Good Girl Gone Wild: When Lust Turns to Passion... (Good and Wild) (2 page)

Nick was equally
inattentive of the new arrival, watching her slim fingers lightly rubbing her
slightly red forearms with table napkins. There was a drop of coffee glistening
like an amber bead on one cheek. He thought about licking it off, and felt
himself stirring with some wonder.

“Are you okay,
Christine?” Teddy asked, and Christine finally looked up, smiling reassuringly.
Nick took note, thinking Christine was a beautiful name.

“I’m fine, Ted,
it was an accident. No big deal,” she told Jody, risking a quick glance at the
man who still stood there. “Don’t worry about it.” She shut down her laptop,
and stood up. “I guess I’d better go home and change,” she added ruefully.

“At least let me
drive you home,” Nick said, making no attempt to move as she exited the alcove
so that Christine found herself wedged between him and the bolted down table,
her laptop clutched tightly to her chest. She looked up as she was about 6
inches shorter, and he was so close she had to lean back a little. Christine
could smell the aftershave he used and the warmth of his body through her
slightly damp jeans, and she noted that his eyes were very dark, almost black.
She felt herself wanting to press closer, but resisted the impulse furiously.
What
are you doing?”
she screamed in her head.

She opened her
mouth to tell him there was no need, she just lived next door, when Kate came
up to them, green eyes agog with curiosity. “Everything okay?”

Christine took one
look at the beauty, and her heart sank.
Well, so much for that
. She
eased herself out, and gave Kate a slight smile. “Yes, just a little spilled
coffee, that’s all. Don’t worry about it,” she repeated as she made her way to
the counter.

Nick had
completely forgotten about Kate, who had been waiting for him to get back from
the bathroom.  He had a whiff of Christine’s flower-scented hair which seemed
to have just a hint of cinnamon, and he was savoring the warmth of their
near-contact when Kate spoke. He looked around quickly, allowing Christine to
sidle past.
Damn!
he thought, watching her.

“No bill for you
today, Christine,” Teddy said, and as she protested, he waved it off like a
pesky fly. “The least we can do. See you tomorrow?”

Christine
nodded, grinning impishly. She waved to Jody and walked quickly away, gingerly
holding her shirt away from her body. She didn’t look back, although she could
feel the man’s eyes on her retreating back. She smiled a little sadly as she
slipped into her apartment building.

Kate was darting
quick glances between Nick and the girl, and a sneaking suspicion entered her
mind. She snapped her fingers directly in front of Nick’s nose, and he started.

“Huh?”

“Let’s go,” she
said, tugging at his arm. “She was very pretty,” Kate said conversationally, as
they stepped out of the café and turned right. Nick nodded his thoughts far
away. “Did you get her name?”

“Christine.”

“Did you get her
number?” Kate persisted, and this finally snapped Nick out of his reverie.

“How was I
supposed to do that?” he asked with unaccustomed asperity. “It wasn’t exactly
an auspicious meeting.”

Kate tut-tutted,
linking her arm through his. “You’re slipping,” she teased. “The Nick I know
could squeeze water from a rock.”

He looked down
at his impudent cousin, and couldn’t help but laugh. “Idiot.”

Christine looked
down from her third floor apartment, wistfully noting the linked arms, before
turning slowly away.

Lisa hadn’t even
noticed the disheveled state of her sister when she walked into the apartment. There
was no sign of her assistants today and she was concentrating on piping
eighteen cupcakes for a cake tower. But she finished an hour later, and when
the cake was safely packed and handed over for delivery, she flopped thankfully
on their old sofa and spared a thought for her sibling, who was now curled up
in a familiar position in the old armchair nearest the living room window.

“You’re back
early,” she observed.

Christine looked
up from her book, and shrugged. “I lost momentum,” she said, turning a page.  Lisa
looked at her speculatively for a while, and then shrugged, stating she was
going to take a very loooong shower.

She wasn’t
really reading, but Lisa could always tell when something was off, and she
didn’t want to talk about
him
.

She wasn’t sure
why it was such a big deal; she wasn’t likely to see him again, and he was
clearly taken. But for some reason she wanted to keep this little adventure to
herself.

The two Foster
sisters were incredibly close, and looked enough alike to be mistaken for
twins. Lisa was older by a year, but she was much more gung-ho than Christine,
so Christine took on the big sister role. She would often caution Lisa when her
impulsiveness threatened to plunge her into trouble, and would often provide a
shoulder to cry on when any of Lisa’s many relationships broke down badly,
usually about a month after she was sure he was
the one
. 

Her cautious and
introverted nature kept Christine from meeting people, and the only romantic
relationship she had had was in high school, and it wasn’t a happy experience.
The boy was nice enough, but inexperienced, and her deflowering was predictably
a disaster. It was prom night, and his car was tiny. After some struggle, they
managed to get halfway horizontal. He had come very quickly when he finally
penetrated her, leaving her feeling dissatisfied, and wondering what all the
fuss was about.

The relationship
did not survive graduation, and in college where she majored in English
literature, she steered clear of the dating scene. It wasn’t that she was
averse to intimate relationships; she had gleaned enough information from her
friends that with a more knowledgeable (and restrained) partner it could be
very pleasant. She just didn’t want any distractions because she was anxious to
graduate, and no one came along to tempt her to stray from her course. She and
Lisa had a plan to find a place of their own and find work, something their
parents supported wholeheartedly.

It went as
planned, and Lisa immediately plied her skills as a baker to the neighborhood
restaurants and coffee shops. Christine tried teaching for a semester, but
found it too stressful. Thanks to the Internet, she found work as a freelance
writer and settled happily into a routine.

Lisa lost no
time in becoming very socially active, and Christine only had to suffer through
single bars and clubs for the first month they were on their own before
retiring gracefully in the background. Lisa badgered her relentlessly about
going out, but Christine usually managed to get her way and stay home.

That night, Lisa
was at her again.

“Aw, come on,
Chrissy, I hear this club is really swinging!” Lisa declared wriggling into a
tight mini-skirt before donning a silvery halter top and matching high heels.
In figure, Christine had fuller breasts and wider hips, but they had the same
tiny waist and shapely legs. Christine could wear Lisa’s outfits at a pinch,
but seldom did. She wasn’t a prude, but she thought her arms were too flabby
and her chest too big for the slinky numbers her sister favored. She also
preferred her comfortable flat-heeled slip-ons to the horrors her sister
slipped on her dainty feet when she went out.

“I’m sure,”
Christine concurred, amused. “If you can get in. You know what these new clubs
are like. You go ahead. Is Kelly going?” Kelly was their next door neighbor, a
bubbly blonde who had taken the Foster girls under her wing when they first
moved in.

“Nah, she’s
becoming a real stay-at-home ever since she got engaged,” Lisa grumbled, eyeing
her sister with some asperity. “At least she has an excuse, that Paul of hers
is the jealous type. At least come with me until you get your own jealous
boyfriend.”

Christine
laughed, shaking her head. “No thanks.” Unbidden, the man in the café came to
mind, and she smiled, but with some sadness. Lisa caught the look.

“What’s wrong?”
she asked sharply, and Christine was startled. Lisa really had an eagle eye.

“What? Nothing!”

“So what was
that look about?” Lisa demanded.

“What look?”

“Don’t act all
innocent with me, Christine Marie Foster!” Lisa admonished sternly, making
Christine grin. Lisa could get all big-sisterly when the mood took her.  “You
had that lost puppy look. Now give! Did you meet someone, and it didn’t work
out?”

Christine
protested. “There’s no one! What are you talking about?”

“You can be very
sneaky, Chrissy. Who knows what kind of people you hook up with online,” she
said virtuously. This made Christine laugh again, and Lisa had the grace to
look a little shame-faced. Her last boyfriend had been an online hookup, and he
was a creep. “Okay fine, but I tell you everything, so you know what’s going on
with me. You’re like an oyster.”

“There’s just
nothing to find out, I’m not hiding anything,” Christine insisted. Technically,
the man in the café was nothing. At least outside her own head. Inside it was a
whole different ballgame.

She wondered at
herself when Lisa finally left in a huff to meet up with her friends. She had
been unable to keep the man from the café from intruding into her thoughts. She
finally gave up and tried to analyze what it was about him that kept him stuck
like a burr to her brain.

He was handsome,
no doubt. But she had met handsome men before, and she had emerged unscathed
and carefree. She knew nothing about him, except that he slips on tiled floors
to the consternation of harassed waitresses. She smiled at the thought, but
thinking back she doubted that he was clumsy. Up close, she could sense that he
was fit and muscular, and watching him walk away, he had an easy gait that was
almost graceful.  She wondered where he was right then, and if the red-haired
beauty was with him.

Nick was at that
moment wondering what Christine was doing, and why he even cared. He couldn’t
get her out of his mind, and when Kate called to inveigle him into bringing her
to the newest club in town, she found him surprisingly compliant. He needed to
take his mind off the woman in the cafe.

The club was
certainly noisy, and if the line stretching to the next block was any
indication, a ringing success. The usual large men in tight shirts held sway
over the red cordon, letting in one or two people at a time.

“Good God, Kate,
have you seen the line?” Nick protested, hanging back.

“Silly. I know
the owner. We’ll get in, no problem.” Kate tripped up the two steps of the
entrance, sweetly smiling at the dour doormen and mentioned the name of the
owner. After sizing her up, he conferred with an unseen person beyond the door.
Apparently, she passed muster because one of the men presently unclipped the
cord and motioned for Kate and Nick to go in. Kate turned her head to Nick in
triumph, and caught a glimpse of a young woman in a silver halter having an
animated conversation with a woman in red about four or five people down the
line.

“Wait!” she told
the doorman holding the cord, and ran lightly down the steps, leaving a
surprised Nick to wonder what she was up to now. Kate halted in front of the
girl who caught her eye, who paused in her conversation in surprise.

“Hi!” Kate said
brightly. “You’re Christine, right?”

Enlightenment
dawned on Lisa’s face. “No,” she said laughingly. “That’s my sister. I’m Lisa.”
Lisa saw a petite redhead in designer clothes with the most engaging grin, and
decided she liked her. She wondered where Christine had encountered this
fashion plate.

“Oh! Sorry, you
look very alike,” Kate said, eyeing her speculatively. Just then, Nick came up
and smiled vaguely in Lisa’s direction.

“Hi,” he said,
and Lisa brightened immediately. Kate seemed to make up her mind, and turned to
Nick.

“Nick, this is
Lisa, and…” Kate looked interrogatively at Lisa’s companion.

“This is Wendy,”
Lisa said carelessly, then leaned forward to whisper. “You want to cut in
line?”

“I can do one
better,” Kate whispered back, and impulsively took Lisa’s hand. She dragged a
surprised Lisa and Wendy from the line and to the entrance, where they were
immediately admitted. Nick rolled his eyes at Kate’s antics, and followed the
three girls in.

Inside, they
found a table almost by a miracle as a party of four got up and left. It was
very crowded and the music very loud, seeming to vibrate in their bones. Kate
commandeered the table immediately and called for a waiter to clear it. It was
so noisy it was impossible to carry on a conversation, but the three girls
managed. Soon they were giggling like old friends, and Nick observed them with
an air of a father watching unruly toddlers. Soon enough, the girls were
solicited to dance, but Kate refused, turning to Nick, eyes blazing.

“Isn’t it an
amazing coincidence?” she shouted over the din. Nick frowned, not bothering to
verbalize. “That we met Christine’s sister.” As he looked blank, Kate rolled
her eyes in exasperation. “Lisa!”