Shattered: by Janet Nissenson Page A

take everything she had to give him – body, mind, and soul – and she knew that nothing would ever be the same for her again.
    Nick seemed to sense her uncertainty as they waited for the valet to bring his car around, and gave the nape of her neck a sensuous little massage.
    “Are you sure about this, Angel?” he asked, tipping her head back as his dark eyes bored into hers. “All of a sudden you seem a little nervous.”
    She bit her bottom lip, belatedly aware that once again she hadn’t taken a moment to duck into the ladies room to freshen up her lipstick and hair. “Maybe a little,” she admitted. “It’s – I’m not all that experienced, and I guess I’m sort of afraid that -”
    “What? That I’ll be disappointed because you haven’t fucked a dozen other guys before me?” Nick shook his head. “Or that in spite of some porn you watched back in high school you don’t know a lot of different naughty little tricks?”
    She shrugged. “Maybe. I’m not exactly sure what I’m afraid of. The others – four, if we’re keeping exact count – they were all boys. College guys. I’ve never – you’re so much more – everything than they’ll ever hope to be. And I guess what I’m really afraid of is that I can’t handle you.”
    “Ah, so that’s it.” He nodded in understanding. “Come here, Angel.”
    She went into his outstretched arms willingly, leaning her head gratefully against his shoulder as he held her gently. She breathed in the scintillating smell that was a blend of his discreet cologne, the crispness of his white dress shirt, and the overpoweringly masculine scent that clung to his skin, the scent that was simply Nick.
    Nick stroked her hair with long, soothing motions. “Look, if I’d thought for one minute that you’d screwed your way through college, I doubt I’d have been attracted to you. I like a woman who’s confident and cool but not to the point where she’s overly aggressive or feels she has to impress me with how hot she is in the sack. If you haven’t already figured it out, I like things done my way, according to my rules, and that definitely includes sex. So relax, Angel, and just follow my lead, hmm? Ah, here’s my car.”
    His car was a fire engine red Ferrari, an ultra-luxe vehicle that she knew had likely cost several hundred thousand dollars. As he held the door open and she slid inside, she couldn’t help but think of her own tiny, well-used Ford Fiesta – the one she’d bought off her brother-in-law Joe back in high school. She doubted Nick’s six foot six bulk would even be able to squeeze inside the sub-compact.
    “What’s your address?”
    Nick had slid behind the wheel and was powering up the car’s sophisticated, built-in GPS system. A bit hesitantly, she recited her address – a quiet little residential street on the outskirts of Noe Valley. The tiny studio apartment had been all she could afford on her trainee’s salary, and she’d been lucky that her other brother-in-law –Marco – was closely related to the owner of the building and had been able to snag her a modest discount on the rent. It had surprised Angela that her sister Deanna would have even bothered to help her out to that degree, but then she’d realized how relieved her family probably was that she was finally living on her own way up in San Francisco, and officially out of their hair.
    “You don’t have a roommate, do you?”
    Nick’s sudden question startled her, as lost in thought as she’d been, but she shook her head in reply. “No, it’s just me. The place is sort of a shoebox, I’m afraid. You might have to duck your head to get through the doorway.”
    He frowned. “You do have a bed at least? And I don’t mean a frigging sofa bed or a futon.”
    Angela grinned at the hint of irritation she heard in his voice. “Yes. It’s a real, honest to goodness bed. It’s even king sized. Takes up almost half the floor space but it’s worth it.”
    “Good.”