Page 63 of The Clover Chapel (Jamison Valley 2)
I gave him an eye roll but started walking. “I could do without seeing your friend Andrea ever again.”
“Me too.”
What was she to Nick? Had he slept with her before? Was that the reason she was so desperate to get his attention? Or was it all just a game to toy with me?
She had jumped at the chance to intimidate and embarrass me, even if her attempt had backfired. She was a complete stranger but I knew her type. Possessive. Jealous. Shallow.
“I hate to ask,” I said. “What’s the history with you and her?”
Nick abruptly stopped the cart, forcing my stomach into the handlebar. His hands grabbed m
y shoulders and spun me around in the tight space.
“I wish I could tell you there weren’t women in my life these last nine years, but I can’t. I can tell you that there wasn’t anyone serious. And never once did I go there with Andrea.”
I wasn’t dumb. There had to have been women in his life, just like there had been men in mine. But thus far in our second chance, I’d been able to pretend he didn’t have a past. Since we hadn’t talked about it, his history wasn’t real.
Now it was and I did not like the way my stomach twisted at the thought of Nick with another woman.
“Okay,” I said. “The grocery story is not the place for this conversation. Can we go?”
“You asked, Emmy.”
“I know.” I nodded and looked to the floor. “And I shouldn’t be upset. But I am.”
Nick’s chin dropped to the top of my head. “And that shouldn’t make me feel good, but it does. I about crawled out of my skin that day I saw you on the street with your ex. Thinking you took him home and were kissing him. That you might be fucking him. I drank a whole bottle of whiskey that night just so I could sleep.”
Somehow his statement eased the sickness in my stomach. It wasn’t that I was glad he had been upset about me and Logan. It was that we could both openly admit we were jealous.
And I was elated that he hadn’t been with Andrea and she couldn’t throw a past sexual encounter in my face.
I lifted my arms from my sides and wrapped them around his waist, giving him a brief squeeze before I tipped my chin way back to meet his eyes.
“Come on. Let’s get out of here,” I said. “Maybe you can make me cookies when we get to the house.”
Without a word, he steered us to the refrigerator aisle and grabbed a long tube of premixed cookie dough. Peanut butter, chocolate chip. My favorite.
“We’ve got eight minutes before those are done,” I said after sliding a cookie sheet into the oven.
I was proud of myself for taking over the cookie baking while Nick unloaded the groceries. Not that making premade cookies was difficult, but still, a year ago I wouldn’t have had a clue what to do with that tube of dough. I was making slow strides toward one day becoming a decent cook.
Nick’s hard chest pressed against my back and startled me. “Then we’ve got seven minutes to do something else.”
The feel of his warm breath against my skin and the pressure of his fingertips at my hips had my body instantly trembling.
“Nick, what are—” His mouth dropped to my neck and his soft lips traveled up and down my skin.
“Nick.” I inhaled as one of his hands moved around my hip and to the front of my jeans. My stomach dipped as his fingers lightly caressed under the hem of my sweater.
My heart started pounding as his fingertips slid under the waistband of my jeans.
“Nick, I don’t think—” I couldn’t finish that sentence either. My mind was torn. I should put on the brakes but at the same time, I really wanted to see what Nick was going to do.
“Shh, Emmy,” he whispered. “Stop thinking. Just feel it.”
A small moan escaped my mouth. I was feeling, all right. I was feeling Nick everywhere. His strong chest against my back. His lips behind my ear. One hand kneading my hip. The other’s fingers unbuttoning my jeans and sliding down the zipper.
When his hand slid into my purple lace panties, I groaned and closed my eyes. I laid my head against his shoulder so he had better access to my neck.
