Naughty Nicks by Christine d'Abo Page A

teach you a few things, and Kim would understand exactly what you wanted from her.”
    The thought of him stripping was beyond ludicrous. “You’re insane.”
    “No, I’m brilliant. You can’t deny you don’t want to get together with her. Not after what I saw tonight. Kim is also brilliant. She’s going to be expecting you to come over and have the chat. But talking doesn’t always get you where you want to go. You need to show her.”
    “There’s no way on Earth I’m going to strip for Kim. So drop it.”
    Because it was a stupid idea.
    Idiotic.
    It wasn’t as though he could dance. Or had the body for it. Even if Kim seemed more than a little interested in looking at him. And kissing him.
    Blake shifted in his seat and stepped on the gas a bit harder.
    Stripping for Kim simply wouldn’t happen.
    Ever.

Chapter Five
    Kim was not the most patient person in the world. She’d learned how to distract herself so she’d be able to manage the time and not drive herself crazy. But when she knew something was coming, and that something was exactly what she wanted, her mind did mean and nasty things that prevented her from being a normal human being. Like stopping her from being able to work out, or to figure out how to make an egg salad sandwich.
    It was egg salad for fuck’s sake. How hard could it be?
    She dumped the still runny eggs into a bowl, slapped a hunk of cold butter on top and waited for her bread to toast. Breakfast for supper worked too. She wasn’t about to substitute her glass of wine for a coffee though, knowing the caffeine would do nothing to improve her mood.
    Blake hadn’t shown up here at her home yet, nor was he answering his cell phone. It was now past 6:00 p.m., and she doubted he’d be making good on his promise.
    Bastard.
    Bing Crosby’s voice floated in from her bedroom where White Christmas was playing on one of the local channels. She loved this part of the movie and yet, she couldn’t drag up the energy to move her body to go see it. Bing had a glow to him in that scene, a soft look of sentimental contentment that infused itself into his song. Kim had been fascinated with the movie since she was a kid for that very reason, always wanting to know what it would feel like to be that Zen with the world.
    For a brief moment last night when Blake was kissing her, she thought she understood. Her body had electrified, become in tune with his as his mouth covered her own. Her heart pounded, but she could feel his matching hers beat for beat. She’d lost track of time and place, couldn’t hear anything beyond the soft moans he made in the back of his throat as he’d deepened the kiss.
    Stunned. That’s what she’d been.
    Sarah and the girls had thoroughly enjoyed teasing the snot out of her after Blake’s departure. No matter how many times she’d tried to redirect them back to the evening’s schedule, no one was interested.
    Who was that?
    He’s hot. Did he use lots of tongue?
    Can you get him as the next Naughty Nick?
    If you’re not interested , can I have his phone number?
    Kim hadn’t thrown that many dirty looks to discourage people since her grad class pub crawl. The bugger of the situation was that she had no claim whatsoever on Blake. Until the moment of the kiss—the first one, not the second—she couldn’t have definitively said he saw her as any more than his reliable little holiday helper and seasonal friend. Lots of wishful thinking on her part and the occasional mixed signal, but nothing she could point to and say, hey look , he wants to have sex again , or dinner , or something . Clearly, there was something else going on in that head of his, something Kim was too scared to think about.
    Where the hell was he?
    Her mushy eggs and nearly burned toast were consumed with determination as she watched Bing and his buddy Danny Kaye shuffle across her flat screen looking more than happy with the girls. The wine quickly followed, leaving an odd mix of flavors in her