CHASING TROUBLE

Interesting… “No, I can definitely vouch for that,” he said dryly; the primly correct Caroline Anderson was absolutely nothing like his mother.Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

“Are you like her?” Caroline’s curiosity had obviously got the better of her.

Nicholas’ mouth tightened. “In coloring, yes. But I don’t have her tolerance for the weakness of human nature. Or her belief in the ultimate good to be found in others,” Nicholas added. “My father is a lot like her. Probably why they got along so much,”

The frown deepened between Caroline’s eyes. “I think your dad is a nice, kind man. I found him an easy man to work for and get along with during the week I knew him…”

“Yeah. I know that…He has always been that way. After my mother died, he shut down for a while…. Then he had all the photographs of her removed and put away,” he explained grimly, a nerve pulsing in his tightly clenched jaw.

Caroline’s face softened in sympathy. “Perhaps it was just too painful for him to see reminders of your mother around the house every day?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” he stood up abruptly, “Let’s get back to the house,”

_________

For the second time that day, Caroline found herself in her car with Nicholas Connelly, and again, she noticed him.

Barely leashed power oozed from every pore of his muscular body, sending out a purely physical challenge that heightened Caroline’s senses, both sight and smell. Her fingers tightened about the steering wheel as she resisted the urge to reach out and touch the lean strength of his hands where they lay clenched on his powerful thighs.

She’d never reacted to a man in this way. At least…she never had until Nicholas Connelly’s sudden appearance at the House last night. Since then her nerve-endings-and every other part of her!-had been on constant alert. She had to finish her work in the library faster so she could get the hell out of that house as quickly as possible.

“What are you thinking about?” he suddenly wanted to know.

Caroline’s fingers gripped the steering wheel even tighter. “I was simply wondering if your long hair is a reaction to being in the army for so many years, or if you’ve just forgotten to go to a barber recently.”

“Liar,” Nicholas murmured huskily, well aware that Caroline had been shooting him surreptitious glances from beneath those sooty lashes for the last few minutes. And he was experienced enough to know that Caroline Anderson was aroused by what she saw when she looked at him.

Her eyes were fever-bright. Her cheeks were flushed. Her breathing was soft and uneven. Also, her breasts were full, with the nipples showing hard and aroused against the soft material of her blouse. Every starchy inch of Caroline was aware of him, and he found that knowledge delicious!

She bristled at the accusation. “I-”

“You are clenching your left hand again, Caroline,” he warned softly.

She frowned at the observation, but instantly lessened the tightness of the grip she had on the steering wheel. “You-“.

“Admit it, Care,” He deliberately gave her that sexy smile as he used the name he knew she objected to so strongly. “When you look at me, you like what you see!”

Her jaw tightened disapprovingly, although the blush in her cheeks and the catching of her breath in her throat told a completely different story…”I told you not to call me-”

“I like calling you Care,” Nicholas turned in his seat so that he could look at her fully. “With your eyes shining brightly, and that color in your cheeks, you’re much more of a Care than you are a stiff and unapproachable Caroline,” he said appreciatively.

“Stiff and-!” She gave an impatient shake of her head. “Are you deliberately trying to annoy me?”

He quirked dark brows. “Am I succeeding?”

“Very much so!”

He grinned unrepentantly. “Enough to make sure that you definitely decide to high-tail it out of the house as soon as you can make the appropriate excuses?”

That blush in her cheeks deepened as she gasped softly. “How did you know…?”

“That’s what you were thinking about doing a few minutes ago,” Nicholas finished dryly. “You’re pretty easy to read, Caroline,” He gave an unconcerned shrug. Nicholas had not just learned to analyze computers over the years; he had learned to read people too. Although this woman was a little more complicated than most. No, make that a lot more complicated!

Did she ever let anyone past that spiky exterior? Nicholas wondered. More to the point, had she ever let a man past that bristly exterior and into her body…?

Caroline wasn’t sure she liked Nicholas finding her ‘easy to read’-especially considering some of the thoughts she had been having about him since first setting eyes on him the previous night!

Her mouth firmed. “I have no intention of ‘high-tailing’ out of the house’, as you put it.”

Not any more, she didn’t. Not when he seemed to have so easily guessed that he would be the reason for her leaving!

“Your father engaged me to catalog his library, and I’ll be done with it tomorrow. Then I’ll leave. It has absolutely nothing to do with you,”

His mouth twisted. “Big on obligation, are you?”

Caroline stiffened at the taunt she heard in his tone. “I believe that once given, a person’s word should be honored, yes. And besides, this is my job. I have to do it,”

Implying, Nicholas would guess, that someone close to her-or someone she had allowed close to her?-had once let her down pretty badly.

He nodded. “Alright. We better use what little time we have left to get to know each other better then,”

Caroline remained silent, knowing that if she said anything, he’d simply reply with a comment she couldn’t ignore and they’d just keep going around in circles. She didn’t want to get to know Nicholas Connelly better. He seriously threatened her peace of mind…

________

“I-What are you doing in here?”

Caroline came to a stop in the library doorway as she saw Nicholas, sitting behind the leather-topped mahogany desk, her laptop open in front of him.

He looked up to raise an unimpressed eyebrow. “As Frank Connelly’s son, don’t you think I have a perfect right to be in here?”