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“Are you sure you didn’t want to go with your friends?” her dance partner asked.
“No, I’m fine. I’m a big girl, I can look after myself,” Nicole answered.
“I’m pleased to hear it. I’m Nate, by the way.”
“Nicole,” she answered shortly, happy to keep their introductions brief as she threw herself back into the thrum and energy of the DJ’s latest sound selection.
She was distracted by the flash of someone’s camera, no doubt someone’s shenanigans would be broadcast on some social networking site tomorrow, but before long her focus was solely on the man in front of her. Boy, but he could move. Some guys just looked as if they were trying too hard on the dance floor but for him, movement came very naturally. And he was so good to look at, too.
His hair was dark, but not as dark as her near-black tresses, and his face was both masculine and had a refined elegance at the same time. And those lips—she was very keen for a repeat of what they had to offer.
“Do I pass muster?” he asked, one corner of his mouth twisting upward.
She smiled in response. “You’ll do.”
He laughed and the sound went straight to her toes, making them curl in delight. Was there anything about him that wasn’t gorgeous?
The crowd around them had begun to thin and Nicole started to become aware that eventually this night would have to end. At about that point she’d be feeling the pain of dancing in high heels for several hours, along with the aftereffects of too much to drink. She hated that reality had to intrude again, especially when she was having such a good time. Nate said something, but over the frenetic pulse of the music she didn’t quite make it out.
“What was that you said?” Nicole asked, leaning closer.
Mmm, he even smelled great—like a cool ocean breeze.
“I said, would you like a drink?”
She’d probably had quite enough for one night but an imp of mischief prompted her to nod her head.
“Here? Or we could head back to my place if you’d rather.”
She felt a frisson of excitement. Was he suggesting what she thought he was suggesting? She’d never done this before—gone back to some random guy’s house for a drink, at least not without a posse of friends with her. But for some reason she felt as if she could trust Nate, and then there was that amazing energy between them. She deserved to find out if those sparks were real, didn’t she? Wouldn’t it be some solace for the night she’d put up with?
“Your place is fine.”
Actually, anywhere but home was fine.
“Great.” He smiled, the action sending a sizzle of anticipation thrilling through her veins.
Sore feet and the prospect of a hangover were the furthest things from her mind as Nate took her hand and led her toward the exit. And if thoughts of “danger” or “risk” occurred to her, she brushed them aside. Tonight was a night for taking chances.
And besides, what was the worst that could happen?
Two
Nate caught Raoul’s eye as he led Nicole away, giving his friend a nod. He briefly saw Raoul’s answering wink before the expression on the other man’s face changed to one of shocked recognition. Nate fought back the smug smile that pulled at his lips.
In all the years he’d spent imagining how he would bring Charles Wilson to his knees, he’d never once imagined this scenario. But then, he’d never imagined taking Charles Wilson’s daughter in his arms and feeling such a searing sense of attraction, either. With such a ripe opportunity before him, he’d be a fool not to make the most of it—in every way possible. Still, he had to be careful. It wouldn’t do to put the cart before the horse. He could just as easily be calling a taxi to take Nicole home after their drink, but something inside him told him that was very unlikely.
He reached in his pocket and pressed the remote to the low-slung silver Maserati that waited for them at the curb.
“Very pretty car,” Nicole commented as he held open the passenger door for her and she folded her delicious long legs into the passenger bay.
“I like to travel in style,” he answered with a smile.
“I like that in a man,” she answered, her lips curving in response.
He just bet she did. She’d never wanted for anything and every part of her life had been to the highest standard. It stood to reason that Nicole Wilson’s demands of her men would be high. It was a gauntlet he relished picking up.
Unlike Nicole, Nate knew what it was like to struggle—his father had been a living example of the concept for most of Nate’s childhood. After Charles Wilson had kicked him out of the business they’d built together, it had taken years for Thomas to reestablish his credibility and build a company of his own. Nate had watched as his father poured his everything into his fledgling business in an attempt to provide something, anything, to the woman he’d accidentally gotten pregnant and the son their liaison had borne. And while Thomas had done his best to shield his only child, the experience had left its mark, resulting in two rules that Nate had lived his life by ever since. Rule one: be very careful who you trust.
Rule two: all’s fair in love and war.
Nate slid into the driver’s seat and started the car, maneuvering it smoothly toward Hobson Street and the entrance to the North Western motorway.
“You’re a Westie?” Nicole asked.
“After a fashion,” he answered. “I have a couple of places. Karekare is where I call home. You still want that drink at my place?”
His challenge hung between them in the dark interior of the car. He shot her a glance and saw her press her lips together and swallow before answering.
“I’m all good. I haven’t been out to Karekare in ages.”
“It’s still pretty much the same. Wild and beautiful.”
“Like you?” she asked, her eyes gleaming as she shot him a glance.
“I was thinking more along the lines of you.”
She laughed, the sound filling the cabin of his car and making his gut tighten in anticipation.
“Oh, you’re good. You know all the right things to say to salve a wounded soul.”
“Wounded?” he probed.
“Just family stuff. Too complicated and too boring to bring up now,” she hedged.
Was all no longer well in the Wilson household? Nate wondered. He’d made it his business to know what happened within Wilson Wines and he’d heard of the return of the prodigal son. Had Judd Wilson’s arrival served to uplift the mantel of golden child off Nicole’s shoulders?
“We have a long drive,” Nate pointed out as they entered the motorway and his car picked up speed. “I’m willing to listen if you want to talk about it.”
“Just the usual,” she said with an attempt at flippancy. An attempt that failed judging by the tone of her voice.
“Sounds serious,” he commented, keeping his eyes looking forward out the windscreen.
She sighed, the sound coming from somewhere deep down inside her. “I had a fight with my dad. At the risk of sounding clichéd, he doesn’t understand me.”
“Isn’t that a parental prerogative?”
She laughed, a short, sharp sound in total contrast to the last time she’d done so. “I suppose so. I just feel so used, you know? I have spent my whole life trying to measure up, to be the best daughter, the best workmate, the best—well, everything. And he thinks I should settle down and have babies! As if. You know, I think he values a paper clip on his desk more highly than he does me. I’ve spent the past five years helping him to keep our family business thriving and he tells me it’s a nice hobby for me.”
“I suppose this argument is what led you to the club tonight?”
“Too right it is. I couldn’t stay under his roof another second. Oh, no, wait. It’s not his roof anymore, nor mine. He’s gone and given it all to my dear long-lost brother.” She expelled an angry huff of air. “I’m sorry, I’m always letting my mouth run away with me. I shouldn’t have said that. Just pretend you didn’t hear that last bit, okay? I think we should change the subject. Talking about my family is just going to spoil my mood.”
“Whatever the lady wants, the lady gets,” Nate replied smoothly, even though his curiosity burned to know more about the Wilson family home situation.
“Now that’s more like it.” Nicole laughed in response. “A girl could get used to that attitude.”
“What, you mean that isn’t always the case?”
Nicole swiveled slightly in her seat and stared at him. “You say that as if you think you know me.”
“You misunderstand me,” he said smoothly. “I just would have thought that a woman like you would have no trouble getting what she wanted.”
She gave an inelegant snort, then change the subject. “Tell me about your home. Are you overlooking the beach?”
He nodded. Partly in concession to her change of subject and partly in answer to her question. “I’m on a slight rise looking out onto Union Bay.”
“I’ve always loved the West Coast. The black sand beaches, the crazy surf. There’s something so, I dunno, untamed, unpredictable about it all.”
“You surf?”
She shook her head. “No, always been too chicken.”
Somehow she didn’t strike him as the type of woman to be afraid of anything, and he said as much.
“Some boundaries I just never pushed. I grew up as an only child with a parent who could be pretty strict. Sometimes my dad took overprotectiveness a little far.”
“Only child? You mentioned a brother?”
“He lived with our mother up until recently. And how on earth did we get back on that awful topic again?”
She pushed a hand through her tangled long hair, exposing the sweep of her high cheekbones and the determined set of her jaw. His fingers itched to trace the fine bone structure, to taste the smooth skin that stretched over it. Nate tightened his grip once more, dragging his eyes back to the road and his mind back to the goal at hand. Yes, he wanted her. And yes, he had every intention of having her. But he couldn’t let himself lose control. He had to keep the endgame in mind.
“What about you?” she asked, turning in her seat to look at him. “What’s your family like?”
“Both my parents are gone. My mother while I was in university, my dad more recently. I never had any brothers or sisters.”
“So you’re all alone? Lucky you.” She gasped as if she realized the potentially pain-filled minefield she’d just trodden into. “I’m sorry, that was insensitive.”
“No, it’s okay. I miss them but I still count myself lucky to have had them both in my life. And my dad was a great role model. He worked his heart out, literally, to provide for us, and I got to repay that once I graduated and started working in the family firm.”
Nate deliberately kept things vague. He wouldn’t, for a moment, begin to elaborate on exactly why his father’s health took such a beating as he strived to build a new business from the ground up. Or who was responsible for that.
“So, surfing?” he asked, very deliberately changing the subject as he took the exit he needed that would eventually lead them out toward the beach.
“What about it?”
“Want to try it over the weekend?”
“This weekend?”
“Sure, why not stay. I have spare boards, spare wetsuits.”
“Spare clothes, underwear?” She gestured to her voluminous bag on the car floor. “It might be a big bag but it’s hardly Doctor Who’s TARDIS, you know.”
Nate laughed. Her sharp wit was refreshing and appealing at the same time.
“Let’s play it by ear then, hmm? Trust me?”
“Sure. If I didn’t think I could trust you, I wouldn’t be here.”
He reached across and took her hand, caressing the soft skin of her inner wrist with his thumb.
“Good.”
He let go and placed his fingers firmly back on the steering wheel. From the corner of his eye he saw that she stroked her wrist with the fingertips of her other hand. He allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction. This night was going perfectly.
So why did she trust him, she wondered as she lapsed into silence and looked idly out the passenger window. It’s not as if she knew him. She’d acted purely on instinct, a fact that—despite her earlier assertion about being a chicken—had gotten her in trouble many a time before.
She gave herself a mental shake. She deserved this night. She had it coming to her after the crap she’d put up with at dinner on top of everything else this week. And everything in her body told her that this was the man to take all her problems away—at least for the night.
Her skin still tingled where he’d touched her, the sensation a delicious buzz of promise hovering just beneath the surface. Did he expect to make love to her tonight? Just the thought of it sent a thrill of longing through her body, making her womb clench tight on a swell of need that all but knocked the air from her lungs. She’d never had this intense a reaction to anyone before. Just sneaking a glance at his hands on the steering wheel, at the way his long fingers curled around the leather, made her want those fingers on her, in her. She pressed her thighs together and felt the swollen heated flesh at her core respond. Just thinking about him touching her was nearly enough to make her go off. What would it be like when he did?
She cleared her throat against the sudden anticipatory lump that lodged there.
“Everything okay?” Nate asked.
“Sure. It’s quite a drive from the city to your place. Do you work in town?”
“Yeah. I keep an apartment there for the nights I’m too tired to make it back out to Karekare, or if I have an early run to the airport or early meetings. I sleep better with the sounds of the sea and the rainforest around me, though.”
“Sounds idyllic.”
“You’ll see soon enough for yourself.”
She fell silent as they entered Scenic Drive, letting her body sway with the roll of the car as they wound on the narrow ribbon of road higher into the ranges, before winding back down again on the other side. She must have dozed off a little because the next thing she knew the Maserati was driving up a steep incline and pulling into a well-lit garage. A glance at her watch said it was almost 2:00 a.m. The drive had taken nearly an hour. She was miles from anyone she knew, miles from home. She should find the fact daunting—she didn’t. In fact, she welcomed it. Knew that with her choice to come home with Nate that she’d thrown her cares to the wind.
“Home sweet home,” Nate said, coming around to her side of the car and opening the door for her.
Nicole accepted his hand as he helped her out the car, her senses purring at his touch. To her surprise he didn’t let go, instead leading her to a doorway which, when opened, revealed a short set of stairs leading down into a massive open-plan living/dining and kitchen area.
The furnishings were comfortable but spoke plainly of their price in the elegantly simple designs and top-quality fabrics. A large, open fireplace, bordered with gray slate, occupied space on one wall. Even the artworks on the walls and small sculptures on the occasional shelving were beautiful and no doubt expensive. What he surrounded himself with said a lot about him and, so far, she liked it.
“Still feel like that drink?” Nate asked, lifting her hand to his lips and pressing a kiss against her knuckles.
“Sure, what are we having?”
“There’s champagne in the fridge, or we could have a liqueur.”
