Chapter 6

Stop him? How am I supposed to stop him? I want his kiss so badly, it almost scares me. When his lips touch mine, it’s electric. His hand is gently cupping my face and his kiss is incredibly soft. I cover his hand with mine and without thinking, I slide closer to him. Feeling my movement, he curves his other arm around me and pulls me closer.

I want to crawl all over him but I know I can’t. I gently pull away from his lips and he says, “Are you ok? Are you mad?”

Smiling I say, “No, Nick, I’m not mad and I’m ok. I just don’t want us to lose our heads.”

“I understand,” he says. “I said I won’t push, and I won’t. You’re just so beautiful. It’s hard to not touch you.” Pulling back he says, “Want me to go? Or can we hang out a while longer?”

I smile at him, taking a sip of my drink. “You don’t have to leave. I’m enjoying myself. And I’m not upset about the kiss. I wanted it too.”

Nick smiles and says, “Still want to watch a movie?”

“Your call,” I tell him. “I’m enjoying getting to know you.”

So, for the next couple of hours, we sit and talk and laugh. It’s almost 1:00 am when Nick says, “I guess I better go. I know you have to work tomorrow and I have to be in the studio.”

Smiling at him, I say, “You know, you’re part of my work tomorrow. I’ll have to get together with you. We have to plan a shopping trip for your furniture or you have to give me a budget to work with..”

Laughing, he says, “I knew hiring you was a good thing. I’ll be in the studio for the next three days. I’ll be free by Friday, can we go shopping then?”

“Sure,” I say. “I’ll even do something I don’t usually do for clients. Meet me at 1:00 Friday and we’ll go furniture shopping, then we’ll come back here and I’ll make dinner for you.”

Nick gives me a sexy smirk and says, “Sounds good to me, Elaine.”

I walk him to the door and he puts one hand on the side of my face. Looking into my eyes, he says, “May I?” I nod and he slowly lowers his lips to mine. The first kiss stole my breath. This one shook me to the core. My body is pressed against his and I just want to crawl inside his clothes and feel his skin on mine. His tongue teases my lips and I open them for him. How could I not?

But true to his word, he doesn’t pressure me. The kiss was hot and intense, and his tongue new exactly what to do to make me shiver…but before it went too far, he pulled back and pressed his forehead to mine. “I’ll call you soon, Elaine. And I’ll see you Friday.”

Finding my voice, I say, “I’m looking forward to it, Nick. Have a good night.”

Before he turns to walk away, he says, “It’s been a great night. I can’t wait for more.”

True to his word, he called me at least once a day. Usually in the evenings after I’m home from work. I don’t know why, but talking to him is easy. He manages to make me laugh every time we talk, and I like that. When Friday rolls around, I am REALLY looking forward to spending time with him again.

He calls me around 10:30 Friday morning and says, “I have a tiny problem with tonight, Elaine. A friend of mine is in town. He just came out of a bad break up and is sort of down. I need to cheer him up somehow.”

I have a sneaky plan in the back of my head. “Nick,” I say, “what if I invite Eva for dinner and you bring your friend too? Not to set them up, but if anyone can bring him out of a funk, it’s my sister.”

Nick says, “Well, would she be ok with it? I mean, she and I didn’t exactly hit it off.”

I laugh and say, “She’ll surprise you, trust me. She’s got such a loving heart, but she hides it under her brashness. She just wants me to be happy. And if seeing you makes me happy, she’ll be ok with it.”

He’s silent for about 10 seconds and then he says, “Does seeing me make you happy?”

I want to kick myself, but I say, “I like you Nick. I enjoy talking to you and I’m looking forward to spending time with you, so yes, it makes me happy. As for where it will lead, who knows? Guess we’ll have to take that path and see where we end up.”

“I’d like that,” he says. “And I think bringing Brian tonight would be good for him. You still going to be here at 1:00?”

I say, “Yes, I’m at the office now, getting things together. I’ll see you at 1:00.”

We hang up and I immediately call Eva. When she answers, I say, “OK, so I need the biggest favor EVER from you and if you do this, I’ll work your next show.”

She knows how much I hate doing her fashion shows, so she says, “What is it?”

I explain the whole situation to her, emphasizing it is NOT a blind date. Just dinner to cheer up someone. She says, “OK, I’m in. How about I go to your house and start dinner around 4? What were you planning on making?”

I’m surprised she gave in so easily, then I realize, she probably wants to check out how Nick is treating me. But it doesn’t matter. She agreed. Now if the Brian is who I think he is, I may have just found the ‘nice guy’ my sister needs to stabilize her life. We’ll see.

Pushing aside that thought, I say, “I was thinking of doing chicken on the grill. I made the marinade last night. You up for getting the chicken at the market and getting it in to marinate until I get there? I’ll have Nick come over around 6:00 and we’ll cook. I was also going to do a salad and maybe scalloped potatoes?”

Eva says, “Oh, you did that intentionally, cooking my favorite meal. But yeah, I can get it started.”

“Thanks Eva,” I tell her. “As much as I hate doing your shows, this is a big favor to me, so next time you need me, I’ll do it, ok?”

She laughs and says, “I’ll remember that.”

I hang up with her and get myself moving. I grab my lunch and eat it at my desk as I get ready to go to Nick’s. I keep chanting in my head over and over, ‘This is work’, but deep down inside, I know that’s not why I’m excited.

At 12:15, I go to the bathroom and check my hair and make up. Good, I look like a professional designer on the outside. On the inside, butterflies are trying to wreak havoc with my stomach. Taking a deep, calming breath, I make my way to my car. Ready or not, Nick, here I come.

At 1:00 on the nose, I knock on his door. When he answers, his smile does me in. “Hey, Elaine, come in. I’m almost ready for whatever you’re going to make me do today.”

I laugh and say, “It’s not torture. We’re going to pick out paint colors, window treatments, and furniture. Are you ready?”

Grabbing his keys and his cell phone, he says, “Yes, I am, but first…may I say hello to Elaine, my friend, not Elaine, my decorator?” I look confused, but I nod yes. He lowers his head and kisses me gently.

My knees almost buckle, but I manage to stand and kiss him back. When he pulls away, I say, “Wow.”

He smiles and says, “I was thinking the same thing.”

Taking a deep breath, I say, “OK, let’s get to work. We can take my car. We’ll probably only get through paint and furniture today, at most. If you‘re free tomorrow, we can look for window treatments, but since it‘s Saturday, we can always go next week.”

“No,” he says, “tomorrow’s good. I was going to ask you to go out with me anyway. I’d love to spend the whole day with you.”

I’m kind of stunned, but I manage to say, “OK, we can do that. If you’re sure you want to spend a Saturday shopping.”

“I don’t think we’ll be shopping the entire, day, do you?” he asks.

Looking at him, I say, “Probably not. You really want to spend a whole day with me?” When he nods, I say, “OK, then, we’ll plan on it.”

Looking at me curiously, he says, “Do you want to spend the day with me, Elaine?”

Looking into those impossibly blue eyes, I say, “Yes, I very much want to spend the day with you.” We just look at each other for a few seconds, then I say, “OK, back in work mode before I completely break the rules. Ready to go?”

As we’re getting into the car, he says, “What rules are you talking about?”

I smile and say, “The one that says I really shouldn’t mix business with pleasure.”

Giving me a sexy smirk, he says, “By all means, let’s not break the rules. We’ll talk about pleasurable things after 5:00 pm. When the work day is over.” My whole body tingles in anticipation, but I have to put it aside. Working closely with Nick is going to be torture on my nerves.

First we go to a paint store I have used several times. With notebook in hand, we go in and start looking at color charts. Nick seems more interested in watching me write in my notebook than picking colors, so I look at him and say, “Hey, how about fuchsia for your bedroom?”

He nods and says, “Sure, sounds great.”

I laugh and say, “Nick, you’re not paying attention. THIS is fuchsia.” I hold up the color card and he at least blushes. I laugh and say, “I know, you’re bored…we only have one room left to pick paint for and it’s your bedroom. Do you want it to be your sanctuary, your color, or do you want it to flow with the rest of the house and match the seascape motif?”

He thinks a minute and says, “You know, I think I would like it to be a little different.”

I look at him and say, “Do you have a color preference? Or just something masculine?”

Laughing, he says, “Do what you think will work. I have no clue what will look right.”

I turn to the paint wall and quickly pick out the color I love to do most when it comes to men. And it will follow along with his seascape theme to a degree. The salesman quickly mixes the paint and puts a sample of it on top of the can. I look at Nick and say, “This will work with your seascape too.”

Nick says, “So tell me what it’s going to look like.”

I show him the paint I’ve chosen. A medium-to-light shade of gray. “This will be your walls. The baseboards will be a darker shade of gray and the carpet black. The crown molding will be white and for wall art, we’ll use metal décor and frames. What do you think?”

Looking at it, Nick says, “Sounds good to me. But I have to kind of see it all together. Is there anyway I can do that?”

I say, “Sure, I have a program at home that will let me paint a room any way I choose. I’ll show you at my place tonight, if you want.”

Smiling, he says, “Great. I can’t wait to see it. Now that we have paint, what’s next?”

After attaching all the paint color choices to the corresponding pages in my notebook, I say, “Furniture. Window treatments have to match the walls and the furniture.” After we get in the car, I say, “Ready for phase 2?”

He chuckles and says, “Not really, but let’s go.” I reach to start my car, but he grabs my hand and stops me. “First, this…” he says. He leans over and captures my lips with his for a fleeting kiss.

When our lips part, I say, “What was that for?”

Smiling, he says, “You said the other night you like romance. Part of romance, if I remember correctly, is kissing. Am I wrong?”

Blushing slightly, I say, “No, you’re not wrong at all. You just took me by surprise, that’s all.”

Smiling, he says, “Good. Because I’ve decided I really want to try. I want to see if I can sweep you off your feet because I really like you.”

I want to tell him he’s doing a damn fine job of it. Instead, I say, “I really like you too, Nick.”

He winks at me and says, “Good. Now, before I forget romance doesn’t necessarily mean groping in your car while you’re working, you said furniture store, right?”

I forgot how to breathe, thinking of what it would be like to be making out in the car with him. Finally, I say, “Yeah, furniture.” Under my breath, I say, “Choosing the bed will kill me.” When Nick chuckles again, I groan and blush, knowing he heard me. This is going to be a LONG afternoon.