Unexpected Mr. Right (11 page)

When they walked out Tabby let out the pent up laughter that built inside her throughout their evening. “My cheeks hurt from smiling so much,” she said once she stopped laughing enough to talk.

"I can't believe they actually believed I was had burn-aphobia or something. That was a good line by the way."

"I learned from the best. You're starting to rub off on me."

"What can I say? I'm the friend who knows how to have a good time."

"Yes you are. I'm so glad we're becoming friends, Nico.” When she looked at him a wave of annoyance seem to wash over his eyes. As quickly as it drifted in, the look drifted back out. Who knows? Maybe she imagined the whole thing.

"Hey girl,” Tabby heard Bri call as she stepped from the cab. They're arrived at the same time. To her surprise, Bri had a tall, man with her. He had smooth, dark skin and a shaved head.

"Hey you."

"This is Lance. He's a new boarder at Mama Love's. He's pretty new to the area so I told him he could hang with us tonight."

"Hi Lance. Nice to meet you.” Tabby grabbed his outstretched hand and shook it. So much for girl's night out. Not that it really was that anymore anyway. With Nico and Luciano joining them the dynamics changed.

They turned and headed into the restaurant. Bri grabbed an extra chair and pulled it up for Lance. He sat between Brianna and herself. Kaylee, like always sat waiting for them. Brianna made her introductions and they all sat down chatting. To her surprise, Lance didn't pay much attention to the other ladies. He shot questions at Tabby left and right. What did she do for a living? What did she do for fun? How long had she lived here? And on and on. Every question, aimed at her. In some weird way she felt uncomfortable. Not that Lance did anything wrong but she felt like she was on a kind of date with him. And it didn't feel right. Like she was being unfaithful to someone which happened to be the stupidest thing she could ever feel.

"Have you ladies been friends long?” Lance asked Tabby another question.

"Yeah, since we were young."

"That's great. I left all my longtime friends back home. I'm looking forward to spending time with new people though."

He winked at her. Huh, so Lance is a flirt. He was an extremely good looking man but the way he looked at her annoyed her. Not at all like she felt when Nico looked at her. What are you thinking about him for?

"What made you move?” she asked trying to be polite.

"Bad breakup. I found out my fiancé cheated on me. Not the way I planned to start the rest of my life with someone so I called it off."

"I'm sorry but it sounds like you made the best choice. Better to find out now than later."

"True. I guess that means there's someone better out there for me,” Lance said with a smile. “You have something on you,” He reached his hand off and brushed her shoulder. “I'll get it for you."

Tabby glanced at the door to the kitchen right when Nico happened to stick his head out. He looked at her, at Lance who seemed to be taking an awful long time to brush something of her, then back at her again. A fire lit his eyes that she'd never seen before, making her heart pound in her chest. Then he disappeared back inside the kitchen.

Kaylee must have seen the look too because she bumped her leg under the table and gave her the, “What the hell was that?” kind of look. Tabby shrugged her shoulders playing it off as if she didn't know what she meant. Less than a minute later Nico stood behind her, plates full of pasta primavera in hand. He usually didn't come out this early. Luciano hadn't even made it to their table yet.

"Hello, Ladies. I didn't know someone else would be joining us tonight.” His eyes locked with Lance's and the other mans eyes didn't turn away. Tension rolled off Nico so strongly she could feel it surrounding her. He set their plates down leaving an empty spot for Lance and pulled up a chair on the other side of Tabby.

"I have something special for dessert tonight.” He looked around at everyone at the table but when his eyes landed on Tabby they stayed. “I think you're really going to like it, Sweetheart.” Not Slugger. Sweetheart. What the hell was this all about?

Bri spoke up. She had a feeling she wasn't the only one who felt the tension at the table. “Hey, super chef. You got anything back there for Lance to eat tonight or does he just have to sit around and watch us?” Nico signaled a waiter over and asked for another plate.

"I didn't know you were dating anyone, Bri.” He said.

"Please, I don't date. Lance is my new neighbor. He's looking to meet some people so I brought him with me."

"I was just getting to know Tabby a little bit while we waited,” Lance said to Nico.

She actually felt Nico tense beside her. His jaw locked. Somehow she'd stepped into some weird parallel dimension where Nico acted like her jealous boyfriend which made no sense at all. Hell the man dated women like crazy. He didn't do boyfriend so she knew he sure didn't do jealous boyfriend.

"There are thousands of other women you could get to know in San Francisco. You should try one of them."

"Nico!” Anger coursed through her veins. She didn't really want to get to know Lance but she also didn't want Nico warning men away from her. He had no hold on her.

"What?” he looked surprised. “I'm being a nice guy. Just letting him know there's a wide variety of other women to choose from. Hell, I'll even introduce him."

Bri started to laugh. Kaylee looked concerned. Lance stared at Nico then finally nodded his head. Nico did the same like they just came to some agreement without words. At some point during the ordeal, Luciano had stepped up to the table and stood behind, Kaylee. “Nico, I need to see you in the kitchen. Now.” He turned and walked away. Nico cursed and followed him.

He felt like a dick. That being said, having to do it over again, he would have done the same thing. No way would he chance the woman he'd lusted after for months on end hooking up with another guy. No fucking way. Not Tabby. After what they shared on the phone the other night and after the way they clicked during their cooking class, he burned to have her even more. He would have her.

He'd been pissed when she called him her friend. He didn't know why, he'd said the same damn thing right before her but that was different. He didn't really want to only be friends with her. He did that to pacify her. The more she said it the more she proved to him that she really only wanted a friendship. That just didn't sit well with him. She wanted more. He knew it. The only question was how to make her see it.

"So what the hell made you act like that earlier, Nic?” Luciano said as they sat at one of the tables in the closed restaurant. “It's not like you to be so possessive over a woman. Especially one you aren't dating."

Shit. He knew it was coming. Knew Luciano would ask him. The truth was he didn't know how to reply. He didn't know what came over him earlier. Yeah, he wanted Tabby but she wasn't his. Hell, he didn't even want her to be his. Not for more than a few nights at least. His behavior earlier told a different story and he knew it.

When he looked out the kitchen doors and saw the guy talking with her, saw the look of hunger in his eyes he'd lost it. But he couldn't tell Luciano that. His cousin would take it to mean more than it did. He'd ask questions, questions Tabby wouldn't want him to answer. “I wasn't possessive. There's just something about that guy that rubbed me the wrong way. You said yourself that Tabby's looking to settle down. I just don't want her to get hurt."

Luciano blew out a breath with a humph. “Yeah, right. Try again."

Yeah, he knew Luciano wouldn't fall for that one. “You figured me out. I'm having a wild and crazy affair with Tabby. We've been going at it like rabbits for weeks. I knew once she had me, not other man would compare so I decided to put the bozo flirting with her out of his misery."

Nico tilted the cold bottle of beer back and downed it. Droplets of moisture dripped from the bottle down his fingertips. He didn't want to talk about this. Not with Luciano. Months before he pushed and pushed until Luciano realized he loved Kaylee. His cousin just might try and return the favor even though this was a completely different situation. Pulling a Nico and turning the situation into a joke would provide the distraction he needed.

Right on cue Luciano laughed. “Yeah, that's even more unbelievable than your first answer. You know there's only one Valenti man with that kind of skill with the ladies and it isn't you,” he kidded.

"You wouldn't even know what to do with a woman if it wasn't for me. Come to think of it, I could probably set up my own little business like that Hitch guy. Teach ‘em what the ladies really like. Hell, I could use you as my first satisfied client,” Nico joked back even though his heart wasn't in it.

Talking about what women wanted wasn't enough. He wanted to show Tabby exactly what he could do. Show her how much more pleasure he had in store for her. The other night on the phone was just the beginning. Tabby wanted to fall in love, to settle down and even though she wasn't seeing anyone right now, he knew she would again. Seeing her talk to Lance reminded him of that.

Now was his chance. Their chance. The attraction between them forged a desire too strong to ignore. They would enjoy each other and then move on their way knowing they took advantage of the chance put in front of them.

Sounded good to him.

Now he just had to prove his point to her. Nico stood up and marched toward the door determination fueling him. He didn't care that it was midnight; he was going to see Tabby. Tonight.

"I guess we're done here?” Luciano called after him.

"We're done."

"I hope you know what you're doing, Nic."

Yeah, so did he.

A loud pounding jarred Tabby from a deep sleep. Her heart matched the beat. Something had to be wrong for someone to bang on her door at this time of night. Jumping from the bed she put her robe on over her silk negligee and raced toward the door. She peaked quickly through her peephole to see Nico pacing. Oh God, please let her friends be okay. Nico had no other reason to be at her house this late.

"What's wrong,” the words squeaked out as she opened the door. She could hardly utter them. Fear almost blocked her speech.

Nico pushed his way into her apartment and closed the door with a bang. “Nothing's wrong, Slugger. If this night goes as planned everything will be right.” And then he kissed her. His lips started out a slow sensual assault, lightly caressing her lips before drawing her lower one into his mouth. He was testing her. She could tell. Making sure she'd submit before he went any further.

He tasted lightly of beer but more of man. Hungry, eager man. She shouldn't do this. They wanted different things. Since she lost her virginity at eighteen she'd never been with a man that she didn't have deep feelings for and never planned to.

But the way his lips begged hers to join in she couldn't hold herself back. He was gentle but still owned her mouth, making it impossible not to kiss him back.

She realized then she did have feelings for him. Not the usual thoughts of love but friendship. A close camaraderie she'd never felt with another man. That eased her inner guilt. Not that she should feel guilt. There was nothing wrong with a single twenty eight year old woman sating her body with another equally single man. And that's exactly what her body wanted. To be sated. By Nico. Even if only this once.

If she didn't do this, she'd regret it. Her body's need for him was too strong. She'd never been an overly sexual woman, wanting more of an emotional connection than a physical one. With Nico it wasn't about love, it was about a physical need she had to explore. Then they would go back to the way they were and she'd know herself capable of holding her feelings in check when it came to intimacy.

Yeah, right.

Despite her thoughts Tabby wrapped her arms around him silently telling him she wanted this. That she wanted him.

"Thank God,” he said against her mouth before he pinned her body tightly between the wall and himself and kissed her with a fierceness she'd never known.

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Nico's mouth devoured hers. His kiss was hard, each sweep of tongue urgent. His body pressed against hers so tightly she didn't have room to move. Not that she wanted to. His long, hard erection rubbed against her as he pulled just far enough away to open her robe and push it half off her shoulders. “I love silk,” he whispered against her mouth. He lifted the bottom of her negligee bunching it in his hand.

He moved his hand to touch her bare stomach. Her skin sizzled beneath his caress. “You're skin feels even better than any silk, Tabby,” he said before thoroughly kissing her again. Her toes curled. She felt him on every inch of her body. He moved to cup her rear, his knee pushing her legs apart and settling between her thighs. “You're so wet. I can feel your heat against my leg. I knew you'd be so damn hot, Tabby."

"I'm usually not,” she said breathlessly as his mouth kissed a trail down her neck. “It's like I'm on sensory overload,” his knee ground against her femininity. She arched her neck back to give him better access. Nico took advantage and sucked her earlobe into his mouth. “I mean, it's not as if I've never had sex, or never had an orgasm, but this ... damn your good,” she couldn't help but say.

Nico moved back to her mouth and kissed her quiet. He pulled away and said, “You're rambling. We'll talk later. I need to get inside you. I have months of waiting to make up for."

Nico carried her to the bedroom. Setting her on her feet he didn't waste any time undressing her. He didn't want to give her the chance to change her mind. It would kill him. He pulled her robe completely off her shoulders and let it drop to the floor. Her nightgown followed seconds later. She stood in front of him in pink g-string panties and nothing else. “Damn woman, you're going to be the death of me."

He couldn't stop staring at her, soaking her in from her cute, red painted toenails to her frazzled hair. Delicious. Her skin a smooth, milk chocolate that smelled of lavender, begged to be touched. Her rounded breasts were pert, with hard pebbled nipples. Damn he wanted to taste them. And he would. First he needed the dark curls he saw beneath her pink panties uncovered. And he needed her to do it.