He shrugged.
“You guys still have that tracker app,” Bethany said weakly. “Why didn’t you use your phone to actually call me and tell me you were coming? Nate, this is Lloyd Morrison, my father, and his wife Gemma.”
“There’s just something about a surprise.” Gemma undid her silk scarf. “It’s such a rush.”
“So you came all the way to Alaska to surprise me? Why?”
“I came to check out an investment opportunity, a gold mine.”
“He means that literally, by they,” Gemma explained.
“Daddy? Gemma?” Gretel dashed over from the living room, with Ian trailing a few steps behind. “I thought I heard your voices, but I figured I was hallucinating again, like when I ate those bad mushrooms in middle school.”
Bethany let out a snort. It sounded as if she was on the edge of hysteria. The blank panic on her face made Nate want to scoop her into his arms and smuggle her away somewhere safe. What was she so terrified about? She dealt with trauma victims and deadly diseases all the time. What were two parents compared with that?
More air kisses all around.
Gemma caught sight of Ian and her gaze sharpened. Then she swung back toward Nate. “Well now, I’m a bit confused. You mentioned a man on the phone. Which one is the—”
“Him!” Bethany grabbed Nate around the middle, making him stagger. “This is my boyfriend. Gray eyes, brown hair. See?” She snuggled close to his side, and tilted her face toward him, as if asking for a kiss.
Automatically, he obliged. Their lips met and clung and, for God’s sake, it felt pretty freaking real to him.
“So you’re a n—” Lloyd began.
Bethany interrupted again, practically yelling. “New boyfriend, yes!”
She directed a panicked glance at her sister. “Gretel, maybe you and Ian should go into town and get some more wine. No, champagne! I’m sure Nate doesn’t have enough.”
Nate had plenty of liquor in the house, but he held his tongue. Whatever his role here was—new boyfriend?—if it involved kissing Bethany, count him in.
“Such a good idea,” Gretel gushed. “Ian, I’d be so grateful if you helped me out. Driving on these roads, I’m just not used to it. Maybe we could take your car?” Gretel deployed her dazzling smile on the poor man, who melted under it.
“Happy to help. Winter driving is one of my skills, second of course to—”
“Go, go,” Bethany urged them, practically pushing them out the door. “The liquor store closes soon.”
The liquor store stayed open longer than any other establishment in Lost Harbor. Something strange was definitely going on here. Nate hadn’t seen Bethany this rattled since she locked herself out of her house.
Gretel and Ian dashed toward Ian’s SUV, and Bethany and Nate were left alone with her parents.
And lots of questions. Beginning with a strange one from her father.
“So you’re a neurosurgeon, Nate?”
Chapter Sixteen
During past tough moments with her father—when he lectured her on her shortcomings, or announced a new marriage, or threatened to cut her and Gretel off—Bethany had developed a coping mechanism. She used to imagine an alien spaceship swooping in like a bird and carrying her off to another planet.
That childhood fantasy came back in full force in the foyer of Nate’s house, as her lie caught up with her in real time. Where was that imaginary spaceship? She needed it now more than ever.
Nate nudged her in the side. She shook herself back to attention. The poor guy was in the hot seat even more than she was—with no clue what was going on. She opened her mouth to explain that she’d made it all up, that she’d lied to get them off her back, that she’d never imagined they’d actually come to Alaska…
But she waited too long.
Nate was already talking. “Yes, I’m a visiting neurosurgeon at Misty Bay Regional Hospital.”
Oh shit. He was going along with this. Totally saving her, even more than an imaginary spaceship.
“You’re visiting, you say? But you live here, in this house?” From the sweep of Gemma’s gaze, Bethany knew that the house, at the very least, met with her approval. And she had extremely high standards.
Nate darted a glance at Bethany. “Yes, when I’m in Lost Harbor, I live here. It’s my house. Of course, I don’t operate on patients here. I don’t have a lab in the basement, although that would be useful.”
Gemma’s eyebrows lifted to her perfectly tinted blond hairline.
Oh shit, now he was having fun with this situation. Trust Nate to find the humor even in a disaster like this.
She had to stop this before it got completely out of hand. “Daddy, Gemma, we should really go so I can show you my house.”
“But Gretel’s getting champagne and—”
“That’s right, Bethany, no need to end the night early,” Nate chimed in. Was he trying to torture her?
“I’ll send her a text to meet us at my house instead. I really think it’s best. Poor Nate has an early shift at the hospital.”
Her parents didn’t budge. Nate grinned. “Let me take your coats—”
“But honey,” Bethany added, an edge to her voice. “Remember, you have that cryoneurolysis tomorrow? You need plenty of sleep for that. And no alcohol.”
Her father humphed. “You don’t drink before brain surgery, do you, Nate?”
“Mostly after, rarely during—”
“Is it a difficult operation?” Gemma interrupted. Fortunately.
“Oh yes. Quite challenging. Bethany’s right. I need my mind sharp or one wrong move and—” He scissored his fingers, making her parents jump. “Luckily, I’ve never lost a patient. My record is one hundred percent.”
A hundred percent of zero, but only she and Nate knew that. Bethany bit her lip to hold back her laughter. All her life, she’d been intimidated by her father. But right now, Nate was actually making her laugh about this ridiculous situation she’d created.
“Well, in that case, we should let the man get his rest,” her father said. “You can show us around the town, Bethany. That shouldn’t take long.”
“Oh, but I’m the man for that job,” said Nate eagerly. “I’ve seen parts of Lost Harbor most people don’t know about. That’s one of the benefits of being a first—” He broke off. Oops.
“A first-in-the-nation neurosurgeon of his age,” Bethany finished for him. “Definitely one of the big benefits.”
“Exactly,” Nate agreed. He dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “Well put, sweetheart.”
Her father and Gemma could not possibly look more confused.
“Now we really have to let Nate get some sleep.” She moved between them and shepherded them out the door.
“That’s right, he has that…cryo—” Her father looked over his shoulder at Nate, who opened his mouth, then shut it again, looking blank.
Crap. She didn’t even remember what procedure she’d mentioned. She mouthed “sorry” at Nate, then hustled her parents another step forward.
But her father dug in his heels. “I want to tell my golf buddies.”
“Ah, golf.” Nate seized on the lifeline her father had offered. “How would you like to check out the Lost Harbor golf course while you’re in town? It’s not much, but I guarantee it’ll make for a good story back home.”
“Yes, sure. After you perform the…” Her father paused expectantly.
“Yes, the operation tomorrow, the one in which we crack open the skull while the patient is still conscious and test different areas of the brain with an electrical stimulus; it’s quite a fascinating process and can take up to ten hours, but the most incredible part is that the patient doesn’t feel any pain.”
As he rattled on, Bethany had to literally bite her lip to stop from laughing. Obviously he was remembering some medical show he’d watched, an episode of ER or something like that. She gave him big credit for creativity after she’d put him in such an awkward situation. He was so q
uick on his feet. And she was so grateful she wanted to drag him into a bedroom and kiss him breathless.
But this situation was a ticking time bomb. She needed to get them out of here before she or Nate slipped up. “Okay, that’s enough. When Nate gets going with all his neurosurgery stories, it’s hard to stop him. I’ll call you later, okay, honey?”
“Absolutely, sweetie-pie.”
Conscious of her parents’ gazes, she stepped to his side and lifted her face for a kiss. She felt his arms come around her, iron bands at her waist, and his hard front pressed against hers. Heat swept through her like a prairie fire and for a moment, she forgot all about her parents and the crazy charade they’d just pulled off. Nothing existed except her and Nate and this magical, magnetic hum between them.
He dipped his head and murmured against her mouth, “They’re watching us. Want to put the icing on the cake?”
Spellbound, she nodded. He brushed his lips gently against hers, a slow, hyper-aware moment of contact that made the word “kiss” seem inadequate. There was nothing rushed or fake about it; he was one hundred percent committed to tasting her lips. More than tasting—discovering.
The kiss had a sense of wonder about it, and a sense of stillness. As if they weren’t standing in the foyer of his house with an audience of two, but sheltered under a beach umbrella somewhere, alone in a world of sunshine and balmy breezes.
Her eyes drifted closed and all her other senses heightened. The smell of Nate’s skin, with just a touch of spicy aftershave mixed with charcoal and pepper. The feel of his hands against the small of her back, the tension in his fingers, the steel in his arms. The ever-so-slight acceleration of his breath, a message meant only for her.
I want you, it said. I want to strip you naked and make love to you for hours.
She pulled away with a gasp. He winked at her.
Was he just putting on a show for her parents? She’d put him in this position, so she couldn’t blame him. But it sure had felt real.
“Sorry about that,” she told her father and stepmother. “We get carried away sometimes.”
Her father was scowling. “It’s like a flashback to Gretel’s entire high school career. Guess you’re just a late bloomer, Bethany.”
Bethany felt her face heat. How did her father always manage to hit her soft spot? And why did she always feel the wound? She should be used to it by now.
Nate stepped in, rescuing her once again. “Sorry, I have a hard time keeping my hands off this gorgeous woman.”
He’d obviously caught the undercurrents between her and her father. What must he think of her?
It shouldn’t matter—it was just Nate. They weren’t actually dating, or anything on the spectrum of dating.
But to her surprise, she discovered that it mattered a lot. She wanted Nate’s good opinion. And now she’d probably tossed that away forever.
“Thanks for everything, Nate,” she told him. With her eyes, she tried to send “extra gigantic thanks” and “sorry” and “‘I’ll call you later to sort this out.”
Nodding, he signaled that he understood. “Drive safe, everyone. Watch that hill, it can get slippery this time of year. It froze hard the other night for the first time. Any day now we’ll see snowfall. I can feel it.”
They waved goodbye and she headed for her car, the soothing resonance of Nate’s voice echoing in her ears.
The truth struck her all at once. If her father knew that Nate was an EMT, not a neurosurgeon, he would think that she outclassed him.
But really, Nate outclassed them all—herself included.
Chapter Seventeen
Her parents decided to go straight to their suite at the Eagle’s Nest Resort, which was the only hotel in town with a chance of rising to their standards. Bethany met them there, where she endured a few rounds of “why on earth did you choose this tiny barnacle of a town,” along with a dose of “why spend your time bandaging fishermen when you could be hosting dinner parties in Manhattan,” and a side dish of “Nate’s quite a catch, better make sure that sister of yours doesn’t steal him away.”
The usual, in other words, with the added material provided by Nate, fake new boyfriend.
Of course it would be easy for them to find out the truth about Nate. All they had to do was check social media. If they did, she’d confess all. Until then, she’d try to figure out a graceful way to salvage this fiasco.
As soon as she could escape, she fled back to her house and called Nate. It was almost eleven, and still there was no sign of Gretel.
She collapsed onto the couch and texted Nate. Are you still awake?
Her phone rang the next second. “How are you?” he asked immediately.
“Me? Don’t worry about me. How are you?”
“I’m pretty darn good, considering I started the day single and ended it with a girlfriend and two potential in-laws who are going to despise me when they learn the truth.”
She gave a groaning laugh. “I am so so so sorry. And so grateful that you’re such a good sport. You have no idea what this means to me.”
“Well, I owed you a favor. S.G. loved the comfrey, by the way. She says she’s already walking better.”
“She’s not supposed to be walking, she’s supposed to be resting her ankle.”
“You’re welcome to let her know that. She doesn’t listen to much that I say. But I’m guessing that’s more of a general characteristic, not just me. So, your parents…”
“I know. I know. This isn’t their fault. I turn into a six-year-old when I’m around them. They were trying to set me up with one of their horrible friends, so I told them I had a boyfriend. I never imagined they’d come to Alaska. Huge tactical error. When I saw them at your door, I panicked. I’m so sorry.”
“So…I’m still not getting it. You told them your boyfriend was a neurosurgeon, right? There was an actual neurosurgeon right there.”
“Yes, but can you imagine how confused Ian would have been? I couldn’t trust him to play along.”
In other words, she’d trusted Nate’s quick thinking over Ian’s. And Ian was supposed to be the brilliant one. Ironic.
“Well, I might as well take that as a compliment, ’cuz why the hell not?”
His wry tone made her cringe. “I know how bad this sounds. I’m so embarrassed. Literally, you’ve just seen me at my worst. I wouldn’t blame you if you dumped me immediately.”
“A fake dumping or the real thing?”
“Either. Both. We can schedule a breakup as soon as possible. How’s tomorrow?”
His warm laugh rumbled across her nerve endings. “Have you done this before? You seem to have it down.”
“Here’s the thing…” She closed her eyes, wondering how much more humiliation one day could hold. “I was not one of the popular girls in school, and I never had the right kind of date for prom, or cotillion, or anything at the country club. So I sometimes fudged things. I had a gay friend who would pose as my date, and I’d help him out when he needed it. I’m just a geek, always have been, and in my family, that just wasn’t acceptable. Do you understand?”
“What I don’t understand is the part where not a single guy at your school ever asked you out. Is that real?”
“I got asked out. But not by anyone my father would find suitable. He has very high standards.”
“I’m picking up on that. But you’re a doctor. You save lives, you help people. He should be proud of you.”
“Doctors don’t rate very high in his world.” She rubbed one stocking foot against the other, focusing on the snowflake pattern on her socks.
“Huh. Then why—”
“Did I become a doctor? I told you I had a strange childhood. After my mother died, I developed bad asthma. The stepmothers came and went, but I had the same doctor my whole childhood. She was my stability. I decided early on to follow in her footsteps.”
“Which is a great choice. We’re very happy about it here in Lost Harbor.”
“Thank
s.”
“So why are you still worried about living up to what your dad wants?”
“I can’t help it.” She shrugged. “Gretel doesn’t give a crap what he thinks. But I always wanted to make him happy. And I never have.”
Another one of those long silences. She could guess what he was thinking. What kind of grown woman allowed her self-respect to be held hostage? And how could he get away from her once and for all?
“Let me ask you something,” he finally said. “What did you think of our kiss?”
For a moment, she blanked, because he wasn’t dumping her as she’d imagined.
Their kiss.
The least she could do was tell him the truth.
“It was amazing,” she said softly. “You made it feel so real.”
“What makes you think it wasn’t real?”
“Because I put you on the spot. Because you were very kindly going along with the act. Because…I don’t know.”
“Okay. We need to work on your self-confidence. I never thought I’d have to say that to a beautiful, intelligent doctor, but that’s where we are. That kiss was very real to me. It just about knocked me off my feet. I would jump at the chance to kiss you again. You’re gorgeous, sexy, brilliant, kind, funny, compassionate, and maybe just a little bit neurotic.”
She let out a spurt of laughter. “Just a little bit? That’s your diagnosis?”
“Dr. Nate has spoken. He has prescribed regular kissing and frequent reminders of what a hottie you are.”
She felt as if his words lit a lantern inside her. Its flame spread a warm glow throughout her heart and soul. “You’re being silly.”
“The hell I am.”
“So you’re saying you don’t mind pretending to be my boyfriend a little longer, until I can figure out an exit strategy?”
“Will it involve kissing?”
Wild images flew through her mind, fantasies of all the things she and Nate could do together. “At the very least,” she promised.
“Oh really? Sounds like you’re looking for trouble. The fun kind.”
“I think…maybe I am.” Yes, she definitely liked the sound of that. More serious now, she drew in a deep breath. “What about Gretel, though? She was supposed to be the one for you.”
Seduced by Snowfall Page 11
