Green-Eyed Nick AUTHOR: Rosie Email: rosiiii@aol.com RATING: Um..I guess (R). LOL. NC-17 is coming next. CONTEXT: This is a continuation of my romantic series featuring Nick Fallin and Louisa Archer. The fan fictions, "Mother Knows Best," "Some Enchanted Evening," "Finally," and "After the Glow," preceded it. You can find them at NickFallin.com under my name "Rosie," the 4th episode which precedes this latest one ("Green-Eyed Nick"), is called "After the Glow," and is listed under the "June 2002," selections. DISCLAIMER: Some of the characters portrayed herein are taken from "The Guardian" CBS TV Series. The characters mentioned in this story are their property. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author. WARNING: Heavy romantic mush alert. LH'ers are forewarned. ;) _________________________________________________ Nick held Lulu's hand all the way back to LSOP, through the archway and into the elevator where they were thankfully alone. He looked down at her, and pulled her into him, embracing her tightly before they arrived at their floor. The break-up with Brian had been a scene, she was still upset he could tell, shaking slightly in his embrace. He nuzzled her neck to distract her, as they began their ascent up. "Nick," Lulu whispered with smile, while nestled into his chest, "we should stop, the doors are going to open soon." "So what?" Nick groaned softly into her hair, with smiling eyes, he squeezed her tighter. "Ni-ick," Lulu laughingly gasped, extricating herself from his arms, just as the elevator doors slid open. "Alvin!" Lulu exclaimed, unable to disguise the shocked surprise in her voice, nor her tousled shiny hair and somewhat disheveled appearance. Alvin, not having just fallen off the turnip truck yesterday, took one look at a wide-eyed Lulu, immediately regaining her composure on the far side of the elevator, then glanced over at Nick on the opposite side. He had his usual vaguely belligerent, "what's the problem Alvin?" look on his face - along with two spots of high color on his cheekbones, and he knew immediately what was going on with his two lawyers. "Nick...Lulu." Alvin said in greeting. "Why the surprise? I do work here you know." Lulu turned beet red. Chuckling to himself, Alvin swept by them and the swish of the elevators doors sounded. "I feel like a 10th grader caught by the principal making out in the hallway," Lulu said mortified. Nick laughed, not a bit concerned. Aware of the rest of the staff in the room, Lulu quickly told Nick she'd see him later. "Wait a second...you told me you had something to show me," he said, looking at her intently. Lulu tried not to appear as nervous as she felt, upon his mentioning her earlier promise. "I know, but I think tonight would be better," she quietly said. "Let's meet at the Incline, when you finish up at F&A?" she queried. Nick, with a twinkle in his eye, nodded slowly while gazing at Lulu, and walked into the conference room. It had been a long day, Nick couldn't wait to hold Lulu in his arms again. Burton had mentioned that he seemed distracted, as they worked on the contracts for the latest Pittsburgh stadium development, which was boring work. He was challenged more these days by the cases at F&A, which might involve settlements to injured parties. Cases that had a human element, and not just the dry corporate contracts and big money deals. It occurred to him that working at LSOP, was in no small measure responsible for a shifting of his priorities and his interests. One of those interests had captured his heart. Nick rushed into the Incline, removing his coat, and slightly loosening his tie. It had been a long day. His piercing blue grey hooded eyes scanned the bar, for a shiny brown head of hair, and sweetly dimpled smile. He saw her then, she was seated at a table, but the throng of people had blocked most of his view. He started making his way over to Lulu, only to pull up short, as the air left his lungs abruptly, and as his heart flew up to his mouth. Puzzled he stared at the seated couple. A man about his age was sitting across from Lulu, and they were deep in conversation. Nick hesitated, uncertain as to whether or not he should interrupt. "What the fuck?!" he whispered, irritated. The man leaned in, the better to hear Lulu it appeared, then he suddenly broke out with a loud guffaw and tousled her hair. Tousled her hair? The hell?! Goddamn it! Who was this guy? Tall, dressed in expensive, yet casual clothes, this son of a bitch was a bit too familiar and a bit too handsome for his peace of mind. Nick turned around, and heading straight to the bar he grabbed a corner stool and decided to wait it out. Shit, Nick thought, she can destroy me, she's got me in the palm of her hand, and at times like this it sucks. She can send me crashing down from the biggest highs on a whim. Nick's mood got blacker. They were reflected in the mirror behind the bar, and Nick couldn't tear his eyes away. He watched with a sick feeling as Lulu reached out to brush this guy's hair off his brow with her fingers. How many times has she done that to me? Nick surveyed the devastating scene. She looked so comfortable with this bastard. He could hear her tinkle of laughter and see her bright smile straight across the dimly lit bar. They were both laughing now. Nick seeing red, started to get up and charge over to demand some answers, but after his last tussle at the Incline, he knew it wouldn't be wise. Another barfight would land him in jail. The way he felt, he could easily put his fist through this guy's square jaw. In lieu of that however, he decided to order a stiff drink. "Scotch straight," he told the bartender. Just then, he saw the guy get up from his seat, glance around the bar as if he were looking for someone, shrug his shoulders -- then bend down to hug, and kiss Lulu on the cheek. Her expression was clearly affectionate. She grabbed his hand, and kissed the back of it. The man strolled out of the bar. Nick was enraged. He decided to sit at the bar and nurse his drink until he cooled down a bit, because he knew if he went over to her now, he'd regret it. Lulu spotted Nick sitting at the bar, his back to her. His sleek physique, broad shoulders and downbent head with it's golden shorn hair drawing her eye. She felt her heart pick-up and start beating triple time, as it usually did when he was anywhere near her. As she got up to go to him, her excitement receded slightly, only to be replaced with mild anxiety. She immediately suspected something might be wrong. Why hadn't he come over to her? Lulu wondered, as she slowly made her way over to Nick's seated figure. Unbeknownst to her, her eye-catching petite yet curvy figure was drawing male eyes throughout. Nick saw her approach in the mirror and caught the covetous glances directed her way. He took a deep calming breath. He suddenly felt her presence, and smelled the faint scent of jasmine that she sometimes wore. She had sidled right up beside him, pressing her small frame into his seated one, "Hello stranger." The warmth of her voice and the smile he could hear within, almost making him forget he was mad. Almost. He turned his head only slightly in her direction, but kept staring straight ahead. He gave no response. "Nick?" Lulu questioned softly, caressing the nape of his neck, "Why are you over here at the bar? I was looking for you." Having noticed the drink in front of him, worry began to invade Lulu's loving expression. "Oh. Were you really?" Nick said sarcastically. Lulu let her hand slowly drop from the warmth of his neck, and moved slightly away the better to gauge his expression. "What? Nick, I don't understand - you sound upset," Lulu was thoroughly confused, and wanted to know what was wrong. Nick looked at her then, his eyes cold. Lulu gasped, "What happened?" He looked as if he hated her. "You look concerned?" he smiled bitterly. "I-I am Nick," Lulu kept her tone calm and low deliberately. "Did you have a bad day at work, did something go wrong?" Nick laughed derisively, "Oh something went wrong alright, but not at work. Something went wrong right here." He leaned in close, his hot sweet breath blasting her cheek, hurt eyes boring into her, and angrily whispered - his voice cracking, "I walked in here....and saw you sitting with some guy, who was all over you." "Nicholas, no. Listen to me—" Lulu immediately understood, and all her tension drained away. He had misunderstood. She clasped his wrist, an entreating look on her face, and smiled hesitantly, "Please Nicholas, it's not what you think!" "Now isn't that a classic line," he muttered coldly, reaching for the as of yet untouched glass of scotch, and wrestling with his turbulent emotions. Taking a stab at flippancy, and failing, his lip curled up into a non-grin, "You know, I never thought I'd hear that from you," he said matter of factly, "not this soon anyway," he added cynically. Lulu blanched. "Nicholas, please...don't." Lulu's eyes welled up, as she watched him reach for the amber liquid. She touched the hand poised to throw back a swig, and gently lowered it to the bar. She had made up her mind on the spot after witnessing this incident. For now, she would not tell Nick about her past - her childhood. She loved him with all her heart and wanted to share everything with him, but his over-reaction tonight, made her question his ability to handle what she had to say, so she would postpone that revelation indefinitely. Her immediate problem involved setting Nicholas Fallin straight. Even though his distrust hurt her terribly, she would not take the bait and get angry herself. She recognized that Nick didn't need that - that he needed to be shown he would be loved unconditionally, no matter how terrible his temper, no matter how much he screwed up, and regardless of how he might hurt her while jumping to all the wrong conclusions. "Lulu, you should go home," Nick said dejectedly, shoving the drink away and running his hand over the back of his head. "No, we have to talk," Lulu moved in closer, and kissed his jaw...feeling the slightly rough beginnings of scruff against her lips. Nick inhaled sharply, surprised at her actions. He didn't know what kind of game she was playing, but he had a very short fuse right now, so with a pained look on his face, he clasped her arm tightly drawing her in closer. She automatically melted into him. "Go home." he said firmly. Lulu flinched. His anger was apparent now, her teasing caresses ignited his senses, yet flamed his temper. In his mind's eye, he saw her with Mr. Tall, dark and handsome doing the same thing, and it was killing him. His jaw clenched, and he narrowed his eyes. "I can't," she sobbed the words softly under her breath, aware that they were still in a public place, although it was now sparce with people, "I don't want to." "Nick, listen to me, I...I wanted you to meet someone today. That was my brother Stephan you saw me with. She searched Nick's eyes, they suddenly became pained, the fierceness draining slowly away. "Your brother?" He listened with growing dread and dropped his head, hand homing in on the back of his neck. What had he done? Lulu continued earnestly looking into his eyes, "I wanted…" "God!" Nick forcefully interrupted, an abject look of misery on his face. "Lulu, I'm so sorry!" Lulu's eyes welled up, her shoulders beginning to shake a bit, and he couldn't stand it. He pulled her closer and clasped her head in his hands kissing her passionately on the mouth, and breaking off to whisper again and again, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry...please...forgive me." Out of her glorious brown eyes, shown all the love in the world, despite his royal screw-up, he couldn't believe it. She tilted her head back reluctantly, and continued on, "I wanted the two men I love most in the world to meet each other." Nick's breath caught at that, he hugged her tightly. God what have I done to deserve her. Nick felt a lump in his throat. It was almost scary, loving someone this much. "I think you'll like each other...really!" Smiling with watery eyes, she clasped her arms around his neck, "we'll all go out to dinner sometime okay?" Nick nodded his head, "Yes..I would like that very much, Louisa," he kissed her forehead. He decided to try his hand at levity, as she already had him too choked up for much else. "What kind of neandrathal have you turned me into?" He asked sincerely. "Me?" she smiled. "Who else, Lulu? Jesus...this is all new to me. I know I can be an asshole, but I've never been a jealous asshole, ever." Lulu laughed, as he honestly looked perplexed. Lulu's arms stole around his neck, and she hugged him fiercely whispering, "Let's get out of here." Nick swallowed hard, "Yes, let's." He drew her back, arching her into him, and kissing her softly on the mouth, sipping her lips. "I'll apologize some more when we get home." Lulu softly kissed his ear, her tongue-tip tickling his ear, "You can show me how sorry you really are okay?" Nick groaned softly and eagerly nodded, laughing in the affirmative as he got up. He placed his hand at the small of her back, and they both edged towards the door of the Incline...the anger long gone, and the drink left untouched. THE END