“Please, call me Nick. It was no problem. I know Summer wanted you here with her and the baby.”
As much as Nita wanted to dislike him, Nick’s smooth velvety voice held sincerity as he spoke of Summer and what she’d wanted. Maybe there was more to this story than she knew. She made a mental note to talk to her daughter when they were alone.
The next hour passed with Nita and James getting acquainted with Nick. Summer sat on pins and needles as her parents practically interviewed him as if he was applying for a position with the FBI. She watched as Nick answered every question without flinching.
The interviewing was going well until Nita went for the jugular. Summer nearly choked on the water she was drinking when her mother stared Nick dead in the eyes and asked, “Are you married and do you have any other children?”
“Mommy!” I can’t believe her!
“Nita.” James firmly warned his wife through clenched teeth.
Nick chortled. This woman is off the chain.
Nita lifted a perfectly arched brow at Nick. What’s so darn funny?
“I assure you Nita, I’ve never been married and no I don’t have any children. Except for the one you’re holding.”
Smiling at her grandbaby, she brought her gaze back to Nick. “Are you sure ‘bout that, Mr. Stiles?”
“Absolutely.”
“Good.” Nita all but snapped before she went back to cooing at her grandson.
James and Nita Jackson were like night and day. Their temperaments were complete opposites. James was easy going and laid back.
Nick expected him to be overbearing and threatening considering he’d impregnated his daughter without the benefit of marriage. Summer had told him how her parents reacted to her pregnancy. Therefore, he was surprised her father was so pleasant.
Nita, however, was out spoken and opinionated. Nick was acutely aware she wasn’t fond of him. The only time she expressed any semblance of kindness was when he’d mentioned the untimely death of his mother.
Nick smiled on the inside; grateful Summer had inherited her father’s temperament. If she’d been anything like her mother, they would’ve never made it beyond the first date.
As the conversation flowed, Nick concluded he and Summer were opposites as well. She was soft, gentle, easy going, patient, kind and understanding. And he tended for the most part to be harsh, abrasive, uncompromising, unforgiving and explosive when angry. The only time he allowed himself to be different was when they were together. Kevin often teased him about how Summer had transformed him into a nice guy. At the time he viewed this as a weakness, rather than an evolution of becoming a better person.
No one in the room noticed as he felt the internal turmoil eating away at him. For so many years he had allowed his egotistical ways to rule him and every aspect of his life. Whether it was his personal or business life, it didn’t matter. Always needing to be in control he never cared how he captured or maintained it. For once in his life his need to control may very well have destroyed the one special relationship with a woman, other than his mother, that would have given him true fulfillment.
Breaking into his thoughts, he heard James announce, “We better get going. I think we’ve stayed long enough.”
Summer didn’t let her apprehension show about being alone with Nick. She didn’t want a repeat of their exchange earlier that morning. She could tell he wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon. She wasn’t in the mood for his “we need to talk Summer” speech.
After her parents left, Summer took small painful baby steps in the direction of the bathroom. Nick watched as she all but dragged her feet as she walked into the bathroom, closing the door. When she came out she slowly made her way over to the bassinet to look at the baby. Soon as the infant started to squirm, she immediately picked him up. So what if she was spoiling him, he belonged to her.
Summer gasped when she felt herself being lifted. Automatically, she leaned her head against Nick’s chest and inhaled his scent as he carried her and the baby the short distance to the bed. With their faces mere inches apart, lips almost touching, eyes locked on each other, Nick told her, “You look like you’re in a lot pain.”
He was close, too close. He was making her dizzy. Making her head spin as his words came out in a deep husky whisper. She had to say something, but what? Out of nervous habit
she bit her bottom lip before she spoke. “I am. He has broad shoulders like his father,” she whispered keeping her eyes locked with his.
Leaning further in, he whispered against slightly parted lips, “Sorry.”
When he covered her mouth with his, Summer further parted her lips allowing him entry.