Chapter Ten
Nick’s Saturday went by quickly. He’d had a good workout early in the morning, followed by relaxing in his hotel room and making phone calls. Those calls took up the bulk of his late morning and early afternoon.
He talked to both of his sisters, checking in and catching up. Then he finally reached out to his parents. He called their landline at the house so he could speak to both of them at the same time, but the answering machine picked up. They were out. He left them a message saying hi, he was fine, and he’d be in touch soon.
He still needed to turn over everything that had happened, process it better. So he went for a drive. The cloud front that had hovered over Long Island since his arrival had finally cleared out, and the bright blue skies and sunshine were like a balm to him.
He let loose with the Porsche, taking it for a spin on the parkway. The grasses seemed to have gotten greener, and he spotted little white and purple flowers along roads, big bushes blooming with yellow, daffodils . . . as if the sun had brought back color and life. With the sunroof open, Nick drove along the North Shore, all the way to the end of the parkway, then following the GPS directions even further along. He had no idea where he was going, and it suited him. Seemed like a metaphor for his present. Adventuring out into the great unknown with nothing but his wits.
He’d never realized Long Island was so big . . . but hey, he guessed that’s why it’d been named Long Island. If he drove all the way from his hotel in Great Neck out to the eastern tip, it’d take him close to two hours. As it was, he drove over an hour east before stopping in a small town, having lunch at a tiny café near open farmland. It was rural here, so different from where he was staying. He grasped that the further east he went, the more the overcrowded houses turned into spread-out land, then farms. Amanda had mentioned that to him, how varied Long Island was with its packed suburbs, then more spread-out suburbs, and beaches, farms, even vineyards . . .
Amanda. He’d barely gotten her off his mind. He could still remember how sweet she tasted, how soft and warm her mouth was, how her body felt against his. What a delicious distraction she was from the chaos that had suddenly become his life.
She was so damn pretty, and he was very attracted to her, sure. But as strong as his physical pull to her was, there was more. She was smart, and caring, and easy to talk to. And she had such a quick, sharp sense of humor. He loved when she teased him, and he loved teasing her back. Getting her to blush felt like a victory. Flirting was good, but the joking and ease was even better.
It made him realize he didn’t laugh enough these days. Being a cop wasn’t fun, or easy. It was solid work to be proud of, and he wasn’t afraid of hard work, but some days drove him damn near into the ground. Amanda made him laugh, and being with her was easy. If she lived in Miami, he’d pursue her, no question. But she lived here. He had to keep this light. The bottom line was their lives were both cemented in different places. Casual, easy, just for the short term . . .
But he couldn’t stop recalling how good she felt in his arms, or the way she’d sighed into his mouth when they were kissing, setting fire to each other in the middle of a darkened parking lot like lusty teenagers.... It sent a hungry shiver through him every time he thought of it.
He was looking forward to tomorrow. Spending the day with her had been a great idea. He wasn’t an overly social person, but he had started to feel a sense of isolation since he’d gotten to New York. Back home, he was always working, and his downtime was spent with a small circle of friends and his regular family dinners. He wasn’t lonely yet, but he was . . . restless. Last night’s impromptu date with Amanda had been a very bright spot in a very overwhelming week. Hell, a couple of overwhelming weeks. Between the promotion at work, the call from the bone marrow registry, his fight with his parents, and his involvement with the Harrisons . . . it was his craziest month ever, and it wasn’t even over yet. Amanda made him feel good. Nothing wrong with latching on to that for a little while, especially if she was on the same page.
When he got back to the hotel, he stretched out in his suite and watched a movie. The Rock always had the power to hold his attention, distract for a while, and make him smile too. When it was over, he changed out of his Miami PD sweats, into a long-sleeved black T-shirt and jeans. He’d meet Pierce in the lobby in a little while. But his phone rang . . . and it was Charles. Before he even answered the call, his blood started to hum in his veins, instinct kicking in that this call would be something big.
“I told him,” Charles said without preamble.
“How’d that go?”
“About how you’d expect.”
Nick couldn’t help but smirk. “That well, huh?”
“He wanted to know who your mother is, of course,” Charles said, and the smirk vanished. “But I wouldn’t tell him, because I wanted to keep my promise to you. I did everything I could to keep her name out of it. I told him it was someone who’d worked for him, but refused to give him her name.”
Nick’s stomach did an anxious little flip, even as he filed away the fact that Charles had done an honorable thing. “Thanks. I do appreciate that.”
“Good. But he’s probably trying to figure it out as we speak,” Charles said. “You have to know that. Even though I assured him you will tell him yourself, when you meet. You know you’ll have to do that.”
Nick grunted affirmatively.
“So, if you want any control over this, I’d suggest you make that meeting as soon as possible. Busy tomorrow?”
“Actually, I am. I have plans for the whole day.”
“Oh.” Charles sounded surprised. “All right.”
Nick didn’t offer further explanation. He didn’t have to. Instead, he said, “How about Monday?”
“Um . . . I can make that happen. Maybe we’ll do it here, at my house. Neutral territory, kind of. That all right with you?”
“Sure.” No, it wasn’t. Nick didn’t want to do this. Suddenly he felt uneasy and nervous, and he rarely felt like that outside of work instances. He hated it. But he couldn’t get away from this meeting; it was inevitable. Might as well get it over with quickly. “Set it up, let me know. I have to go to the hospital at eleven on Monday to give more blood, but I’m free after that.”
“Good to know,” Charles said. “I’ll get back to you as soon as I’ve worked it out.” Charles paused. “You . . . might want to let your mother know. Just in case.”
“What does that mean?” Nick said, but it was a dumb thing to say. He knew.
“When he finds out who she is,” Charles said, “now that he knows what she did? He’ll be out for blood. He was furious. More furious than I’ve seen him in a long time.”
“You rein him in then,” Nick demanded, his heart rate rising. “Keep him in check. Because if I do it, he won’t be standing when I’m done with him.”
“I’ve been keeping him leashed for longer than you know,” Charles said, sounding weary. “I’ve got this.”
Nick couldn’t help but feel like a time bomb had just been set off, and the ticks were suddenly loud and threatening. Tick. Tick. Tick. “When we meet, I’ll make sure your father understands her position, and make it very clear he’d best leave her alone.”
“But Nick . . .” Charles’s voice was low and somber. “The fact is, she did bear his child and never tell him. Even you have to admit that was . . . well . . .”
“This conversation is over for tonight,” Nick bit out. He knew what his mother had done was wrong on some moral level. But he’d be damned if he’d say it out loud to anyone with the last name Harrison. He was loyal to his mother. Period, the end. And anyone who tried to get at her or hurt her would find out just how fiercely protective Nick could be.
* * *
When Amanda entered the lobby of the Parker Hotel on Sunday morning, she spotted Nick immediately. He was sitting on a dark orange couch in the far corner but rose as soon as she walked in, grabbing his leather jacket and crossing to meet her. His long legs ate up the wide space in a few manly strides. Even when he walked, he oozed testosterone, at least to her. Maybe it was just that he muddled her brain whenever she looked at him. She wondered if pheromones ever went airborne. It would explain a lot in this situation.
“Hey.” He smiled, showing his white, even teeth and the dimple she liked. “Good morning.”
“Good morning to you.”
His dark eyes slid over her in an unapologetic once-over. She wore her favorite brown suede jacket over a snug dark green top and skinny jeans. Her green and blue plaid Converse sneakers finished the outfit. He’d never gotten to really see her figure like this before; the shapeless scrubs had always hidden her body. She wondered if he liked what he saw.
“Hey,” he joked. “You do own real clothes!”
“Told you so!” she said with a chuckle. She did a quick little turn, as if to model for him. “Ta-da!”
“I like it,” he said.
“You like what?” she asked.
“The whole pretty package.”
“Well, thanks.” She smiled back as she watched him slide his leather jacket on over a tight burgundy Henley, trying not to notice how his biceps bulged a little with his movements. He patted his jeans pocket to check for his wallet, then nodded and said, “Okay, let’s go.”
It was a beautiful spring day, with a soft breeze, blue skies, and bright sunshine that spread warmth. But Nick winced briefly. He got his sunglasses from his inside jacket pocket and put them on. “Ahhh, better,” he breathed with obvious relief.
She shot him a funny look as they walked down the street. “I thought you were from Florida, that you love the sun. What are you today, a vampire?”
“No.” He snorted ruefully. “I’m a little bit hungover, if you wanna know the truth.”
She laughed. “I see.”
“Yeah, yeah, go ahead and laugh.” But he chuckled too. “My own damn fault. Man, Pierce can drink. He must have a hollow leg.”
“How many beers did you have?”
“I dunno. I mean, I wasn’t totally trashed, but I did drink a little more than usual.”
“Ah, why not. You needed to let loose a little.”
“You have no idea how right you are.”
“I bet. Did you have fun with him?”
The side of his mouth curved up as he said, almost surprising himself, “Yeah, I did. He’s cool. As far as finding a new brother I never knew existed, I think I got lucky with him. I can see myself hanging out with him in the future. Is that weird?”
“That’s great,” she enthused, and she meant it.
She knew where the train station was, having passed it when she drove into town toward the hotel, so she led the way. They got there in under five minutes. After buying their tickets through the kiosk, they sat on a bench to wait.
“So,” Nick said. “Do you have a plan once we get to Manhattan, O Esteemed and Mighty Tour Guide? Or are we winging it?”
“A little of both,” she said with a grin. “How does that sound?”
“Sounds fine to me.” He shrugged. “New York City’s too big to cover in a day. So whatever we do today, it’s all good.” Birds sang from the cluster of nearby trees, a gentle breeze caressed them, and he slowly reached for her hand. Her heart gave a little leap as he interlaced their fingers. “Thanks for coming out with me today,” he said.
“My pleasure,” she said, unable to hold back a shy but pleased smile.
Over the train ride in, a short thirty-five minutes, Nick told her about his night out with Pierce. Amanda listened to how his new big brother had picked him up in a town car with a driver so neither one of them had to worry about driving home, and whisked him off to a bar in a nearby town. It was one of those wannabe English gastropubs, with fifty different beers and ales on tap, a menu full of fattening appetizers, and European soccer playing on all the flat-screens.
They’d talked nonstop. Pierce was eager to tell Nick about his miserable childhood, both to warn him what their father was like, and make him feel better about his mother’s choices. Pierce had no problem telling it like it was about what he’d endured. It’d been unchecked emotional abuse, pure and simple.
“I just don’t understand it,” Amanda said, her mind working. “He didn’t treat the older three like that, right? Why was he so horrible only to Pierce? It doesn’t make sense.”
“Apparently,” Nick said quietly, not wanting other passengers on the train to overhear, “their mother had affairs. Several of them.” He moved closer, talking low by her ear. His leg pressed against hers; his shoulder leaned against hers. The nearness and the scent of his cologne gave her a heady thrill that shimmered through her. His deep voice and warm breath in her ear only made it more powerful. “By the time she got pregnant with Pierce, their marriage was in name only, so Charles didn’t even think Pierce was his. He barely remembered the one drunken night he and Laura had . . . well, conceived Pierce. He demanded paternity tests. He never connected with him as a baby. And by the time Pierce was a toddler, he was just a symbol of everything that’d gone wrong between Charles and Laura. And he never shook that off.”
“That’s disgusting,” Amanda spat. “None of that was Pierce’s fault. He was just a child! How could anyone be like that to their own child?”
“I don’t know.” Nick shrugged, glancing out the window at the scenery that rushed by. “But that’s my biological father. Sounds like a real prince, right? And Charles wonders why I don’t want to meet the guy.” He snorted disdainfully, then sighed before continuing.
“Pierce . . . he was all in. We had a good time, and we talked about some bullshit things, but then he really opened up. It was really . . .” He pursed his lips, and she saw his throat working. Whatever Pierce had said had moved him, hit home in a big way. “I could tell he just wants me to feel supported. Told me several times that no matter what the old man throws at me, he’ll have my back. I don’t think it was the beer talking—I think he meant it. Pretty amazing, huh? I mean, I just met the guy a few days ago.”
“I think,” she said, placing her hand on his knee, “if he knows you’re brothers, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t reach out to you. It’s amazing, but it’s also just . . . good.” She gave his knee a little squeeze. “Good for him. And good for you.”
Patterns of sunlight played along his face as he looked at her over the rims of his sunglasses. “Thanks.” He placed his hand over the one she’d put on his knee. His skin was warm and firm. Slowly he interlaced their fingers again. His touch delighted her.
“Totally changing the subject,” she declared. “Tell me a little about Florida.”
* * *
When they got to the city, they hit the ground running. They walked from Penn Station to Times Square, the buildings looming high overhead and the crowded sidewalks an experience in themselves.
Nick was used to a big city—Miami was no Podunk town. But everything here felt bigger. Colossal. Just . . . more. And so damn gray. At least Miami was colorful. The most colorful things about New York City were its storefronts and its people. Maybe it’d be better when the sparse trees bloomed, but right now, the branches were still only buds. When they got to the center of Times Square, it was like being slammed with an overload of electricity and sound, even in the middle of the day. They moved along slowly as he tried to take it all in. He snapped pictures to send to his sister later, as he’d promised. Then they ducked into a pizza place for lunch. He insisted on paying, she insisted on splitting it, and he let her have her way.
They talked. He found it so easy to talk to her, even though he wanted to touch her every other minute. Her V-neck top gave just the slightest glimpse of cleavage if she moved the right way, but combined with those cute Converse shoes . . . it made her both sweet and sexy at the same time. That was the effect she had on him, and it was powerful. Her mixture of subtle siren and girl next door—with a drop of an edge—made her downright irresistible to him. Even watching her eat a slice of pizza was a slightly erotic act. Watching her teeth sink into the cheese and crust, or her little pink tongue dart out to lick her lips . . .
Focus, he chastised himself. Eat your lunch, you animal.
At one point, she mentioned something about her two best friends who were like sisters to her, and he got her to tell a few stories about them, giving him a glimpse of another side of her. She told him how just two weeks before, she and Roni had gone to Connecticut for the weekend to have a sleepover at Steph’s house, something they tried to do every three or four months. Eagerly, she pulled up a picture on her phone of the three of them to show to Nick. He studied it, seeing the obvious lovefest there. Fair Amanda sandwiched between Steph, a petite, olive-skinned brunette, and Roni, a stunning African-American who towered over the other two, big giddy smiles on all three faces.
“How tall is Roni? Jesus, she makes you two look shrimpy.”
Amanda laughed. “She’s five-foot-nine. Compared to my five-four and Steph, who’s only five-one? Yeah, it’s noticeable. She’s our warrior.” She reached for another napkin from the metal dispenser on the table. “And men flock to her. She’s dated more in the last year than I have in my whole life. So I’ve been dating my way through New York City vicariously through her.”
He chuckled, but noted the tone of Amanda’s voice when she spoke of her friends, filled with affection and deep feeling. “It’s great you have friends like that.”
“They’re my lifeline,” she admitted.
“Good friends usually are.” He took the last bite of his slice.
“What about you? You have any close friends?”
He nodded, finishing chewing before he answered. “There’s my best friend since high school, Tom. He got married and moved to Jacksonville two years ago, but we’re still tight. We text and all that.” Nick wiped his hands on another paper napkin. The pizza was outrageously good, he had to admit it. “And I have Darin. We met at the academy, trained together, and we just stuck. He works in the same precinct as me, but we’re not partners. We hang out with a few other friends, but he’s the one I trust the most. Guess you could call him a lifeline for me.” He finished off his Coke. “Let’s put it this way: the night I found out I was a Harrison? He’s the one I called to talk about it.”
Amanda nodded in understanding. “Are all your friends cops now?”
“Pretty much.” He’d never really given that much thought. “Guess it’s natural, right? I mean . . . I spend a lot of my time at work, and other cops understand what life is like on the job, so . . .” He shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so. You? Are most of your local friends nurses?”
“I suppose. I stopped working at the hospital three years ago to switch to private home care, but I’ve stayed in touch with some of my friends from there. That’s actually how I got the job with the Harrisons.”
Nick arched a brow at her in unspoken question.
“One of my friends from the hospital, Fiona, is a nurse. She’s also Abby Harrison’s sister,” Amanda explained. “When Charles and Lisette decided to hire private nurses, Abby went to Fiona to see if she knew anyone she’d recommend. Fi told her about me, and the rest is history.” Amanda brushed her hair back from her face. “So yeah, she and I are still friendly, and I am with others too. And you know, there’s always Facebook, so you can keep up.”
“I’m not a fan of Facebook,” he said. “I’m on it, because of my sisters nagging me. But I’m rarely on there. Just saying.”
“Duly noted.” Amanda’s grin faded a little as she pondered. “It’s easy to keep up with friends online. And with my schedule, that’s been a good thing, I guess. But actually going out and socializing . . . haven’t done as much of that as I used to.”
“You should go out more,” he urged, as if it were obvious.
“Oh, okay. Gee, why didn’t I think of that?” She rolled her eyes.
He laughed, crumpling up a napkin and tossing it at her playfully. She batted it away, sending it back to him with a triumphant grin.
“Can I ask you something?” he ventured.
“Sure.”
“Your last boyfriend . . . how long ago was that?”
“About ten months or so now. Why?”
He narrowed his eyes on her, assessing. “Wondering if that ended badly, if you’re still . . . I don’t know, I’m curious.”
“If I’m still what?” she asked. “Hung up on my ex? No. I’m the one who ended it.”
“Was he a douchebag?” Nick asked.
“No,” Amanda said with a tiny laugh. “Actually, the opposite. He was very nice. Perfectly nice. But . . .” She blew out a sigh and reached for her Sprite. “You sure you wanna hear this? Really?”
“Yeah, I’m curious,” Nick admitted.
She didn’t seem at all upset, which was a good sign. Finally, she said, “I broke up with him because I realized he was more into the idea of me than the real me. Long story. But, well, I deserved more. And so did he, since I wasn’t really what he wanted when it came down to it. So I ended it.”
Nick took that in. She didn’t sound bitter or jaded, more like matter-of-fact and resigned. She wasn’t nursing a broken heart; she wasn’t pining for someone.... She was emotionally free. The relationship had ended on her terms, and for good reasons. All good. He wasn’t sure why that mattered. Why he cared. But he did, and felt a twinge of something like relief at her words. He gave a short nod and said, “Power to you, then.”
She shrugged. “Just seemed like the right thing to do. For both our sakes. I mean, I could’ve gone along with it, just to have someone. But I’m not like that. So . . . yeah, that’s it.” She sipped through her straw until the bubbling sound of the last of her soda came out. “So. Real New York pizza. You liked it? You approve?”
“Big thumbs-up,” Nick said with a grin as he thought, And a big thumbs-up for you too, Amanda Kozlov. Biiiiig thumbs-up.
They started walking again, window shopping as they went, and walked farther up Broadway until they got to what she told him was Columbus Circle. He’d heard of it. Since it was such a nice day, it was crowded. A thick stream of cars and taxis moved around the circle, seeming to never end. There were so many people walking around the high-traffic area, but also lots just sitting and hanging out, soaking in the sunshine.
They found seats on the famous cement that encircled the statue of Christopher Columbus and sat for a while, just people watching, taking in their surroundings, and still talking. They’d talked all along, at ease with each other. Finally, he slipped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her a little closer, the contact filling him with something warm and bright. Her dark honey hair was soft against his jaw. She smelled like flowers—it wasn’t overpowering, just sweet and feminine enough to entice him. Her leg pressed up against his as she nestled carefully into his side. He savored the feel of her.
“This is nice,” she said softly. “I’ve really enjoyed everything today.”
“I’m glad,” he said, smiling. “Me too. Really. This has been . . .” He ran a finger along her jaw, tipping her chin up. “Only one thing’s needed to seal this day as off-the-charts fantastic . . .”
He leaned in and brushed his lips against hers, soft and sweet. She leaned into him. Then he kissed her more firmly, with a little more pressure. Her lips parted in invitation and he took it, slipping his tongue inside to touch hers, sweeping into her mouth to taste her. Her mouth was warm, her kisses intoxicating, pulling him under like he’d been drugged. She did that thing again, where she sighed into his mouth, and his blood raced through him, making his heart speed up and his cock grow heavy.
She turned in his arms to better hold him and be held by him. With a tiny groan, he pulled her even closer, her breasts pressing against his chest. Her fingers played along the hair at the back of his neck as the kisses deepened. He could have kissed her there until the sun went down. Except he wanted to do much more than kiss her. He wanted to take her back to his hotel and explore every sweet and sexy inch of her.
But he pulled back, reining himself in even though it was hard to catch his breath. He cradled her face in his hands, smiled, and murmured, “Yup, that’s what I wanted. Now it’s a perfect day.”
“Then maybe you should do it again,” she whispered. Her voice sounded breathless, and her gorgeous pink mouth was a little puffy from his kisses. Her light blue eyes seemed to glow around her dilated pupils as she gazed at him. He wanted to devour her.
“You don’t mind PDAs, huh?” he asked, grinning.
“This is New York City. No one cares about us,” she scoffed. “Kiss me again.”
She didn’t have to ask him twice.