by BETH KERY
Nick Malone had just asked her for a date.
Chapter Five
She did as she’d promised and ate and slept well that night, feeling refreshed and stronger when she awoke. The morning was spent doing some light exercises and stretches, relaxing and reading. She was finishing brushing her teeth when she heard a car door slam.
She grabbed her coat, a scarf and some gloves when she reached the kitchen, slamming the door behind her as Nick paused in his ascent of the front steps. A red, black and white flannel shirt peeked from beneath his black insulated jacket. His hair was tousled and whiskers shadowed his jaw. He looked windblown and outdoorsy...and sexy as hell.
“Hi,” she said, suddenly feeling ridiculously shy when she looked into his gray eyes. The kiss they’d shared the other night had been smoking hot, but somehow, their stormy encounter yesterday had been more...intimate.
“Hi,” he returned, a small smile shaping his mouth.
Yes, something had definitely happened yesterday, Deidre confirmed when she saw his eyes move over her warmly. It was as if both of them had silently admitted that while there may be potential stress and unresolved conflict between them, there was also attraction—and plenty of it.
“Are you ready to go?”
She nodded, taking the hand he offered when she approached him. She gave him a smile and before she could take the first step on the stairs, he leaned down. A shiver of delight went through her when he touched his mouth to hers. He must have spent some time outdoors before he got in his car, because his lips were firm and cool. He’d meant it as a kiss of greeting, Deidre suspected, but it felt so good to be genuine in her attraction toward him. She put her arms around his shoulders and kissed him back, warming his lips with her own. It felt wonderful to give herself permission to kiss him. He smelled like spice and fresh air. He tasted like he’d just eaten something sweet.
“That was nice,” she said quietly next to his lips when she sealed their kiss.
His gray eyes flashed.
“I’ll say it is,” he muttered, and suddenly he was the one kissing her. He took her into his arms and lifted her against his body, until her boots left the porch. While Deidre’s kiss had been airy and teasing, Nick’s was demanding and consuming. She let go—surrendered to the sensation of him for an untold period of time. She blinked open her eyes when the pressure of his mouth left hers a while later and his lips brushed her nose.
“I’m not sure I can control what might happen if you start to be nice to me,” he said quietly, his warm breath causing vapor to billow between them.
She leaned back an inch and examined him with mock seriousness. “Would you rather I stopped?”
“Don’t you dare,” he growled softly.
She smiled and kissed him again. He groaned, seizing her mouth in a quick, voracious kiss before he set her boots back on the stairs. “Come on, or your surprise will get cold.”
“My surprise?” she asked, as she followed him down the steps, her hand in his. “What is it?”
But Nick refused to give a word of explanation concerning the enigmatic surprise when they got into his sedan, and he drove several miles through the white and gray, barren country landscape.
“McGraw Stables?” Deidre asked in confusion when he turned down a wooded lane and she saw a large red, gold and brown sign featuring a large barn and several galloping horses. As they got closer to several buildings in the distance, she noticed the trees lining the lane were decorated with white Christmas lights. “But I told you when we were at Lincoln’s that I don’t ride,” she explained. Both Nick and Lincoln were horse aficionados. Lincoln reportedly owned one of the finest horse stables in all of Nevada and California.
“I know. You won’t have to ride for this,” Nick assured her as he pulled his sedan into a turnabout before a long, low building and parked. To the left, Deidre saw an attractive white farmhouse. Her attention was diverted, however, by the sound of jingling bells.
“Oh, how pretty,” she said breathlessly. A man led a horse with a sleek brown coat toward them. The horse was hooked up to a wooden wagon decorated for the Christmas season with evergreen garland and tinkling bells. The man paused fifteen feet or so away from Nick’s car. The horse tossed her head and stomped her front feet in an impatient gesture.
“We better get going. Maybelle doesn’t like to wait, apparently,” Nick murmured.
“Maybelle? Is that her name?” Deidre asked a moment later when they’d alighted from the car. Snow flurries pelted her cheeks as she approached the prancing horse. “Hey there, Maybelle. You’re a beauty,” Deidre crooned when the mare turned her head and looked at her with liquid brown eyes. She glanced over and met the stare of the man holding Maybelle’s bridle. He had a bland, unremarkable face, but his hazel eyes were warm when he looked at her.
“Hi,” Deidre said.
He nodded at her in greeting. “She’s all ready for you. Addy put a thermos of hot chocolate under the seat, along with some of those sugar cookies you liked this morning, Nick.”
Nick laughed as he helped Deidre up the wooden steps of the wagon. “If I rode at your stables regularly, Addy would put twenty pounds on me in a month or two. Addy and Evan own the McGraw Stables,” Nick explained to Deidre, nodding toward the man before he clambered up the steps after Deidre.
“It’s a perfect day for this,” Evan said, stepping back when Nick took the reins and sat next to Deidre. “Hardly a breeze. You’re free to use any of the paths on our property that you’ve ridden before, and the old lake road, as well. Everything’s been plowed pretty recently,” Evan explained. “When you get back, Addy will have an early dinner ready for you.” He winked at Deidre. “It’s all part of the carriage rental package.”
Nick gave her an amused glance as he reached beneath the wagon seat and withdrew a hefty mug. He handed it to her and then reached for a thermos. “Addy is an excellent cook. We’d be fools to turn down the offer for dinner.”
Deidre laughed as Nick wedged the thermos between his thighs and unscrewed it. “Well, I’m no fool. It sounds wonderful,” she told Evan. Evan nodded and gave them a wave before he returned to the stables.
“How in the world did you find out about this place?” she asked as the delicious aroma of sweet chocolate wafted up to her nose.
He shrugged slightly and poured some of the steaming liquid into her cup. “I didn’t think it’d hurt to ask around about local stables since I was planning to be in Harbor Town for a while.”
“And you couldn’t imagine being anywhere without being able to ride for a period of time, could you?” she said, understanding hitting her. He’d ridden every day when he’d been at The Pines. She took a sip of the hot chocolate.
“Oh, yum.”
“Wait till you try this,” he said, replacing the thermos. He poked his hand under the seat and withdrew a baking tin from beneath the seat. She took it and opened the lid.
“Ooh,” she murmured, ginning as she picked up a perfect, delectable-looking iced Christmas tree cookie from the tin.
“They’re really good. I had a couple this morning when I came out to arrange the carriage rental.”
Deidre bit into the cookie. It melted on her tongue, tasting like fresh butter, sugar and Christmastime itself. She grinned happily and met his stare. “These are why you tasted so sweet,” she murmured as she chewed the cookie, referring to their earlier kiss.
He swept down and covered her mouth with his, pausing to slide his tongue along the seam of her lips. She went completely still next to him. He lifted his head. His gray eyes smoldered.
“Just wanted to experience the same thing you did. You’re right. Sweet,” he said, a grin ghosting his lips.
It took several heartbeats before she remembered to breathe.
He retrieved several folded blankets from beneath the s
eat, tucking them beneath her with brisk, mechanical precision. His hand moving over her hips and thighs felt the opposite of mundane to Deidre, however. Maybe he wasn’t as matter-of-fact as she’d thought, however, because his fingers lingered over the outer curve of her rear end. He looked up into her face, and Deidre felt that increasingly familiar swooping sensation in her belly.
She became entranced by the black specks in the iris of his eyes. They both blinked and glanced at the front of the sleigh when Maybelle snorted impatiently.
He released the brake and gave the reins an almost imperceptible twitch. Maybelle responded immediately, swinging the wagon in the turnabout. Deidre felt warm and content beneath the blankets, her steaming hot chocolate clutched in her gloved hand, Nick’s solid frame pressing against her side.
The paths that led through the McGraws’ wooded property were picturesque on the snowy winter’s day. Eventually, Nick directed Maybelle onto the old lakefront road. The road wasn’t used much anymore by vehicles, but it was maintained by the town for summer biking and Rollerblade use. Several inches of fresh snow lay on it, but Maybelle seemed to have no difficulty maneuvering through it, her trotting hooves tossing up snow with jaunty ease.
Nick and she conversed together comfortably, Deidre occasionally pointing out landmarks at the outskirts of town and asking Nick questions about horses.
“I’ll teach you how to ride, if you like,” he said as they rattled along and the bells attached to the garland jingled merrily.
“I don’t know. I’d probably make a fool of myself.”
“You won’t,” he said, so confidently she glanced at him in amazement. He gave her a sidelong glance. “You’re an athlete, aren’t you? And I’ve seen how horses respond to you. Remember when I came upon you when we were at The Pines stables and you were talking to that stallion? Horses are in your blood.”
Deidre kept her gaze on Maybelle’s gleaming hindquarters. For a second, her heart had jumped at his words. Was he starting to believe she was Lincoln DuBois’s daughter? With a sinking feeling, she realized a moment later he might have just been referring to her mother’s skills as a horsewoman. She’d discovered from Lincoln that Brigit had been a junior championship jumper as a teenager. Brigit had never once mentioned being an accomplished equestrian the entire time Deidre was growing up.
Nick and she were having such a wonderful time, she didn’t want to ruin it by asking him to clarify what he’d meant by horses being “in her blood.”
She shivered minutes later when a breeze whipped past them and snow flurries batted against her exposed skin. Nick slid his arm behind her back and pulled her against his side, still holding the reins with his left hand. She cuddled against him, her cheek pressed against his jacket, mesmerized by the sound of Maybelle’s trotting hooves and the feeling of Nick next to her. The lake stretched next to them like a swath of ruffled steel-blue fabric. Her nose felt cold, but her belly was warm from the hot chocolate. She couldn’t recall ever feeling such a strange combination of contentment and anticipation in her life.
They paused a while later when they came to the terminus of the road. Deidre pointed out the enormous sand dunes lining the lake in the distance.
“Have you ever dune dived?” she asked Nick.
He grimaced. “At the risk of knocking myself down a few notches in your estimation, I’ll admit I’m not much of a swimmer or diver.”
She gave him an assessing glance. “You’re an athlete. I could teach you,” she teased, repeating what he’d told her about horseback riding.
He laughed under his breath. “I doubt it. Teaching a cowboy how to swim is like teaching a fish to walk.” His gaze narrowed on the massive, tall dunes. “Don’t tell me you actually dived into Lake Michigan from those things.”
“Sure.”
His gaze ran over her face admiringly. “That’s something I’d like to see,” he admitted quietly.
“We’ll have to come back in July.”
Something flickered across his stark features that made her mirth fade. She studied her gloved hands on top of the dark red wool blanket, silently railing at herself for her impulsive words.
“Yeah,” he said before he flicked his wrist and chirruped to Maybelle and the taut moment had passed.
* * *
Mrs. Addy McGraw possessed the kind of face that was easy to like—open, weathered and nearly always smiling. Her girth was wide, but Addy appeared to be in robust health from her regular labor in the stables.
Addy met them in the turnabout near the stables when they returned late that afternoon. She wore boots, a parka and a beat-up old brown suede cowboy hat on her short gray hair. Addy directed Nick into the designated area of a large red barn, where they descended from the wagon. She started to greet Deidre, but became distracted when she noticed Nick starting to unharness Maybelle.
“Now, you’re a paying guest here, you leave that to Evan and I,” she scolded Nick. “You two run on inside to the kitchen. I’ve got some hot buttered rum on the stove for you. Evan and I will be there in a jiff, and we’ll have ourselves a nice early dinner,” she said, beaming at Deidre.
The kitchen of the handsome, white-shingled farmhouse was comfortably old-fashioned, with Formica countertops, a colorful tablecloth and dozens of interesting appliances that appeared to be manufactured anywhere from the 1950s to the 1970s. A divine aroma of chicken and vegetables emanated from the oven. Nick and Deidre sat at the kitchen table and sipped the delicious hot buttered rum and tried to guess at the purpose of some of the more unusual-looking appliances.
He looked so appealing to her sitting there, his hair windblown, his casual clothing perfectly fitting the farmhouse kitchen.
“I find it hard to believe you’re a CEO of a huge company when you look so comfortable here.”
He blinked and glanced around. “In a kitchen?”
“No,” she said laughing. “In a country setting. I remember thinking the same when I used to see you on the grounds at The Pines or in Lincoln’s stables.”
“I do miss the country when I’m in the city. But being comfortable in the country doesn’t mean you can’t also be a good businessman. There’s a lot in common between working with horses, for example, and being a CEO.”
Deidre laughed, sure he was kidding. When he sipped his buttered rum, however, his expression entirely somber, she asked, “You’re not joking? What do working with horses and being a CEO have in common?”
“Instinct. I can read people because I learned how to read animals first.”
Deidre opened her mouth to reply, but paused at the sound of the back door opening and the stamping of boots on the back porch. Nick and Deidre stood from the table when Addy and Evan entered the kitchen. Nick started to introduce Addy and Deidre, as there hadn’t been the opportunity when they arrived.
“You don’t have to tell me who this girl is,” Addy boomed, surprising Deidre by giving her a big hug. “I recognized you the moment I saw you in the wagon. You’re Brigit Kavanaugh’s girl, Deidre. Who else could you be, looking like you do? I’ve got the perfect horse in mind for you, too,” she added confidentially.
Deidre laughed, feeling bewildered. “I didn’t realize you knew my mother.”
Addy looked taken aback. She gave Evan a meaningful glance. “Knew her? Brigit’s daughter is standing here, saying she didn’t realize we knew her mother,” Addy said to Evan as if Deidre had been babbling nonsense. Nick noticed both Deidre and Addy’s confusion and intervened.
“Your mother has been a regular rider at the McGraw Stables a long time, Deidre,” Nick said.
Deidre looked at him, her brow crinkled. “How did you know that?”
He shrugged. “Addy and I got to talking.”
“I first met your Mom twenty-eight years ago,” Addy explained as she pulled a casserole from the oven. She seemed
forever in motion. “Isn’t that right, Evan?” she asked her husband as he sat at the table and sipped some coffee.
“That’s right,” Evan agreed, nodding and smiling at Deidre. “Finer horsewoman I’ve never witnessed. You certainly do have the look of her.”
“Evan has always had a little crush on your mama,” Addy told Deidre with the air of someone telling a mischievous secret. Evan muttered under his breath and blushed.
“Deidre hasn’t been in Harbor Town for years now,” Nick tried to explain to the McGraws. “She’s been—”
“In the Middle East, and recently Germany, doing her nursing. We know all about it,” Addy assured him. “Deidre, the plates and glasses are in that cabinet there, the silverware in that drawer. Would you mind?”
“Of course not. It’s my pleasure,” Deidre muttered, hurrying to help, her mind spinning. “I think part of the misunderstanding,” she explained as she laid the silverware, “is that I never knew my mother even rode horses until recently.”
Addy did a double take from where she stood at the counter ladling gravy into a bowl.
“You didn’t know Brigit rode? Why wouldn’t Brigit tell you about that?”
Deidre kept her gaze lowered. Thankfully, Nick noticed her discomfort.
“None of Brigit’s children ride,” he said. “The Kavanaugh children’s athletic talents lie in other areas. Deidre, for instance, is an expert diver and water-skier.”
“Well that’s something,” Addy complimented her, even though she still looked puzzled. She walked over to the table and set down a delectable-looking platter of baked chicken surrounded by golden-brown roasted potatoes. She removed the lid of the casserole dish and Deidre inhaled the smell of broccoli and cheese. Her stomach growled despite a topic that disturbed her, for some reason. “You all sit down now and start to dig in.
“Even if you are a swimmer and a diver, that doesn’t mean you aren’t a horsewoman, Deidre,” Addy added a moment later as she set a basket of steaming rolls on the table and sat down.