CHAPTER 6
KATIE
Nathan’s car is the opposite of what I’d expected.
It’s big and manly, like him, but not flashy.
Not a car that screams ‘Look at me! I have lots of money.’ It also smells incredible, and as I sink into my passenger seat, I run my hands over the soft leather seats and take in rapid but discreet breaths.
So that I don’t seem like I’m a stalker obsessed with smelling him.
Because I’m not. Much.
“I’ve found a place on the High Street that sells Christmas trees. I googled it, and they have the best reviews. Not that a Christmas tree shop could get bad reviews, you wouldn’t think, but anyway. This one looks good.”
I stare at his profile as he rambles on. Is it possible that he’s nervous? Is that where this verbal diarrhea is coming from?
“Sounds good to me. I mean, as of twenty minutes ago, I wasn’t even planning on getting a tree, so anything we get will be fine.” I clamp my lips shut, pretty sure I’m chattering nervously, just like him.
We sink into silence, both done with banal monologues, and my eyes stay glued to his left hand on the wheel.
He’s at complete ease in this car, his posture relaxed, his right hand resting on the gear stick.
I wouldn’t have thought this before this moment, but a man driving a manual car is sexy.
Or perhaps it’s just this man driving a manual car that has me all tingly. But either way, I don’t hate it.
“Here we are,” he says.
We’ve been driving for a grand total of five minutes and are stopped in front of the cutest Christmas-themed shop I’ve ever seen.
It’s quaint, brightly decorated in shades of red and green, and has an outdoor area chocked full of trees the perfect size for a London flat.
When Nathan offered to go tree shopping, I’d been concerned about finding one small enough to fit my shoe-box flat, but these trees are miniature and like Goldilocks said, ‘just right.’
“Mistletoe and Pine,” I read the sign out loud.
He reverses into a parking spot out front, not bothering to use his camera to guide him, and as someone with little to no spatial awareness, I’m impressed.
Given I was born and raised in London, I’ve never needed or wanted to drive a car.
I don’t even have a licence, so watching Nathan do something that looks complicated to me, so easily, has me a little mesmerised. Or again, maybe that’s just him.
“Ready?”
He is out of the car and opening my door before I can blink, extending a hand out to help me out of the car.
I accept, ignoring the frisson of electricity shooting up my arm from the brushing of my skin on his, and focus on the task at hand.
Nathan was correct in remembering I used to love Christmas.
When I was growing up, my mum made it into a whole big thing.
We had advent calendars and a blackboard where we counted down the days until Christmas.
Every inch of the house and most of the outside was decorated in coloured Christmas-themed cheer.
We baked gingerbread biscuits together and would go for walks in the evenings to check out the neighbourhood lights.
She’s what made Christmas special for me, so once she was gone, the holiday lost its appeal.
Until now.
“Any tree catching your eye?” he asks.
We’re standing in the middle of a mini forest, turning in a slow circle to take in all the trees on offer. It’s the second week of December, so we’re not down to the slim pickings or the rejects, but we also don’t have the best of the best. They are long gone by now.
“I’m not sure.” I rub my hand over the pine needles of the tree next to me. It’s only a bit taller than my small-ish height, a little scraggly, and it has some brown patches. The tree looks like it’s been through a lot, and that resonates with me.
Me and this tree? We’re both survivors.
“This one.” I point to the half-dead tree next to me, and Nathan frowns.
“Are you sure? What about this one instead?” He points to one further down the back.
It’s a strapping-looking tree, with thick branches and voluminous pine needles.
It’s the tree you should want to get if you’re an emotionally stable person without deep-seated issues that flare around the holiday season.
I shake my head, patting my tree. “Nope. This is the one.”
He steps in closer, his distinct manly smell overpowering the scent of pine needles. Instead of tree-shaped car fresheners, they should make one in the shape of him; have his smell lighting up the interiors of cars the world over. Instant best-seller.
“Okay, if you’re sure…?”
I nod, more firmly this time. “This one is perfect.”
Decision made; he springs into action. Before I can think next steps, he’s inside paying for my tree and organising to get it to his car.
“Nathan! I can pay for my own tree,” I say, following him around as he does the busy work. He ignores me, using the rope provided to wrap the tree up to make for easier manoeuvring.
“Shall we?” He’s tipped the tree onto its side and seems to be waiting for me to do…something?
“Shall we do what?”
He picks up the tree from one end and tilts his head towards the other. “Isn’t this the whole point of tree shopping being a two-person job? So no one has to drag the tree around single-handed?”
Clueing in to what he’s saying, I beam at him and reach down to pick up my end.
As a team, we transport my tree from the shop to where his car is waiting, several steps away.
It’s not quite like Harry helping Sally transport a Christmas tree through the snow-covered streets of New York City, but it’s pretty fantastic not to have to do this alone.
I guess that was the point of him offering to do this with me.
“Let’s get this tree home,” he says as he settles in the driver’s seat, where the chair is pushed all the way back to accommodate his freakishly long legs.
He’d just squashed the tree into the back of his SUV and has a head of hair covered in pine needles to show for it.
I have to sit on my hands to stop from reaching over and stroking them out.
That would be highly inappropriate of me.
“Thanks again for doing this with me,” I say as we head back down the High Street, towards my flat. This entire endeavour has taken less than an hour of our time, but in the grand scheme of my general happiness, the effect has been immeasurable.
His smile is warm and genuine. “It was no trouble at all.”
We’re stopped in front of my building, with Nathan having secured a parking spot right out front. These spots are never available, but I guess when you’re the Nathan Jackson, stuff like this just happens for you.
“Now we need to get this up to your flat. You ready, Muscles?”
I giggle and join him at the back of the car, where as a tree-moving-machine-team, we hoist it out of the boot, into the building and up one flight of stairs. I’m near death by the time we get there; in contrast, he’s barely broken a sweat.
Stupid, elite athlete.
“Where should we put it?”
I tear my eyes from where they are lingering on his bulging biceps as he carries the tree with one arm (maybe it was a one-person job all along?) to glance around the room. It’s small and filled to the brim with furniture and…stuff. I’m not sure where to put it.
“How about we place it here in the corner?” I shove a small table stocked high with textbooks to the side, making place for the tree. In this position, it’s next to the television, which is otherwise known as the focal point of the room.
“Here?” He steps back and looks between me and the tree.
My spirits soar at the sight of the two of them together, and I swallow down a contented sigh. “Yes, that’s perfect.”
Like a helpful elf, Nathan gets to work setting the tree up in the pot provided while my attention snags on a cardboard box sitting in the centre of my round kitchen table.
It’s medium-sized and covered in dust. The kind of box that has been stored in a deep, dark corner somewhere, rarely seeing the light of day.
I lean over, looking inside while plucking at the neon pink post-it note stuck to it.
CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS FOR KATIE. LOVE, JADE.
My eyes sting as I rifle through the box.
It’s filled with baubles in shades of pink, blue and purple.
There are strings of tinsel in gold and silver, and even an unopened box of Christmas lights.
I’m not sure where she pulled this collection from, but my bestie has ensured that my newly purchased Christmas tree won’t be undressed for long.
“That looks like the perfect amount for your tree,” Nathan observes from over my shoulder. I spin, and my breath hitches at his nearness. He’s so tall, I’m face-to-face with his neck, and I get the pleasure of watching his Adam’s apple bob up and down as he swallows.
Delightful.
I clear the emotion from my throat. “I know, right? Anything more would break that poor little tree in two.”
He chuckles in agreement, hoisting the box off the table and dropping it in front of the tree. I watch in a daze as he examines the box of twinkly lights, his brow furrowed in concentration.
“Uh, you don’t need to stay.”
Somehow, this offer to help sad single gal Katie has raged out of control. Surely he’s not staying to help decorate the tree?
One side of his mouth hitches up as he examines me. “You trying to get rid of me again, Kitty Kat?”
I flush, tightening my hair up on top of my head to give my hands something to do. “That’s not it….”
“Then how about I get to work on the lights, and you make me another cup of that wonderful tea?”
I can do that, I think as I make my way to the kitchen, stumbling over Nuke, who’s making a beeline for Nathan.
With jealous eyes, I watch her rub her slight body through and around his legs, purring when he reaches over to rub her ears.
As I turn away from the reunited lovebirds, I question who I’m jealous of.