Chapter Twenty One

Nina was sat opposite Theo in the kitchen a great poker hand in front of her when Lilah looked in.

"I'm getting an early night; I'm meeting my agent in at nine in London in the morning, so I'm on a train at some ungodly hour."

Nina looked up, "that mean you're modelling again?" There had been a lull recently, since splitting with her last boyfriend she'd cut back on travelling, in being away, but that hadn't been an entirely positive move. The thought that she was getting her mojo back pleased Nina no end. Lilah was a special person who needed to find the right man, someone who deserved her; she'd not been close to that to date. Hence the broken heart.

"A few things on the horizon, I'm going to be VERY selective though, I'm not a desperate teenager chasing fame anymore. If they want me in the right situation then I'll do it."

Nina grinned; at her lowest ebb her friend had compared modelling to prostitution, something that had disturbed her. "You go girlfriend. Do you want me to come and meet you after, get some lunch?"

Lilah nodded, "that sounds brilliant. I'll be done by half twelve I reckon, think I can get us into Gordon Ramsey's new place...I met the maitre'd a few weeks ago. I'll call him in the morning."

Lilah came across the kitchen and gave her a kiss on the cheek, then waved to Theo with a slightly sarcastic grin, before leaving them alone.

When she relaxed back in her chair, Nina glanced at him. He was slouched in the chair across the table from her, his hand of cards between them, a convenient barrier to literally hide behind. Before Lilah had entered the kitchen, he had been smiling from his half hidden position, eyes low darting his head an inch to meet her gaze then returning to his cards. She'd found it funny, but during and since Lilah's appearance, his whole demeanour changed, he was avoiding her eye contact, she was sure.

"What's wrong?"

He shrugged, "nothing why?"

She shook her head as she threw a few more chips into the centre of the table with nonchalance, two could play that game, "I'll see you Mr Peterson."

Lowering his hand, he revealed two pairs, but that was no match for her flush which she laid out with a flourish, "you were smiling before Lilah came in, did she do something to offend you?"

She studied him and there was a delay, a hesitation that made her realise she'd hit the nail on the head, "what did she say?"

Groaning he tossed the hand onto the table, "she just made it clear she thinks I have ulterior motives for being here."

Nina inclined her head for a moment as she took than on board, then she stood and made for the fridge, "it was my suggestion for you to stay, I told her that."

He shrugged a response then watched her as she came across the kitchen to him, her extended arm offering a beer, "and have you?"

"Have I what?"

Lowering herself opposite him again, she knew the alcohol was loosening her lips, she had a moment to stop, but her mouth seemed to continue without her brain engaging, "got an ulterior motive."

Theo stared at her, he could see the pulse at the base of her throat racing, his eyes were sparkling and he'd never seen her look more desirable, more exciting. He'd started the evening apologising for being so uncouth at the wedding to her, and yet now...now she was making a move. That was what this was, wasn't it? The silence seemed to only magnify the sound of their breathing, the bubbles popping in their beer, and the way they both swallowed nervously.

"An ulterior motive?" He finally managed. "That would mean that I surreptitiously planned tonight."

He couldn't miss the way her eyes dropped, was that disappointment? He didn't want her to think that he hadn't thought those thoughts, he wasn't about to reject her all over again.

"But we're not a million miles from where I had hoped we would be when I called you after the wedding."

As he watched her waiting for a response, her eyes were still averted, but he couldn't miss the way she bit her bottom lip, worrying it with her teeth. For Theo it caused a bolt of heat to light up his body, his stomach lurched for a moment, and he had to pause. His instinct was to reach out, touch her bruised bottom lip, brush it with his thumb. Then he thought about her lips fastening around it, sucking it into the warm cavern of her mouth. He heard a moan, then realised it was his own, and it was that that finally caused her eyes to lift to his.

"You intrigue me..." he responded to his urge, reaching out to massage her bruised bottom lip, his fingers sliding over her smooth skin, resting at her hairline. Her lips parted with a sigh and her eyes studied him. He was equally blessed and cursed that a table separated them, because his body was displaying very obviously his desire for her, but she didn't see that, and he couldn't really act on it.

"Theo." His name was a breath on her lips, and she was leaning into his hand.

Theo couldn't remember a time when he had wanted something as much as he wanted the woman opposite him. From the minute he'd set eyes on her they'd had a turbulent time, mainly due to him, but was it really that bizarre to be suspicious of someone...a stranger to be so generous and caring? In this day and age he didn't think he was hugely out of order, but then that was a massive part of why he found her so captivating. She dropped everything to help him, to help Mansell, to help Melody. And she really had no ulterior motive for that.

Standing he leaned forward bringing his face close to hers.

"Do you have any idea what you do to me?"

She bit her lip again, but just for a moment, her nervousness so evident, then she gave a half smile, "infuriate you? Annoy you?"

He laughed and was surprised how throaty that sounded, "all the time, but that's not what I mean."

He could see her swallow, the constriction of her throat so obvious, as was the way she moistened her lips. He hadn't wanted to go there, to lift the tension to this level. He wanted her, whenever he was in her company that was blatantly obvious, almost unable to control. But he hadn't intended to make a move; he had too much on his plate without screwing up something with her. And that was what he'd do, he knew. He had a sense of foreboding that no matter what happened, this could end in disaster, he had Melody and Mansell to put first, and she deserved better than he was able to offer. He should stop...

But now, with their faces just a breath apart, her eyes filled with warmth, skin covered in gooseflesh, primed, wanting him as he wanted her. He wasn't sure of anything other than he wanted more. Leaning closer he could feel her breath against his lips, as her eyes closed anticipating a kiss, and there was nothing he wanted more than that. He closed his own eyes, fingers reaching to pull her closer, as he felt the gentle ghost of her lips against his, a shout from the corner of the room caused them to leap apart.

"Daaaad?"

It was a wail more than a shout and they both sprung apart almost violently, pushing away from the table that separated them. But Melody didn't appear at the door. It was only then that Theo spotted the baby intercom illuminating furiously on the work surface.

"I'd better go see to her...she won't know where she is..."

Several hours later Nina was no closer to sleeping. The events of the evening were vivid Technicolor replays on the back of her eyelids every time she closed her eyes. She'd tossed, turned, fumed and felt embarrassed, and when her clock read two am she knew she had to get to sleep soon. Warm milk with a shot of whisky, that always worked for her. So she jumped out of bed and crept along the hallway past the doors to Lilah's room and then the spare bedroom, not wanting to disturb anyone.

Filling a mug with milk she slipped it into the microwave, and leaned against the counter, being back in the kitchen only made the evening more real. She'd wanted to kiss Theo, hell she'd wanted more, and that was what she found hardest to deal with. Since she'd found her stepmother with her boyfriend almost ten years earlier, she'd avoided men. There had been a few drunken encounters on her prolonged trip to France and Spain that followed that fateful night, but they'd been accidental, often drunken, falling together moments, with Theo, she wanted it. She would quite blatantly plan time with him, plan ways to be alone with him. Until he ran off. Because once Melody had called out, he hadn't made a return to find her.

But Melody was upset, he was being a good father, she tried to reassure herself. But couldn't he have just made some comment, some hint that he felt the same way, instead of leaving her mortified, feeling like some hussy? She wanted to scream aloud, but didn't. Instead she reached inside the kitchen cupboard and pulled out her best whisky, it may seem a waste going into hot milk, but she had standards when it came to Scotch.

The microwave pinged and she took out the mug and was just topping up the milk with whisky when the kitchen door opened. She turned with a smile expecting to see Lilah there, but instead she came face to face with Theo, in his t-shirt and boxers, hair ruffled from sleep. But as he looked at her his eyes literally popped out on stalks.

Theo hadn't been able to sleep, he was aware of every creak of floorboard, every mattress spring as he tried to share a bed with his wriggling daughter. Melody was a restless sleeper at the best of times, but tonight she seemed to be taking an award for it, or maybe his lack of sleep was compounding the issue. Either way he'd not wanted to disturb the house by getting up, but when he heard someone in the kitchen he didn't feel so bad about getting up for a drink.

But as he opened the kitchen door he knew he'd rue that decision for a long time. Until he saw Nina he really didn't know if it was her or Lilah that had woken, but the vision that greeted him, was all Nina. She had her back to him, and was wearing just a tight strappy purple vest that came to what he imagined was her belly button. That alone wasn't an issue, but it was only accompanied by a pair of black knickers. Her waist, her hips, and those shapely legs were all completely bare. And it took his breath, his head was rolling as though he'd just stepped off the fastest roller coaster, and his heart was pounding equally as hard.

And then she turned to face him, a smile briefly on her lips, that disappeared when her eyes met his. As he noted the disappointment at finding him there, he couldn't help but study her, from the back she looked like a teenage boy's dream, but head on. Words failed him. She was so much more. The tight vest clung to her shapely body, her large breasts emphasised, her nipples hard pointing almost through the soft cotton, her slightly rounded tummy, she lacked the slimness that was so fashionable, but her shapely hips, just begged for his hands, and he had no idea how he'd manage a conversation with her looking like that. When he met her eyes again, they were staring at him, but then he knew that his reaction to her was more than obvious, and her wide eyes only confirmed that she'd spotted his desire for her, his own underwear did little to hide it.

His throat was dry, his brain unthinking for the level of arousal that overwhelmed it.

"I was getting a drink...do you want..."

But she didn't get to finish the question, the offer of a drink, as he stalked the few steps towards her and silenced her with a hand to her cheek, an assessing, caressing hand.

Nina felt like crying, she'd never felt so out of her depth, never felt so short of breath, so unable to focus. His fingers slid over her cheek settled in her hair, caused waves of sensations to erupt across her skin. She couldn't remember a moment so tense, so exciting, or when she'd ever felt so aroused, so desperate for something. She watched as his face grew closer.

"We were disturbed...earlier..." the words were a rasp the voice barely resembling the Theo she'd spoken to so many times. But she had very little time to process that thought, instead, his lips found hers...and it was like an IED had fired in the centre of her.

Pressed against the work surface, jammed between the unforgiving ridge of smooth granite and the equally unforgiving hardness of Theo Peterson, Nina had never felt so trapped. The fact that the only thing that separated the rigidity of him from the bare softness of her stomach was the cotton of his boxer shorts only seemed to enhance the feelings of illicitness, the forbidden nature of their unplanned liaison. She'd never been kissed like that, not that she could remember in any detail the last time she'd kissed a man. Other than her boyfriend aged eighteen, she hadn't had a formal relationship with anyone, a few drunken encounters that she could barely remember didn't really count.

She knew in that moment that even if she'd had this kiss when she was the most drunk she'd ever been she'd remember it forever afterwards. He was invading her, slowly, steadily, but she knew that she was claiming him back in equal measure. His lips were so strong, so controlling, but she didn't feel dominated or overwhelmed. His hands scorched her skin, branding the strip of skin between her knickers and the vest she'd worn to bed.

Her hands, idle until that moment, slid up his bare arms, and she almost groaned when her fingers encountered the sleeves of his t-shirt, hating that she couldn't touch his chest, his back, his shoulders. She'd subconsciously wanted to touch him for what seemed like forever.

Theo took advantage of the moan escaping her lips, and his tongue slid into her mouth, challenging, teasing. Nina was struggling to hold on the last vestige of her composure, it was easy to pretend that it wasn't the middle of the night, this wasn't her kitchen, and Theo's daughter wasn't upstairs sleeping. With a moan, his lips left hers, gliding erotically over her cheek to her ear lobe. As he nipped at it, she felt her legs weaken and was grateful for the constant pressure of his body holding her up.

Grinning against her skin as she dropped her head back, exposing her neck in rapture, he lowered his hands to grip her hips, fingers spanning across her bare flesh, cupping her buttocks.

Nina's nails were cutting small moon shapes into his upper arms, and when she realised how hard she was gripping, she slipped her hands over his chest to grab the hem of his t-shirt. It was Theo's turn to moan as he pulled his lips from his torturous trip over her shoulder to allow her to slide the fabric over his head.

Nina was in heaven, the roughness of Theo's stubble at her neck, the softness of his tongue on her collarbone was a stark contrast to the smooth sparsely hair covered contours of his chest under her hands. She had carte blanche to touch and feel his body, and when his lips returned to hers, she was as ravenous as he was. Their kiss was almost feral, teeth clashed, tongues duelled, and their hands grasped at flesh, trying to claw each other, a desire to turn the other inside out.

Theo's hands were on her ribs, spanned out, sliding slowly up as she devoured his lips. But as his thumbs found the underside of her breasts, she couldn't help but gasp, and his response was a smile against her lips, a nibble of her bottom lip, and his two hands moving to cover her breasts, her nipples hard against his palms.

Nina slid her hands into his hair, securing his head and his hungry lips to her neck, pushing her desperate body into his hands, rubbing her pelvis into the hardness of his own arousal. Shamelessly trying to ease some of the pent of passion and frustration that overwhelmed her.

"Dad?" the voice was soft, quiet, but came from the hallway.

Theo's head shot up and he muttered, "shit!" under his breath. "I don't..."

He stared at Nina, her eyes flashing with passion, her cheeks pink from the ministrations of his stubble, her parted lips bruised, full. God he wanted to kiss her again.

"It's ok," she finally managed, licking her dry lips. "She needs you; she'll be confused bless her."

He nodded, "but..."

She grinned, he was stood there in just a pair of boxers, his huge erection so visible through the soft material, all vulnerable but she was equally as exposed. "Saved by the bell again. We'll be glad of that tomorrow."

He was shaking his head in disagreement when Melody called out again.

Theo reached out, cupped her cheek for a moment, drinking in the nuances of her face, then reluctantly turned to rush out of the room.