Enlightened (17 page)

‘I’ll give you a hand,’ Nathan blurted in a panic as I stood to go into the kitchen. Supressing my own smile I rolled my lips tightly between my teeth and nodded as I wandered into the kitchen with my tense man close on my heels. I could just imagine my mum leaping into excited discussions about Nathan as soon as the door closed behind us, and just hoped that she would at least manage to whisper so we didn’t have to overhear.

A lengthy sigh of relief left Nathan’s lips as we entered the turkey-scented kitchen and I once again found myself having to hold in my laughter – which at least was better than crying like I’d wanted to in the car, I suppose. Carrying the kettle to the sink I began to fill it with water as I turned to see Nathan examining my mum’s collection of fridge magnets with odd fascination. ‘It’s just Christmas, Nathan, relax.’

Huffing out a breath he fingered a Florida magnet and continued to avoid eye contact. ‘I know. But like I said, I haven’t done a family Christmas for years, not since …’ But the rest of his sentence faded out and once again made me bite my lip to stop myself blurting out something sympathetic which he would hate. If there was one thing I’d learnt about the Jackson boys in my time with Nathan, it was that both Nathan and Nicholas hated any form of pity to be bestowed upon them. Turning away from the fridge he squared his shoulders and then met my eyes with a frown. ‘Anyway, I am relaxed,’ he said in a soft, low tone that was completely incongruent to his stiff body language.

Spluttering a half laugh I couldn’t help but smile. ‘Really? You don’t look it.’

Narrowing his eyes Nathan slowly lifted his right hand and made a deliberate show of undoing the buttons on the front of his suit jacket. My eyes were immediately fixated on his slow movement, something I’m sure he was well aware of. ‘I’ve undone my buttons, look,’ he said, pointing to a slither of silver waistcoat now exposed between the panels of his open suit jacket. He didn’t need to tell me to look – I was already staring at it, licking my lips and thinking a hundred naughty things that shouldn’t even be crossing my mind in my mother’s kitchen. ‘That means relaxed,’ he informed me, a near smile twitching his bottom lip.

Swallowing loudly I went back to my job of putting the kettle on and then dug around in the cupboard to locate the
cafetière
.
Perhaps he would be less distracting to me if he just took the damn jacket off altogether
, I thought stroppily as I hid my head in the fridge and pulled out the milk. ‘Can’t you take your jacket off or something? You look like you’re attending a board meeting,’ I muttered sullenly, annoyed at my own lack of self-control where it came to this man and unfairly taking it out on him by being stroppy.

But what a stupid mistake that request was. Pulling myself together I turned from the fridge to find Nathan now jacketless, stood with his legs splayed and his hands in his trouser pockets.
Oh my God.
I think my heart actually stopped for a few seconds as I stared at him.
He. Was. Stunning
. My mouth hung open as I registered his jacket neatly folded over the back of a chair as I’d requested, giving me a full view of him in all his waist-coated gorgeousness. If I’d struggled to concentrate before, now it was damn near impossible, because Nathan was simply adorned in a fitted silk waistcoat that pulled tight over his muscles in all the right places and showed off his broad shoulders to utter perfection. He looked like some silk-clad Adonis, powerful and sexy to the extreme and boy did he look out of place in my mum’s homely little kitchen!

Keeping his hands in his pockets Nathan started a slow stalk across the kitchen, his gaze never leaving mine once. A smirk that I recognised well formed on his lips and I saw his eyes darken as he got closer to me. Apparently my flustered state was calming him somewhat, or perhaps he just enjoyed seeing me squirm. Pausing right in front of me, so close that I could smell his delicious scent and see the pulse beating steadily in his neck, Nathan leant forwards until our cheeks were touching, causing me to let out a soft sigh as his stubble grazed my skin. I was frozen to the spot in anticipation of his next move.

Seeing as we were in the kitchen of my parents’ house I assumed he was just going to whisper something in my ear, but instead, to my complete shock he ducked down and licked a hot trail up the column of my neck. Gasping loudly I promptly dropped the milk carton, which Nathan somehow managed to catch and place on the counter before leaning in to me again with a smirk on his face. Our breaths were mingling now, my lips tingling in expectation of the kiss that was surely coming next.

‘How the tables have turned, eh, Stella?’ he mused smugly as he finally brushed his lips across mine. Sighing happily I leant against him, thoughts of coffee now long forgotten, and let my man relax me the way only he could. Our mouths were unhurried, tongues moving slowly against each other in a soft appreciation as our hands joined in an exploration that while not overtly desperate or sexual, was still managing to ramp up my arousal.

The noise of the kitchen door crashing open caused me to try and jump back in surprise, but Nathan’s hands held me firmly to his chest, apparently uncaring of who might see us so intimately entwined. Thankfully it was Kenny, who upon seeing us pressed together grinned naughtily before rolling his eyes, ‘Get a room, you two!’ he smirked, before dropping into one of the chairs at the kitchen table and running a hand dramatically through his long hair.

‘Guess who’s got a date tonight?’ he asked, still observing Nathan and I with amusement. Marginally recovering from the shock of being disturbed ‘mid-make out’ I calmed my breathing and managed to turn slightly in Nathan’s arms to tuck myself at his side instead of being plastered to his front like a desperate limpet.

Instead of letting us answer Kenny continued regardless, ‘It’s me! I’ve got a date tonight!’ he beamed proudly. ‘I’m so glad I didn’t get my hair cut yesterday, it looks so much better long like this, don’t you think? Much more like Johnny Depp.’

‘It looks wondrous, Kenny,’ I agreed, grinning at another mention of his obsession with looking like Johnny Depp. ‘Who’s the lucky guy?’

‘David,’ Kenny replied dreamily, ‘We met last month in a club. I’ve seen him out for drinks a few times, but I think him asking me to meet up on Christmas Day is a pretty good sign.’
Either that, or David knew that Kenny was a sure thing and fancied a festive frolic
, I thought a touch sceptically, feeling slightly sorry for my friend. Kenny might be a bit of a tart, but deep down he was desperate for a proper relationship. The problem was, he enjoyed sex too much to take things slow and always ended up putting out on the first date, with increasingly fickle men who never seemed to call him back once they had got what they wanted from him.

Shaking my head at the way he was now grinning goofily I tensed up slightly as my mum breezed into the kitchen and came up short when she saw Nathan firmly holding me to his side with my hand resting on his chest. ‘Oh!’ she gasped, delight evident on her features. ‘Don’t mind me, I just need to check the turkey.’

Leaning back on his chair Kenny was grinning from ear to ear now. ‘If you’d come in a minute ago, Mrs M, you’d have caught them at it. All over each other they were.’ My eyes flew open, Nathan smirked rather proudly and Kenny cackled wickedly.

‘Oh Kenny, you are a tease.’ My mum said, thankfully dismissing his remark as a joke. Glaring at Kenny he winked at me, but I couldn’t help but smile when he visibly wobbled on his chair and nearly tipped over backwards. Serves him right.

Things were noticeably more relaxed after that. Kenny was on cloud nine, no doubt because of his upcoming date, Nathan was a bit like my shadow, following me everywhere but seemed calmer and relatively content, and mum was in her element playing hostess. By the time dinner was ready and Simon had arrived – thankfully without any flirtatious friends in tow – Nathan was even managing the occasional genuine smile and I decided I’d succeeded in my task of making this an enjoyable Christmas for him.

‘Right everyone, dinner’s ready, let’s get you all settled around the table!’ Mum said happily as she steered us through to the attached dining room, ‘Nathan if you sit here next to Stella,’ my mum said guiding him to a seat and ushering him down. ‘Dad, you go at the head of the table, Simon here next to Kenny, and I’ll sit nearest the door so I can go in and out of the kitchen.’ I watched in amusement as Kenny blushed at his position next to my brother and rolled my eyes as I saw Simon tease him with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle.

‘I’ll just get the starter.’ Smiling at Mum I suddenly became aware of Nathan twitching beside me and shifting uncomfortably in his chair. Looking across at him in concern I had no idea what the matter was until I watched him gather his hands in his lap and start to rub them together in agitation.
Oh shit
. With all the festivities going on I’d forgotten his obsessive need to wash his hands before eating. Why he hadn’t just excused himself to the bathroom I had no idea, although my mum had basically herded him into his seat, I suppose, so perhaps he was just trying to be polite again.

Standing up I did the only thing I could think of to ease his agitation without being too obvious, which was to rub my own fingers together and make a face, ‘Ugh, my fingers are sticky from those biscuits earlier, I think I’ll just wash up before we eat.’

‘OK, love,’ Mum beamed as she placed a platter of smoked salmon, pate, and cured meats with posh brown bread on the table. Wow, she really had gone to town this year.

‘Yes, me too,’ Nathan blurted, jumping up so fast that he knocked the table and had to steady his wineglass to stop it toppling. Thankfully no-one commented on the fact that Nathan hadn’t even eaten a biscuit earlier, and let me lead him in the direction of the stairs. When we got to the family bathroom upstairs I stood back and waved in the direction of the sink but Nathan paused right next to me and looked down at me intently. ‘How did you know what I needed?’ he asked quietly, his eyes intently watching me.

Shrugging lightly I smiled sweetly up at him and leant forwards to place a kiss over his heart. ‘I just did.’ I didn’t embarrass him by mentioning the fact that his few obsessive tendencies were screamingly obvious when you spent as much time with him as I did.

Taking me by surprise Nathan raised his hands and gently cupped my face before tilting it upwards and laying a kiss so soft and beautiful on my lips that I couldn’t help but let out a low, needy moan.

‘You know me better than anyone ever has, or ever will, Stella, and I’m grateful for that fact every single day.’ A lump of emotion formed in my throat as I gazed into his sincere blue pools, his face just centimetres from mine as our accelerated breaths mingled, and then suddenly Nathan was pulling me against him in a hug so fierce that I almost couldn’t breathe.

Returning his embrace with just as much passion I buried my face in his neck as he nuzzled by my ear. ‘I … I … lov… fuck!’ he growled in apparent aggravation at not being able to complete his words. ‘You mean so fucking much to me, Stella,’ he whispered hoarsely into my hair.

He’d nearly said the ‘L’ word, I couldn’t believe it, and suddenly the lump in my throat felt so big I thought it might choke me. Finally swallowing I pulled my head back a fraction and looked into Nathan’s glimmering eyes. He might not have been able to complete his declaration, but his attempt still meant so much to me. Talk about the best Christmas present ever. Well, nearly. But I’d take an ‘I lov …’ from Nathan any day.

After Nathan and I had washed our hands we headed back towards the dining room. As he walked down the stairs I noticed that Nathan was humming happily to himself before he turned in the hallway and held out the crook of his arm for me with a shy smile. My eyebrows rose at the man before me; this was possibly the most contented I’d ever seen him, so I happily slipped my hand through his elbow and allowed him to lead me back to the jovial conversation of my family.

As usual Mum had surpassed herself with the cooking, even Kenny the master chef commented on how amazing everything was, and boy was he right. Crispy roast potatoes, pigs in blankets, Yorkshire puds, vegetables, and of course not forgetting the mountain of turkey and homemade gravy.

The wine was flowing, although as the designated driver I was still sober, and as I looked across to see how Nathan was doing I noticed that his cheeks were now quite pink, and rather uncharacteristically his shirt sleeves were rolled up haphazardly and his tie hanging loose and wonky. I’d never seen him looking anything but impeccable in his suits, even on the occasions that he rolled his sleeves up they were usually done with the upmost precision, but now he looked almost scruffy, but totally relaxed, and I loved it.

As the afternoon turned into evening and we rested our full bellies in the lounge Kenny checked his watch and then jumped up. ‘Right! I’ve gotta go. Mrs M; that was delicious, thank you,’ he said as he planted a kiss on Mum’s cheek before shaking hands with Dad. After embracing me and giving an embarrassed handshake to Simon and Nathan – I suspected his man crush now extended beyond Simon to include Nathan now too – he dashed from the house, leaving us all gathered in the hallway.

‘You two are welcome to stay if you want. The spare room is all made up,’ Mum offered, before blushing furiously and then giggling nervously, ‘Both guest rooms are made up … you know … if you wanted separate rooms …’ Mum stuttered, obviously trying to work out just how new our relationship was and getting herself in a right old state. Now as red as a tomato Mum turned away towards the kitchen, ‘I’ll make a start on the clearing up! Martin, you can help,’ she called to my dad in a high pitched yelp.

Laughing at my mum’s blunder I shook my head before daring to look at Nathan, who surprisingly was also a little flushed with embarrassment. ‘Separate rooms?’ he said, raising an eyebrow as if the idea was totally abhorrent to him.

I gave a lame shrug. ‘She doesn’t know how long we’ve been together.’

‘We can stay if you’d like?’ Nathan asked next. ‘But not in separate rooms.’ He placed his warm hands on my shoulders and ducked down to look in my eyes. Shaking my head I licked my lips slowly, and hopefully provocatively, ‘No, I’d rather you took me home to your bed.’