glorious view this huge house gave him.
This huge,
When had that happened? When had the house become too big, too quiet? There had been a time when that’s all he’d wanted, his own space and quiet.
But now, he needed…more. What, exactly, he wasn’t certain.
But definitely, things were missing. And, if he was admitting such things, people.
He was missing people.
NICOLE MANAGED, with a good amount of swearing and disgust, to get herself ready for the engagement party that night. She also managed to avoid Taylor and her bag of makeup and hair stuff by staying late at work, because nylons, a fancy dress, mascara and a dab of gloss was as good as she was going to give.
The party was taking place at Ryan’s house, which Suzanne was moving in to. The moment Nicole walked in, she was assaulted by the scent of delicious food-thank God-and music and laughter.
And hugs. Everyone wanted to hug her. Suzanne. Taylor. Ryan. She pushed away Suzanne and Taylor because they were hooting and hollering at her in the dress, and let Ryan in for a good long hug.
“Hey, that’s my almost-husband,” Suzanne protested when Ryan, tall, dark and gorgeous, hugged Nicole back.
“Just being sisterly,” Nicole said, and gave Ryan a smacking kiss on the lips, enjoying Suzanne’s hiss and Taylor’s laugh.
Then another man walked up to them. He was tall, dark and gorgeous too, more so, if that was even possible, with sharp blue eyes, a sometime-Irish accent and attitude to match hers.
“Hey,” she said, a little defiantly, but damn it, she suddenly felt…conspicuous.
That Ty’s gaze nearly gobbled her up from head to toe and all the spots in between didn’t help. “Hey, yourself,” he said.
Suzanne pulled Taylor and Ryan away with a completely obvious and annoying wink.
Leaving her alone with Ty. Unable to stand still, she shifted on the stupid heels, nibbled off her gloss. Before she could stop herself, she tugged at the hem of her dress. Damn, she felt stupid. Exposed.
Ty stepped closer, and she shifted again, feeling the need to smack him. Kiss him. If only she was dressed in jeans.
Then Ty put a hand on her waist and squeezed gently. “You steal my heart.”
Ah, hell. When he said shit like that, her heart just tipped right on its side. “Stop it.”
“It’s true. You’re amazing.”
“A pair of heels and a ridiculous dress make me amazing?”
“No, your heart makes you amazing,” he said softly, and stroked her jaw. “You got all dressed up for Suzanne. You love her.”
“I knew she’d have good food.”
He shook his head. “Play tough if you need to, I see right through you.”
Yeah. He did, he saw right through her.
Terrifying.
NICOLE’S PLAN was to stay busy at work. That way she didn’t have to think about Ty. The way he’d looked so good at the engagement party she’d wanted to gobble him up whole. The way he’d whispered those hot, sexy words in her ear as he held her close, which was every moment. The way his intense eyes had promised her the world even as he let her go home-alone.
She managed to use work to keep her busy for small periods of time, but Ty was proving to be hard to forget. One day the following week she stood studying a patient’s chart in the nearly deserted nurses’ station, lost in her own world.
Until Dr. Watts came up behind her. “You smell good,” he whispered, standing inappropriately close. So close in fact, that the front of his thighs brushed the backs of hers.
“Back up,” she warned. He had her pinned between the counter and his body, but she was far more pissed than worried. She could drop him to the floor in an instant; she just didn’t want the scene that would follow.
“Why do you resist me?” he asked, his fingers stroking her neck.
She slapped his hand away. “I’m going to tell you one more time. Keep your paws off me.”
“Or what?”
“Or you’ll be sorry. Now back off.”
His soft laughter was her only answer; he still stood in her space. Then he brushed his hips to hers and she saw red.
“You feel good-” he started to say, but ended on a whoosh of a breath when she plowed her elbow into his belly and stomped on his foot hard enough to drop him to the floor like a log.
“Well, then.”
With a sigh, she shoved her hair out of her eyes, turned around to face the new male voice, and came face-to- face with Dr. Luke Walker.
Medical chair. The man in charge of just about anything there was to be in charge of, including Dr. Lincoln Watts, writhing on the floor. “Problem, Dr. Mann?” he asked over Linc’s body.
“Not any more.”
He eyed the man on the floor, then looked her over carefully before he said quietly, “You should have come to me sooner, Nicole.”
She let out a slow breath. “I’m fine.”
“Good, then. Please, consider your shift over.”
“But-”
“Not as a punishment.” He stepped back as Dr. Watts struggled to his feet. “Consider it a small payment for your patience with the system. Dr. Watts, come with me, please.”
Linc shot Nicole a look to kill, and she had to turn away to hide her grin. In fact, she grinned all the way to her car, then sang all the way home through South Village traffic, and actually got a great parking spot right out front before she remembered she didn’t really want to go home.
She climbed the steps to the building thinking she should have stopped for some take-out, but before she could let herself in, Suzanne was there, smiling at her.
Nicole scrunched her forehead, trying to remember. “Did I miss a wedding planning session?”
“Nope. I just wanted to say hello.”
“Me, too, you twit.” Taylor slung an arm around Suzanne’s shoulders and looked at Nicole. “You ever heard of returning phone calls?”
She’d gotten their messages but hadn’t had the time to get back to them. Now that she was looking into their relaxed, happy-to-see-her faces, guilt sank in. Why hadn’t she made the time? “See, this is why I don’t do the friendship thing.” She unlocked her door and gestured them in. “I’m terrible at it.”
“You’re not, you’re just busy.”
“But you do have to remember we exist,” Taylor told her. “That would be nice.”
“I’m sorry. Work-”
“Yeah, yeah.” Taylor put her hands on her hips and studied the ceiling she’d had patched. “I don’t suppose you even noticed I had this fixed.”
In truth, she hadn’t. What did that say about her? Besides the fact she’d purposely been so busy she hadn’t had time to breathe? “Um…”
“Rhetorical question,” Taylor assured her. “Don’t hurt yourself.”
“Look, I have to-”
“You just got home from work, what could you possibly have to do?” Taylor sank into the futon couch in the living room and looked around. “You need furniture in a bad way.”
“Yeah.”
“That’s a pretty noncommittal yeah. You planning on moving soon? Is that why you’ve never settled in here?”
“I’ve settled in. I have a bed.”
