If I Trust You (If You Come Back To Me #4) (8 page)

“Instinct. I can read people because I learned how to read animals first.”

Deidre opened her mouth to reply, but paused at the sound of the back door opening and the stamping of boots on the back porch. Nick and Deidre stood from the table when Addy and Evan entered the kitchen. Nick started to introduce Addy and Deidre, as there hadn’t been the opportunity when they arrived.

“You don’t have to tell me who this girl is,” Addy boomed, surprising Deidre by giving her a big hug. “I recognized you the moment I saw you in the wagon. You’re Brigit Kavanaugh’s girl, Deidre. Who else could you be, looking like you do? I’ve got the perfect horse in mind for you, too,” she added confidentially.

Deidre laughed, feeling bewildered. “I didn’t realize you knew my mother.”

Addy looked taken aback. She gave Evan a meaningful glance. “
Knew
her? Brigit’s daughter is standing here, saying she didn’t realize we knew her mother,” Addy said to Evan as if Deidre had been babbling nonsense. Nick noticed both Deidre and Addy’s confusion and intervened.

“Your mother has been a regular rider at the McGraw Stables a long time, Deidre,” Nick said.

Deidre looked at him, her brow crinkled. “How did you know that?”

He shrugged. “Addy and I got to talking.”

“I first met your Mom twenty-eight years ago,” Addy explained as she pulled a casserole from the oven. She seemed forever in motion. “Isn’t that right, Evan?” she asked her husband as he sat at the table and sipped some coffee.

“That’s right,” Evan agreed, nodding and smiling at Deidre. “Finer horsewoman I’ve never witnessed. You certainly do have the look of her.”

“Evan has always had a little crush on your mama,” Addy told Deidre with the air of someone telling a mischievous secret. Evan muttered under his breath and blushed.

“Deidre hasn’t been in Harbor Town for years now,” Nick tried to explain to the McGraws. “She’s been—”

“In the Middle East, and recently Germany, doing her nursing. We know all about it,” Addy assured him. “Deidre, the plates and glasses are in that cabinet there, the silverware in that drawer. Would you mind?”

“Of course not. It’s my pleasure,” Deidre muttered, hurrying to help, her mind spinning. “I think part of the misunderstanding,” she explained as she laid the silverware, “is that I never knew my mother even rode horses until recently.”

Addy did a double take from where she stood at the counter ladling gravy into a bowl.

“You didn’t know Brigit rode? Why wouldn’t Brigit tell you about that?”

Deidre kept her gaze lowered. Thankfully, Nick noticed her discomfort.

“None of Brigit’s children ride,” he said. “The Kavanaugh children’s athletic talents lie in other areas. Deidre, for instance, is an expert diver and water-skier.”

“Well that’s something,” Addy complimented her, even though she still looked puzzled. She walked over to the table and set down a delectable-looking platter of baked chicken surrounded by golden-brown roasted potatoes. She removed the lid of the casserole dish and Deidre inhaled the smell of broccoli and cheese. Her stomach growled despite a topic that disturbed her, for some reason. “You all sit down now and start to dig in.

“Even if you are a swimmer and a diver, that doesn’t mean you aren’t a horsewoman, Deidre,” Addy added a moment later as she set a basket of steaming rolls on the table and sat down.

“I keep telling her that,” Nick said, his gaze on Deidre as he forked a potato onto his plate.

Addy pointed at Nick. “Well if
that
boy, who knows horses better than Evan and I combined, says you’re a rider, then you’re a rider!” Addy declared, as if there was no point in further discussing the topic. “There’s no way you could look so much like your mama and not be a horsewoman. I still can’t imagine why Brigit never brought you kids to the stables, though. I never thought about it much, but it
is
very odd, isn’t it?”

Deidre stopped chewing. Nick neatly changed the subject.

* * *

“I’m sorry about Addy’s questions about your mother,” Nick said later as they pulled out of the McGraw Stables in Nick’s car.

“There’s nothing to apologize for. I had a wonderful time. How can you apologize for taking me for a ride in a horse-drawn wagon and then for the best home-cooked meal I’ve had in a long while? Addy could give my mother a run for her money when it comes to cooking,” she said, staring out the window of the sedan into the dark night.

“She’s a bit on the blunt side. I’m sorry if she made you uncomfortable,” he said, giving her a sideways glance.

“It’s okay,” Deidre mumbled. He came to a halt at a four-way intersection. Nick’s was the only vehicle within seeing distance on the desolate country road.

“Is it?”

“Yes. Of course,” Deidre said, laughing. She didn’t want to dwell on her mother when it’d been such a magical day so far. “I have an idea. Do you know what we should do?”

He raised his eyebrows but remained silent. Even though the interior of the car was dim, she noticed the subtle change in his expression. An electric, tingly sensation flickered in her belly. She licked her lower lip anxiously and stared out the front window, her heart starting to throb in her chest.

“Do you want to go Christmas shopping with me? I haven’t gotten my family anything yet.”

He began to drive again. She wondered if she’d disappointed him with her blasé suggestion, given the heat of his stare just then.

“Tell me where to go. I’m at your command,” he said, his light tone reassuring her.

* * *

She had more fun than she thought she would shopping at Harbor Town’s finest establishments—Dora’s Fashion Station; Health and Team Athletics; and, of course, the renowned Shop and Save, where they stocked every item on her nieces’ and nephew’s Christmas lists.

“You’re laughing at my expense,” she admonished Nick later that night as they left Health and Team Athletics. He wasn’t really laughing, only smirking, which Deidre was learning was the equivalent of roaring with mirth when it came to Nick. He only shrugged as he opened the trunk and placed several bags into it.

“That manager and salesman were fawning all over you like you were a movie star returning to her hometown,” he said, referring to two men in the shop who had recognized Deidre. The manager had been a few years older than her, and Chip, the salesman, a few years younger. She hadn’t recognized either man, but they’d known her. Both of them had lit up on seeing her, rushing over to greet her and tell her how much they used to enjoy watching her water-skiing shows years back.

“I had no idea you were so famous,” Nick mused, still wearing that small grin as they drove down Main Street through the light snow.

Deidre wasn’t just embarrassed, her cheeks were hot enough to fry bacon on them. She’d had no idea her summer job during high school and college would be so well remembered in Harbor Town. She’d taken on the lead role in a Mackinaw Island water show purely out of a need for money. After she’d gone to college, she’d refused to take financial assistance from Brigit. She hadn’t done a ski jump or—heaven forbid—been the apex of a skiers’ triangle since she was twenty-one years old.

It embarrassed her to think of Nick considering her as some of the townspeople did—a racy female daredevil in a skimpy bathing suit.

Nick had hired someone to investigate her past, hadn’t he? What sorts of photos had he seen of her, performing at water shows in tiny bikinis? It certainly might have been evidence that added fuel to his doubts about her character. He’d probably thought of her as the equivalent of a showgirl. No wonder he’d been so suspicious of her.

Had John Kellerman, DuBois’s chief legal officer, also seen those photos? Had
Lincoln?

She blushed again in embarrassment, rising out of her thoughts when she realized Nick had put the car in Park in the driveway of Cedar Cottage.

He reached into the backseat and withdrew a manila envelope. “I hope this doesn’t kill the mood,” he muttered, looking a little regretful.

“Is it the forms you need me to sign for the Vivicor acquisition?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“It’s not going to kill the mood,” she said, feeling guilty again when she recalled all the accusations she’d made yesterday about him using her to get her cooperation. She didn’t really believe that.

She didn’t
want
to believe it. Not when she was so attracted to Nick.

She gave him a reassuring smile before she reached for the car door latch. “Come on inside. I’ll make some decaf and we can look at the papers.”

“You can contact Abel Warren, Lincoln’s personal lawyer, and have him advise you before you sign,” Nick said half an hour later. He’d just given her an overview of the transaction. They sat on the sofa side by side, coffee cups on the table before them. Deidre held the necessary papers in her lap. “Abel is an impartial party. He’ll advise you just as he would have Lincoln.”

She met his stare, a pen poised in her hand. “Lincoln wouldn’t have asked Abel for advice on the matter. He would have trusted your decision. That’s why he hired you to run his company.”

His mouth flattened.

“Is there some reason I need impartial legal advice?” she asked slowly. “I’m just agreeing to an acquisition that will benefit DuBois Enterprises, right?”

Nick nodded, but his mouth remained tight. He suddenly reached over and grabbed the pen and packet of papers from her. He tossed them on the table.

“Nick, what are you—”

“I don’t want you to regret signing anything.” He put his arms around her, and she gazed up at him in amazement.

“I won’t regret it. You’ve served DuBois Enterprises faithfully for years. I trust you to make good business decisions,” she whispered, stunned by the focused heat in his eyes.

“Business can wait,” he said. “This can’t.”

He covered her mouth when she opened it to speak. She moaned when she came into contact with his heat. All the anticipation, all the desire that had been building in her since he’d looked down at her as she lay in bed yesterday sparked and flared high at his kiss.

His mouth felt hot and persuasive moving over hers. He altered the angle of his head and penetrated her lips with his tongue, his hunger a palpable thing. She melted beneath his bold claim, stroking him back eagerly, sliding her tongue against his, thrilling at the tension that sprung into his muscles. His kiss was so addictive that she made a muffled sound of protest when he ended it.

“I want you. A lot. I know I’m just stating the obvious,” he said next to her mouth, the sound of his ragged male desire sending a prickle of excitement through her.

“I want you, too,” she admitted, letting her lips slide against his, caressing, kissing, nibbling. “But maybe it’s a bad idea for us to give in to it? We’ll probably regret it.”

“How in the hell could I ever regret having you?”

Something jumped in her stomach at the sound of his disbelief mingling with stark desire. Nevertheless, she grasped at rational thought, trying to gird herself against his appeal.

“What if you ended up taking me to court?” she whispered, meeting his stare. “You don’t think it would be problematic that we’d previously slept together? Not exactly neat and clean.”

“This whole thing has been messy from the start. Maybe we ought to embrace that fact instead of run from it.”

She stared into his face, looking for some sign of what was the right thing to do in this situation. She saw nothing but a virile, attractive man who clearly desired her.

He leaned close. “I want you to understand something, Deidre. If it should ever come to any kind of legal action in regard to Lincoln’s will, it would have nothing to do with you personally and everything to do with the well-being of DuBois Enterprises. Are you certain you don’t want to learn the business?” he asked her intently.

“Yes. I can’t even imagine it, Nick.”

“That’s not certainty. That’s ignorance of the task at hand. You’re intelligent. You could learn. I could teach you.”

“Do I have to decide right this second? Shouldn’t we establish without a doubt whether or not I am Lincoln’s daughter?”

He leaned back, staring at the Christmas tree with his brow furrowed.

“What?” she queried.

“I promised myself I wasn’t going to talk to you about the will today.”

Deidre chuckled. “It just goes to show you how money and power has a way of intruding into any situation.”

He met her gaze. Her smile faded when she registered his expression.

“I don’t accept that,” he said before he leaned over and captured her mouth again in a blistering kiss. She whimpered as his consumption continued. Their mouths fused, tongues and lips moving together in a warm, liquid friction. Her hand found its way to his collar where she delved her fingers through his thick hair. She loved the feeling of it so much, she let her other hand join in the pleasure. He groaned, low and rough, when she scraped his scalp with her fingernails. Deidre grasped his head, holding on for dear life as desire coiled tight inside of her. Nick’s words—and her own internal conflict—warred in the background of her increasing arousal.

This whole thing has been messy from the start. Maybe we ought to embrace that fact instead of run from it.

If it should ever come to any kind of legal action, it would have nothing to do with you personally.

She thought of all the bonds of love and friendship that had been torn asunder when the Itani and Reyes families had taken Brigit to court following the accident Derry had caused. Deidre had left Harbor Town by that time, but Marc had conveyed the brutal, heart-wrenching details to her. Courtrooms could become emotional battlefields.

She moaned, miserable at the idea of breaking contact with Nick. She did it anyway.

“What?” he asked, his voice rough and sexy.

“I don’t know what the right thing to do is,” she whispered.

She hated how his gaze became shuttered. Desire didn’t soften Nick, necessarily—in fact, his body and focus seemed to tighten beyond their typical readiness for action. What desire did to Nick was open him, invite her to enter and relish the pleasure of an attractive, complex man. Seeing him start to withdraw from her again, even slightly, hurt more than she’d expected.