Cockpit: A Second Chance Romance (37 page)

Jealousy.

I was jealous of a damn dog. Three of them actually. I wanted to lick her face. Along with the rest of her.

"Down! Down!"

She smiled at me apologetically as the dogs swarmed me, sniffing my hands.

"This is my friend Nico, be nice to him. Sit."

The dogs sat abruptly, staring at me.

"They are obedient."

She rolled her eyes.

"Definitely not. But they know I might share my lunch with them."

"What are their names?"

She chewed her lip as servants laid out place settings on a small table.

"Don't laugh."

I held my hand up.

"I won't, I promise."

"They have proper names. From the breeder. But I renamed them when I was twelve."

I waited patiently. She waited until the servants were gone and then she gestured to the table. I sat and stared at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Their names?"

"Damien, Regan, Ripley."

"What's embarrassing about that?"

She laid her napkin over her lap, clearly stalling for time.

"Now you have to tell me."

She gave me an adorably exasperated look. Then she rolled her eyes.

"Fine. They are named after characters."

Realization dawned. She loved horror movies. That hadn't been in the file. It was incredible. Awesome. Fantastic.

It was disastrous.

I loved horror movies too.

"The Omen, The Exorcist and Alien?"

Her eyes lit up. She clapped her hands together like a little girl.

"Nobody ever seems to get it!"

I swallowed and placed a napkin over my lap. Every time I scored a point with her, she was scoring ten with me. I usually studied a woman to know how to play her. I wanted to learn everything about Rosalie. But not for any purpose.

Just because.

We were served purred vegetable soup and salad.

"I'm sorry- I should have asked what you preferred. I'm vegetarian."

"It's fine."

I didn't care about the food, even though it was surprisingly good. I was fascinated by watching her lips while she ate. They were so soft and firm.

I wondered how those lips would feel sliding up and down my cock.

I spent the rest of the meal calculating how long it was going to take me to find out.

Rosalie

"Right, so. We have a list of targets. We've set up all the social media accounts. What we need is a logo, and some sort of artwork to go with it. A symbol or an image. It could be as simple as a stock photo or we could go all out and hire a designer for that as well."

Nick tapped into his phone, making notes while we walked around the lake. We'd had a productive day. More than just that, it was fun.

"I know Rebecca will want some sort of event. I'm supposed to see her in a few days so I can run it by her."

I glanced up at his profile. He was so ridiculously good looking it was hard to tear my eyes away. Maybe Rebecca fancied him. In fact, I was sure she did. I knew I couldn't compete with her.

Best to just find out where things stood.

"Unless you want to coordinate with her? I know you two are close."

He arched a brow, slanting me a look.

"I'm friends with her brother, not her."

A feeling of relief took me off guard. I hadn't realized I was holding my breath until it came out in a big sigh of relief.
 

Uh oh.

Handsome American men were not in my parent's plans for me. Even if he was rich, which I assumed he was by his clothing. Not that any of that mattered to me.

I liked him. There was no point in denying it.

But there was no way that anything would ever come of it. So I shouldn't indulge myself. Not even for a moment.

He probably thought I was a foolish little girl. Which, to be honest, I was. Especially compared to a grown man like him. He was probably Rebecca's age. Twenty-six or twenty-seven. Maybe he was even close to thirty. I was just out of school and ridiculously awkward.

Stupid. Foolish. Inexperienced.

Never mind that my romantic prospects were firmly in my parents grasp. Even if I could choose someone for myself, they would have to be titled and connected. My future might not involve an actual 'arranged marriage' but it wasn't far off.

Nicholas stopped and guided me to a bench that overlooked the water. The small lake on the estate wasn't particularly exciting. But with the rolling hills and trees behind the lake, it was a pretty view.

He wasn't looking at the water though.

He was staring at me.

"What about you? Is there anyone you are close with?"

His hand brushed my arm and I jumped.

"What? No, of course not."

He smiled seductively. I felt my stomach do a back flip. His fingertips grazing my arm were sending shivers through my entire body.

"Of course not? Why?"

He slid a little closer to me.

"I- I just- what?"

He smiled, his eyes seeming to linger on my lips.

"I'm just curious. Is that wrong?"

"No. It's not wrong."

He leaned closer, his breath fanning my lips. We were practically touching. He was going to kiss me, I just knew it.

I realized I was staring at his lips in the instant just before they pressed against mine. I closed my eyes at the strange and wonderful sensation. His lips felt so good. Warm and firm and exciting.

The fact that he wanted to kiss me of all people was the most astonishing part of it all.

His hands were stroking my back, pulling me towards him. I felt his lips open and mine did too. Then his tongue swooped inside my mouth, tangling with mine.

Oh dear.

I felt his hands slide to my side and graze the side of my breast. I'm sure he was used to girls just tossing their clothes off at a moment's notice. But I wasn't prepared for this.

For any of this.

I jerked backwards awkwardly. He didn't let go of my arm or look offended. He just looked into my eyes.

"Did I do something I shouldn't have?"

"What? No? I don't think so."

"You aren't sure?"

He was laughing at me now. I stood up abruptly. I felt like a complete idiot.

"Don't tease me."

He stood up and pulled me into his arms.

"If anyone is teasing, it's you."

I stared up at him questioningly. Then I felt it. He was erect. Extremely so.

My jaw dropped.

Perhaps he did fancy me after all.

He rubbed his finger over my lip. Then he smiled and took my hand, leading me back towards the house.

"Let's meet in town next time. We can do something fun."

"Alright."

I had no idea what I was agreeing to. Or why. All I could think was that Nicholas liked me.

Me of all people.

Boring, shy, plain Rose.

It was baffling but apparently it was true.

"I have to get back to the city."

I nodded, lost in thought.

"I'll have a car brought round."

"I'll walk. It's a nice day."

"It's too far."

"I have some... extra energy to work off."

He smiled at me meaningfully. My mouth opened in surprise. He meant sexual energy. He meant he wanted to walk because of me.

"I'm sorry."

He took my hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it.

"Don't be."

I smiled shyly at him. I should have been nervous but I wasn't. I felt... alive.

Free almost.

"See you soon."

I nodded happily and waved. I went inside and looked out the window, pressing my fingers to my lips. I could still feel his kiss.

"Who was that? Was he American?"

I turned to see my mother behind me. She was staring out the window at Nico as he walked down the drive towards town.

"He's a friend of cousin Blake's, Mother. We are just friends."

She raised her eyebrows.

"Well, be that as it may, broad shoulders are not enough to base a relationship on. You have responsibilities..."

She kept talking but I was staring at his back.

She was right. He did have broad shoulders.

Chapter Six

Nicholas

I hit the bag with my fist, pummeling it with all the pent up frustration inside me. Frustration and confusion. I'd been at the gym for two hours already and I was still feeling it.

Because of her.

I'd felt like I was on a real date yesterday, maybe the first I'd ever been on. I'd even started to care about the damn bees. It wasn't just the out of control attraction I was feeling. It was the way she spoke about making the world a better place. Protecting it for future generations.

It made me want to create those future generations. With her. On top of her. Underneath her. Standing up. Sideways. Suspended from the ceiling.

I pulled back, leaning against the bag while I got my breathing under control. I grabbed a towel and wiped myself down. I'd considered going into boxing when I was younger. Before I'd seen how messed up some of the older guys got.

Now I just trained. No ring time. I doubted a girl like Rosalie would look twice at me if I was all banged up and light in the head.

I laughed bitterly. I was kidding myself. The only reason she was at all interested in me now was that I was a liar.

A big, fat liar.

"They told me to find you here."

I poured some of the water over my head and shook it. Rebecca was standing there, turned out in some overly tight, overly trendy looking outfit. I poured more water on my face. I didn't really care if I splashed her or not.

"I've been texting..."

"Yeah, I know. I was busy."

She folded her arms across her chest. She was attracting stares from every guy in the gym. Still, she left me cold.

More than cold. Repulsed.

"I want a progress report. Have you seen her?"

I nodded. It felt wrong somehow, talking about Rosie this way. Even though nothing had happened, I wanted to keep it private.

That wasn't the deal though.

"Everything's good. I'm seeing her next week."

She leaned in, her eyes eager.

"Did you touch her yet?"

I took a swig of my water. I had to tell her. She was the one paying me after all.

"I kissed her."

She cackled, clapping her hands together.

"I can't wait! This is too perfect. Don't worry, I have some ideas to expedite the situation. Be ready to go out dancing later."

"Tonight? I thought you said she didn't party?"

"Ah, but shopping with her dear cousin, staying overnight... makes it all on the up and up. I expect you to pluck her flower tonight. Make sure you don't use protection. You're clean, right?"

"Yes. My policy is 100% coverage. You are the first person to ask for this. I'm not sure I really like the idea."

I leaned against the wall, staring at her. The idea of taking Rosie was more than appealing. As to the rest of it... it seemed messed up. Even though it made my dick hard thinking about it.

"Look, I can't guarantee a pregnancy."

"Oh but it would just be the icing on the cake, wouldn't it?"

The look on her face was pure malevolence.

"What do you have against her anyway?"

"Nothing at all, I just want her to loosen up. She's always been the perfect one. I'm doing this for her benefit entirely."

I stared at her. I didn't buy that for a second. Something was fucked up in this already fucked up situation. She leaned in, running her hand over my shoulder.

"I was thinking that once this is over... I might have a more personal need for your services. Call it curiosity."

I didn't say anything. I couldn't offend her. Not yet. But there was no way in hell that was happening.

In the past I would have taken her as a client. Short term. Just banged it out, even though I didn't like her very much. Something had changed though. I couldn't put my finger on it yet.

"You don't have time for a quickie do you?"

"I need to focus on the task at hand."

She licked her lips as she looked over my sweaty soaked body. I ignored her. Finally, she sighed, shaking her head.

"I have to go, I'm taking her shopping."

She smiled at me, looking like a rattlesnake.

"Another time, Nicholas."

Rosalie

"Try this."

Rebecca shoved another dress into the shopgirl's already overflowing arms. We were in our third store. I'd bought jeans, jackets, booties, slinky tops, bras and a few mini skirts.

I was letting her take the lead, only putting my foot down when she offered me something truly scandalous. I'd also picked out a few things by myself, not bothering to show her. Rebecca was on a mission to bring me into this millennium and out of some sort of Jane Austen novel.

To be honest, I was probably somewhere in the middle.

Meanwhile, Rebecca was also trying to sex me up.

That was going to be a bit harder...

I found myself in yet another fitting room, pulling a skin tight mini dress over my head. I stared at myself. The dress left absolutely nothing to the imagination. I was about to pull it off when she burst in.

"Let me see it!"

She pulled me out and put me in front of the three-way mirror. I looked silly with my gawkish legs poking out of the skirt. My breasts were in danger of spilling out of the top. I glanced at the tag.

"Four hundred pounds for a piece of fabric?"

She rolled her eyes.

"It's high fashion, you twit! Besides you look hot. Surprisingly so."

She glanced at me with a conspiratorial look in her eye.

"I'm sure Nicholas would think so."

I swallowed nervously. I hadn't said a word about Nick, despite her prodding. But she could tell I liked him. I was as easy to read as a glass of water apparently.

"It's too cold to dress like this."

"All you need is a jacket! And some tights... here!"

She threw a cropped leather jacket at me.

"I don't wear leather. You know that."

She grinned.

"It's faux! Now, put it on!"

I did as she asked. I tilted my head to the side. I suppose, if I didn't know me, I might have thought it was fashionable. In a glamorous spy movie kind of way.