by Maggie Marr
“Ah, here’s our girl,” Nonna said. She started to rise, but Nick laid a hand on Nonna’s shoulder and stood. He took the tray from Noel. His fingertips touched hers and an electric pulse shot through her body. Her toes curled in her wool socks and she met his gaze. Black consumed his eyes and left only a sliver of gray around his pupils.
Noel’s tongue rolled over her lips. Her gaze dropped to the table, and she pulled the chair out beside Nonna. There was no way she’d sit beside Nick. Across the table from him was near enough. Her entire body was in overdrive for Nick, even with her conflicted feelings.
He placed the tray in the center of the table and Nonna poured their coffee while Noel handed out pie.
“I never thought I’d see you again, Nicholas,” Nonna said. “But I’m happy to. I wish the circumstances were different, but my, you were always a pleasure to have around.” She placed a cup of coffee in front of Nick. “Noel said two sugars and no milk, correct?”
Nick’s eyes flashed toward Noel. His gaze held a faint warmth that lessened the frigidity of his face. The cold stare he’d been delivering to Noel since his arrival at White Pines thawed. His whole being was frigid and yet this heat, this attraction, pulsed between them. A fire unbidden but impossible to ignore.
Did Nonna sense the attraction between Noel and Nick? Noel guessed yes.
“So, you’re still in Chicago?” Nonna asked. “Your family is well?”
“I am and they are. My father passed two years ago. I took over North Industries then.”
“Ah, so that explains how you came to lead North Industries.” Nonna took a bite of pecan pie.
Noel’s fork lay untouched on her pie plate. Nonna and Nick yammered on as Noel’s blood grew hotter and hotter. They were acting as though he didn’t have three bulldozers, a wrecking ball, and an army of men in hardhats ready to destroy Winter Pines the moment he snapped his fingers. She clenched her teeth together. How were they discussing his family and when Nonna had moved to Winter Pines, and what Nick’s plans were for this location?
Ack! She stirred her coffee. The pleasantries were worthless. Nick was obviously used to always getting his way, and he thought he’d do so now. But Noel had told him no once before, and she would put her foot down about Winter Pines and tell him no again.
“Right, Noel?” Nonna asked.
“Hmm?” Noel looked from Nonna to Nick. She’d completely checked out of their conversation. They both looked at her, waiting for her response.
“You’ve been offered a permanent position in Africa, one Nonna said you were going to take,” Nick said.
Her gaze locked with Nick’s. Wouldn’t it be convenient for him to wait until she was out of the country and on another continent before he tried again to knock down Winter Pines? “Considering, yes,” Noel said. “I’ll be staying with Nonna until I decide.”
“I see.”
“Well, you two, it is past my bedtime. I leave you with the dishes and each other.” Nonna stood and so did Nick.
Again, he took a hug and a peck on the cheek from Nonna.
“I’ve always liked you, Nick North,” Nonna said. “Don’t be a stranger, and don’t knock down my building.”
Nick’s jaw dropped open and he tilted his head. He paused and didn’t respond. Noel walked around the table and gave Nonna a hug good night.
Nonna leaned in close to Noel’s ear, “He’s a keeper, my dear. Even if you don’t know it, I certainly do.”
Noel pressed her lips tight. Nonna was a hopeless romantic who had an affinity for businessmen. Grandpa and Noel’s own father had run small companies. But Nick? Noel turned her gaze back toward Nick. He was nothing like Noel’s father or grandfather. They would never have tried to oust a bunch of elderly people from their homes to create a shopping extravaganza.
Noel walked back to the dining room table and collected the pie plates. She reached in front of Nick and her pulse quickened. Damn. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. The man simply made her want him. But he wasn’t here in Nonna’s house so that she could satisfy her desires.
“Did you target Nonna’s retirement community?” The thought had simmered in her mind since Nick’s arrival.
“What?” Nick’s gaze hardened on Noel.
“Because this whole thing reeks of payback, possibly revenge.” Noel’s eyes narrowed. “For my telling you ‘no’ on Christmas Eve.”
Nick’s head jerked back as though she’d made a fist and hit him in the jaw. “That’s absurd.”
“Is it?” Noel continued. “The timing is suspect. There are hundreds of places you can build a strip mall—”
“It’s not a strip mall, it’s a shopping extravaganza.”
“Oh, excuse me,” Noel said. “An extravaganza. Right. Because that’s what shopping is now. A sport, an event, an extravaganza. Regardless, are you picking on my grandmother to get back at me?”
“Listen, Noel”—Nick bit out her name and yet tingles shot over her skin at the rough sound of her name on his lips—“I had no idea that Nonna lived here, at Winter Pines. Had I known that demoing Winter Pines would require me to see you, you can damn well believe I would have never purchased this land. I’d prefer to open a shopping extravaganza at the North Pole than have to deal with you.” He leaned forward. “Let me make this incredibly clear: I didn’t know about Nonna, I didn’t know about you, and I definitely didn’t know about—”
*
Fuck it. He couldn’t fight it. The heat, the want, the desire. He shot up and pressed his lips against hers. He wanted that smart mouth. Wanted her lips pressed to his. For the briefest instant, Noel stiffened against his touch and then her body relaxed into his.
Damn her. Damn her body that he’d never forgotten, that felt as though it were built for him. Her mouth was firm against his. Their kiss hot and fierce and demanding. His cock hardened. Pent-up desire, pent-up anger, pent-up loss. Noel. The feelings between them that he’d never been able to recreate with another woman. His tongue slid along the seam of Noel’s lips and she opened to him. He slid his tongue into her mouth. His fingertips fingers wove into her mane of red curls while his other hand slid up the side of her clothes. What was she wearing? This woman deserved to be in silk and lace, and yet she chose flannel and denim? His hand cupped her breast and a gasp crossed her lips, followed by a moan. His arm snaked around her and pulled her closer. He pressed her body to his. He was hard. So very hard for her. She had to feel the desire, the want. Why deny what was between them? He’d be a fool to try.
She pulled back and looked into his eyes, her pupils giant black pools ringed with green. There was no surprise, merely half-lidded lust. Her flaming red curls framed her face, and her lips were already bee-stung from his rough kiss.
“Nick,” she breathed out. His thumb caressed her body over her clothes. Brushed over her hard-pebbled nipple. Again a gasp from her mouth. Her tongue darted out over her lips. His cock throbbed.
“Nick, we can’t, we—”
He would hear no more reasons why not. Hadn’t she been the one who deserted him? The one who broke his heart? His lips again pressed to her mouth. His hand was now firm around his waist. She melded to him. Her hands grabbed at the bottom of his dress shirt and pulled the cloth up from his flesh. Her hot fingertips pressed to his bare skin. Damn, he’d take her now if—
Crash!
Noel jerked away from him and in an instant she was out of his arms.
“Nonna?” Noel called and rushed toward the hallway. She paused and listened. Nothing. No sound. She looked over her shoulder at Nick, her eyes wide with fear.
“Nonna!” Noel hurried down the hallway. The door opened. “Oh my God, Nick,” she yelled from the back of Nonna’s town house. “Call 911! Please! Call 911!”
Chapter Three
Fluorescent light bit into Noel’s eyes. Across the ER waiting room, Nick stood in front of a coffee machine. Noel paced in front of a row of chairs and rubbed her forehead. A headache threatened in the back o
f her skull. Nick appeared out of place in a waiting room. Men like Nick didn’t wait. Society didn’t make them wait. Society catered to their needs.
Since Nonna’s arrival, he’d called the CEO of the hospital, the mayor of Lake Grove, and his own personal physician downtown. All of them had assured him, and then he’d assured Noel, that Nonna was getting the best care she could possibly receive. Emergency rooms—the great American equalizer.
He turned away from the coffee machine, and his gaze locked on her. The air in her lungs froze. The weight of his gaze like a touch to her skin. His eyes peered through her. Saw parts of her that she wished to ignore. Those damned piercing gray eyes. Since the first moment she’d met him, on her first day of graduate school, he couldn’t be ignored. She sat in the chair that was behind her.
How was it she was waiting to hear on Nonna and yet still completely aroused by Nick’s presence?
He held out a Styrofoam cup. “Not very good, but it is coffee.”
“Thank you,” Noel said. The rich scent, usually so welcome, caused an oily feeling in her gut.
“I’ve called Frederick and he’s on his way.”
“Why?” Noel asked. “It’s late. Doesn’t he need his sleep?”
Nick tilted his head as though the thought that Frederick might need something for himself had never entered his mind. “He’s coming here in case we need anything, in case Nonna needs anything.” Nick sat beside Noel. “Taking care of my needs is what I pay him for.”
Noel crossed her legs and leaned away from Nick. “Anything Nonna or I need, I can get for us.” Her voice sounded petulant and ungrateful even to her own ears. But she harbored more than a little guilt over the fact that she’d been making out with Nick like a teenager when Nonna fell. If she’d been helping Nonna, as she often did, then this accident wouldn’t have happened.
“Miss Klaus?” A doctor in a white coat stood in the doorway of the waiting room.
“Here!”
“I’m Dr. Snow. We’ve stabilized your grandmother. Her blood pressure was low, probably what caused the fall. With her heart condition and medical history, a sudden loss of blood pressure can happen. We want to keep her hear for observation. At least overnight. It might be longer. I’ve spoken with her primary-care physician.” Dr. Snow’s eyes gazed past her to the mountain of a man who stood behind Noel.
Dr. Snow’s eyebrow arched up. “You must be Mr. North?”
Nick nodded and reached his hand toward the doctor.
“I’ve gotten numerous calls tonight about Mrs. Klaus’s health, and I can assure you, Mr. North, we are doing everything we can to make certain she is A-Okay.”
If Nick was aware that Dr. Snow was chastising him for throwing his weight around, he didn’t acknowledge it. But why would he? According to Nick, one of the primary reasons one became successful was what you got from that success.
“Excellent,” Nick said.
“May I see her?” Noel asked.
“You can.” Dr. Snow smiled. “But she’s resting and it’s getting late, so I’d prefer if it was a short visit.”
Noel, with Nick beside her, wound her way through the bays shrouded with curtains. Dr. Snow pulled back a curtain and there lay Nonna. She appeared small and fragile in the hospital bed. Her gray curls framed her face, and her skin looked so soft, full of the wrinkles caused by a long life. Machines beeped and an IV tube was taped to the back of her hand.
Heat burned in Noel’s eyes. Nonna was her only family. The woman who had taken care of her after her parents’ accident. How could she ever live without Nonna?
“Noel?” Nonna’s soft smile spread over her face. “It’s late. What are you doing up?”
Noel grasped her grandmother’s hand. Soft fingertips gently squeezed Noel’s hand. “I wanted to make sure you’re okay. And the doctor says you are. They want you to rest here tonight.”
“I can do that,” Nonna looked past Noel to Nick. “As long as I know I have a home to return to when I get out?”
“I can assure you, Nonna, that your home will be there when you’re discharged.”
“I have your word?”
Nick nodded. “Yes, my word.”
A smile curved over Nonna’s lips. “Thank you, Nicholas.” She closed her eyes and within seconds, her breathing had slowed.
Noel leaned forward. The skin of Nonna’s forehead was soft beneath Noel’s lips. Nonna smelled of baby powder and magnolia. She always smelled of baby powder and magnolia from her favorite soap. Noel clenched her jaw and refused to let the tears that were brewing fall from her eyes. She pulled back and slid through the curtain, then walked toward the waiting room.
Frederick stood just inside the front door. “Miss Klaus.”
Frederick’s smile was kind, soft, even generous. He exuded a gentle calm. Perhaps Frederick’s calm demeanor was what Nick responded so strongly to.
“I hear your grandmother is stable and resting well.”
“Yes, thank you, Frederick.”
“For you.” Frederick held out a black leather box.
Noel opened the case. Her glasses.
“I have no idea how you got these fixed so quickly.”
“Ah, well, wealth does come with privileges. People will do nearly anything for the right price.”
Noel took a deep breath and nodded. She’d seen what people would do for a price and the effects greed and poverty could have on communities. Noel reached into the case, opened up her glasses, and slid them onto her face. They seemed cleaner than the day she’d purchased them. “Thank you. I’m sorry you’re up and out so late.”
“Not a problem. I’ve brought you a car. I wanted to be certain that you had your glasses and that Mr. North needed nothing more before I signed off for the evening.”
“Thank you, Frederick.” Nick voice drifted over Noel’s shoulder. “I’ll accompany Miss Klaus home and then return to the city.”
“Very well, sir.”
Noel walked out of the emergency room, walking between Frederick and Nick and toward the town car at the curb.
“Frederick, please tell the foreman that the workers won’t be needed on-site tomorrow or the next day. We’ll pay them, but we won’t be moving forward on demolition for at least a few days.”
“Excellent, sir. Consider it done.” Frederick opened the door of the black town car.
Noel slid into the back seat. The car was warm. She hadn’t realized how cold she’d been until she was in the back seat of the car. Then Nick was beside her. A tingle thrilled through her with his nearness. Her body aware of his presence. Even with fatigue dulling her senses, she still wanted him to touch her, to kiss her, to make her feel better, to take away the hurt and the fear and the pain that she felt.
She closed her eyes. He’d always been able to make her feel safe. Maybe too safe. Hadn’t her fear that she’d be lulled into inaction been one of the reasons she’d left? They rode in silence back to Winter Pines.
The car stopped and Nick slid from the warm interior into the cold winter night. “I’m coming in with you.”
Noel was too tired to argue. She walked through the front door of Nonna’s town house. Silence greeted her.
Her heart split. While Nonna seemed okay, she really wasn’t. Nonna suffered from a condition that couldn’t be cured. She suffered from old age. Old age was terminal. Life was terminal. Noel’s gaze skimmed Nonna’s living room, which was filled with a tree decorated in gold tinsel and white lights, presents wrapped in blue foil with white bows. Nonna’s home was filled not only with Christmas decorations, but also the remnants of Nonna’s full life. Pictures of Noel when she was in school, pictures of Noel with her mother and father when she was first born, pictures of all of them together. Pictures of Grandpa.
Noel pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and pressed her hand to her forehead. Nonna was her everything. She’d been Noel’s entire world since that day when Nonna became all that was left for Noel.
Hot tears rolled down Noel�
�s cheeks. Her chest pulled in deep breaths. How would she survive the loss of Nonna? Even with Dr. Snow’s words that Nonna was stable, Noel couldn’t stop her tears. The picture of Nonna beside Noel when Noel graduated from Northwestern decorated the mantel. What a brilliant day, filled with sunshine and warmth and the memory of her grandfather and mother and father. How they had missed the rest of the family that day. After Noel’s graduation, they’d gone to the lake and lit a candle for each and set them out onto the water in memory of those they’d lost.
Nick’s arms were suddenly around her, holding her tight. She didn’t resist the safety of his arms. She pressed into the warmth of his body. Toward the clean scent of soap that was Nick. With his arms tight around her, she let go of the emotion she’d held tightly wound. The giant tears flooded her face and gasps shook her body.
“Noel, oh, Noel.” Nick pressed his lips to the top of her head.
He was the man she’d loved with every bit of her being. He’d been the future she wanted. The father to her children, her husband, the man in her home. While she cried for Nonna and the loss of her parents, she also cried for the loss of Nick.
He pulled away from her and rubbed his thumb under each of her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Noel said. She pressed her lips together and tried to calm down. She was having a horrible time collecting herself and gathering her emotions. This was the man who was set to destroy Nonna’s home. Why was she turning to him for comfort? Why would she be in his arms? Her gaze locked with his. Because he knew her and she knew him, or she had known him. They’d been in love. Could he be much different than he once was? Could she?
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Noel swiped her fingertips under her eyes and walked to the front door. Mrs. Hyland and Ted and Sylvia and Dorothy clustered on the front step with worried, anxious looks on their faces.
“Oh God, no!” Mrs. Hyland pressed her hand to her heart. “Oh Noel, I am so sorry, I—”
“Oh no, Mrs. Hyland, she’s fine. Nonna is fine. They just want to keep her overnight for observation.” They all filed into the town house.