Loving Her Crazy (4 page)

“Well,” he said, gathering up Sloane and Clyde and pulling on his gloves.

“Are those going to fit?”

“I can leave them open,” he said, showing her his palm where the material gaped open. A small pearl button was there to enable the wearer to close them up. But no way was that happening around his hands.

“Nice. Well…where to now?”

“I don’t know. With this kind of weather it seems like we should be skiing or ice skating or something.”

“Oh, ice skating! I’d love to do that.”

Nash looked at the cashier who stood by the door, ready to lock up the second they left. “Are there any ice skating places around here?”

“Millennium Park has skating. Not sure they’ll be open, but you could try.”

Iris had the feeling the girl would tell them anything if it would get them to leave, but it wasn’t like they could hang out there all night.

“How do we get to Millennium Park?” Nash asked.

“You guys aren’t from around here, huh?”

“Nope,” Iris said. “North Carolina. Montana.” She nodded at Nash. “We got stranded at the airport and decided to do a little sight-seeing.”

The girl didn’t look like she was overly impressed at their intelligence. But she still answered politely enough. “You can get the El up the road. It’s just a few stops up. Check the maps, you can’t miss it.”

“Thank you, miss,” Nash said, aiming a movie star smile at the girl who blushed and stammered some sort of response.

That little twinge of jealousy pricked at Iris again but, before she could get too crazy with the inappropriate emotion, Nash reached back and took her hand.

“Come on, Cookie. Let’s go see if we can rustle us up a skating rink.”

“Cookie, huh? Is that because I’m so sweet?”

“Among other things,” he said, flicking a finger at the fur she wore.

She shook her head and grinned, threading her fingers through his. “Right behind you, Hazel.”

His eyes widened and he took a breath like he was going to say something but then decided against it, snorting instead.

“I have a feeling it’s going to be an interesting night.”

“One can hope,” she said with a wink.

Chapter Four

Their newly acquired clothing provided some margin of protection from the weather. At least to a degree. But nothing short of a sub-zero suit would keep the bitter Chicago wind from blasting its icy fingers bone-deep into their bodies. Dragging Clyde and the Sloane Ranger along behind them wasn’t the easiest of tasks, either, though thankfully, the sidewalks had been somewhat cleared.

They trudged three blocks up to the nearest El train entrance. Iris did remarkably well on the icy sidewalks. She only slipped once. Nash, on the other hand, fell twice. Nothing made a man feel more like a stud than squealing like a toddler and landing ass backward on the frozen pavement while the lady he accompanied nearly bit her lip in half to keep from laughing. He appreciated her restraint. He probably wouldn’t have been so charitable. He had no doubt he looked like a total and complete fool. It didn’t seem to bother Iris, though. She just held on to him even tighter which totally made cracking his cheeks on the frozen pavement worth it.

They bought their one-ride Ventra passes from the ticket machine and finally made it up to the platform where only a handful of other people waited, bundled against the cold. Nash and Iris stuck out like pigs in the henhouse, but at least they weren’t freezing to death. And Iris, at least, looked damned cute standing against the white landscape decked out in more colors than a rainbow.

The sound of the train nearing their stop reached them, and Iris turned her rosy cheeks up to him. Nash reached over and tugged her trapper’s hat snug around her ears, then pulled her closer, using his body to help shield her from the wind. She snuggled in to him and, for a moment, he wished the train wasn’t getting ready to pull in. He loved the way she felt in his arms. Even though he was currently holding a good four extra layers of her.

The wind whistled through again, and she shivered against him just as the train came to a stop. Well, as nice as it was to hold her, he had to admit it would be good to get out of the cold. The wind was a hundred times worse up on the exposed platform.

He let her board first and followed her into a nearly deserted car. She chose a seat near the door, since they weren’t exactly sure where they were going. They’d checked out the map posted at the terminal and knew they weren’t too far away from Millennium Park, but better cold than sorry. The only other people in the car were a couple of older women sitting near the back of the car and a tough-looking character sitting across from them.

Nash glanced at him and made sure he had a firm hold on Clyde and the Sloane Ranger and tried to do the same with Iris. He kept his gaze averted. He didn’t want trouble.

Iris, though, stared at the man, finally leaning forward like she was trying to get a closer look. The man glared at her but she just smiled.

“Sorry to totally stare. I was just trying to get a closer look at your tattoo,” she said, gesturing to his hand where the tip of a feather was tattooed in white ink on his caramel skin.

The man’s eyes widened in surprise, especially when she leaned even closer. “That’s just gorgeous. I’m Iris, by the way.” She stuck out her hand, and the man shook it hesitantly. Nash didn’t blame him. The woman was a force of nature. The poor guy probably wasn’t used to being accosted by some perky woman dressed like a character from
The
Muppets Take the Insane Asylum
.

“Jay.”

“Nice to meetcha. Could I see the whole thing? I’ve been thinking about getting a white ink tattoo, but I’ve never seen one in person, just in pictures.”

The man’s face lightened. “Sure.” He shrugged his arm out of his jacket, and Iris moved over to sit by him. He pushed his sleeve up to reveal a tattoo of a beautiful woman with angel wings looking over her shoulder, the wings folded across her back. The tips of her wings trailed down his wrist and the back of his hand.

“May I?” Iris asked, her fingers hovering just above the tattoo.

The man shrugged. “Go ahead.”

She lightly felt a section of the feathers. “Wow. That’s just incredible. Really gorgeous.”

“Thanks,” the guy said, putting his jacket back on.

“Thanks for showing me. I appreciate it,” Iris said, bouncing up and settling back against Nash on his bench.

“No problem,” the guy said. The train slowed to stop and he got up, nodding at Iris and Nash as he left.

Nash shook his head, silently in awe of her. He’d seen that guy and had expected the worst. She’d seen him and had just seen a man. With a beautiful tattoo.

A few more people boarded. Iris and Nash drew a few curious glances but people had either seen much worse or were too damn cold to care that they looked like someone’s time-warped closet had exploded all over them. Nash kept one arm wrapped around Iris and the other around Sloane and Clyde and when their stop was announced he gathered them all up to wait for the doors to open. They braced themselves for the icy wind.

And holy shit, they weren’t disappointed. Even hunkered down in their coats, the cold permeated every pore. They made their way down the block to the skating rink and Iris stopped with a happy sigh.

“Wow. What a gorgeous scene. With all the lights and snow, it’s like a fairy tale.” She pulled out her phone and took a quick picture. “Too pretty not to share.”

Nash nodded, seeing past the small crowd of people he’d focused on at first. He wasn’t sure about the whole
OMG it’s so gorgeous let’s share it with the world
thing, but she was totally correct. It was a very pretty sight. With the sun down, the old-fashioned-looking lamps around the rink were lit up, and white lights twinkled among the branches of the trees surrounding the ice. The rest of the park was covered in white, glistening snow. The skyscrapers created a magnificent backdrop.

Steel-and-glass buildings weren’t normally something Nash found pleasant to look at. He preferred the wide open spaces of his spread back home. But the snow gave everything a hushed, clean quality, freshening the air and muting the hustle and bustle. With the lights and the woman nearly vibrating with delight at his side, he could definitely appreciate the scene, in a way he never would have expected. He seemed to be seeing a lot of things differently when seeing them through Iris’s eyes.

A tantalizing smell wafted over from a restaurant right on the edge of the skate rink. His stomach growled, reminding him that other than the cinnamon roll a few hours earlier, he hadn’t eaten since a rushed breakfast before his first flight that morning. An answering rumble sounded next to him and he chuckled, looking down at Iris.

Instead of being embarrassed, she grinned up at him. “I’m starving. Dinner?”

“Sounds great.”

“It’s on me,” she said firmly, her tone completely serious. “You bought the cinnamon rolls this afternoon, paid for the cab and the El tickets and pretty much everything I’m wearing. It’s my turn.”

He wanted to argue. He’d never let a woman pay for anything for him in his life. But her chin was raised in determination and it hadn’t been a halfhearted request but a firm statement. So he sucked up his pride and nodded.

“All right. Thank you.” He glanced over at the skating rink. “But after dinner, the skating is my treat.”

She immediately relaxed and smiled up at him with genuine happiness that warmed him right down to his frozen toes. He’d do a lot more than let her buy him dinner to keep that smile on her face.

“Deal,” she said. “Let’s go eat.”

His euphoria at finding sustenance only lasted until they stepped inside the doors of the restaurant. The crowded, or
packed,
he should say, restaurant. Enticing smells hovered in the air, making his already angry stomach rear up in protest. But from the looks of the completely full tables and the line of people milling around near the doors, they weren’t going to be seated any time soon.

They pushed their way up to the front anyway and asked the hostess how long the wait was.

She looked them up and down, obviously not sure if they were asking to be seated or asking if they could wash dishes for food, but she was polite enough when she told them the wait was currently about an hour.

Nash frowned. His stomach would chew a hole through itself if they had to wait that long. “Do you do take out?” he asked, hoping it wouldn’t take nearly as long to just get their food to go.

“Yes, but the wait for that is at least thirty minutes.”

At that, the couple next to them grumbled and the woman said, “Forget this. I’m not waiting anymore. Come on, Jake. We can find something else.”

She marched out with her husband still mumbling something about how their order should be ready soon.

“Sorry,” the hostess said. “We’re really backed up tonight. A lot of the other restaurants nearby had to shut down when the power went off. Excuse me,” she said, turning away to answer the phone and then deal with the mob in front of her.

Nash sighed. “Well, do you want to see if we can find something else?”

“Hang on,” Iris said distractedly, watching as a waiter brought over a bag of food and looked down at the name on the ticket.

He called out a last name but no one answered. No one even looked up like they were waiting to see if it was their order that had arrived. He called it once more. Iris looked around, then muttered, “I’ll be right back,” and threaded her way through the crowd to the waiter.

Nash stared after her, and when she pulled out her wallet he realized what she was doing.
Oh my God, the woman was crazy
. She had the food in hand and was making her way back to him before he could get to her.

“What are you doing?” he whispered. “We can’t just steal someone’s food.”

She laughed. “We didn’t. Keep moving. I’ll explain when we get outside.”

He wanted to argue further but the mouth-watering smells coming out of the bag shut him up. At that point, he would have been happy to lick someone’s plate. What was he doing complaining about how she’d gotten them food?

Most of the people who were still out and about at the park, and there weren’t many, were at the skating rink. To the left of it was a plaza with two giant towers showcasing moving images of people’s faces.

“I Googled that when I was trying to figure out what to do for the night,” Nash said, pointing at the towers. “It’s called the Crown Fountain. During the summer the faces spit water.”

Iris laughed. “That’s too cool. I take it the water doesn’t run during the winter.”

“I hope not. But the towers might provide a bit of a wind block and they are nice and lit up if you want to eat over there.”

“Sounds good to me.”

He reached for the bag of food but she grinned and jerked her thumb toward Clyde and the Sloane Ranger. “I’ve got this. You’ve got your hands full with the luggage twins there.”

He chuckled and led the way. The towers were impressively huge, looming over each side of the plaza like sentry guards. They found a spot where a tower did block most of the wind, though thankfully that had died down slightly. The weather actually wasn’t too bad anymore. Cold, yes. But not completely frigid, and the winds that Chicago was famous for were mostly nonexistent now. In fact, Nash would bet the airport was close to being back up and running, though there were probably a lot of runways to clear and planes to deice. Didn’t matter in their case, since their flight had been rescheduled, but the clearing weather did give him hope that they’d get out in the morning.

Though it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if they got snowed in together for another day
, he thought as he watched Iris unpacking their meal.

She’d tossed Sloane on the ground so she could sit, and he followed suit with Clyde.

“Let’s see what we’ve got,” she said, pulling out the to-go containers and glancing at the receipt. “Looks like two black angus burgers and a side of lobster mac and cheese. Yum. Thank you, Stevenson family, for getting pissed and ditching your food. Which I paid for, by the way, so no one was gypped in the feeding of our bellies,” she assured him while handing him a burger.

“Good to know. Though honestly, I’m hungry enough I don’t think I’d care if you had swiped it. I’m still pretty impressed that you managed to snag us a meal within five minutes of walking into the place.”

He raised his burger to her in salute and took a bite, groaning as the hot meaty juices flooded his mouth. “Oh my God,” he mumbled around a mouthful. “Eat,” he urged her. “So good.”

She laughed and took a bite as well. And not one of those ridiculous non-bites a lot of girls pulled on dates. But a good,
I’m starving, feed me
, hunk-of-a-bite.
Kudos, Cookie.

They didn’t say another word until the burgers were gone and they’d started in on the mac and cheese, which was also incredible. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d sat in comfortable silence just stuffing his face with someone. Well, his brother, sure. But a woman he found attractive? Nope, especially not on a first-date type of situation. Usually they were both too busy trying to impress each other. But with Iris it was just…easy. Comfortable. Nice.

“Okay, I don’t know if it’s just because I was hungry enough to eat Clyde, or if it’s really this good but, wow,” Iris said.

Nash patted Clyde protectively. “I think it’s just that good. And keep your fork off Clyde.”

Her eyes narrowed. “He’s safe for now, but if I go another ten hours without food, all bets are off.”

“I solemnly vow to keep you fed,” Nash said, holding his fork over his heart.

“See that you do.” She sighed and put her fork down. “That was an extremely excellent meal. I’m completely stuffed.”

Nash swallowed the last forkful of mac and cheese and dropped his fork into the container. “Ditto. Water?” he asked, leaning forward so he could reach into Clyde’s depths to withdraw a water bottle.

Iris’s eyes twinkled, and she moved off Sloane and extracted her own bottle. “I’m covered, thanks.”

They washed down dinner, and he popped his toothpick in his mouth, releasing a faint cinnamon scent from the apparently flavored wood.

“I should order more of that mac and cheese and take it to my godson tomorrow,” Iris said. “He would absolutely love it.”