Nickels (46 page)

“Goodnight, Niki.  We’ll talk in the morning.”

“Night,” she said leaning on him.  He pushed her away.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, suddenly remembering.  “Can you help me
out of this dress?”

He swallowed hard.  “Niki, I’m not going to—”

She turned her back towards him and tried to reach for the
zipper.  “See,” she said glancing over her shoulder.  “Can’t reach.”

He was silent for a minute.  She thought he might have
left.  Then his fingers brushed against her back.  He started the zipper only
far enough for her to reach.

“Goodnight, Niki,” he said, closing the door behind him.

“Goodbye, Kyle.”

She managed to get out of the beautiful maroon dress, leaving
it in a heap on the floor.  Her head swam, but she found a sleep shirt and
threw it on.  Flipping off the light she fell into bed, hoping the spinning
would stop soon.

Chapter 40

Kyle drove Niki’s car to his home, still shaky from helping
unzip her dress.  It took all of his will power not to take advantage of the
situation.  She looked so incredible in that dress.  It hugged every sensuous
curve perfectly.  It would have been so easy to give into his thoughts.

But, that would probably have been the death sentence to
their relationship.  It wasn’t worth it.

As he turned off the engine, he breathed a heavy sigh.

She was mad.  Even if she was drunk, he heard her loud and
clear.  She was mad and threatened by Kelly.  She was mad that he had not told
her sooner.

He groaned as he unlocked the door of his townhouse.  Once
inside he tore off the bow tie and threw it over the edge of the couch.

He shouldn’t have let Kelly cry on his shoulder.  He knew
Niki was going to be there soon and that things were far from settled between
them.  But, Kelly was still his friend and she’d been very upset.

Of course, Niki walked into the lobby right then.  His bad
timing struck again.

As he peeled off the many layers of the tux, he tried to
figure out how to salvage things with Niki.  He loved her more than anything. 
He even started plans in motion…

He sighed, unable to shake the heavy feeling pressing down
on him.  He already saw Niki throw up her wall again.  She was pulling away. 
If he wasn’t careful, she was going to break up with him.

Lord, please don’t let that happen.

The silence that answered made him feel worse.

He climbed into bed and fell asleep to disturbing images of
what he feared was coming.

Niki woke slowly to something poking her scalp.  She reached
up and pulled out a bobby pin.  Sitting up, her head started throbbing.  She
threw back the covers and stood gingerly.  Her mouth felt gummy and gross.

In her bathroom she looked in the mirror and squealed.  She
looked terrible.  Makeup smeared all over.  The beautiful cascade of curls were
flattened and frizzy.  She started with a toothbrush and toothpaste.  Then she
washed her face.  She tried to figure out what she should do with her hair, but
decided on coffee first.

Half awake, she padded down the hall to the kitchen.  And
screamed.

“What are you doing here?” she asked once her heart settled
back into place.  Please don’t say she had slept with him.

“I came back this morning with your car and breakfast.”

“Why do you have my car?”

Kyle frowned.  “What do you remember from last night?”

“Not much after the reception.”

He smiled wryly.  “You, Miss Turner, had a bit too much to
drink.  I drove your car home, since I rode in with Matt.  Then, I dropped you
off in your room and went home.  Hope you don’t mind I borrowed your car. 
Didn’t exactly think it would be a good idea to stay here.”  His face blushed.

“I’ll say,” Niki muttered.  She started running her fingers
through her hair searching for bobby pins.  One after the other she pulled them
from her hair and dropped them on the counter.

Kyle turned his attention back to fixing some pancakes.  She
sipped the coffee he set before her.

While the scene felt comfortable, even familiar, she knew it
could not last.

“I appreciate what you’re doing here, Kyle.”

“But?”

“But, I don’t think you and I should see each other
anymore.”

He flipped a pancake then turned to look at her.  “You
mumbled something about that last night.  I thought it was the booze talking.”

“I was serious.”

His frown returned.  “Care to explain why?”

“Isn’t it obvious?  There’s something going on with you and
Kelly.  That embrace before the wedding…  What am I supposed to think about
that?  And what about you taking off the next few weeks to be with her?  Am I
supposed to be okay with that?”

“I’m not taking time off to be with Kelly.  I’m visiting
Alana.”

“See, this is what I’m talking about.  You just don’t get
it.”

Kyle shook his head.  “No, I don’t.”

“You can’t visit Alana without visiting Kelly, too.  And the
way she was all over you…  I just don’t trust it.”

“It?  Or me?”

Was he going to make her spell it out?

“Yes, I don’t trust you.”

He shoved a stack of pancakes in front of her.  “Eat, so you
can take me home,” he said angrily.  As she worked on the pancakes, he cleaned
up the kitchen wordlessly.

When she stood, he finally spoke.  “So, this is it then. 
You won’t listen to me and you don’t trust me?”

The pain in his eyes caused her to pause.  Was she wrong?

Then the anger came back.  He kept too many secrets from
her.  She couldn’t risk being hurt.  She couldn’t love him anymore.  She had to
push him away while she still could.  It would feel terrible, but it was better
to get this over with now than wait until her heart belonged completely to
him.  She couldn’t handle the pain of losing him then.

“Let’s go,” she said coldly, retrieving her keys from the
counter.

Neither said a word as she drove him to his place.  When he
got out of the car, he slammed the door shut, without so much as a goodbye.

“Goodbye, Kyle.  Best of luck with Kelly,” she said to her
empty car, which was as empty as her heart.  Old Niki was back.

On Monday morning, Niki stuffed her purse in her desk
drawer.  Opening up her laptop, she hit the power button, ready to start the
first day of her new life without Kyle.  There was no way she was over him. 
Not in twenty four hours.  Maybe in twenty four weeks?

“You left kind of early from the reception,” Joe said as he
unpacked his laptop.  “You missed the tossing of the bouquet.  Everyone thought
you’d catch it.  Tori was hoping there might be a wedding in the future for you
and Kyle.”

Niki snorted.  “Kyle and I broke up.”

Joe propped his arms on the top of the cube wall.  “You’re
kidding.”

“Nope.  Dead serious.”

“What happened?”

“Not talking about it.”

Niki turned her attention back to her code.  When she saw
Joe’s head disappear behind the cube wall, she popped in her headphones.  The
code translated from her brain through her fingers to the keyboard and screen,
keeping time with the music.  Getting lost in the code had a calming effect on
her.  She could forget about all the hurt hiding just under the surface of her
heart.

A hand on her shoulder sent her jumping out of her chair. 
She quickly glanced at the time on her computer.  Five.  She should be heading
home soon.  She popped off her headphones and turned to see who the hand
belonged to.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Justin asked.

She nodded.

“In private?”

She stood and followed him to his office.  She sat in the
chair opposite his desk and waited for him to close the door and take a seat. 
Instead of sitting behind his desk in his chair, he leaned against the front of
his desk, only a few inches from her.

“I was wondering if you would go with me to the Christmas
Party this weekend.”

“I wasn’t planning on going.”

“Come on, Niki.  It’ll be fun.”

“No.”

He folded his arms over his chest as a frown formed on his
face.

“I heard you’re not seeing anyone.  You have to know how
much I want to be with you.  Heck, I threw extra money at Brian to get
you
here.”

“For your project.”  She shifted uncomfortably in the chair
as his eyes darkened.  He was making her nervous.

“No.  I wanted you here so I could ask you out, but you keep
brushing me off.”

Her anger rose.  Never had she been assigned to a client for
this
reason.  It was always her technical skills.  She felt foolish that
she hadn’t realized all of this sooner.  She started to stand, but his voice
stopped her.

“Come to the party with me,” he said as he unfolded his
arms.  His eyes pleaded.

“Hey Niki!” Joe’s voice sounded from the doorway.  “Can I
see you for a minute?”

As soon as she saw her escape, she took it.  She followed
Joe back to her desk as her heart pounded in her chest.  The nerve!

“Is everything okay?” Joe asked.  “You looked pretty upset
in there.”

“I’ll be fine in a few minutes.  What did you need?”

“Oh, nothing.  Just thought you needed some help.”

“Thanks,” she said as she gathered her things and left.

As if her life wasn’t enough of a mess, now she had to deal
with this.  Judging by the look on Justin’s face, she didn’t trust him to stop
pursuing her—especially if he paid extra money to get her there only so he
could ask her out.  What a jerk.

Once she was home, she called Brian.

“I’m done at Global.”  She told him the story of what just
happened with Justin.

Brian agreed that she shouldn’t go back.

“I’m sorry.  I had no idea that was why he kept pushing.”

“I know.”

“I don’t have any other assignments waiting right now.  But,
I’ll try to get you something in the next few weeks.”

“Thanks, Brian.”

Christmas Day came too slowly.  Niki had been on the bench
the entire two weeks leading up to the holiday.  It was enough time for her to
rethink what she wanted from her career.  She was tired of constantly shuffling
clients.  She wanted something more permanent.