Mistletoe Daddy Page 8

  “We’re both really sorry,” Nick said, and Vivian made a choking sound. “Viv? Are you all right?”

  She looked up then, and there were indeed tears in her eyes, but it wasn’t because she was crying. She was laughing so hard her cheeks had turned a bright pink and her breath was coming in quick, uneven hiccups.

  “Doesn’t your wife know that she should keep you on a leash?” she teased, shaking her finger at Slade and giving his shoulder a friendly shove.

  Slade flashed his lady-killer grin. “I’m afraid I have the tendency to escape from time to time.”

  “And just look at what happens,” Nick said.

  “It’s only a little mischief,” Vivian insisted. “No harm done.”

  No harm done? After everything Vivian had been through tonight, she was being extremely gracious. They’d had to spend hours cleaning up the mess. And the lingering smell wouldn’t do her any favors. Weren’t pregnant women supposed to be especially sensitive to strong smells?

  For all of that, he wasn’t quite as ready to let his rascally brother off the hook.

  “You owe her,” he insisted. “We’ve already cleaned up after the cattle, but it still smells like livestock and probably will for quite some time. The least you can do is put some man hours in. We’ve got some walls and floors that need scrubbing and then new drywall needs to be put in.”

  To his credit, Slade grinned and nodded. “Sure, I’d be happy to help. Say the word and I’ll be there. Just tell me when. And again, Vivian, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it. It was a stupid thing to do and I’m an idiot.”

  “Think nothing of it,” she insisted. “I’ve forgotten it already.”

  Nick knew that wasn’t the case. She’d be remembering the prank every time she walked into her shop and inhaled the aftereffects of livestock for a long time to come.

  “I’m really sorry,” Nick apologized once again when they were in the truck and headed toward Viv’s cabin. “I can’t believe my brother would pull such a lame prank. I thought he was smarter than that. But he’s always had a habit of not thinking things all the way through.”

  “The truth is, I like Slade, and I’m sure Jax is a stand-up guy as well, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re the smartest of the three McKenna brothers,” Vivian suggested, a smile tugging at her lips.

  “Oh, there’s no question about that.”

  A giggle escaped her. “And modest, too. I picked a real winner at the auction, didn’t I?”

  “If you don’t count the cattle with my brand on them ending up inside your shop.”

  “I don’t hold it against you,” she assured him. “I’m not even upset with your brother, although I do wonder where his head was at—and where his wife was when he pulled the caper off. Can you imagine him trying to sneak a couple of cows into a shop on Main Street? I guess it’s a good thing he’s a cop, or he might have gotten arrested.”

  “Maybe some time behind bars would do him good,” Nick growled. “Get him to think a little bit.”

  “It’s okay, Nick. Really.”

  “You have a bigger heart than I do. I’m not sure I can let this go so easily.”

  “As pranks go, it may have been way out there, but at the end of the day, there’s no real harm done. I believe in the Golden Rule—do to others whatever you would have them do to you. I actually benefited from it in a way, because now Slade feels honor-bound to put some man hours into my salon. Call me crazy, but I’m actually relieved.”

  “Relieved? How are you relieved? Because the prank wasn’t aimed at you?”

  “No. Because you weren’t the one responsible. For a moment there I thought maybe you really disliked me, or at least that you didn’t want me opening the spa. I want to make sure you’re sticking around this time because you see the potential in what I’m doing and not because of some misplaced sense of obligation. You’ve more than fulfilled any obligation from that stupid auction. You know that, right?”

  He glanced over at her. She was such a striking woman, with her golden hair silhouetted against the moonlight in the dark cab, that his breath snagged in his throat. He wasn’t certain he was staying for all the right reasons, definitely not for the genuine motives Vivian was suggesting.

  No—he was starting to think he was sticking around for the wrong reasons. He was feeling all muddled up inside his head. Confused. Part of him felt like bolting. And yet he couldn’t even consider walking away from this project—or walking away from Vivian.

  “Does that mean you’re going to let me stick around?” he asked, his voice deep and husky. He held his breath as he waited for the answer, then released it in a slow sigh of relief when she agreed. He still wasn’t up to analyzing his feelings, but he knew for certain that right or wrong, he wanted to stay in Viv’s life.

  Chapter Five

  Anticipating a large crowd for whatever sports television-viewing party that was currently all the rage at Cup O’ Jo’s, Vivian arrived early and secured her spot—their spots. Hers and Nick’s. She’d selected a booth near the biggest large-screen TV for Nick’s sake. She certainly had no interest in whatever game had everyone in town so excited.

  This was the first and most likely the only time she would ever gather with others in town to watch—baseball, was it? She loved a party as much as the next social butterfly, but anything to do with sports...

  Not her kettle of tea, by any means. At all.

  But Nick had been so adamant about wanting to make it up to her for the silly stunt his brother had pulled that he’d practically begged her to come to the game with him.

  She couldn’t imagine why he continued to feel guilty over the cattle incident. She had assured him repeatedly that she’d put the whole thing behind her and held no ill will toward Slade—and especially not toward Nick, who had done nothing but help her. As far as she was concerned, he was at least as much a victim in the prank as she had been. Slade had been aiming his mischief at Nick, not Vivian.

  Still, Nick kept insisting on making reparation, and for some inexplicable reason, he thought hanging out together to watch a sports game of some sort qualified as making things right. He’d said something about how he knew she loved a good party.

  She didn’t have the heart to tell him she wouldn’t know a football from that thingamajig the hockey guys hit around the ice with their sticks. She would be bored stiff and had no inclination whatsoever to even try to figure out the rules of the game. But if it meant that much to Nick for her to be there with him, she decided it wouldn’t hurt her to put aside a couple of hours of her time and be a good sport about it.

  She snorted aloud at her own unintended pun and then clapped a palm over her mouth, not wanting to be seen as the crazy lady in the corner laughing to herself.

  Fortunately for her own reputation for sanity, Nick appeared in the doorway and Vivian waved him over. His eyes lit up and his grin sent a kaleidoscope of butterflies loose in her stomach.

  “What’s so funny?” he asked as he approached.

  “Funny?”

  Rats. She’d been discovered laughing at herself, and by Nick, no less.

  “I, errr... N-nothing,” she stammered.

  He reached for the chair across the table from her and then paused. She thought it might be because he’d realized she was facing the big-screen television and he would be able to see better if he sat next to her and not across from her—not that she’d intentionally planned for that to happen.

  Her cheeks warmed under his scrutiny.

  “Is there a problem?” she asked when he didn’t take his seat, either next to her or across from her.

  “What in the world are you wearing?” he blurted out, staring at her as if she were an exotic animal at the local zoo.

  Her face went from warm to burning hot and her nerves tingled wi
th affront. Was he seriously dissing her on her fashion choices?

  She’d spent extra time dressing today. She glanced down at her outfit but saw nothing amiss in what she’d chosen. A cute sports jersey—the only one she had—dark-wash blue jeans and decorative cowboy boots.

  But Nick’s tone wasn’t complimentary in the least. He sounded horrified, and she felt terribly self-conscious. She rose one brow and tipped up her chin at him.

  “A Denver Broncos jersey,” he mumbled, answering his own question. He pinched his lips tightly and she thought for a moment he was angry, but then he sputtered and his blue eyes glimmered with amusement.

  She still didn’t see the problem, nor why he was so entertained by her choice in clothing. She would have him know she was one of the few women who was blessed to be able to actually rock the color orange.

  “I guess so,” she answered reluctantly. “My cousin who lives in Colorado gave it to me last Christmas. It’s the only sports clothing I own so I thought it would be appropriate for the occasion.”

  He laughed and dropped into the seat beside her, his arm around the back of the booth, just short of resting across her shoulders.

  “Honey, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but Serendipity is located plumb in the middle of Texas. It’s probably not the best idea for you to be wandering around with another state’s team jersey on. You probably don’t realize it, but you run the risk of being mobbed by rabid fans.” A chuckle escaped him but he made a vain attempt to bite it back.

  “Oh,” she said, defeated at the notion that she’d somehow erred in her fashion choices. She had a reputation to maintain, after all, to look put-together at all times. She planned on opening a beauty salon and spa. She couldn’t go around looking like she didn’t know how to dress herself. “That bad, huh?”

  He winced. “And there’s more.”

  “More?” She was appalled by the prospect.

  What had she done now?

  He cleared his throat before speaking. “You, uh, have the wrong sport. You’re wearing a football jersey. We’re here to watch a baseball game.”

  “Does it matter?”

  His gaze widened, and he started to nod but then stopped short.

  “You know what? No. No it doesn’t.” His lips twitched at one corner. “At least, not to me, it doesn’t. There are more...intense fans who might take issue with your apparel.”

  Viv couldn’t imagine why it should matter so much. It was just for a stupid sports game, and it was only a shirt, after all. The point ought to be that she’d taken extra attention with her appearance today.

  For the party. Not for Nick’s sake. But if it was going to bother him...

  “Should I go home and change?”

  “You’re not going anywhere. If someone has a problem with your jersey they’ll have to go through me.”

  At first his statement ruffled her feathers, sounding as imperious as it did, but there was something about the thought of him looking out for her best interests that smoothed her emotional feathers back into place. He was only offering to protect her from her own fashion mistake, after all. There was some chivalry to that.

  “We should probably order now before the crowd gets any bigger,” she suggested. “Did you want to get an appetizer, or maybe dessert?”

  He grinned and pulled her deeper into the crook of his shoulder. “Both. And whatever Chance is cooking up for the special of the day in between the two. I think I heard something about roast beef and gravy over a mound of mashed potatoes. Or if you don’t want that, you can choose something different. This day is all about you, remember?”

  Vivian really wasn’t that hungry. It didn’t help that her stomach was fluttering. She’d thought her morning sickness was finally getting better, but it appeared to be returning today in diamonds.

  Jo approached their table with her pad in one hand and a pencil in the other, wearing a T-shirt that read “Here we go, Let’s go, Here we go (Clap! Clap!)”

  Viv couldn’t help but think that was a pretty good approximation of the way she was feeling. She ordered a Caesar salad and a ginger ale just to mollify Nick. Hopefully the carbonation would settle her stomach.

  He looked as if he were about to protest how little she was getting but then shook his head and turned his attention toward the café’s vivacious owner. “We’ll have the flowering onion appetizer with every kind of dipping sauce you’ve got. Give us a family-style helping of your special of the day. I think we’ll wait until the seventh-inning stretch to order dessert, but be sure to swing by our table then.”

  “Swing by your table.” Jo cackled and slapped him on the shoulder. “Good one, Nick.”

  She bustled off with their order and Nick turned to face Vivian. “A salad? Really? I’m treating you to dinner and all you order is a salad?”

  Vivian shrugged dismissively. A salad was her standard order, and she didn’t see why she should change it just because she was here with Nick, or because he was paying for it.

  “I’m trying to make up for all the trouble my brother caused you,” he reminded her. “You’re not making this easy on me.”

  So...what? She was supposed to stuff herself with unnecessary carbs to make him feel better? She didn’t need to be reminded that he was the only reason why she was sitting here in the wrong-colored sports jersey waiting for a baseball game to start in which she had no interest.

  “I’ll order a warm brownie sundae for dessert,” she said, deciding that giving in to him would be easier than trying to explain her way out of it. Bye-bye, watching her diet for the baby’s sake. But she couldn’t see bickering over her choice of a salad. And Baby G did seem to have a preference for sweets lately. She’d been craving chocolate like crazy.

  And jalapeños, but she thought Nick might not like having her add them as a side to their dessert.

  She sat stiffly, watching excited townspeople funneling into the café, the volume in the room increasing exponentially with every new arrival. The folks in Serendipity loved a good party and they took their sports seriously.

  Vivian generally enjoyed social gatherings. In any other situation she’d be fluttering from table to table, talking to all her friends and neighbors. But after what Nick had said, she was ultra-aware of her clothing—bright orange in a sea of white. She didn’t care for the possibility of offending anyone, however unintentionally, so she stayed where she was—tucked under Nick’s arm.

  She was surprised to see Alexis and Griff enter the café. Her twin was no more of a sports lover than she was, or at least she hadn’t been before. Vivian felt a sudden gap in her heart. She’d been away from home for far too long. Even though Serendipity was as slow moving as a rock, much had changed in the years she’d been gone.

  She waved to catch Alexis’s attention. Alexis smiled as she grabbed Griff’s hand and guided him over to Viv and Nick’s table.

  “Are these seats taken?” Alexis asked, gesturing to the empty side of the booth. Alexis’s curious gaze swept over both of them and she smirked, raising her eyebrows in an unspoken query. As twins, Viv and Alexis had always been able to communicate without speaking.

  Vivian didn’t like what Alexis was saying.

  Appalled, she shook her head vigorously. She’d been so busy worrying about her fashion faux pas that she hadn’t even considered the unspoken message she was sending to anyone who bothered looking. She was sitting far too close to Nick, and his arm’s position was a little bit too possessive. If Alexis was getting the wrong impression, she could only imagine what the rest of her friends and neighbors were thinking. The last thing she needed right now was to be fodder for the gossip mill.

  She didn’t have to worry for long. Once the game began, everyone’s attentions were glued to the screen. A few minutes later Jo arrived with the enormous appetizer. It was more than enough for every
one at the table and Nick invited Alexis and Griff to share.

  Viv caught her sister’s eye.

  “Powder our noses?” she asked, just as the crowd roared in excitement over whatever boring thing was happening on the big screen.

  Alexis agreed and they picked their way through the crowd to the relative quiet of the restroom. Alexis immediately grabbed Viv’s elbow and twisted her around.

  “You’ve been keeping secrets from me, girl,” she accused good-naturedly. “Spill it.”

  “I don’t have any secrets. There’s nothing to spill,” she assured her twin, but her voice sounded high and strained even to her own ears.

  “Oh, so that’s why you’re sitting so close to Nick McKenna—and why he had his arm around you? Because there is nothing going on I ought to know about?”

  “I wasn’t—he didn’t—” Vivian started to protest, but then sputtered to a stop.

  “Since when are you two an item?” Alexis continued, laughing. “I seem to have missed the memo, and I’m your sister. How fair is that?”

  Viv looked away and turned on the tap, splashing cold water on her face to counter the blush she knew had risen to her cheeks.

  “It’s a business arrangement,” she assured Alexis, although one glance at her sister’s reflection told her that her twin wasn’t buying it for a second. “I won him in the auction, remember?”

  “Which still doesn’t explain why you are at Cup O’ Jo’s for a meal and a game. That doesn’t sound like a work obligation. Actually, it sounds a lot more like a date to me.”

  “Well, it isn’t.” Viv yanked a couple of paper towels from the dispenser and dabbed at the water droplets on her chin. “It’s a long story. His brother Slade played a prank on me the other day. For some reason, Nick felt responsible for it. He wanted to make it up to me by taking me to a party, and here we are.”

  “Okay. If you say so.”

  “And don’t ask me about why we’re watching a sports game, because I do not know the answer to that question.”

  Alexis tittered. “I wouldn’t think of it.”