Free Real Time by Jeanine Binder Page A

see why,” she said, teasing him. “Look where it got you.”
    He smiled, lifting her chin to kiss her. “No complaints here, love. It’s just been strange for me to be feeling this way.”
    “Me too,” she said. “I am probably as relationship-phobic as you. At least you were getting something out of your failures – I didn’t get past the first date on most of them.”
    “As pretty as you are, love? I find that hard to fathom.”
    “Never said they didn’t try to share my bed, Nick. I wanted more than simple sex. I wanted something comfortable and close – not simply a wild time on a Saturday night.”
    “How do you know this isn’t one of those?” he asked, his eyes dancing.
    “You’ve had plenty of opportunities in the past six months if sex was all you wanted,” Kate answered. “You didn’t have to propose. And we don’t have to get married, Nick – I won’t force you into it.”
    “I’ve never felt this way about anyone. Including my ex-wife,” he told her seriously. “The thought of not having you close invokes a terror I’ve never felt before.”
    Nick pulled her into his arms, holding her against him. With little effort, he swapped places with her, looking into her eyes as his mouth came down to meet hers. She returned his kiss and there was no more talking. The language of love was what they spoke for the rest of the evening, before falling asleep in each other’s arms.

Chapter Seven
    K ate drove into the city with Nick in the morning when he left for the studio. Her car was there from Monday; she wanted to get it and go out to her house. She followed him into the building and they rode up together in the elevator to his office, as he’d put her purse in his desk drawer for safe keeping. Nick’s office was on the fifteenth floor, at the top of the building. It was supposed to be Jerry Santini’s office – Jerry was Nick’s partner with the studio – but Jerry said the view from the floor to ceiling windows gave him vertigo. Nick’s office and a couple other meeting rooms were the only spaces on the floor. Terry, Nick’s secretary, said she liked the view and had no problem working there. Nick introduced Kate then ushered her into his office, closing the door.
    Nick pulled Kate’s purse out of his desk drawer and handed it over to her. “Sorry, I didn’t think to bring it to you, love. I was a little shortsighted on Monday.”
    “It’s all good,” she told him. “Wasn’t like I needed it.”
    “What are you going to do today?” he asked.
    “Run a few loads of laundry, maybe go by my mom’s house and check in, since I’ve been gone for six months.”
    Nick paused for a moment. “Come back to the house later?” he asked, hesitantly. “We can have the weekend together.”
    Kate nodded. “It would be nice.”
    Nick wrote a number on a piece of note paper and handed it to Kate. “Here’s the code for the front gate.”
    Kate folded it up and put it in her pocket. “Call me when you leave?”
    Nick came around his desk to stand in front of Kate. He pulled her close to him and kissed her. “I’ll call,” he promised. “It’s going to be a long day.”
    * * *
    K ate left the studio and drove home. Once home, she retrieved both of her suitcases from her bedroom and took them into the laundry room. It took her fifteen minutes to sort everything into the proper loads and she started the first one in the washer. There was a nice breeze blowing outside and Kate opened the windows in her living room, letting the sea air permeate the stuffy room. She heard her cell phone buzz and saw she had a text message from Nick.
    It’s official – it’s going to be a really long day.
    That bad? Kate asked.
    The soundboard in studio three caught fire –that was entertaining. And if the fire wasn’t enough, the drummer and bass player for the group Mark Three got into a fist fight over a woman this morning. Bass player got his nose broken.
    Kate started to laugh; she could