While he was on the basketball court, Don could feel her eyes following him, every move, every play, Nicole's intense gaze and beautiful smile were there to catch it, and his heart was actually skipping beats. Suddenly, the looks of adoration and love were directed at him, not at Danny. He'd watched during halftime as Danny had attempted to apologize, but she had mumbled something and walked away. Finally, he was confident that he wasn't going to lose her. Something had happened, had snapped into place, and he was grateful. "Hey Beautiful." He grinned at her after the game.
"Hey yourself, Baby." She smiled and walked down from the bleachers, but laughed and sidestepped when he went to embrace her. "Oh no, Donny. You have that man-stink all over you, and while strangely attractive, it is repelling at the same time."
"OK, well, I'll go to take a shower then the loser," he slapped his friend's shoulder, "is going to buy us lunch."
"You wish, Flack." Danny laughed as he wiped his face. "You won, you buy."
Nicole laughed as the two friends joked and horsed around on their way into the YMCA, the morning's disagreement forgotten. As much as she and Danny butted heads, they always had, he really was a true friend to Don. For all his faults, and there were quite a few, he was a good man, but she didn't think that Don would have a friend who wasn't. "Excuse me?" She was pulled by her thoughts by the man who had sat down next to her.
"I was just saying that it was a good game."
"Yes it was." She turned her attention to the Blackberry in her hand, hoping that would serve as a gentle hint that she wasn't interested in his advances.
"Who were the teams?"
"It was just a pickup game. Same as it is every weekend." She said very monotone. Something told her she shouldn't engage him, but he seemed nice enough, well dressed in jeans and a polo shirt, and he wasn't aggressive.
"You're here every week?"
"No, just occasionally. I know two of the players."
"I didn't think I recognized you. A beautiful woman like you I would certainly remember."
And there it was. Nicole fought the urge to roll her eyes at the tired line. "Thank you for the compliment." She flashed him a tight smile and returned to her Blackberry.
"What do you do that you are risking Carpel Tunnel Syndrome at your young age?"
And the hits just keep on coming. "I'm in sales." She lied. "And I'm just trying to catch up while I wait for my friends." Take the hint, Buddy, she thought to herself.
"On a beautiful day like this, you shouldn't be working. Why don't you take the day off and go for a walk in the park before there's too much snow on the ground to enjoy it?"
"Because I'm saving my days off for when I get married." She smiled another tight smile and held up her left hand before returning to her email again. "Really, I'm just waiting for my friends." Now he was becoming aggressive, moving closer to her, trying to read over her shoulder, and she went back to the main screen, putting the device back in her pocketbook.
"What about your fiancé? If you were my girl, I would never let you out of my sight."
"While sweet, I really should be going. It was nice talking with you." She lied again and stood up, but the lunatic grabbed her arm.
"C'mon, Gorgeous. Spend the day with me and let me show you what you're missing."
"No, thanks, I'm very happy. Now, let go of me."
Don and Danny walked back onto the court and each reached for their wallets at the same time, though neither looked at the other, more concerned with the idiot grabbing Nicole's arm. "There a problem?" Don asked as both he and Danny flashed their badges.
The guy holding her froze and Nicole took the opportunity to pull herself free. "Yeah, this jerk doesn't understand the meaning of No."
"The lady and I were just talking."
"I usually talk with my mouth. How about you, Flack?" Danny seethed as he stepped closer to the mutt.
"Yeah, usually, and when an engaged woman blows me off, I'm man enough to take the hint."
"Hey, Officer," the jeans-clad man stepped towards Don, "what's it to you? I was just taking with the lady. Ain't no crime in that and I don't see her fiancé around."
"What's it to me?" Don pushed Nicole behind him and used his height to his advantage. "Number one, it's Detective. Number two, you are looking at her fiancé, and number three, and this part's the important one, you committed a crime when you grabbed her arm and kept her from walking away. Now, you might want to walk away before my fellow detective and I run you in for assault, battery, aggravated harassment, and anything else we can think of on our way back to the precinct. You got it?"
"Yeah, I got it. I didn't mean anything by it, Detective. Honestly, I was just hitting on a pretty woman."
"The next time you want to hit on a pretty woman," Danny stepped closer, leaning in, "you might want to try not hitting her." The jerk scurried away and he turned his attention to the woman who was in Don's arms. "Nikki, are you OK?"
"I'm fine. I'm just glad you two came out when you did."
That's when he saw the red finger indentations on her upper arm and he lightly rolled up her sleeve. "That guy had a hold of you pretty tight."
"Yeah, but that's all. I'm fine." She winced when Danny went to cradle her arm.
"Don, take a look at this. I think we better get her to the ER."
She pulled away from Don. "The ER for a bruise? You two are insane. While I thank you for caring, but I'm fine, really."
"I hate to admit it, but Danny's right, Baby." Don smirked. "Seriously, I would feel better if you got checked out just to make sure that he didn't break your arm."
"He didn't break my arm, Don. I'm a little bruised. That's all."
"I'll call Hawkes." Danny pulled out his cell and Nicole just shook her head. "You should know us by now, Nikki. You aren't going to win this argument."
An hour later, after Dr. Sheldon Hawkes had satisfied both men that her arm wasn't going to fall off, just as they were walking into the restaurant, Don's cell phone rang. "Go. Be someone else's hero today." Nicole answered his apologetic eyes. "I'll see you at home later."
Leaning down, he kissed her with a smile. "I promise I won't be too late." Then he looked over at his best friend.
"Don't worry. I've got her covered. She'll make it home in one piece." Danny grinned, but it became strained as Don kissed Nicole once more. He couldn't understand why that would still make his heart ache. They were good together, had been for a while, but he still wanted her. Late at night, when the dark and demons over took him, his mind filled with visions of telling Nicole just how much he still cared for her, how much he loved her, and having her confess that she really was still in love with him. Then he'd wake up hearing the last thing he said to her before he walked out, 'I can't be with a woman who is willing to undermine everything I've worked for over a few lousy pennies. You aren't the woman I fell in love with, Nicole.'
"Yoo-hoo, Messer, you with me? I asked if you wanted to come in for coffee." Nicole laughed, opening the door to her brownstone apartment four hours later.
"Yeah, sure, why not. I could go for a beer."
"Where were you?" She asked with a smile. They'd spent a very enjoyable day together. Actually laughing the way they used to before the nightmare break-up, but that actually hadn't entered her mind until the moment she asked that question. The entire day she'd only thought about how grateful she was they were getting along, for Don's sake then she had to ruin that by asking a typical lawyer question, one she already knew the answer to. "Never mind."
He opened his beer and studied the label, unwilling to look into her eyes, afraid of what he might see there. "How's your arm?"
"It hurts a little, but I'll live."
"You want me to kiss it better?"
She laughed at the sly playful look on his face. "You must be kidding me. That hasn't worked in years."
"Thought I'd try." He took a sip, finally finding her eyes. "I still can't believe that you beat my score at the batting cages with a sore arm."
"I can't believe you took me to the batting cages with a sore arm." She laughed again.
"You said you wanted to go. You were the one who said that it was a really nice day and you didn't want to spend it inside."
"So that automatically means the batting cages?"
"It does to me." He laughed. "You should know that by now, Nickel."
"Silly me for thinking that you would be a gentleman for one day." She winked at him, but he placed his beer down and started to get up. Squealing, she quickly stood up and ran to the other side of the table, knowing was he was going to do next.
"You are going to get it now, Sullivan." The childish squeal he'd heard had sounded like music to his ears. It was the same sound that always greeted his threat to tickle her and when he caught her, pinning her to the kitchen counter, lightly tickling her stomach, he rejoiced in the laugh that he received. There was just one disadvantage to being that close to her unsupervised, the pull of her bright blue eyes and soft red lips. As he covered her mouth with his, he felt her kiss him back, her hands sliding into his hair the way he remembered so vividly, feeling even better in his arms than he remembered.
