Loving Her Crazy (5 page)

The affection for the boy was obvious in her voice. “Do you spend a lot of time with him?”

She nodded. “I see him almost every day. His mom and I have been best friends for as long as I can remember. I watch him whenever she needs a sitter, and he comes over a lot just to hang out. He’s my little buddy.”

“That’s great you have such a close relationship with him.”

“Yeah,” she said, her face soft and wistful, very similar to the looks of maternal love and pride he saw on the faces of his friends with children. “I can’t wait to see him in his little tux at the wedding.”

“Who’s getting married again? His mother?”

“His uncle.” Iris shook her head with a laugh. “Oz is the only man I’ve ever met who wants to get married more than the bride. Not that Cher doesn’t want to get married. Those two are so in love it’s kind of hard to be around sometimes. It’s impossible to believe they hated each other when they met.”

Nash’s eyebrow rose. “They did?”

“Oh yeah. They got stuck on a road trip together, drove each other completely nuts, and by the time it was over they were madly in love. Been inseparable ever since.”

“I guess being stuck in a car will either make you love someone or hate them.”

She laughed. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Well,” he said, standing up. “Shall we go?”

He stood and offered her a hand, purposefully tugging a little too hard so she fell against him. He gave her his best
oops my bad
expression which, judging by her smug smile, she didn’t buy for a second.

“Ready for a little skating?”

“Yes!” she said, her face lighting up. “It’s been so long since I’ve skated.”

She grabbed their trash while he wrangled Clyde and the Sloane Ranger and they made their way back to the rink.

Nash stashed the luggage twins with the skate rental guy, slipping an extra twenty into his hand to keep an eye on them, and joined Iris on the bench to put on his skates.

She glanced up at him with a grin. “So, when’s the last time you went ice skating?”

Nash frowned. “About twenty years ago.”

“Yeah, it’s been a good fifteen years for me. I used to love it, though. My mom would take me and my sister at least once a month. There was an indoor rink not too far from where we lived. I was pretty good.”

She stood up and wobbled a bit, throwing out a hand to steady herself on the rink wall in front of her. “Of course, that was a while ago.”

Nash laughed, stowed his toothpick in his hat band, and stood on his own wobbling feet. “Come on, we can hold each other up.”

Two seconds after sliding onto the ice, they discovered just how bad an idea that was. It was a good thing there weren’t many people on the ice with them, because the casualties would have been numerous. As it was, they took out two sets of teenagers and a father towing his toddler. The toddler was the only one who kept his feet in that pileup. After that collision, Nash stopped and took stock of their situation. “Okay, we need to get away from the outside wall. That’s where all the beginners are hanging out.”

Iris was laughing so hard she could barely stand up straight, but she finally got some words out. “Yeah, but we are beginners. Sort of.”

“True. But there are too many of them. Which means there are more for us to take out. If we keep skating around the wall, there won’t be anybody left.”

Iris looked around. “You’ve got a point. So where to?”

“We need to head to the middle of the rink. There’s hardly anybody there. We should be safe. Well, everyone else will be, at least. I honestly can’t vouch for us.”

That set Iris off again. “I’m sorry,” she managed to say between laughs. “I really didn’t think I’d be this bad at this. Actually, I didn’t think you’d be this bad, either.”

Nash snorted. “Come on.” He tightened his grip around her waist, probably not the best idea, since if he went down he’d drag her down with him. And vice versa. But he liked holding her too much to let go.

They actually made it to the center of the rink without incident. He’d misjudged the ease of remaining stationary on the ice once they got there, though. Iris grabbed the lapels of his coat with a little squeal. They clung to each other, two pairs of feet slipping and sliding while they bucked and scrambled together, trying to remain upright. She jerked forward, her hands yanking on Nash’s sleeves, her hips slamming into his. He gripped her upper arms, his body performing some twisted hula-hoop maneuver as his laugh rang out.

“I’m sorry!” She wobbled, trying to talk and stand at the same time. “Try and lock your knees!”

“Trying. Not helping.” He laughed.

The more they stood clinging together, their legs scrambling madly to find some sort of traction (a complete effort in futility when you’re talking blades and ice), the more the laughter bubbled out of her, until she was laughing just as hard as he was.

It took a minute, but they finally found a point of balance. They stood, arms locked around each other, their faces only a breath apart. Nash looked down at Iris. The light and life in her deep brown eyes warmed him to the very core. His grip on her tightened, and her breathing kicked up a notch. As did his. He didn’t even try to blame it on the ice dance they’d just performed. It was all her.

“What are you thinking?” she murmured, blinking against the smattering of snowflakes falling.

Nash brushed a thumb across her cheek. “My body aches, I’m freezing, and I’m dressed like some overgrown mothball. But I’m having the time of my life. Thanks to you.”

His heart clenched at the brilliance of her smile as she replied, “Ah. I’m sure you’d have had a great time without me.”

“No.” He shook his head. “No. I’ve spent a lot of time in my own company. I’m not all that entertaining. It’s you.”

Her cheeks grew even pinker, and with the snow glistening on her lashes like tiny little diamonds, her beauty took his breath away.

“It’s you,” he said again. “I’ve never met anyone like you. You’re fun and spontaneous and full of surprises.” He risked upsetting their delicate balance to pull her closer. “And you’re so beautiful I might just die if I can’t kiss you.”

Her mouth dropped open and she sucked in a breath. “Well,” she breathed out. “We wouldn’t want that, would we?”

Chapter Five

Iris held her breath as Nash smiled down at her, the expression on his face so tender, and at the same time almost predatory, that she trembled in his arms. And it had nothing to do with the cold. Her heart pounded so hard she could almost hear it. Good God, was this what happened when a man wanted a woman? Wanted
her
. Not just a quick screw or some meaningless fling, but
her
. No man had ever looked at her this way.

He leaned down to kiss her, and she rose up on her toes to meet his lips. Only to remember too late that she was in skates. On ice.

Iris and Nash grabbed at each other again, but nothing was keeping them from going down. Iris shrieked as her feet flew out from under her. Nash tried to twist, a move that saved her from landing flat on her back. Instead, she landed painfully on one knee, the rest of her body landing squarely on Nash’s chest.

He ended up half on his back, half on one side. With her sprawled on top of him.

“Sorry,” she said, trying to crawl off him without damaging any body parts.

“No prob—
uhhh
,” he grunted when she used him as leverage to push herself up.

“Damn. Sorry,” she muttered again.

She managed to get to her feet, slowly, and waited a second to be sure she was stable before she offered him a hand. He took it, wrapping his hand around hers like he was going to arm wrestle her. She pulled as hard as she could but he regained his feet all on his own. It had been like pulling on a tree trunk. It was a good thing he hadn’t broken anything, or he’d have had to lie there until someone could help her lift him.

“You okay?” he asked, his hands quickly skimming over her.

She was, but was very tempted to say she was not, if it meant a more thorough examination.

“I’m fine. Sorry about that. Didn’t mean to pull us on our asses. Again. Guess I just got a little distracted.” She gave him a wry smile and he chuckled.

“
Hmm
, well, I’d apologize but I can’t say that I’m sorry I have that kind of effect on you.”

She released a breathy sigh. “You have no idea.”

“Is that so?” He pulled her to him again, cupping her cheek to raise her face to him. He leaned down until his mouth barely brushed against hers. “Then you better hang on tight,” he murmured.

His lips descended, and Iris sank into him, molding herself to him as best she could through a million layers of clothes and the perils of the frozen danger zone beneath their feet. His lips were somehow soft and firm at the same time, and so exquisitely warm that she momentarily forgot that they stood in the middle of a frozen rink, snow falling all around them. Heat emanated from the lips caressing hers, spreading through her, making her burn for him. He pulled back for a second to cup her face in both his hands, and the cold air that swirled between them was shocking in its intensity. Then he was back, his mouth more insistent, his hands cradling her face. She opened to him, letting him explore, taste. He could have devoured her whole, and she would have willingly submitted.

Someone hooted in the background, but the noise was so faint she barely noticed. In that moment, there was nothing but him in her world. Nothing but that musk scent that she couldn’t identify but was so supremely Nash that she wanted to bottle it and swim in it every day for the rest of her life. Nothing but the heat that filled her from where his lips moved hungrily over hers, stealing her breath and, if she wasn’t careful, her heart. Good God, one kiss and she was addicted. She didn’t want to stop.

When he finally released her, she merely stared up at him, unable to do more than blink, stunned and reeling from the absolute best first kiss she’d ever had in her life. That was it. He’d fly out of her life the next day, and she’d have to become a nun because nothing,
ever
, was going to top that.

She should be embarrassed at her reaction, but Nash didn’t give her time to let that feeling take hold.

“Would it sound too unmanly of me to say
wow
?” he asked.

Iris laughed, a short burst of pent-up air exhaling in an eruption of happiness that made no sense to her. “Not at all,” she assured him. “Though I was thinking more along the lines of
holy shit
.”

He grinned and her stomach flip-flopped. What the hell was happening to her? Lust, she understood. And she was feeling plenty of that. If it wasn’t cold enough to freeze off the body parts she most wanted to take for a spin, she’d strip them both right here and do what they could to melt the rink they stood on. But this wasn’t just lust. She seemed to be in serious danger of going all Disney-princess—running amok in the park whilst singing of true love’s first kiss to all the furry little animals. And she was just not that kind of girl.

“Iris?” Nash said, his eyes creased with concern.

“Sorry.” She flashed him the brightest grin she could muster. “I think the cold has finally sunk into my brain.”

He smiled and pulled her under his arm. “Let’s see if we can get off the ice without killing ourselves, or anyone else, and then we can go find something or somewhere to warm us up.”

Iris closed her eyes. She was pretty sure he was referring to hot chocolate or a piece of warm apple pie or something. But she couldn’t help envisioning a naked Nash, wrapping that incredible body of his around her in some hotel room somewhere.
That
would warm her up lickety-split.

She opened her eyes and tried to concentrate on the task at hand. First, she had to exit the ice without causing complete mayhem. Then she could dwell on her little fantasy. Because if she only got to have him for one night, she was damn well going to make it count.

…

They returned their skates and retrieved Clyde and the Sloane Ranger before embarking on their search for piping-hot refreshments. They weren’t the only ones with the same idea, which turned out to be a good thing. They just followed the large pockets of people and eventually found one brave vendor who had set up a stand in the park. Nash pulled her over to the gourmet coffee cart and got in line. He wrapped his arms around her, both to keep her warm and because he just wanted to keep her close.

That kiss had damn near blown his boots off. He’d had his fair share of first kisses. Hell, he’d been kissing girls behind his daddy’s barn since he was twelve and Jenny Parker had twitched her braided pigtails at him. But nothing had ever come close to what just happened on that rink. One touch of her lips and he was a goner. He wanted more. He wanted all of her. But at the same time, he realized that was a really bad idea.

He wasn’t a one-night-stand kind of guy, but Allison was the only one he’d gotten close to permanent territory with. And look how that had turned out. His friends often teased him for being a serial monogamist. He tended to date a woman, and only that woman, until one or both of them decided they didn’t want to date anymore. And then he moved on. He’d never been in a relationship that lasted more than a year. Even with Allison. She’d been ten months. He’d had more than one woman accuse him of not being able to commit. They might be right. It had certainly been the case so far.

But not because he didn’t want to commit. He didn’t get cold feet whenever the subject came up. He’d just never met a woman who really got him, who was compatible with him, with his life. But this woman…he’d known her only a few hours, had only kissed her once. And once would never be enough. This one had the potential to get under his skin. To make a mark on him like no one else ever had. She intoxicated him. Already the only thing on his mind was tasting those sweet lips again. Yet, even with anything more off the table, he still looked forward to spending the rest of the night with her, just hanging out.

And it was just his luck that when he finally found a woman he could see himself being with, she was the one woman he couldn’t have. He was a rancher from Montana. She was a nurse in North Carolina. He’d never leave his home, and he couldn’t see her wanting to join him there. She was young and carefree. The type that probably wanted to travel the world. Not settle down in a place where his family had been for generations. Especially when that place was so far from her home, family, and the godson she loved like her own.

He mentally snorted, holding her tighter as she snuggled in to him but laughing at himself inside. They’d known each other a few hours, had shared one kiss, and he was already thinking about why she would object to settling down with him.
What the hell has gotten into me?

When it was their turn he ordered a large black coffee and a large hot chocolate. With whipped cream.

He glanced at Iris to make sure that was what she wanted and was rewarded with a smile. God, that smile was worth doing just about anything for. He handed her the drink and held out his elbow. She wrapped her arm around his, cuddling close to him.

“What do you think the chances are of finding a place to hunker down without freezing to death?”

Iris laughed. “Slim to none. Should we wander a bit?”

Nash frowned, not real keen on the idea.

“What?” Iris asked. “Don’t like to wander? I’d have thought a cowboy would be all into that.”

“Why is that?”

Iris shrugged. “I don’t know. Roaming the plains maybe?” She grinned, obviously aware how silly that sounded.

He shook his head with an amused smile. “This is the twenty-first century, Cookie. We don’t do a whole lot of roaming anymore. And I’m from Montana. We don’t walk anywhere. We ride. Or drive.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously. My mother would drive to a craft store, and then get back in her car to drive to the library. Which was two buildings away.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope. Why walk when you can ride?”

Iris snorted. “Well cowboy, you’re not in Montana now. Up for a little adventure?”

Nash’s eyebrows rose. “With you? Any time.”

She blushed again, her smile giving him all the reward he needed for agreeing to trudge around the park in the dead of winter.

“Good,” she said. “Let’s wander. I want to get a closer look at the Cloud Gate.”

“The what?” he asked, risking a sip of his scalding coffee. It was still way too hot, but once it was past his mouth it burned pleasantly down to his stomach, restoring some measure of heat.

“The Cloud Gate. That big silver bean thing that looks like a giant bubble of mercury.” She pointed to the massive silver sculpture that loomed near the skate rink and did, indeed, look like a bean or giant bubble of mercury with the Chicago skyline reflected in its surface.

“Lead the way,” he said, smiling down at her.

The closer they got to it, the more amazing it was. There was even an arch of sorts in it so that people could walk beneath it and look up to see themselves reflected back. Nash and Iris stopped just beneath and gazed up.

“This thing is seriously cool,” Nash said, awestruck at the size and beauty of the silver behemoth.

“Incredibly cool,” Iris agreed. She whipped out her phone and snapped a few pictures. “Tyler would love this thing.”

They walked through to the other side of it and Iris held out her phone. “Brace yourself, it’s selfie time.”

Nash laughed. “I don’t normally do selfies, but I guess I can make an exception.”

She stared at him. “You don’t do selfies? Everyone does selfies.”

He just shrugged. “I’m up at the crack of dawn and running the ranch all day. Not a whole lot of time for selfies, I guess. Or pictures of much of anything.”

“So what do you post on all your accounts?”

“I don’t have accounts.”

She stared at him again, completely dumbstruck.

“What?” he asked, trying not to laugh at her slack-jawed amazement.

“I just…I don’t think I’ve ever met a person who didn’t spend 80 percent of his life attached to his devices. It’s kind of refreshing.”

“Well, thanks. I think.”

“Definitely take it as a compliment. I really am impressed. I spend most of my free time on my stupid phone. It’s a horrible habit.”

“Really? You haven’t touched your phone once, except to call your friend.”

“Yeah but…
huh
.” She frowned like she was stumped and then smiled. “I guess the company I’m in is good enough that I don’t feel the need.”

A rush of pleasure spread through him, and he pulled her close again, dipping down for a quick kiss. “Well, I’ll just have to make sure I keep you entertained.”

Her breath caught in her throat, a sound that shot straight to his groin. If half the thoughts running through his head were running through hers, they could have an exciting night indeed. Or could if they weren’t both hopping on a plane first thing in the morning never to see each other again. Though she beyond tempted him to make an exception to his one-night-stand policy.

“First things first,” he said, taking her phone from her. “My arms are longer,” he explained, holding it out in front of them. “Smile.”

He tilted his face up, grinning until the flash went off. He handed the phone back to her, and she glanced at the picture. “Perfect.”

“Yes, you are,” Nash agreed, looking at the picture and then at her.

She shook her head. “Far from perfect, I assure you.”

He let his gaze roam over her, from her combat-booted feet to the top of her Russian coonskin hat. He stopped his perusal on her face. On the humor and kindness shining from those gorgeous eyes of hers. He thought back over the last several hours. She was wacky, funny, intelligent, kind, and beautiful, inside and out. If she wasn’t perfect, she was damn near as close as it came.

But telling a woman he barely knew that she was his version of perfect might have her hightailing it back to the airport with the Sloane Ranger as fast as she could. And then what would he and Clyde do? Iris and Sloane made them look pretty for once in their lives.

“What?” she asked. He’d been staring far too long.

“Nothing. Just assessing that perfection comment. I think you’re right.”

“I’m what?” she asked, her embarrassment turning to indignation.

“You’re right. You aren’t perfect.”