Christmas or Bust

by A. M Burke

  “To drink?” Elliot asked complete unimpressed with the request.

  “Maybe a glass of Pinot Noir?” Nora said batting her eyelashes at him.

  Elliot smirked. “Your wish is my command.”

  Chapter Six

  Nora waited for Elliot to return with the cot so she could do the polite thing and ask him if he wanted the shower first since she’d stolen the shower the night before without asking. She waited, alternating between sitting on the edge of the dingy bedspread and pacing the length of the room. She called her mother to give her a status update and spent the majority of the ten minute call assuring her that she and Elliot were safe and sound and she’d be home in plenty of time for Christmas. Nora cut the call short, lying and saying that Elliot needed help with something and then plugged her phone back in with a sigh. There was no wi-fi or internet in the hotel so Nora’s laptop sat useless on the desk and she tried answering emails on her phone for a few minutes before giving up on the tiny keypad. It was nearly an hour so Nora sent Elliot a message asking if he was still alive or if he’d been captured by yetis. She thought the joke was pretty funny but the quick reply she got was humorless.

  The ‘yes’ reply didn’t offer much information and Nora decided not to press but a second message quickly followed, saying negotiations with the yetis were currently stalled but he should be back soon. Nora couldn’t help but smile. He was alive, that was the most importation information Nora needed. He’d show up eventually. She didn’t ask about the shower but decided on the ‘you snooze you lose’ policy and hopped in the clean but dated shower, hoping to finish before Elliot returned. The warm water was heavenly but far too short lived. Nora felt the water growing slowly cooler as she massaged her favorite shampoo into her hair. Hoping it was just a momentary glitch and that maybe a toilet was flushing somewhere nearby Nora turned the heat up slightly and continues to wash, her pace a bit more hurried. By the time she was set to rinse the conditioner away Nora had turned the faucet handle all the way to the left and her teeth had begun to chatter as the water fought to remain even lukewarm.

  Finishing as quickly as possible Nora jumped out of the low tub, nearly taking the shower curtain with her as she blundered blindly for one of the paper thin towels that had been provided. She wished will all of her heart that she’d thought to bring a bathrobe with her as she clenched her teeth together to keep them from chattering while she squeezed the excess water from her hair. Grabbing a second towel Nora wrapped her hair up and dried herself as quickly as possible with the first, trying to contain the chill she felt settling in her bones. Taking up a third towel and silently apologizing to Elliot for hoarding three-quarters of the towels Nora wrapped herself up and mentally prepared herself for the dash to grab her pajamas, wondering why she hadn’t thought to bring them with her in the first place.

  She didn’t know if it was just plain bad luck or if someone up there was having a good time making things as horribly awkward as possible for her. Nora supposed things could have been worse; her towel could have slipped or Elliot could still have been holding the Styrofoam containers their dinners had come in and spilled it all over the both of them. She supposed she should be thankful for those two things at least but as soon as she collided with Elliot all she could think about was how mortified she was, half naked and running into a fully clothed Elliot.

  “Shit,” she muttered springing back, trying to avoid Elliot’s hands when he reached out to steady her.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” he asked settling his hands on her bare shoulders. “Damn you’re freezing.”

  “Hot water ran out,” Nora sputtered shaking away the towel she’d wrapped around her head that had fallen loose in the collision. “Can you move, or close your eyes or something? I’d really like to put some clothes on.”

  Elliot moved past her into the bathroom and Nora took the reprieve to dash for her suitcase. She heard him turn the water on in the sink so she dropped her towel and grabbed up the night shirt she’d packed for the trip. Nora had barely pulled the oversized shirt over her head when Elliot came out of the bathroom in enough time to catch a glimpse of her bare backside. Elliot decided not to mention what he saw and stepped back into the bathroom and loudly turned off the water.

  “You decent?” he asked from the bathroom.

  “Just a second,” Nora called back and Elliot could hear her rummaging in her bag. Elliot looked at himself in the mirror and tried to banish what he’d just seen from his mind, not let it run together with the glimpse he’d caught from her stepping out of the shower the night before. It was going to be a hell of a long trip if things like this kept occurring. “All clear,” Nora finally called and Elliot exited the bathroom as Nora, thankfully in a pair of gray gym shorts with her navy night shirt, sat on the bed pulling on a pair of fuzzy pink socks. She glanced up at him, wet hair falling around her face. “That was no fun,” she told him managing a weak smile.

  “I can imagine,” Elliot agreed gruffly. He walked to the bedside table, picked up the phone and dialed the front desk, all the while avoiding looking in Nora’s direction. She knew she must look horrid but she thought he was taking it to extremes. She didn’t care much though at this point, all she wanted to do was blow her hair dry as quickly as possible and then crawl beneath the dingy covers and try to regain some warmth. She heard enough of Elliot’s conversation to know that their hot water wasn’t going to be coming back on any time soon. Sighing as she rose off the bed Nora wrapped her arms around herself and tiptoed back into the bathroom. There was a small blow dryer mounted onto the wall next to the sink and Nora doubted it would do a whole lot of good on her thick hair but it was better than nothing. After giving her hair one last thorough toweling Nora clicked on the hair dryer, disappointed by its weak power but resolved it was better than nothing. Like her shower a few minutes before the hair dryer didn’t seem to want to stay warm for long.

  By the time she was finished Nora was just as cold as before, if not more, and her hair was far from dry but Nora was certain she couldn’t stand it any longer. Moving back into the main room Nora pulled her sweatshirt on and zipped herself up before turning back to Elliot who’d hung up with the front desk.

  “No good on the water heater,” he said rolling his shoulders back and Nora looked around the room so she wouldn’t be distracted by the motion.

  “No cot either,” she observed.

  “You think a place that doesn’t have a working water heater is going to have a rollaway cot?” he asked and Nora sighed.

  “Well I’m sorry you don’t get a shower,” Nora apologized.

  “I’m sure I’ve showered in worse,” Elliot told her and Nora eyed him skeptically.

  “You’re going to take a shower in freezing water?”

  “It probably isn’t freezing,” Elliot figured, “and I’ll be quick.” He paused to give her an appraising look. “I’ll skip the shower though if you don’t mind sleeping with me un-bathed.”

  “Sleep with…” Nora trailed off shocked.

  “Or are you actually going to sleep on the floor to be away from me?” Elliot went on.

  “Sleep on the floor?” Nora repeated, still dumb struck but she recovered quickly and scowled at him. “Very funny, but if anyone is sleeping on the floor it’s you Marine.”

  “Sorry, not happening,” he told her. He glanced at the bed. “It’s big enough; we’ll manage and if we don’t you can always sleep in the car.”

  “Hardy, har, har,” Nora called after him as he pushed past her and into the bathroom. She waited for a moment, shocked to hear him actually turn the water on. The man was a glutton for pain. Annoyed at her unreasonable guilt that she’d somehow used up all the warm water Nora tried to find something to occupy herself. Flipping on the television she found an old sitcom and then focused her attention on the Styrofoam to-go boxes Elliot had brought in. He must have walked over to the diner next door to the motel. In both boxes were open-faced steak sandwiches, curly fries and
Caesar salads. Nora smiled and shook her head. In the brown paper bag sit next to the containers were two tiny plastic bottles of red wine. She wondered where the heck he’d managed to find those.

  The shower turned off and Nora looked over her shoulder but the door was firmly shut. Sitting against the headboard Nora started in on the sandwich but changed her mind and set it aside, deciding to wait for him. Tucking her legs under her, still fighting a chill, Nora waited, trying to keep her attention on the television but her eyes kept drifting towards the door. She was unexpectedly rewarded for her vigilance, Elliot emerging wrapped in the only remaining dry towel and it wasn’t doing a very good job of covering him up. A blush spreading across her face Nora placed her hand over her eyes and told him she could leave to give him some privacy but Elliot muttered her just needed a moment and to keep her eyes shut.

  After their exchanges in the car, running into him half naked from her freezing shower, and now the too small towel Nora felt like her chilled body was suddenly too hot. She did a quick calculation, trying to remember the last time she’d been intimate with a guy and decided to blame her current condition on that, not the fact that she could actually be attracted to Elliot. Alright, sure there was physical attraction. The man was gorgeous, there was no denying that. Every stop they made Nora noticed the looks he got and hated that whenever she got the opportunity to she slid a little closer to him, letting the world know that she was with him, even if it was a lie.

  “Nora?” Elliot questioned and Nora peeked at him through her fingers. “You ok?” he asked and Nora mumbled an affirmative before closing her fingers, hoping he’d put a shirt on to go with the red and black plaid sleep pants he’d pulled on. One night with too much free time and too much wine Claire revealed that Elliot liked to sleep in the buff. When Nora had incredulously asked how she knew that Claire had only answered with a wink and a nervous giggle. Nora had wondered for days if that meant they were more than just friends, also wondering why she’d cared. Claire had finally ended Nora’s self-imposed suffering and elaborated that when Elliot had spent Thanksgiving with her family one year that she’d walked in on him when he was still asleep. Nora had pressed Claire endlessly after finally meeting Elliot, even if the meeting had been disastrous, just what their relationship was. Nora hadn’t thought too hard as to why she’d been so curious but thought she had her answer now.

  Claire had called it ‘weird sexual tension’ and Nora didn’t think it was so outrageous now.

  She could try to write it off as a side effect of her sexual drought but she knew that wasn’t being honest.

  She wanted Elliot Grimmald, and for her there was no worse diagnosis.

  xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

  Even with her hands pressed over her face Elliot could tell Nora was dealing with something major. Unlike earlier when he could tell his questions about her career choice had gotten under her skin Elliot wasn’t sure what had set her off this time. He wondered if she was just cold, maybe feeling a bit sick from it. Pulling a grey t-shirt over his head Elliot walked over to her barefoot, feeling the cold of the concrete through the thin carpet. He stood in front of her for a moment, waiting for her to respond to his presence but she just continued to sit with her hands pressed to her face. Blowing out a frustrated sigh Elliot reached down and wrapped his hands around her slim wrists to pull her up. He was slightly surprised with just how easily his fingers curled around her wrists and just how cold her skin was.

  Nora made a noise of surprise as Elliot hauled her to her feet but he ‘shushed’ her as he pulled her against his body, her legs between his, arms trapped to his chest, and her head tucked into the crook of his neck. He felt her stiffen as he wrapped his arms around her.

  “You’re freezing,” he observed as he pressed his cheek against her still damp hair.

  “How the hell are you not?” Nora asked back, slightly muffled against his shirt. Despite recently stepping out of a freezing shower his whole solid body radiated heat.

  “It’s a guy thing,” Elliot explained and felt her laugh.

  “I’m sure there’s a reasonable medical explanation for this,” Nora said about to launch into her theory but Elliot interrupted her.

  “Maybe I’m just hot?” he suggested, his voice even and deep leaving the impression that he wasn’t joking. Nora froze, her breath caught in her throat as she went through her possible responses, trying to decide if this was an opening. If she flirted back and it went nowhere, or worse, she was rejected the rest of their trip would be a mix of awkward and mortifying. If she flirted and it actually went somewhere things would still be mortifying and awkward but on an entirely different level. Best to separate to their respective corners for the night and hope that tomorrow would be better. Deciding on her course of action Nora started to push away but Elliot wouldn’t let her go.

  Nora tried not to read too deeply into that but it was hard not to.

  “Dinner’s getting cold,” Nora muttered and tried to push back again. Elliot let her go but only slightly, sliding his hands to her shoulders and rubbing his thumb in circles across her collarbone while Nora continued to stare at his chest.

  “Do you care about dinner?” Elliot asked. Nora knew he was offering her an out. She could tell him she was starved and couldn’t wait another minute to eat. She knew she should take it but she didn’t. Instead Nora shook her head, meeting his eyes for the first time since he’d taken her into his arms. “Good,” Elliot smiled, “me either.”

  The kiss was shocking, even though she saw it coming. The surprise wasn’t the shock, it was the actual feel of the kiss that made her knees go weak and her head spin. His lips were warm and surprisingly soft but still firm against hers and Nora tried to recall when she’d last put lip balm on. One of Elliot’s hands left her shoulder to cup the back of her head, the second moving south to twine around her waist, pulling her closer again. Nora’s own hands curled as best they could around Elliot’s shoulder, her body arching against him and felt his murmur of approval against her lips before his own lips traveled down, dusting her jawline and down the curve of her neck. When his teeth grazed a sensitive spot near her shoulder Nora was able to wake herself up a bit.

  “Elliot,” she managed out but it came out in a feeble whisper that sounded more to her like a passionate mumble than an assertive attempt to snap them both out of the madness that had apparently gripped them. “Elliot, stop,” Nora ordered and Elliot immediately stopped. He picked his head up from where his face had been pressed into her still damp hair.

  “You ok?” he asked looking down at her, concern evident in his eyes.

  “What in the hell are we doing?” Nora asked.

  Elliot’s slow smile turned Nora’s inside warm. “I would think that was obvious.” His smile was infectious and Nora felt her own lips curling upward.

  “Well thank you sir,” she smiled at him, “for pointing out my obviously silly question. But I think you know what I meant.”

  “Again, I thought that was obvious,” Elliot repeated and then leaned down to kiss her again. Nora ducked her head away but Elliot was undeterred and kissed the top of her head. “I like your shampoo,” he told her. “You always smell like strawberries.”

  “Elliot,” Nora’s voice warned.

  “Tell me you want me to stop,” he told her pushing her hair back to kiss her temple, “and I will. But don’t say it unless you really want it.”

  “You don’t even like me,” Nora argued grasping at straws.

  “Not true in the least,” Elliot argued back. “I like you plenty, that’s not the issue.”

  “So what is the issue?” Nora asked confused on how this had been turned around on her.

  “You don’t like me,” Elliot told her.

  “Not true,” Nora echoed back his words.

  “Then what’s the problem?” Elliot asked pulling her close again. What was the problem Nora wondered?

  “I’m not a one-night-stand kind of girl,” Nora
finally whispered and Elliot stilled as he kissed the side of her neck. His hands were rubbing lazy circles on her back and driving her to distraction. She wanted to follow up with that she also wasn’t looking for a relationship but that would be a lie. She wanted a lasting relationship but knew this wasn’t the correct time in her life to be pursuing it. She also had the impression that Elliot wasn’t the man to pursue it with.

  “I’d like to tell you that I’m not a one-night-stand kind of guy but I’m not going to lie to you,” Elliot said against her ear. “But what I am going to tell you is that the first time I met you I already liked you. The way Claire talked about you I knew I would. But then you opened your mouth.”

  Nora pulled back and glared at him and Elliot met her stare and Nora let out a sigh as she dropped her eyes. “Fine, I wasn’t exactly nice that day,” Nora admitted. “I’d had a very bad day; I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.” Elliot made a ‘hmmm’ noise in the back of his throat and leveled her with a look she meekly returned. “It’s true,” Nora pressed. “I thought I’d like you too,” she went on more quietly, “but I didn’t give you a chance.”

  “You aren’t so bad when you aren’t being stubborn,” Elliot teased and Nora set him with another glare. “You’re a beautiful woman Nora,” Elliot went on and liked the blush that graced her cheeks. “You’re smart and sarcastic and beautiful and I wanted to kiss you that first weekend but I could tell trying that wouldn’t have been a good idea. But I’ve got you here tonight and I think you don’t hate me anymore so why not take that chance now?”

  “I never hated you,” Nora grumbled.

  “So kiss me and we’ll see where it goes from there,” Elliot said reaching a hand between them and tilting her chin up so she met her eyes. “Such pretty eyes,” Elliot whispered and then was kissing her again. Nora knew she should have protested more, pushed away, insisted on finding a sleeping bag or something, she’d even sleep on the floor but the kiss was so nice and it had been a long time since she’d had a nice kiss. At a Halloween party she’d attended a few weeks prior a surgery resident had kissed her sloppily against her will and Nora had kneed him away when he hadn’t gotten the message otherwise. It had made for an awkward few weeks at the hospital but she wasn’t in the wrong and could deal with the embarrassed glances and rumors. Before that she couldn’t recall a kiss worth remembering or reliving and anyway it didn’t matter because Elliot’s kiss had deepened and Nora couldn’t recall why she’d ever protested.