Naughty & Nice

by J. S. Scott

  Mary Alice zipped by on her snowmobile and stopped beside Will. “Look at that sunshine!” she hollered. She gestured to the seat behind her and he climbed on.

  “Where’s my dad?” Katie called over the whine of the snow machine.

  “I’m picking him up at the other door. Amy’s got him ready.”

  “Did you release him?” Katie asked, turning to Nash.

  He scratched his ear. “Kind of.”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “You’ll be there, right? That’s what Mary Alice said.” He tucked his hands in his armpits and hunched his shoulders. “Plus, I was invited over for supper.”

  “He could…he’s…” Katie sighed. “Whatever.” She turned and went inside, the heater above the door blasting her with dry heat that made her frozen skin prickle.

  Nash followed her in. “Katie?”

  “What?” She continued walking.

  “Are you moving to the city?”

  “Why?”

  “Mary Alice said you’re moving to the city, and I’d like to see you. Take you out for dinner. Or if you’d like, you could stay with me while you intern.”

  “Nash…” Katie whirled. “I was spouting off, okay? Eggnog talking. I haven’t even spoken to your friend Monica.”

  “You’re drinking on the job?”

  “I’m kidding. I’m flustered. I just threw my life against the windshield of a speeding truck.”

  He was doing that close-in-on-her thing where suddenly you found yourself trapped. But his eyes were kind and she sort of wanted him to trap her. Why? Because this man saw the real Katie. The one everyone else scoffed at for liking stain-free clothes. And he wanted to break her free so she could frolic in her own fields for a while.

  “I can wait. I’ve already waited two years,” he told her.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You. Us.”

  Whoops. Knees kind of weakened a bit there. Did he just say that? Really?

  Man, he was good.

  “I’ve always been here,” she whispered.

  “You were taken. And despite what you think of me, I don’t steal another man’s woman.” His right hand caressed her cold cheek. She wanted to curl into his grasp, warm herself on him and whatever he was offering.

  “What are you saying, Nash?”

  “I want you, Katie. You and me. We’re like oil and vinegar, but in a good way.” She frowned and he smiled. A soft one. He brought his forehead to hers. “Like bread-dipping oil. A touch of red wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, and a few herbs.”

  “Who are you calling a virgin?”

  His smile stretched. “And, honestly, I could do without those herbs poking about.” His eyes flicked to the door they’d just come through.

  “Yeah,” she replied softly. “Me, too.”

  “Just us. Me and you.”

  That settled the emotions whirling within Katie. Us.

  Never a better sounding word in the world.

  Chapter Six

  Katie finished helping patients with their Christmas dinner, while aching for her family. She didn’t expect to want to be home with them for the big meal, but knowing that even her father had made it to enjoy everyone’s home-cooked favorites sucked. Her mother had called a few minutes ago to let her know that he was doing just fine.

  Katie was off shift in fifteen minutes, and the snow had let up, but she didn’t think she could get out of here, even if the relief shift made it in.

  Nash sidled up beside her and held out her cell phone. “It was ringing. I thought it might be important.”

  “Thanks.” Katie glanced at number of the call she’d missed. Mary Alice. Whatever. The woman wasn’t dying, according to Nash, so she didn’t get immunity in terms of telling the whole world Katie was quitting her job. Helping her surprised and upset patients for the past hour had not been fun. They seemed to believe Katie was going to run out on them without giving them their turkey or meds.

  “You heading home in fifteen?” Nash asked.

  Katie sighed and returned to her station. “I don’t think I’m going anywhere until the plows come in the morning.”

  “I heard one working on the ambulance bay a few minutes ago.”

  “Really?” Katie perked up, before the sting of disappointment seized her as she realized the residential streets she’d need would likely still be impassable—assuming she could even get her car out. Her other option was to wade through waist-deep, frozen fluff for a half mile. Not worth it. Not even for her mother’s amazing mashed potatoes made with cream and butter.

  Nash cocked his head, and without thinking, Katie fell against him, wanting to be close, needing him to reassure her.

  “You’re strange,” she said, as he wrapped her in an embrace that filled her heart with smiles.

  “Why’s that?” He craned his neck to see her face.

  “Because.” She bit her bottom lip, unable to express that around him she felt stronger. But at the same time, she was able to let her vulnerable side show, knowing he’d protect it with his strength. Not like with Will. If she showed her soft underbelly to him, the whole world would devolve into chaos and a big whine-fest. With Nash, it was as though he could take that worry and fear, and mold and shape it with his presence until it became one of her own strengths.

  How had he ever been her enemy?

  “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” she whispered.

  Nash held her away from him. “Am I still your enemy?”

  “You made me tell Mary Alice I was quitting.”

  “I kept your secret.”

  “I know.” She snuggled in, her body melting against his again. “And you’re not really my enemy.”

  “Good.” He disentangled himself and began walking away, and Katie felt as though she’d hurt a good friend.

  “What?” she called.

  “I’ll catch you later. I have to do something.”

  Yeah, go home to the city. Where she was going to go, as well. Maybe. Oh, boy. Deep breath. “Hey! Didn’t you say you had a gift for me? And you never thanked me for the box of chocolates I gave you yesterday.”

  He didn’t answer.

  Men. So confusing.

  Katie sorted through papers on her desk, thinking about how it felt as though Nash had shuffled her life into the proper order over the past two days. Almost as if her earlier life had been one of those flip-a-card games where she had the body of nurse, a clown’s head, and stockinged legs with heels. Only Nash had flipped through the cards to show her what the real Katie Reiter looked like.

  She finished her shift and went to visit Gran, who fell asleep after looking at a few pages of her family photo album. Katie jumped when the relief nurse, Hillary, tapped her shoulder.

  “Oh! You scared me,” Katie said, quietly shutting the book.

  “I hear you’re leaving us to go become a decorator?”

  She rolled her eyes. “It’s just a rumor. I might, though, but nothing is for sure.”

  “Well, I think you’d be great at it. When you decorated the nurses’ station for the holidays, you knew just the right amount of cheer to place there.”

  “Thanks.”

  “And the staff room. The paint color you picked out is perfect. It goes nicely with the furniture.”

  “Thanks.”

  “And the way you redid Will’s place years ago. I heard that was quite nice. Sort of like one of those reality shows? You know, while you were out shopping we redid your house. Do you think you’ll be on one of those?”

  “Hillary…” Katie said, feeling impatient.

  She clapped a hand to her mouth. “Oh! I’m so sorry. I forgot you turned Will down. I was so surprised. You kept saying he was going to ask you back. Are you making him wait, for dumping you just before Christmas? I know you have that big stereo for him.” She clamped a palm over her mouth once more. “You returned it? Oh no! Definitely make him wait until after the holidays. Then you don’t have t
o go buy it back again.”

  “No, I just don’t think we are well matched.”

  “That’s what your father said.” Hillary mimicked a deep male voice. “Will is a nice guy, but not the right guy.”

  “When did he say that?”

  “When I stopped by to admire your mom’s decorations earlier. Christmas dinner smelled so good.” She checked her watch. “You’d better get moving. Angelica said she’d hold the meal for you.”

  Katie stood. “She did?”

  Hillary walked her to the staff room so she could get her coat, while getting the rundown on how the day shift had been. Uneventful other than her father.

  “He looked fine, by the way,” Hillary said. “I took his vitals when I stopped in for some eggnog on my way here. And with you staying the night—you are staying at your mom’s and not going to try and get home after supper?” She waited for Katie to respond.

  Coat zipped, Katie stared out at the dark parking lot. The streetlights made the snow look beautiful, all crystals and white drifts of indeterminable depths. How was she going to get out?

  “Yeah, I guess I’ll stay in my old room. Johnny Depp on the walls…. He’s probably lonely,” she said, mostly to herself. Was she supposed to have redecorated the room when she moved out? Or was her mother that afraid to let go? Thinking her girl might need a place to land and want her old high school movie star crush to be there to catch her?

  “Well, have a good night. Merry Christmas.” Hillary turned and walked away, leaving Katie wondering how on earth she was going to get her car out from under that mound of snow, and then somehow plow her way across town to her parents’ place sometime before the New Year. She couldn’t even tell where the roads were.

  The whine of a snowmobile grew louder and Katie prepped herself for an emergency. Instead, Mary Alice pulled up, lumbered through the snow and wrenched open the door.

  “You coming or what?”

  “Or what,” Katie snapped.

  “Shut up.” Mary Alice tugged on her arm, reminding her of the one time she’d tried shoplifting, and had gotten caught. Worst. Day. Ever. Having Mary Alice take a round out of her and then hand her off to her parents, so they could take another round out of her.

  “Your folks are expecting you.” The woman shoved a helmet at Katie’s gut. “Your mother sent this.”

  Katie climbed on behind Mary Alice, secretly grateful. The helmet was warm and a bit too big. Mary Alice didn’t start the machine moving, and Katie followed her line of vision. A man in the hospital doorway. Big coat. Big boots. Alone.

  Christmas.

  Crap.

  “Are you coming?” Katie called to Nash. She swore Mary Alice nodded in approval.

  Without a word, he pushed through the snow and climbed on behind Katie.

  “Can it take us all, Mary Alice?” he asked over the roar of the engine. His voice in Katie’s ear, his body wrapped around hers…shiverama.

  She was starting to like winter storms. A lot.

  * * *

  Angelica dished an extra large scoop of mashed potatoes onto Nash’s plate and beamed at him. “Thank you for joining us tonight.”

  “Thank you for having me, Mrs. Reiter.”

  “Dear…” From her spot at the table’s end, opposite her husband, she reached to tap Nash’s hand. “Call me Angelica. Please.”

  Sitting beside Nash, Katie shifted, trying to avoid her sister-in-law’s questioning gaze. The aromas of warm turkey, spices, and the cranberry-scented candles lining the long table battled to calm her edgy nerves. She enjoyed having Nash here; that wasn’t the problem. It was her father, who was seated to her left. He should be in the hospital. He should be eating Jell-O, not a heavy meal.

  “Everyone got here okay?” Katie asked mildly, avoiding meeting Beth’s eye. “The snow wasn’t too bad?”

  “We live three houses away.” Oz flicked a pea at her, eliciting a giggle from his toddler son, Benji, who in turn threw a handful at his grandfather. The boy gave a giant laugh, his high chair rocking, as Harvey sent him a stunned look.

  “How are you feeling, Dad?” Katie asked.

  “Fine. And I have the best nurse and doctor in town at my table. What could go wrong?”

  She held her breath. No comment about her quitting? Really?

  “I heard a rumor,” her mother began tentatively.

  Katie watched her father eye the turkey. “You shouldn’t be eating solid food, Dad. Maybe we could put your meal in Benji’s baby food blender? Beth do you still have it?”

  Her father shot her a disgusted look.

  “I lent it out,” Beth replied. “Sorry.”

  “Have you had a BM post-op? Any gas?” Katie asked her father.

  “Please,” Angelica said, pressing a palm against the red tablecloth. “No bowel movement discussions at the table.”

  “What?” Katie’s indignation rose along with her anxiety. “Oz and Beth are always talking about Benji’s, and Dad just had major surgery. If he eats this stuff he could paralyze his bowel.”

  Nash nudged her elbow. “It’s okay.” To Harvey, he said, “Just stick to the mashed potatoes and gravy for now and you should be fine.” His eyes were warm and reassuring, and Katie relaxed despite her fears. Despite…everything.

  “Whoa!” Oz pushed back from the table, hands held high, eyes wide in shock. “Did my sister just take a chill pill?” He grinned as she glowered at him, then he leaned forward, elbows on the table, fork poised for food stabbing. Seriously, did he not learn from Mom how to hold a fork like a gentleman? Nash held his properly. Linen napkin placed over his lap. Using the right utensil. Why couldn’t he be her family?

  Well. That was a thought. Nash could be family.

  “I think you just did,” Oz said, shoveling a wad of stuffing into his grinning mouth.

  “Is it warm in here?” Katie asked. Things were definitely heating up under her sweater.

  “Hmm. I think that really did happen,” Beth said with a glimmer of a smile. “Katie chilled out.”

  “Shut up. It’s the wine.” She took another glug of her mulled drink and handed the empty glass to Nash, so her mother could top it up.

  “You did a fine job on me today,” Harvey said to Nash. “Thank you, son.”

  “Son?” Oz choked.

  “The rumor I heard was that you got a marriage proposal today,” Angelica said, turning to Katie.

  Beth stood, her chair flying back. “Ohmigod. Show me your hand!”

  Oz snatched his wife’s water glass from her belly’s danger zone as she impatiently reached across the table.

  Katie held up her bare finger.

  “Making him work for it, are you?” her brother asked, with a sigh and a shake of his head. “My sister will die an old maid.”

  Katie lowered all but her middle finger and glared at him.

  “What happened?” Beth asked softly.

  Katie could feel Nash, who had been leaning farther away from her, his body tight at the mention of her proposal, soften.

  She shrugged. “Could you pass the gravy, please?”

  “Turkey or beef?” her mother replied.

  “You made both?”

  “Of course I did.”

  Katie glanced at the table. “This is a ridiculous amount of food, Mom.”

  “I was expecting Beth’s grandmother, sister, and brother-in-law.” Angelica’s mouth formed a tight line.

  “I’m sorry,” Beth said.

  “You’re not Mother Nature, now are you? Turkey gravy will go best.” Angelica passed the antique gravy boat that had graced their table for eons.

  “How long are you in town?” Oz asked Nash.

  “Oz, give him a break,” Katie said.

  “I thought you two didn’t like each other,” her brother said.

  “We got over it.”

  Oz stood, his face dark. He was doing an alarming amount of back-and-forth sizing up between her and Nash.

  “Shut up and eat your supper,” K
atie muttered.

  “Good advice,” their father said, raising an eyebrow at his son.

  Oz flung down his linen napkin. Then, with his jaw set, he slumped back into his chair, his arm slung around Beth’s shoulders.

  “That Will was a nice fellow, Katie,” Harvey said.

  “Yes. I believe he still is,” she replied.

  “But he wasn’t the right man for you. You can do better.”

  “Any suggestions for her?” Beth asked playfully.

  Everyone but Oz glanced at Nash, and Katie resisted the urge to slide under the table and never come out.

  “So? Everyone get what they want for Christmas?” she asked, after clearing her throat.

  “Not yet,” Nash replied under his breath. He gave her a look so loaded with meaning that her stomach did a flip and her cheeks burned with anticipation of what he might be thinking.

  Things were getting hot in here, that was for sure.

  * * *

  She probably shouldn’t be making out with Nash in the pantry under the stairs. But his lips were so good.

  And yeah, her pissed-off brother and his wife—Nash’s ex-fiancée, aka Katie’s BFF, aka Katie’s sister-in-law—were cluelessly playing with their son in the living room, which put a tiny bit of a damper on things when Katie thought about it.

  So she didn’t think about it.

  Which was quite easy, seeing as Nash was a killer with those lips of his. All she had to do was tip her head back, wrap her arms around his strong shoulders and go along for the ride. A hot and heavy feeling settled in her gut and she wound a leg around Nash’s hips. In the process her foot bumped a stack of cans on a shelf, sending them banging to the floor.

  Nash let out a pained squawk, which was stifled against Katie’s mouth.

  They stilled, listening for approaching footsteps. Either everyone knew the two were making out in here or they were deaf as could be.

  Right.

  Cue up forthcoming awkward and embarrassing moment, multiplied by the number of family members on the other side of the door. Katie should straighten her Rudolph sweater, head out there with a dusty can of green beans from the back of the pantry and declare that they’d found them at long last. Assuming her lipstick wasn’t smeared all across her face. She was pretty sure it was, actually.