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  A low moan escaped her throat and he trailed a wet kiss down her cheek and sucked on the flesh of her neck, so when she let out another sexy sound, he felt the vibrations against his mouth.

  She slid her hands beneath his shirt, and the feel of her soft fingers trailing over his abdomen made him shudder and grow harder. He let out a curse, lifted her into his arms, and headed for the bedroom upstairs.

  “You like this caveman thing.” Nicole laughed, obviously feeling playful.

  “If I were a caveman, you’d be over my shoulder.”

  “The carrying thing, then.”

  “I like carrying you.” This routine wasn’t something he’d done before, but she was right. With Nicole, he always seemed to be impatient, wanting to be naked and inside her.

  She grinned, settling her face into the crook of his neck, first kissing him, then nuzzling with her nose and mouth, and finally taking a nip with her teeth.

  He felt the kick of that bite in his groin.

  He tossed her onto the bed and her eyes opened wide, then glazed over with aching desire. He pulled off his shirt. She took the hint and worked at her own clothes until she lay spread out before him. Instead of rushing to claim her, he decided there were other things he wanted to do first.

  He braced his hands on her thighs and lowered his head, breathing in her musky scent before sliding his tongue over her sex. Her hips arched upward in a silent plea for more. Yeah, that he could do, he thought, and began to earnestly work at giving her pleasure. It didn’t take long for him to learn her body, what she liked: long, leisurely laps of his tongue around her damp folds, and what really sent her over the edge—a nip directly on her clit.

  He’d never tasted anything sweeter, never wanted to give someone pleasure more. He was solely focused on Nicole, her short pants of breath, the soft cries when she edged closer to coming. He slid one finger deep inside her and she came apart beneath his hand and mouth, and a deep sense of satisfaction filled him.

  He prolonged the sensations until her muscles relaxed and then he kissed his way up her lithe body, ending with her lips, letting her taste herself on his mouth.

  His erection was rock hard against her thigh, and he braced his arms and lifted himself over her. “I need to be inside you.”

  Her eyes dilated even more. “So what are you waiting for?”

  “Not a damned thing.” He kissed her deeply as he raised his hips and thrust deep. She clenched him tight in her hot body, skin to skin, and realization dawned.

  Shit. “Condom.” He started to pull out quickly but her fingernails dug into his shoulders, stopping him.

  “I’m on the pill and we—I always used protection.” Nicole stared up at Sam, unwilling to use Tyler’s name while she felt Sam’s thickness in every part of her body.

  He expelled a long breath. “Same. Especially since my sister got pregnant . . .” He hung his head, drawing an obvious breath, and then, without warning, he pressed his hips against her, filling her even more.

  Small pulses of desire electrified her, from where their bodies joined so intimately to the farthest reaches of her fingertips and even into her throat. The man was so potent and each time they came together, he breached another protective wall she’d tried to erect against him.

  Without a condom, she had an even more difficult time differentiating between sensation and emotion. She’d have to sort her head out later, but right now, looking into his gorgeous hazel eyes so intent on her, she didn’t want to think at all.

  And when he began to move inside her, his thick erection spiking her arousal, her brain shorted out and pure passion took over. His thickness aroused nerve endings she didn’t know she had, and her sudden orgasm came quickly and fast, taking her by surprise.

  “So responsive,” he said as she came back to herself.

  “Not usually.” The words slipped out and he grinned, obviously pleased.

  He pulled out and despite just having come, she felt empty until he flipped her over. “On your knees,” he whispered in her ear.

  Arousal flooded her anew and she complied. He placed his hand on her back and she lowered her head to the pillow as he slid back into her once more.

  “Oh God.” He was deeper now, and she couldn’t hold back a moan.

  “You feel amazing.”

  So did he.

  He pulled out and thrust back into her. She closed her eyes and his smooth strokes ignited her nerve endings, stimulating her everywhere. With his body cocooned around hers, taking her, grinding into her over and over, she felt consumed. Owned, even. And as he picked up a faster rhythm, she began the steady climb from being sated once more.

  “I’m close, Nic,” he said, his rich voice stroking her body and her heart. His fingers bit into her sides. “Come with me,” he said, his hips slamming hard against hers.

  His rough groan of completion set her aflame and she shattered, her body splintering into tiny shards around his. And as she came back together, she was afraid she’d lost a piece of herself to this very contained man.

  He collapsed on top of her, eventually rolling off but never breaking contact as he wrapped himself around her. His rapid heartbeat thrummed hard against her back and they lay in silence as she caught her own breath.

  “How come?” he asked, breaking the quiet around them.

  “How come what?”

  “If you’re on the pill, how come you used protection with your ex?” Sam asked.

  A valid question, but not an easy one. Not now, although it had seemed so simple at the time she’d made the decision.

  “Even though it’s never been said, I don’t think my parents are faithful to one another.” She’d barely admitted this truth to herself over the years. Even when her mother asked her what love had to do with anything, Nicole hadn’t wanted to face what had always been on the edges of her mind.

  She swallowed hard. “I was on the pill before Tyler and I started sleeping together, and once we did, he didn’t ask about protection, he just used it, so I didn’t offer the information.”

  Because she hadn’t trusted him enough, she realized now. “If my parents weren’t faithful to each other, I didn’t think I should risk it for myself.”

  Yet she’d taken that risk with Sam. Nicole was afraid to question what that leap of faith could mean. And from his silence, she took it to mean he had no interest in finding out either.

  Nine

  Nicole soaked in a hot bath in her new claw-footed tub. After her night with Sam, her body ached in the best possible way. She leaned her head back and let her mind drift to the many aspects of the man she was coming to know. He could be tender and sweet one minute, hard and demanding the next. She hoped he’d stick with her long enough for her to learn more.

  Her eyes drifted shut and she thanked her lucky stars she’d met him before her wedding and was grateful she’d found the strength to end her engagement. If not, she wouldn’t have spent last night in her bed. With Sam. She smiled and sank deeper into the bubbled water.

  She trailed the loofah over her calves and her knees and up her thighs before picking up the handheld shower massager to clear the soap. The sweet scent of strawberry soap prickled her senses. And as the water teased her clit, arousal swept through her. With thoughts of Sam on her mind, she settled the light spray between her thighs, placing just the right amount of pressure on her sex, creating a delicious friction, before easing one of her fingers between her slick folds.

  She moaned at the same time her phone rang, jarring her into awareness. She glanced down and caught sight of Sam’s name, and her stomach flipped in awareness and embarrassment. She dried her hand on a towel and slid the bar across the screen to answer.

  “Hey,” she said, hoping her tone didn’t give her away.

  “Hi.”

  His voice oozed sex and sin, and the heaviness between her thighs increased tenfold. She drew her knees up and squeezed tight.

  “What are you up to?” he asked.

  She looked
down at the shower massager, a reminder of how close she’d been to bringing herself pleasure she’d rather he give her. “Umm . . . I’m in the tub.”

  He expelled a harsh breath. “You shouldn’t have told me that.”

  She grinned, glad she wasn’t the only one affected. “Then you shouldn’t have slipped out before I woke up.” But he’d been a gentleman and left a note, which enabled her to fall back to sleep without believing he’d done a one-eighty in his thinking or pulled a guy stunt and carelessly skipped the morning after.

  It almost made her trust that he was capable of more than he thought when it came to relationships, but he’d been up front with her. So she knew better.

  “I promised my father I’d help him around the house. You were out cold and I didn’t want to wake you.”

  “So what can I do for you now?” she asked.

  He laughed, low and deep. “That’s a loaded question while you’re naked in the bathtub, sweetheart.”

  Her breath caught at the easily used endearment.

  “Actually you can join me for dinner later.”

  A flush of happiness rushed through her. “I’d love to.”

  “See? I can take you out like a gentleman,” he said, causing her heart to tighten in her chest. “Dress up.”

  “Okay.”%

  “And be good in that bath.”

  Her face flushed and she wondered if he knew just how bad she planned to be.

  The rest of the day passed quickly, with a trip to the grocery store, and then she spent the better part of the afternoon doing her favorite thing: baking. Nothing made a house feel more like a home than the fresh smell of homemade anything, and now that she had her own equipment, this small house was beginning to feel like a real home to her.

  She settled on macarons, the currently in-vogue French cookie. The recipe for these cookies was deceptively simple, but in reality, it was intense and time consuming and took lots of patience, of which she had plenty.

  For hours, she lost herself in a process she found soothing. She knew just how soft to make the peaks of the egg whites before adding another ingredient, then whisking once more. Then came the pastry bag and the painstaking creation of rounds without peaks by bringing the pastry tip to the side.

  She made chocolate ganache and Swiss buttercream filling, so Sam would have a choice, keeping an eye on the oven as she worked. Another part of the process involved a careful watching of time, lowering then raising the temperature for the next batch. A bomb could have gone off in the next room and she wouldn’t have noticed, and when she finally lifted her head to glance at the clock, she realized she didn’t have much time to shower before Sam arrived to pick her up.

  Dress up, he’d said.

  She chose a soft pale blue skirt and flowing tank top loosely belted, and a pair of metallic sandals. She blow-dried her hair, but parts were still damp and she decided it could air-dry. A hint of blush and lip gloss, bangle bracelets, a long necklace, and dangling earrings, and she was ready with minutes to spare.

  Then her cell phone rang. A glance told her it was her sister, which was unusual and off the set schedule.

  “Hello?” Nicole asked, aware she was holding her breath.

  “Hi! I have the best news!” Vicky said, sounding more excited than Nicole could remember.

  Very up, and a prickle of nerves assaulted Nicole.

  “What’s up?” she asked as she settled onto her bed.

  Vicky squealed in excitement. “My doctor said if I keep progressing like this, I can take a day trip out of here. You know, like a test run to see how I handle being back out in the world.”

  Nicole swallowed hard. It was one thing to think about her sister getting better, another to contemplate her being out. “Are you sure you’re ready?”

  “I am. I just need someone to agree to be my guardian for the day.”

  Another nervous flutter took up residence in Nicole’s stomach, and she shivered.

  “. . . But I’m sure Mom or Dad will agree,” Vicky continued, obviously rambling with excitement.

  “I just don’t want you to set yourself up for disappointment,” Nicole warned her.

  “It’s one day. Twelve hours. Less even.”

  Nicole shook her head at how Vicky tended to hang on to her optimism when it came to their parents, mostly because her mind ran toward the delusional. “We’ll see, I guess.”

  “Oops! Gotta go. My time’s up. Bye!” her sister said, and disconnected the call.

  Nicole prayed their parents would step up, but she had her doubts. Which meant Vicky would ask to visit Nicole for the day instead, and nobody in Serendipity would want to deal with that. Especially not the Marsdens.

  She closed her eyes, thinking of Sam’s family. They’d been kind to her about her sister, but that was easy when Vicky was out of sight. Faced with her return? Nicole shuddered at the definite conflict inherent in that situation.

  The ringing of her doorbell interrupted her thoughts. She glanced out the window by the door and smiled when she saw Sam in khaki pants and a collared shirt. He oozed male confidence and sex appeal, his scruffy hair untamed despite obvious efforts.

  She let him in and he greeted her with a warm kiss on the mouth. His lips lingered and she sighed into him.

  “Mmm, that’s nice,” she said, running her tongue over her lips.

  She could be so happy here and she didn’t want her sister to ruin what she was building in Serendipity, she thought, then immediately felt guilty and selfish.

  “Just nice?” Sam asked, his brows wrinkled.

  “Very nice,” she amended, chiding herself to push thoughts of her sister and her problems out of her mind.

  She had a hot man waiting for her and she wasn’t about to waste time thinking about things that might not happen. There was always the chance that her sister’s doctor wouldn’t allow her to come to Serendipity at all.

  And if he did?

  Nicole would stand by her twin. They were blood. She had no choice.

  Sam narrowed his gaze. Nicole’s preoccupied tone set off warning signals that something was up. Especially since he didn’t think his kissing skills had gone south since he saw her last. She was barely paying attention when usually she couldn’t keep her hands to herself when they were alone.

  “What’s wrong?” Although she’d definitely dressed for their date, looking hot and sexy, her mind was somewhere else.

  And when she glanced at her phone before answering him, she confirmed his suspicions.

  “I just spoke to my sister.”

  He preferred not to think about her mentally ill twin, but as he’d told his brother, they were two different people. “Is everything okay?”

  She rolled her shoulders and sighed. “Her doctor says she’s ready for a day visit, and she’s hoping my parents will let her come home.”

  His gut cramped at the thought of her twin out and about in the world. “Why wouldn’t they?”

  Nicole pinched the bridge of her nose. “You know what? Let’s not discuss my dysfunctional family.”

  He placed his hands on her shoulders, massaging her tense muscles in the hopes of getting her to relax. “You can talk to me,” he said, meaning it.

  She shook her head. “Nobody should have to handle my load but me. I appreciate it, though.” She shifted her gaze. “So where are we going for dinner?”

  He ought to not just respect her need for privacy, but be happy with her unwillingness to share. The more distance they kept between them, the better. She was too easy to fall for. But it bothered him that she wouldn’t confide in him about her problems and feelings. Shit. No feelings. He shook his head and forced himself to take her cue and move on to the rest of the evening.

  He’d made a reservation at a steak house about twenty-five minutes outside Serendipity. Once there, he’d requested a quiet table in the back, where he held her hand and plied her with good wine, and visibly she relaxed. The tightness in her expression eased and her eyes, which ha
d seemed so troubled earlier, were clearer and focused on him.

  Their secluded table consisted of a booth in the back corner and let him sit beside her, not across the table. He could lean in and inhale her floral scent, watch her enjoy her meal, and shift positions so their thighs aligned and touched throughout the various courses.

  They talked about nothing and everything and Sam learned how much they had in common, from enjoying all the new police procedural shows on television to the occasional raunchy comedy—which surprised him—to classic rock tunes. They differed on sports. She hated football, which only made him determined to teach her the workings of the game and change her mind this upcoming season.

  Finally she placed her fork and knife down on her plate and let out a pleased sigh that went right to his groin. “The best steak ever,” she said.

  “Worth the trip,” he agreed, for more reasons than the food. He’d do just about anything to keep the satisfied smile on her face, not to mention the way she looked at him, unable to take her eyes off him for a second. The feeling was more than mutual.

  She finished her second glass of red wine and the waiter immediately came around asking if she’d like a refill. “No, thank you.” She covered the top of the glass with her hand.

  “Tipsy?” he asked.

  She smiled. “Pleasantly buzzed.”

  He, on the other hand, was perfectly sober and driving them home, but he could freely admit to being high on her alone. There’d never been a lull in the conversation. Everything she talked about, from her plans for the bakery, which she hoped to have the keys to next week, to stories of how she’d managed to raise big money for Tyler’s mother’s campaign for borough president, both charmed and interested him.

  “Enough about me. What makes Sam Marsden tick?” she asked.

  “Right now, you’re making me tick,” he said, leaning in close and nuzzling his nose into the crook of her neck. He wanted to get inside her skin.

  “Flatterer.”

  His hand slid to her thigh and a blush rose to her cheeks as she squirmed beside him. “We’re in public.”