A nagging heaviness settled on Nick’s chest like an uninvited, long-lost cousin. He ignored it, choosing instead to focus on Michelle, now working her bottom lip with her teeth—a full bottom lip he could definitely enjoy kissing.
“Well, I guess I’m heading home now,” she announced, cutting into his questionable thoughts.
He didn’t want her to go, for many reasons. “Hey, I just got here. The party’s only begun to get interesting.”
She slicked a hand over her scalp and tightened her ponytail. “I can only imagine. But that’s all I’ll be able to do since I need to get some work done.”
“On a Sunday afternoon?”
“I brought some stuff home with me. Until this campaign’s over, I’m not going to have much time to slack off.”
“Are you sure? I make a mean margarita.” He topped off the offer with a grin.
She tightened the towel at her waist and crossed her arms over her chest. “That sounds tempting, but I’ll have to pass.”
He wanted badly to smooth the worry from her face. Make her stay. “So they call you Shelly, huh?”
A slight blush tinged her cheeks. “Heavens, yes. Luckily no one calls me that at the hospital. Makes me feel like I’m Kelsey’s age.”
“Okay, so I’ll just call you Michelle. And you can call me Nick.” She would call him much worse if she knew the path his thoughts were taking. He couldn’t seem to pull his eyes away from her face, had an even harder time keeping them away from her body, where he took a subtle mental inventory. The perfectly carved collarbone, the scoop of the bikini top that revealed ample cleavage, the slender torso, all painted a fascinating portrait of a fascinating woman.
“Well, Nick, I really do need to go. I’m so sleepy that if I stay, I’ll probably have to find a bed.”
If she stayed, he’d help her find one. And join her.
Releasing an exaggerated sigh to keep from groaning, he said, “Okay. But don’t work too hard. Life is short. I’ve learned that lesson the hard way.”
She reached for a canvas bag hanging on the back of a chair and slipped it over her slender shoulder. “How so?”
Man, that could take hours to explain. He wasn’t up to baring his soul completely, so he’d give her an abbreviated version of the whole sorry story his life had been. “I missed out on a lot when Kelsey was a baby because of my work. And now I only get to see her every other weekend, so I guess you could say I’m still missing out.”
“That’s a shame, Nick.” She sounded as if she meant it. As if she understood how badly he hated the part-time dad thing.
“Yeah, but that’s just the way it is.”
Michelle clutched the bag to her chest. At least now Nick could concentrate better on the conversation. “Can you ask for more time with her during the week?”
He had asked. About a thousand times. He was even willing to cut out of the office early. But Bridget wouldn’t budge. She didn’t want Kelsey exposed to “his women,” as if he really had a revolving door in his two-bedroom apartment. Not that he hadn’t indulged a time or two in female companionship. But it hadn’t been that often, although the hospital scuttlebutt would say otherwise.
“Maybe someday my ex will allow me some extra time,” he said. “After the battle scars start to fade.”
“Tough divorce?”
“The toughest.”
“It will all work out,” she said wistfully.
Nick wasn’t sure if Michelle spoke of his life or her own. She might appear confident on the exterior, but her vulnerabilities were showing. Not that she’d meant for him to see them. And damned if he didn’t like what he saw. All of it. All of her. And he intended to see more.
Two
Nick had been waiting all afternoon to give Jared Granger a hefty dose of his own medicine and to ask him a few questions about Michelle Lewis.
“So how does it feel knowing you’re going to be a dad, Granger? Knowing you’re going to be responsible for this person for at least twenty years, worrying if you’re screwing up—”
“Shut up, Kempner.”
Jared made the warning through a proud-as-a-peacock grin while they stood near the barbecue pit as the party began to wind down.
Nick could identify with that smile. He’d worn exactly the same one when Bridget had told him she was pregnant five years ago, a time when he’d still held on to the hope that the marriage might survive since they would have a child to consider. Man, had he been wrong.
“Actually, I’m happy for you and Brooke,” Nick said. “There’s nothing like it in the world, being a dad.” Even a part-time one, he thought as he watched Kelsey splashing around in the pool with Brooke’s mom. Not that he didn’t crave more time with his daughter.
Jared held up a beer for a toast. “Except maybe for finding the right woman to have that baby with.”
Nick clicked his bottle against Jared’s, experiencing a little sting of envy. “Yeah, looks like you got lucky the first time.” If only he could say the same for himself.
Surveying the last of the guests, Nick was disappointed to find that Michelle had left after all. When he’d departed the kitchen to give her some space, he’d hoped she would change her mind. She certainly was changing his about her.
“So what do you know about Brooke’s sister?” he asked, probably at his own detriment.
Jared’s grin deepened, confirming Nick’s concern. “Why? Are you still interested?”
Think fast, Kempner. “I talked to her in the kitchen a while ago. She was pretty upset over Brooke not telling her about the baby.”
Jared’s smile dropped out of sight. “I was afraid of that. But they’ll work it out. They’re pretty close.”
“Yeah? They don’t seem that much alike.”
“In some ways they are. Michelle’s pretty devoted to her career and her family. When she’s not working, she’s at her parents’ house making sure they’re okay.”
“So she doesn’t date?”
“You are interested, aren’t you?”
He’d been caught with his mind in the proverbial cookie jar. So much for being subtle. “Let’s just say I’m mildly curious.”
Jared let go a sharp laugh. “I’d wager you’re mildly lustful. Michelle’s a looker, all right. Seems to me she’s anything but receptive to men right now.”
“Yeah, why’s that?”
Jared looked over his shoulder, probably visually patrolling for Brooke, then lowered his voice. “Brooke told me she’s been fairly unlucky with relationships. She had one that went pretty sour a couple of years back.”
“Haven’t we all.”
“To my way of thinking, after your argument with her at our wedding, that makes your odds slim to none.”
Obviously, they had drawn more attention during their confrontation than Nick had first believed. “It wasn’t an argument exactly.” More like casual warfare. “We just don’t see eye to eye on certain things.”
“Let