Sunshine sat at the condo staring at a picture of guys that sat on her television. She started thinking about the reason Destiny broke up with Kevin; because she was falling in love with Alexander. Sunshine wondered if she should stop playing hard to get with Nickolas and tell him that she loves him. After all she did tell Bradley how she felt. But why was it so hard for her to tell Nickolas? She didn�t understand. She picked up the phone and started dialing Nickolas� number then just as quickly turned it off. She wanted to tell him, but decided not to do it at that moment, because she thought it was cute the way Nickolas would act when she turned him away.
She sat there for the next ten minutes listening to the song her and Nickolas first danced to; �I Do Cherish You� by 98 Degrees and listened to the lyrics, �In my world, before you/I lived outside my emotions/didn�t know where I was going/�til that day, I found you/how you opened my life/to a new paradise/in a world torn by change/still with all my heart/�til my dying day/I do cherish you/for the rest of my life�� That was, like, the twentieth time she was listening to it when there was a knock at the door. Thinking it was one of the girls she didn�t bother turning the radio down and walked to the door. She looked through the peephole and then opened the door.
�Nicky.� Nickolas just looked at her and she moved to let him in.
They stood there at the door and Nickolas said, �So we�re just going to stand her and look at each other.�
�Sorry. Come in. How�d ya know I was here?�
�Josephine left it slip.
�No surprise there.� She sat down and picked up the stereo remote to turn the music down.
�Why don�t you want to see me, Sunnie?� He sat beside her. �Or talk to me?�
�I never said I didn�t. And I did call you.�
�But you never called me back. Why did you call anyway?�
�Well Danielle said she called you and told you what she did.�
�Yeah and I want to thank you for keeping what happened between us secret like we promised.�
�I�m sorry, but I only told Kevin and Danielle.�
�Why?�
�They asked, because they already had their suspicions.�
�But we promised to keep it secret. It was your idea remember.�
�Did you want me to lie?� She got up and Nickolas looked at her, as she looked at him. �You�re mad at me for telling.�
�No I just�I don�t know.� He got up and stood in front of her. �Your sister�s very pissed at me.�
�I don�t care what my sister thinks. It was my decision to sleep with you and not hers or anyone else�s. You didn�t force me to do anything.� She took her hands up his bare arms. �I wanted us to make love that night on the beach and I�m glad we did.�
�Your sister thinks otherwise and threatened to cut my dick off. If you didn�t tell Danielle she wouldn�t be thinking at all.�
Nickolas looked at her with a not so disgusted look on his face and Sunshine smirked. �You�re so cute.�
�Sunnie, I�m not trying to be cute. I�m trying to be serious.� He walked away from her.
�And I don�t see what the big deal is. Everyone that�s in love does it. Unless you never were in love with me and are regretting what happened between us.�
�You know that�s not true.�
�Do I? If you didn�t regret it you wouldn�t be acting like this.� She walked to the phone and picked it up. �How about this? I�ll call up Kev and Dani and tell them it was a lie. I�ll tell them it was just a wild fantasy I had and hoping one day it�ll come true. Will that make you happy? Will you be happy that I lied to them?�
�I don�t want you to lie.� He took the phone from her. �I�m happy with you in my life.�
�Then do you regret that night on the beach?� They looked at each other.
�Do you like putting me through hell with these games you�re playing?�
�What games?�
�You know exactly what games I�m talking about. The ones where you�re hot for me one minute then cold the next. I have no idea where I stand with you anymore. It�s like this is some part of your movie and I�m just a character. It�s either you want me or you don�t.�
�And it�s either you regret sleeping with me or you don�t.� She walked away.
�Sweets.� She just ignored him and he watched her go back the hall. He wasn�t sure if he should go after her or not, but then decided against it when he heard her bedroom door slam. He stood there a moment thinking then found a piece of paper and left her a note. He taped it to the opening of the kitchen and parlor then walked to the door. Before leaving he looked to see if Sunshine came from her room. When he didn�t see her he left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nickolas closed the door just as Sunshine walked from the hall. She was ready to go after him but stopped when she noticed the note hanging on the wall. She walked over, took it down, and read:
Sunnie,
I never regretted that night on the beach whatever you might think. I�m sorry for the way I acted and I promise I�ll make it up to you. I�ll just need some time to figure it out.
Nicky.
Sunshine couldn�t understand why Nickolas would apologize for the way he acted when they both knew she had to apologize. She stood there thinking a moment then laid the paper down and went to her room after turning the music back up.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sunshine sat in the bathtub and picked up the phone. She started dialing Nickolas� number just as there was a knock at the door. She sighed and turned off the phone then got out of the tub. She picked up her robe and walked from the bathroom while putting it on. There was another knock and she made her way to the door. She got to the door, as there was another continuous knock. She shook her head and looked through the peephole then opened the door.
�Nick.�
�Sunnie.�
�Come in.� She stepped aside and he walked inside then closed the door.
�Do you always answer the door like that?�
She looked at her robe and said, �I wasn�t going to answer it if I didn�t know who it was.�
�Right.�
�I�m not that stupid, Carter.�
�I didn�t think you were.� She walked down to the parlor and Nickolas followed her. �What took ya so long?�
�I was in the tub.�
�Oh.�
�What are you doing here?�
�Well I was with Jo and Dani and they were talking about you so I decided to come back and apologize the right way.�
�You have nothing to apologize for, Nick. I was being a bitch earlier and I should be the one apologizing.�
�No you shouldn�t. I was being an ass. I shouldn�t have gotten mad the way I did.�
�You had a right to. I broke my promise about keeping what happened between us secret. I�d get just as mad as you did if it was the other way around.�
�But I shouldn�t have gotten mad. You�re right, making love is what two people do when they�re in love and I love you. I ain�t going to deny that now and I don�t regret that night we spent on the beach.� She looked at him. �Do you regret it?�
�Of course not and you know I don�t.� They looked at each other. �I�m sorry if you get the impression that I don�t want you. I do want you. And I�m sorry if I�m playing games. I don�t mean to.�
They continued looking at each other then Nickolas said, �Ok, then�that�s all I came by for. I�ll go so you can�um�� He looked her over and felt himself grow hard. Her white robe was wet from her skin and Nickolas could see her breasts through it. He took a deep breath and they looked at each other. �Finish.�
�Right.�
�I�ll, um, see ya later I guess.�
�Yeah.� He stopped himself from grabbing her and kissing her and turned to walk away. He started walking and Sunshine said, �Nick.� He quickly spun around.
�Yeah.�
�Um�� She just looked at him a moment fighting the urge to have him make love to her again. �Goodnight.�
�Goodnight, Sweets.� She grinned and he walked to the door. She watched, as he stopped at the door and didn�t open it. He stood there a second then opened it and Sunshine watched him walk out.
�I love you,� Sunshine whispered then sighed and walked back to her room. She went into the bathroom and left the water out of the tub then just stood there for a moment. She turned around when she heard a noise and saw Nickolas standing there. She just looked at him and he walked over and kissed her. He undid her robe and picked her up and carried her from the bathroom. He walked over to the bed and laid her down then got on top of her, as they continued kissing. He moved her robe to reveal her glistening honey skin and started kissing her chest. �Nicky?��
�Hmm?�
�Are you sure about this?�
�Uh huh.�
�What about Josie?�
He looked at her and said, �I don�t love her. I love you.� She smiled then kissed him and left love work its magic between her and Nickolas.
CHAPTER 2
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