Nickels (34 page)

She sighed.  She did care for him.  But, she needed to tell
him what was going on at work.  “I don’t know what to say.  I mean I do.  I do
want to…”

His smile faded, causing her heart to sink.  “But?”

She was totally making a mess of this.  “You need to know
that Todd is making trouble at work.  He’s trying to get me off the project
because he thinks you and I are…  Well, let’s just say he’s imagined a lot and
he’s voiced it to my boss.”

“So, you don’t want to date me because Todd is being Todd?”

When he put it that way it sounded so shallow.

“I didn’t say that—”

The server came with their main entrées.  Niki pursed her
lips.  Once their food was before them, the server refilled their drinks and
stepped away.

“I just want to let you know the situation.  I’m not saying
no.  Besides, I’ve been considering leaving Helitronics anyway.  Maybe I just
should.”

Kyle looked confused.  “So you’ll go out with me?”

“Yes.”

He grinned.  “Should we pray?” he asked pointing at their
still untouched meal.  She nodded.

“Lord, we ask that you bless this meal, hopefully the first
of many shared together.  Bless our conversation.  Let us seek you in all we
do.  Amen.”

She sliced into the perfect medium rare Delmonico, not sure
where to go with the conversation.

“So, what did you mean about leaving Helitronics?  You’ve
been doing a great job there.  Why would you leave?”

“This stuff with Todd.  And I have another client that is
throwing extra money at my boss to get me there.  It’s the place where Joe is
assigned.”

“Do you want to go?”

“No.  But, I keep feeling like I should, even though I’ve
wanted to work at Helitronics for a long time.”

“I don’t think you should leave,” he said, taking another
bite of his steak.

“Why do you say that?”

“Because Brian promised us his best.  And his best is you,
Niki.  You are perfect for this project.  You are extremely talented, both
technically and in leadership.  This project would not be anywhere close to
successful without you.”

Pink dusted her cheeks with his high praise.  She never felt
comfortable being recognized, so she concentrated on her meal.

“Don’t let Todd run you out.  Everyone else at Helitronics
is very pleased with your work.”

She was done talking about work, so she changed the
subject.  “So tell me something I don’t know about you.”

He smiled and rubbed his hand across his chin.  “Wouldn’t
want to narrow it down a bit would you?”

She giggled.  “Okay.  Tell me about your training then.”

“Boring.”

“Somehow I doubt that.  I’m sure you were a regular Tom
Cruise.”

Kyle laughed.  “Nothing of the sort.  I actually sucked in
the beginning.  Weird when you dream of doing something forever, then you find
out that you’re really gonna have to work hard to make that dream real.

“When I first got there, I was behind.  Most of the other
pilots actually had logged hours before getting there.  I had nothing.  While I
was at college, I spent a little too much time having fun.  Almost got kicked
out of ROTC.  I didn’t put any time into flying.  Then when I got to my
technical training, I had to work twice as hard.  A friend pulled me aside and
asked me if I really wanted this.  That’s when I realized that I wanted it more
than anything.

“So, he helped me work off hours to get additional practice
in.  We worked together well as a team—me and Brad.  It wasn’t long before we
could anticipate each other’s moves.  We ended up graduating at the top of our
class, but I never could have done that without Brad’s help.”

“Is Brad still flying?”

Kyle grew silent.

“I’m sorry.  Don’t tell me if you don’t want to.”

He looked away, seemingly interested in a small group at
another table.  “He was my copilot the day of the crash.”

Chapter 31

Niki wanted to kick herself.  Another meal ruined by her
stupid questions.  She should have picked up on his tone of voice or something.

Hoping to make amends, she reached for Kyle’s hand.  “I’m so
sorry.”

“Ah…”  His voice shuttered.  “The good outweighs the bad.”

“Huh?”

“It’s something I remind myself whenever I think about the
accident.  With Jesus, the good outweighs the bad in my life.  At least that’s
what I hope.”

“Do you like football?” she asked, hoping to lighten the
mood.

It took him a second to follow her abrupt shift in the
conversation.  When he did, one side of his mouth turned up.  “I don’t really
have the physique for it anymore.”

She swatted his hand.  “Not playing, watching.”

“Yeah, why do you ask?”

“Cause I think that’s one of the Cardinals players over
there.”  She discreetly pointed towards the guy she thought was the new
quarterback, though she couldn’t remember his name.

He slowly turned his head, pretending to scan the room. 
When he turned back towards her, he leaned forward and whispered, “You want me
to get an autograph?”

“No!  I was just pointing him out.  Don’t interrupt his
meal.”

Kyle winked.  “As you wish.”

A quote from
The Princess Bride
.  She’d have to give
him bonus points for that one.

For the rest of the meal they kept the conversation light as
they got to know each other better.

On the ride home, she grew quiet.  She couldn’t recall the
last time she smiled so much.  It had been a wonderful evening.

When Kyle pulled to a stop in front of her house, he got out
and walked her to the door.  She turned to face him.  “I had a great time
tonight.”

“So did I.”  His voice sounded husky.

Her heart picked up pace as he moved closer.  The memory of
his kisses in Flagstaff brought heat to her face.  It was then she realized how
often she thought of those kisses.

Slowly, he pulled her close and wrapped his arms around
her.  He looked into her eyes and brought one hand up to gently brush the back
of his fingers along her cheek.  Her breathing slowed in response.

Then he lowered his head.  Softly he tasted her lips,
sending her heart on a roller coaster ride.  As she started to return his kiss,
he deepened it.  She allowed his hands some freedom as they moved from her low
back upwards, studying the curve of her spine before returning to her waist.

The feel of his body pressed close sent waves of desire
coursing through her.  She ran her fingers up his neck to his hair as she
eagerly kissed him.

A soft moan came from his throat.

Reluctantly, he pulled away.  He rested his forehead on
hers.  His breath came in ragged gulps.  “I want us to take things slow.”

That was unusual—especially for a guy.

“Okay,” she whispered, fighting against every sense within
her.

Kyle stepped back—not one step, but two.  She wasn’t sure
why she noticed it, but she did.

“I’ll pick you up for church?” he asked.

“Sure.”

“Then, let’s take a day trip after—maybe head up north?”

“I’d like that.”

He still made no move to leave.  If it hadn’t been so hot
that her dress clung to her skin in an unfeminine way, she’s not sure she would
have made any move to go inside.  But, at a hundred and ten, the heat didn’t go
unnoticed for very long.  She turned to unlock the door.  “Goodnight, Kyle.”

“Night, Niki.”

As he retreated to his truck, she closed the door.  A quiet
sigh escaped her lips as her heart firmly embraced the amazing feelings he
stoked there.  Was it possible that he already owned her heart?

Marcy was sitting on the couch watching TV.  She flipped it
off as Niki sat down next to her.

“You’re glowing.  Who’s the hot date?”

“I’m not sure you’d believe me if I told you.”

“Try me.”

“Your brother.”

Marcy squealed in delight clapping her hands together.  “So,
he finally asked you out on a real date.  It’s about time.”

“You’re okay with this?”

“Absolutely.  Who knows?  Maybe you’ll even end up as my
sister.”  Marcy’s eyes lit with excitement.  “I’ve always wanted a sister.”

“Slow down there, Marcella.  We’re just dating.  Let’s not
run away with the idea, ‘kay?”

“Whatever you say.  I’ll just keep my dreaming to myself
then.  But you have to admit, you had a good time, didn’t you?”

Niki kicked off her pumps.  “I did.”  So much so that she
wasn’t sure how she would get any sleep tonight.

“Well, I suppose I better get you to pencil
me
in for
Saturday, so we can go wedding dress shopping.  Guess I’ll be competing with
Kyle for your time.”

“There’s no competition.  Old friends come first.”

“Yeah.  That’s what you say now.”

Niki leaned down and picked up her pumps.  Standing she
said, “Just let me know when and where.  I’ll be there.  Now, I’ve got to get
some beauty sleep.”

“There you go, worrying about being beautiful.  That’s what
a good man does to us, you know.  We worry about all kinds of strange things.”

“Night, Marcy,” she said as she hurried down the hall.

Bright and early the next morning, Kyle picked Niki up for
church.  She hadn’t got much sleep, thinking about last night’s date, worrying
about today, and worrying even more about how things would go at work
tomorrow—especially if word got out that they really were dating.

Stop.
  She yelled at herself as she climbed from
Kyle’s truck, headed towards the church.  She could do nothing about what
others would think.  Why let that ruin her day?

It was hard to believe this was only her second Sunday at
church.  So much had happened in one short week.  Her conversion.  Dating
Kyle.  Well, she asked God to change her—guess he was holding up his end of the
deal.

As they walked through the doors to the lobby, Kyle took her
hand and intertwined his fingers with hers.  She looked around and saw several
other couples holding hands, so she figured it must be okay to do that in
church.  It didn’t seem like there were too many rules here.  If there were,
she hadn’t figured them out yet.

Kyle led her up a few stairs to the same row their group
occupied last Sunday.  He let go of her hand, motioning her to go first.  Matt
and Joe were already seated.  Niki took the seat next to Matt, who greeted her
warmly.

“So, you decided to come back?”

“Yeah.  Hopefully today will be a little less dramatic than
last week,” she said.  “Hey, Joe, how’s the new job working out?”

“Lovin’ it.  Thanks so much for putting in a good word for
me.”

“No problem.  What are friends for?”

Friends.  That’s what this row of people were.  Her
friends.  People that came along side each other no matter what life threw at
them.

The service repeated a similar pattern to the previous
week.  They sang several songs.  Niki recognized one of them from last week and
tried to sing along this time, though softly, in case she messed it up.

By the time the service was done, she felt like she had more
questions than answers.  Maybe that’s how this Christianity thing worked.  She
dropped her phone back into her big pink purse and slung it over her shoulder.

As soon as she was on the stairs, Kyle took her hand again. 
She smiled, even if she felt a little awkward.  Once in the lobby, the group of
friends chatted for awhile.

Joe stood next to Niki.  He nodded towards her fingers
interlaced with Kyle’s.  “What’s up with that?”

She dropped Kyle’s hand like it was scorching concrete on a
mid-July day in Arizona.  Kyle turned his attention toward them.  She pushed
her loose hair over her shoulder pretending that was the reason for letting go
of his hand—and not that she was worried Joe might say something at work. 
After all, they did technically work at the same company now.  Kyle put his arm
around her shoulders, trapping her long locks against her back.