The women chortled again, which caused Nick to grin in spite of himself.
“See?” James pressed as he chuckled. “You look exactly like me when I was your age. You’re in love.”
Nick’s eyes grew wide as he glanced over his shoulder, then back at the dish he was holding. “She doesn’t know that yet.”
His father laughed heartily and smacked Nick on the back. “Trust me, she knows. They always figure it out first.”
Nick smiled absently for a moment before shaking his head. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean we have to get married.”
“No, it doesn’t,” James replied as he shrugged. “But I think you’ll change your mind about that in time.”
* * *
“Ihave another hellish week,” Nick mentioned as Sammie unlocked her front door. “Gotta get things ready for the Thanksgiving rush.”
She turned to lift up on her toes and place her arms around his neck. “Why do people go out to eat on Thanksgiving?”
“They’re people who have no desire to cook or don’t know how.” He paused to kiss her. “People like yours truly.”
“I see.”
“So I won’t be free again until the following week probably.”
She pouted. “Lame.”
“I know,” he agreed. He held her tightly and kissed her again, then started to tell her good-night when she stopped him.
“Nope,” she said, tugging his arm and pulling him inside, then into her bedroom, where she pushed him to sit down on her bed.
He figured what was probably about to happen in here, but he decided to play innocent anyway.
“Whatcha doing, Sammie?”
“I told you I wore something cute for you.” She smirked. “Don’t you want to see it?”
“Uh, yes.”
She crinkled her nose at him. “Close your eyes.”
He laughed. “Why do I have to close my eyes if I’m about to see it anyway?”
She tilted her head and placed her hands on her hips, giving him atsk tsklook. “Because. I’m trying to be seductive and there’s nothing seductive about shimmying out of tight jeans. Now close ‘em.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He covered his eyes and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees.
So damn cute.
“Okay,” she said after a moment. “Open.”
He lifted his head to find himself face to face with her breasts encased in a lacy baby blue bra and had an instant, surprising realization that he actually hadn’t seen a woman with her shirt off for a while. Quick, sleazy back office hookups never allowed for much in the way of foreplay or undressing. As a result, he was suddenly a combination of anticipation and anxiety, as he tried not to get ahead of himself.
Don’t touch her, don’t touch her, don’t touch her.
His gaze darted to her face. “It’s very cute, Sammie. You’re beautiful.”
She giggled. “You can look, Nick. That’s the whole reason I wore this.”
So he looked.
