“Nicholas!” Hula practically screamed.
He spun and marched into the house with a huff of agitation. “What? What is so important?” He didn’t see her in the kitchen so he strode into the living room. “What…” He trailed off in disbelief as soon as he entered the room.
“You’ve been robbed, Mr. Morgan,” Hula said sympathetically.
Nick stared around the room in shock. Half of the items that normally littered the area were missing in action. Many, many expensive things. “How could she?” he whispered, heartbreakingly dumbfounded.
Chapter Five
Nixie sat at her kitchen table running the past twenty-four hours through her head. She could barely believe the things that had happened. Stuff like this didn’t happen to her. Taking a calming breath, she tried to compose herself. She was probably getting herself all worked up over nothing.
Just like every other guy she’d slept with, Nick would wake up and realize what a klutz she was. He’d get over his initial attraction and see that she was no Miss December…but things with him had felt so right. No one else had ever made her feel the way Nick did. She was totally and completely head over heels for the guy.
She fingered one of the buttons on her shirt. When Nixie had gotten home, she’d passed on the option of changing and had instead sunk into a kitchen chair to think. Now, she lifted the shirt to her nose and inhaled the scent of Nick’s musky aftershave.
The sound of the phone ringing startled her, making her jump and drop the shirt guiltily from her fingers. Leaning precariously back on two legs of the chair, she reached to the wall and snatched up the phone. “Hello?”
“Nixie? It’s Nick.”
She was so startled to hear his voice that she lost her balance. With a surprised yelp, Nixie toppled backwards, her chair tipping to the floor. The phone dropped out of her hand, the plastic cracking loudly against the ground, then skidded away from her.
She scrambled on her hands and knees after it. She quickly brought it back to her ear and breathlessly asked, “Hello? Are you still there?”
“Yes,” said Nick’s smooth, sensual voice. “What was that noise?”
“Oh, that?” She gave an embarrassed titter. “I fell out of my chair.”
“Surprised to hear from me?” he asked.
Nixie frowned at the phone. His voice sounded almost…cold. “More like delighted,” she admitted carefully. “What happened to your meeting?”
“Cancelled it,” he said shortly.
“Oh, Nick,” she said. “I thought it was important.”
“It was, but…” He trailed off, pausing. “I had to see you.”
Nixie’s heart filled with joy. “That is so romantic.”
“Yeah.” He sounded almost scornful. “Whatever.”
Nixie’s frown returned and she went to comment, but he cut her off. “Open the door,” he ordered. “I’m outside.” A second later there was a knock on her kitchen door.
Nixie sat up straight on the cold linoleum floor trying to peer out of the window of the door. She could barely make out his form as he shifted his weight impatiently on the stoop. “Hey,” she cried in surprise. “How did you find my house? I didn’t tell you where I lived. Did you use some super-secret, rich guy private detective to track me down or something?”
“No,” Nick said listlessly. “I opened a phone book.”
“Oh.” She was slightly disappointed at the unexciting means by which he found her. “Well…I guess I shouldn’t leave you waiting out there.” She hung up the phone then quickly began running her fingers through her hair, trying to look more presentable. Opening the door, she pasted a big, wide smile on her face. “Hey,” she said delicately.
Nick’s features seemed to instantly soften at her greeting, but a moment later, his sullen expression returned. “I want my things back,” he demanded, pushing into the house.
“Oh,” Nixie replied, feeling slightly startled. “Of course.” She turned and headed back toward her bedroom, motioning for him to follow. She fingered the top button of her shirt. “I didn’t get a chance to wash it,” she apologized.
Nick stood in the doorway of her bedroom and stared in disbelief as she began unbuttoning her shirt. At the second button, he stopped her. “I didn’t mean the shirt,” he said contemptuously. He eyed it thoughtfully. “Though I do want that as well. It’s an Armani.”
Nixie gasped and looked down at her shirt in surprise. “You gave me an Armani shirt to lounge around the house in?”
Nick ignored her question and repeated his demand. “My. Things.” He stressed each word harshly, aggravation evident in his voice.
Nixie’s hand flew to her neck, her fingers grazing the heart locket. “You want the necklace?” she asked, slightly confused.
“No. Not the damn necklace,” he snapped. “I want my things!”
Nixie cringed at his angered tone. “Nick, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said meekly.
“Oh, don’t play dumb,” he spat. Marching across the room, he got right in her face. “I’ve had about all the acting I can take from you.” His eyes flicked to the bed behind her. “Sit down.” The statement was a harsh demand.
Nixie eyed him apprehensively. She wasn’t afraid of him, not really. She was just fearful something had happened that was going to ruin what little chance she had with him. With a baffled sigh, she followed his order and climbed onto the bed. She scooted up so her back was resting against the headboard, trying to put a little distance between them to hopefully quell his agitation. “Nick,” she asked cautiously. “What’s wrong? You seem…irritated.”
From his back pocket, Nick produced a pair of handcuffs that he quickly fastened to her left wrist. Looping it through a section of the headboard, he then fastened the other side to her right wrist.
He moved swiftly and Nixie was too stunned to put up much of a fight. When he took a step back, she stared at him in indignation. “Nick, what the hell are you doing?”
“Exactly what you did last night. I’m going to root through your bedroom to see if there’s anything of interest.”
“The same thing I did?” She gave a disgruntled snort. “I don’t recall handcuffing you to the bed.”
Nick, who had wrenched open the top drawer of her dresser, spun to look at her. His eyes darkened in lust as he watched her struggle against her restraints. His expression slowly turned to pity then fast as lightning was back to anger. “No,” he practically snarled. “What you did was worse.”
“What I did?” Nixie asked huffily. “What exactly did I do?”
Nick slammed her drawer shut with a resounding bang. “You seduced me. You made me…” His voice cracked and he had to swallow before continuing. “You had sex with me while your cohorts came in and cleaned the place out. You helped rob me. You used me for…for what, a few lousy bucks?”
“First off, nothing you own costs a few lousy bucks, and second, what the hell are you talking about?”
“You know what I’m talking about! I was conveniently robbed the night I shacked up with you. Coincidence? I think not.” He yanked her closet open and began tossing her possessions around, searching for anything that belonged to him. “So I’m going to violate your privacy like you did mine.” To prove his point, he grabbed a container of shoes and emptied it on the floor.
Behind him, Nixie gave a pathetic little sob at seeing her things being tossed around so carelessly by someone she’d thought might care about her, even if just a little.
Nick’s handsome face looked almost ugly in his rage. “It’s too late for tears, honey.”
Nixie bit back another snivel, not wanting to give him the benefit of seeing how much his actions were hurting her.
* * *
Nick made sure to maintain the unyielding snarl on his face, but inside, he was shaking like a leaf. He felt horrible for the way he was behaving, but he knew the moment he dropped the angry act, he would fall apart. He couldn’t fall apart in front of Nixie. His pride wouldn’t allow it. As it was, he’d almost rushed to her side and begged for her forgiveness when he’d heard the shallow little sob that escaped her throat. He had to fight to keep himself from crumbling.
She’d done him wrong. She’d used him. She’d fooled him into thinking there was something between them when he was vulnerable from a recent break up. She didn’t care that she’d taken his heart and crushed it under those spiked heels of hers.
“I want you to know I think you’re the biggest asshole on the face of the planet.”
Statements like that made it a lot easier for him to stand his ground. Nick’s lip curled up. “The feeling is completely mutual.” He couldn’t keep the smug grin off his face at the startled look he received for his statement. Good. It was about time she realized that those cute little looks weren’t working him over anymore.