Fourteen
Somehow Nicole and Macy snagged a private table in a corner of Joe’s. Music played on the jukebox, but the murmur of the Saturday night crowd was loud and Nicole found it hard to process the music over the din.
“I should have eaten something more substantial than a couple of French fries for dinner. I’m buzzed from half a beer,” Macy said, eyeing the bottle.
“Good thing I’m driving home then.” Nicole took a sip of her soda. “I didn’t eat much either. I had a leftover sandwich in the fridge, but I didn’t take more than a few bites.” She’d paused to change clothes and then Sam had interrupted.
“What’s with the sour face?” Macy asked her.
Nicole sighed. “Not sour. Just confused.”
“Let me guess. It’s about a man. Or should I say the man?”
Leave it to Macy to cut right to the point, Nicole thought wryly. “It is.” Why bother lying? She needed a friend and she finally had a real one.
Macy shifted in her seat. “No confusion allowed,” she said, waving a hand in dismissal. “He’s into you. I’ve never seen Sam so into a woman before.”
Sara had said something similar. Nicole warmed at the thought and wished things were that simple. “But that doesn’t mean it’ll change the outcome.”
Macy took a long pull of her beer. “You never know. I’ve seen harder nuts than Sam crack. Just ask Cara. And Erin.” She grinned.
“I can’t control it, so I’m trying not to worry about it. It’s just not easy.”
Macy’s expression turned sympathetic. “I understand, which is why I have to talk to you about something.” Her gaze darted away . . . an unusual occurrence for a very direct woman.
Nicole leaned in close. “What’s up?”
Macy drew a deep breath, then let it out again. “What’s the story with you and Tyler? The real story.”
Nicole blinked, surprised at the subject. Although she shouldn’t have been. Macy’s interest in Tyler had been all too obvious.
“That was real subtle of me.” Macy let out a shaky laugh. “I know there are things you can’t tell me, and that’s okay. I just have to know . . . you and Tyler—”
“There is no me and Tyler.” Nicole reached out and grasped Macy’s hand, wanting to reassure her in every way possible. “Not in the romantic sense. I’m . . .” She looked Macy in the eye and prepared to bare her soul. “I’m totally and completely in love with Sam.” She shook her head at herself. “And that wasn’t hard to say out loud. The point is, I have no hold on Tyler.”
Macy closed her eyes, her obvious embarrassment showing. She sat up suddenly, her gaze focused on Nicole. “So you don’t mind if I . . . if we . . .”
Admiring her ability to be direct, Nicole smiled and shook her head. “I’d be thrilled if he found someone to make him happy. It’d be even better for him if it was you.”
Macy exhaled hard and laughed. “Well, that was as awkward and as difficult as I thought it would be.”
“I can imagine.” Nicole leaned back in her seat, suddenly exhausted. “Aren’t we a pair?”
Macy nodded and treated herself to another long swallow of beer. “Is he coming back?” she asked.
“Tyler?”
She nodded.
“He’ll be back,” Nicole assured her.
“How do you know? Have you spoken with him?”
“No.” But they needed to have a private talk when all this was over. One that put things between them to rest, once and for all.
Macy propped her chin on her hands. “Then how do you know for sure?”
At that, Nicole couldn’t help but grin, thoughts of Tyler’s time in Serendipity flashing through her mind. “He went shopping. He wore shorts. And he followed you around town. He’ll be back.”
Macy grinned. “Here’s to getting our men.” She raised her glass and Nicole tipped hers, clinking them together, toasting as much to Macy’s words as to her new friend and her life here in Serendipity.
They spent another half hour talking, then made their way over to a group of people, some Nicole knew, others Macy introduced her to. As much as she enjoyed herself, she couldn’t help thinking that she would rather be with Sam. But she needed to make friends and she was Macy’s ride home, so she didn’t say anything.
“I’m beat,” Macy said at last. “Do you mind if we head home?”
Nicole shook her head, relieved it wouldn’t be a late night. “I’m ready when you are.”
They walked back to the bakery, where Nicole had parked her car. Once they were on their way, Macy pulled off her high heels and sighed. “Whoever invented these things should be shot.”
Nicole grinned. “I wear them a lot less here than I did back in New York, and trust me, I do not miss them.” On her feet now were a pair of bejeweled sandals with less than a quarter-inch heel.
“Stay straight on this road for a while,” Macy said, obviously remembering Nicole needed directions.
“Are you working early tomorrow?” Nicole asked her.
“Not until lunchtime, thank goodness.”
She glanced up at the rearview mirror to check the car behind her, annoyed by the bright lights reflecting there.
“Something wrong?” Macy asked.
“The car behind us is driving too close,” Nicole muttered, squinting and keeping her gaze on the road in front of her.
At a four-way stop sign, she came to a complete halt before continuing on. Out of nowhere, another car approached from the right and sped right through the stop sign, plowing into them before Nicole could blink. Her car spun and took another hit from the vehicle behind her, which had obviously stayed on her tail.
Macy screamed. Nicole gritted her teeth and held on to the wheel as the back of her car skidded into a lamppost with a sickening crunch.
Sam paced through his house, moving idly from one room to the next, unable to sit still or get comfortable. He didn’t expect Nicole to be at his beck and call, but he’d sure hoped she’d want to see him after a long week apart. He could have gone to Joe’s, but that would have been too obvious. He might be desperate to see her, but she didn’t need to know that.
Another glance at her dark house told him she hadn’t come home, although he’d been keeping watch and already knew as much. He was already mentally lecturing her about not leaving inside lamps and the porch lights on. It was safety 101 for anyone, but Nicole wasn’t dealing with a normal situation. Just because they thought they knew where all the players were in her situation didn’t mean she should be lax with the basics.
He glanced at his watch and blew out a long breath. Nine wasn’t that late and he needed to chill. He started upstairs when his cell rang.
Pulling it out of his pocket, he glanced down, surprised to see the police station’s main number. “Marsden.”
“Hey, Sam. It’s Burnett.”
“What’s up?”
“Just doing you a solid. I thought you’d want to know your girlfriend was in a car accident at the stop sign on Maple. No serious injuries, but the car’s in pretty bad shape. They’re lucky.”
Sam narrowed his gaze. “They?”
“She was driving Macy Donovan home. Both women walked away relatively unharmed. A damned miracle if you ask me.”
Sam was in his truck by the time he wound up the call. On the short drive over, a myriad of situations ran through his mind. Panic and the need to see her were paramount, but his cop brain also was on alert, thinking about Tyler’s old man hiring someone to scare Nicole into heading home.
Sam arrived on the scene to find one side of her car crunched, and his stomach twisted painfully. He parked and climbed out of his vehicle.
Burnett met him as he headed for the ambulance. “That was fast.”
Sam nodded. “I appreciate the call. What happened?”
“Looks like Mrs. Adler was driving too fast and ran her stop sign. She was driving without a license and wandered off without her daughter knowing.”
Sam winced, knowing that Mrs. Adler was in her mideighties.
Burnett shook his head. “Sad when they get old and lose control like that. Anyway, she slammed into Nicole’s passenger-side back door. According to Nicole, the car behind her wasn’t giving her much space to begin with and couldn’t stop in time, causing a second impact.”
Sam’s instincts went on alert. Was it that the actual accident was a coincidence, but the second occurred because Nicole was being followed?
“Who was the second driver?” Sam waited for a Russian name.
“Drunk driver.”
Sam ground his teeth together. “Local?”
Burnett shook his head, and Sam’s instincts went haywire. “You’re booking him, right?”
“Yeah, but he refused the Breathalyzer,” Burnett said, inclining his head.
“Make sure you hold him. I want the chief to run a full check on the guy.” In case he had been sent after Nicole, with his inebriated state an intentional diversion.
“What’s going on?” Burnett asked.
“No time to explain now. Where are the women?” Sam asked, wanting to get to Nicole.
Burnett tipped his head toward the ambulance. “Being checked out just to make sure they’re fine.”
“Thanks again.” Sam shook Burnett’s hand and headed to see Nicole for himself.
Both Nicole and Macy had been released by the paramedics, and as Sam approached, they were being reminded that should they feel anything unusual, they should head to the hospital immediately.
Nicole signed the form the paramedic held out for her, then turned, and her eyes connected with his. Shaking, he caught her in his arms before she could collapse.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she murmured.
His heart squeezed tight at the admission, and he held on tight. Turning to Macy, he extended his other arm for her and helped both women to his truck, grateful tonight hadn’t turned out so much worse. And with the way his brain had spun out alternative scenarios, he decided he wasn’t letting Nicole out of his sight for a good, long while.
An hour later, Nicole had showered and now, wrapped in her favorite robe, she sipped a cup of tea and cuddled next to Sam on the sofa in her family room. After dropping Macy at home, Sam called Mike, at which point Nicole realized he believed the drunk driver behind her might have been sent to intimidate her into running back to Manhattan and Tyler for protection.
She had to admit that as the driver hovered on her tail, she’d thought the same thing. But she didn’t like Sam being uptight and stressed out, and he was both.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, obviously worrying about her the same way she was about him.
“Sore,” she admitted.
His arm around her tightened and she laid her head against his chest, inhaling his masculine scent that was both comforting and arousing at the same time.
“It’ll be worse tomorrow,” he said, his voice thick as his thumb rubbed comforting circles on her arm.
“I know. The paramedic warned me. I’ll take some ibuprofen and I’ll be fine.” She wasn’t looking forward to it, but she’d survive.
He groaned. “Let’s go upstairs. You’ll be more comfortable in bed.”
She narrowed her gaze and shifted so he could move out from under her. She pressed her hands against the sofa, prepared to stand, when he lifted her into his arms. “Sam, this is becoming a habit.” One she already knew she liked and wanted to get used to.
He met her gaze, his eyes as serious as she’d ever seen them. “I need to take care of you tonight.”
She leaned her head against his chest and sighed. Earlier, when she’d turned from the paramedic only to catch sight of Sam, her knees almost buckled at the sight of him, strong and solid, there for her in her moment of need.
He was her safe haven.
And so much more.
He took care of her. He looked out for her. He understood her. He made her feel everything.
“You make it too easy to love you,” she murmured, deciding it was time to let out what was already in her heart. She’d grown up used to hiding her emotions and feelings, and she hated how she felt when doing it.
He stiffened but continued his climb up the stairs. “I don’t—”
“Shh.” She looked up and placed her finger over his firm lips, rubbing her fingertip back and forth over his mouth.
His hazel eyes dilated at her touch.
He couldn’t say it back, and it hurt. So did the fact that he didn’t want to hear it either.
“Sam, just because I needed to say it doesn’t mean you need to repeat it. And just because I feel it doesn’t mean you have to.” Although she sensed he did.
But he was running from his feelings because of his past, his fear of being hurt again. Though she had to accept that he might never let himself get beyond those fears, tonight’s accident reminded her that life was short. And so she was willing to fight for both of them and hope she could bring him around.
Sunlight streamed through the window, waking Sam in a painful way. He forced his eyelids open and rolled over to face Nicole, finding her watching him.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
Her eyes filled with pain. “I can’t move.”
Her groan went straight to his heart, memories of the mangled car coming back to haunt him.
“My whole body feels like I was slammed by a semi.”
“Let me get you something to eat and some Motrin. It should ease the aches and pains.”
She closed her eyes. “Thank you. Then I’ll try a warm shower and see if I can get moving.”
In between sleeping and tossing and turning, he’d been fighting a mixture of emotions. Fear at the thought of what might have happened to her in that accident. Rage at the notion that someone might have been sent after her. And a healthy dose of both of those feelings over her words last night.
You make it too easy to love you.
Damned if she didn’t do the same to him.
He wasn’t sure what threw him more. That she’d said it or that she hadn’t pushed him to say it back. Vulnerable yet strong, loyal and so damned gorgeous she took his breath away; yeah, he was probably in love with her.
But the too-rapid pounding of his heart, the sweats and shakes he’d have if he didn’t have to concentrate on keeping her safe, and the fear of being hurt again told him he couldn’t handle it.
Thanks to her, he didn’t have to. “Be right back.” He slid out of bed and went to get the supplies to take care of her. That was something he could handle.
A while later, the Motrin worked and she was able to move around, although he saw the pain in her tight expression. While she went to shower, he called his folks to check in, then headed for the kitchen.
He opened the fridge and studied the contents, trying to decide what more he could put together for lunch.
“The shower helped a lot,” Nicole said, walking into the room. He turned to see that she wore a summer dress that was light and obviously easy for her to put on. One that was hell on his libido. The white ribbed tank top showed her breasts, perky and bouncy beneath the flimsy and relatively thin material. The light blue skirt flowed around her hips and ass, coming to rest at her shapely calves. She’d wrung out her hair, leaving it damp as it air-dried around her face. Even makeup free, she affected him on a soul-deep level.
He watched her gingerly move around the kitchen and wanted to help, to take her pain as his own. Shit. He knew he was in trouble, and the best thing to do was not to think.
He pulled out his cell and called his brother, walking out of the room as Mike answered on the first ring. “Hey, bro. Any news on the drunk who rear-ended Nicole?”
He listened to his brother and was relieved by the answer. “Got it. Thanks.” Mike asked about Nicole. “Yeah, she’s okay. Hurting but okay. How’s Cara?”
Mike told him she seemed better and thanked him for talking to her, then said good-bye. Sam noted his brother still hadn’t mentioned anything about Cara being pregnant.
He wondered if she’d taken the test. Spilled the news. Maybe they’d decided to wait to tell everyone, Sam thought. But he already knew. Well, he assumed he knew. Not that he’d ask.
He disconnected the call and turned, finding Nicole watching him from the doorway of the family room.
“Well?” She stepped into the family room. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I heard you ask about the drunk who rear-ended me. Was he connected to the Russians?”
“No. It was just an accident.” Sam shook his head. “I can’t believe I’m calling that wreck just anything.”
She walked over and wrapped her arms around him. “I’m fine.”
Reflexively he squeezed back, wanting to be as close to her as possible.
“What else is wrong?” she asked.
“Why do you ask?”
“Just a feeling.” She shrugged and pulled out of the embrace.
Immediately he felt the loss. She read him well. “It’s a secret,” he said.
She raised her eyebrows. “Well, I’m a good listener and I don’t blab. But I understand if you want to keep things to yourself.”
Oddly, he didn’t. Even more shocking, he trusted her not to spread the news. “Let’s sit,” he said, wanting her off her feet.
He lowered himself onto her couch, which he found more comfortable than the one in his house. “Cara thinks she’s pregnant,” he said, when they were settled in. “I spoke to her when we came back from Sara’s, and she was going to take the test and talk to Mike. But he hasn’t said anything, so I was wondering if she worked up the courage.”
Confusion crossed Nicole’s face. “Does Mike not want kids?”
Sam shrugged. “I’m pretty sure he wants the whole nine yards with Cara, but apparently any conversation they had about it involved it happening some time in the future. And they had a rough road getting together, so she was worried about how he’d take it.”
“Umm, I didn’t live here, so I don’t know what happened.”
“Right.” For some reason, he felt so connected to her, it was as if he’d had her in his life much longer. “Mike’s father isn’t Simon.” He’d already told her the bare-bones story but wanted to tell her more now. “Ultimately he left town. It was more complicated than that, but I’ll save those details for another day. Suffice it to say, Simon had always been in love with Mom and offered to marry her. We always knew Mike was Simon’s adopted son, but he never treated him any differently. Still, Mike had . . . I guess a shrink would call it abandonment issues, always felt different from us, like he didn’t live up. Until Dad got cancer last year, Mike was rarely home. Even when he came back as temporary chief, he didn’t plan to stay.”
A soft smile played around Nicole’s lips. “Until Cara.”
Sam inclined his head. “Until Serendipity got a hold of him, and Cara too. But he fought it the whole way. So she’s worried the baby will scare him off. Which will not happen.”
Nicole leaned against the sofa cushion and pulled her knees to her chest, her gaze never leaving Sam’s. “For two men raised in a loving home, you two sure go out of your way not to believe in the notion.”
Well, that was a fast turnaround, Sam thought, and squirmed being under the spotlight. But she had a fair point. “I guess it’s your own personal experience that defines a person more.”
“And what about your mom? She married Simon for security. Did she fight the whole love thing because she’d been hurt and abandoned by Mike’s real father?”
Sam’s head began to pound. “Not according to the legend of Ella and Simon,” he muttered, trying like hell to find a way out of this conversation.
“Interesting.” Nicole eyed him with curiosity but didn’t utter another word.
He decided conversation was preferable to this silent scrutiny. “Are you hungry?”
She laughed and rose to her feet. “Might as well eat. I told Aunt Lulu I’d be in this afternoon if I was up to it. But we aren’t getting deliveries until Monday, so I should be okay to rest up today.”
Subject dropped, just like that. Damn woman confused and confounded him. She told him, in so many words, she was in love with him; she asked pointed questions about his family and how he ended up not trusting in the notion, and then she left him alone with his thoughts.
“Crafty,” he muttered.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He followed her to the kitchen, but the doorbell rang, interrupting her chance to eat. Again.
“Expecting anyone?” he asked.
She shook her head.
He made it to the door first and looked out. “Stanton,” he muttered, letting him in.
“Tyler! What are you doing here?” Nicole asked, coming up behind Sam.
Tyler pushed past Sam and headed straight for Nicole. “His brother called asking questions,” he said, glancing at Sam. “Mike told me you were in a car accident and they needed to rule out foul play.”
Nicole took a step back. “I’m okay. You didn’t need to drive all the way here to ask me that!”
“I also needed to come here and tell you that I’m going to wear the wire with my old man. Not you.”
“What wire?” Nicole asked, still in the dark because Sam hadn’t thought it was the right time to tell her yet.
Sam pinched the bridge of his nose and wondered if he’d go to jail if he decked Nicole’s ex. It might just be worth it.
Sam cleared his throat and both Tyler and Nicole turned to face him. “We hadn’t had a chance to discuss that yet,” he said pointedly.
“Shit,” Tyler said, realizing he’d spilled those beans.
“Yeah.” Thanks a lot, a*shole, Sam thought. Though it was his fault Nicole didn’t know yet.
He’d wanted to spare her the worrying until there was a reason, but from the furious look on her face, she didn’t appreciate being left in the dark.
“What’s going on? What do you two know that I don’t?”
“The feds—” Tyler began, but Sam held a hand up, interrupting his explanation.
“I’ve got this,” Sam said.
“Now. You’ve got this now,” Nicole muttered. “But you’ve had plenty of time to tell me . . . what?” She perched her hands on her hips and glared at him.
“When Mike and Cole spoke to the feds, they said they wanted you to wear a wire to get information from his father so they could implicate Romanov. He’s a major drug dealer and money launderer,” Sam explained, as Tyler remained silent.
“And you didn’t think I needed to know about this?” she asked, her voice rising.
Sam set his jaw. “I didn’t think you needed added stress right now, no.”
“Tell me you didn’t make that decision for me.” Her eyes grew dark and stormy, along with his mood, and a beat of silence followed.
They both already knew the answer.
Tyler swore out loud. “I didn’t mean to cause trouble.”
Sam ignored him, drawing a calming breath. “Can we discuss this later? In private?”
Nicole nodded, but her pain-filled expression told him she wasn’t up to the news. And he’d known that.
The doorbell rang again and Nicole threw up her arms, wincing in agony. “What now?” she asked, her voice rising. She glanced through the door before swinging it open wide. “Am I glad to see you,” Nicole said.
Macy walked in with a cake box in hand. “I was coming to bring you a get-well present from my family. Then I saw the car in the driveway.” Her voice darkened as she narrowed her gaze on Tyler, who’d clearly been caught back in town visiting his ex—before he’d told his current . . . whatever Macy was to him that he’d returned.
Now it was Tyler’s turn to be in the doghouse, Sam thought, taking no pleasure in anyone sharing his predicament. Having Nicole mad at him ruined his damned day.
“Might as well come in and join the fun,” Sam said to Macy.
She rolled her eyes. Handed Nicole the cake. Folded her arms across her chest and glared at Tyler, hurt and fury warring for dominance.
Even Sam winced at what poor Stanton was in for.
Macy had taken one look at Tyler’s Porsche parked in Nicole’s driveway and wanted to vomit. Of course he’d come here before letting her know he was back in town. If he was back. For all Macy knew, he’d planned on leaving again before she even realized he’d returned. But she refused to let him stop her from checking on Nicole and delivering her gift.
Once inside, it took all her willpower to keep her focus on her friend and not the man who’d asked her to wait but couldn’t be bothered to keep in touch.
“Anyway, Aunt Lulu said she can take the deliveries if you aren’t up to working,” Macy said, ignoring Tyler’s heated gaze.
“I’m not missing any more work because of this mess.” Nicole sliced a hand through the air for emphasis. “And what about you? What are you doing out and about? You were in that car with me,” Nicole said.
“What!?” Tyler stepped forward. “Are you okay?” He reached for her, but she backed away.
“I’m fine,” she said through clenched teeth. “Nice of you to ask.”
Tyler ran a hand through his hair. “I didn’t know. Mike only told me about Nicole. He didn’t know you and I . . .” He trailed off, obviously unsure of how to characterize their relationship.
Hurt rocked through Macy, but she didn’t want to deal with him now. “What mess are you talking about?” she asked, referring to what Nicole had said earlier. “What don’t you want to keep you from work?”
“Umm—” Nicole glanced from Sam to Tyler.
“Macy, I’ve been trying to keep you in the dark for your own protection,” Tyler said, stepping closer to her again.
She turned to face him, lost and confused. “My protection? What are you involved in?”
Sam shook his head and groaned. “Macy Donovan, if you breathe a word of this around town, and I mean one word—”
“Hey! Just because I’m outspoken doesn’t mean I’m a gossip or I can’t be trusted,” she said, annoyed by the implication. “I can keep a secret. Ask Erin,” she said pointedly. She’d kept his sister’s pregnancy a secret last year.
“I know. I’m just trying to tell you how important this is. How dangerous,” Sam said to emphasize the point.
A chill rushed over her skin and she shivered. “Tell me.”
Tyler reached out and took her hand. He then began to explain how his father was involved with Russian money launderers and that he’d come after Nicole to protect her. He’d left Serendipity last week to try to talk sense into his father. That or find evidence of guilt so the feds wouldn’t want Nicole to wear a wire to get information.
Macy listened in disbelief.
“Then I heard about Nicole’s car accident and I thought maybe they’d sent someone after her. To scare her into coming back to Manhattan. So I came here to see for myself that she was okay. And to tell her if anyone was going to be wearing a wire, it would be me. Not her,” Tyler summed up at last.
Macy bit down on the inside of her cheek. So he wanted to put himself on the line. For Nicole. She swallowed hard. Before she could speak, Nicole chimed in.
“And that was the first time I learned about me wearing a wire because Sam thought it was in my best interest to keep me in the dark,” Nicole said, her voice low, angry.
“Just like Tyler thought it was in mine?” Macy asked in a sugary-sweet tone she didn’t mean.
The two women locked gazes, and Nicole stepped up alongside Macy. “You two. Go away. We need to talk.”
“Give me a break,” Sam muttered. “You can’t be angry because I was looking out for you.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Yeah. I can.”
“Macy, I just told you everything about me. We need to talk,” Tyler said.
“Later,” Macy muttered. “If you’re lucky.”
Nicole met her gaze. “We’re taking the kitchen. You two stay here.” She grabbed Macy’s hand and pulled her into the other room, leaving the two know-it-all men alone.
Macy wanted to laugh, but her heart was heavy because she couldn’t separate what she’d learned about Tyler’s past from his feelings for Nicole. And unless he convinced Macy he didn’t have any feelings beyond friendship, she was getting out of this non-relationship before it ever got started.