Chasing Di'Maggio: a BWWM romance (7 page)

It was finally time for them to leave and Nico was so happy that she was awake in time to beat the morning traffic.

“Okay, guys, are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, can I drive?” Matty really hated being driven around and he couldn’t wait until he finally got his car. Why didn’t he just get his car when he moved back? No, he decided to wait until Nico and he were moving into their new house. He simply couldn’t stop shaking his head at the stupidity.

“Hmmm, since I’m in a good mood, sure Matt. But we need to be there by 8:15. I have a client and many more after that. What time are you done? I might be late today, given that it was the holidays and New Year’s is coming up.”

“We’ll talk in the car. Let’s go. Coffee mug, bella donna?” Matty gave Nicolette her coffee mug as him, Roxy and Nicolette were exiting the kitchen and heading to the car.

“Oh, Matt, you’ll make a wonderful husband someday.” Why did Roxy feel the need to input the way that Matty was being? Nico tried not to get so jealous so early in the morning; what would be the point? If she didn’t know better, she’d think that Roxy only showed up knowing that Matty would be here.

“Well, thanks, Roxy. I plan on getting married soon.”

Nico didn’t bother saying anything. She knew the time would come when they could tell everyone else about the wedding but today wasn’t that day. She was thankful that Matty put coffee in her coffee mug. Nico ran on coffee...

As they began their morning drive to catch the ferry, the ride wasn’t as bad for Nicolette or any of them as it was the night before. She had a lot on her mind. She wanted to figure out how she truly felt about this whole marriage situation. Nico was too busy daydreaming in the car for her to realize that Matty and Roxy were having another conversation. This time it was pretty clear to Nico that Roxy had a little thing for Matty.

After what seemed like an eternity on the ferry, Matty finally pulled up to her job with Roxy’s directions. He tried to get Nicolette’s attention to let her know that they were finally at her place of business.

“Hey, lady! Nico, stop daydreaming. It’s 8 am on the dot. You’re here.”

“Oh, thanks, Matty. So this means that you’re picking me up, right?”

“Yes, ma’am. Call me and tell me like fifteen minutes before you’re done.”

“I would, but I don’t have your number, Matty.”

“Don’t worry, I have yours,” he said with a wink. “Bye ladies.”

“Bye, Matty.”

Matty couldn’t believe his ears; they both said bye to him in unison. That was creepy, right? It was obvious that Roxy had some kind of little crush on Matty already. All the conversations she engaged him in; the way she was talking to him in the car… He tried his best to listen but his mind kept drifting back to Nicolette in the bathroom. She was just beautiful. He had to fight the urge to touch her while he was driving. He offered to drive so that he could concentrate on something else other than her. It was a good thing that Roxy was in the car, but he hoped she wasn’t later because he really needed to talk to Nico about the wedding arrangements and all she missed when her parents and his were boring him. It’s not like he was a freaking child that he didn’t know what to do in such circumstances. His parents reminded him of how precious and delicate Nicolette was and how he couldn’t hurt her because they would kill him themselves. It all gave him a migraine, and here came another headache as soon as he parked in the company’s garage.

Matty got out of the car and walked up to the garage elevator, where this other headache of his was standing waiting on him.

“Well, hello there, boss. How was your morning? Is that your new ride?”

“Morning, Mitch. No, it’s my wife’s car.”

Mitchell Burns was one of Tommy’s and Matt’s friends. They’d been friends since they first moved to New York. Matt asked Mitch to relocate with him since he was the manager of the company. Mitch knew almost everything about Matty, especially about Nicolette. He was the go-to guy when he didn’t want to speak to Mike about her.

“Wife?” Mitch asked curiously. “I didn’t know you were married. We’ve been friends for how long now?”

“I’ll explain later,” Matty said as they got on the elevator.

“Do I get to meet this wife of yours?”

“Yes. Soon. Why?”

“Just curious. What about Nicolette?”

“Funny you asked,” Matty said to him as they got off the elevator at their floor. Matty rolled his eyes because instead of Mitch going towards his office, he stood there talking to Matty.

“What? What’s so funny?”

“Man, we’ll talk later. First let’s get everything done with the clients, dude.”

Mitch tsked at Matty for not telling him anything, gave him a head nod and walked off in the direction of his office.

It was half past 2pm and Nicolette was still at work, trying to concentrate on everything that was at hand. She couldn’t help but drift back to Matty standing in front of her in the bathroom. Is that what it would be like all the time? She tried hard to concentrate. Everyone already had their lunch, but Nicolette tried to bury herself into her work. It was kind of upsetting that Christmas had to fall on a Tuesday so it was only Wednesday.

Nicolette couldn’t think straight all morning. Her clients that came in and she barely paid attention. Even when they had a meeting, she was spaced out thinking about Matty. Why wasn’t he disappearing from her thoughts? It was a usual thing for her to daydream about Matty, but not all day. Thank God for Roxy, who interrupted her thoughts.

“Boss, you have a call on line 2.”

“Thank you, Roxy… Hello?”

“Why hello there, sexy.”

Nicolette was shocked as to who was calling her. She knew it wasn’t Gabe because he was at his practice and it couldn’t be Michael or Matty. They were busy at work.

“May I ask who this is calling and if you’re looking for the right person?”

“Is this Ms. Richards?”

“Yes this is me, and you are?”

“Really, Nic? You don’t even recognize my voice? I’m disappointed. You just broke your own hubby’s heart.”

Nic giggled. “Oh my God. You’re a loser, Matty. What do you want?”

“I want to take my beautiful wife-to-be out for lunch.”

Goosebumps raced down her skin with excitement. But she answered casually, “Yeah, sure. When are you coming?”

“I’m outside. Five minutes tops, Nic, or I drive away.”

“Okay.”

Nicolette couldn’t help but be happy that Matty came to have lunch with her, she was ecstatic for some reason. Her whole attitude changed and her whole day seemed to get brighter.

Matty had no idea what made him get in the car and come look for Nicolette. Even though he saw her earlier, for some reason he just had to see her again. Unfortunately, his loser friend Mitch decided to tag along so that he could get a glimpse of what Nicolette looked like.

When Nicolette came out of the building, she looked so stunning to Matty with her hair up in a bun and the way her gray dress made her look. She wore a long sleeve, grey sweater dress with a kind of red thin belt. The dress hugged every curve of her body and she looked amazing with red pumps on. Matty shook his head because he didn’t understand how women could walk around in those high things all day, but he did find women more attractive when they wore them. The way Nicolette walked with confidence made Matty feel some sort of way. She stopped to put her shades on. They were big shades that covered like half her face, but she looked stunning with them on. The simple pearl earrings she had on just made her look so elegant. She was just all in all beautiful.

“Ooo, she is hot,” Mitch crooned from the passenger seat. “
Oooh
.”

Matty’s eyes narrowed. “Whoa, that’s my girl. Back off!”

Matty was surprised to hear the protectiveness in his voice. Mitch didn’t let it faze him though. Mitch had no idea that Matty even had a jealous bone in his body, but Matty’s reaction made it very clear to Mitch that this woman had no clue how much power she had over him. Poor guy, he’d probably do anything for Nicolette, but Mitch had to admit she was gorgeous. Her curves were stunning. The way that dress hugged her body was amazing. He could understand how Matty fell in love with her: she looked smart, she had a good job, she seemed like a good person from what he’d heard, and she definitely had a very great body, from her perfect breasts to her hips, thighs, and that chocolate skin.

Mitch shook his head. If he found out Mitch was checking his girl out like that, he’d probably give him a deck.

“Mitch.”

Uh oh
, Mitch thought before answering. “Yeah?”

“Stop looking at her and let her in!”

“Sorry, dude, won’t happen again, Boss.” Mitch eagerly opened the door and hopped out to let Nic in. “Well hello.”

Nicolette was stunned; she was face to face with an Adonis. This one was pure sexiness dripping everywhere and he had a Scottish accent. He was tall, probably 6’2”, with the most amazing green eyes, a very handsome face, and a short haircut with the whole beard-husk male thing going. He was looking amazingly dashing in his three-piece black suit with a pale pink dress shirt and a black tie; this man had sex appeal.

“Hello.”

“I’m Mitchell Burns and you, gorgeous woman, must be Nicolette.”

Nicolette gave him her best smile. He was just so sexy. How could she not smile at him? Mitch knew that his boss might smack him later on, but he had to at least flirt with the girl a little. She was just too beautiful not to speak on it.

“Yes, I’m Nicolette Richards. Just call me Nico, and it’s really nice to meet you. A friend of Matty’s?”

“Matty? Yes, I am a friend of his. We go all the way back to when he moved to New York, and please call me Mitch. Mitchell makes me sound really old. I don’t like it at all,” he chuckled.

Mitch had that rich, deep laugh, his voice was as deep as Matty’s.

“Okay,” Nico smiled. “Well, I’ll slip inside. I don’t want to keep you standing there.”

“Oh, no worries, darling. I don’t mind standing.”

When Mitch winked at her, Nico couldn’t help but giggle. It was a good thing that Nico did not look at Matty’s face as she entered the front seat, after Mitch got in the back. It was a good thing that the car top was down today, it gave Matty actual air. Matty knew that Mitch was flirting with Nico. He used that accent as charm, and Matty had seen it many times.

“Hi, Matty. Was that five minutes for you?”

“Yes, ma’am. So where are some good places to eat, Nic?”

“Umm, there is a good restaurant called ll Gabbiano on South Biscayne Blvd. You know it, right? It’s Italian, do you mind?”

“Yeah, I know where it is. Italian? I don’t mind. What about you, Mitch?”

“Fine with me, Matty.”

“Funny.”

Mitch took full advantage of calling Matthew “Matty.” He was surprised about the nickname because Matty had never mentioned it. He always called him Matt or Boss. This was going to be fun for Mitch.

Nico felt happy to be out of the office and in the car for a change. She hadn’t felt such great air for a while. She never put her car top down at all. This was definitely a first.

Now why the hell is Gabriel calling me?
she thought.

“Yo, yo, yo,” she answered playfully.

“Yo, Nic, what are you doing?”

“Going out to lunch with your brother and his friend. What about you?”

“Just finished practice. God, I think the coach hates me for some reason.”

“That’s not my problem. No wonder I got no call or text from you, idiot.”

“Sorry. We had to work out at practice extra hard. I think Coach and his wife got into another argument again.”

“Good luck buddy, but that’s okay. You owe me something that’s all, butthole.”

Matty was watching Nico talk to Gabriel on the phone. The way her face lit up when she talked to him was nice to see. The way they were so familiar with each other, he wanted her to be like that with him and if he had to work day and night for that to happen, he would do it.

When Nico noticed that they were arriving at the restaurant, she cut the conversation short. “Gabe, we’re here and I have to go. Your brother is giving me that ‘I’ll kill you’ look. Bye buddy.”

“Bye and oh, just give him a kiss and it’ll be all right.”

“Ugh, he told you that? My God, bye!”

“Bye,” Gabe told her through laughs.

Matty knew what Nico’s look was and judging from the conversation, Matty was in big trouble. Mitch had already walked into the restaurant so Matty had no one to save him from Nico at the moment. God, he knew he should’ve never told Gabriel or Michael about Nico kissing him. Nico would be embarrassed, which didn’t make sense to him since she wasn’t a kid anymore. He would have to make sure to shape her up and let her know that there was nothing to be embarrassed about.

“I can’t believe you told him. Matty, seriously? Can’t you not tell your brother something for a change?”

“I’m sorry, it slipped out. I didn’t mean to tell Gabriel or Michael.”

“What the hell?! Mikey knows too?”

“Sorry…
scusami
, huh Nic?”

“Ugh, always trying to butter me up with your damn fluent language. Whatever.”

Nico turned to leave, but Matty grabbed her by her elbow and pulled her back to him. Their bodies slammed into each other and they just couldn’t stop looking at each other. She had a stunned look on her face, wondering what the heck Matty was doing. The look that Matty was giving Nico, she thought that it was the sexiest look Matty had ever given her in her life. He was seducing her without words, it was just so smoldering sexy.

Matty just had the urge to grab Nico and kiss her. He’d been fighting the urge ever since this morning. All he could think about was taking her mouth into his… and that’s exactly what he did. Nico was caught by surprise when Matty’s lips came crashing on hers. Those butterflies came back. She felt like she was on the clouds, just floating. This time Matty’s kiss was completely different. He was much more demanding than he was the first time. He controlled the whole kiss. It put Nico in a daze. This kiss was longer than the last and she didn’t initiate it. The kiss was so powerful. Nico felt tears forming in her eyelids as she had them closed. This kiss was so passionate, so alive, and so inexplicable. Nico didn’t want to stop kissing Matty and neither did he. Nico felt like Matty was trying to tell her something through his kissing, his longing, his passion, his love… Love? Nico shook that idea out of her head. Matty didn’t love her, but she decided to take advantage and kiss Matty now while it lasted.

Matty wanted Nico to know how he felt: the need, the want, the way she made him react, the way he wanted all of her to be his. He grabbed her face and kissed her even deeper. Matty had no idea how long they were out there but he had to break this kiss or else they would spend all day kissing. God, the things Nico did to him.

“Wow,” she breathed.

“Wow back at you, Nic.” Matty’s breath was also short. “Now come. Let’s go join Mitch. I’m sure he is lonely by now.”

Nico did nothing but smile; she was still too much in a daze for her to just drop back to earth. Nico felt so special as Matty held her hand and led her inside the restaurant. It almost felt as though they were a real couple, but Nico laughed the idea off because she was certain Matty didn’t really want that with her. There was a possibility he liked her, but she was sure that he didn’t love her the way she loved him with every bone in her body.

Matty opened the door to the restaurant for Nicolette to walk in. They spotted Mitch and walked over to where he was already sitting, looking at the menu.

“So Mitch, I see you grabbed us a table?”

“Yeah, that lovely host there showed me to it.”

Matty couldn’t help but shake his head because he knew how Mitch was.

Nicolette knew she was too curious for her own good, but she just had to know about the part of Matty’s life that she wasn’t a part of for so long.

“Mitch, how did you meet Matty?” she asked.

“I can’t help but smile when you call him that. It’s so cute. Makes him look a lot smaller than he is.” Mitch liked the nickname because Matty was always so hard up, but with a nickname like that, he seemed like a little child.

“Shut up, Mitch!” Matty said pretending to be mad but he knew he wasn’t.

“Ooof, I’m treading carefully, Boss.”

Mitch knew that if he kept on joking about the nickname that he would be walking on thin ice and that was not good, especially because he worked with this crazy human being.

“But yeah, as I was saying my love, I met Boss here when we were at Columbia. I met this big guy, Mike, and the biggest player of them all, Tommy. We had some fun times man and—” Feeling a pain in his knee suddenly, Mitch stopped midsentence.

“Why’d you stop?” Nico asked curiously. “Ohhhh, Tommy was a player, huh? Hmm, he lied to me about that then. Hmmm, so much to know.”

“Well, if you must know, I got a kick to the shin so I’m thinking it’s a signal for me to stop, don't you think, Nicky?”

If looks could kill, the glare that Matty gave Mitch would’ve struck him dead. Matty didn’t want Mitch to tell Nico everything and he especially didn’t like the fact that he called her Nicky. It bothered him but he decided to pretend that it didn’t.

“Well, tell me about Tommy,” Nic urged. “I want to know more.”

For the remainder of the meal, Mitch and Nico were chatting it up and Matty tried his best to keep his anger under control.

“You know Tommy, eh?”

“Yeah, that’s my big bro, you didn’t know?”

“Oh yeah, I didn’t put two and two together. Well yes, this man has had enough girls to last him a lifetime and here he has his lovely little sister hiding away. Hmm?”

Nico giggled, “Mitch, you’re funny.”