cut her off with another kiss that rocked her down to her toes. Then he straightened. “You’re worth waiting for, Pallas. You have to know that.”
With that, he got out of the truck and went around to her side. He walked her to her door, waited for her to unlock it, then pulled her close.
His strong arms held her tight. She responded in kind, wrapping her arms around him. He was tall and broad, and when she was with him, she felt safe. Protected.
She liked being with him. She liked watching him work and brainstorming with him about her business. Funny how he’d only been in town a short time yet she felt as if she’d known him forever. Or at least a long time.
He moved his hands up and down her back, then cupped her face and kissed her. “Have a good night,” he whispered.
“You, too.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
His mouth brushed against hers one more time, then he walked back to his truck and left. Pallas closed the door behind her and set her purse and keys on the small hall table. As she walked to her bedroom, she wondered why Nick had such a different and better view of her than she had of herself. It was as if he saw who she could be rather than who she was right now. An interesting concept and one she needed to consider.
* * *
THE FIRST PART of the week passed in a blur. Pallas was scrambling to get the last-minute details for the black-and-white wedding finalized. Catherine was basically a sweet person, but in the last month, she’d definitely drifted into bridezilla territory. The 2:00 a.m. texting was starting to get old.
Only seventy-two more hours, give or take, she told herself on Wednesday afternoon, as she drove to Wynn’s office. Then the black-and-white wedding would be history. In the meantime she was going to be on a video conference call with Nova, Wynn, Violet, Silver and Nick. They were all bringing samples and ideas for the next stage of preparation.