Full House (5 page)

She felt safe in Nick's arms.

* * * * *

Billie took a deep breath and gave a loud satisfied sigh as she looked at the strips of crispy fried bacon draining on paper towels. It was the most incredible morning ever, she thought, whipping four eggs into an omelet. The sky had never been so blue, the sun so sunny, and her body had never felt so ... mellow. Her entire world seemed to have expanded.
She had it bad.

Nick had awakened her with a kiss that had quickly turned into lovemaking. Billie felt a tiny quiver in her stomach as she recalled the sound of his husky voice as she'd climaxed, and the look in his eyes as he'd emptied himself into her.

Nick was upstairs in the shower, and she was downstairs in the kitchen, unable to stop smiling. "Can you believe it?" she asked Buffy, who immediately thumped her tail in response, all the while eyeing the bacon. "I finally got laid."

Billie looked up in surprise when the front door opened and Deedee sashayed into the kitchen, followed by Frankie and a bronzed hulk who looked as if he might step on his hands if he didn't stand up straight. "Oh, hell," Billie muttered under her breath and put the eggs aside. She checked her watch. Eight-thirty. What was Deedee doing up at eight-thirty? "Isn't it kind of early for you?" Billie asked. "I didn't think you'd be home until this afternoon."

And she had a naked man in her bathroom, she reminded herself.

Deedee took off a pair of diamond earrings and dropped them in a coffee cup on the kitchen counter. "I haven't been to sleep yet. There was a super party at Hammerhead's house, with the most interesting people. And guess what? Ta-daaa," she called out with a flourish aimed at the man standing next to her. "I brought something home for you."

Billie noticed that Deedee had said "something" as opposed to "someone" and thought that was probably significant. "Gee, this is such a surprise," she managed, unable to think of how else to respond.

"Yeah. I knew you'd be excited. This is Carl. He runs a health spa and he's thinking of becoming a wrestler." Deedee rolled her eyes. "Wait until you see his quads! You'll swoon!"

Billie bit her lip. "Probably we should play it safe and keep his quads under wraps. I hate to swoon before breakfast."

Deedee wrinkled her nose at the bowl filled with whipped egg. "Breakfast. Yuck."

Carl jiggled loose change in the pockets of his rumpled cotton workout pants and directed his attention to Billie. "Deedee tells me you're trying to get into shape. I thought we could spend the day working on your body." He winked at her. "And then we could spend the night working on mine."

Billie felt her upper lip curl and was very carefully phrasing a reply when a masculine voice broke in from the hall. "That sounds like a great offer, Carl, but I'm afraid Billie and I have already made plans for the day."

Everyone turned and gaped at Nick, fresh from his shower, hair still damp, resplendent in a royal-blue towel precariously draped over perfect hips.

Deedee narrowed her eyes at her cousin. "What are you doing here?"

"Taking a shower."

Deedee let out a gigantic sigh. "Billie, Billie, Billie," she admonished in her Betty Boop voice. "How many times have I warned you, Nick is
not
for you? He's hazardous to women."

Carl took a step forward. "Should I punch him out?"

Nick casually leaned against the doorjamb, arms crossed over his chest, his look menacing. "Maybe I'd like to see you try."

Billie rapped a wooden spoon against the countertop to get their attention. "There will be no punching-out in my house!"

Deedee glared at Nick. "Shame on you, taking advantage of a ... housewife." She turned to Billie. "Honey, this is not a marrying person. He's only after you-know-what. S-E-X."

Billie clapped her hand over her mouth, but she couldn't keep a giggle from escaping. "Uh-oh, too late. I'm afraid he's already had my body."

Carl snorted at Deedee. "I thought you said she was a nice girl. I only date nice girls."

"I understand, Carl," Billie said, trying to sound remorseful, when it was all she could do not to break out into hearty laughter. "Better luck next time."

"Look what you've done," Deedee said to Nick. "You've ruined everything. I'm never going to find a husband for her if you keep this up."

Nick looked at Billie. "So, you're looking for a husband, huh?"

"Well, I

When Billie came around she was lying on her bed. "What happened?"

Nick let out a whoosh of breath, took the wet cloth from Billie's forehead, and wiped his face with it. "Man, I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life. You fainted."

"I didn't! I never faint."

"You hyperventilated, and then you fainted."

She blinked at the anxious group standing behind Nick. "I'm okay now. Could you guys leave me alone with Nick for a few minutes? There's something we have to talk about." Billie watched Joel and Christie and Frankie and Deedee file out of the room and close the door. "So, what are we going to do?"

"Everybody thinks we're getting married," Nick said, brushing a stray lock of hair from Billie's forehead.

"That's ridiculous."

"Is it?" He didn't know
what
to think. Every instinct in his body told him to run like hell, but he couldn't imagine going even one day without seeing her.

Billie pulled herself up to a sitting position. "For starters, you've never asked me to marry you. I certainly am not going to marry a man who's never even proposed. And even if you did propose, I don't know if I'd say yes. I hardly know you."

Nick grinned and raised his eyebrows.

"Well, maybe I know you pretty well in some ways. But what about my children? You can't just spring this sort of thing on a kid. And there are other things to think about ... like the fact I'm thirty-eight years old. Old enough to be, well, your older sister."

"You must have hit your head when you fell. I certainly don't think of you as my sister, and I hardly think a couple of years' difference in our ages makes it an issue."

"I don't have a dress. And besides, I think I have an appointment to have my teeth cleaned next Saturday. If I cancel that appointment I won't get another one until October. You know how dentists are."

Nick put the wet cloth back on her forehead. "Maybe you should lie down for a while. You're sort of ... um, babbling."

"I am not babbling. I'm having a nervous breakdown. There's a difference."

Nick sighed. "Do you
want
me to ask you to marry me?"

"I don't know what I want. Everything is happening so fast I can't catch my breath."

He knew the feeling well, but he wouldn't risk losing her.

"I think we would make a good team."

"Team?"

"You're looking for security, and I'm looking for

Billie returned home to find the house two doors down surrounded by police cars with flashing blue lights. Joel, Christie, and Lisa Marie bounded up from their seats, craning their necks to try and get a look at what was going on.

"Go straight inside," Billie said as soon as she parked in her driveway. The kids argued, but she was firm. They did as she ordered, but peered out the windows as Billie crossed the street and spoke with a young policeman.

"We had a break-in," the officer said. "About an hour ago. Seems the owners are on vacation."

"Yes," Billie said. "The Sherringtons took an Alaskan cruise. I don't expect them back for a few more days. Do you have any idea who did it?"

He shook his head. "Doesn't look as though anything was taken. Someone tried to pry open the back window and set off the alarm. Needless to say, they didn't hang around."

"Thank goodness. The Sherringtons are such nice people."

"I understand there was another minor burglary in the neighborhood not long ago. Have you seen anything out of the ordinary recently? Kids loitering about? Anybody suspicious-looking?"

She hesitated, wondering if she should tell him of the strange noises she'd heard outside her bedroom window. Had she simply been going through a period of paranoia with her children away?

"Anything you can tell me will help, ma'am," the man said, as though reading her mind.

Billie smiled. "I know it's just my imagination," she said, "but from time to time I hear rustling sounds outside my bedroom window. I'm sure it's nothing. This neighborhood has always been so safe."

"We suspect kids setting off alarms as pranks," he said, "but it never hurts to be cautious. I'll check around your house before I leave."

Billie spotted a set of headlights and saw Raoul's truck pull up in front of the house. "You might want to talk to that gentleman," she said, pointing. "Mr. Hernandez keeps an eye out when people go out of town. I know he's collecting the Sherringtons' mail and newspapers."

The officer thanked her and headed in Raoul's direction. Billie sighed and started toward her house. She had always felt so safe there. Perhaps it
was
time she purchased an alarm system.

Christie and Joel hit her with a dozen questions the moment she stepped inside the house. "Everything's okay," she assured them and explained what the police suspected. "Where's Lisa Marie?"

"She's calling her mom to come get her," Christie said. "She's scared to stay here, what with the burglary and the spiders. I dread going back to school and having the other kids tease me about all the bugs in our house and my mom marrying a man who's almost a stranger. I mean, what do we really know about Nick and his crazy cousins?"

"It's
so
cool," Joel said. "I can't
wait
to tell my friends."

Lisa Marie came into the living room. "My mom's on the way. I'm allergic to insect bites. Nothing personal, you understand."

Billie nodded. "Don't forget your clothes," she said.

Ten minutes later, Lisa Marie's mother picked her up. Billie assured the woman everything was okay, but she didn't look convinced as she hurried down the walk with her daughter in tow.

Billie sent Joel and Christie upstairs for a shower and put on a pot of coffee. She was getting ready to pour a cup when the doorbell rang. She let Raoul in.

"The Sherringtons are going to be upset over this," he said. "I was supposed to be watching the house."

"You can't be there twenty-four hours a day."

"I could have prevented it if I hadn't fallen asleep on the sofa watching TV."

He looked so downtrodden that Billie felt sorry for him. "Come in and have a cup of coffee with me."

He started inside and paused. "Is that crazy woman here?"

Billie chuckled. "No, Deedee is out. Probably won't get in until the wee hours."

Raoul closed the door behind her and followed her into the kitchen, taking his usual place at the table. He remained quiet as Billie prepared their coffee. "Any luck with the German roaches?" she asked, taking a chair across from him.

He shrugged. "I'm still working on it. How's your place?"

"We've seen a few more spiders. Deedee shrieks every time she sees one, and I think Christie is considering running away."

He looked tired and worn. "I must be losing my touch."

"I'm sorry to complain, but it's getting out of hand."

"I'm going to try something stronger. You'll have to put your animals outside and leave the house for a few hours once I spray." He paused. "Have you heard any more noises at night?"

"A couple of times. I told the officer. He's going to look around before he leaves."

"You're not the only one hearing things at night," Raoul said. "I ran into Mrs. Cartwright at the grocery store, and she complained about it. Said her dog went crazy barking last Tuesday night. She called the police, but they didn't find anything. Of course, the police insist it's just kids messing around and since nothing is ever missing they don't take it seriously. I think there's more to it."

Billie shivered. "What do you mean?"

"I haven't figured it out yet, but I plan to spend the night in my truck tonight so I can keep an eye on things."

"Don't you think that's going beyond the call of duty? You have a family at home."

"These people count on me."

Billie opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted when the front door opened and slammed shut. "Men!" Deedee screeched at the top of her voice.

The door opened and slammed again. "Lady," Frankie shouted, "you are a fruitcake! The nuttiest of them all."

"Oh, yeah? Well, you don't exactly have both oars in the water either, mister. I never want to see you again. The wedding is off."

"That suits me just fine because no way am I going to sleep on French provincial furniture. It's for sissies. Wrestlers need big leather stuff."

Billie raced from the kitchen with Raoul on her heels. "What's going on here?"

"We're having a fight," Deedee said. "Mr. Big Shot here flirted with some slut right in front of me."

"She's not a slut, and I didn't flirt with her. She simply asked me to write something on her forehead. People do it all the time."

Deedee crossed her arms over ample breasts. "Your telephone number?"

"I can explain that if you'd shut up long enough."

"You were looking at her boobs."

"Was not."

"Was, too."

"Excuse me!" Billie said, glancing up to find Christie and Joel watching the whole exchange from the top of the stairs. "I would appreciate it if you'd take this fight elsewhere. My children are in residence." She tossed Joel and Christie a stern look. "Bedtime," she announced.

"Aw, Mom!" Both kids disappeared into their rooms.

"I'm sorry," Deedee said, tears welling in her eyes. "I'm not used to a man, especially my fiance, trying to pick up a woman in my presence. Most men usually can't take their eyes off me."

"I wasn't flirting," Frankie told Billie. "The woman came stumbling up to me

Billie awoke at six the next morning, tired and groggy after lying awake half the night listening for sounds. She climbed from bed and headed straight for Deedee's room. The woman was sound asleep and probably wouldn't wake till noon, if she were left alone.