Tempting Nora (6 page)

Gritting her teeth, she entered the pharmacy. She
somehow managed to smile at the store clerk, despite the fact that her intestines felt like they were being clawed apart by a wild animal. She headed over to the stomach medicine and picked up the biggest bottle she could find. Since she didn't intend to stop eating sweets unless the doctor threatened to chop off her leg, she decided she might as well have her apartment well-stocked with meds in case she had another sugar induced tummy problem. After she paid for the bulk supply of medicine, she headed over to the door and peered outside.

The streets were dimly lit, but
it wasn't a long walk back to her apartment. In fact, she could see her building. She sighed anxiously.
Nora Williams, you're the biggest coward in the world,
she told herself.
You're an adult woman who's lived in a large city your entire life. You have pepper spray. You have your fists. You have the personality of a rabies infested cougar.
Trust me, you can handle a short walk home.
Feeling a bit stronger again, she took a step outside. She walked quickly, trying to keep her eye on her apartment.

She
counted her steps, trying to keep her mind off of being murdered. Ten steps until she reached her building, then nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two—

"Hey, there," said a
guy she didn't know.

She froze. A man was standing a foot away from her
building, shrouded in darkness. Immediately she wrapped her fingers around the can of pepper spray in her purse, but she hesitated before whipping it out. If she started assaulting every person who greeted her, she'd be in a lot of trouble.

"Hey." She nodded, inching toward her door.

"Do you happen to have a light by chance?" The man stepped out of the darkness, holding a cigarette.

The
man had the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. He was clean-shaven and in a business suit, making her feel like a slob in her baggy sweats. Like Gideon, he appeared impossibly handsome. Despite his professional attire, though, she found herself feeling uncomfortable in front of him. Maybe it was those cold blue eyes. When she stared into them, she felt as if her heart was turning to ice.

"Excuse me," the man said.

"Huh?" She blinked stupidly.

"Do you have a light?" The man held out his cigarette again.

"Oh." Face flushed, she shook her head. "No, sorry. I don't smoke."

"I didn't think you would." The man turned away from her.

"Pardon?" What was that supposed to mean?

"Nothing." The man walked away.

Feeling unnerved, Nora shivered and shook her head. She didn't know who that guy was, but she was sure glad he was gone.

Chapter Five

The next day, Nora finished ringing up an old man's purchase and then handed him his bag. As the older man turned away, she heard the door open. She looked up, prepared to give the arriving customer her fakest smile, but froze when she saw that it was Gideon coming through the door. No smile for him.

"Not you," she groaned.

"That's not nice," Gideon said, but he grinned anyway.

Why did nothing she said ge
t to him? What, did he have an ego of steel?

After she shook her head
, she stilled in surprise when she saw Gideon hold the door open for the old man. She remembered him helping her when it rained too. Maybe he wasn't perfect, but he could be amazingly nice…She bit her bottom lip and winced.
I can't let myself become entranced by him. He's trying to seduce me.
She forced herself to think of all the women he'd been with and all of the hearts he'd broken. If she let a man like Gideon get too close, then she'd be hurt in the long run.

Just like her mom.

Her anger rekindled, she gritted her teeth as Gideon shot her his most dazzling grin and headed over. It was the first time she realized he was holding a plastic sack in her hand.

"How was your day off?" Gideon asked.

"How did you know
that yesterday was my day off?" she asked.

"You
r lovely coworker was happy to give me your work schedule." He leaned against the desk.

Oh, Maura, how could you?
she thought.
Still she supposed it wasn't the woman's fault. Gideon could charm anyone. Except her.

"Don't you have a job?" she
asked. "How do you have the time to come hassle me like this?"

"I
have a job," Gideon said. "I can work anytime and anywhere. And in case you're wondering, I'm quite rich too."

"Figures," she muttered.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Gideon didn't appear angry, just curious.

"I've noticed that the more gorgeous a person is, the more money they have
." She shrugged. "That's why I'm not all that surprised you're filthy rich."

"Why, Nora, I believe you jus
t paid me a compliment," Gideon said.

"What?
No, I didn't." She was horrified. That had not been her intention at all.

"You did." Gideon nodded. "You bas
ically told me that I'm gorgeous."

"You know that wasn't what I was trying to say," Nora s
aid.

"A compliment is a
compliment." The man had the gall to smirk.

"This is why I can't stand you." She scowled at him.

"Now you're back to the insults." Gideon gave an exasperated sigh. "And I brought you a present today too..."

"I don't want your present." Knowing Gideon, he'd probably bought her some racy lingerie.

"Really?" Gideon opened the plastic bag and pulled out a piece of chocolate cake in a clear box. He placed a plastic fork and napkins on top it.

Her mouth fell open
in shock. He was trying to be nice, not annoying.

"You look surprised," Gideon said. "What kind of present were you expecting?"

Her face colored as she thought of the lacy garment she'd expected. She didn't say anything, but her flushed cheeks said more than her lips ever could.

"I think your mind was in the gutter." Gideon cackled evilly. "I'm astounded. Maybe you aren't as prudish as I—"

"Say another word and I'll kill you." She seized the plastic fork and pointed it at him threateningly.

"With a plastic fork?" He didn't look intimidated at all.

"I have my ways." She licked her lips. "A plastic fork can be deadly."

"Hmmm…" Gideon shrugged and place
d his hand on the cake box. "Since you're threatening to kill me, I think I'll take the cake back."

No, not the cake!
She was just about to yell, "No!" but stopped herself just in time.

"
You look pretty upset that I'm taking away your cake." Gideon raised an eyebrow.

"Hmph." She crossed her arms.

"If you want the cake, then all you have to do is tell me," he said. "I can be forgiving."

Her brain
threatened to explode as she argued with herself in her mind.
Don't cave. He's heckling you. If he knows that chocolate is your greatest weakness, he'll have you under his thumb.
And yet…The chocolate layers of fudge icing glistened under the light. Even though the tin was closed, she could smell the heavenly aroma of fudge and her mouth watered. It was chocolate cake, darn it. How was she supposed to say no to that kind of delicacy?

"I want it," she whispered.

"What was that?" It was obvious Gideon had heard what she said, but he was trying to annoy her as much as possible anyway.

"I said I want your stupid cake.
" She seized it before he could tease her more.

Gideon looked
way too pleased. She really wanted to stab him with her fork, but she guessed that would have to wait until she was done eating. It was important for a woman to have her priorities straight, after all. And she did. She'd eat cake, kill Gideon with the plastic fork, and then find a way to get rid of the body. Yep, it sounded like she had everything about right.

As she grinned at the thought of chocolate and
violence, she opened the cake box. She scooped up a bite of dessert and shoved it into her mouth. The taste of chocolate tantalized her taste buds. She was having an out-of-body experience. Good grief, cake was so good! She squeezed her eyes shut and groaned. When she opened her eyes again, Gideon was staring at her.

But he wasn't
staring at her mockingly like he normally did. Instead his eyes were dark as he licked his lips. She found herself growing nervous. Not I'm-about-to-be-murdered kind of nervous, but I'm-getting-hot-all-over kind of nervous. She wished he'd stop staring at her as if he'd like to gobble her up like a piece of divine chocolate cake.

"Why are you staring at me?"
she asked.

"You have chocolate on your
face," he said.

Oh great. Now she was embarrassed on top of everything else.
  She was twenty-eight and should have been able to eat without making a mess of herself.

"Where is it?" she asked, taking a napkin and scrubbing her chin.

"Not there." He shook his head. "By your lip."

He looked at h
er mouth and the darkness in his eyes grew even more intense.

"Ok
ay." She nodded and licked her lips, then ran her fingers over her skin.

"It's s
till there," he said.

Darn it.
Where was the chocolate smudge? She was going to explode if she kept this up.

Just as she was about to attack her face with a napkin, Gideon wet his thumb in his mouth and
then touched her face. She felt the dampness of his digit against her bottom lip and froze.
He's touching my lip!
Suddenly, she forgot how to breathe. Heck, she even forgot how to think. Her brain melted into a puddle of ooze.

After he pulled back,
he licked the icing from his skin, never breaking eye contact with her. Her stomach flopped.
I can't believe he just did that!
she thought as she felt her eyes bulge from her head.

"The cake
is good," he said. "I wanted to try it."

"You
—you—" She was shaking.

"W
hat?" Gideon looked amused that she was at a loss for words.

"Your finger
was on my lip and…" Her face was on fire.

"What about it?" Gideon raised an eyebrow and licked his thumb again.

Now she knew he was teasing her. Despite that, she couldn't fight down the stupid blush. His thumb had touched her lips and then his own. It was an indirect kiss.

As she stared at him, aghast, she
berated herself. She had to come to her senses.
You're not a teenager anymore. Most women your age wouldn't bat an eye over something like this.
Her thoughts reminded her of how ridiculous this whole situation was. It wasn't like Gideon had licked her cheek or something. He'd just wiped off a chocolate smudge.

Finally, her heart rate slowed. She could feel her cheeks cool down too.

"It's a pity." Gideon examined her face.

"What's a pity?"

"Your blush is gone." Gideon let out a morose sigh. "I guess I'll have to do something to make it come back."

"
You're making me blush on purpose?" Of all the nerve!

"I can't help it." Gideon
shrugged. "You're cute when you blush."

"C
ute?" She glared at him.

Puppies gamboling were cute. Kittens playing with dandelions were cute. Babies in onesies were cute. She wasn't cute. Heck, she didn't
want
to be cute! Cute indicated sweetness and innocence. She wasn't sweet or innocent.

"Hey." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't call me
cute."

"How c
an you think me calling you cute is an insult?" Gideon gave an exasperated sigh.

"Hmph." She crossed her arms.

As the two of them glared at each other, the door to the shop opened and Robert walked inside holding a Styrofoam box.

"Back again?
" Robert glanced at Gideon and headed over.

"Yep." Gideon shrugged. "I'm not
letting up until Nora agrees to be with me, but she's having none of it."

"
We're never going to be together," she snapped. "Give up now."

"D
o you know that your eyebrow twitches when you're angry?" Gideon patted her head. "It's rather
cute
."

She knew that he meant to insult her without Robert knowing
. After all, she'd just said five seconds before that she didn't want to be called cute. At least, not by him. 

"
I'm going to kill you." Her eyes narrowed. "Mark my words."

"I feel for you, brother.
" Robert whistled. "She's as stubborn as a mule."

"Hey!" Now Robert was picking on her too?

"Don't I know it…" Gideon gave an exasperated sigh. "I even bought her cake, but she doesn't appreciate it."

She glared at him.

"It looks like you know how to win her over." Robert held up the box in his hand. "I brought her cake too. She won't say no to it, even after she spends hours telling you how much she wants to punch you in the face."

"Don't talk
about me like I'm not here," she said.

Yet Gideon
stepped right in front of her and behaved as if he hadn't heard her speak.

"
Yeah, I realized she won't refuse dessert." Gideon nodded. "Should I consider you competition if you're bringing Nora chocolate cake too?"

"You guys,
" Nora cried.

"Me?
" Robert gave a derisive snort. "Nora's a peach—"

"Stop consorting with the enemy,
Robert," she said.

"—but she's more like my little sister than anything. Also, I'm afraid I'm not quite enough man for her. She'd run all over me." Robert
wrinkled his nose. "This cake is just a bribe because I'm taking her to a concert tonight that she'll loathe."

Why are they ignoring me?
Nora thought, exasperated.

"Concert?" Gideon cocked his head.

"A Trevor Malone concert." Robert placed the cake on the desk. "She hates the guy."

"Ah, Trevor Malone." Gideon nodded sagely. "I can see why Nora isn't—"

"I'm right here," she said. "Stop excluding me from the conversation."

"—fond of
him." Gideon shrugged. "Still his music isn't half bad. I like a lot of his songs, even though I'm a guy."

"
Me too." Robert's eyes glistened. "You know what, you aren't half bad. I think I've been listening to Nora too much. She made me think you're a pigheaded jerk."

Nora gave up on
trying to insert herself into the conversation.

"I'm guessing she's not shy about
voicing her opinions about me." Gideon shook his head, his glorious eyes shining.

"Is Nora ever shy about voicing her opinion
s about anything?" Robert asked.

"I hate you both
," she muttered.

"No, she really isn't," Gideon said. "It's one of her charms."

"If you say so." Robert shrugged.

She shot him a death glare.

"I do." Gideon nodded. "I find her forwardness quite—"

"That's it!" She seized Gideon by the arm and pulled him backward.