Tempting Nora by A.M. Evanston Page B

didn't matter how the cat knew that he was needed—all that mattered was that he did.
    ****
    The next morning, Nora stood behind the service desk at the tea shop. She hadn't managed to fall back asleep after her nightmare and had spent hours with Chubby, trying to clear her mind. Unfortunately, her lack of sleep was catching up with her now. She'd managed to mess up three times today and it wasn't even eleven o'clock yet.
    As she gritte d her teeth, the door to the shop opened. Gideon, she thought, looking up. But it wasn't Gideon at all. It was Robert. Something happened then that shouldn't have happened—her stomach sunk. She'd wanted to see Gideon.
    No way! she screamed in her mind.
    She'd told the guy about her mom to intimidate him, hadn't she? Why was she disappointed that he hadn't come to hassle her? She groaned in despair and started punching herself in the forehead. Why am I so stupid? I don't like the superficial playboy. She writhed and continued her self-mutilation.
    "Ugh, Nora?" Robert raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"
    "Hold on a minute." She continued to whack herself on the head. "I need to finish hurting myself. This is for my own good."
    Robert seized her wrist.
    "What's wrong?" Robert asked.
    A woman couldn't even hurt herself in peace. She gave an exasperated sigh.
    "Nothing." She placed her hands on her hips. "But there 's going to be something wrong with you in the next few minutes."
    Robert took a step back.
    "You're mad about last night, right?" Robert asked nervously.
    "I'm v ery, very, very—"
    "Nora, I can explain," Robert said.
    "—very, very, very mad." Her eyes narrowed. "How could you betray me by leaving me with Gideon? I made it perfectly clear how I felt about the guy, but you used me so you could date a model. I didn't realize our friendship meant so little to you."
    "Our friendship means everything to me." Robert inched toward her.
    "At least have the decency to be honest." She scowled. "Now you've betrayed me and you're lying about it. My trust in you is fading fast."
    Robert took a deep breath.
    "Okay, I can understand why you're mad, but I didn't set you up with Gideon for the reason you think I did," Robert said.
    "Oh, I know exactly why you set me up with Gideon." She crossed her arms, her eyebrow twitching. "You fancied yourself a date with a beautiful supermodel."
    "I didn't do it because of that," he said.
    "Bull." She wrinkled her nose.
    "I did it for Gideon." Robert hung his head in shame. "I felt bad for the guy, so I caved when he asked me to help him."
    Judging by how red his face was, Robert was telling the truth. He hadn't abandoned her just for a date with a model after all.
    "You felt bad for him?" She was mystified. "Why?"
    Gideon was rich and handsome. Women fell at his feet. Why would Robert pity a guy who could have anything he wanted at the snap of his fingers? Well, except for her, that is.
    " Gideon likes you, Nora." Robert let out a defeated sigh. "I mean, really likes you."
    "He does not. " What a joke! "He wants to sleep with me. He even admits that's the reason he's being so aggressive."
    Her friend gave an exasperated sigh.
    " You and Gideon are so alike it's disgusting," Robert said.
    That was the worst insult anyone could have given her.
    " What an awful thing to say." She had the urge to throttle him. "I don't remember trying to seduce people or anything like that."
    "No, that's not what I mean." Robert's shoulders slumped. "I love you, Nora. You know that I do."
    "You have a fine way of showing it," she said nastily.
    " Unfortunately, you put up a shield whenever somebody wants to get close to you," Robert continued, ignoring her snarky comment. "Gideon's doing it too. Don't you see that? He sleeps around so he'll never have to be close to somebody, but now he's only pursuing you. He may say that he wants to jump into bed with you—heck, he probably believes it himself—but he's just using it as an excuse to stick around. He wants you in his