Free Worthy of Love by Carly Phillips Page A

hands gripped her waist and she molded her curves against him, creating unbearable friction against his already hard erection.
    Kevin’s grasp on sanity was tenuous at best, but he’d been tested before and he’d failed. He wasn’t about to do so again. Not at Nikki’s expense. Pulling back was probably the most difficult thing he’d ever done; and, seconds later, his body still demanding release, he was amazed he’d been able to do it at all.
    When he managed to focus, he found Nikki’s clouded eyes staring back at him. “Thank you,” she muttered.
    “For?”
    “Calling a stop to what would have been a serious mistake.”
    He agreed, which was why he’d backed off first. But hearing her say it didn’t sit well with him. Bruised ego or something more, he couldn’t say. Or maybe he just didn’t want to know.
    He ran a hand through his hair. “There’s too much unsettled between us to mix things up more.”
    Her damp lips parted as she drew a deep breath. “I agree.”
    He shifted positions and prayed for strength. Before he could gather his next coherent thought, she pointed to the kitchen chairs.
    “Sit.” Nikki slid into one of the chairs herself.
    He shrugged and headed for a seat across from her, finding comfort in the barrier the old tabletop provided. “What is it?”
    “Same as it was yesterday, and the day before that and the day before that. We need to reach an agreement, Kevin. One we can both live with. I need to go on with my life and you need to let me live it.”
    As much as he hated to admit it, she was right. Approaching her boss had been underhanded. A move borne more out of fear than rational protective instincts. He could admit that much to himself. “You want me to back off.”
    “That’s right.”
    He fought an internal battle. Trusting her instincts versus trusting his own. “I still don’t think the job’s good for you.” She opened her mouth to argue and he held up a hand to stop her. “Hear me out. You’re pale, for one thing. Exhausted for another.”
    “And you heard the doctor. As soon as this morning sickness passes, I should be fine.”
    “And in the meantime?”
    “I’ll take it easy at work. I’ll take more breaks, I promise. But you have to stop hanging around all the time. Just how are you functioning at work, anyway?”
    “Not easily,” he muttered. He made his own hours, already had the security in place down at the warehouse, and he wore a beeper. If he got in to work late in the morning, no one noticed. But keeping bar hours and working a day job was beginning to catch up with him.
    “If you go back to living your own life, nothing will happen to me. Let’s face it, Kevin. If something were to go wrong, you couldn’t prevent it even if you were there.”
    Leave it to Nicole—perceptive, intelligent, Nicole—to figure out the crux of the problem. “Maybe not, but at least I’d be there.”
    This time . Did she say the words or did he merely think them?
    Nikki reached out and grabbed his hand. “You can’t bring Tony back by making me your number one responsibility,” she said softly.
    She could become much more to him than a responsibility, he thought. But she deserved better. “You’re not giving me a choice, are you?”
    “I can’t stop you from hanging out at the bar, but I can promise to make you as miserable as possible.” A grin lit the edges of her mouth and, in her eyes, he caught a glimpse of the old sparkle. She obviously sensed she’d won this round.
    She had, but Kevin didn’t plan to go down without a fight. “You want your freedom, you want me to back off? Then I have some conditions of my own.”

SIX
    O ne week without Kevin’s surveillance. Nikki set a last round of drinks down onto a table filled with lingering customers. She still wasn’t sure why Kevin had given in but she wasn’t complaining. Although she missed his presence, missed the constant flutters in her stomach whenever he was nearby, she was also calmer