And Then He Kissed Me by Teresa Southwick Read Free Book Online Page B

nervous sort of feeling in her stomach.
    Then he gripped her hand and started to move in the steps of a waltz. Abby put her hand on his shoulder. It was either that, or let her arm dangle at her side, which would surely earn her some curious stares. Nick held her loosely, but as they circled the floor, their bodies bumped and brushed, sending sparks through her. As more couples joined them, and the area grew crowded, Nick tightened his hold on her, keeping her next to his solid strength. He sort of hunched forward, as if he was surrounding her, protecting her. They were pressed close from chest to knee and Abby could hardly breathe.
    She wished she could stay like this forever.
    She was lulled by the music, the atmosphere. Seduced by wine and song. Not to mention the man every other woman in the room kept staring at. And he was Abby’s.
    No .
    Not hers. Just her escort. Her friend. Her boss. She sighed. This was too complicated. She longed for the serenity of work. She wouldn’t venture out of her comfort zone again.
    Then she remembered Sarah’s party. She would have to venture out for that. Or rather let Nick in. Just once more. Then back to her ironclad rule.
    A few weeks from now, her commitments involving Nick Marchetti would be over and done with. End of fairy tale. Cinderella could go back to her corner without her happy ending. Life could get back to normal. Just the way she liked it.
    So why did the thought of that make her so sad?

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    â€œHow do you think it’s going?” Abby asked.
    Nick looked down at her, nervously twisting her fingers together as she watched the teenage party in her apartment. He stood beside her on the patio, monitoring the group through the sliding glass door. In her blue jeans and white sweater, she hardly looked older than the kids.
    A vision flashed through his mind, of her in that sexy black dress when he’d wined and dined her. He hadn’t planned to blurt out his secret, and ever since had analyzed why he’d done it. Maybe he’d just needed to finally unburden himself, and she’d been handy. Or more likely it was the fact that she’d been knocked around by life and his gut told him she would understand. Whatever. He hadn’t expected the night to be anything special, but he’d told her something no one in his family knew. Her bracing words had meant a lot to him.
    And as if that weren’t enough, he’d seen her in a way he never had before. More than once since then, the seductive image of her in that dynamite dress had skewed his train of thought. Usually at the most inconvenient time. Or he’d get a whiff of perfume that would instantly produce a mental picture of Abby—from her sweet smile that reminded him of her innocence and made him want to protect her, to her wicked grin that made him just want her.
    That night, Abby had opened up to him, too. She’d reminded him how gutsy she was, telling him a little more about her past. Like the difficulties of being a single parent to Sarah. What it had cost her to do the right thing. He found he was glad to have Abby in his life. He’d never thought about it before, but she’d come
into his life right after his fiasco in Phoenix, when he’d sworn off women. Something about her had gotten to him. But he’d seen her as hardly more than a child who needed help. Now she was a woman. Was she ever!
    He stifled that thought. He valued her friendship. He admired her courage, as well as her determination to give her sister the carefree life she’d lost when her parents had died.
    As his thoughts turned to Sarah, he looked for her inside. A blond, blue-eyed younger version of Abby, she was huddled in the kitchen, whispering with three girls. Several guys sprawled on the couches in the apartment’s tiny living room. In all, he’d counted ten teenagers, six boys and four girls. Abby had asked him how he thought the party was going. He felt party