Holly’s eyes rounded. Lamplight? Lamplight?
‘Nick!’ She shot upright in their improvised bed.
‘Mmm.’ Nick reached up and lightly cupped her breast.
‘Nicky. Come on, wake up.’
‘I am awake, baby.’ He clasped her shoulder and he drew her face down to his. ‘Want proof?’ he whispered, his voice raspy with sleep and desire.
‘You’re incorrigible,’ she whispered back, but her smile belied her words.
Nick kissed her again, rolled onto his back and drew her close. He caught her hand, guided it to him. ‘Is that the medical term for this condition, Doc?’
‘Nick.’
‘Mmm. That feels nice.’
It did. It felt wonderful. What she was doing to him, what he was doing to her…
‘Nick.’ Holly pulled free of his embrace, sat up, and gave him the sternest possible look. ‘Here you are, fooling around—’
‘Another medical term?’
‘Fooling around,’ she said severely, gently slapping his hand away, ‘while I’m trying to give you important news.’
Nick sighed. ‘We’ve landed men on Mars?’
‘Nick, for goodness’ sakes—’
‘The power’s back.’
‘No! Honestly, you’d think…’ Holly blinked. ‘You know?’
‘Uh-huh.’ Nick grinned. ‘The heating system went on with a roar about an hour ago.’
‘And I slept through it?’
‘Yup.’ He sat up and threaded one hand lazily into her hair. ‘C’mere and give me a kiss.’
‘Why didn’t you wake me?’
‘What for? Besides, I doubt if anything could have wakened you.’ He gave her a grin so sexy it made her pulse quicken. ‘I can’t imagine why, but you were out to the world.’
Holly blushed. ‘Exhaustion,’ she said primly. ‘From that drive through the storm yesterday. You know. Delayed reaction.’
‘A likely story.’ Suddenly, his smile faded. He swept her hair behind her ears, then captured her face between his hands. ‘It was incredible,’ he said softly. ‘Making love with you again…it was everything I remembered, and more.’
Holly smiled. ‘I love you.’
‘Again.’
‘I love you. I love you. I—’
Nick kissed her. When he drew back, he was smiling.
‘Do you remember the first time we made love?’
‘How could I forget? We drove up to Cape Cod.’
‘It was a moonlit night, in early fall. And the beach was deserted.’
‘We went for a walk, down by the water.’
‘And then into the dunes.’ Nick’s voice roughened. ‘You said you were cold, and I put my arms around you.’
‘You kissed me,’ Holly whispered. ‘And kissed me again.’
‘And you slipped your hands inside my jacket, up under my shirt…’
Holly put her arms around Nick and kissed him. ‘I’ve never forgotten that night.’
‘That was the night I told you how much I loved you.’ He looked into her eyes and smiled. ‘I love you even more now, sweetheart. And I don’t want to lose you again.’
‘I don’t want to lose you, either. But—’
‘No “but”s’. We’ll make it this time, baby.’
‘Will we?’ Tears glistened in her eyes. ‘I couldn’t bear it if we failed again, Nick. I couldn’t!’
Nick kissed her mouth, her eyes, her tear-stained cheeks.
‘We won’t,’ he said. ‘I promise.’
She knew he meant it, but she knew, too, that a thousand things could go wrong between a promise and reality. They had to talk about what had separated them the first time…
But Nick was touching her, caressing her. After a while, there was nothing to say that couldn’t be better said with kisses.
* * *
Nick shouldered open the front door. His arms were full of things: the carton of groceries he’d taken back out to his truck, his computer, his cellphone, his wireless fax. He dumped the stuff on the hall table, took off his jacket and ran his fingers through his hair.
It had started snowing again. He wondered if another storm might be rolling in, and smiled. Actually, he didn’t much care. What could be better than getting snowed in with Holly? Ellen expected him back at the office first thing Tuesday morning, and yeah, there was business to attend to, but nothing—nothing—would ever be as important as the miracle that had happened here this weekend.
He’d come to North Mountain for closure, and he’d ended up winning back the only woman he’d ever loved.
A grin lit Nick’s face. He peeled off his jacket, turned on his computer and set up the fax machine. Then he picked up the carton, and strolled into the kitchen. He had a feeling this wasn’t quite what the radio shrinks had in mind when they talked about closure, but it sure as heck was good enough for him. Perfect, if you wanted to be accurate.