“Well, I think it’s just fine that Nick would tend to his little cousin on her first trip alone to the big city. You’re a southern girl, too, aren’t you, honey?”
“Well, south of the Mason-Dixon line, at least, Lorelie. We’re practically sisters. Here’s our sweet Nick now.”
Face dangerously bland, Freddie held out the receiver. “Your magnolia blossom’s on the phone.”
He set the bottles down in the most convenient place, on the floor, then took the phone. “Lorelie?” With one wary eye on Freddie, he listened. “Yeah, she is. No, it’s West Virginia. Yeah, close enough. Ah, listen…” He turned his back, lowering his voice as Freddie began to noodle softly at the piano. “I’m working right now. No, no, tonight’s fine. Come by the bar about seven.” He cleared his throat, wondering why he felt so uncomfortable. “I’m looking forward to that, too. Oh, really?” He glanced cautiously over his shoulder at Freddie. “That sounds…interesting. See you tonight.”
After he hung up, he bent down to retrieve one of the bottles. As he unscrewed the top and took it to Freddie, he wondered why it should feel like a pathetic peace offering. “It’s cold.”
“Thanks.”
And so, he noted, was her voice. Ice-cold.
She took the bottle, tipped it back for a long sip. “Should I apologize for taking you away from Lorelie last night?”
“No. We’re not— She’s just— No.”
“It’s so flattering that you told her all about your little lost cousin from West Virginia.” Freddie set the bottle down and let her fingers flow over the keys. Better there than curled around Nick’s throat. “I can’t believe she bought such a pathetic cliché.”
“I just told her the truth.” He stood, scowling and feeling very put-upon.
“That I needed to be looked after?”
“I didn’t say that, exactly. Look, what’s the big deal? You wanted to have dinner, and I rearranged my plans.”
“Next time, just tell me you have a date, Nick. I won’t have any trouble making plans of my own.” Incensed, she pushed away from the piano and began stuffing her papers into her briefcase. “And I am not your little cousin, and I don’t need to be looked after or tended to. Anybody but a total jerk could see that I’m a grown woman, well able to take care of herself.”
“I never said you weren’t—”
“You say it every time you look at me.” She kicked a pile of clothes away as she stormed across the room for her purse. “It so happens that there are a few men around who would be more than happy to have dinner with me without considering it a duty.”
“Hold on.”
“I will not hold on.” She whirled back, curls flying around her face. “You’d better take a good look, Nicholas LeBeck. I am not little Freddie anymore, and I won’t be treated like some family pet who needs a pat on the head.”
Baffled, he dragged his hands through his hair. “What the hell’s gotten into you?”
“Nothing!” She shouted it, frustrated beyond control. “Nothing, you idiot. Go cuddle up with your southern comfort.”
When she slammed the door, Nick leaned down to open a club soda for himself. He could only shake his head. To think, he mused, she’d been such a sweet-tempered kid.
Freddie worked off a great deal of her anger with a long walk. When she felt she was calm enough to speak without spewing broken glass, she stopped at a phone booth and checked in with Sydney. The conversation did quite a bit to lift her spirits.
Afterward, armed with an address, she rushed off to view a vacant one-bedroom apartment three blocks from Nick’s.
It was perfect. While Freddie wandered from room to room, she envisioned the furnishings she’d place here, the rugs she’d place there. Her own home, she thought, with room enough for a piano under the window, space enough for a pullout sofa so that her brother or sister could come and stay for visits.
And best of all, close enough that she could keep an eye on Nick.
How do you like that, Nicholas? she wondered as she grinned at her view of Manhattan. I’m going to be looking out for you. I love you so much, you stupid jerk.
Sighing, she turned away from the window and walked into the kitchen. It was small and needed some paint to perk it up, but she would see to that. She’d enjoy choosing the right cookware, the pots and pans and kitchen implements. She loved to cook, and even as a child had loved the big kitchen in her home in West Virginia, the wonderfully crowded kitchen at her grandmother’s in Brooklyn.
She’d cook for Nick here, she thought, running a finger over the smooth butcher-block countertop, if he played his cards right. No. She smiled at herself, and at her own impatience. It was she who had to play the cards, and play them right.
She’d been too hard on him, even if he had been a jerk. She’d spent more than half her life in love with him, but he spent that same amount of time thinking of her as a little cousin—if not by blood, then by circumstance. It was going to take more than one romantic dinner and one afternoon as colleagues to change that.
And change it she would. Hands on hips, she began another tour of the apartment. Just as she would build a life here, one that reflected her own taste and grew from the solid, loving background she’d been blessed with. And before she was done, the world she created would be filled with music and color and love.
And, by God, with Nick.
It was nearly seven when Nick came down to the bar. Zack lifted a brow as he mixed a stinger. “Hot date?”
“Lorelie.”
“Oh, yeah.” Now Zack wiggled his brows. “Tall, willowy brunette with rose petals in her voice.”
“That’s the one.” Nick moved behind the bar to help fill orders. “We’re just going to catch some dinner. Then we’ll come back here so I can relieve you.”
“I can cover for you.”
“No, it’s no problem. She likes hanging out here. After I close up, we’ll figure out something else to do.”
“I bet you will. Table six needs two drafts and a bourbon and branch.”
“Got it.”
“Hey, did you hear about Freddie’s apartment.”
Nick’s hand paused on the lever. “What apartment?”
“Found one just a couple blocks from here. She’s already signed the papers.” Zack filled an empty bowl with beer nuts. “You just missed her. She came in to celebrate.”
“Did anybody look over the place for her? Mik?”
“She didn’t say. Kid’s got a good head on her shoulders.”
“Yeah. I guess. She should have gotten Rachel to look over the lease, though.”
Chuckling, Zack laid a hand on Nick’s shoulder as he was finishing preparing the order. “Hey, the little birds have to leave the nest sometime.”
With a shrug, Nick placed the drinks on the end of the bar for the waitress. “So, she went on back to the hotel?”
“Nope. Went out with Ben.”
“Ben.” Nick’s fingers froze on the cloth he’d picked up to wipe the bar. “What do you mean, she went out with Ben?” Now Nick twisted the cloth into a semblance of a noose. His eyes went bright and hard as a dagger. “You introduced Fred to Stipley?”
“Sure.” With a nod to a waitress, Zack began to fill another order. “He asked me who the pretty blonde was, so I introduced them. They hit it off, too.”
