Page 104 of The Summer Show

Well, she had found it.

And thanks to Nick, that opportunity had been whisked away. Mom sold me out for nothing.

Nick, by the way, was looking down at me as though he didn’t give a damn that we were however high in the air.

He took my hand in his and laid it flat on his chest, slightly off center, where his heart lived.

“She failed you, but I won’t. Let me take care of you, Kathleen.” His voice dropped to a pleading whisper. “Let me love you. Please. If you won’t let me love you up close, I understand. But know that I’ll go on loving you from afar. Knowing you’re alive and in the world will have to be enough.”

It struck me like an anvil to the head. My feelings weren’t evolving in a vacuum. Nick was watering them, nurturing my emotions and feeding them with a steady stream of his own affection. We brought out the best in each other.

“You don’t need my permission for that,” I whispered back.

Before I could draw another breath, he leaned down, slanting his mouth onto mine. His lips were hot, possessive, desperate. The kiss wrenched a sigh from my throat as I twisted the neckline of his shirt in my fists. He tilted my head so that he could delve deeper, and I leaned into him like a crazed and starving woman.

There was nothing I wouldn’t do for this man.

I wanted more.

I wanted everything.

The barely concealed restraint in his hands as he cupped my face told me that everything was coming, as soon as we were alone. One hand left my cheek and roamed down the curves of my body, until it found my ass. He pulled me hard against him, which banished the last of my fears. This raging lust I was feeling? Nick felt it, too.

The only obstacle now was this tower and the cameras down below, capturing what should be a private moment.

I broke the kiss.

He blinked at me, as lust dazed as I felt. “Kathleen?”

“We’ve got an audience.”

“I can fix that,” he said, and I believed him with every fiber of my being.

With my handed tucked in his, Nick walked to the railing and glared down at the judges, the small audience, the rolling cameras.

“Get the hell out!”

thirty-eight

What happened at the top of the tower stayed at the top of the tower.

Suffice to say, Nick and I were off to a compatible start.

Afterward, Nick made a phone call, and before long several crew members rolled in on a boom lift to save us from having to traverse the long ladder down. In the throes of post-coital bliss, I couldn’t rely on my body to maintain integrity. Last thing I needed was to ooze down the ladder and wind up as a puddle on the stones.

With us back on terra firma, Mairi and Paris rushed back in, gushing praise about our performance during the finale.

“What about Sakis?” I asked.

They looked surprised. “He was in the audience.”

“But I wasn’t here for filming last night. He was supposed to be in the finale with Nick.”

“We will film him being voted out later.”

“Okay,” Nick said, sounding huffy. “We’re leaving now.”

“But—” Mairi spluttered.