Page 78 of Tessa's Trust

“I fixed McCracken up with his wife back in college during summer break. She’s a cousin on the Basanelli side.” He leaned in and kissed the tip of my heated nose. “The guy owes me, and he knows it.”

I swallowed. “Nick? I’m kind of a mess.”

He leaned back. “What kind of a mess?”

My mouth opened, and then I closed it. “I don’t understand the question.” His hard body so close to mine was short-circuiting my brain.

He rubbed the rough pads of his thumbs over my cheekbones. “The kind of mess that needs to go to sleep and be alone? The kind that needs me to go kick some ass—which I would? Or the kind that wants me to take away the world for a while?”

I liked that about him. He wasn’t the type of guy to take advantage, and he laid it on the line. Basanelli was a straight shooter. My eyes filled again, and tears started dropping down my face.

Panic filled his expression, and then his shoulders settled. “Ah. That kind.” He swept me up again.

“What are you doing?” I sniffled.

He walked over to the sofa and dropped down, extending his legs to his coffee table. He cuddled me close, cupped my head, and pressed my face to his upper chest. Then he massaged the nape of my neck, his body feeling solid and strong around me. “I’ve got you, Contessa.” His words were a rumble against my cheek, and something inside me broke.

I cried out all my fear and anger, sobbing for Mert Smiley and even Sadie Brando. I felt secure and protected in Nick’s arms, and he gently rubbed my neck, quietly holding me, his heartbeat steady in my ear. I finally wound down and just stayed there, warm and spent, until I fell asleep. I vaguely noticed when he carried me to bed, and then he was spooned around me, and I felt safe.

My dreams were peaceful until my internal alarm clock woke me around four. I stretched against his hard form, knowing full well my heart was as engaged as my body. I could handle Basanelli as a sexy Italian who wanted to get me naked, but dealing with the guy who’d held me for hours while I cried? That side of him tore right inside me where I wanted to stay Teflon-strong.

My butt was flush against his hardened groin.

“You feel better?” His breath was heated on my ear, and his voice was lazy. Sleepy.

Desire flowed through me, slamming hard into my abdomen. “Yes. Sorry about last night.”

He pulled me over and rolled on top of me, holding most of his weight on his elbows. “No apologies.” In the morning light, his eyes were a darker topaz. “I like that you wake up early.”

Apparently, so did he. As in all of him was wide awake. “So do you,” I whispered, my voice hoarse, taking inventory. I was dressed in one of his soft T-shirts and panties…and nothing else. He wore boxers that did nothing to hide the fact that he was aroused. His chest was bare and muscled, and I wanted to take a bite right out of his pec.

His grin was dangerous. “In or out, Albertini?”

It was a fair question. “In,” I breathed, throwing all common sense to the storm outside.

“Good answer.” Then he kissed me, his body warm and hard, his mouth magical and inquisitive. I’d learned the other night that Nick liked to play…until he didn’t. He was soft and teasing, hard and demanding, and overwhelming the entire time. I cried out his name three times that morning, and he made sure it was louder each time.

Finally, I glanced at the clock, panting heavily, my body satiated, and my mind blown. “I have to go open the diner,” I murmured.

“Sure.” He slid from the bed and easily tossed me over his shoulder. “Let’s hit the shower first.”

Make that four times.

Chapter 28

“Stop calling me,” I snapped into the phone as I delivered the breakfast special to a couple of ice fishermen who were itching to get out on the lake.

“I have to make sure it’s going fine,” Mert Smiley grumbled through the phone.

I walked back to the kitchen. “Everything’s great. I opened on time. I have two servers working the floor with me, and I called in both of your backup cooks. They’re all doing a good job. Mert, you need to be quiet. Take a deep breath, and watch some TV.”

“Watch TV? I should be at my diner,” he snarled.

“I swear to God, Mert, if you don’t get off this phone and rest, I’m shutting the diner down.” I meant it. I really would do it. “Not only that, I’ll string crime scene tape all along the outside, so even if you show up and ignore your doctor, nobody will come in. I’ll plaster pictures of rats all over.” I strode into the kitchen, warming to my subject. “In addition, I’ll call the Timber City Gazette and tell them there’s been a code violation.”

Mert sighed. “We don’t have rats in Timber City.”

“All right. Mice, then. Big, huge field mice that carry diseases.”

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