In the Midnight Hour

by Deborah Cooke

  “Are you sure you have time? The nurses are always so busy.”

  “I’ll make time for you. Don’t concern yourself about it.”

  “There’s oil in the drawer...”

  “I’ll find it. Close your eyes and take a deep breath.”

  The nurse’s hands landed on Natasha’s shoulders, warm and strong. Her hands were smaller than Damon’s and she didn’t have the same confidence, but the repetitive circles felt so very good. Natasha took a deep breath and exhaled, imagining that she was breathing out all the pain. The familiar scent of the oil helped put her in the place where the pain was less.

  “Very good,” the nurse said softly, her hands easing to the base of Natasha’s spine. “How about a few more of those?”

  Natasha did as she suggested, feeling the doubts and the aches slide out of her body. She was vaguely aware that the beep of the monitor slowed, but didn’t much care. There was only the smooth and gentle pressure of hands upon her skin and the stillness of her room. She exhaled the pain and the worry, and felt the nurse’s youthful strength flow into her.

  A pretty young nurse, one who showed compassion for a patient and made time.

  Natasha’s eyes opened for a moment. “It feels so good,” she said. “Thank you.”

  “Oh, you’re welcome. You’re the one helping me.”

  Natasha smiled. “Am I?”

  “Of course. I’m just learning.” Their conversation was leisurely, with long pauses. Natasha thought it was lovely. “Is this better? Or is this?”

  “The second one.”

  The nurse worked that rhythm for a while, making Natasha feel like warm putty beneath her hands.

  “This?” she asked finally. “Or this?”

  “The first one.” Natasha sighed contentment. “You could do that all day.”

  The nurse chuckled a little. “No, not really. My shift starts in half an hour. I can do it for a while, though.”

  Natasha blinked. “You’re not working now?”

  “Shh, don’t fret about it. I’m glad to do this.”

  Natasha’s throat tightened at her kindness. “At least tell me your name.” She would do something to see the nurse compensated for her gesture. This talk of Natasha helping her was nonsense. There was expertise in her hands.

  “It’s Haley.” The nurse pulled back the sheet and began to work on Natasha’s calves. She had a knack of finding just the right spot and working her thumb against it in a way that made Natasha sigh. The massage wasn’t as thorough as Damon’s, but it was very, very good. “Good?”

  “Wonderful.” She eventually broke the silence that had stretched between them again. “I’m Natasha.”

  “What a pretty name.”

  “It’s Russian. I’m Russian, or I was.”

  “And what brought you to New York, Natasha?”

  “Ballet.”

  “Oh, you’re a dancer. That explains your feet.” Haley stroked the arch of one foot and ran her thumb down to the toes, which were bent from years of dancing in toe shoes.

  Natasha smiled. “It’s a discipline.”

  “I’ll say. It takes a lot of dedication to dance the ballet. You have my admiration.” Her hands swept over Natasha, returning to her calves, then moving toward her thighs. “You were in a company, then?”

  “Yes. We came to dance at the Lincoln Center.”

  “If ballet brought you to New York, what made you stay?”

  “Love.”

  “Oh, I was hoping you’d say that,” Haley said so lightly that Natasha sensed she didn’t believe her own words. “I like when love wins the day.”

  Natasha was dozing when the younger woman’s hands slowed. Haley lifted them away, then refastened Natasha’s gown. She turned Natasha to her back again, gentle strength in every gesture. Then she tucked the sheet and blanket around Natasha and smiled down at her. “Thank you for helping me, Natasha. I hope that’s a bit better.”

  Natasha yawned. “It was wonderful, Haley. Thank you.”

  Haley nodded briskly, checked the monitors and refilled Natasha’s water cup. Then she was gone, the room filled with peaceful silence in her absence. Natasha took another of those deep breaths and smiled before she surrendered to sleep.

  She would dream of a pretty young nurse with brown hair and compassion in her gaze.

  And she would dream of her son.

  Chapter Four

  “It’s brilliant,” Kyle said with his usual confidence. He was lounging on the desk in the offices of F5 late Sunday afternoon, clearly trying to impress Cassie.

  Damon knew that she was long past being impressed by Kyle.

  And Kyle was fired up about New Year’s Eve in the club. He was irrepressible since Lauren had agreed to move in with him, nearly bouncing off the ceiling and with more energy than a barrel of monkeys.

  Or three.

  Damon ignored them both for the moment. He’d finished the massage class and was going to leave for the day. His two partners were always kidding around, but he didn’t have a lot of patience for it on this day. He had a list of jobs to get done and hoped to stop in to see his mom before midnight. He’d actually slept the night before, slept right through the night, and he couldn’t believe how much better he felt. Sleep was the magic elixir.

  Could he dare to believe that his nightmares had run their course and were a thing of the past? He certainly hoped so. They’d been gone for years before his mom had become sick then had started again. Maybe making love with Haley had been the magical elixir.

  Damon told himself that he wasn’t disappointed that Haley hadn’t come to the Sunday afternoon massage class. He was sure he’d never expected her to attend. Theirs had been a one-nighter, no more and no less, and he should be glad. She didn’t need to know more about him.

  But he was disappointed.

  Maybe she’d had enough of him already.

  Maybe Aidan was back.

  Maybe she hadn’t really wanted to learn about massage. Maybe she’d just wanted to jump his bones.

  Maybe Damon didn’t have a problem with that.

  In fact, it would be a lot simpler if it were the case.

  He pulled up his own schedule, checking the rest of the week, then printed it out.

  “You say that about every idea you have,” Cassie noted without looking up from the computer screen. She was dressed in yoga gear, just plain black with a little bit of purple, and her long blond hair was pulled up in a ponytail. Her fingers danced over the keys.

  “Because it’s true,” Kyle insisted. “I’m the marketing genius around here. Finger on the pulse. Riding the crest of the wave.” The visionary of the F5 team also had no lack of confidence in his skills. He was back in New York until the end of the week, then going back to California to work with Theo in planning the new branch of F5 in San Francisco.

  Kyle was practically sparkling.

  “Exhausting every metaphor known to mankind,” Cassie muttered, then winked at Damon.

  “You can tell that he and Lauren have been catching up,” Damon said and Cassie laughed.

  “That is none of your business,” Kyle said.

  “But we have to live with the after-effects. You’re exhausting when you’re jubilant, you know,” Cassie said.

  “That’s not what Lauren says,” Kyle replied with a wicked smile.

  “Are you going to share this idea or do we have to guess?” Damon asked.

  Kyle spun around to face him. “I love this one.”

  “He’s like Tigger, isn’t he?” Cassie asked Damon. “His own personal fan club.”

  “Thank God there’s only one,” he replied deadpan and she laughed.

  “You don’t even want to know!” Kyle complained, throwing out his hands. “My genius is wasted here. At least Theo appreciates me.”

  “He just wants to tell us soon so he can get to Lauren’s place before dinner,” Damon murmured to Cassie.

  “Mr. Quickie. Some things never change.” Cassie shook a finge
r at Kyle. “You’d better be back here by nine. The club is going to be nuts tonight.”

  “I know it,” Kyle said with obvious delight, and Damon had a moment to think that he was out of his partner’s sights before Kyle looked him in the eye. “Like you don’t know anything about skipping out early for a little....affection,” he said. “Mr. Friday Night at Five. How is the scrumptious Natasha?”

  “Fine.” Damon felt his gut tighten but he kept his tone impassive. “What’s your great idea?”

  “Aha!” Kyle jumped off the desk triumphantly. “A diversion from Damon. There’s more to tell about the dancer, Cassie.”

  “He isn’t going to share with us,” she replied. “Just the way I’m starting to think you aren’t going to share this great idea.”

  “Maybe Natasha doesn’t exist,” Kyle mused.

  “Maybe your great idea doesn’t exist,” Damon countered. The last thing he wanted to do was confide in Kyle about his mom. Fortunately, he had an idea how to stop his partner’s curiosity. He went to the change room behind the office, leaving the door ajar, and opened his locker. He didn’t even glance back as he peeled off his T-shirt, but he knew Kyle was looking.

  Kyle’s crow of delight made it clear. “Teeth!” he cried, much as Damon had expected. “The little lisichka has teeth!” He was immediately behind Damon, his fingertip running over the place where Haley had bitten his shoulder during her release. The memory of her quivering in his arms was enough to tighten Damon’s jeans.

  “And sharp little claws,” Kyle continued, noting where she’d dug in her fingernails. “I guess she does exist.”

  Damon pulled a clean shirt over his head then turned to meet Kyle’s gaze. “While your idea…?”

  “Well, it seems kind of anticlimactic to throw it out now.”

  “Haha.”

  Kyle pivoted to appeal to Cassie. “Did you see that? She’s no fox: she’s a vixen! A hungry one!”

  Cassie rolled her eyes and shut down the computer. “So, neither one of you has cause for complaint when it comes to love and romance. Can I go now?”

  Kyle immediately flung his arm around her shoulders. “Oh, poor Cassie. All alone in the big, bad city with no one to keep her warm at night. I’ll find you a guy.”

  “No. If you like him, I won’t.”

  “You like me.”

  “Because I was never stupid enough to date you.”

  Kyle grinned. “I’ll ask Lauren to find you a guy.”

  “She got stuck with you,” Cassie retorted and poked Kyle in the gut. “I’m thinking she didn’t have many options.”

  “Thank you very much.” Kyle pretended to be insulted, but he practically preened when he talked about Lauren. It was clear to all of the partners—even Ty, who was Lauren’s big brother—that Kyle had finally met his match and would be busy keeping Lauren happy for the rest of his days—and nights.

  “I’ll walk out with you,” Cassie said as Damon shrugged into his jacket. He nodded and held hers for her, then she pulled on her boots. “Going to the subway?”

  “Yes.” He picked up his messenger bag.

  “Me, too.”

  “My idea!” Kyle protested from behind them.

  “I take that back,” Cassie muttered. “He’s like a kid, not like Tigger.”

  “I heard that!”

  “There’s a train in five minutes,” Damon said, tapping his watch.

  “Mine’s in six,” Cassie said.

  Kyle muttered a curse and flung on his coat before following them. They waved in unison to Christa on the desk and strode through the foyer together, Cassie’s heels clicking loudly.

  “Empty retail space,” she said, shaking her finger at the space beside the shop carrying F5 merchandize. “I hate the sight of it. Every inch of this place should be making money.”

  “Ty said he should have news on the permits for the condos this week,” Damon said.

  “And not a moment too soon,” Cassie said. “This space, though, annoys me. It’s so visible to our members as they come and go. It looks like failure to me.”

  “Street-level but not prime,” Damon said. “It’s tough to find the right business to rent it. It’s got to fit with the club’s vibe, be able to use a comparatively small space, and not need the visibility from the street.”

  “I’ll think of something,” Cassie said, jamming her hands into her pockets then shivering as they drew near the glass doors. “It looks so cold out there.”

  Kyle gave a theatrical sigh.

  Cassie flicked a glance at Damon, then spun and stopped in front of Kyle. “Your idea is for that space,” she said, no question in her voice.

  “And it’s so brilliant you will kiss my boot when you hear it.”

  Cassie smiled and beckoned with both hands. “Come on, then. Hit me with your best shot.”

  Inevitably, the pair of them launched into the chorus from the Pat Benatar song and Damon watched the minutes tick away. He could probably catch the next train. It didn’t really matter. His mom wasn’t going anywhere.

  Meanwhile, Kyle was rocking around the lobby, playing his air guitar, singing the notes that the guitar should have been playing.

  “Da dahhh!” He struck a final chord on his air guitar, jumping in place as he sang out the note, then slid on his knees to a halt before Cassie.

  “And?” she prompted.

  “A tattoo shop,” he confessed, his eyes dancing. “And not just any tattoo shop. Chynna’s tattoo shop. Her one, her only, with one complementary tattoo given to a customer at the F5 Club on the night of the full moon, because—” He held up a finger “—her tattoos make love come true.”

  “No,” Cassie whispered.

  “Yes!” Kyle said.

  “Get out,” Damon said with a lot more skepticism than Cassie.

  “It’s true, all true,” Kyle insisted. “When she does a tattoo on the full moon, she makes a little red heart in it with special ink, and that person’s romantic wish comes true. They find their one true love.”

  “When?” Cassie asked.

  “Soon.” Kyle made a vague wave.

  “Did she do yours?” Damon asked, knowing that Kyle had a large chest piece that had convinced Lauren of his commitment to her.

  “No way. There couldn’t have been any magic in that. Lauren would have tossed me out. It had to be sincere.”

  Damon could understand that.

  “Besides I got mine in San Francisco,” Kyle continued. “No, this is totally different, but I knew it would market brilliantly to our demographic.”

  “But it has to actually work,” Damon argued. “A marketing strategy based on it would backfire if the winner didn’t find true love.”

  “Then we test it,” Kyle said. “Until you guys all believe.”

  “Me, me, take me!” Cassie said and Damon laughed along with Kyle.

  “That could take a while,” Damon felt compelled to note.

  “You and Damon and Theo should each get one of her tattoos,” Kyle said. “Let’s have a systematic test of whether love really does run true.”

  “I want the first one,” Cassie said.

  “Due for some romance?” Kyle teased and she swatted him.

  “That and I can see the ads,” she continued. “We’ll launch it during the Get Lucky at F5 campaign, the one with Ty and Amy posing with their wedding rings. And we’ll need a full moon drink, a special that we only serve that night, maybe with a heart on the swizzle stick and the F5 logo...”

  “F5 with a heart around it,” Kyle said. “Love, romance, and a bad ass tat. Get it all at F5.” He held up a finger. “Valentine’s Day promo!”

  “You are the master.” Cassie dropped to her knees and kissed Kyle’s boot. “But it has to work.”

  Kyle grinned. “How badly do you want to be the guinea pig?”

  Cassie looked suitably wary, Damon thought. “Why?”

  “Tomorrow is the next full moon.”

  Cassie stood up and nodded. “All righ
t. I’m in.”

  Kyle pulled out his phone and tapped in a number. “Let’s see if she can work you in.”

  “But who’s Chynna?” Damon felt obliged to ask.

  “Tattoo artist, down in Chinatown,” Kyle said as he waited for his call to be answered. “She’s had a shop there for as long as I can remember. She’s selling out to her partner and wants to switch things up, plus I think this true love thing is getting too big for Imagination Ink.” Kyle shrugged. “It’ll work brilliantly for both of us. She wants to work alone, so the small space is perfect. And she mostly works at night, which also dovetails well.”

  Cassie and Damon nodded agreement.

  “So long as it works,” Damon said.

  “Chynna!” Kyle crowed and turned away to talk to her.

  “I hope it works fast,” Cassie said. “We’ve only got six weeks to pull this together if we’re going to launch it for Valentine’s Day.”

  Damon had to add a caveat. “You’ll need a second victim for the next full moon, even if yours works. One success isn’t a pattern.”

  “We should prove it isn’t a fluke,” Cassie agreed, then smiled at him. “Are you volunteering?”

  Damon shook his head. “No way.”

  “What would Natasha think?” Kyle said, sauntering back toward them. He pointed at Cassie. “You’re on. Tomorrow afternoon at three.” He gave her the address. “It would be good if you had an idea for the design.”

  Cassie grinned. “What an awesome way to start the new year!”

  “You can’t be sure it will work,” Damon said, but she shook her head.

  “No, I’ve always wanted to get a tattoo, but I’ve been too chicken. This is compelling me to go for it.” She gave Kyle a kiss on the cheek. “And it’s all your fault.”

  “I do what I can to lead as many people astray as possible,” Kyle said with false modesty and the other two laughed.

  “I’ve got to catch that train,” Damon said, pulling on his gloves. He waved to his partners and headed for the doors.

  Would Haley be at the hospital?

  He planned to stop and see his mom. It wouldn’t hurt to just glance and see if Haley was working.