Chapter 11
"So have
you heard from Kat?"
Billie smiled
absentmindedly. "Yeah. She’s fine."
"And you
still have no idea where she is?"
"Nope,"
she replied simply and lost Kris’s voice, her mind on other things.
"BILLIE!"
She snapped
out of her reverie. "Huh?"
Kris scowled.
"Have you heard a word I’ve said?!"
She smiled
sheepishly. "Sorry."
He sighed
angrily and adjusted the covers on top of them so he could face away from her.
"Forget it," he muttered.
Usually, when
his anger was directed toward her, she got upset, but oddly enough, it didn’t
trouble her so much this time. Her mind was still too focused on other
things…like her meeting with Howie. It’d been a few days since she’d seen him,
but he’d been on her mind constantly. Wow. I must be a lot more star struck
than I thought. She turned her head to stare at the poster of her favorite
Boys. Her eyes stayed on the shortest member of the handsome five. Such an
adorable grin was plastered on his face. She wished she could’ve seen that same
grin the day they met, but she understood that he really had no reason to
smile. I hope you feel better soon Howie…you and the rest of the guys.
A light caress
on her arm claimed her attention and she turned to face her fiancé. Aren’t you
supposed to be mad?"
Kris smiled
seductively. "I could never stay mad at you baby."
She giggled.
"Come here honey…"
***
Rachel’s eyes
narrowed as she watched Kevin, Kristin, and Howie enter the Littrell household
from a safe distance. Dammit! How am I
supposed to keep an eye on Kevin now?!? Ever since Brian and Leighanne had
caught a stalker on their property a while back, security on their property was
state of the art. There was no way she’d be able to get in without their
permission.
She stepped
out of from the bushes across the street from their house and dusted herself
off. She did NOT have the patience for this. Her resources were depleting
rapidly and she needed a refill fast. But first, her ego needed to be healed.
Kevin practically destroyed it in L.A after their encounter in the grocery
store. It left her hurt and unbelievably angered. She’d never hated anyone more
in her life.
And now her
priorities had officially changed. Sure, she was still after his money, but she
was out for blood now. She was here to win.
She was going to
ruin Kevin Richardson’s life to the very last detail.
***
It’s
snowing.
Katarina stared out the window at the tiny flakes making their journey to the
ground and smiled. She’d never been in
Nick…
She had
planned to walk away from him yesterday, but after that intense moment between
them, she didn’t want to do anything but hope that another opportunity to feel
his arms around her would arise again soon. Of course, without Caroline
interrupting! Katarina had been humiliated beyond
belief when she walked in on them like that. She apologized like a broken
record until Caroline stuffed a cookie in her mouth and told her that if she
hears one more apology from her, she’d give her fanny a whooping. Katarina laughed heartily and shook her head.
"What’s
so funny?"
She whipped
around at the sound of his voice. "Nick! Hi…" She hadn’t really
talked to him since their ‘encounter’, but his eyes followed her everywhere she
went. At first it frightened her, how intense his stare was…but after a while
it pleasured her to no end. Right now, with those eyes on her again, the
butterflies in her tummy were suddenly wide awake.
"Hey.
Do you normally laugh at nothing?"
She blushed
and looked down at the carpet, missing the tiny smile that curved his lips.
"I wasn’t laughing at nothing, I was just…" She gulped when she suddenly
noticed that she could now see his feet. That only meant one thing. Katarina wasn’t at all surprised to feel his fingers touch
her chin and tilt her head upward to meet his gaze. She wiped her palms on her
pants. Why do I have to be so nervous?! Her eyes wandered around his
face, one side appearing gentle, handsome…the other… There was no way of
knowing with the black patch of leather hiding what was underneath.
"I like
it when you look at me," he murmured out of the blue.
Katarina cleared her throat. "Do you?"
"Mmhmm…" he licked his lips.
"May I
ask why?" Her eyes couldn’t rip away from his lips.
"NICKOLAS!
RINA! I’LL BE BACK LATER!" Caroline called out from downstairs.
Startled, Katarina moved away from Nick and rushed to her doorway.
"Okay Caroline!" When she heard the door close, she turned around to
face Nick only to find that he was right behind her. Her face collided with his
chest. "Oof!"
"You
okay?"
"Yeah,"
she lightly rubbed her nose, "just a--"
His hand
brushed hers out of the way and began to caress her nose. Her words stayed
lodged in her throat.
"Does
that feel better?"
She could only
nod. And then to her shock…and delight, he leaned forward and pressed a gentle
kiss on the very tip of her nose.
"And how
does that feel?" he whispered.
"…Much
better," she croaked and felt the colour creep
into her cheeks again.
His blue eyes
twinkled in amusement. "Good."
***
Caroline waved to Mr.
McAllister as he drove away in his beat up Chevy truck. Such a nice
man, she thought to herself with a smile. Of course today he treated
her with even more respect and courtesy than usual since she was now officially
81 years old. She laughed to herself as she stuck her key into the
lock. 81 years old and still kicking as though she were 20, Caroline had
never felt more alive. She had plenty to be thankful for. Her
relatively good health, her talent in the arts…but more important, her dear
friends that she had come to see as her children. True, Nickolas and Katarina hardly fit that term now, but to her, they would
always be her babies.
She stepped into the
house and shut the rickety door. “Nickolas! Rina
dear! I’m home!”
Silence.
Caroline raised an
eyebrow. “Hello?!”
“We’re in the living
room Caroline!” Katarina suddenly shouted.
She hung up her coat and
made her way to where her darlings were. “How about I make us so--”
“SURPRISE!”
Caroline’s jaw dropped
as she stared at the colourful streamers and balloons
that hung all over the place…on the ceiling, on the wall, over the
fireplace… “My goodness!” Tears suddenly clouded her eyes when she
beheld Nick and Katarina standing next to each other
in the middle of the room, not because of how wonderful they looked together,
but because Nick was smiling with a tenderness that melted her heart into a
puddle of happy emotions. He was smiling! She approached them with
open arms. “Come here my darlings!”
They didn’t hesitate to
join her and she hugged them tightly. “Thank you both for such a
wonderful surprise.”
“It was no problem
Caroline,” Katarina replied warmly, “it’s the least
we could do for everything you’ve done for us…”
“Yeah,” Nick continued
timidly, “for taking us in when we needed someone to care.”
Caroline grinned.
“Seeing that beautiful smile on your face made it all worthwhile Nickolas.”
“Tell me about it,” Katarina murmured and then gasped, “I mean…”
And for the first time,
Caroline watched in total amusement as both of them turned a light shade of
red. Laughing heartily, she took their hands. “All right you
two. Lead me to my cake!”
***
“She was so happy,” Katarina gushed as she put the dishes away hours later.
Nick dried the last dish
and set it down with a smile. “I can still remember that look on her face
perfectly when she walked into the living room. That was priceless!”
“It was,” she agreed and
closed the cupboards, “but the best part of the night had to be the Monopoly
tournament.”
He groaned. “You had
to bring that up didn’t you?”
Katarina laughed. “You are such a sore loser!”
“Hey, it’s not my fault I
suck at Monopoly,” he crossed his arms and frowned, “stupid boat didn’t do crap
for me.”
She exploded with more
fits of laughter and Nick watched adoringly. Her face radiated with
emotions that, for the first time, he understood…and felt. A familiar
bubbling rose from his stomach, into his throat and then erupted from his
mouth. He realized in amazement that he was laughing.
Nick Carter was laughing!
In fact, he was laughing
so hard that he didn’t even notice that Katarina had
stopped and was now gazing at him in wonder, sheer delight…
And something else that
for now would go unmentioned.
Once he finally calmed
down, he held her gaze. “What?”
She looked timid
suddenly. “You…you have a great laugh Nick.”
“Thank you,” he reached
for her hand, “so do you.” He watched in fascination as she played with
his hand, grazing his fingers with hers, intertwining them… He loved how soft
her skin was… how warm her hand felt against his…
And then she let go.
“I’d better go to bed,”
she murmured, “it’s pretty late.”
She never asked him to follow,
but somehow, he knew that was what she wanted, and he did without
question. When they stopped in front of her door, he found that his heart
was pounding relentlessly against his chest. They were covered in
darkness making everything much more seductive.
Intimate.
“Nick?” she whispered
while gazing into his eyes.
He gulped. “Hmm?”
“I hope I hear you laugh
more often.”
God what was it about her
eyes that lured him, enchanted him…captured him. Dammit,
he’d never been this enthralled with a girl before…
“You give me many reasons
to laugh Rina… I don’t know how to explain what
you’ve done to me.”
Her eyes flashed with
confusion. “What I’ve done?”
“Yes,” he stepped closer
to her enticing body, leaving only a few inches between them. “You make
me feel…like me again.”
She smiled and it was
obvious, although he couldn’t see it that she was blushing. If it weren’t
for the fact that he found it so endearing, he might feel compelled to ask if
her blushing was a medical problem…
“I’m glad I could do that
for you.”
He smiled playfully.
“So am I.”
Katarina laughed softly and began to twirl her blond locks
with her fingers. “Nick?”
“Hmm?” He moaned
inwardly as he watched her tongue moisten her lips and dart back inside her
mouth. He could bet that she had no idea just how much more tempting
she’d become with that innocent action.
“Do you…want to kiss me?”
Nick was immediately taken
aback and delighted by her sudden boldness. She’d found his weakness…and
now it was getting much too hard to hold on to his sanity. “What do you
think?”
She was about to look down
at the ground but he reached out and gently grasped her chin, forcing her to
hold his intense gaze.
“I think you do.”
“You think right.”
“So what are you waiting
for?”
Without another word,
Nick’s hungry mouth crashed down on hers…
***