Seven Night Stand by Nicole Helm Page A

room. “How about this.” She turned toward the shelf behind her, as if to bend over, but something about it felt wrong.
    “No.” Nate pulled her hips fiercely to his. He wanted to see her, to keep her eyes on his for this. “Hold on.”
    He lifted her up, cupping her ass, then pressed her back against the concrete wall. It worked as enough leverage that he could position himself and push inside of her.
    As romantic settings went, it was a negative fifty, but he didn’t care. His eyes held hers as he stroked slowly in and out of her. The wet, tight heat of her made him want to close his eyes and get lost in the moment, but instead he watched her. Emotions flashed across her face, emotions she seemed just as much at a loss with as he did, but she held onto his shoulders, her brown eyes held his, and they loved each other slowly.
    As they both reached climax, Nate realized the truth: no amount of working to get her out of his system would ever be enough.
    …
    Vivvy expelled an uneven breath. Sex of any kind had never left her feeling anything more than physically satisfied. She got dressed quickly, wondering how sex in a storage closet had somehow turned into something else. Something like making love.
    She buttoned up her blouse as quickly as she could, fumbling with the last few buttons in her rush. She had to get out of this tiny space. The walls were closing in; she was having trouble breathing.
    “You okay, Vivvy?”
    She nodded, but only because she couldn’t get the words out. Couldn’t get air in or out. It was like how she felt in an elevator magnified by a hundred. Instead of pricks of fear, wild packs of fear ripped her heart out of its usually cold, unopened place. The place she had learned to keep it for so long. Until now. Until Nate.
    “Vivvy.” Nate’s strong hands rested on her shoulders. “Vivvy, look at me.”
    She couldn’t. She couldn’t look into his green eyes another second. She couldn’t keep feeling this heavy pressing on her chest. She couldn’t.
    Nate took her by the elbow, led her out of the closet and back into the room with the pictures. Gently, he nudged her into a chair. “Take a deep breath.”
    It was better out here. She didn’t feel so closed in. Still, when she opened her mouth to breathe, her lungs felt tight. Everything felt wrong and scary. Something felt right and nice about this place and this man, and that inevitably led to hurt. To being alone. Again. Everything in her body resisted.
    Nate knelt in front of her, concern curving his lips downward.
    “Don’t look at me like that!” She wanted to slap him away. She wanted to hold on to him and cling. She wanted a million things her mind couldn’t find the words for.
    “Like what?”
    Like you care. Like you want to care. Vivvy squeezed her eyes shut. How had this happened? She’d been so convinced she wouldn’t care and now she did and it didn’t matter. She was leaving in a few days to save her job. Nate deserved better. Someone who could comfort and soothe him since he had no excess of that in his life.
    That someone was not her.
    “I need to go outside.” She jerked away when he tried to take her arm. She kept her chin up and her hands tucked into fists as she marched herself through the front of the office and into the cool autumn air outside.
    She managed a full breath in, then slowly let it out. She focused on a white puffy cloud in the sky as she regulated her breathing. Though her heart still thundered in her ears, she was regaining her control piece by piece.
    She swallowed, took a few more cleansing breaths. Nate had followed her; she hadn’t heard him over the roaring in her ears, but she instinctively knew he was standing behind her. At a considerable distance.
    How horribly embarrassing. How absolutely stomach-churning. She’d lost her calm, her control, her everything. All because he made her feel.
    “You all right now?” Nate’s voice soothed some part of her even as it caused another