"What?"
Maude held her dark and beautiful cake aloft. "Your dessert. Better than s.e.x Chocolate Layer Cake."
Shea smiled at the older woman as Maude walked into the dining room and carefully placed the cake in the center of the round table.
"The way to a man"s heart is through his stomach," Maude insisted as she returned to the kitchen. Her eyebrows lifted and she attempted to appear properly scandalized. A soft smile gave her away, though. "I don"t think you"re aiming for the stomach with that dress, young lady."
"Thanks for all your help," Shea said, growing more apprehensive with each second that pa.s.sed.
Maude waved off Shea"s thanks and headed for the back door. "I hope you like yellow. Abigail is painting an eighteen-by-twenty-four oil of bananas for your wedding gift."
"Bananas?"
"For some reason she thought that was an appropriate choice." Maude stopped in the open doorway and turned to face her.
"He hasn"t asked me to marry him," Shea said softly.
"Between your dress and my cake, what chance does the boy have?" Maude teased.
That observation didn"t make Shea feel any better.
Her reservations must"ve shown on her face, because Maude"s wide smile faded. "Oh, honey. It"s Nick"s heart that will bring him to you. The dress and the cake are just gravy." With a knowing wink, Maude closed the door and left Shea alone.
And still she had doubts. Until now, every moment she and Nick had shared had been colored by an intense situation. He"d kidnapped her; they"d become fugitives running from everyone, hiding from the world. Every sound had made her heart race; every day had been precious because they knew they didn"t have many. She"d been doped and Nick had found himself at the wrong end of a number of guns. Their feelings, their love for one another, hadn"t grown slowly, but had hit with the force of a hurricane. It had blindsided them and taken them both by surprise.
So what would happen when there was no tense situation to get their blood boiling? No reason to run, no adrenaline pumping. Would Nick find her tedious? Would she look at him and feel nothing?
There was only one way to find out. Had she forgotten anything? The table was set for two, dinner was warming in the oven and Maude"s best chocolate cake, Better than s.e.x, sat smack dab in the middle of the dining room table. Shea wore her most seductive dress-a black slinky slip of a thing Dean would definitely not approve of.
When she"d had to pick a place to hide, for a while longer, she had been able to think of no other place but this house. She had fallen in love with Nick here. She had watched him heal, and become his partner and fallen head over heels in love. She walked through the house, drifting slowly through the dining room and the parlor, sitting on the bottom step for a few minutes, tapping her fingers nervously against her thigh.
When she heard the car turn onto the gravel drive, her heart skipped a beat and she jumped to her feet. This was it, the moment she"d been looking forward to and dreading all day. She checked her hair and the little bit of makeup she wore in the dining room mirror, straightened her dress and went to the kitchen to wait.
Nick"s heart.
Nick was caught in the middle, herded into the house like a prisoner, but when he saw her he grinned and pushed past Dean. "G.o.d, you look good," he said softly, taking her in his arms and lifting her off her feet.
The moment she saw him she knew this was right. What had she been worried about? Here, in Nick"s arms, this was her place in the world. She felt comfort and love and pa.s.sion, all at the same time.
"Hey, hey," Boone snapped. "Put her down."
Nick smiled at her and gave her a quick kiss. "I don"t think so."
"The man doesn"t know what"s good for him," Clint murmured.
"What the h.e.l.l are you wearing?" Dean asked tersely. Nick placed Shea on her feet, kissed her quickly again and turned to bravely face her brothers. Shea expected fireworks, maybe even bloodshed.
But instead of shouting or raising his fists, Nick stepped forward and reached out to take Dean"s unoffered hand and shake it. "I want to thank you boys," he said, smiling all the while, even as he stepped to the side and lifted Boone"s uncooperative hand. "For watching after Shea all these years." He dropped Boone"s hand and moved on to Clint, who had the grace to extend his hand, even if he did look suspicious. "I appreciate it, I really do." He stepped back to stand beside her. "But I"ll take it from here. You can go."
Dean shook his head, Boone bl.u.s.tered and Clint looked Nick up and down like he was crazy.
"She said she wanted to see you," her youngest brother drawled. "She didn"t say nothin" about us leaving you here."
"Well, of course you"re going to leave him here," Shea said impatiently. "Did you think I"d ask you to drive three and a half hours for a fifteen-minute visit?"
"Your plans don"t always make perfect sense, Shea Lyn," Dean said wearily. "But we have been trying to humor you since you"ve been-"
"Humor me?" she interrupted.
"I smell dinner," Clint said, trying to change the subject.
"Well, you don"t smell your dinner," Shea said, crossing her arms and striking a pose much like their own.
Things were getting tense, but Nick raised a hand to silence them all. "Fellas," he said with a sigh. "I love your sister. I don"t know what else I can say to you. I love her, and you"re not going to scare me off.
Not by threatening to shoot me, not by threatening to leave my body parts scattered by the side of the road-"
"Boone!" Shea snapped.
Nick ignored her. "If I have to fight all three of you for her, I will."
Boone looked like he was prepared to do battle, as always, but Dean held him back. Shea was ready to throw herself into the middle of the fray, since one-to-three odds were not at all fair. Surprisingly, no fists were raised, no accusations made. Tensions were high, though. They practically crackled through the room.
Dean was, uncharacteristically, the one to surrender first. "Is that pizza place still down by the courthouse?"
"I think so," Shea said calmly.
"We"ll have dinner there and be back in a couple of hours."
Nick put his arm around Shea. "How about you have dinner there and hit the road. Shea doesn"t need a trio of bodyguards anymore."
She slipped her arm around his waist. "I just need the one."
Those words spoken, she expected a fight, but the boys seemed oddly docile.
"I guess I really should get back to work," Dean said lowly.
Shea left Nick"s side and went to her eldest brother to kiss him on the cheek. "Thanks for everything," she said softly. "Love you."
Boone wrinkled his nose and shifted on his booted feet. "I do have a case I need to get to, myself."
"You"re a doll," she said, kissing him on the cheek as well. "What would I do without you?"
He growled.
"Love you," she said, giving him a quick and tender hug.
Clint was grinning widely by the time she got to him.
"Well, Shea Lyn, it looks like you finally found yourself a real man."
"Looks that way."
"About time."
She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Love you."
"Love you, too."
It was amazing. They all left peacefully, and she and Nick were finally alone.
He swept her up again, and this time there was no one to tell him to put her down. No one to interrupt their reunion. He held her tight and buried one hand in her hair while he breathed deep. He laughed and sighed and whirled her around until her head spun. She held on and kissed his rough cheek and his neck, and as he slowed the dizzying twirl, she placed her head on his shoulder.
"Everything with us has been moving so fast," he said softly.
Her heart sank. Did he want to slow things down? Was he having second thoughts? She didn"t have to worry for long.
"I don"t see any reason to change that just because you aren"t a hostage anymore."
She hid her smile against his shoulder. "Neither do I." He placed her on her feet and tipped her head back so she had to look him in the eye. Had she ever thought those eyes were cold? Had she ever believed that he didn"t love her?
"I want to start over, with you," he whispered. "I don"t care where, as long as it"s not in Huntsville. I want someplace new for us, someplace..." He looked around the kitchen. "Like this."
She took a deep breath, gathering her courage. Time to lay it all on the line. "How about someplace near-say, Atlanta?"
Nick raised his eyebrows, but in truth he didn"t look at all surprised. "Why Atlanta?"
"I got a job offer yesterday, a pretty good one."
"The Weather Channel?"
He was kidding her, she could tell, so she grinned and rose up to kiss him briefly on the mouth. "No. CNN."
She searched for a growing wariness on his face, but saw none. She waited for the storm to come but saw only peace and love. He"d known all along that she was ambitious, that she would sacrifice anything for her career. Maybe he already knew, as she did, that she was no longer willing to give up anything.
"Sounds like just what you always wanted," he said in a low voice.
"Well, it"s not a sure thing. And I did give them a few conditions."
"You gave CNN conditions."
She nodded. "I won"t talk about my personal life, not ever, and that includes you."
"And they"re still interested?"
She nodded. "I also told them I wouldn"t work sixty and seventy hours a week. A woman has to have time for a personal life."
"Is that a fact?"
"And Nick-" she draped her arms around his neck "-they have great maternity benefits."
He tried not to smile, but didn"t do a very good job of it. The corners of his wonderful mouth twitched. "So you gave them conditions and asked about maternity benefits, and they still want you?"
There had been a time when she would have been so excited about such an offer that nothing else would"ve mattered. Those days were gone, but it was an awfully good deal. "Yes. They want me to do a series of specials on criminals who claim they"ve been wrongly convicted. I"ll have a team, including my cameraman Mark, and we"ll investigate these cases and put together a show on each one."
"When do you start?"
"I haven"t accepted yet."
"Why not?"
She leaned against him, into him. "I was kinda waiting for another offer to come along. If I can make both work, fine. If I can"t, choosing will not be a problem."
"What other offer?" he whispered.
"One that comes with a porch swing, and a fort in the backyard, and three or four kids." She wrapped her arms around his waist. "I love you, Nick. I want a lot out of life, that"s true. I want everything and I want it right now. But most of all, I want you."
He grinned at her, a warm, confident grin that told her he would be with her all the way. Always. She saw that promise, felt it, loved him all the more for it.
"Marry me," he said.
"Anywhere, anytime," she whispered.
"I think we should elope at the first opportunity."
"Fine by me."
Nick swept Shea off her feet and headed for the stairs. Almost at once his leg hitched, but he recovered.
"Put me down," she insisted. "You"ll hurt your leg."
"Gee, that would be too bad," he said as he continued on, limping just slightly and showing no intention of slowing down, much less stopping. "I"d probably have to stay in bed for at least a week while I heal up."
She swung her feet lazily and relaxed against him, one arm stretched languidly around his neck. "Oh," she muttered. "Never mind."
As Nick lifted his foot onto the first step she reached for the foil packet she had tucked into her bra.
"We still have this," she said, holding the condom between two fingers and waving it gently.
He looked at her, his eyes piercing and warm at the same time. "Are we going to need it?"
She really did want it all, and she really did want it now. For all she knew she was already carrying Nick"s baby, and if she wasn"t ... well, if their relationship continued to move as quickly as it had so far, she didn"t think it would be long.
"I don"t think so." Shea nonchalantly tossed the foil-wrapped condom over her shoulder. It landed in the center of Maude"s chocolate layer cake.
Better than s.e.x, indeed.