Chloe told him they were done for the day, and then she walked away. Shutting herself in her room, she hung her head and wondered why she felt so despondent. This was all a good thing. She just had to convince herself of that. More than anything, she had to come to a decision and stick with it instead of faltering so much.
For the next few days, Nick wasn’t his usual self with her. Maybe he’d been rejected too many times, maybe he’d lost interest, but as the countdown began for Chloe to leave, she felt a growing sense of unease.
She wasn’t sure what she was going to do about it. She knew the best thing would be to let it go, finish her job, and get on with her life. If that’s what she would actually do, she wasn’t exactly sure. That would be smart, no doubt―but she wasn’t always the shrewdest person.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
By day five of Nick and Chloe’s standoff―him flirting but never making a move, and her refusing to make any kind of advance—she was exhausted, mentally, physically, and emotionally. The current day had seemed to take forever, but at the same time, it had been incredibly successful. Nick would never be called an easy patient, but he was mending. She wished she could still hate him, but she knew there was so much more to his story than what she’d first thought. Nick wasn’t the devil.
But what exactly did that mean? Chloe wasn’t sure. One thing she knew for certain was that she couldn’t resist him any longer. There was a hunger burning inside her that she’d been fighting for weeks. She didn’t want to fight it anymore. The pain of choosing Nick over her family, though, was ripping her in half. Was she telling herself that Nick meant more than her deceased brother? No! She wasn’t doing that at all. She was just admitting he wasn’t guilty of her brother’s death and that she wasn’t going to continue letting her father control her.
She moved to the kitchen and put away the leftovers from their dinner. Nick was in his home office doing some work. She had no idea what he did in there for hours on end, but she did know that he succeeded at anything he put his mind to.
Chloe knew she should call it a night, go to the safety of her room, shut the door, and tuck herself into her nice comfortable bed after taking a really long and extra-hot bath. That’s what she should do.
Instead, she found herself moving through the dark kitchen to the large back window. She spent a lot of time there looking out at the moonlit bay. The view was spectacular and soothing. It calmed her after particularly stressful days.
Turning, Chloe glanced over to Nick’s open office door. He was looking down at his computer, giving her time to take a nice perusal of him. The man truly was spectacular. He covered his pain with humor, but she saw what he didn’t want her to notice. Maybe that’s why she’d gained such a deep measure of respect for him. Even with a frown between his brows, he was impressive.
Something drew Chloe closer to him.
She stood in his doorway for several moments, wondering what in the world she was doing. She tried to walk away, but it just didn’t seem to be happening.
“Would you like something to drink before I call it a night?” she asked.
He looked up, flashing her his brilliant smile. Damn, that smile took her breath away. There was that gleam she was very aware of in his eyes that told her all she’d have to do would be to walk up to him and he would take her again and again and again.
Instead of doing just that, she waited for him to answer. The longer the moment stretched, the more she realized she should have just run to her room. It wasn’t too late. She began to turn.
“I could use a cup of coffee,” he said, his words dripping with sexiness. She knew coffee wasn’t what he really craved.
Spinning on her heels, Chloe rushed from the room, finding her fingers trembling when she pulled down the coffee cup. She took her time fixing it the way he liked it before she braved the walk back to his office.
“This is nonsense. It’s just a cup of coffee, nothing more,” she murmured quietly, then looked around to make sure he wasn’t behind her. She didn’t need him knowing what she was thinking. That would land her on top of his desk in seconds.
The mere thought of it sent a thrill down her spine. Chloe was in incredibly bad shape at the moment, and it didn’t seem to be getting any better, no matter how long she stalled in the kitchen.
Holding the cup tightly in her hands, she braved the walk back to his office. She moved slowly across the large living room to his open door. This time, he wasn’t looking down. He watched her approach with a knowing gleam in his eyes. She wished he was wrong in what he was thinking.
As Chloe got closer to him, she noticed he’d unbuttoned the top of his shirt, showing an enticing view of his smooth chest. His sleeves were rolled up, and as he flexed his fingers, the ripples in his muscles drew in her gaze. His lower half was getting stronger by the day, but his upper half was pushed to the limit each hour she wasn’t working his legs. He was strong and fit, and she found herself wanting to run her hands across his tight skin.
“I’m going to head to my room,” Chloe told him, hating that her breath was coming out too softly. She hoped he didn’t hear the desire just beneath.
Nick winced, and she was immediately concerned. She stepped closer to him, her hand going out, but she pulled it back at the last moment. This was way past their therapy time, and she didn’t need to be touching him.
“Can you rub out my shoulder first? I think I might have pulled something,” he told her.
Chloe searched his eyes. She didn’t see anything underhanded in his expression.