Page 29 of The Very Naughty List

“You don’t seem to like much of anything,” I tease after he grunts something about how the fancy lattes from Deja Brew are all too sweet.

Nick chuckles, the sound rumbling in his chest. “That’s not true. I like my family. I like your brother. I like my dog.” He stops walking, turning to face me as something shifts in his dark blue eyes. “And most of all, I like?—”

His voice cuts off, but his gaze stays fixed on mine.

I swallow hard, suddenly desperate to know how he was going to finish that sentence.

For a long moment, we just stare at each other in the gently falling snow. Little flakes collect on his dark hair and the close-cut scruff of his beard, and I watch them gather and then start to melt, my breath fogging the air in little puffs.

Then, without saying another word, he reaches out to take my hand and then turns to start walking again.

He falls quiet again as we continue on, almost as if that small exchange didn’t happen, and I feel even more off-balance than before. It’s not just awkward now, but also filled with a confusing sort of angst that swirls around me faster than the falling snow.

I can’t stand the hanging silence. My thoughts are so damn loud inside my head that I almost worry he’ll hear them in the quiet, so I talk to fill the space, trying to find a safer subject than the one we were just discussing.

“Um, how’s it going at the station?”

“It’s good.”

At first, I think that’s all he’s going to give me. It would be about par for the course for Nick, who often speaks in grunts rather than words and especially seems less inclined to talk to me than his brothers or Lucas. But then he surprises me by continuing on.

“Things are busy there,” he adds. “Thankfully not with devastating fires but with a lot of community outreach that the fire station has been doing lately. We’re in need of new equipment though. Most of the trucks are pretty old. Sebastian has actually helped out a lot by doing some work on them, but I feel like we need some new gear and maybe a new truck in order to be really prepared in the event of a large fire. Which obviously I hope will never happen. You can never be too sure or too careful though.”

I blink, stunned into momentary silence. That might be the most I’ve ever heard him say at once, and it’s nice to see him talking so enthusiastically about something. I can tell he’s passionate about what he does.

“One day, I want to be fire chief.” Nick rubs his free hand over his beard, brushing away a few of the gathering snowflakes. “I know I could be great in that role, and I already have a bunch of ideas that I want to implement at the station.”

“Wow. That’s great! I bet you’ll be an amazing fire chief.”

When I glance up, I think I actually see him flush a little at the encouraging compliment. It’s true though. I don’t doubt that Nick will achieve his goal. He’s one of the most focused, hardworking men I’ve ever met. In LA, there were a lot of guys that liked to talk big about their ambitions and achievements, but most of them wanted an easy path toward getting there, which would never actually amount to anything. Nick, on the other hand, is capable and driven. He’ll work toward being fire chief, and he’ll get it.

He glances down at his watch suddenly, his brow furrowing. “We’d better get going.”

“Oh. Okay.”

I thought we were actually heading toward a destination, a “date” somewhere, but I guess our short stroll was the date in its entirety.

When we get back to the bistro though, Nick walks me over to his car instead of mine.

“Hop in.”

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” A tiny smirk tilts the corners of his lips, and I can’t help feeling a flutter of excitement and curiosity. Maybe I was wrong, and we really are going somewhere else for a date.

I get in, and Nick drives us through town. The whole time, I keep peering out the window to see if I can figure out where he’staking me. When we wind up in my neighborhood, I frown, and when he pulls into the driveway of my parents’ house, I glance over at him in surprise.

“What are we doing here?”

I definitely wasn’t expecting a trip to my parents’ house to be a date-worthy destination. Especially not if the goal was to be seen by the general public of Chestnut Hill. It seems to defeat the point of a public exhibition of romance, and I doubt my parents would understand this whole scheme I have going on with the Cooper brothers. We had to fill Lucas in on everything so he wouldn’t kill them, but I have no plans to tell my parents the truth.

Instead of answering, Nick comes around to open my door and then leads me up the walk. The sidewalk is iced over, so he keeps one arm wrapped carefully around my waist to catch me in case I slip.

For such a gruff and grumpy man, whose thick muscles I can feel even with just his arm around my waist, it’s really sweet.

Nick knocks on the door, and my face lights up when I see my grandmother open it. I’ve only seen her once since I got back, when I went over to my parents’ house before heading to The Old Oak, and it wasn’t nearly enough to make up for all the time I’ve been away.

“Grandma Dee!” I exclaim as my spry, gray-haired grandmother reaches out to give me a big hug.

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