Charming You (Thirsty Hearts Book 1) (27 page)

T
he tiniest sliver
of light peaked through the drapes, and Micky's eyes popped open. Her limbs remained entangled with Nick's. The hairs on his legs tickled her sensitive skin. She pushed up onto one elbow with her other arm still wrapped around his. She carefully unwound it, sliding her palm over the firm ripples of his bicep. Unable to help herself, she leaned in to his neck and inhaled. If she bottled his scent and sold it, she could practically print money. She nipped at the cord of his neck with a biting kiss, and he turned his head.

"Good morning." His sharp green eyes still hovered between sleep and wakefulness. Micky murmured her response to him through a softer, suckling kiss on the neck. He moaned and rolled over, taking her with him. Flat on her back with his legs between hers, he traced her collarbone with the tip of his tongue.

Micky gave a half-hearted objection. "We can't."

"I'm not listening to you."

"We have to check out and transfer to the other hotel. Plus, we're supposed to be going to the Louvre."

"La la la la la," he said, pretending not to hear her as he moved his hand to the juncture between her legs. A flutter of pleasure went through her, but she grabbed his head with her hands and shook it side to side.

"No," she said and laughed. "We have to get up. We're on a schedule today."

"Who? I'm not on anything except you this morning." His face hovered above her breasts, and he looked up at her through his fringe of dark lashes.

"We are. We only have today and tomorrow. As exciting as this is—and as last night was—we can't spend the entire trip in bed."

Nick planted his face in her cleavage. His hand moved to her hip.

"That is absolutely no fun at all," he whined.

"It will be," Micky promised, scooting out from under him, taking great pleasure in the disgruntled look on his face. Nick sprawled out over the bed sheets, naked and pouting. She jumped to her feet and walked around the bed. Then, she stopped and smacked him hard on his firm butt.

"Ow!" Nick said. "Do it again."

"No. We're getting up. I have to pack."

He rolled over onto his back and propped his hands behind his head. "I'm already up. That's why this is such a travesty." Micky's knees nearly buckled.

"We do have to shower, you know. Think of all the time we'll save doing it together," she suggested.

"I love how you think. So efficient."

Micky froze at Nick's use of the "L" word once again. It was just an expression, right? He hadn't told her that he loved her. His "love" mostly had to do with sex—her sexy boots and having sex with her in the shower. The way he talked about her was a good sign, but it didn't mean anything beyond the fact that they had fun in bed together. Besides, Micky didn't love Nick. Not yet. She liked him. Anything more was too much, too soon.

Nick bounded up and followed her to the bathroom, returning her smack on the butt. She swore, but the sting faded as he pulled her hard against his chest and buried his face in her neck. His body enveloped hers, and she fought to remember their early call at the Louvre. This man could make her forget almost anything.

"
I
think
someone may have to give you a boost if you're going to be able to see," Micky told Taryn. They turned the corner and saw a crush of people swarming in the next gallery.

The horde all had their hands in the air trying to get a picture of arguably the most famous painting in the world. After changing to an exquisite boutique hotel on the left bank, the foursome had managed to stay on Taryn's schedule and get to the Louvre for a key item on her checklist. She had to see the "Mona Lisa." The mob of like-minded tourists made that difficult. Taryn stood on her tiptoes, pushing her five-foot-two frame to the limit. Finally, Jeff grabbed her around the waist and lifted her nearly a foot off the ground. Taryn quickly snapped her photo.

"Got it. Maybe I can walk around the edges and actually see it with my two eyes."

"It's too bad we can't get a good view. I came here on a high school trip twenty years ago, and the 'Mona Lisa' was in a totally different spot in a random corridor. There were some crowds, but nothing like this," Jeff explained.

"It's nice to bring your own stepladder. That may be the only reason she keeps you around, you know, Jeff," Micky joked. Taryn rolled eyes.

"That's not true. He also opens jars and moves furniture. He has many talents."

"I'm fine with that. As long as I'm useful, and she keeps me around." Jeff smiled lovingly at Taryn.

"A man likes to know his role," Nick noted.

"What are you doing for me exactly?" Micky asked him. He stopped walking and scrunched his brow, thinking.

"I'm fun. I help you de-stress from work. And I also seem to feed you and buy you alcohol a lot."

"A man buys you one pizza," Micky jested, playfully punching Nick in the arm.

"The way to Micky's heart
is
through a martini," Taryn said. She winked at her friend surreptitiously.

"A properly made martini is hard to find. I love a good one."

Micky breathed a sigh of relief. She wanted Taryn to like Nick, and so far, they were getting along. Her friend had been suspicious of him at first. Of course, that was Micky's fault. She had been suspicious of Nick herself. Now, she could accept that what he wanted was her and to have fun. Nick was right. She needed more of that in her life.

"I like a woman that knows what she wants. I've come to appreciate that," Nick replied.

"Good." Micky squeezed his hand. "Right now, what I want is to see something else. There's so much here besides the Mona Lisa," Micky continued, getting whacked in the head by a man's selfie stick as she tried to move past the throng.

"
Attention
," Micky snapped, in French. The guy had the nerve to look perturbed because their collision had ruined his photo, saying something irritable to her in a foreign tongue. Nick slipped a protective arm around her waist and glared at the man who looked like he might say something. With Nick towering over them, he decided against it.

"Those things ought to be banned. I don't know how you whirl around with a weapon in your hand and have so little self-awareness. How's your head?"

Nick reached up and rubbed the back of her head with the tips of his fingers. Micky locked on his concerned eyes and felt her temperature rise. Her head was fine. The rest of her started to melt under his touch.

M
icky had
to stop looking at him like that. Louis XIV may have gotten away with dragging maidens through the Louvre to have his wicked way with them, but Nick couldn't afford to get arrested.

He forced himself to look at one of the paintings so the desire darkening Micky's speckled golden eyes wouldn't get him into trouble. Titian's zaftig redhead staring at herself in the mirror had nothing on the stunning brunette standing next to him.

They wound their way through the remaining galleries to the exit. A great irony of the preeminent French attraction was that the Louvre sat atop a mall, complete with food court. Micky and Nick wandered through the shops in search of gifts for Nick's nieces. Jeff had promised to bring his daughter something special.

"He's brought her four something specials already," Taryn kidded him.

"I don't spoil her often. I feel guilty enough for leaving her with my parents for the week," Jeff explained.

"I've met your parents. They're probably spoiling her all week," Micky retorted.

Jeff laughed and shrugged. "Yeah, more than likely. Being their only grandchild has its advantages. Lately, she's getting into picking out decorations for her room. I may see if I can't find her something like that. I saw a couple of those shops."

"That's a good idea. My nieces are both into that or maybe some fashion." Nick glanced around the corridor at his options, baffled.

"There's an art shop with some drawing sets and paint for kids. Alice might like that. Then, you can see if there's something for Natalie."

"That's a good idea, but I'll probably get them the same thing, so they don't fight," he said, nodding.

"Is that what it's like to have two?" Jeff asked.

"That's what it's like to have those two. They love each other. But they're close to the same age, and they bicker over everything." Nick laughed.

"Maybe by the time we have another kid, Olivia won't see him or her as competition," Jeff commented wishfully.

"I think Olivia will love being a big sister. And maybe she'll have a brother and they'll be less competition," Taryn said, wrapping her arm around Jeff's waist. He beamed at her.

"I could go for having a boy. I could use someone on my team in the house."

"Already planning the babies, and you're not even married. My mother would love to have you as a son," Nick joked.

"The key is to have a first marriage that goes to hell. That'll slow them down on trying to push you down the altar," Jeff explained. His acerbic tone surprised Nick.

"That bad?" he asked.

"We try not to talk about it. I'm doing much better this time around." Jeff dropped a kiss on Taryn's cheek.

"Me too," Nick said. Micky blushed, which made him smile.

"Let's get going. We want to make sure we have time to hit the Musée d'Orsay this afternoon. Tick, tock, right, Taryn?" Micky tapped her wrist.

Taryn shot Micky an indiscernible look, but the couples went their separate ways with the agreement they'd meet outside by the large pyramid in an hour to stay on track with Taryn's agenda.

"We have dinner reservations, and I want to make sure we get back to the hotel in time to clean up," Taryn yelled before she and Jeff walked out of earshot.

"Taryn must be great at her job. She keeps everything marching along," Nick acknowledge.

"Is that your way of saying she's bossy?"

Nick tried to formulate an answer that wouldn't offend Taryn's best friend. "She's in charge."

"She's bossy." A slanted smile spread on her face. "But I love it. She's usually right, and she makes things happen. Plus, it's not like she tells you what to do. She assumes you're going to do things her way until you inform her otherwise. It's just hard to know that."

"Point taken."

"Tomorrow, we can do our own thing if you want. I wouldn't mind relaxing, maybe go through a local market and do some wandering."

"That would be perfect."

Nick took Micky's hand in his and escorted her to the children's gift store—filled with games, puzzles, figurines, and sundry knick knacks. Alice and Natalie would love all of it. Micky pulled away and went to a display with elaborate art sets.

"Do they draw? I would have loved this when I was a kid," she exclaimed.

"They do. Alice has started writing in her private diary with fancy pens. Maybe something like this." Nick held up a set of colored pens.

"Or this. It's a set that teaches you how to do calligraphy. It might be too advanced for Natalie. You could get her a charcoal pencil set."

"Or I could get them both one of each. My sister will be happier if I don't start a gift war."

"You men love spoiling the little girls in your lives." Micky grinned.

"I spoil all the women in my life whenever I can. Tomorrow, I'll have to see what I can come up with for you."

"You're here with me. That's already pretty fantastic." Micky put the calligraphy set back on the display and held Nick's hand again. He pulled her closer and captured her mouth lightly with his. He didn't want their public display of affection to get more snickers and shouts. In the soft lighting of the store, her eyes turned golden amber. The softness of her expression flooded him with warmth. He wanted her, but he also just wanted to feel her body against his and smell her hair and the subtle scent of her mango body lotion.

"We better get moving. I want to stop and get some of those stuffed Eiffel Towers we saw in the souvenir shop, and we can't afford to be late. Taryn will not be happy. But tomorrow is all about us."

"Deal."

Micky stood on her tiptoes and gave him the lightest, sweetest kiss to ever knock a man sideways.