‘Pity.’ She smiled brightly. ‘But we don’t want to keep your family waiting, do we?’
She’d decided she would emulate his other women tonight. She was going to be sophisticated and vivacious, carefree. The dress had cost more than she would have ideally liked, but when she’d slipped it on earlier a certain devil-may-care attitude had come with it. She was tired of being herself; she wanted to be someone else for a change. Nick had accused her of being childish and it had rankled. Tonight she’d show him she was very much a woman.
‘Remembered the present?’ he asked her as he opened the front door.
‘It’s in my handbag.’ The jeweller’s had wrapped the earrings beautifully.
‘Then we’re set.’ He smiled at her, taking her arm as they walked to the waiting taxi. Just for a moment she saw them as an outsider would see them. A wealthy and handsome man with a well-dressed woman on his arm. Elegant, glittering, the sort of couple who had everything. Funny how different things could be from what they appeared on the surface.
Once in the taxi Nick pulled her close, his arm round her shoulders. It was a nice way to travel, more than nice. She could detect the hint of primitive musky male beneath the clean, sharp aftershave he was wearing. It was a heady combination.
He must have appreciated her perfume because after a few minutes he said huskily, ‘What’s that scent you’ve got on tonight?’
It had been an expensive Christmas present from Aunt Joan and she didn’t wear it often. ‘Why?’ She turned her head to look up at him. ‘Don’t you like it?’
He took her hand and placed it on the hard ridge in his trousers. ‘Need I say more?’
‘Nick.’ He had shocked her and it showed. So much for the cool sophistication.
He chuckled and she knew he’d got the result he wanted. ‘You’re beautiful, Cory, inside and out,’ he said softly. ‘And the wonder of it is you really don’t think so.’
‘I’m not beautiful.’
‘You are.’ He kissed her. ‘Like a rare orchid or a precious stone.’ Another kiss. ‘Or a shooting star that leaves a trail of silver.’ His lips were warm and erotic. ‘Or a cactus flower that only blooms every few years.’
She wrinkled her nose. ‘Cactus are spiky.’
‘I know.’ His smile was gentle. ‘But the flower is worth waiting for.’ This time he took her lips in a soul-stealing kiss that made her weak at the knees.
When she had regained her breath, she said, ‘Do you think your mother will like me, Nick?’
She hadn’t meant to ask but it had bothered her all day. She had been wondering how many women had been introduced to his mother and whether any of them had been particular favourites with Mrs Morgan.
‘No, she won’t like you,’ he said softly. ‘She’ll love you, like I do. They all will.’
She stared at him, her eyes wide.
He held her gaze. ‘Do you believe that?’ he said quietly as the taxi sped on through the late August evening. ‘That I love you?’
She hadn’t expected this now, not here. But Nick was the sort of guy who was full of surprises. Unable to speak for the violent pounding of her heart, she settled for a slight nod of the head.
‘That’s an improvement on the last time I said it.’ He ducked his head to nibble at her earlobe. ‘It’s still not the response I’m looking for,’ he said after a moment or two when she had to bite her tongue to stop herself moaning out loud, ‘but it’s an improvement.’
Just then the taxi bumped over a hole in the road and they were thrown even closer together, his arms tightening as her rounded curves pressed against his hardness. ‘Do you think we’d be missed if I told him just to keep driving all night?’ Nick murmured in her ear.
‘Possibly.’ But she was game if he was.
When the taxi drew up outside the sort of hotel that featured in glossy magazines, Cory’s nerves jangled. Meeting his family en masse suddenly seemed like torture. She found herself clutching Nick’s arm so hard he actually winced, at which point she let go. ‘Sorry.’
‘The others’ll be in the lounge bar,’ Nick said quietly once he’d paid the driver and they were standing outside. He tucked her hand through his arm. ‘Now relax, OK?’
‘I don’t think I can,’ she said shortly.
‘It’s no big deal.’ He turned her round to face him with his hands on her shoulders. ‘They’ll love you, Cory. I know they will. But even if they didn’t it wouldn’t make any difference to us. I’m a big boy now, in case you haven’t noticed. I don’t have to ask for my family’s approval on my girlfriends.’
She knew that but it didn’t help because she so wanted them to like her. She lifted her chin and now it was she who slipped her arm through his. ‘Come on,’ she said evenly. ‘We don’t want to be late.’
When they walked into the lounge bar it was immediately obvious where the Morgan contingent was by the calls and waves that met them. ‘This is Cory,’ Nick said as they approached the corner where three tables had been drawn together.