Working Man (11 page)

Dakota pushed up so that she was riding Nick, her body rising up and down with every movement of his pelvis. It was true; she hadn't been shy about letting Nick know how much he was pleasuring her and this morning was proving no different. In fact, her body was so attuned to his and so easily aroused by him that she was already feeling close to the edge. She looked down at Nick with eyes half closed from the passion he was stirring in her and said his name with the intense longing he excited in her. “Nick,” she moaned, and his movements got faster and more forceful. Her back was arched and her eyes closed and the only thing she was aware of was Nick and how he was making her feel. After she rode out yet another shattering release she collapsed into his waiting arms and sighed his name, over and over.

“Nick, sweetheart, eventually we're going have to get out of this bed,” she murmured.

“Yeah, I guess we are,” Nick agreed lazily. “But not for a while. When we're old and gray and can't do this anymore, we gonna wish we'd done it more,” he said with a smile.

“You have an excellent point,” she agreed and sighed with repletion as he took her in his arms once again.

T
he next few days were the most fun Dakota could remember in a long time. It was so wonderful having Nick in her life. They'd spent the entire weekend after the fashion show together and she'd laughed more than she had in months. When they finally got out of bed it was after twelve and they took a long shower together before she went downstairs to make him breakfast, something on which she'd insisted. She was touched to realize that he'd come downstairs during the night and cleaned up after their late-night repast, and was further impressed that he took the sheets off the bed and put them in the washing machine while she made him a brunch of eggs Florentine and a tender filet mignon. She was making biscuits when he brought the sheets down and stopped when she saw what he was doing.

“You made the bed?” she asked in surprise.

“Yeah, I did. It's just how I am, baby, I don't leave the house unless the bed is made and the bathtub is cleaned out. I've been called a neat freak before so don't hold back.”

A guilty flush spread across her face as she thought about her own housekeeping. She was of the live-and-let-live school and if it wasn't crawling, she didn't worry about it. A local maid service had always served as a way of keeping the dust bunnies at bay, but obviously she was going to have to do better in that department if she was going to have a neat man in her life. “You want hash browns or grits?” she asked.

“How can you ask a Georgia boy if he wants grits?” he grinned.

Soon they were seated at the small breakfast table in the sunny kitchen and after saying grace Nick took his first bite of her cooking. “This is good, Dakota. What kind of eggs are these?”

She flushed again as she told him they were called eggs Florentine. “I should have asked if you liked spinach,” she said. “They're not too fancy are they?” She looked down at the poached egg in its bed of sautéed spinach with dismay.

“Dakota, look at my plate. Does this look like too fancy for you?”

He'd cleaned his plate and was still looking hungry. “I don't have a problem with trying new things as long as they're good,” he informed her. “And if you don't eat yours pretty soon, I'm gonna take it. You worked me pretty hard and I'm a growing boy,” he said, with not even a hint of shame.

They both laughed as she gladly let him have her portion. She had an extra biscuit to make up for its absence and smiled when he complimented them. “If I hadn't seen you make them I'd have thought my mother was in the kitchen,” he said.

She poured him another cup of coffee as she thanked him. “My mother and my grandmother taught me pretty well. I don't cook as often as I'd like to, but I enjoy doing it.”

“You can cook for me anytime, baby. What do you want to do today?”

“Everything,” she said and leaned over the table for a kiss.

They did just about everything that weekend. First they went to Nick's house so he could change his clothes. It was the first time she'd been to his place and she was most impressed. It was a big brick home in the northern suburbs and had obviously been restored by his expert crew. The front door was mullioned panes of glass and when he opened the door, Dakota was blown away by what she saw. The circular entryway had a highly polished parquet floor with a round oriental rug and an antique table, also round. The living room was huge, with big windows that let in the sun. The floor in there was carpeted with rich cream-colored Berber and it made the room look even bigger. The walls were the same color as the floor and the woodwork was in its natural state, including the crown molding and the French doors on either side of the fireplace that led out to a solarium. The dining room would easily sit sixteen people and there was a built-in glass-fronted china cabinet that went from wall to wall, ceiling to floor. The proportions of the rooms were magnificent; the only thing that was missing was furniture.

There was a large room that he used as a study and in there was a computer desk, a sofa and armchair and a huge plasma high-definition TV, but not much else. The built-in bookcases that lined one wall were virtually empty except for business publications and a few family photographs. Dakota looked at Nick in surprise. “This is beautiful, Nick, but why is it still empty? How long have you lived here?”

“I know, I know. I need to get some furniture,” he admitted. “But I've been taking my time about it for some reason. I want to make sure I get all the right stuff,” he admitted. “I think I might have gotten in over my head. I always know what I want, but when I try to put it together it doesn't always work.”

“So is that why your apartment looks like…” her voice faded away and she turned bright red as she realized that she was about to insult his taste.

Surprisingly, though, he didn't take offense. “Yeah, it's kinda out there. I was dating this woman who had no more taste than I did and together we made a mess of that place. I know what I wanted it to look like, but the end result wasn't quite what I had in mind. But I'd spent so much money on it, I wasn't going to just get rid of the stuff.”

They were in the solarium and while Dakota was admiring the windows, he made a startling confession. “I grew up with nothing. Paul and I didn't have even the basic things that make life easy, like an extra pair of shoes or warm coats for the winter. We just barely got by for our whole lives. So when we started making some real money, we started spending like big ballers,” he said with a dry laugh. “We had the money to have anything we wanted and that's how we spent it. Clothes, cars, jewelry, whatever we wanted. And we wanted the best, too. Hell, we could afford it.”

Once again Dakota's candor kicked in before her tact could make it to the gate. “But Paul doesn't have a bunch of gaudy stuff in his house,” she blurted out, then covered her mouth and closed her eyes as she realized too late what she'd said.

To her relief, Nick just laughed. “That's 'cause Paul has Patsy and she knows how to decorate a house. She has real good taste, she knows how to put things together real nice. I guess it really takes a woman's touch.”

Dakota raised her hand to volunteer her services. “I'll be happy to help,” she offered. “I have excellent taste, thanks to my mother, and I'm really frugal. You don't have to break the bank to make things look wonderful. If you know how to shop you can get beautiful things for next to nothing. I know how to get the best for less, trust me.”

Nick smiled down at her. “I figured you would. Come see the rest of it,” he invited. They toured the rest of the house, which had a big kitchen and state-of-the-art stainless-steel appliances, a breakfast room and pantry as well as a lavatory and laundry on the first floor. The upstairs had five bedrooms and two full baths, as well as a bathroom in the master suite. This room was furnished as well, although it had only a gigantic bed with a matching dresser and chest of drawers, as well as two nightstands. The bed was magnificent, high and huge with paneled head-and footboards. There was a thick brown jacquard cover and six big pillows in matching shams.

“This is the best bed I've ever seen in my life. Can I sit on it?” she asked in wonder.

Nick laughed and picked her up, settling her in the middle while she made a noise of enjoyment. “I'm going to love making love in this bed,” she said shamelessly while he took off her little flats. She scooted up to the head of the bed and rested on the pillows, which felt fantastic. “Nick, we really need to christen this bed,” she said with a seductive smile.

Nick sat on the edge of the bed and took her into his arms for a long kiss. Then he looked at her sternly. “We'll do that tonight, but right now I'm changing clothes and we're getting out of here.”

He laughed as she made a mock pout and captured her lower lip in his mouth. “C'mon, baby, don't tempt me anymore. Let me take you out and show you a good time and then I promise you we'll break in this bed good and proper tonight.”

Dakota leaned back into the big pillows and gave him a seductive smile. “Well, you haven't broken a promise to me yet, so I'll take you at your word.”

“My word is my bond, Dakota. If I tell you something you can take it to the bank,” he told her seriously. “And keep your little hands to yourself so I can get dressed,” he added, just as she was reaching for him.

She stuck her tongue out at him and told him to hurry. “Or I can't swear that I'll behave.”

“You can misbehave all you want tonight, baby.”

 

The rest of the day was spent enjoying themselves. They went sightseeing with Nick pointing out places of interest like Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs. As they drove past the venerable stadium, Dakota asked. “Do you like baseball?”

“It's okay. I don't pay that much attention to sports.”

“Really? You don't veg out on the weekends and watch ESPN? You don't zone out on Sundays and watch the NFL or NBA after church?” She couldn't keep the skepticism out of her voice.

Nick laughed at the look on her face. “No, I really don't. Sunday is for getting ready for Monday. Got to make sure I have everything in order to start the week,” he said.

For some reason the words seemed like ones she would hear again. Her brow knit in thought but she was quickly distracted by Nick reaching over to rub her thigh. “You look good in shorts, baby. I thought you didn't like to show off those pretty legs.”

She batted her lashes and said in a breathy voice, “I usually cover them up, but my man likes to look at them.”

She was indeed wearing a pair of wide-legged walking shorts. They had cuffed legs and pleats at the waistline and she looked fashionable and sexy at the same time. With them she wore a close-fitting white tank top and cute little black-and-white flats. This and other flattering outfits were the result of her shopping spree with Billie and Toni. She loved the way the outfit looked on her body and the freedom she felt in wearing it. She also loved the feeling of the summer breeze on her bare arms after so many years of trying to cover up instead of show off.

The best part of her new look was in her earlobes, courtesy of Nick. He hadn't been kidding after the fashion show when he'd told her that he had something for her. Sometime during the night, after they'd made love for the third or fourth time, he'd gone to his sport coat on the back of the chair in her bedroom and taken something out. He called her name and said “Catch,” casually tossing a small velvet box in her direction. Her breath had caught in her throat and when she opened the box she couldn't say anything for almost a whole minute.

“Nick…these are fantastic, they really are. I've never seen anything so gorgeous in my whole life, but I can't accept them,” she said in a faint voice.

“Yes, you can. And you will. You don't need to be borrowing earbobs from your baby sister. Put them on,” he told her, his eyes twinkling in enjoyment of her shock.

Dakota had shed a few happy tears at that point. On the night Nick had taken them out to dinner, she'd said something about being afraid of losing one of Billie's earrings. And he'd not only been listening to her, he'd remembered and gotten her a pair of her very own. A really
big
pair, at that. “Nick, these look like a carat each,” she marveled.

“They're a carat and a half,” he corrected her. “Put them on so I can see how pretty they look on you.”

He was acting as though he'd given her a bottle of soda pop instead of the most expensive and fabulous jewelry she'd ever owned. She'd put them on and her eyes had teared up with happiness when she looked in the mirror.

She had jumped on the bed and hugged him, covering his face with kisses. “Nick, you're wonderful. You're so sweet and thoughtful. I love them and I love you for giving them to me. I'll treasure them always. But—” she bit her bottom lip. “Suppose I lose them? I'd be absolutely devastated.”

Nick had cradled her in his arms and hugged her, kissing her teary lashes and nuzzling her neck. “They're insured. If you lose them, they'll get replaced. They look good on you, baby. You make them look good. You're really special, Dakota. I hope you know that.”

She smiled as she remembered his sweet words. Touching her earlobe where the big diamond was resting gave her a little thrill that was duplicated by the warmth of his hand caressing her bared thigh.

“I want to show you off, Dakota. I want everybody to see me with the most beautiful woman in Chicago. Let's go out tonight. What do feel like doing?”

She thought a moment before answering. “Well, we could go to a play,” she said slowly. “Or we could go to an art gallery. That would be nice.”

“Damn, baby, I said go out, not get educated. It's summer time in Chicago and you want to spend the night in an art gallery?” Disbelief tinged his voice.

Dakota laughed because she'd been messing with his head to an extent. “Well, honey, what do you want to do? We may not like to do the same things,” she said cautiously.

“We don't have to. If we liked all the same things we'd be the same person. What fun is that? If you want to date yourself you can stay home on Saturday night and clip coupons. Differences are what make things exciting, baby. We can do some things you like to do and some things I like to do. That way we both get exposed to new things and that's how we grow into a real good relationship.”