Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Nick had a headache, a hangover, and half a leftover cheesecake calling his name. The last thing in the world he’d expected on Christmas Eve was Rose Cardinelli standing on his doorstep with her hands on her hips and a tempting gleam in her eyes.
He stared at her, confused. “What game?”
“The scavenger hunt,” she said, looking determined. “Turns out, the Swedes cheated. We were in third place, after the sleigh debacle, which means we’re still in with a shot. If we solve the last clue before anyone else.”
Nick shook his head, still fuzzy from all the whiskey and the wallowing. “It’s late. Nearly midnight.”
“Exactly. Aunt June gave us a head-start with the scoop, but you can bet everyone else will be hearing about it too. We need to get moving, before someone else beats us to it.”
Nick didn’t understand what she was doing there. She’d made her choice, and he wasn’t it. “Why don’t you go call Scott?” he asked, feeling that dull ache behind his ribcage.
Rose rolled her eyes. “We can talk about that later,” she said, like she was annoyed at him for something. “For now, we have a prize to win. Get your coat.”
Nick didn’t move. Did she have to look so damn inviting, standing there in the porch light with her hair sticking out of a knit cap in a cascade of messy curls?
He’d missed her.
Barely twenty-four hours apart, and he’d missed her. Somehow, Rose had gotten under his skin, and despite everything, he found himself wondering if there could still be a way…
“Coat.” Rose repeated. “Boots. Scarf. Get a move on, clock’s ticking.”
She stalked away, back to that beat-up van of hers, but Nick stood there in the doorway a moment longer. What was she playing at? He should just go back inside and pick up where he’d left off with the cheesecake; leave Rose and all her confusing commands in the cold.
Or he could try and convince her that she’d made the wrong choice. Show her that Scott wasn’t the right guy for her.
Refuse to go down without a fight.
Nick felt a surprising shot of purpose. He ducked back into the house and grabbed his things; detouring to the bathroom to brush his teeth and gargle mouthwash. There wasn’t time for a shower, he only hoped his winter coat could block the smell of Glenlivet seeping from his pores.
A grand seduction, it wasn’t. But he would just have to improvise.
Outside, Rose had the motor running and the music up loud when he climbed into the van. Mariah Carey. “Buckle up,” was all she said to him, and thrust the final clue into his hands.
Nick scanned it again, as she drove back down the dark roads towards town.
‘Before the victory bell can sound, there is but one more task/ When current tidings are to be found, pin them to the mast.’
“Mast…” Nick repeated, trying to get his head in the game—and away from Rose’s tunelessly adorable singing. “That was a clue about ships, right? So, we need to go to the harbor.”
She didn’t answer, but soon enough, she went speeding past the turning down to the shore.
“Or not,” Nick said. He looked over at her. “Wait, do you know where this leads?”
Rose gave him an excited grin. “It hit me on my way over,” she said, “’Current tidings’, it doesn’t have to be about water. Tidings are news. And mast… Masthead—”
“The newspaper.” Nick finished for her, impressed.
“The Cape Cod Caller,” Rose agreed. “Eliza runs it out of the Town Hall, the offices are up in the attic.”
“Which would explain how the Swedes got the prize so quickly.” Nick nodded. “They didn’t have to go faffing around on some boat, they just nipped around the corner when nobody was looking.”
Rose turned into the Sweetbriar town square.
There was a hush over the empty streets, almost midnight on Christmas Eve.
The gazebo sat, silent in the snow, and everyone else was safe at home, preparing for the celebrations to come.
They were the only ones on a mission as Rose slowed to a crawl, driving past the Town Hall.
“Nobody’s there,” Nick said, taking in the dark, deserted building. “How are we going to get in? The place will be locked up tight.”
Rose turned to him, with a wicked smile that just about ruined him. “Then we’ll just have to break in.”
Nick blinked. “Who are you, and what have you done with the real Rose?” he asked, only half-kidding.
She shrugged. “I always said, you’re a bad influence.”
Rose pulled around the side of the building and shut off the engine. Her eyes sparkled in the streetlight, and Nick almost reached for her right there. To hell with that kiss with Scott, he could convince her, they were the right fit.
But Rose was already scrambling out of the van. She zipped up her puffy ski jacket and surveyed the scene. “Someone will have left a door or window unlocked,” she said confidently. “This is Sweetbriar Cove, after all.”
“And my campaign for mayor is off to a great start,” Nick said, amused, as she began circling the building, testing doors for a weak spot. “I can have my kickoff announcement from jail when we get caught breaking and entering.”
Rose shot him a grin. “Like you couldn’t talk your way out of a charge.” She turned back to her task and brightened. “Ooh, look up there. The window!”
Sure enough, there was a window left open. And six feet off the ground.
Rose began dragging one of the trash cans over, the metal screeching on the ground. “Shh!” Nick hushed her, laughing. “I was kidding about the cops!”
“Then help me.” Rose insisted.
“Demanding woman,” he murmured, but he was smiling as he helped haul the trash-can into place below the window and boosted Rose up onto the can. He looked around. They were in plain sight if anyone chose to take a midnight stroll, but Rose didn’t seem to care.
She leaned in and lifted the window wider. “I think we can fit,” she said excitedly. “Just a little more—AIIEEE!” She let out a yelp as she lost her balance, arms windmilling as she fell.
Nick moved to catch her just in time.
“Ooof,” Rose gasped, clutching hold of him. Her body was pressed up against his, her face bright in the glow of the streetlights nearby. She gazed into his eyes, and Nick had no choice. There was simply nothing else for it, no other thought in his mind.
He kissed her, and all was right in the world again.
Rose had already taken a tumble, slipping down from the window, but it was nothing compared to the pull of gravity that brought her to Nick’s mouth.
An irresistible force that couldn’t be denied.
And so—despite that voice in the back of her mind murmuring that maybe they still had a few things to discuss—Rose gave herself over to the simple facts of nature and physics and let herself fall into the kiss.
Yes.
His lips were warm, urgent against hers, and Rose wrapped herself up in him: Her hands up around his neck, and her tongue sliding against his. Exactly where she belonged.
Finally, they surfaced for air, breathing hard. “Hi,” she said, flushing, just so happy to be back in his arms again.
“Hello,” Nick murmured, grinning back at her. He reached up and brushed hair from her eyes, looking about as gleeful as she felt. “As much as I’m enjoying this reunion, we might want to get inside,” he added. “Before somebody calls the cops on us.”
“Good point.” Rose remembered that they were out in the snow, trying to break into a municipal building.
The make-outs could wait.
She slithered out of his embrace and looked again to the window. “If I keep my balance this time, I should be able to climb right in.”
“After you.” Nick helped her up on to the trashcan again, and this time, Rose didn’t slip. She grabbed the window frame, and hauled herself in, head-first through the window.
Not exactly elegant, but it did the job.
She tumbled to the floor inside and was just dusting herself off when Nick came scrambling through. He hopped down effortlessly and looked around. They were in a dark hallway, somewhere at the back of the building. “No alarms, that’s something,” he said cheerfully. “Where to next?”
“Upstairs,” Rose replied, feeling just as giddy.
She’d officially lost her mind, breaking in like this, but for some reason, she was determined to make it to the end of the scavenger hunt.
It had brought the two of them together, after all.
It only seemed fitting that they finish together, too. “This way!”
She took Nick’s hand, and pulled him after her, moving fast down the empty, echoing hallway. It was eerie, being the only ones in the building, but she found the main staircase and began to climb, up the three flights to the very top floor.
“You didn’t say I’d need to limber up,” Nick joked behind her, pausing for breath.
“And you said I’d need my stamina.” Rose shot him a smirk, and the flash of desire in his eyes at the reminder almost derailed her plans. She wanted him. But the finish line was in sight: Rose found the newspaper offices at the end of the hall. The door was unlocked.
“Second thing I’m doing when I’m elected mayor: install better security,” Nick said, as they stepped inside the dark room. Rose flipped the lights, revealing a cozy office full of filing cabinets, with stacks of the latest issue sitting around.
“What’s the first thing?” she asked, and was rewarded with another breathless, hungry kiss. She clung to him, her head spinning. “Well, that gets my vote,” she said. “Once I have an apology.”
“Apology?” Nick echoed, his hands sliding up under her jacket.
Rose ducked out of reach. “For assuming I was running around with Scott behind your back.”
Nick’s smile slipped. “Oh. That. I suppose if you’ve seen the error of your ways—”
“My error?!” Rose swatted him with a newspaper. “Scott was the one who mauled me, out of nowhere. Which you’d have known, if you’d just had an adult conversation with me,” she added, turning serious. “How about you spend a little less time jumping to conclusions, and a little more trusting me?”
Nick stared at her. “So you didn’t—”
“No!” Rose insisted. “He wanted to get back together, but I told him to get lost.”
“Well, that’s a relief.” Nick’s smile broadened. “I was beginning to question your judgement. I mean, falling for that dolt once was bad enough…”
“You’re really in a position to judge me right now?” Rose asked, but she couldn’t help giggling as he pulled her into his arms.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. Let me make it up to you.” Nick backed her up against the wall, kissing her so thoroughly that Rose would have forgiven him anything.
“I mean it,” she managed to say, between heated kisses. “You can’t just shut me out like that, not if we’re going to make this work.”
Nick drew back, his eyes intent on hers. “And what is… This?”
Rose caught her breath. “What do you want it to be?” she whispered back, desperately hoping he felt it too. That this was more than just a fling.
“Something,” he replied slowly. “Something real.”
Rose exhaled in relief—and sheer joy. “Me too,” she murmured, kissing him hard. and for a moment, there was nothing else in the world but the two of them, and all the possibilities that lay ahead.
Until she heard the muffled sound of voices, somewhere below them downstairs.
Rose pulled away. “Is it security, do you think?” she asked, her heart racing. Nick quickly stepped into the hallway and leaned out over the staircase railing.
“No, it’s Jackson and Alice.”
“What?” Rose blinked in surprise.
“They must have heard about the contest,” Nick said, turning back to her. “They’re here to claim the prize.”
“Then we need to hurry!” Rose dashed back into the newspaper office, looking frantically around. Now that she wasn’t distracted by making out with Nick, she could see there was a whiteboard fixed to one wall, and what looked suspiciously like a clue written on it in Eliza’s messy handwriting.
‘The end is near, your prize within grasp/ To find what you seek, the stars shall light your task.’
“Stars…” Nick repeated.
“The roof!” Rose grabbed his hand, and pulled him out of the room, and back to the staircase. The final flight took them up to a fire escape exit, which led out onto the roof.
Outside, the stars were bright overhead, and the air was crisp and chilled.
Sweetbriar Cove lay below them, dusted with snow and streetlights, twinkling in the dark, and on the far side of the roof, a small Christmas tree sat.
It glittered with tinsel—and those weren’t the only decorations, because swinging alongside in the breeze were a collection of gold-covered chocolate coins.
“It’s there!” Rose squealed in delight, rushing over. She grabbed three of the coins that were dangling from the tiny branches. When they were added to the others they’d already claimed… Surely they had enough to win the grand prize?
“Hold on.” Nick quickly texted June a picture as evidence. Her reply came right away.
‘CONGRATULATIONS!’ along with a dizzying parade of confetti images.
“We won!” she turned to Nick, thrilled. “We actually won!”
It was just a little contest, but to Rose, it felt like so much more. Proof that she wasn’t going to stay in the background, waiting for life to happen to her. She was going to get out there and go after what she wanted.
She was going to win.
She threw her arms around Nick in celebration, who captured her lips in a searing kiss. “I would say so,” Nick murmured, as Rose reveled in the moment. High above the town, under the stars, with victory buzzing in her bloodstream.
“Merry Christmas,” she whispered, holding him tightly.
“It is,” Nick replied, kissing her again. And she knew, it was only just the beginning.