Laying a Foundation: Bonus volume: Includes series prequel, The Groundbreaking (The Love Under Construction Series) (48 page)

“But do you like it?”

“Not really.” Yeah, she did, but it was easier to say she didn’t. It was kind of embarrassing – did he really think she could buy one of those?

“They’re the safest cars on the road,” he said plainly, walking around it.

She looked at it again. “Tony, I don’t have this kind of money.”

“Would you prefer another color?” They were looking at a green one, but there was a dark blue one on the other side of two silver ones, and he pointed toward it. “What about that one?”

She pointed at a red one. “What about that one?” It had a sunroof. She walked to the sticker and looked – five thousand more than the first one. “Never mind.” She was feeling more hopeless by the minute. She just started walking away.

“But do you like it?” he called after her.

“Doesn’t matter. I could never afford it.” She got back into his big silver pickup truck.

Once they were rolling again, Tony told her, “I’ll take you to work in the morning. Or you can drive the Camaro.”

“Can’t. I can’t drive a straight shift.”

“Guess I need to teach you how. You can drive the Mercedes.” He reached over and wiped a stray tear off of her face. “It’s gonna be okay, princess – I’ve got your back.” He squeezed her hand and she squeezed his in return.

They walked into the house to the smell of something fabulous. Crap – they were supposed to cook with the kids. She checked the kitchen – all of them had been there, cooked, eaten, and left Tony and Nikki leftovers. “I’ll call them, make the appropriate apologies, and fill them in,” Tony told Nikki. “While I do that, you can fix us some plates. I’m starving.”

“You need some stress relief,” Tony informed her. He slid down her legs and slipped between them, his face in the apex of her thighs. She stretched and gasped when his tongue found her clit and started to circle it gently. Her folds were already wet, and Tony decided she was the most delectable thing he’d ever tasted, her juices thick and creamy, sweet and tart and salty. She couldn’t have tasted better to him if she’d been topped with vanilla bean ice cream. To Tony, this wasn’t just a mere sex act – it was intensely spiritual. Fuck the cathedral; this was his place of worship, his sanctuary. Her, her essence, brought him to his knees, held him there, fed him, warmed him, and kept him safe.

All the cares of the day vanished, and orgasmic tension pooled in her abdomen. She felt the ebb and flow of electricity in her pussy as it constricted and released, constricted and released in time with his rhythmic stroking. His fingers crawled up her thighs, up her mons, on up and across her soft belly, and past her ribcage to find her erect nipples and twist them – hard. She felt everything below her waist twist into a blazing knot, and within seconds she was riding an orgasmic wave that had her hips bucking. Tony never let up, never slowed down, never missed one beat of the rhythm.

Before her cries had settled he was deep in her, hammering into her, and her legs came up and around his torso, giving him complete access to her depths. Flipping them both over, he sat them both up and wrapped his legs around and under her bottom as he sat up. He lifted her up and down on his cock, her weight forcing his shaft into her as far as it could go, and she almost screamed at the fullness. He jacked her onto him ravenously, his hands wrapped under her ass, and she pressed her arms into the tops of his shoulders and helped to lift herself up and down on his rigidness, kissing him the whole time, the feel of his skin on hers making her heart sing.

“I wish you could see how you look to me,” Tony panted as his cock pumped into her warmth and softness, and he listened to her moan with burning satisfaction. “You’re fucking gorgeous. You’ve got to be the damn sexiest thing I’ve ever seen,” he groaned, looking up into her face.

“If you could see how you look to me, you’d know what sexy
really
looks like,” Nikki whispered back. She let her hands slide like quicksilver down his strong neck and shoulders, then to his upper arms, watching his mighty biceps pop with the stress of lifting her up and down. He handled her as if she weighed no more than a sunbeam, and that power over her always tripped every illicit switch in her body. “I wanted you from the first time I saw you,” she declared breathlessly, “but I never dreamed I had a chance to be here with you. I thought you were just somebody I’d think about when I met Mr. Okay. I couldn’t imagine being here with Mr. Perfect.”

“I’m far from perfect, but I love you.” Then he added, “And I hope that’s all that matters.”

“It is.” She grinned malevolently. “Well, that and this magnificent cock of yours. Damn, baby, sometimes I think you’ll split me wide open. I love you, I want you, I want to fuck you. Sometimes I think I’ll die if I don’t have you in the next ten minutes. Waiting all day to get back here with you is murder.”

“Sometimes all I think about all day is making love with you, precious. I want you so bad I can’t breathe.” Tony picked up the pace. “Oh, god, baby, I’m gonna come. Are you close?”

Nikki moaned, “I’m right there. Drive it home, babe.” His essence bathed her inside and when she felt it, she turned everything loose and came around him, her feminine pulsing drawing every drop of his maleness out and into her. They sat there in the darkness, locked together body and soul, for what seemed like forever before they finally gave in to their exhaustion.

N
ikki turned to the sound of the bell on the door. It had been a slow morning at The Passionate Pansy, and she was relieved to have a potential customer to take her mind off what had happened the evening before.

A young man walked up to the counter. “I’m looking for . . .” He checked the envelope he was holding: “Nikki Wilkes?”

“That’s me,” Nikki responded. “How can I help you?”

He held out the envelope with one hand and a set of keys with the other. “You’ll have to come and check it out before I can ask you to sign.”

“Sign what?”

“The paperwork.” He walked to the door. “It’s right there.” He pointed down the block.

Nikki walked to the door and looked in the general direction the young man’s finger was pointing. At the curb was a huge, brand-new Volvo XC90, and red at that. Nikki blinked – she was pretty sure it was the same one she’d looked at the night before. “Oh, no.” She shook her head. “I can’t accept that.”

“It’s already paid for. Just go out, inspect it, and sign. It’s yours.”

Nikki pulled her cell phone from her pocket and dialed Tony’s number. He answered in one ring and announced, without even greeting her, “If you’re going to say anything other than thanks, don’t bother. That’s the only word I’ll accept right now.”

“Tony, I . . . thanks. But I can’t take it.”

“Yes, you can. And you will. It’s safe, it’s an automatic, and it’s red. What more could you possibly want?”

“I want you to know that I can take care of myself,” Nikki said very bluntly.

“I know you can. But last night was scary; god, honey, I thought I’d lost you. I’ll feel better if you’re driving that thing. Please don’t give me any trouble on this, baby. Just don’t, okay? I’ve got enough on my plate right now. I’m already worried enough about you, and this takes care of one worry.”

Nikki stopped for a second before she agreed. “Okay, I won’t argue right now. But we’re going to talk about this later.”

“About later.”
Oh, god, what now?,
she thought. “I need you to come over here to the office after lunch, say about three thirty? There are some things we need to discuss.”

“That sounds scary,” Nikki said, holding her breath.

“Nothing scary. Something good – you’ll see.”

“Okay. I’m sure it’ll be fine with Marla; I’ll be there. And thanks again. I love you. I’ll see you then.”

“See you then, babe. And I love you too.”

Nikki stepped into Tony’s office mid-afternoon. “What’s this all about?” She was greeted by the sight of Tony, Clayton, Cal, Steve, and Vic all sitting there, and all apparently waiting for her, and suddenly she felt like she was on the hot seat, maybe even in front of the firing squad. “Is something else wrong?”

“Nope, baby. Just sit down and we’ll get right to business. Want coffee? Water? Anything?” Tony kissed her before she sat down.

“No, I’m fine.”
I’m not fine. What the hell is going on?

“All right then,” Steve said, starting the ball rolling. “First of all, neither of you are going back to the gym for the time being.” Nikki started to protest, but Tony shot her a look. Steve continued by saying, “It’s not safe for the others who go there. One of them could’ve been seriously injured last night if they’d been near your SUV.” Nikki hadn’t thought about that, but he did have a point. She certainly didn’t want that.

Tony responded quickly, “I’d already thought about that and I’ve ordered some gym equipment for the garage at the house here in town.”

“So,” Steve asked, “Nikki, can we agree this is the best thing for right now?”

She nodded. “I don’t like it, but yes, it is best.”

“Good. We’ve got that settled. Now, Tony, you had something you wanted to tell Nikki?”

“Yes.” Tony rose from his desk chair and walked to where Nikki sat on the big white sofa, sitting down next to her. He took both of her hands in his and looked straight into her eyes. “Nikki, do you trust me?”

Nikki was taken aback. “Yes, of course! Completely! Why?”

“To make decisions you don’t like but that are for your own good?”

“What’s this about?”
Uh-oh, here it comes
, Nikki thought, instantly suspicious.

“Nik, I want you to come to work here at Walters Construction.”

“Oh, no, I can’t . . .”

“Look, it’s partly for your safety, honestly. But otherwise, if you’re going to be with me and be part of this family, you should be working here.”

“But Tony, what if . . .”

“Stop it,” he said abruptly, a look of frustration washing over his features, and she blushed in embarrassment. “You’re coming to work here, end of discussion. We’ll go this evening and get you work clothes and steel-toes. You can hang out with me to start – there’s an enormous amount of stuff I need to teach you before you go into anything else. I’ve decided I want to groom you to take over as chief operations officer, COO. So what do you think?”

“I think this is a mistake and you’ve possibly lost your mind.” She was pretty sure the top of her head was about to blow off. “First of all, I don’t know anything about the construction industry.” Tony frowned at her. “And second, don’t you feel the least bit bad about letting these people rule our lives this way? Isn’t this pandering to them?”

“Well, first, you do know more about the construction industry than you give yourself credit for, and I know this because I’ve watched you working around the house, not to mention the conversations we have over dinner. You’re far from clueless. And second, no – I don’t give a rat’s ass about those people, whoever they are. I only care about keeping you safe. And there are other aspects you don’t know about, but I’m sure my mother will enlighten you soon.” Nikki gave him a puzzled look, but he ignored it; it was Tony that Raffaella had called and talked to, not Nikki, so his little girlfriend was in for a big surprise. “You can call Marla tonight and talk to her, tell her you won’t be back. Under the circumstances I’m sure she’ll understand. As far as their safety goes, she’ll probably be relieved.”

Nikki started to protest, but Steve broke in. “Nikki, every time you walk into that shop, your coworkers are in danger. Is that really what you want?” Nikki’s mouth snapped shut. No, she didn’t want anyone getting hurt because of her.

“Good. It’s settled.” Tony patted her hands and went back to sit behind his desk. “Oh, and by the way, Steve, I want her name put on all of the accounts. All of the business accounts should be me, Clayton, Nikki, and Vic. And put her on my household and personal accounts too, and get her debit cards for everything. And I do mean everything.” Nikki opened her mouth, then closed it – nothing she’d said to that point had mattered, so why would this time be any different? Tony hit a couple of buttons on his phone and a voice answered over the speaker: “Central supply. Brandon here; may I help you?”