Chapter 6 #2
“Aren’t you lonely?” he asked her. He was at times. He’d kept himself busy so he wouldn’t have to dwell on it, but the truth was that he was ready to share his life with a woman.
“I’m too busy for that. I have the festival and though it only runs from December first to the twenty-fourth, it takes a full year of work to pull it off.”
“Life is sweeter when it’s shared with someone special,” he said, echoing his father’s words.
Nick’s dad had always encouraged him to settle down and find a partner.
Nick wanted what his parents had. He needed to find a Hearth Anchor who shared his vision of Christmas and could help him with the Lumen but more than that, he needed a woman to laugh with, someone he loved and who would love him back.
Someone to make him forget they were living for an eternity.
This was not something he planned to discuss with Cora.
She seemed down on love to begin with. Her first thought was about death as the ending to a love affair.
There were numerous reasons why relationships ended, but he chose to think about all the ways his love for a woman would deepen and grow over time. He chose to think about happy endings.
As a last resort, he could use magic. He could go to the fairies and ask for a summoning spell, but that felt like cheating. Love should happen organically, and in its own time.
“What’s wrong? You have a weird look on your face,” she pointed out.
“I’m thinking about love.”
“That explains it.”
“Have you ever experienced it?” he asked.
Her mouth twisted down. “Nope. One of the lucky ones I guess.”
But her body language said otherwise. “I bet that’s not true.”
“You’d be wrong—a condition with which I’m sure you’re familiar.”
He almost cracked a smile. There she was, the Cora he’d come to know. “More times than I like to admit.”
She didn’t respond right away, just looked at him thoughtfully.
“I guess I should be going.”
“Me too,” he said. “Want to share a ride?”
“I was going to walk home. It’s not that far and I’ve drunk too many calories tonight,” she said.
“Mind some company?” he asked, knowing that if he was going to get that magic boost for the coffers—and save her from Pete—he had to put in the work.
“Why not?”
Nick put on a thick deep red leather duster over his suit. She pulled on the red wool coat she’d purchased in a sale two years ago. She’d taken it to a seamstress in town and had red faux fur added to the hem and cuffs.
Nick grinned when he saw it. “For someone who doesn’t want to get married you sure give off a lot of Mrs. Claus vibes.”
She twirled around and the tails of her coat swung out around her. “You think? I was going for one of those sexy backup singers in Mariah Carey’s video.”
“You’ve nailed the sexy.”
“Have I?” she asked. Was Nick Bari flirting with her?
After she pretty much crashed his date with Hannah because …
why? Because she couldn’t bear to see them together?
She felt very confused, but one thing she knew for certain was that there was definitely something about Nick’s bulging muscles, and normally she preferred clean-shaven men, but his beard looked so soft and well-trimmed.
“You know you have,” he said. “Which way?”
She pointed left. She lived half a mile from Calvin’s in one of those charming older neighborhoods that surrounded the town center.
She’d purchased the house because of its proximity to the Winter Wonderland offices—the fairgrounds themselves were too far for walking but the offices were close enough.
“I noticed you said your favorite Christmas was as an adult. Do you have any from when you were a child?” he asked as they walked.
It was one of those nights where the sky looked like black velvet and the stars poked through like shining pinpricks of light.
The cold air made her fingers tingle and she wished she’d brought gloves with her.
It was unusual for her to have forgotten them, but the upheaval of the last few days had thrown her.
She wasn’t used to her schedule being messed with. “Definitely not.”
“I’ve got to know more about that.”
That’s what you get for drinking cocktails and then champers, Cora. “You really don’t want to. It’s one of those Dickensian tales. You’ll regret asking.”
“I’m a no-regrets kind of guy.”
He’d stopped under one of the replica gas lamps that lined the sidewalk which the city had decorated with a large wreath tied with a big red bow.
She’d like to see him dressed in nothing but one of those bows.
The light fell around him, in his long leather coat with his thick chestnut hair.
It was difficult to tear her eyes from his full lips.
His mouth had never been anything she paid attention to but now she wanted to tempt him.
She wanted to see if she could make him do something he’d regret.
Being perverse was her least favorite quality, but there it was. They had to work together and they really didn’t like each other, but each time she looked at him, a heat that she had no explanation for started in her center and pulsed outward. She’d give anything for one kiss.
He arched an eyebrow at her.
Dang. What had they been talking about? Regrets…
“Really? I mean, people say that but usually don’t mean it.”
“I do. If you don’t want to tell me you don’t have to,” he added. “Seems pretty obvious you’re trying to avoid the subject.”
“Then why point it out?” she asked. Those tingling feelings he gave her began to wilt. She’d had a buzz going and wanted to enjoy her win, not dwell on the fact that the Christmas season was starting again.
He put his hands up near his shoulders in a sign of surrender. “What would you prefer to talk about?”
“How about why the lumbersexual wore a suit tonight?”
He was giving her Mr. Big vibes. She’d had the hots for him since the first time she’d watched Sex And The City.
Cora had imagined herself growing up to become like Carrie but those dreams had ended a long time ago.
New York was expensive and she wasn’t as open as Carrie was to experiencing new things.
She noticed Nick’s face flushed under his beard.
“Calvin’s is a nice restaurant and it was a first date with Hannah,” he said.
Interesting. So he was the kind of guy who wanted to make a good first impression.
While she applauded the effort, she didn’t necessarily agree with it.
“What were you going to do if she liked this polished look and then sees you in your normal jeans and flannel?” With all those thick muscles clearly visible and that world-class ass—
Cora, get yourself together. Stop lusting after the toymaker.
“Most people dress up for a date, right?”
“Maybe. I mean, yes. But, see, that’s part of why I’m anti-relationships. You start out as this better than normal version of you. How would I live up to me on my best behavior? I mean, I’m not going to be like that all the time.”
Nick laughed, the deep belly sound wrapping around her like a warm hug. “You are too much.”
“I’m not wrong,” she stated confidently. “Wouldn’t it be so much easier to be yourself?”
“Fair enough, but this is part of who I am. There’s more to you than a short sparkly skirt that shows off your lovely long legs. I’m sure you don’t wear that to clean the bathroom or run to the store.”
She would have argued the point, but she couldn’t think beyond the fact that he’d noticed her legs—not just noticed, admired.
They walked in companionable silence until they turned onto her street. Most of the houses had already started decorating for Christmas and were lit up, but hers was dark and plain.
“This is yours?”
She nodded.
“No lights?”
“Not yet,” she lied. She never decorated her place. She might be the Queen of Christmas as far as the public was concerned, but in private Christmas was something to be endured not celebrated.
“I’m shocked. What would kids think if they showed up at my booth and I wasn’t dressed like a toymaker?” he asked dryly. She noticed that he tended to get sarcastic whenever she pushed him.
“Yeah, um, about that—”
“If you renege, I’m taking WonderHaus and walking away from the festival,” he said succinctly.
Damn. No room for negotiating there. She just hoped whatever the uniform was, it made her legs look killer.