Shameless (14 page)

The lights in the music center were already turned off by John, the assistant promoted to section manager. Still, Nina’s steps slowed as she passed the main counter in the middle of the room.

A sound in the bookstore section caused her to look in the direction. She smiled and continued on to where she looked forward to seeing Kevin.

The past week…

She shivered, thinking it ironic that she was surrounded by millions of words on the printed page and couldn’t find the appropriate one to describe what had transpired over the past seven days.

More often than not, she’d slept at Kevin’s house, although sleeping had played a very small role in what happened when she climbed willingly into his bed at night.

Magical….

Magnificent….

Exquisite….

All came near describing her time with Kevin, but still fell woefully short of painting the full picture.

She neared the counter to find Kevin bent over picking up what appeared to be books that had fallen.

“All out?” she asked, referring to any customers that might have been lingering inside the store.

“Just locked the door after the last one,” he said over his shoulder.

Nina paused, considering the view of his perfect backside in snug jeans before smiling and moving on toward the fireplace. Balancing her mug carefully, she sank down into the new overstuffed couch and sighed, staring into the flames.

Minutes later, Kevin joined her, sitting next to her instead of across the way as he had once done.

She lifted her head from the back of the cushion to allow him to put his arm there and then leaned into him, leisurely kissing his neck before turning her attention back to her latte.

“What a day, huh?” she said quietly.

“You can say that again.”

Today a highly topical book had become available and they’d been inundated with customers looking to buy it, turning it instantly into a red-hot bestseller. A good percentage of them hadn’t even bothered waiting to get home before cracking it open, instead taking it with them into the café where they’d packed the tables, keeping both her and Kevin and the rest of the staff busy over the course of the day.

Nina’s feet were killing her and the heels of her hands ached from spending so much of the day kneading and rolling out dough.

She took a long sip of her latte, her gaze drawn to the chair in front of the fireplace.

She went still.

Although usually the armchair was positioned next to the second chair across from her, someone had pulled it so that it was angled more directly in front of the fire…much as Gauge had used to do.

She could almost see him sitting on the edge of the cushion, his guitar parked on his knee as he strummed a few chords.

She felt his absence as surely as she felt the cold when she opened the front door.

She hadn’t realized she’d sighed until Kevin tightened his grip around her, caressing her arm.

“I know. Seems strange not to have him here, doesn’t it?”

Nina shifted her head to look up at his strong profile. As she had been, he was staring at the empty chair.

She had purposely gone out of her way not to bring Gauge up, instead stepping aside to allow Kevin to make any business decisions that needed attention, such as the promotion of John to section manager, the processing of the power of attorney Gauge had left in his wake, and a million other little details she guessed might be involved in a major part of the store being absent.

She wasn’t sure why she still didn’t feel comfortable bringing up Gauge around Kevin. Perhaps it was because their relationship was still so new and she didn’t want to introduce a reminder that might imperil it.

She was thankful now that whatever journey Kevin had been making had brought him back to a level of comfort in speaking about Gauge.

She took another sip of latte, surprised she had almost finished it. “Do you think he’d be surprised to find we’re now a couple?”

Kevin settled a little more comfortably into the cushions and stretched his feet to rest on the coffee table. “I don’t think so.”

She scooted her legs closer to his, reveling in the feel of him against her. “I don’t think so, either.”

That night seemed so long ago, even though Nina knew only a few short days had passed. It seemed so surreal in light of everything that had gone on since, that it was almost easy to think that it had been a dream.

Almost.

Sometimes Kevin might grasp her hips a little too tightly, thrust into her a little too hard, and she knew that he still felt a need to claim her in a way that no man ever had…Gauge included.

“I miss him,” Kevin said.

She smiled. “Yeah, me, too.”

She lifted her cup, thinking it was about time they called it a day. Tonight they were staying at her place, Ernie having made such a fuss this morning when she returned from Kevin’s that she didn’t have the heart to leave him alone again.

She took the last sip of her latte…and choked on something that had been in the cup.

She jackknifed upright, coughing until her eyes watered.

“Aw, hell,” Kevin said, patting her lightly on the back.

She gestured with her hands, indicating he should hit her harder.

He gave her a good whack and the object flew out of her mouth and into her waiting hands.

Nina’s eyes went wide as she stared at the object she held. She used the left sleeve of her shirt to wipe at the dampness on her cheeks and then turned toward Kevin.

He grinned at her. “Not exactly the way I saw this going down.” He scratched his chin. “Don’t you ever look into your cup before you drink?”

She shook her head, incapable of words.

He reached for the object and started to get up from the couch.

Nina gasped when he sank down to one knee.

“I have a question I’d like to ask you, Nina.”

She felt welded to the spot, her heart beating a million miles a minute.

“I know you might think it’s too soon. But it seems like forever that I’ve been moving toward this moment.” He swallowed thickly. “I love you,” he said simply. “And I think you love me, too.”

She nodded, although words refused to form in her emotion-filled mind.

“Nina, will you do me the honor of being my wife?”

She squeaked, sinking to the floor on her knees in front of him and throwing herself into his arms.

She kissed him wildly, holding his handsome head steady as she launched an all-out assault on his delicious mouth.

As always, things spiraled quickly out of control, with each of them snatching at each other’s clothing, as if unable to get them off fast enough.

Nina knew a moment of clarity as she looked over his shoulder at the front doors.

“Someone might see,” she whispered.

“Let them see,” he whispered back.

Within moments they were completely nude, still kneeling on the floor in front of the couch.

“So,” Kevin said, brushing back her hair from her face. “Does this make it a yes?”

Nina nodded. “Oh, yes. It definitely means yes.”

He pulled back slightly, producing the ring from where he’d pushed it halfway up his pinkie finger. She held out her right hand, laughed and then produced her left. It slid on easily.

“I figured we could set the date for six months from the night we first slept together,” Kevin said.

She blinked up into his handsome face.

He shrugged. “I figured that’s a surefire way to break the cycle.”

She laughed and threw her arms around his neck, admiring the ring over his shoulder even as she shimmied her naked body against his, elated by his immediate response.

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

“I still think you should have gone with purple.”

Nina made a face at her grandmother in the mirror. “White is traditional.”

“Who needs traditional?” Gladys’s smile as she adjusted the back of Nina’s knee-length dress and long veil said she was pleased.

“Stop fussing with that bow already or you’ll undo it,” Nina’s mother said from where she’d come up from behind them, adding her face to the three generations of women in the mirror.

Nina turned to face them both, their ongoing feud serving to distract her temporarily from the butterflies madly trying to escape from her stomach.

“Are you ready?” her mother asked.

Nina glanced out the nearby window. They were already fifteen minutes late getting underway. From here she could see Kevin waiting, glancing at his watch every ten seconds and grimacing up toward the window. He looked both handsome in his tux and absolutely miserable. She smiled, fingering the strand of pearls that he’d given her that morning. Rather, the strand of pearls he’d tried to give her.

Nina was surprised by how sentimental the entire wedding ritual had made her. And she had flown into a panic when she realized she didn’t have anything borrowed.

So she’d asked Kevin if she could borrow his mother’s pearls. He should keep them to give to their daughter or granddaughter, so could she borrow them for today?

His grin had warmed her to her toes.

And prompted her to tackle him to the bed, uncaring that even that early there were people milling about, from her grandmother and mother to the caterers and the florists.

Sex. If it were true that your interest in it waned with each new partner, she had yet to reach that point with Kevin. And she couldn’t imagine ever getting there. Every time was like the first time.

She shivered just thinking about it.

“Uh-oh,” her mother said.

“What is it? Did she bust a seam?” Gladys asked.

Nina followed her mother’s gaze to find that her taut nipples stood out clearly against the satin fabric of the dress.

“You’re not wearing a padded bra?” her mother asked. “For heaven’s sake, Nina, have I not taught you anything?”

Gladys smiled at her and Nina gave her grandmother a wink even as Helen rifled through Nina’s lingerie drawer looking for a quick fix.

She came back with two thin pads she’d liberated from a demi bra.

“Here. These should do it.”

Nina caught her hands. “I don’t think anyone’s going to be looking at my breasts, Mom. Besides, they won’t fit.”

Gladys agreed. “You don’t want to ruin it, do you? You know, like you have a tendency to ruin everything.”

Nina gave an eye roll.

“Fine.” Her mother finally relented and sighed. “But for the love of God, please make sure none of the photos come out making you look like that old Farrah Fawcett poster.”

Nina laughed. “I’ll try, mother.”

She moved closer to the window.

“Are you ready now?” Helen asked.

She slowly shook her head and then glanced at the clock.

“Not yet.”

She was still waiting for a certain guest to arrive….

He released a long breath of relief. At least she hadn’t bolted.

But what was happening? Was she suffering from a case of cold feet?

But that couldn’t be, because it had only been two hours ago that they had gotten all hot and sweaty—including their feet.

“Kevin.”

He froze at the sound of his name. Rather, it wasn’t so much the sound of his name, but the sound of someone familiar to him saying it.

He turned to take in the sight of Gauge wearing a suit.

Before he knew that’s what he was going to do, he gathered his old friend into a man hug, thrusting his right hand into his to shake it and then pulling him tight.

“Damn good to see you, Gauge,” he said. And he
was
glad to see him.

Over the past six months there had been one noticeable absence in his and Nina’s lives: Gauge.

And now he was here.

He glanced up toward the window to find Nina smiling. He didn’t have to wonder who had found their friend. When Nina wanted something, she didn’t stop until she got it. He was proof positive of that.

“So it worked then,” Gauge said quietly, nodding at the guests gathered.

“What worked?”

“Our plan to get you and Nina together.”

Kevin squinted at him.

“Come on, Kev, surely you knew that had been my intention all along. You two are a perfect match.”

Kevin considered him for a long moment. He held no hard feelings toward his friend. Too much water had passed under the bridge to go there.

But he did have a couple of questions of his own.

“And you and Nina?” he asked.

Gauge stuffed his hands into the pockets of his slacks. “Beyond friendship, there is no me and Nina.”

Kevin couldn’t be sure, but he thought he saw a shadow of something indecipherable on his friend’s face. Longing? Pain? Had there been a part of him that had wanted Nina as much as Kevin had wanted her? Not merely in bed, but in a relationship?

But then Gauge grinned at him. “Congratulations, man. I know you both will be very happy.”

Kevin recognized the genuine emotion behind the words and he smiled back at him just as Edith Christenberry, the church organist and his mother’s onetime best friend, struck up “Here Comes the Bride.”

Gauge turned to move off to join the guests.

Kevin grasped his arm. “No, please. You’ll notice I have no best man. That’s because you were the only best man that I would have considered.” He tore his gaze away from his beautiful bride for a split second. “Be that for me now?”

Gauge nodded once. “I’d be honored.”