“I thought there was nothing going on between the two of you,” Stormy said with a chuckle as she joined the conversation.

Nick wanted to tell Stormy to go away. He could see panic setting in for Chloe, though, and he thought it might be best to take the baby before she forgot she was holding her. With gentleness he was used to exerting with his niece and nephew, he slid his hands beneath Addie’s warm body and extracted her from Chloe’s arms.

Chloe’s hands dropped to her sides when she saw the baby was safely cradled against Nick’s chest.

“How’s my precious girl?” he cooed at the baby. The last of his temper completely drained away. How could he hold on to such an ugly emotion when he held something so innocent in his arms?

“I’m going to take my daughter to safety so the two of you can finish whatever this is in . . . private,” Stormy said with a laugh. Nick kissed his niece before handing her over to Stormy. His arms felt unusually empty when the bundle was taken away.

Nick hadn’t ever considered being a father, he had to remind himself. That wasn’t going to change just because he had some precious moments with his niece and nephew. Then again, when he’d held them before, he hadn’t thought he wanted his own. It hadn’t been until he’d seen Chloe with a baby in her arms that the ache had spread to his chest and made him feel somehow empty.

Shaking his head, he tried to push away the disturbing thoughts, but now that they were planted, he feared they were going to grow. He had enough problems to deal with without having his paternal clock ticking.

“Come with me. We need to be alone,” he told her. She stiffened as his arm went around her. He looked into her eyes, wondering what was going on inside those sweet, deep depths. He had no idea. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

He had a feeling that the only reason she allowed him to lead her away was because she didn’t want to cause a scene in front of his family. Instead of taking her back into the house, he led her down one of the many trails surrounding his property, giving them all the privacy he could ever want.

When they were a safe distance from the place, she stopped moving, making him halt his steps. She turned and gave him a withering glare.

“You shouldn’t have kissed me in front of your family like that. I just got done telling the girls earlier that nothing was going on between us,” she snapped. He loved when there was fire in her eyes. It made him feel less like a predator.

“You shouldn’t have lied to my family then,” he said simply. She gasped at him.

“I didn’t lie. Just because we slept together last night doesn’t mean our entire future has been decided. It certainly doesn’t mean I want anything else to happen between us. And I really don’t want people talking about it,” she told him.

Something about her words caught his attention. He looked at her, and her cheeks blushed as she turned away from him.

“Who the hell cares what people are talking about? What’s going on is between us. It doesn’t matter if other people have an opinion. All that matters is how we feel about one another,” he pointed out.

She flinched at his words, and he wondered again what was going on in that brilliant brain of hers. She most certainly was hiding things from him, he just wasn’t exactly sure what they were.

“I care what people think about me, Nick. I have a reputation to maintain, and if it gets out that I sleep with my clients, I’m going to draw in the wrong sort of customer,” she told him.

There was some truth to her words. He could clearly see that, but there was also something she wasn’t saying. He just wasn’t sure how he was going to draw it out of her.

“I know who you are, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out you’re not that sort of woman, Chloe. However, there is something between us, and I don’t want to hide it. I don’t do secret affairs,” he warned her.

“That’s good, because neither do I,” she said as she took a step back from him.

“Oh, Chloe, I think you’re misunderstanding me,” he told her as he stalked her. “I said I don’t do secret affairs. I am in no way willing to let what we have go.”

She needed to fully understand his commitment. They were both in far too deep. If she didn’t like him, Nick would let her go with no problem. But she did, and she was fighting it. Why she was, he had no idea.

“You should learn to take no for an answer, Nick. I’m not interested,” she said.

For the first time, Nick noticed that when she told a lie, a blush stole over her cheeks. She blushed for other reasons, too, but it was more obvious when she was trying to hide something from him. That was very interesting to know indeed. It meant she wouldn’t be able to easily deceive him. He liked the thought of that.

“You weren’t saying no last night, Chloe. You were begging me to take you each and every time. It wasn’t until morning that you put your armor back on. But let me give it to you as black and white as I possibly can. I want you. I am throbbing with the need to take you right here, right now. I can’t think of anyone else or do anything without imagining sinking deep within your hot, slick folds. I want to run my tongue over your velvety skin and suck your nipples into my mouth. I want my teeth scraping across your back, leaving my mark on you. I want to take you in the shower, in the bedroom, on the kitchen table―and that’s just for starters. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of you. By the look in your eyes, I have no doubt you want me just as much. We can play this game of being patient and client all you want, but I have the utmost confidence that you will be mine again. By delaying it, you’re only making both of us suffer.”