Coming Apart at the Seams (24 page)

His two best friends had picked gifts they knew he'd enjoy: Cal had given him a new golf driver, although Nick doubted it would make his game any better, and Quinn had surprised him with a digital camera and lessons from one of the top photographers in the city.

Teagan had given him nothing but a glare. And Cal noticed.

“Didn't you get anything for Priest, T?”

She glanced toward Nick, a glint in her eyes that made all the hair on his body stand on end. She smiled evilly, a tiny twist of her lips.

“Don't worry, Cal. I already gave Nick his present. At the Riley O'Brien holiday party.”

“Really?” Cal asked, his dark eyebrows arched. “What did you give him?”

Teagan stood, tossing Nick a satisfied look over her shoulder. She bent down to pick up some of her presents, and he couldn't help but stare at her ass as her plaid skirt rose.

“Why don't you tell them what I gave you, Nick?” she suggested as she straightened.

He narrowed his eyes. He knew she didn't want her family to know about them, so she was just trying to put him on the spot—to make him sweat a little.

She walked toward the door, carrying a stack of goodies that did not include his gift. He pressed his tongue against his teeth so he could deliver a long sentence.

“She offered to help me look for a new house.”

He had planned to tour houses with Letty, but he definitely liked the idea of touring them with Teagan better. He wanted to buy a place she liked, since he planned for them to live there together.

Teagan's head snapped around, and she stumbled. She stared at him, her dark blue eyes huge behind her black-rimmed glasses.

“Perfect gift,” he added. “So thoughtful.”

“It's always so helpful to have a second opinion,” Kate noted, her blond bob swinging. “And Teagan is such a skillful negotiator. She always finds a way to get exactly what she wants.”

Nick met Teagan's eyes, recalling her husky voice asking him to give her what she wanted. When her cheeks turned pink, he knew she remembered the same thing.

She licked her lips, and he wondered if she was thinking about the blow job she'd given him during their night together. He'd never forgotten the feel of her luscious lips sucking him deep as he slid his cock in and out of her hot mouth.

James cleared his throat, and Nick jerked his eyes away from Teagan, embarrassed he'd been thinking about her going down on him when her parents sat less than fifteen feet away. Thank God his black dress pants were roomy.

Gathering the rest of Teagan's gifts, he headed toward her. He tilted his head toward them.

“Car?”

“Guest room. I stayed over last night.”

He waited for her to lead the way, since he didn't know which guest room she occupied. He followed her down the hall and into a large, airy bedroom filled with white cottage-style furniture. Stopping just inside the door, he watched as she made her way to a pair of high-backed chairs situated near the window.

“You can put everything right there,” she directed, pointing toward the chairs. “And then you can leave.”

The walls were a shade between lavender and baby blue, and they made her eyes look almost violet in contrast. He stared at her for a moment, taking in her gorgeous face. He wished she would smile at him the way she used to . . . the way she had in the picture.

Instead, she eyed him warily, as if he were a snake about to strike. Using his foot to push the door shut behind him, he ambled toward her. As he deposited the gifts on one of the floral-printed chairs, she tried to dash around him.

Thanks to football, he had faster reflexes than most people, and he caught her by the waistband of her skirt. He reeled her back to him like a fish caught on a hook.

She glowered over her shoulder. “You're going to rip my skirt.”

He smiled, imagining how fucking awesome it would feel to tear that schoolgirl skirt from her body before spreading her legs and sinking into her tight pussy. His thoughts must have been a little too obvious on his face because her eyes widened.

Before she could put up much of a struggle, he wrapped his arms around her from behind and turned her to face him. Her hair was loose and wavy, and he threaded his fingers through the dark strands to hold her head immobile so he could look into her eyes.

“Did you like the picture?”

She tried to look away from him, but he clenched his hands in her hair and gently tilted her head back. She swallowed, her white throat rippling, before closing her eyes.

He waited for her to answer, but after several moments he realized she wasn't going to, not without some persuasion. He brushed his lips against hers, and she sighed, a breathy little sound that made his heart beat faster.

“Tell me,” he demanded, nipping her bottom lip.

She gasped, and he darted his tongue into her mouth.
Tilting her head, he delved more deeply into her sweetness. Her tongue twined around his, and he followed it eagerly before sucking it into his mouth.

Dropping his hands from her head, he palmed her ass and pulled her against his erection. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her breasts against his chest.

It felt like it had been a lifetime since he had tasted her sweet, pink nipples, and suddenly that was all he could think about. He brought his fingers around to her stomach to slip them under her sweater, stroking her smooth skin until he reached the edge of her bra.

When he found her nipple under the stretchy lace, he rolled it between his thumb and forefinger. She moaned against his mouth, and he walked backward until his knees hit the empty chair.

Dropping down into it, he looked up into Teagan's face. Her lips were rosy and swollen, and her cheeks were flushed. Just as he reached for the hem of her sweater, a light knock sounded on the door. She jerked away from him, her eyes wide with dismay.

“Teagan,” Amelia said softly through the door. “You have about two minutes before Quinn realizes Nick has been with you this whole time.
Alone.
”

Teagan took a step toward the door, but he pulled her back. He wasn't ready to leave this room, and he didn't give a shit about who was on the other side of the door. She stared down at his hand before raising her eyes to his.

“Thank you for the picture.”

Touchdown, Priest!

Teagan continued, “It's a good reminder of who I used to be and what I used to want.” Without taking her eyes from his, she raised her voice to be heard through the door. “Amelia, you can come in. Nick and I were just reminiscing about the way things used to be. But we're done now.”

It was Nick's first day of work that didn't involve a football and yard lines, and he was nervous. His success at Riley O'Brien & Co. depended on his brain rather than his body, and that scared the shit out of him.

Not to mention the fact that Teagan was going to be his boss. Although Quinn made the final decisions for the charitable foundation, Teagan carried them out, and Nick would report to her.

It might have made more sense to postpone his first day until after the New Year, but he didn't want to wait even one more day. Every day that passed without seeing Teagan was just another day of his life wasted.

He let his gaze roam the reception area of the company's global headquarters in downtown San Francisco. It was deserted, probably because of the holidays.

He hadn't visited the offices in years, not since he'd played for Denver, and the space had been redesigned since then. It was an interesting mix of wood, metal, and glass—kind of industrial meets rustic with a little contemporary thrown in. And the color scheme was interesting, too, blues and greens like the ocean, along with bright orange like the sunset.

One of the double doors in the corner opened, and Cal strode
through it. When he reached Nick, the younger man gave him a fist bump before throwing his arm around Nick's shoulders.

Cal waved to the receptionist, a young brunette, and the woman blushed. Someone had a crush.

“Hey, Priest. Ready to start serving your time?”

Nick laughed at Cal's quip. He hoped his new job would be more pleasant than a life sentence at a maximum-security prison.

“W-w-w-where's Teagan?”

Quinn had told him that Teagan was supposed to handle his “on-boarding,” a fancy way of saying “orientation.” He was eager to see her, even though it had only been two days since Christmas.

Cal glanced at him, his light blue eyes speculative. Nick got a feeling the other man definitely had an idea there was something between his good friend and his little sister.

“Her assistant says she's tied up in a meeting,” Cal answered, the tone of his voice suggesting he didn't believe it. “I'm going to show you around, and then I'm going to take you to her.”

Nick nodded, and Cal slapped him on the back. He headed toward the elevator bank, gesturing for Nick to follow him.

“First I'm going to show you the most important room in the whole damn building: the break room,” Cal said, stabbing the Up button.

Minutes later, they stood in the fourth-floor break room, a large space filled with café tables and leather-backed booths. It reminded him of a trendy coffee shop.

Cal opened the stainless steel refrigerator, removing a rectangular plastic container. He placed it on the counter before grabbing two forks and plates from the cabinets that ran along the wall next to the fridge.

“Coffee,” he directed, pointing to the industrial-sized coffeemaker. “One sugar, one cream for me.”

Nick quickly made the coffees and brought them to the booth where Cal sat. He slid into the booth, and Cal opened the container to reveal a huge piece of the dessert Ava Grace had made for Christmas dinner.

“I hid this so I could have it later,” Cal said.

Ava Grace had called the dessert a
bûche de Noël
, pronouncing it “boosh duh No-el.” It was a traditional Yule log
with moist cake rolled into a log shape and covered with rich chocolate icing.

“You know bush is one of my favorite desserts,” Cal added, his eyes glinting with humor and his lips turned up at the corners.

Nick shook his head, unable to keep from laughing. Cal could turn the most innocuous subject into X-rated material. It was a true gift.

Once Cal had halved the dessert, he placed the pieces on the plates, and the two of them dug in. It was pretty damn good, but Letty had spoiled him with her cooking, so he wasn't as enthusiastic as Cal, who moaned in gastronomical ecstasy. After a few more bites and several sips of coffee, their morning snack was gone, and Cal was ready to talk business.

“Your ad campaign has been a real success. Women fucking
love
you, Priest, and since they pretty much dictate what their husbands and boyfriends wear, our sales have really increased.”

Nick smiled. He was happy Cal was pleased with the results of the campaign.

“Ava Grace has signed on to promote Amelia's new accessories, and she's also agreed to help with the new women's jeans.”

Nick imagined Ava Grace's celebrity would have a big impact on Riley O'Brien's bottom line. She was tall, thin, and blond, and her unique raspy voice made most men think of sex. Women didn't get much hotter than Ava Grace. Except for Teagan, of course. She was exponentially hotter.

“Are you willing to do another campaign with us?”

Nick didn't need to think it over. He loved the O'Brien family, and he trusted Cal's business acumen.

“Yes.”

Cal smiled and held out his fist for another bump before leaning back in the booth. “I'm excited,” he said, his voice lacking any inflection.

He laughed. Unlike Quinn, whose emotions were much more visible, Cal was so laid-back it was hard to tell when he was happy and when he was upset. You had to pay close attention.

“Do you have any ideas?” Nick asked.

“I have lots of ideas,” Cal answered, smirking a little.

Such a smart-ass.

“Ideas about the campaign?”

Cal nodded. “It's going to rock.”

“No speaking for me,” he reminded him.

“What about singing?”

Nick laughed, shaking his head. One of his speech therapists had recommended singing to help with his stutter, and it actually worked pretty well. Unfortunately, he couldn't carry a tune to save his life, and his efforts to sing sounded remarkably like a wolf howling.

Cal shrugged. “I'll work around it.”

Leaning to the side, Cal pulled his phone from the front pocket of his jeans. He checked the screen, his eyes narrowing.

“T just sent me a text. She says she's done with her meeting, and she wants to take the afternoon off, so I need to take you to her now or you can wait to talk to her until tomorrow.”

“Now,” he replied, sliding from the booth.

They made their way back to the first floor, where all the executive offices were located, and Cal headed toward the double doors. He swiped a key card in the reader, and the door made a popping noise.

“Usually there's a security guard posted outside these doors, but he's off for the holidays,” Cal explained, pulling open the door. “You need a special keycard to get into the executive offices. We didn't want people wandering into areas where there might be sensitive information.”

He nodded, following Cal down a long hallway featuring company memorabilia and a timeline of the company since its founding in the mid-1800s. Cal pointed toward the right as they walked by a closed door.

“Quinn's office.” He continued down the hall and pointed to a door on the left. “My office.”

Cal kept walking, his boots clicking on the polished concrete floor, and Nick caught up to him. They reached the end of the hallway, stopping in front of another closed door with a plaque next to it that read “Teagan K. O'Brien.”

Nick chuckled when he realized Teagan's initials were TKO, an acronym for “technical knockout” in boxing. He'd never noticed that before. Cal shot him a curious glance, and Nick pointed to the plaque.

“Technical knockout.”

“She's worse than a black eye, that's for damn sure.”

Cal knocked loudly on the door, and a moment later, Teagan opened it. She didn't look toward Nick but eyed her older brother.

“Thanks for showing Nick around, Cal. I was trapped on a conference call.”

“We only made it as far as the break room.”

She frowned, shaking her head. “Thanks for nothing,” she muttered, turning to walk back to her desk.

Cal slapped Nick on the back before starting the trek back to his office. “If you're bored later, Priest, you can drop by my place,” he tossed over his shoulder. “I have beer.”

Nick entered Teagan's office, reaching for the doorknob to close the door.

“Leave it open,” she directed.

Dropping his hand, he took a moment to look around. He'd wondered what her office was like, and now that he was here, he was a little disappointed because there was no sofa for non-work-related activities.

Her office was spacious, but other than that, it wasn't unique or interesting. In fact, the only interesting thing in the whole room, other than Teagan, was the collection of framed degrees hanging on the wall.

Teagan stood beside her large desk, which had two leather chairs situated in front of it. Floor-to-ceiling bookcases covered the left side of the room, overflowing with law and business books.

A long, frosted glass conference table took up the entire right side of the room. Several mesh-backed chairs were grouped around it, and two black phone speakers sat on top, along with several stacks of files.

Teagan cleared her throat, drawing his attention. He gave her a long look, taking note of every little detail. While Cal had been dressed casually in Rileys and a sweater, Teagan was garbed more professionally.

Her wavy, dark hair was twisted into a prim bun, and his fingers itched to pull it down. Her raspberry-colored shirt matched her lush lips, the high collar and square buttons tempting him to tear it open.

Her black skirt was just tight enough to show the shape of her hips, and it ended right at her knees with a small row of pleats. A pair of black leather boots with a tall, skinny heel completed her outfit.

Strangely, her business attire turned him on as much as the low-cut green dress she'd worn for her birthday dinner. His cock twitched, and he shoved his hands in his front pockets to make some extra room for it.

“Sit,” she said, gesturing to one of the chairs in front of her desk.

Settling himself in the chair, he crossed his ankle over his knee as she took a seat behind her desk. She placed her elbows on the smooth surface and leaned forward to meet his gaze.

“I tried to get Quinn to change his mind about hiring you, but he refused.”

He nodded, unsurprised she had approached her older brother. Likewise, he wasn't surprised Quinn had refused. Even if his best friend had suffered second thoughts, he wouldn't have gone back on his word.

“He must feel sorry for you. I can't think of any other reason why he would have offered you this job.”

She was wrong. Quinn didn't feel sorry for him. He had offered him a job because he knew Nick would never let him down.

“You aren't qualified to handle a project like Grandma Vi's museum.” She made a scoffing noise. “You've never even had a job that required you to do anything but catch a football.”

She was right. He wasn't qualified to handle this project. But he was determined to make it a success nonetheless. He might not be as smart as she was, and he might not be able to speak without sounding like an idiot, but he wasn't going to fail. There was no way in hell he was going to humiliate himself in front of the woman he loved.

She sighed loudly, picking up a pen and rolling it between her slender fingers. “Nick, this museum is important to me. Grandma Vi was a really special woman, and I want to honor her.”

“I know.”

“I'm asking you again: don't take this job. Just walk away. Quinn will understand.”

He stared into her eyes. He wasn't going to walk away from
the job. And he wasn't going to walk away from her, either. He'd already made that mistake once.

“No.”

She threw the pen on top of the desk and pushed back her chair in a jerky movement before vaulting to her feet. Anger made her cheeks red and her eyes all squinty behind her glasses.

“You're such an
ass
!”

She pointed to the door before stalking over to the conference room table. He watched as she began to stack files while muttering beneath her breath.

Guess the meeting's over.

*   *   *

Teagan's hands shook as she gathered the files scattered across the conference table. She was one of those people who organized things when they were upset, and she'd reorganized her closet at least six times since Nick had come back into her life several months ago. She was a regular at The Container Store now, and her clothes were not only organized by season but also by garment type and color.

She leaned over the table to grab a fat file folder, pulling it closer with the tips of her fingers. She was beyond angry, but mostly she was angry with herself.

She might tell Nick to stay away from her, but her words rang hollow, since she forgot who she was and why she hated him the moment he touched her. She couldn't find the strength to resist him.

When he kissed her, she kissed him back. When he grabbed her butt, she rubbed against his erection. When he put his hands between her legs, she came.