Winter's Magic (Music City Hearts Series) (5 page)

“What are your plans for the week?” Nick took her in his arms and they began to dance.

“The goal is to keep my head above water. The shop’s been crazy and I don’t think it’s going to slow down between now and Christmas.”

“Can I see you Wednesday night?”

“Assuming you get out in the morning?” Beth tried to feign indifference as the grin on her face reached new heights. He wanted to see her again. That fact, and being with him tonight, was nothing short of an early Christmas present. Score one for Jenny’s advice. Sometimes you do have to let down your guard and enjoy life as it comes.

“True. I’m not worried, though. Surely they’ll have this cleaned up overnight.”

“When do you get home?”

“I think I land around six.”

“Give me a call when you get in and we’ll figure out where to meet.”

Beth closed her eyes for a moment to absorb the exquisite sensation of being cocooned in his arms as he held her so gently. She could feel the power in his broad shoulders and the hardness of his chest as he drew her against him a little closer than before, bringing every nerve ending in her body to attention.

When she opened her eyes, Nick was staring at her with an intensity that caused a shudder to run through her. And as the music faded, he led her through one last turn and bent down to kiss her. Short, but heavenly sweet. Then he nodded toward the windows.

“We probably need to head home.”

“I don’t think the snow’s going to let up anytime soon.” Her voice sounding steadier than she felt.

By the time their waitress processed the dinner check, the valet had Nick’s car brought around with the heat turned on high. The wind was strong and the temperature had dropped at least fifteen degrees in the past two hours.

Nick held her close as they left the restaurant. Though his closeness warmed her insides, her wrap turned out to be more decorative than useful. Beth slid into the passenger seat, grateful for the seat warmer that instantly took the chill away.

The side streets were slick from a thin layer of icy mix below the snow. Traffic moved at a snail’s pace as they drove the short distance to the interstate. Once there, however, conditions were much improved—evidence that snowplows and salt trucks had started making their rounds. Nick, visibly relaxed, reached over and took her hand in his.

Beth felt the tension in her own body fade as the warmth from his caressing hand engulfed hers. She stared at it for a moment, remembering the gentle strength she’d felt in those hands as he’d held her just minutes ago.

“My grandfather mentioned your family has a horse farm. Do you still ride?” he asked, bringing her thoughts back to the present.

“Not as much as I’d like to. You’ll have to come out to the farm sometime. We have a stable with six horses and almost a dozen boarders. There are miles of trails that wind through the hills. When you’re on top of what my father calls Sergeant’s Gate, you can see for miles in all directions.”

“I bet the view is beautiful this time of year, especially now being snow-covered. I don’t think I’ve been riding since I was ten or twelve years old.”

“Maybe next Saturday we could take a short ride if you’re not working or traveling.” Beth was glad the only light in the car came from the dashboard. She could feel heat rise on her cheeks. Had she just asked him out on a third date? She couldn’t help it. Taking a horseback ride with Nick, up her snow-covered mountain to see the city view, was just too tempting. And he could always say he had to work if he didn’t want to go.

“Sounds nice.” He gave her hand a soft squeeze.

Nick turned into her driveway and parked, leaving the car running. In a weird way, the gesture made her more comfortable knowing he didn’t expecting to stay. She wasn’t ready for the evening to end, but didn’t want to give the wrong impression. And she didn’t like the typical
Would you like to come in for a drink?
awkwardness.

Nick placed his arm around her back as they ascended the front steps. She unlocked the door and went inside, hoping he hadn’t noticed the way the key had shaken in her hand. He followed her to the adjoining living room, where she dropped her purse and wrap into a chair. When she turned back around, he was closer than she’d expected.

“Come here,” he said.

Beth stepped into the circle of his arms and raised her hands to his chest, laying them flat against the steady beat of his heart. She’d imagined how the taut muscles would feel against her palms a dozen times in the past three days. Even as they’d danced tonight, she had wanted to glide her fingers across his upper body and over his shoulders to feel the raw power beneath.

In her dreams those shoulders were bare and she’d kissed every last inch, tasting his skin as she went. The perfect combination of sweet and salty.

His heartbeat sped beneath her palms and brought her back to the present. She realized she had been staring at her hands, his chest, licking her lips. The intensity in his eyes told her she wasn’t the only one daydreaming. Beth rose up on her toes and melted into his embrace. And as her eyes closed, her remaining senses awakened.

His potent touch was soft, his smooth lips slowly moving across hers in a whispering glide. His tongue gently stroked, coaxing her to part for him. A quiver ran through her body as she felt his grip on her waist tighten. She took her time as she slid her hands up and around the back of his neck, her fingers skimming the edge of his hairline.

This kiss was different, so much more than the one they’d shared earlier in the evening. He tasted like wine and coffee and his breath still held a hint of the brisk winter air. His body radiated heat that intensified the deep woodsy spice of his cologne.

Their tongues leisurely mated in a seductive dance that made her knees weak. No rush, no frenzy. Just a slow burn that grew at her core as her insides uncoiled and began a silent plea for more. She heard a soft moan, and then realized the sound had come from her own throat. He answered with a smile she felt against the corner of her lips.

She felt suspended in time, losing herself in the feel of his mouth as it traveled over her cheekbone, nibbled on the edge of her earlobe, and made its way to the hollow at the base of her neck. His hands, one splayed across her back and the other around her waist, pressed every inch of their bodies together.

When his mouth came back to hers, she opened her eyes and found him staring. She couldn’t hide the desire that burned through every nerve ending in her body, nor did she try.

A war raged within her—what she wanted versus what she knew she had to do. She could ask him to stay. Every ounce of her body screamed with applause at the thought. The way he kissed, with such soft and gentle caress, paying attention to every nuance and reaction she gave, told her he’d be an amazing lover. Nothing like what she’d had in the few serious relationships of her past.

She forced the hand at the back of his head to relax and let go of the silky hair she’d been running her fingers through. Then she lowered both hands to the top of his shoulders without breaking their gaze.

“I should be going.” His lips were so close to hers she felt the air as he spoke. Then his mouth touched hers again.

She kissed him back in short, playful strokes until a smile emerged and she felt his hand loosen its hold on her back, moving to her waist. She slid her fingers to the center of his chest.

“Thank you for dinner.” She felt an awkward shyness she hadn’t expected. She didn’t want him to let go, to move away. Everywhere they touched tingled in a beautiful medley of delight.

“You’re very welcome.” He grinned as if he knew what she was thinking. Or maybe he felt the same way.

Clearing his throat, his hands moved to cover hers on his chest where he paused, then stepped back. He let their hands fall, keeping hold of only one as he turned and led her back to the front door.

“I’ll call you about Wednesday,” he said.

Before he opened the door to leave, he lowered his head, giving her one more sweet taste, then said goodbye.

As soon as the front door closed, Beth turned around and leaned back against the hard surface, taking in a long breath, then letting the air out slowly. She closed her eyes and smiled, reliving the way his body felt against hers. How they fit together so perfectly. How he tasted.

She finally reeled her mind back to the present, knowing she had to get ready for bed. This would be another long week at the shop. It was a good thing, business being so strong. Though the hours took a toll and she needed a good night’s sleep on Sunday to prepare.

Making her way to the master bath, she couldn’t help the bubbly giddiness that rose in her chest. This had been the most incredible evening. She would be seeing Nick again in just three days. Hopefully he would call her sometime in between. And—

Beth stopped herself as she reached for a washcloth to clean the makeup from her face. She knew her two biggest faults in relationships were jumping in too fast emotionally and closing her eyes to red flags. Although Nick seemed different than any other guy she’d gone out with, she needed to be careful.

Her track record with men was dismal, to say the least. She’d only had three serious relationships in the past ten years and each one of them had left her more insecure and distrustful than the one before.

She slid between the sheets of her bed and remembered Tom. She’d been attracted to him from the moment they met in freshman chemistry and he offered to be her lab partner. He’d seemed timid and a little quiet, finally asking her out the second week of class. For three months, they saw each other nonstop.

She had been in love, and he’d said she was his first. But a week before finals she overheard him talking to his roommates about the great
deal
he had going with his chemistry partner.

Not only was she doing ninety percent of the lab work and helping him with his final paper, he’d even talked her into sleeping with him. He’d laughed about her being a virgin and how he planned to break up with her right before Christmas so he didn’t have to buy her a present.

She hadn’t dated for over a year after that debacle. She’d been hurt more than heartbroken. However, trust became a guarded commodity she rarely rationed to anyone other than her two best friends, Jenny and Sara. Focusing on a part-time job and her studies, she eventually dated from time to time, but had reached the age of twenty-five before allowing her emotions to get swept away again.

She had met Terry after returning to Nashville from college. As the marketing director at Wilsher and Price investments, she’d been part of the orientation team when he came on board as a rookie wealth manager.

Terry probably had had true feelings for her in the beginning. They dated for four months and she thought he was
the one
from date number two. A hard worker, a gentleman, he treated her like a queen. Then she’d introduced him to her father.

Beth could see the wheels in his mind turning faster and his eyes gleam brighter as dinner progressed. She could still hear his words as they drove back to her place later that evening. “Oh, my God. I never put two and two together. Why didn’t you tell me who your father was?”

Because she didn’t realize it mattered.
She’d wiped the tear from her cheek before he could see it and started counting the days.

Five.

Only five days passed before Terry started pressuring her. “If you believe in me, you’ll at least talk to him. Ask him to recommend me in the firm.” Believing the Sergeant name would be the golden nugget on his resume, the obsession escalated and within two weeks became an ultimatum. Although she’d prepared herself the night of that first introduction, her heart still ripped to shreds.

Beth tried to push the past out of her mind. She needed to keep self-doubt from creeping back into her thoughts.

She couldn’t think of a single ulterior motive Nick could have. His business was a success and growing. He didn’t need money or family influence. He didn’t seem interested in a trophy girlfriend or he would have stayed with Lauren. He seemed to care about what she had to say, and their conversation had been easy through dinner.

Slowly, as she ticked off each concern, the question in her mind changed. Could
she
be enough for
him
? Growing up in private schools, while living a middle-class lifestyle, she’d never felt like she belonged in either crowd. She still didn’t know where she truly fit in.

For all of the success, money, and influence Nick and his family had, could she measure up in the end? What would his friends say? Would they think he was crazy for leaving Lauren, who fit in without hesitation? Could she handle the intense scrutiny that would come if she stood by his side?

Somehow, Beth pushed away all of her doubts, burying them in the back of her mind. She went to sleep thinking about Nick and dancing and their incredible kiss. She woke up on Monday morning with renewed energy and got ready for work, grabbing a cup of coffee on the way.

By the time Gina arrived at the salon, Beth had the front register set up for the day and all of the weekend’s business updated in her ledgers. She had just stepped back into the front office to get a fresh cup of caffeine when the door opened and the cheery blonde sauntered in.

“Good morning, Gina.”

“Hi, Beth. You’re awfully bright-eyed this morning. Can I ask about your date now, or do I have to wait until I’ve made simple chitchat for a respectable amount of time?” Gina laughed as she hung up her coat and tucked her purse into the front desk drawer.

“Don’t waste your time being subtle. You know how I hate it when people don’t speak their mind.” Beth took advantage of Gina’s momentary distraction, opening their reservation program, to think about what she wanted to share.

Trusting Gina wasn’t the issue. But she’d decided this morning that her heart would remain disengaged in the relationship. At least until she knew him better. Understood his priorities. Knew if she would be enough.

She found it difficult to maintain a distance from her feelings, but she was determined to learn from past mistakes. Letting herself date Nick was already a big step. And talking to Gina would make it much harder to maintain even footing with the bubbly emotions that kept rising in her chest.

“I’ll ease your curiosity,” she finally said. “We had a great time. He took me to Carlino’s and the food was amazing. We danced and watched the snow fall on the riverbank. Then he took me home.”

“And?”

“And nothing. We cut the evening short because of the weather. I might see him again Wednesday. He’s traveling and plans are kind of up in the air.”

“You’re not very good at this, are you? The
spilling it the next morning
, I mean.”

Beth stirred the creamer in her coffee longer than necessary before turning her attention back to the question. She sighed, realizing how mild Gina was compared to what Jenny would put her through.

“I guess not. I promise to tell more when there’s something to share. It was just a first date.”

“All right. I don’t believe you, but I’ll let you off the hook this morning. I’m going to ask again on Thursday, though, so don’t be surprised. And I’ll expect more details.”

“Fair enough.”

“Now go back to your office and get to work. I’ll let you know when the flowers arrive.”

She halted. “The flowers?” Had she missed something?

“You forget I’ve met Nick. He’s the kind of man who sends flowers after the first date. I mean, he sent flowers
before
the date. Today’s bouquet will be double in size, trust me.”

Gina gave her that
I know what I’m talking about
smirk, then turned to her computer and began printing each employee’s appointment outline for the day. Beth gladly went back to her office where she hoped the day’s hectic schedule would make the hours fly by quickly.

By noon, Jenny called and as she’d expected, wasn’t as generous as Gina in her detail forgiveness.

“You can tell me the truth over the phone or I’ll come down and sit in your office until you do.”

“There’s nothing else to tell. The date was nice.”

“So, he sent you another bouquet of flowers just because the date was nice? You danced together and watched the snow fall under the moonlight and the best you can say is, it was nice?”

“Okay, more than nice.” Beth sat back in her chair and tried to come up with right words. “I don’t want to get my hopes up after just one date, Jenny. I might see him again Wednesday night if he gets in from his trip early enough.”

“I don’t understand. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m just trying to take things slow, that’s all.”

A moment of silence passed before either of them spoke again. Beth hoped Jenny would just drop it. What had started out as a great morning, full of anticipation and then excitement over the beautiful lilies that had arrived, had slowly turned into apprehension as her insecurities stormed back into her thoughts and made her stomach turn.

“This doesn’t have anything to do with Troy, does it?” Jenny spoke with firm reproof in her voice.

Beth didn’t answer.

Troy had been her last serious relationship and the worst of them all. They’d been dating for over a year when she starting drawing up plans for the salon. He didn’t approve, yet he’d kept his objections low key at first. She had assumed he just didn’t like the idea of her working. He’d grown up in a wealthy family where his father provided the income and his mother raised the children.

Then one evening they were at a dinner party with several of his elite colleagues. He never shared the details of what happened, but from that night on, he was firmly against the plans. He believed owning this type of business would be beneath them both. What would their friends say? People from his
class
would be the target customer and he couldn’t imagine how it would appear to be
serving
them.

After several nights of arguing, Troy finally came out and said what she knew he’d been thinking all along. If she went through with the salon, they were through. It didn’t matter that they’d just announced their engagement and spent the weekend picking out wedding rings. Having his wife work in a service-related industry, even if she was the owner, would embarrass him.

“Beth?”

“No!” she said a little too strongly as her mind jolted back in line. “It has nothing to do with Troy. I just think it would be wise to take the relationship slow. You know. He just broke up with Lauren. My track record isn’t exactly glowing. And I’m really busy with work right now.”

“And you think he’s out of your league.” It was a statement, not a question.

Beth sighed. Sometimes, having a best friend that could read your mind was really uncomfortable.

“I don’t even know what league I’m in most of the time, Jenny. To be honest, last night was incredible. Perfect, actually. So perfect I’m worried I might fall too fast.” She paused. “And this one’s gonna hurt worse than anything I’ve ever felt before.”