Page 19 of My Trainer Neighbor
I rolled out of bed and headed for a cold shower, but even the icy spray couldn't wash away the memory of how she'd felt in my arms.Soft.Responsive.Like she was made to fit against me.
Like she was mine.
The possessive thought should have sent me running.I'd spent the last five years avoiding anything that looked like a real relationship, keeping things casual and uncomplicated.Easy to walk away from when the time came.
But Nicole wasn't easy anything.She was complicated and guarded and so beautiful it physically hurt to look at her sometimes.And for some reason, instead of running like I should have been, I was planning ways to get my hands on her again.
Starting with Thanksgiving dinner.
The idea had hit me yesterday when I'd realized she probably had no plans for the holiday.Women like Nicole didn't cook elaborate meals for themselves, and from what I'd observed, she didn't seem to have close family or friends she'd be rushing off to see.
Which meant she'd be alone, probably working, surviving on takeout while the rest of the world celebrated with people they cared about.
Not happening.Not on my watch.
I'd already bought the turkey and all the fixings.Spent most of yesterday prepping vegetables and making pie crust from scratch because I remembered my mom doing it when I was a kid, before everything went to hell with my dad's drinking and her subsequent nervous breakdown.
I was going to cook Nicole a real Thanksgiving dinner.Show her what it felt like to be taken care of.And if I was lucky, pick up where that kiss had left off.
By late afternoon, the turkey was in the oven and my apartment smelled like home.Like the kind of holiday gathering I'd imagined having someday, back when I thought I wanted normal things like a wife and kids and a white picket fence.
Back before Sarah had made it clear that my idea of home wasn't compatible with anyone else's.
I pushed the thought away and focused on the task at hand.Nicole should be getting home from work soon, assuming she'd actually left the office at a reasonable hour for once.I'd been listening for her door all week, but our schedules hadn't synced up since that night she'd come to dinner.
Since I'd kissed her and she'd fled like I was some kind of threat to her ordered existence.
Which, to be fair, I probably was.
I heard her key in the lock next door.I gave her ten minutes to settle in, then knocked on her door with a plate of appetizers I'd made earlier.Stuffed mushrooms, bacon-wrapped scallops, the kind of fancy shit I'd learned to make when I was trying to impress Sarah's uptight friends.
Nicole answered wearing yoga pants and an oversized sweater, her hair loose around her shoulders.She looked younger like this.Softer.And exhausted.
"Shawn."She blinked at me like she wasn't sure I was real."What are you doing here?"
"Bringing you Thanksgiving."I held up the plate."Unless you already have plans?"
"I don't celebrate Thanksgiving."
"Why not?"
She shrugged, leaning against the doorframe."It's just another Thursday.I was going to work on the Carleton campaign."
Of course she was.Because God forbid Nicole Delaney take a single day off from destroying herself for people who probably didn't appreciate her anyway.
"Not today you're not."I stepped forward, crowding her space just enough to make her look up at me."Today you're going to eat real food and remember what it's like to be grateful for something other than quarterly profit margins."
"I don't think I should."
"Nicole."I cut her off, my voice dropping to the tone that had gotten me what I wanted from women for years."When did someone last cook you Thanksgiving dinner?"
There it was again.That question that kept revealing how empty her life had become.And just like every other time, she couldn't answer.
"Let me guess," I continued."Never?"
She looked away, and I knew I'd hit the mark.
"Then you're coming over.No arguments."
