Henry closed his eyes. When he opened them, his usual composed self was back, his face full of longing. He pulled me into a tight embrace and kissed my hair. “I’m so sorry you had to go through all that alone. I hate that we’ve lost so much time.”
He placed a finger under my chin and tilted my head up. I rose up on my tiptoes and kissed him. His tongue touched my lips, and I parted them to let him in. He cradled my neck and moved closer, deepening the kiss. God, I wanted this man, but it was obvious we still had a lot of unresolved issues. He stopped kissing me but didn’t let me go. “I finally got you back. I don’t want to lose you,” he whispered in my ear.
“If we want to get rid of all this anger between us, we need to set things right. That’s the only way, Henry.”
He stepped back, cocking his head. “Does this mean we’re partners? The way I see it, you need me as much as I need you.”
I grinned. I’d never had a partner before. “Partners. You help me clear Lisa’s name. And I’ll help you get the Cavalier fortune back.”
“Mom first.” He flashed me a grin that made my knees go weak. “Well, Nikki Swift, sounds like we’ve got ourselves a deal.” He offered me his hand, and I shook it.
“Deal.”
Chapter Eight
Did You Make It to Paris?
Henry
“Okay. Now you’re doing this on purpose.” I leaned toward her.
Keeping my hands off Nikki was going to be hell. But I’d promised her we’d take it slow, and I planned to stick to that, though this little display was just cruel and unusual. That suit of hers hugged every inch of her shapely legs and small waist. Dressed like this, she looked like a real-life superhero.
“Everything I do is on purpose. I thought you knew that.” She winked and zipped up the rest of her black leotard suit.
“Is all this really necessary?” I tore my gaze away from her to pick up a set of night-vision goggles off the bed.
“Yes.” She came to stand next to me. The faint scent of her perfume took me back to a time when our lives had been much simpler. In her heart, Nikki was still the same girl I’d met fifteen years ago.
“Stop touching. This is expensive stuff, and it’s not mine.” She snatched the goggles from my hand.
This was the worst time to be penniless. Nikki had every right to be angry at me, maybe even disappointed. I’d never cared about the family’s fortune because I never had to be without it. When my lawyer told me my college fund had run out and I had nothing left, I’d been pissed at my uncle. But I was the one to blame. I was the biggest idiot for letting him con me out of my money.
When I put in a bid on Paradise Creek’s request for proposal to renovate their downtown, all I’d seen was an opportunity to come back and satisfy this urge I had for revenge against my uncle. Nothing more. But now that I’d found Nikki again, so taken by the family money, I wanted more than revenge. I wanted it all back: my family, my life, and the Cavalier fortune. Most of all, I wanted to give Nikki everything she’d ever dreamed of. I wanted to be the one to lend her these goddamn expensive night-vision goggles. I wanted to be the one she came to for help.
Her shoulder brushed my chest. The small touch drew me to her like a magnet. I placed a hand on her waist and rubbed the underside of her ribs.
She slapped my fingers away and continued her inspection of her high-tech gear. “We need to stay focused.”
“God, you haven’t changed a bit.” I chuckled. “So bossy.”
“Hey, Kettle.” She flashed me a smile before she stuffed the equipment in her backpack, along with a flashlight and other stuff I seriously didn’t think we’d need. She swung the bag over her shoulder and turned to face me. “Ready?”
“You’ve done this before?”
“New York is full of interesting trinkets.” She put her hair up into a ponytail on her way out the door. I followed her as she raced to the bottom of the steps, running her hand over the sheets dividing the lobby and the staircase in half. At some point, this stupid wall had to come down. We were partners now.
“There used to be a tunnel access in the coat closet, but it’s closed off. It’s all brick, and who knows how far it goes?” She pointed toward the makeshift butler’s pantry on her side.
“So that’s why you chose this side? Because you knew the tunnel was there?” I’d been so distracted by the idea of having her here I hadn’t seen through the “you can have the side of the lobby with the bar since you already spent all that time cleaning it” bullshit.
She nodded. “Where are we going?”
I opened the front door and pointed toward the street. The determined look on her face filled me with hope and excitement. Mom was coming home tonight. Outside, the starless night greeted us with a warm and musty spray. The monsoon had finally taken pity on us. Rain pelted on my shoulders as I bent down to remove the manhole cover.
“I’ll go first.”
Nikki rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. Water scurried down the asphalt, between her black-leather boots, and dripped down the steel, and now-slippery, ladder. “Let me guess, because you know what you’re doing.”