Baby, Be Mine (Holiday Brides Series) Page 6

  Nikki trudged up the hill through the snow, and he followed after her. She dusted off the bench and motioned for him to sit. “So what do you think?” she asked, admiring the wintery landscape. Tree boughs hung heavy with snowdrifts, surrounding them in an enchanted forest.

  His bottom met the frigid bench. “I think you’re nuts.”

  “We’ll warm up after a bit. Come on.” She urged him closer. “Scoot over. And hand me some champagne.”

  Jack laughed and slid toward her. He pulled the bottle from beneath his coat and unwrapped its wires. Fitting his thumbs under the already swollen cork, he pressed it skyward. It flew from the neck of the bottle with a whoosh, sending foamy liquid bubbling down the sides of the bottle. Nikki giggled aloud as he held it away from him to keep his jeans from getting drenched. “Nice work!” she proclaimed, following the cork’s trajectory into the darkness.

  He handed her the bottle. “You do the honors.”

  She smiled and took a swig. “Brrr!” she said with a shiver. “Still cold!”

  “It’s meant to be served cold.” She passed him back the bottle, and he took a long drink.

  “Hey!” She swatted his arm. “Save some for me.”

  “There’s plenty for you, Ms. Lightweight.” In her younger days, that had gotten her in trouble, but she was older now and appeared to have grown out of it.

  “You will never let me live down that night at the prom.”

  “It’s hard to forget being attacked by a wildcat.”

  “I did… Hey! Watch it!”

  “Well, you were,” he said smugly. “Practically tore my tuxedo off. Ahhh, the memories.”

  “Billy Martin spiked the punch.”

  “I didn’t recall him being in my car.”

  “Jack! We went together as friends, remember?”

  “I’m not the one who seemed to forget.”

  He couldn’t tell, but he thought she blushed in the darkness. She grabbed the bottle back from him and took another swig. “We sorted that out years ago. I was a little inebriated—”

  “More than a little.”

  “Okay, fine. Pretty darn drunk. I didn’t even know who you were, for crying out loud.”

  It was true, and Jack’s heart ached at the memory. She’d even called him Chris, which was the name of the boy she’d had a crush on at the time. Jack suddenly regretted bringing this up. He’d burned for Nikki so badly that when she practically attacked him in the car, he thanked the heavens above for that opportunity. For the first time in two years, Nikki had finally come to her senses and could see Jack for who he was: an eligible high school senior who’d been hook-line-and-sinker crazy for her since the moment she first batted those eyes.

  “Give me that champagne.” Jack was embarrassed to hear his tone come out grumpy.

  “What are you getting all cranky about? You’re the one who wanted to take a walk down Memory Lane.”

  They each had a few more sips, then sat there in silence, staring through the slanting snow at the skaters down below.

  “Nikki,” he said at last, “I’m really sorry about Emma.”

  There was worry in her voice as she replied. “She looks bad, doesn’t she?”

  “Things seem to have gotten worse since I last saw her.”

  “I know.” Nikki hung her head. “Me too.”

  Jack took the champagne bottle from her grip and wedged it into a pile of snow beside him. “I’m sorry. I know it must be hard. I don’t know what I’d do if I saw my dad like that. He’s always been so strong.”

  When she turned to him, there were tears in her eyes. “Ma’s always been a tough one too. Only…” Her words fell off into soft sobs.

  Jack raised her chin in his hand. “Nikki?”

  “It seems like she’s given up.”

  “Shhh, now. Hey, hey…” He pulled her to him in the drowning snow. “She’s going to be okay. What she’s got is fixable, yeah? It’s not like some other things that—”

  Nikki pushed back in his embrace to stare in his eyes. “That’s why we have to fix it, Jack. I have to fix it, because I have a chance to.”

  Jack held her gaze, his heart breaking for her. He would do anything not to see Nikki in pain. Anything it took.

  “Don’t you see now? Understand a little better why my going through with Aunt Mallory’s wishes doesn’t seem so lame?”

  He cupped her face in his hands and stroked back her tears. “I understand that you want to help.” In a faraway universe, the music had stopped and a voice was issuing a countdown over the speakers by the ice rink. Ten… Nine… Eight…

  Her mouth was inches away, its heat flowing toward him in the shadows.

  “Then help me help, Jack. Please.”

  He drew closer, losing all sense of reason. Maybe it was the night or the champagne or the moment.

  “What time is it?” she whispered.

  “Almost midnight.”

  “Happy New Year!” rang out from the speakers below as hoots and hoorays echoed up the hill.

  Jack was trapped in Nikki’s gaze, unable to fight the tug of it. It was as if some invisible magnet was pulling him forward. Her lips trembled, and before Jack could think out what was happening, he claimed her mouth with his. He fell into her kiss, that warm and welcoming place he’d always imagined it to be.

  “Jack!” Nikki said. “Don’t!” But there was desire in her eyes. He couldn’t mistake it. “I can’t…” She pulled away from him. “We can’t do this.”

  “Why not?” he asked, his voice husky.

  “Because I need you.”

  “You have me. More than you know.” He paused a beat. “Nikki, there’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you—”

  “No.” She brought her hands to his lips. “Please. Don’t.” She blinked turning away. “It will only make it harder.”

  He didn’t know how much harder things could get. They’d been damn near impossible forever.

  There was pain in her eyes when she looked back at him. “Please don’t make me tell you again, Jack. I love you. I’ve always loved you. But not like—”

  “That,” he finished for her.

  He pulled the bottle from the snow and stood.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Home to get some shut-eye. It’s as cold as Siberia out here. And I do mean polar.”

  Her face grew long. “You can’t be mad at me for this. For something that you’ve known forever. Honestly, I thought you were over it.”

  “I am,” he told her firmly. “I only kissed you just then because I thought you wanted me to.”

  “You what?”

  “Come on, Nikki. You were giving me the signs.”

  “No. You imagined it.”

  “Doesn’t really matter now, does it?”

  “Why not?”

  “Because,” he said without skipping a beat, “you and I have work to do.”

  “You mean you’ll…?”

  “Yes. I’m going to help you finish this little task of yours to the bitter end.” And he would too. In the past ninety seconds, he’d realized something absolutely, and the clarity stunned him. The only way he was ever going to move forward was by seeing Nikki firmly latched on to someone else. Her having boyfriends hadn’t done it. It would have to be more serious than that. It would have to mean marriage. And for Nikki’s sake as well as that of the guy involved—not to mention Jack’s poor, battered heart—it was going to be a relationship that lasted. He was going to make sure of it.

  She stared up at him, slack-jawed on the snowy bench.

  “Let’s get going,” he told her. “Before we freeze to death out here.”

  “Thanks, Jack. For understanding.”

  “All I need to understand is that there were seven names on that list, and you’ve only crossed out three of them.”

  He picked up his pace, and she scurried down the path after him. “I don’t even know where the others are!”

  “Run an online search,” he snapp
ed over his shoulder.

  “Okay.” She stopped walking, and he turned to look at her.

  “Aren’t you coming?”

  “You do want to do this? Because if not, I’m perfectly capable of—”

  “Nikki, trust me on this. It will give me great pleasure to deliver you into another man’s arms.”

  She swallowed hard. “If you’re sure?”

  “One hundred percent positive.”

  “And you’re not mad?” she asked tentatively.

  “Why would I be mad?” He blew an exasperated breath. “Look, it’s already January first. Can’t you see? While we’re standing here blowing hot air, we’re wasting time.”

  “You’re right.” She caught up to him, and they started walking again. “What’s our next move?”

  They approached his car, which was already piled over with snow, and he unlocked it. “You do a little bit of homework, and we’ll meet up on Thursday for lunch. I can take some time off in the afternoon.”

  “And then?”

  “Nikki, sweetheart.” He grinned tightly and opened her door. “I don’t have a crystal ball.” But oh, how he wished he did. That way, he’d have a clue how soon this whole painful ordeal would be done.

  “No, I suppose you don’t. I don’t guess either of us has.”

  Once she was settled inside, Jack shut her door and wiped the snow from the windshield with a scraper. Little by little he got the icy film shaved back until he could make out Nikki’s hazy form through the glass. She sat there in the passenger seat, arms crossed to ward off the cold, looking as pretty as ever in that handmade hat. And in that instant, it hit him. This is amazing! Unexpected! Awesome! He was no longer in love with the girl. As beautiful as she was, she’d lost her particular appeal. A surprising weight lifted in his heart. After twelve incredibly long years, Jack Hudson was free.

  Chapter Five

  Nikki sat at her mom’s kitchen table drinking coffee. It was Wednesday, her only day off, and Tony was in school. “What’s up, hon?” her mom asked her. “You seem a little down today.” Emma’s face was drawn and pale.

  “How are you feeling?” Nikki asked.

  “I was asking about you.”

  “Yeah, but you’re the one who called in sick.”

  Emma shifted, trying to conceal a groan. “Just woke up a little stiff, that’s all.”

  “A little, Ma?”

  Her mom’s eyes brimmed with moisture. “Oh, Nikki,” she admitted. “I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up. I’m already having tingling in my leg.”

  “You what?” Nikki sprang from her chair. “We’re getting you to a doctor. Now.” She tried to grab for her mom’s elbow, but Emma withdrew it.

  “Settle down, honey and sit back down.”

  “But you said—”

  “I know what I said, and I shouldn’t have. Shouldn’t have burdened you with the information. I’ll be all right.” She stared at Nikki and waited until she reluctantly took her seat. “The tingling passes after a while. As long as I stay still and stay off my feet.”

  Nikki wrung her hands. “You can’t go on like this.”

  “The doctor’s trying me on new medication. Maybe it will work.”

  “And if it doesn’t?”

  “He’s got me lined up to start pain therapy.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “They’ll give me injections of cortisone. Right”—she pointed to the back of her neck—“here.”

  “Will that help?”

  “Some patients get better completely.”

  Nikki studied her mom with a frown. This didn’t seem probable in Emma’s case. Not considering how long her condition had gone on and how it had worsened. Surgery was likely the only permanent remedy.

  “You should sue Mel for doing this to you,” she said, referring to her mom’s boss at the diner.

  “He didn’t make me lift those heavy boxes, Nikki.”

  “Yeah, but when someone says ‘it would be good if you could…’ and that someone’s your boss…”

  Emma shook her head. “No way to prove it. This might even have been a preexisting condition, my doctor said. Something that was on the verge of happening anyway.”

  Nikki sighed heavily. “I still blame Mel, and now he’s threatening to fire you on top of it.”

  Emma looked at her in sad agreement. “He’s got a business to run.”

  “Maybe I should talk to him.”

  “Nikki, please. What good will that do?” She forced a weak smile. “Enough about me, all right? I want to hear about you.”

  Nikki toyed with her coffee cup, not looking up.

  “Nikki?”

  She raised her eyes to her mom’s, not sure if she should broach the subject. Especially now when Emma wasn’t feeling well. Maybe it was better to wait.

  “Sweetheart, is something going on?”

  “I don’t know,” Nikki answered honestly. She’d been so confused about things since New Year’s Eve, she was still having trouble sorting them out.

  “Is this about Jack?”

  Nikki blinked. “How did you know?”

  “Motherly intuition.” Her mom reached out and gently stroked her arm. “What’s going on, honey? Has something happened?”

  Nikki blurted it out before she could stop herself. “He kissed me!”

  “He what?” Emma brought a hand to her mouth to disguise a smile. “Well, my, my, my… It’s about time, isn’t it?”

  “Ma!”

  “What? Don’t look at me like that. You can’t pretend you haven’t known, Nikki. That you couldn’t see how he felt about you?”

  Is he wearing a neon sign or something? “I… No! Absolutely not. We settled all that—back in high school.”

  “Doesn’t sound like it was settled to me.”

  “Well, it was, okay?” Nikki said a bit too defensively.

  “And?”

  “And what?”

  There was a mischievous twinkle in her mom’s eye. “What was it like? The kiss?”

  “I barely felt it,” Nikki lied. “It happened so fast, you couldn’t really call it a kiss. It was more like a peck. Yeah, like that.”

  “But on the lips.” Why did her mom appear so amused? This wasn’t funny.

  “Yes, yes. Right here on my pecker.” She pointed to her mouth. “There. Are you satisfied?”

  “That’s not for me to answer. I wasn’t on the receiving end.”

  “Argh! It was nothing! Absolutely nothing. Okay?” She started to stand, but her mom stopped her.

  “Then what are you getting so excited about?”

  Nikki blew out a breath. “It was just…weird, you know? It was Jack. Jack, of all people!”

  “I know.”

  “My best friend on earth!”

  “I’m well informed about who Jack is. He may be your best friend, but that doesn’t change facts.”

  “What facts?”

  “That he’s an eligible young man. Smart, funny, caring, and, oh yes…unbearably handsome.”

  “Ma!”

  “Nikki, I may be fifty, but I still have eyes. I know attractive when I see it. And apparently so does every other female on the planet except for you.”

  “What on earth are you talking about?”

  “You can’t tell me you haven’t noticed the way other girls are constantly playing up to him. I’ve seen them! A florist slipping him her number in a bouquet, when that bouquet was meant for someone else. The checkout girl at the market, asking leading questions about whether he’s interested in cooking for two? The young woman at the bakery offering sugar with—”

  “Okay. All right. I get it.” But the truth was she didn’t. Nikki only vaguely remembered those things. Perhaps that was because she hadn’t been paying attention. Clearly not as much as her mom had. “Just where are you going with this?”

  “I’m just saying that if Jack likes you—as more than friends—I think that’s sweet. I also don’t think you ought to
take his affections for granted, Nikki. He won’t be on the market forever, you know.”

  “Of course. I know of that. Neither of us is getting any younger. In fact, one of us is likely to marry soon.”

  Emma’s eyebrows shot up. “One of you?”

  “Statistically.”

  “It could also happen at once. I mean, for the two of you, if—”

  “I don’t feel that way about him. I never have.”

  Her mother eyed her carefully. “Haven’t you?”

  “No.”

  “You mean there was never a time, even one moment, where you thought that maybe you and he…?”

  “No!” Nikki felt the fire of deceit in her cheeks. “It’s not possible for a guy to be both to me. Jack’s been my best friend for so long, I could never imagine him as something else!”

  “As a lover, you mean?”

  Nikki stared at her like bite your tongue. “He knows things about me,” she cried with a gasp. “Knows that I rub cellulite cream on my thighs and wax my eyebrows!”

  “That hasn’t seemed to dampened his interest.”

  “Yeah, well,” Nikki said sternly. “It sure has mine. Where would the romance be in that? A relationship based on the pure, unvarnished truth? Ew, gross, Ma. Come on! He’s seen me in a mud mask, and on PMS. Seriously bloated—way out to here.” She made a bulging motion in front of her stomach to demonstrate.

  “I see what you mean. I suppose you’ve been privy to unsavory bits about him too.”

  Nikki stared at her mom and blinked. The truth was she couldn’t think of anything really disgusting that Jack did. He wasn’t as bad as most guys. Didn’t strew his clothes around or dump wet towels on the floor. “He leaves the toilet seat up!”

  “Heavens!”

  “And… He sweats a lot.”

  “Sweats?” her mom asked with surprise.

  “Yeah, when he works out.”

  “Nikki.”

  “He’s a mess. Really. Totally gross.”

  Emma eyed her skeptically. “I’ll bet all the girls at the gym think so too.”

  Nikki took a sip of her coffee and realized it had gone cold. “I don’t like to think about Jack that way. I probably shouldn’t have brought it up.”