A Safe Pair of Hands (6 page)

His garage doors were shut as well, so she could not see
whether his car was in there or not, because it certainly wasn't on
the driveway.

She closed the front door behind her and dropped the
catch.

“
Now why don’t you sit there, and carry on drawing for a bit,
while I put these things away,” she smiled at the little boy as she
sat him at the kitchen table.

Pete nodded happily as she put his paper and crayons on the
table in front of him.

“‘
Kkaiy!” he chirped.

She put the kettle to boil and then put away the few
foodstuffs, in the fridge and the cupboards.

The kettle had just switched off when the doorbell peeled
loudly.

“
Now I wonder who that could be?!” Sadie whispered dramatically
to Pete as she ignored her heart’s sudden quickening. Pete giggled
as she swept him up. “Shall we go and see?” she asked.

He nodded enthusiastically. “YUP!”

Sadie settled Pete onto her hip as she peered through the spy
hole.

“
Oh my!” she whispered shakily, as she saw the man standing
waiting out on the porch.

He did look good through that little peephole, and Sadie just
knew that when she opened the door to her boss, then he would look
even better in the flesh.

She shifted Pete again as she unlocked the front door and
slowly opened it.

“
Hi there!” Nick greeted them both brightly. “How’s it all
going?”

Sadie felt the colour flood her cheeks as his warm eyes
travelled the length of her.

“
Nik Nik!” Pete cried out happily as he reached his little arms
out to him.

Sadie felt that she had no choice as she relinquished the
little boy to her boss and stepped back.

“
Why don’t you come inside,” she laughed helplessly.

“
Thank you – I’ll do that!” Nick stepped over the threshold
with little Pete and kicked the door shut with his foot.

“
Coffee?” she asked hospitably.

“
Yes, please.”

He followed her into the kitchen, still holding a chattering
Pete.

“
An’ it went, whhhhoooooosh!” Pete waved his arms around as
though to emphasise the point.

“
What is he going on about?” Nick asked in bafflement, and
Sadie laughed again.

“
I took him to the shops before we came here, and he had a go
in one of their… kiddie rides?”

“
Yeah, it woz a spaeseshhhuppppp!”

“
Ahhh!” Nick grinned as he sat down at the kitchen
table.

He sat with Pete on his lap – and watched Sadie as she put
mugs ready for their coffee, and boiled the water, and so on. The
kettle clicked off almost as soon as she switched it on, so the
water must have already been hot.

“
Did you have a good day off?” he asked quietly.

Sadie turned around and looked at him a little apprehensively.
“Was I missed at all? Was poor Marcy swamped?”

“
What? No… no, I had one of the girls come up
from the general offices, and she gave Marcy a hand with any work
that came in.” he soothed.
Although
in truth; Sadie had been missed – by him!
“No, we were fine; I was just enquiring as to whether you had
a good day?”

Her look of worry gradually eased and she smiled a little
hesitantly. “Yes… I did have a very nice day, thank
you.”

He returned her smile warmly. “Good, I am glad.”

The kettle had already clicked off and so Sadie turned away
again to sort out their drinks.

She was feeling very flustered around Nick tonight, but she
was running out of reasons to delay joining him at the kitchen
table.

And Nick sat with little Pete on his lap and stared at Sadie
hungrily.

“
Have you eaten yet?” her question came without her turning to
look at him, but still he felt a little disconcerted.

Almost as if she had seen his look and misread the reason for
it.

“
As a matter of fact, no I haven't,” he said as casually as he
could. “I actually thought about ordering out, and was wondering if
you and little Pete here would like to join me?”

She placed the mugs on the table, but well out of the way of
the energetic, often unpredictable, little boy.

Sadie smiled as she sat down across from them. “We would love
to join you for some dinner, thank you.”

Nick was distracted by little Pete, suddenly reaching out a
hand to touch his chin. Or at least that was what he wanted Sadie
to believe. In truth, when she smiled at him like that, he found
that he could not think straight, that his imagination kicked in
and he saw them as a done deal; with this being their home, and
their family.

He had to keep telling himself that although his feelings for
her had not changed since the very first moment he set eyes on her,
three years ago; she was still getting used to knowing Nick the man
– rather than Nicholas J Hargreaves MD and her boss.

He could see the slight bewilderment in her eyes from time to
time as she tried to catch up with the change in their
relationship.

That their relationship had changed – was a given, and Nick
had absolutely no intention of letting things slip back into that
cold and impersonal way that they had been dealing with each
other.

He knew that he had to tread cautiously with her, but he was
determined to see this thing between them play out… play out the
way that it should have played out three years ago!

Chapter Six

They ordered pizza and side dishes and when the food arrived,
they ate the mini feast at Nancy's kitchen table.

It was a fun meal, little Pete was in his element and Nick,
seemed to be having the time of his life with the little
boy.

Sadie sat smiling across at them, with a slightly wistful
little twinkle in her grey eyes, that had Nick's heart flipping in
his chest every time that he so much as glanced at her.

*

“
I'll just get Pete settled down for the night,” Sadie said
later that evening.

They had cleared up the remains of their feast, and whilst
Pete had sat at the table drawing happily, the two adults has
washed and dried the plates, and things.

It was now seven thirty and little Pete had been yawning
tiredly for the past five minutes or so.

She scooped him up into her arms, but hesitated before leaving
the room. “Thank you for our tea,” she said uncertainly, “but if
you want to leave, then…”

Nick smiled easily. “I've no plans for this evening at all, so
if you wouldn't mind some company for a little while longer, well
than I could always put the kettle on?”

Sadie smiled back in relief, but she shook her head as well.
“I think that there is a bottle of wine in the fridge. I would
rather have a glass that.”

Nick's smile widened. “That's sounds like a good
idea.”

It took Sadie a little over ten minutes to get Pete bathed and
ready for bed, and by the time his head touched his pillow he was
almost asleep.

She sat on the edge of his bed, stroking his hair tenderly for
a few moments, wanting to make sure that he was fully asleep before
she left him.

His eyes flickered beneath his lids, and he sucked in a little
breath and blew it out again quickly, but when Sadie stood up, he
didn't even stir.

She popped into the spare bedroom, which she was using whilst
she stayed here, and tidied her hair, and sprayed on a little more
perfume. She dabbed her nose with a little powder, wanting to take
away the shine, and then after looking herself over critically for
a moment, she gave a little shrug of her shoulders and then walked
back down the stairs.

Nick had drawn the curtains, and switched on a couple of
Nancy's lamps, giving the living room a warm cosy
feeling.

And there was the gentle sound of music coming from the corner
of the room.

When she looked at Nick questioningly he gave a little shrug
and rueful smile.

“
I thought that it would be more relaxing,” he said almost
defensively, as he held up the glass of white wine to
her.

Sadie settled on the sofa beside him and sighed
happily.

“
Oh yes, I quite agree with you,” she smiled gratefully as she
took the glass from him.

It was a very calm and soothing atmosphere, and Nick took
pains to make sure it stayed that way.

He chatted lightly to her, telling her about his day, and of
course she was able to ask knowledgeable questions, due to the fact
that she worked there too.

And she was genuinely interested.

Once again he was reminded of the first time that they met,
before Rick had come striding in and ruined things for
them.

He found his anger brewing again as he thought of that other
man and the way that he had treated this woman.

But his anger ran deeper for himself, because he had been so
ready to believe the worst of her.

All these months, he had been around her, and he had been
blind to how wonderful she truly was. He would have to make it up
to her, find some way to apologise.

He remembered how she had looked yesterday, when the blinkers
had finally been removed, and he had begun to question his
certainties.

Seeing her there holding little Pete, with her coat all askew,
and those old and battered slippers on her feet, the aunt who the
little boy so blatantly adored.

“
It's getting late,” he said abruptly, as he stood up suddenly.
“I should be going,”

Sadie had been sitting, daydreaming and Nick's sudden decision
to leave, left her feeling bewildered for a moment.

“
What? Oh, okay,” she murmured as she blinked up at him with
those amazing grey eyes of hers.

She came to her feet, to see him out, but Nick suddenly seemed
as though he was glued to the spot.

They stood very close together, so that she could feel the
heat that he generated, she could smell the faint soap, and the
aftershave that he wore.

She could feel the warmth of his breath as it fanned her hair,
as he towered over her.

Sadie gave a helpless little shiver, he was just so close, so
touchable.

“
Sadie?” Nick murmured as his finger gently tilted her
chin.

The feel of his hand as she lifted her eyes to his once more,
made the crystal clear, turn smoky grey – almost a blatant
invitation to him.

Nick gave a soft groan, as he took her in his arms, and slowly
and gently put his lips to hers.

Their first kiss!

Sadie's mouth opened a little as his lips moved against hers,
and Nick felt the warmth of her breath, and had a need to taste
her.

Hi tongue gently and slowly entered, and moved to caress her
mouth, touching the tip of her tongue, and then withdrawing again
quickly.

“
I really should be going!” he said again gruffly as he stepped
away from her.

Sadie looked up at him in bemusement – right at that moment
she wanted him so badly, and he was leaving her!

He read her expression so easily and the temptation was there
to move back in and to continue – to finish what they had just
started.

She wanted it too! He could clearly see it, could see that she
wanted him, almost as much as he wanted her.

But this was not the time or the place for that!

“
I want to take things slowly with you, Sadie,” he tried to
explain. “I messed things up with you, once before; and I don't
want that to happen again.”

She nodded her head slowly. He was right of course – it was
all happening too quick. And this was her sister's home for god's
sake – with little Pete sleeping just upstairs; under her
care.

She smiled a shaky little smile. “I'll see you
out.”

Nick opened the front door, and was greeted by a blast of cold
air.

Sadie gave a little shiver as she peered past him to look at
the night outside.

“
Oh!” she gave a little gasp, and Nick turned to look at her,
full of concern.

“
What…” he trailed off as her face lit up with delight, and her
eyes became moist with tears.

“
It's snowing!”

He looked out again – to the annoyance of his winters.
Snow!

Just a sprinkle of snow, but he just knew that one or two of
his employees would use it as an excuse to call in, in the morning
– claiming that they were unable to get in due to road closures,
and poor weather conditions.

He had always found snow an inconvenient irritation – until
this moment. But seeing the delight on Sadie's face, made this cold
little white stuff, seem somehow wonderful.

“
The first snow of the season,” he nodded. “Just a sprinkle
this time – but more will follow, soon enough.”