Six Weeks of Seduction by Ellis O. Day

WEEK FOUR: THE PARTY

CHAPTER 66:  SARAH

“You look great. Relax.” Nick’s hand rested on the small of Sarah’s back as he led her to the huge, expensive house.

“Thanks.” She’d spent hours deciding what to wear and how to style her hair. Not only did she want to make a good first impression on Nick’s family but looking good gave her confidence and she needed as much of that as she could get. She wore a green pastel sundress that hugged her curves. The color flattered her pale skin and her hair, which was gathered in an elegant chignon. The only flaw in the outfit was the flat sandals. “Even the shoes?” High heels would’ve looked better but she would’ve been worried about falling all night.

He stopped, turning her toward him. “Those shoes are sexy as hell.” His warm, brown eyes searched her face.

“But they’re flats.”

He pulled her close until her chest brushed lightly against his suit coat. “They’re on you. They’re sexy. You look great.” He kissed her.

It was only a quick brushing of his lips but she felt it to her toes. Her hands went to his waist. She wanted to bury her face in his chest and hide.

“My family will love you.” He kissed her forehead. “Ready?”

“Yeah.” Not at all, but the time had come. She took a deep breath as he rang the doorbell. She could do this. She’d been able to give the speech at the banquet and that had to be worse than meeting his family.

A good looking older man opened the door. “Nick.” He pulled Nick into his arms for a quick hug.

“Dad.” Nick hugged his father and stepped back. “I want you to meet Sarah.”

She smiled. Nick looked a lot like his father except leaner and younger. “Nice to meet you.” She extended her hand, praying the man wouldn’t hug her. She wasn’t ready for that.

“Believe me, the pleasure is mine.” He shook her hand and stepped aside as he hollered, “Bella, Nick’s here and he’s brought his girlfriend.”

She preceded Nick into the house and with his father’s proclamation, the chattering died down and everyone in the room turned toward them. The blood rushed from her face and she swayed. They were all staring at her. It was happening again.

“You okay?” Nick’s pressed up behind her, his words a whisper in her ear. His hands were on her waist, comforting, supporting.

Her chest eased and she breathed, relaxing a little against him. She wasn’t alone. This wasn’t the past. Nothing bad was going to happen.

“Sarah, are you okay?” He moved to her side, his arm around her, his hand still on her waist.

“Yeah.” She smiled at him. “Just got dizzy for a moment.” It wasn’t a lie.

“Do you need something to eat? Drink?”

“No. I’m fine.” She kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”

“Nick.” An older lady wrapped her arms around him, a huge smile on her face.

It had to be Nick’s mother. She was dark and lean, just like him. Most of the others had started talking with each other again.

His mother kissed his cheek before turning toward her. “You must be Sarah. We’ve heard so much about you.” She clasped Sarah’s hand in both of hers. “Between us ladies, I’ve been waiting years for him to bring a girl home.”

“Mom.” Nick sounded both irritated and amused.

“I was starting to wonder if he were one of those gays.” Bella winked at her as she dropped Sarah’s hands.

Sarah laughed. Nick was the most heterosexual man she’d ever met.

“Hardly, Mother. I was only waiting to find the perfect woman.” He kissed his mom’s cheek, but his fingers intertwined with hers. “Only the best for my mom.”

“Oh Nicky, you are the charmer.” Bella took Sarah’s other hand. “Come, let me introduce you.”

She tried not to but her grip tightened on Nick’s hand. She needed him with her. There were too many people here.

“We’ll both come.” He kissed her fingers, seeming to understand.

Her heart slowed and she smiled softly at him as they followed his mother around the house.

The next several hours passed like minutes. She’d been introduced to too many people to remember. Most were family and extended family but there were also friends and business associates of Nick’s sister and her husband. They were both doctors and highly successful ones by the look of the house and yard.

Nick led her outside, handing her a glass of Crown.

She took a deep breath and then a sip of the drink. It was her second of the night. The warmth of the alcohol helped to steady her nerves. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her; it was warm and dark with banked passion.

“How about we go upstairs?” His hand wandered down her back to her butt.

“We can’t.” She felt heat rush to her belly as she leaned into his erection, unable to stop herself.

He kissed her neck. “Your mouth says no but your body says yes.” He squeezed her ass.

She turned her face so her lips were against his ear. She breathed softly and could feel the muscles in his arms clench. “Listen to my mouth.” She kept her lips there, dying to put her tongue in his ear. It always sent him straight over the edge.

“Do it and I’ll haul you upstairs so fast everyone”—he turned so his lips were almost touching hers—“will know exactly what we’re going to do.”

She swallowed. Nope, that wasn’t going to happen. “We can’t.”

“We can.” He leaned away from her, but kept his hands on her hips. “No one will notice. We’ll sneak upstairs. We can be done in a few minutes. No one will even realize we’re gone.”

“That fast, huh? Is that supposed to entice me?” She skimmed her fingers over his chest, wishing she could remove his shirt. He looked great in the black suit with white shirt, but he looked better naked.

“You like it fast and hard.” He leaned forward again, so his lips caressed her ear. “I can take you against the door. I’ll shove your dress up. I won’t even take off my pants.”

“We can’t.” She closed her eyes, desire swirling like a tornado inside her. She wanted to do it, but…Who was she kidding? She was going to do it. They both knew it.

“Hey, there you are.” Nick’s youngest sister Maria came outside.

“We’ll finish this discussion later,” he whispered before turning toward his sister, keeping his arm around Sarah’s waist. “What do you want?”

“I need to steal Sarah for a minute.” Maria nodded toward the door.

“Why?” asked Nick.

Sarah didn’t mean to but she shifted closer to him.

“Aunt Roe is thinking about adopting a dog. I thought Sarah could talk to her.”

“Sure. Lead the way.” He took Sarah’s hand, following his sister into the house.

Several older ladies were sitting around the kitchen table and other women and men filtered in making plates of food, chatting and eating. A few people looked their way as they entered, nodding or greeting them but quickly went back to their conversations.

Maria led them to the table and introduced the women.

“What kind of dog are you thinking of adopting?” Sarah asked.

“Oh, I don’t know. Not a puppy.”

“There are plenty of older dogs that need homes.” She started talking in earnest with the older woman. Her fear fleeing as she warmed up to her favorite topic.

Nick whispered in her ear, “I’m going to go talk to my cousin, Mitch. I’ll be right back.”

She stiffened. He was leaving her. She took a deep breath. She was fine. Everyone was friendly. This wasn’t the past. This was now. This was Nick, not Adam. “Okay.”

“You sure?” His hand was still on her waist. “I can stay until you’re done talking.”

“I’ll be fine.”

He kissed her cheek, using the opportunity to whisper, “Upstairs. Later.”

She flushed as she turned to the women and merged back into the conversation. They discussed getting dogs from rescues and from the shelter. She was pretty sure Aunt Roe, as the woman had insisted she call her, was going to go and look at the shelters tomorrow.

“So, you rescue dogs for a living?” asked another elderly woman. “How nice.”

“Yes, I do and it’s a great job. Sad sometimes, but great.”

“Sad? How? You rescue them,” asked the lady next to Aunt Roe.

“Yeah, but sometimes they can’t be saved. I mainly work with dogs that have issues.”

“What kind of issues?” asked Aunt Roe.

“Sometimes physical but most often psychological.”

One of the younger cousins laughed. “How do dogs get psychological issues?”

She hated this closed minded attitude but the girl was young. “Usually, from abuse. Imagine living your entire life with someone who beats you, starves you and on the best days ignores you. You never go anywhere. You never see anyone but your abuser. Or, you may see others walking by on the street but no one helps you.” Her heart picked up its pace. She should change the topic. She glanced around for Nick.

“That’s horrible,” said Aunt Roe.

Nick was talking to a woman, an attractive woman with blonde hair. She wasn’t a relative. She had her hand on his arm, leaning in to whisper in his ear. Sarah took a deep breath. It meant nothing. Nick wasn’t Adam. She forced her eyes back to the table. “They can also get damaged from work.”

“Work? What kind of work?” The young girl laughed again. “My dog just stays on the couch all day.”

“Many dogs have jobs. I have a former military dog. He was injured during duty. His handler died.” Her voice broke. Not his handler—Adam. Adam had died. She didn’t want to talk about this—not here, not ever. She looked for Nick but he wasn’t there. Her heart started racing.

“Oh, that’s terrible,” said the young girl.

She couldn’t freak out. She had to calm down. She took a deep breath. “Yes, it was. Tank hasn’t been the same since.” She needed to get out of there. She needed Nick. Her eyes landed on the shadow of a man going upstairs. It was Nick. He’d just turned the corner at the top when the woman he’d been talking to made her way to the stairs, glancing around before following him.

Sarah’s heart stuttered and then raced. This wasn’t happening. He wouldn’t do that, but he was. No, it hadn’t been him. A lot of these guys were family and looked like him, but if it wasn’t him, then where was he? Her eyes scanned the other room.

“Are you okay?” asked Aunt Roe.

Her head snapped back to the table. She tried to say yes, she was fine, but when she opened her mouth no sound came out—only her breath. It was coming in pants. She couldn’t get enough air.

“I don’t think she’s okay,” said a petite, auburn-haired young woman who worked for Mattie, one of Nick’s brothers.

“Lena, get Nick,” said Aunt Roe.

The auburn-haired girl darted from the room.

Aunt Roe took Sarah’s arm. “It’s okay, honey. Sit down.”

She shook her head. She couldn’t sit. She couldn’t stay, not when they were all looking at her like that…with pity in their eyes. She clutched her stomach. Nick was with that other woman. She was alone. Something bad was going to happen. Someone was going to die. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t think. She stumbled backward as blackness stole her vision, first the people on the outside of her sight disappearing and then everyone else.

“Nick,” someone yelled.

Her knees buckled and blackness swept over her.