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  Nicholas looked up. An arrogant smile came across his face.

  “Nicholas, why did you let me sleep so late? You know I have to get Marcus ready and drop him off at Maggie’s.”

  “You were sleeping so good I didn’t want to disturb you.” He shrugged.

  “I appreciate all that, honey, but now I’m going to be late.”

  “So I’m sure the boss won’t mind,” he said, laughing.

  “That’s not funny,” she snapped.

  “No, but the way you look is.” He coughed and cleared his throat, obviously trying to hide his laughter. It didn’t work. “Honey, go ahead and take your time. Marcus is ready and has eaten. I’ll drop him off at Maggie’s on my way to the first construction site, if you like.”

  “Are you sure?” She frowned at him.

  “Ash, I know you’re used to doing things all by yourself, but you don’t have to do that now. We’ll share the responsibilities in this house and in our marriage. Now go over and give our son a kiss because we’ll be gone by the time you come back down,” Nick instructed.

  “How will I get to work, smarty pants? My car is with Nicole.”

  Nick rolled his eyes and walked her over to the door leading to the garage. He opened the door and said, “Take your pick, and since you’ll probably have to pick Marcus up this afternoon, I’d feel safer with you two being in one of the SUVs. All of the keys are hanging on the wall and they’re all labeled.”

  Ashley stared opened mouthed at the cars lined up in the garage. “Nicholas, why do you have so many vehicles?”

  Nicholas shrugged again. “Come on, or you really will be late.”

  After giving both of them a kiss, Ashley returned upstairs to dress for work. Without having to dress and feed Marcus, she found that she had a lot of time on her hands. She even had a moment to look at the morning paper. Enjoying the paper, she realized where one of the construction sites Nicholas would be visiting was. He’s going to see Robert today. Why, that slick little shit. Oh, you wait until you come into the office later, Nick!

  Ashley grabbed her purse and briefcase and made for the garage. By the time she reached the office, her anger had evaporated. She promised herself that she would let Nicholas handle her brother for a while. God knows she was tired of doing it herself.

  Chapter Twelve

  Nicole was having the day from hell, all because of Jackson Maxwell. Due to his little note, she hadn’t slept a wink. Her head pounded like nobody’s business. She was late to her first class, which was an absolute no-no; the professor did not tolerate tardiness. So glad when her classes were over, she made it to her car and turned the key.

  And nothing happened.

  “This can’t be happening!” she screamed and touched her head to the steering wheel. Feeling in her pocket, she pulled out Jack’s card. Well, Mr. Maxwell, since this is your entire fault, you’ll have to come to my rescue. She grabbed her cell phone from her bag. While she waited for him to answer, she thought of the blistering she’d give him, but upon hearing his voice, the floodgates opened.

  Jack noted the name and number on the caller ID and smiled. He answered the phone. His smile faded instantly. Nicole cried down the line.

  “Honey, what’s wrong?”

  She was crying uncontrollably and couldn’t seem to stop. Jack ran out to the car while he tried to calm her down long enough to tell him where she was.

  “Nicole, baby, tell me where you are?”

  Finally able to get it out of her that she was at school, he told her he was on his way and disconnected the call. He needed to focus all of his attention on getting to her. Jack parked his car in front of Nicole’s. She sat inside it, her head on the steering wheel. Her shoulders shook. Quickly making his way to her door, he knocked on the window, glad to see that she’d locked the door.

  She glanced up, a look of relief crossing her face, got out of the car, and started yelling at him about it being his fault. He let her vent for a while then pulled her into his arms, silencing her ravings with his mouth. When he ended the kiss, she was too breathless to continue her tirade.

  “Now calmly tell me what’s wrong.” He waited for her to explain.

  Nicole stared at him in apparent disbelief. “Well, Mr. Jackson Maxwell, I didn’t get any sleep due to that little note you left me. Ooh, will you just fix my car so I can leave?” she yelled.

  Jack turned his back so that she wouldn’t see his smile. After trying the key, he knew exactly what the problem was. Popping the hood, he checked the battery cables, found them loose, and collected the tools from his truck to tighten them. Once done, he closed the hood.

  “Now, my little lotus blossom, you’re all set. How about lunch?”

  Storm clouds built in her eyes, and he held up his hands in surrender.

  “It was only a suggestion, Nicole. Look, I’m sorry if my love note upset you, but that was not my intent.”

  “It wasn’t a love note, so don’t call it that. We haven’t known each other long enough for it to be love.”

  A thought struck Jack. Without a doubt, he knew that she was in love with him, but believed that it was happening too fast. He’d have to find a way to make her accept the inevitable. He walked over and stood in front of her. She wouldn’t look at him, so he placed his hand under her chin, forcing her to look up.

  “Whether you wish to believe it or not, I do love you and I believe you’re in love with me, but I’ll give you some time to come to grips with the truth. But before I go, here’s something for you to think about.”

  The kiss was short and sweet, but he sensed it left her wanting more.

  He turned, headed for his truck, climbed in, and started it up.

  When Ashley arrived down in the lobby, she took one look at Nicole and immediately knew something was wrong. Once they were in her office, she sat Nicole down to find out what her brother had done now.

  “Take a calming breath and explain what happened,” Ashley said.

  “Jack keeps saying that he loves me and that he knows that I love him, but Ashley, it can’t be!”

  Of all the things Ashley thought could be upsetting her niece she hadn’t expected this. “Why not?”

  The look Nicole gave her spoke volumes.

  “Ashley, we haven’t known each other long enough.”

  “Nicole, how long do you think it takes for two people to fall in love with each other?” Ashley asked, puzzled.

  “Well, look at you and Nicholas. You two have known each other for a couple of years.”

  Ashley shook her head. “No, Nicole, I’ve worked here for a couple of years, but I just met Nicholas a few weeks ago when I moved into this office.”

  “But that’s still longer than Jack and I have known each other.”

  Ashley put her arm around her niece’s shoulder. “Nicole, there’s nothing etched in stone saying that you have to know a person X number of years before you can fall in love with them. I know that Nicholas and I have a lot to learn about each other, but that doesn’t stop me from loving him.”

  “What am I going to do?” Fear loitered in Nicole’s voice.

  “Follow your heart.”

  After a moment, Nicole said, “Where’s Nicholas?”

  “He had to go to a couple of the construction sites to make sure everything’s going as scheduled.” And to talk to my brother.

  Nicholas decided to get the unpleasantness out of the way. His soon-to-be brother-in-law’s office stood two blocks down from the other construction site that he had to check on. Nicholas was so glad that he’d left the house without Ashley asking him again when he would have his talk with her brother—or before she realized that Robert’s office was near the construction site. Nick smiled to himself. It had been easy to get an appointment with Robert. After all, the guy thought he’d be getting some campaign money out of it.

  While Nicholas waited for the secretary to notice him, he took a look at his surroundings. His brother-in-law had no taste at all. The place looked
as if Marcus had decorated it.

  The secretary caught his look and smiled. “I know. Gaudy, isn’t it?”

  “That’s a nice way of saying it, I guess.” Nicholas shrugged.

  “What can I help you with?” she asked.

  “I would like to talk to Mr. Miller.”

  The woman arched an eyebrow. “And you are?”

  Nick thought he detected a slight purr in her voice. Hell, the woman had a ring on her finger.

  “My name is Nicholas Maxwell.”

  The look that came across her face was comical. She looked as though Christmas morning had arrived and Nick was her present under the tree.

  “I thought you looked familiar. I’ll let Mr. Miller know that you’re here.” She picked up the phone on her desk, spoke to her boss, and addressed Nick. “He said for you to come on in, and I’ll be here waiting for you when you come back out,” she promised.

  “Well, that won’t be necessary. I’m sure you need to get home to your husband,” Nick suggested, trying to be polite.

  “Not really. He’s very understanding.”

  The woman just wouldn’t give up!

  “He may be, but my fiancée isn’t. Thanks, but no thanks.” Nicholas hid his smile as the woman’s face fell.

  The door behind her desk opened. Nicholas frowned. The man standing there looked nothing like Ashley. He appeared to be in his early fifties, overweight, and balding. Nick stared at the hand offered for him to shake and cringed. Sweat covered the man’s palms.

  Nicholas stepped into the office. Oh, God. It was worse than the outer office. The colors hurt his eyes. “Look, I came here today to give you a heads up.”

  “What do you mean?” Robert asked, eyebrows raised in surprise. “Mr. Maxwell, I was under the impression that you were here to talk about my campaign.”

  Nicholas chuckled. “Well, I know you were, Robert. I gave you that impression on purpose.”

  Robert stared at Nicholas. “Why?”

  “Because I knew that would be the only way I’d get to see you without making a scene. The reason I’m here is to first introduce myself and to let you know that I’m going to marry your sister and I won’t stand for you pulling any more shit on her. This is the one and only warning you’re going to get. If you do or say anything to hurt her or my son you’ll have to answer to me.”

  “Who the fuck are you to come in here and talk to me this way?” Robert yelled.

  “I’m the man that’s going to marry her, and I’m going to do something that you’ve obviously never done—I’m going to protect her.”

  The pulse in Robert’s neck quickened. “You can’t come in here and talk to me in this manner. Do know who I am?”

  “Yeah, I know you are. The sorriest excuse that there could ever be for a brother. You went so far to turn your own parents against your sister. Not only that, you stopped paying your own daughter’s tuition just so that Ashley would have to dip into her savings account to pay for it, preventing her from accomplishing her dream.”

  “That’s none of your business.” Robert took a step back.

  “The hell it isn’t! This is how it’s going to be, you sorry sack of shit. When you see her you’ll be the best big brother there is. You’ll compliment her, be cordial to her, and you’ll take the money that she gave you to buy you out of your parents’ house and put it into a trust fund for your daughter’s first born.”

  “You can’t make me do this,” Robert squeaked.

  “Oh, I believe I can. You see, I’ve done a little checking into your background. How do you think your constituents would like it if it was leaked that you can be bought?” Nicholas reached into his briefcase and pulled out a folder. “You’d better watch your back, my friend. The FBI’s watching you.”

  Robert’s hands shook as he looked through the file. “Nothing came out of this. I just had a meeting with—”

  “It doesn’t matter. If that picture got to the wrong person, your career would be over.”

  Robert’s face reddened. “I can’t believe you’re doing this for that….” Robert stopped himself. “When you came in you said you were the brat’s father. So does that mean that I was right? That the tale she told our parents was a lie?”

  “Sorry to burst your bubble, Robert, but she wasn’t lying.” Nicholas reached into his briefcase and brought out another file. “This is the report from the police. Apparently, what your sister said was true, and she wasn’t the only one that this happened to.”

  “Then you’re not the kid’s father,” he stated matter-of-factly.

  “As far as you or anyone else is concerned, I am Marcus’s father.” Nicholas grabbed his things and headed for the door. “Oh, just a warning: Don’t try and use Nicole to get back at Ashley. Not only will you have me to deal with, but my brother also.” With that, Nicholas left the office, not sparing a glance to the flirty blonde woman sitting behind the desk.

  By the time Nicholas made it back to the office it was nearly four o’clock. He’d arrived just as Nicole was leaving. She’d looked as if she’d been crying. He reached his floor and went straight to Ashley’s office, telling himself that he wanted to find out what was wrong with Nicole. In his heart of hearts, he’d missed Ashley and wanted—no needed—her attention. Not bothering to knock or even caring if someone was in the office with her, Nicholas walked in. Nodding to the two women from personnel, he took Ashley by the hand and escorted her out of her office into his. Once he had her behind his door, his mouth found hers.

  “Do you know how much I missed you today?” he asked, breathless from the kiss.

  “I can’t believe you just did that! Do you know how rude—”

  He silenced her lecture with his mouth again and released her after another passionate kiss.

  “I missed you too,” she said after catching her breath.

  “That’s what I needed to hear. Now I’ll let you get back to your meeting.”

  Nicholas straightened her clothes before he opened the door for her. He walked to his desk. The phone rang. Smiling, he knew it had to be Jack. “What do you want, Jack?”

  Jack let out a deep sigh. “What, I can’t even get a hello? Can’t you pretend that you didn’t know it was me?”

  “If you’d like I could hang up and let you call back.”

  Jack chuckled. “So how’d it go?” he asked, all amusement gone.

  “I don’t think we’ll have any problems from my dear brother-in-law, but when I showed him the file on Peter, I don’t know, man…I get the feeling that he knew Ashley was telling the truth. Almost as if he knew all about what had happened.”

  “Well, Nick, he would know about it. Didn’t Ashley say that he was there when she told her parents what happened?”

  Nicholas took a seat behind his desk. “No, I think she said that her parents called him and told him that she was pregnant, but I got the feeling that he knew about it before she told her parents. I think he knew what was going on the night that it happened.”

  Jack let out a long whistle. “Man, do you know what this means?”

  “Hell yeah, I know. That son of a bitch set her up, and all in the name of tainting her in the eyes of their parents.”

  Jack paused before asking his next question. “Are you going to say anything to Ashley?”

  “I don’t think so. I’d have to have some type of proof, but even with proof, what good would it do in telling her?” He sighed deeply.

  “You’re right. It would only cause her more pain.”

  “Speaking of pain, bro, what did you do to Nicole?” Nicholas inquired.

  “What do you mean what did I do to her?” Jack countered.

  “When I got here this afternoon she was leaving, and it looked as if she’d been crying.”

  Jack groaned. “She’s just having a hard time believing that we love each other.”

  “What?”

  Jack explained everything that had happened earlier in the day.

  “You might want to back
off, Jack. You’re probably scaring her,” Nicholas warned, knowing that it wasn’t what Jack wanted to hear.

  “I know, man, but I can’t seem to help myself, and now that I know that she loves me, I’m not going to back off.”

  The beep signaling another call coming in interrupted them.

  “Hey, can you hold on a moment?” Jack asked.

  “Nah, I’m going to try and do a little work before I head home. You can just call me later,” Nick said and yawned.

  “Man, did you get any sleep last night?” Jack said jokingly.

  “Don’t worry about it, bro. See ya.”

  Jack was still laughing when he answered the other line. Hearing Nicole’s voice, he turned serious.

  “Did something happen to the car?” he asked, voice filled with concern.

  “No, I was just wondering if you would come over so that we can talk.” The sound of her voice scared him.

  “I’ll be right over, honey. Give me about ten minutes.”

  Jack practically ran out of the house to his car. He worried all the way to Ashley’s house. She sounded as if she had given up. Hold on, baby, I’m on my way.

  She opened the door. It appeared that she’d been crying. Once inside, Jack opened his arms to her. Nicole immediately ran to him.

  “Nicole, talk to me. Tell me what’s wrong.”

  She lit into him. “Jackson Maxwell, you know damn well what’s wrong with me. You come into my life and confuse the hell out of me, telling me how much you love me and how much I love you.”

  Jack stood patiently and waited while she got everything off of her chest. He couldn’t stand it any longer; he reached out, grabbed her, and pulled her into his arms. He kissed her, the kiss so hot and passionate Nicole wrapped her arms around his neck. Jack’s control stretched to snapping point. Taking her face into his hands, he stared in her eyes.