Seducing Celestine Page 9

  Celestine slammed the hood down. Okay, what to do now? She had no money and no workable car. She could go inside Nick’s house and demand he fix whatever he broke but she figured that would get her pretty much nowhere. More than likely the man would want to have sex again.

  “Not ever going to happen again,” Celestine muttered to herself as she started tramping down toward the driveway of his home. Against her better judgment, Celestine knew she would have to try to hitch a ride. It was a really dumb thing to do but her options were limited. She had precisely one dollar and fifty cents in her purse. Not even enough to get a bus ticket to get her home. She groaned as she realized she still had to face the real estate agent she rented through about the mess to the house. It wasn’t her fault but she doubted they would take it so kindly. After all, business was business and the fact that some uneducated nutcase was after her was not their problem.

  “Give me strength,” Celestine muttered as she started down the driveway.

  “Going somewhere?” Nick called as he came out of the house.

  “Rack off!” Celestine shot a look at him that would have made a lesser man balk but Nick just smiled. She stopped and looked at his fresh clothes and shaved face. She looked like a limp dishcloth compared to him. “What did you to my car?” Celestine wasn’t in the mood for pleasant small talk.

  Nick looked at her in a pleasant, vague manner.

  “Your car?” Nick asked, knowing exactly what she was talking about but feigning ignorance for the moment. “Won’t your car start?”

  “You bloody know it won’t.” Celestine stalked over to him and poked him in the chest. She had the urge to jump on him and pummel him into the ground. However, she knew it would probably not do anything much to him other than make him laugh and get him aroused and then she would again not be wanting to waste that cock of his. Celestine blew out a tired sigh. She decided to try another approach with the man. “Please fix whatever it was you did to my car, Nick.” Her tone was soft and pleading as her eyes looked at him beseechingly. She could suck up if she had to.

  “You’re sweet but I’m not fixing your car.”

  “Pig!” Celestine snapped, wondering why she even bothered to attempt to be nice to him. She turned back and continued down the driveway with Nick following casually beside her as if they were on a stroll.

  “Don’t fight this, baby. I intend to help you even if it drives you insane.”

  “I don’t need your help.”

  “I want to find out why someone is after you. I think it has everything to do with your car.”

  Celestine snorted at his words.

  “Yes, only last week Paris Hilton asked if she could borrow it and I said ‘no way, Paris, get your own piece of crap car’.”

  Nick grabbed her arm gently and stopped her from moving.

  “Think about it. That man wanted your car, you get shot at and someone damages your car. Then last night, some rocket scientist trashes your house and demands you give something back.”

  “I paid for that car fair and square. No one but me owns it.”

  Nick scratched his head in thought.

  “What other reason is there?”

  “Gee, Sherlock, I don’t know.” Celestine looked at the man before her. Realistically she knew Nick wanted to help her. That was nice. That was sweet. She should not be a bitch about it but old habits died hard. “I have to get home.”

  “I’ll make you breakfast.” Nick slowly moved in closer to her as his hand dropped to rest low on the back of one of her hips.

  Celestine was starving. She could not remember that last time she had eaten. And her rumbling stomach indicated her body did not seem to want to live off its fat deposits as nature intended. Typical.

  “Why is your hand on my ass?” Celestine felt the slow massaging squeeze of Nick’s hand and her body reacted according. She had never thought she was a highly sexed person before. But that was in the pre-Nick Swan days. The man had her wet at a touch.

  “Don’t you like it?”

  “I thought you were offering me breakfast?”

  Nick’s other hand went up to cup her breast.

  “I’m offering lots of things, baby.”

  “I bet you are.” Nick’s hands were now unbuttoning Celestine’s blouse. “We cannot have sex in the middle of your driveway.”

  “Why not, it’s early and no one’s around.” Her blouse dropped to the ground and he leaned forward and licked the deep cleavage of her breasts. The shiver that ran through her body made Nick only too aware that their desire was mutual. “But I know you’ll scream your head off when you come and I don’t want to share that moment with anyone.” He grabbed her hand and moved her over to a latticed gazebo that offered some privacy.

  “I do not scream my head off.” Celestine tugged at her bra and pulled it off. Who was she kidding? She wanted Nick’s mouth on her breasts now. Yes, she was still annoyed at him about the car but his tongue on her body would go a great way to alleviating that annoyance. And she could still go home after sex with Nick. It was a win-win situation.

  “You do and I love it.” Nick pulled her skirt off as she tugged at his trousers.

  Celestine dropped her panties as any pretense of modesty was gone. Nick was annoying and pushy but he was also damned hot and she craved him like oxygen. To deny herself that vital element seemed crazy. Celestine looked around for somewhere to sit. She spotted a large metal table and pulled Nick toward it. As she sat back on a table the metal was cold under her ass. But she knew she would be hot soon. She spread her legs wide.

  Nick smiled at the sight of his woman ready and willing.

  “God, I love you, Celestine Holt.”

  “Prove it, moonlight man.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Nick growled huskily as he grabbed her hips and slid his cock in to the hilt in her.

  Celestine moaned in pleasure as she grabbed Nick’s ass and urged him in and out of her body. She knew she would scream her head off but what the hell.

  ———

  “I’m still wondering if this sudden job offer from you has anything to do with sex,” Celestine asked as she sat down before the computer inside Nick’s office. The inside of his home was simple, neat and incredibly masculine. She was glad there were no feminine touches. She knew the man wasn’t a virgin but she didn’t want to think of some woman having the sort of influence over him to change and shape his home. It was not exactly jealousy she was feeling. It was more that for the moment this was her territory and no other woman was having a piece of her man. It had everything to do with possession. Nick Swan was hers. Maybe that sounded an awful lot like love. Maybe she was just a jealous bitch. Who knew? The jury was still out on that. Did great sex and love go together or was she just being misled by a powerful cock and her own libido? And if so was that a bad thing?

  “Do you think I’m shallow enough to give you a job just because we made love?” Nick grinned at her skeptical eye roll. “I like you around. Is that a problem for you?”

  “No.” Celestine felt a warm surge run through her body at Nick’s words. It was nice to feel wanted. Nick had offered her a job, handed her some of his clean oversized sweats and made her feel at home. It was something indefinable but not exactly a problem.

  “Besides, I desperately need the help. I have invoices for building supplies coming out of everywhere and I need to get them sorted and paid.” Nick dumped a buff-colored folder full of invoices on the desk before her.

  “I can do that. I believe I would be very good at spending other people’s money.” Celestine watched as Nick sat down on the edge of the desk she sat at. “We are not having sex in this office.”

  “Did I say we were?”

  “No but I know that look.” Celestine picked up a wad of invoices and tried to ignore Nick. This was virtually impossible as he was always on her radar. “I have work to do and so do you.”

  “Okay, baby, but later…”

  “I’ll think about it…now shoo, moonlig
ht man.”

  After three hours of sorting and imputing invoices, Celestine was pleased at her progress. Nick’s business was quite fascinating. Clearly he was a successful man. The invoices alone told her that. The work had taken her mind off Nick Swan and what she was going to do with what she felt about him. Love or lust? Which was it? Her biggest problem was she had never been loved by anyone in any way, shape or form, so how did she even know the difference between the two? That they were fantastic sexually was lust. That she was starting to get all gooey and girly when she thought about Nick—which was often—she suspected was love. Celestine sighed tiredly.

  “I don’t know…”

  “What don’t you know?” Nick asked as he came into the office.

  “What to do about you.” Why try to hide it? The man confused the hell out of Celestine.

  Nick came over to where she sat and looked at her softly.

  “What do you want to do? Run away?”

  How was it Nick always seemed to know her thoughts?

  “It’s an option.”

  “I’d miss you.”

  Celestine could see his heart in his eyes and she blinked momentarily to stop herself from doing something dumb like crying.

  “Would you, Nick?”

  “Yeah, I would, baby.”

  Celestine tilted her head at an angle and assessed him thoughtfully.

  “Are we talking just sexually?”

  “In every way.” Nick pulled Celestine to her feet. “I think we need to go for a drive and clear our heads.” He saw the look of surprise in Celestine’s eyes. “You muddle me up something chronic, baby.”

  “Please! Compared to you I’m piece of cake.”

  “Whatever you like to think…” chuckled Nick as he led Celestine from the office.

  ———

  After an hour’s drive, when she truly doubted whether her car would make the distance, Celestine and Nick were on the boardwalk at Caloundra, staring at the deep blue ocean and sandy yellow beach. It was the kind of small beach community, north of Brisbane, which had resisted the tacky lure of commercial enterprise and retained its seaside charm.

  “Thank you,” Celestine said sincerely to Nick as he strolled along beside her, his hand in hers. This was what she needed. A break. It did not solve her money problems or the threat of danger she was under but it gave her a chance to catch her breath and realize there was more to life.

  “So tell me your life story.”

  “It’s pretty boring.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that,” Nick replied, pulling her close toward him.

  “Okay, I was born in Brisbane and I am now walking along a seaside boardwalk with a man who I’m not sure what I want to do about.” Did she want to get into deep and meaningfuls with Nick Swan? Not really. They always turned out messy.

  “Elaborate on the first bit and we’ll work on the second bit later.” Nick pulled her close so their sides touched as they walked. “Tell me about your family.”

  Celestine sighed tiredly. Her family. She tried not to think about that subject too often. However, she had a feeling Nick would nag her until she spilled her guts anyway.

  “My parents, who are now deceased, were complete opposites who for some reason got married and then produced two children who were again opposites in every way. All four of us had no idea how to get on with each other and I often just assumed I had been switched at birth but blood tests indicated otherwise.” She looked at Nick’s thoughtful expression. If he was expecting the Brady Bunch he was going to be disappointed. “Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a horrible childhood. It was more like four people who were related by blood but for some reason just could not be a successful family when all put together.” That summed it all up, thought Celestine. The Holt family nicely packaged up in a box that could be put away and opened only if you chose to. It was better though to leave it closed.

  “Sounds kind of lonely.” Nick wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

  That felt awfully nice to the girly side of Celestine.

  “We had our moments. Usually strained and coldly calm. I am fairly sure I loved my parents but I never felt they were really at ease with each other. There was just this general lack of interest that just shone through. And that seemed to flow to Grace and myself. Unfortunately that hasn’t changed even in adulthood.”

  “Would you like it to?”

  “You know I tried with Grace, though probably not hard enough.” Celestine remembered the surprise on Grace’s face when she had turned up one year with a birthday present on her birthday. They had both just felt awkward. “I don’t know how to be a sister. Besides, we were all just complete opposites.” Celestine vividly remembered the wild hair pulling, name-calling fights she and Grace had had. That had just progressed into the cold politeness of adulthood. It was not Grace’s fault. It was not her fault. It was just some genetic quirk that did not allow any of the Holt family to really get on with each other as a normal family did. No one in her family seemed to handle love very well. So they choose instead to avoid it. Hence the confusion of what she felt for Nick. Did she have the ability to love someone? Or would she end up like her parents? Coldly indifferent to her partner.

  Nick shook his head sadly. He could not imagine not having a close relationship with his family. But it explained a lot to him about the woman at his side.

  “And what about Grace? Are you going to try again with her?”

  Celestine blew out a frustrated sigh.

  “I don’t know. I doubt it. I really don’t think anything can bring us together now. We’re just too uneasy with each other.” Celestine wanted to get off this topic. It was uncomfortable. Her eyes moved along the boardwalk, following the colorfully dressed holiday makers. She felt bland in her borrowed oversized sweats. She stopped suddenly.

  “Un-frigging-believable!” Celestine hissed as her hands clenched tightly at her side.

  “What?” The soft mood was most definitely broken. Nick looked in the direction of Celestine’s angry gaze.

  “That woman!” Celestine jabbed her finger in the direction of a blonde in tiny white shorts and a yellow tank top. “It’s Julia Bailey!” She looked at Nick’s confused expression. “My ratfink ex-roommate. I have been searching for her for months.” Celestine tore off in the direction that Julia was taking, “Julia!” Celestine yelled out loudly, not caring who heard her. She was determined to catch up to her big fake-boobed quarry.

  The surprise in Julia Bailey’s eyes at seeing Celestine was quickly masked as she stopped dead in her tracks.

  “Celestine Holt, how are you?” Julia asked, her eyes locking on the gorgeous man beside her ex-friend.

  Celestine snorted derisively.

  “Don’t pretend you care, Julia.” Celestine felt Nick’s hand gently descend onto her arm. Was it in support or was he worried she was going to inflict bodily harm on Julia?

  “What’s wrong, Celestine?” Julia had the look of a woman who knew only too well what was wrong.

  Celestine pushed up the sleeves of the oversized top ready for battle.

  “Oh gee, where to begin, Julia? Let’s see, you stole my television, stereo, jewelry and credit cards. Then you proceeded to rack up enormous debts under my name because you are a lying, thieving cow. Does that cover it all?”

  “Oh,” Julia responded quietly. The woman was trapped and she knew it.

  “Yes, that is the inadequate half-assed response I would expect from you, Julia.”

  Nick watched the two women silently. This wasn’t his fight. He would help if she asked but until then he would stand back, watch and admire the way Celestine handled herself. The woman was fearless.

  “I’m sorry, Celestine, I just hit a bad patch and I didn’t think you’d mind helping me out,” Julia said, as if this excused her actions.

  Celestine barked out a harsh laugh.

  “What a load of crap. If you are in trouble you ask, you don’t take and screw up someone’s life.”

>   “Yes, of course, you’re right. I’ll write you a check right now to cover anything I owe you.” Julia reached into her shoulder bag to do just that.

  Celestine had been stung by Julia’s rubber checks before.

  “Thanks, but I prefer and must insist on cash when it comes to you.”

  “That’s not very trusting, Celestine,” Julia replied coolly.

  “Fancy me not trusting you? How shocking,” Celestine murmured cynically. To be honest she was skeptical about getting anything back that Julia had stolen but it never hurt to try.

  “I don’t have cash on me at the moment…”

  “Of course you don’t, Julia. What a shocker that is.”

  Julia looked at her thoughtfully.

  “Are you still living at Everton Park? I can come by and drop the money off to you. I swear I will,” she insisted, sounding like she might mean it.

  “Yes I am. And may I say your promise instantly puts my mind at rest—not.” Celestine also gave Nick’s address to Julia who wrote it diligently down and then left them, promising to return some of Celestine’s money.

  “Do you think Julia will give you back the money?”

  “No and they’re fake.”

  “What?” Nick asked, looking puzzled.

  “Her breasts. You were staring at them.”

  “It was hard not to. But yours are so much better, baby.”

  “And that, luckily for you, is the correct answer.”

  Nick’s hand caught hers.

  “So you’re staying with me?”

  “For the moment.”

  Chapter Seven

  “Let’s see, I now own Park Place so that means you owe me,” Celestine calculated the vast sum of Monopoly money Nick Swan had to fork over to her, “two thousand dollars.” She gleefully held out her hand to accept the vivid orange play money. “Damn shame this is not real money.” It had been a day since the visit to Caloundra and they had spent some enjoyable, non-sexual moments together. It had been nice and relaxing. Clearly they could be together without having sex.