Chapter Sixteen

 

 

 

I wrapped the scarf tighter around me and blew into my hands. Tilly smiled up at me from her cozy pushchair, hat pulled low and mittens flopping around.

“When are you going to buy yourself a proper winter coat?” Suze asked, flicking the sleeve of my military style jacket that did little to stave off the increasingly chilly air.

“When I need one. When are you going to stop harping on at me?” I asked.

Suze gave me her ‘mothering’ look. “When you realize it’s the middle of October and you do need one.”

I grinned. “So how was the come down after her power nap at the party?”

“Not too bad, actually. She was more hyped up on wrapping paper and shredding it to pieces. Slept like a log that night, I’ll tell you.” Suze laughed. “You were very popular, by the way.”

“Me, why?”

“Mum loved you. She asked me to bring you round sometime.” Suze couldn’t have grinned wider if she had tried.

Oh, God.

“Don’t make that face,” Suze said, rolling her eyes. “She’s not that bad.”

“No, I know,” I rushed, not wanting to see the pinch of hurt on Suze’s face. “It’s just that me and families don’t really go well together. Is she like this with all your friends?”

She laughed. “She doesn’t want to see you because of me. It’s because you’re Nate’s girlfriend.”

“I’m not Nate’s girlfriend. I’m just the girl he’s—”

“Yes, all right, Jo.” She huffed out a breath. “You two drive me crazy. Do you know that? I just want to smash your head off a brick wall to get you to see sense.”

“I’m not the settling down type.” I avoided Suze’s eyes as I held the door of the coffee shop open for her.

She clattered the wheels of the pushchair off the doorway and swore under her breath. “Doesn’t change how you feel about each other. I think you’re being deliberately obtuse.”

I nudged her with my elbow. “I think you’ve just been watching too much Disney where everyone has to have a happy ending.”

“Yeah, well, it’s all right for some,” Suze mumbled, freeing Tilly and handing her a stack of crayons and some craft paper.

“Things not going well with Dan? I thought you two were getting proper loved up.”

“I know. He’s fine, great even. But he’s getting pushy.”

“What do you mean?”

The troubled look was strange on Suze’s usually optimistic face. “He made a really big deal when I said he couldn’t come to Tilly’s birthday party. I wanted him there, but my daughter’s birthday is about her, not the man I’m seeing. He’s making all these noises about having Nate and one of his lady friends over for dinner.”

“What lady friends?” I asked, my voice a touch more shrill than I would have liked.

Suze laughed. “Calm down. He doesn’t know about you, that’s all. I mean, he knows you live with Nate and we’re friends, but I haven’t told him about you and Nate. Too complicated. I’ll wait until you make it official.”

I snorted. “You’ll be waiting for a while then. So he wants to get the big brother on his side?”

Suze nodded. “He asks me so many questions about him, honestly. I think he’s just worried that Nate won’t like him or will get all protective or something.”

“You are full of contradictions, Suze,” I said, shaking my head.

“What do you mean?”

“You want me and Nate to be all serious and betrothed or whatever, and you’re losing interest in your boyfriend because he wants to meet your family. Contradictions.”

She groaned. “Oh, shut up, you smart arse. Go get me a hot chocolate.”

I squeezed her shoulder as I stood up. “With extra whipped cream,” I promised.

 

* * * *

 

Wednesday night at the bar was utterly dire. I was on back shifts all week and ready to lose the plot. I’d been listening to the banter of a couple of students for the last hour and a half and didn’t believe half the stories coming out of their mouths.

Rob was making a pyramid of beer mats when the phone rang. I jumped up to answer it and caused his pyramid to fold and collapse. He shot me a dirty look and I smiled.

“Hello, Red Bar,” I answered.

“Jo?”

I knew his voice anywhere and I wasn’t surprised by the sudden flutter in my stomach. “Nate? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Am I right in thinking you’re finishing work soon?”

I glanced at my watch. “Yeah, in about half an hour.”

“Feel like doing me a massive favor? Bring some food round to the office? I’m fucking starving and probably will be here for another few hours.”

“Sure thing. In the mood for anything in particular?”

There was a pause before Nate answered. “Surprise me,” he said, with a smile in his voice.

I chose his favorite pizza shop, ordering a large meat feast. It warmed my hands through my fingerless gloves as I walked the cold streets to Nate’s office. I called him when I was around the corner and he was waiting for me by the time I made it. He relieved me of the pizza box, groaning when the smell hit him.

He took my hand as he jogged up the stairs and into his office. Nate kissed me briefly before placing the box on the coffee table and sitting on the couch to dig in. I pulled off my oversized jumper I was wearing in lieu of a coat and pushed up the sleeves of the long-sleeved bar shirt, chucking my scarf and gloves on top of the jumper.

“Are you not freezing?” Nate asked around a mouthful of pizza.

“Nah, not really.” Lie. I was frozen to the bone but refused to buy a decent coat until the sales.

“How was work?”

“Long and boring. You?”

“Busy. I’m probably going to have to go back out to the States again.”

My face fell. “So soon? But you just got back.”

Nate nodded. “Tell me about it. But I need this done, get all the details ironed out. It’s easier to do it on site.”

I didn’t like how disappointed I felt that Nate would once again be jetting off for another week or two. It seemed so odd that when I’d first moved in, I’d barely noticed when he wasn’t there, only realizing he’d gone anywhere by the suitcase that sat in the hall when he’d returned for a few days. But now, the house echoed with the absence of him.

“You’re quiet tonight,” Nate said, reaching for another slice.

I dropped my half eaten one back into the pizza box and curled up in the corner of the couch. “Just tired.”

Nate took my feet and pulled them onto his lap. He rubbed my calf with his strong, sure fingers. “You could always come, you know.”

“Where?” I frowned.

“America.”

I scoffed. “Yeah, right.”

“Why not?”

“The airfare, for one thing.”

“I can expense it.”

“I’d have to take time off work.”

“You haven’t had a holiday, or a weekend off, since I met you. You’re bound to be owed some time.”

“You’d be working.”

“Not in the evenings.”

“God, you’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Very.” He smiled. “It’s no big deal, Jo. I can expense your flight, you’d share my suite so it’s not like it’s any more expensive in the hotel. There’s loads of museums, shops and touristy things to do during the day. I’d be out of the office by six every night and we could get dinner, see a show, whatever. The offer is there. It’s up to you.”

It sounded so coupley—a holiday away together. It wasn’t a big relationship step, really he was only offering me a free trip to America. It wasn’t anything to freak out about.

Nate demolished one more slice before closing the lid. He shifted closer to me, grasped my hips and tugged me down the couch.

“You look exhausted. Chill out here, I’ll wake you when I’ve rung for a taxi.” He bent to kiss the corner of my mouth and I wanted nothing more than to pull him on top of me. Nate smiled as though he could read my mind and got up to remove himself from my temptation.

I closed my eyes and listened to the clack of his fingers hitting the keys, the sound soothing and very Nate. After a few minutes, I didn’t hear anything at all.

 

* * * *

 

Pale gray morning light filtered through the window blinds when I woke after sleeping more fitfully than I had since the night Nate had witnessed one of the nightmares. I was cozy, wrapped in a pair of arms with a heartbeat beneath my head. I shifted, realizing my body was wedged between the back of the couch and Nate’s long form. Burrowing deeper in his arms, I breathed him in. That smell, that purely masculine scent, made me dizzy.

Nate moved and his grip on me tightened. I smiled into his soft T-shirt and a low laugh rumbled in his chest. “Morning.”

I pushed up to kiss the bristles on his jaw. “Morning.”

He caught my face and kissed me soft, routine. Like we had woken up beside each other for a thousand mornings. “Has there been any noise out there?”

“None that I’ve heard.”

“Must be early.” Nate sat up and groaned, the muscles in his back contracting. “Fuck, this is going to be a long day.”

“When did you crash last night?”

“I’m not sure. You were out for the count. Decided that couch looked way more tempting than going out in the pissing rain to get home.”

“Good thing it’s a very comfy couch,” I said, standing up with a smile. My things were still flung over the arm of the couch and I began to pull them on.

“Are you heading straight home? Stay for breakfast, if you want. There should be stuff in the kitchen.”

I shook my head. “I might drop in on Suze. She’ll feed me.”

Nate wrapped my scarf around my neck, using it to pull me closer to him. “Thanks for dinner last night.”

“No bother. Thanks for letting me sleep over.”

Nate laughed. “You’re always invited for that. How about another one tonight? Don’t bother with pajamas.”

I smiled and pressed my lips to his. “It’s a date.”

 

* * * *

 

Suze took forever to answer her door. I bounced on the balls of my feet until at last the key turned in the lock and the door opened a crack. Suze had one eye squeezed shut, her normal glossy mane poking up in all different directions and dressing gown not knotted properly.

“Morning. Can you put your boobs away, please?” I asked.

She let out a colorful word and opened the door wider to let me in. “What the hell are you doing awake? It’s not even eight yet.”

“Isn’t it? I wasn’t sure. Figured you’d be up with Tilly.”

“She’s at Mum and Dad’s. This was supposed to be my first long lie in bloody ages. Cheers, Jo.”

“Shit, sorry.” I paused. “Wait. Are you alone? Want me to go?” I asked, cringing that I may have interrupted some grown-up time.

“You’re here now, and yes, I’m alone,” Suze said, padding into the kitchen and flicking on the kettle.

“Oh. Is that why you’re crabby?”

Suze shrugged. “I told Dan I wasn’t interested in taking the relationship further. I’m not ready for what he clearly wants.”

I patted her shoulder. “Sorry, Suze.”

“It is what it is. I’ll meet someone sometime. And when I do, I’m taking things snail slow.” Suze let out a breath. “What brings you round at this godforsaken hour?”

That was all we were talking about that, then. “I fell asleep at Nate’s office last night. Decided to pop in and see you before heading home.”

She frowned. “Why were you sleeping at the office?”

“I took him dinner since he was working late. We both fell asleep.”

Suze sighed. “He works too hard.”

“Mmm.” I agreed. “And he’s off to Washington again shortly.”

She leaned her hip against the counter and pouted. “Aww, you going to miss him?”

“Not one little bit,” I said, as I sat at her tiny breakfast table.

“Heartless cow.” Suze pulled out two mugs and added an extra teaspoon of coffee for each of us.

“I’m going with him.”

Suze gasped and dropped the spoon with a clatter in the mug. “Lucky cow. How’d you swindle that one? No, wait—I don’t want to know.”

I grinned. “Jealous?”

“Completely.”

“I’ll bring you Lucky Charms home.”

She smiled. “You’re forgiven then. Breakfast?”

“Mmm, yes please.”

Suze and I spent a large chunk of that day curled up on her couch with a blanket over our knees, watching rubbish TV and munching on the fairy cakes she insisted I bake for her.