Holidays are Hell

"Are you all right?" Nick brushed his hand lightly over her cheek, his expression concerned when she turned to peer at him.

Forcing a smile, she nodded. "I—Yes. It's all just a little…"

"Intense," he suggested quietly when her voice faltered.

Jill nodded solemnly. Intense was a good word for it. Another word was overwhelming.

Nick leaned forward and kissed the tip of her nose, then hugged her comfortingly.

"It will be all right," he murmured by her ear. "It's just that we've been seeing each other for six months and all these feelings have built up and…" He paused to clear his throat, then said, "I'm sorry if I was rushing you."

Jill's breath came out on a soft laugh. "You aren't rushing me. I mean, it's all rather overwhelming, but you didn't do anything I didn't want and…" Frowning, she took a breath and admitted, "I want you. I really do. I'm hard pressed not to ask you to make love to me right here and now, but there's so much going on, so much to worry about. I'm worried about what John Heathcliffe is doing right now, about whether Kyle and Claire are safe and—"

"Shh, I know." Nick hugged her a little tighter and rubbed her back soothingly. "I know. It's all happening at the same time. I think that's one of Murphy's laws or something. But we can handle all this together. We'll go to my sister's where you'll be safe in a crowd of people. You can keep calling your brother and his wife until you get through to them and we'll take care of this Heathcliffe character. Then we'll deal with the us part of the equation. Okay?"

Jill smiled into his shoulder and nodded. They'd handle it together and then deal with the us part of the equation. It had a nice ring to it.

"Okay," she whispered into his shoulder and he pulled back slightly to peer at her.

"We are going to deal with the us part though, Jill," he reassured her solemnly as if she might think he was just putting her off. "We have something special here and my year is up. My divorce is final and I'm now free to pursue you like I want to."

Jill smiled at his expression, and then whispered, "It's about time. Pursue away."

Nick grinned and then kissed her again before saying, "We should get moving."

"Yes," Jill whispered, settling back in her seat and doing up her seatbelt.

Nick started the engine and then pulled out of the parking spot, but Jill wasn't paying attention. Her gaze had dropped to the dress she wore and she was examining it with surprise. It was a simple black cocktail dress. Simple, classic, stylish, and tasteful.

"This is nice," she said with surprise.

Nick grinned. "Don't sound so surprised. I happen to have good taste."

"Sorry," Jill laughed, then added uncertainly, "but isn't it a bit dressy for a casual afternoon party?"

Nick shook his head. "The first part of the party is casual but then most people will leave and at about eight pm my sister is having a dinner party."

"Oh." Jill managed a smile. "Then it's perfect. You have good taste."

His eyes caught on her lips briefly, and then he cleared his throat and turned his attention back to the front as they pulled out of the parking garage.

Jill found her eyes slipping over his mouth and hands, recalling their moments of passion and decided to distract herself. She said, "It was nice of your sister to hold a party for the parade people."

"There was nothing nice about it," he said with a wry smile. "Sue started out having the party for the people she and her husband work with at the psychiatric hospital. But when she found out about you, she told me to invite you along. I pointed out that it might be uncomfortable for you to have our first date be a party with my family, so she opened it up to everyone in the parade too." He shook his head, then went on, "The afternoon is an open party with drinks and snacks for employees of the hospital and parade members, and then at eight it's a proper sit-down dinner with her, her husband, my brother and his wife, and us." He cast her an apologetic glance. "Sorry about that."

Jill merely shrugged. She already knew from their talks that his sister and her husband were both psychiatrists and that his brother was a policeman with a baker for a wife. In fact, she knew a good deal about his whole family and even many of his friends. They'd talked a great deal these last six months. The sister arranging things to meet her didn't surprise her so much as the fact that the woman knew about her. Nick had been talking about her to his family.

"What did you say that made her want to meet me?" she asked curiously.

Nick was silent so long she didn't think he would answer, but then he admitted, "That I was pretty sure you were the one."

Jill blinked. "The one?" she echoed faintly.