Unexpected Mr. Right (14 page)

Pride filled her. For the first time in a long while she felt proud of the path her life took. Why shouldn't she enjoy her sexuality? Men did it all the time. They were being safe and they both knew the score so no one would get hurt. Nico tried to tell her that so many times in the past. Why hadn't she listened sooner? A whole lot of hassle and misunderstanding would have been prevented if she had.

Not much she could do about it now. Inhaling a deep breath, Tabby sucked in the delicious smell of the popcorn before placing the bowl on her table. She had enough for one night. The buttery taste wasn't what she really wanted. She really hungered for Nico. Again. On Saturday morning, after he broke the news that he didn't have any more condoms, they'd talked a few minutes more before she remembered a meeting and had to shoo him out the door.

The toe-curling kiss goodbye he laid on her at the door held her over for a little while. Now she wanted him again. Tabby giggled to herself at the irony. The man tried and tried to get her in the sack for months and she did nothing but deny him. Now, she lay on her couch, sensitive, for the one thing he'd tried for so long to give her. Thank God she finally listened.

The shrill ring of her phone jarred her from her musings. Tabby picked up the phone from the table by her couch, clicked the talk button and said, “Hello” .

"Hey, Slugger.” Nico's lazy drawl echoed through the phone. Her nipples puckered at the sound of his voice.

"Hey. You must be psychic. I was just thinking about you.” She wouldn't tell him exactly what she thought. Proving him right wasn't on her list of things to do for the day. The less he knew about her still burning desire for him the better.

"Thinking about what I can do to you? What I'm going to do to you again? I haven't thought of another damn thing since I left you, Baby. I burned my damn lunch today. That's never happened before."

The thought tickled her from the tips of her toes to the top of her head. She liked knowing how much she affected him. Liked knowing this uncontrollable attraction wasn't one sided. “Hm, if you're burning food, I might have to look elsewhere for a new cooking teacher. I want to learn from the best, you know?"

"I am the best. You won't find anyone who can show you all I have planned in store for you, Tesoro. You can bank on that."

The seductive edge in his voice made her squirm. Right into the couch wishing him there to show her exactly what he spoke about.

"Why do I have the feeling we aren't talking about cooking anymore?” she asked.

"Because I'm not."

Oh boy. Better not start something they couldn't finish. Not unless he could come over at least. She wanted to ask him but she didn't want to sound needy but quickly changed her mind. He knew her well enough to know she wasn't dependent upon him. They'd spent time together for a few weeks and she wouldn't have hesitated to ask him over before so she should now. “Are you coming over?"

Agroan erupted through the phone. She could sense his desire strumming through the deep sound. “I wish I could. I'd like nothing more than to come over and continue where we left off but I have do my final fitting for the wedding and then we're going to Luciano's. He wants to go over some restaurant stuff with me since he'll be on his honeymoon in a few weeks."

Each nerve ending in her eager body deflated.

"I can cancel on the beer,” he told her. “Spending the night with you sounds a lot more fun."

"No, no, don't do that. We aren't in a relationship; you don't have to bail on your cousin to make time for me. I'm sure you have important wedding business to take care of."

He exhaled what sounded like a frustrated breath. “If I had plans with anyone other than Luciano, if it wasn't so important, I'd be there in a heartbeat, Tabby. Nothing could keep me away."

She smiled. Her body warmed even though she knew it shouldn't. Everything about him made her feel good about herself. “We'll do it another time.” He laughed and she didn't have to ask to know why he snickered.

"Yes, we will do it again. I'm ready to bust at the seams to have you again. Do you have plans for tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow's crazy for me. I'm not sure I'll be able to break away from work until late.” They went back and forth until they realized both were booked solid until their usual Friday at Luciano's get together. They hadn't been spending so much time together for very long but she realized at that moment that she'd quickly become used to their friendship and the fun they had together. She'd miss spending time with him, miss the playful banter that they shared.

The importance of his friendship struck her like a jolt of electricity. She didn't want to do anything to sacrifice their friendship and from what she'd seen in the past the whole friends with benefits thing rarely worked in the end. He assured her they'd be fine the other day but she needed another confirmation. “Are you sure we're doing the right thing here, Nico? Will we still be able to be friends after this is done?"

He didn't hesitate with his reply. “What we're doing couldn't be more right, Tesoro. We're taking our friendship to new heights and nothing will change that. You're stuck with me.” He added the last part with the unique playful dance to his tone that he alone possessed.

"Not stuck. We're buddies, Nico. Your friendship means a lot to me.” More than she thought it would. When it came to Nico she was quickly realizing he had more qualities than met the eye.

He sat quiet a minute then said, “I have to go, Slugger. Talk to you soon."

"Wait,” she called into the phone. “What does Tesoro mean?” she almost forgot to ask.

"Treasure,” he said simply before she heard a click and the line go dead. Pulling the phone away from her ear, Tabby looked at it like she could see Nico through the receiver. Weird. He never hung up that abruptly. The edge she'd heard in his voice made her wonder if everything was okay. Dismissing the thought from her head, Tabby stood up and put in an exercise video. She needed to keep herself busy somehow.

Buddies? What the hell? Nico never experienced a woman he'd slept with calling him her buddy. He didn't like it, especially coming from Tabby. She had somehow woven her way into his life to become an integral part of his world and not as a damn buddy. More like a puzzle piece that fit together to make a whole picture. He shook his head. Now she had him sounding like a goddamn woman comparing puzzle pieces to their lives.

Get it together Valenti.

"What's your problem?” Luciano asked as they sat in his office a little while later. They were supposed to be going over the work Luciano would need him to do while he took his honeymoon yet Nico hadn't heard a word he said. If he even said anything yet.

"How do you know something's wrong?"

"You haven't responded to a thing I've said. You're grunting and groaning over there like you have a severe case of indigestion. However, I think yours goes by a different name. Something a little more feminine perhaps."

The gleam in Luciano's eye told him his cousin enjoyed this way too much. Not that he could blame him. He'd given Luciano shit when he started falling in love with Kaylee. Wow. Where the hell did that come from? He wasn't falling in love with Tabby. He liked her, he wanted her but that's about all. “Ah shit, Lu,” Nico ran a hand through his hair. “I don't know what the hell is wrong with me."

"Well I know you slept with her. Did you feel a little more than you thought you would?"

Nico looked at him wide-eyed. “How do you know about that?"

Luciano laughed. “You know how women are. Tabby told Kaylee. She couldn't hold it in so she told me. She's worried about her. I told her she didn't need to be. Am I right?"

Hell, maybe he should just tell Luciano what was going on. Well, if he knew what was going on it would be a lot easier. He didn't understand where all the crazy thoughts in his head came from or what they meant. Luciano might be able to help him make some sense out of his sudden desire to have a relationship. But then he'd see the same smug grin he'd dished out to his cousin about Kaylee returned to him. He didn't want that. No reason he couldn't make sense of this himself.

If it were love, he'd know it. Wouldn't he? He saw it everyday when he looked at his parents, his sisters, his family. Tabby meant a lot to him, the woman was fine as hell and had a great personality to boot, but he wasn't in love with her. He also wasn't ready to end whatever it was they were doing. “Naw, I'm not going to hurt her. I may not know what the hell I'm doing, but can tell you I'd never hurt, Tab."

Luciano gave Nico a wicked grin that told him his cousin thought he knew more than he did. “Don't go looking at me like that. It's not what you think. The woman has me tied in knots. For the first time in my life I'm flustered by the opposite sex but it isn't what you're thinking.” Is it?

"How the tables have turned, Nic. I thought you were supposed to be all knowing when it came to women."

Luciano enjoyed this way too much. Not that he faulted him. He'd be doing the same thing if the situation were reversed. “I know all the ways to pleasure a woman, I can tell you that,” he said with a smile. “It's the other shit that's getting to me."

Luciano turned serious. “Like what? She's just another woman, right? Nothing special."

Nico didn't have to think before answering the question. He fought the rise in the heat of his blood by Luciano thinking such a thing. He felt primal like he had to protect her. “What the hell do you mean by that? Tabby is far from average. She means more to me than any other woman I've ever know. Hell, she's the first woman I've ever wanted to have an actual relationship with. And the kicker is, I'm tricking her into it. Tabby, the woman who has wanted to settle down her whole life and I have to trick her into a damn relationship. She's got it in her head that I'm this heartbreaker that leaves a trail of women in my wake."

The smile stretching across Luciano's face told Nico he just fell into a trap set by his know-it-all cousin. He spilled his guts when he hadn't planned on it. “Fuck.” Nico stood and paced the office. “I want her, Lu. I really do. I'm not ready for the whole, ‘do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife’ bit but she's different. I don't want to let her go right now and I don't know if I ever will. How the hell did I get myself into this mess?"

Luciano stood up, pat him on the back and said, “We need to get ourselves a drink, Cousin. Then I can explain a few things to you."

Damn, for the first time in his life Nico had to get woman advice. Might as well take him out and shoot him now. He lost his touch.

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The week stretched on, one busy day after another for Tabby. Work picked up, the wedding date inched closer and closer. One thing piled on top of another until Friday finally came. Bone tired exhaustion gripped Tabby's limbs but she needed her night out. Needed to see her friends, have a drink, and let her hair down. And she wanted to see Nico. He'd been in the back of her mind trying to push through until finally she gave in and thought about nothing but him all week long.

She needed a good laugh, a good time and Nico gave that to her like no one else in her life. That knowledge should put her on edge but right now it didn't. Right now she just wanted to bask in this new found freedom she'd given herself. Freedom that he'd given her. Surprisingly, the decision to halt her search for Mr. Right released a weight on her chest that she hadn't known resided there.

Walking into the dimly lit atmosphere of Luciano's Tabby felt at home. This place had somehow grown to mean so much to her. Like a second home, a place she and her girls could come to have a good time and be around their new found friends. For Kaylee, the place she met the man of her dreams. Still, even though she enjoyed what she had right now, Tabby still looked forward to that day herself. She wondered where she would find him. Where their story would take place.

"Hey Slugger,” Nico rounded the corner and walked up to her. He didn't wear his chef whites like he usually did on Friday nights. He looked sexy as sin in a pair of blue jeans, black t-shirt, and his tousled hair. For the first time since she met him, his face wasn't cleanly shaven, he had a dark, five o'clock shadow dusting his jaw line.

Damn. This man oozed sexiness in a way that should be illegal. He made her want to do all sorts of forbidden things to him. With him. “Hey there. What's up? Why aren't you dressed for work?” They walked together towards their table. His arm brushed against hers making it damn near impossible not jump him right there. His heat scorched her arm, shooting flames of desire throughout her body.

"I got my shift covered. I was thinking, since we've both had such a crazy week and haven't been able to get together we should take advantage when we can.” He stopped then lowered his mouth to her ear. “We have time to make up for. I plan to ravage you, Tabby.” He pulled away and winked, “in a friendly way of course."

She wanted to come right there. Right in the middle of Luciano's and who cared who watched her. “Friends with benefits.” Her body suddenly drained of her tiredness. Excitement coursed through her muscles that minutes ago ached with wariness. Soon she'd be able to cash in the benefit she'd been thinking about all week.

He leaned toward her and she thought he was going to kiss her when he said, “Bri, Kaylee and Luciano can't take their eyes off us,” he nodded toward the table. “We better join them before they get too many wild ideas in their heads."

She had enough of those in her own mind for all of them.

"So what's up with you two?” Brianna asked halfway through dinner. “I know you're getting it on but are we going to be planning another wedding in the future? You Valenti men seem to have a thing for us sistas."

Tabby felt the choke come on as she spit her drink out.

Damn, Brianna pushed her into having a Kaylee moment. Before she got together with Luciano she couldn't be in his presence without dropping, spilling or spitting something. “Brianna! I can't believe you just said that. Nothing is going on between Nico and I."