After Hours
Title: After Hours
Author: Diane
Pairing: Nathan/Haley
Rating: Mature Rated
Disclaimer: I don’t own a thing!
Summary: Nathan and Haley spend a little time alone in the café... after hours.
Author's Note: This is just a little ficlet set sometime during early S2 when everything between NH was still all sweet and rosy. Ah, the memories. *sigh* ;)
Glancing up as she wiped down the kitchen counter, Haley saw a pale faced Karen heading towards her from the back of the café.
“Are you okay?” She asked the older woman, the concern evident on her face.
“No,” she said while tiredly shaking her head. “I’ve got a splitting headache and my stomach seems to be on the flip.”
“C’mon then, off home with you. There’s only a couple of hours to go until closing and I can finish up here.”
“Are you sure?”
The auburn haired young woman smiled at her and nodded. “Of course I’m sure. Do you want me to call Lucas or, uh, Keith and ask one of them to come and take you home?”
“No, that’s fine. I’m hoping that some fresh air might help make me feel a little better.”
“Okay, now go home and get some rest.”
“Thanks Haley, I really appreciate this.”
“It’s no problem,” she replied as she watched Karen pull her jacket on and grab her bag and after exchanging goodbyes, she left.
Thankfully, the café was quiet with only a few customers popping in. A little after seven o’clock, Haley locked the front door before turning the sign to ‘Closed’ and she then proceeded to clean and prepare the café for the next day’s trade. Just as she was drying her hands on a towel, her cell phone rang and she smiled as she saw Nathan’s name flash up on the caller ID.
“Is everything okay?” He asked before she had a chance to say anything.
“Well hello to you too. Everything’s fine, why do you ask?”
“Maybe because you stood me up. We agreed I’d pick you up at the bus stop so we could make the eight o’clock showing at the movies.”
“Oh Nathan, I’m sorry. I completely forget about that. Karen wasn’t feeling well so I told her to go home and that I’d close the café for her tonight.”
“Is she okay?”
“As okay as she can be with a bad headache and an upset stomach. Hopefully she’ll be better tomorrow. So, where are you now?”
“Waiting for you at the bus stop. I figured maybe you were just running late but then I…uh…”
“You what?”
“I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Aww honey, I’m fine. I am sorry about the movie.” Glancing up at the clock on the wall, she then said, “You know, you could still make the movie if you wanted to.”
“Nah, I’d rather go another time with you.”
Haley couldn’t help smiling. “Are you sure ‘cos I wouldn’t mind if you still wanted to go tonight? You could always ask Lucas to hang out with you.”
“Hmm, I could but I’d much rather come and see you and then drive us home. You have any objection to that?” He teased.
“Nope, you won’t be hearing any objections from me. Tell you what, by way of an apology I’ll make you some hot chocolate.”
“With marshmallows?”
“With marshmallows,” she confirmed with a giggle.
“Okay, see you in a few. Love you.”
“Love you too.” The smile on her face grew wider as she pressed the call end button on her cell.
Less than ten minutes later, Haley heard him knock on the front door and she quickly walked over to let him in. Instinctively, she raised up on her tiptoes just as he lowered his head and they shared a soft kiss.
“Hey you,” she whispered as he moved further into the café and she closed and locked the door behind him.
“Hey back.” Reaching his arm out, he wrapped it around her waist and they walked over to the counter together. Taking a seat on the counter, he watched her petite form as she busied herself with making the hot chocolate.
“So, how was practice today?”
Leaning his elbows up onto the counter, he rested his chin in his palms as he watched her. He couldn’t help smirking when he saw her tattoo peeking out when she bent over to grab something from under the counter. “Not too bad. Whitey was his usual sadistic self,” he said chuckling.
“Aww, does that mean you’re all sore and in need of a massage?”
“I’m always in need of one of your massages but I don’t think Karen would be too impressed with me lying on the counter while you work your magic.”
“True,” she said as a rosy blush coloured her cheeks at the image his words conjured up. Busying herself with finishing making their beverages, she took a few deep breaths which usually helped calm her down. Carrying the steaming mugs, she placed one in front of him before going around to take the stool next to his.
“Thanks.” Turning his head to the side, he placed a kiss on her cheek.
“You’re welcome. It’s the least I can do after standing you up,” she said, a playful tone evident in her voice.
“Oh believe me, there are much better ways of showing me how sorry you are.”
“Whatever do you mean?”
“You’ll see,” he told her as his arm snaked around to her lower back and he traced the indelibly marked ‘23’ he knew was there.
Shivering at his gentle touch, Haley let out a little moan. “Nathan…”
“What?” He asked innocently.
“I-I have to finish up here.”
“I’m not stopping you. I’ll even give you a hand if you want, that way we can get out of here sooner.”
“That’s okay. You sit here and finish your drink,” she told him before getting up from her seat and going back around to stand behind the counter.
“I can do two things at once which you’re well aware of,” he said wiggling his eyebrows at the double meaning in his words.
Haley blushed again as she laughed nervously. “Uh huh. Well if you really wanna help, you can put the chairs up on the tables and then sweep the floor for me.”
“And what do I get out of it?”
“I guess you’ll just have to wait and see,” she told him after taking a drink of the sweet beverage.
Before she had a chance to move out of his reach, he quickly stood up and leaned across the counter and kissed her, tasting the chocolate on her lips. Feeling that she was about to pull back from him, he placed a hand behind her head and held her in place as he deepened the kiss. By the time the kiss ended and they had pulled apart, they were both breathless and panting for air.
“I, uh, need to…um…” Haley shook her head as she tried to clear herself from her Nathan-induced haze and seeing the big smirk on his face, she couldn’t control her laughter. He was too damn cocky for his own good.
“What’s so funny?” He asked, his smirk growing wider.
“Why are you smirking?” She countered as she walked around the counter to stand in front of him. As she did so, he turned on his stool so that she could stand between his slightly spread legs.
“I asked you first.”
“No reason,” she said moving closer to him and then adding, “other than that cocky look on your face.”
Raising an eyebrow at her, he grabbed the front of her shirt and pulled her as close as he could get her. “You know it gets you hot.” His arms wrapped around her waist and rested on her ass.
Haley placed her hands on his shoulders and one of her hands snaked to the back of his neck where her fingers began playing with the hair at the nape. “Oh it does, does it?”
His hand slipped up the back of her shirt and he traced shapes on her lower back which had her shivering. “Yeah. And seeing you get all hot and flustered gets me hot,” he told her as his hand moved higher and he fingered the edge of her bra.
“Nathan…”
“C’mon,” he said interrupting her. Getting up from his stool, he took her hand in his hand and led her back behind the counter.
“What…what are you doing?”
Leaving her standing where she was, he went over to the light switches and turned them all off so that the only light coming into the café was from the street lights outside. Turning and walking back to her, he smiled as he got nearer and placing a hand on each side of her head, he held her still as his lips covered hers and he kissed her softly.
Gasping into his mouth when his hand once again slipped up her shirt, she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tight. Right now she didn’t care that they were standing behind the counter of her place of work and that they could be busted by Karen or Lucas returning for some reason. All that mattered was the feel of her husband’s strong arms wrapped around her body and the feel of his lips against hers. The sensations he was creating within her were so strong that she didn’t realise he had started pulling her to the floor until her knees touched the hard surface.
“I want you so badly, Hales.” His voice was a husky whisper against her mouth.
“I-I want you too but w-we can’t do anything here…it wouldn’t feel right.”
His hand stroked over her long hair before coming back to cup her cheek in his palm. “No one will know. The café’s closed and locked, the lights are off and I promise I’ll be very quiet.”
A giggle escaped her throat at his last comment. “You, quiet? I’ll believe that when I hear it.”
“Well how am I going to prove it to you if you won’t let me show you?”
The fingers of his other hand were still tracing shapes and patterns on her skin but instead of moving higher, they were moving lower until they slipped past the waistband of her low-rise jeans. Feeling her push forward against him as a result of his ministrations had him smiling against her mouth. The next minute the smile was wiped off his face as her lips crushed against his and she kissed him hard, her tongue snaking into his mouth to stroke against his.
Haley wasn’t often the dominant one when it came to her intimate relationship with Nathan but tonight was different. The feel of his hands on her body, his mouth joined with hers and the fact that they weren’t doing this in the safety of their apartment all combined to make her feel something strong rising within her. From their kneeling position behind the counter, she somehow managed to push him backwards so that he was lying on his back on the floor while she lay on top of him. She could feel his arousal pressing against her and she found herself rubbing herself against it which made them moan in unison.
Nathan felt like his body was on fire as his wife kissed the life out of him while moving her body along the length of his. Wrapping one arm around her lower back and the other around her shoulders, he managed to flip them so that he was now on top and in more control. His lips left her mouth and he began kissing a path down her throat to her neck before sucking on the sensitive skin there. Feeling her small hands touching him under his own T-shirt, he stopped what he was doing, raised up and pulled it up and over his head. His eyes stayed on hers the whole time. Once the fabric was off, he got back into position and returned to what he was doing.
Losing herself in the sensations of what they were doing felt so good but at the back of her mind was a nagging thought that they couldn’t do this here. Something just didn’t feel right about taking advantage of her best friend’s mother and the trust the older woman had in her. At first, she tried to shake off the doubts as Nathan’s mouth worked its magic on her but feeling the cool air on her chest once he’d unbuttoned her shirt made them return full force.
Glancing up into her face once her shirt was open and her bra-clad breasts were revealed to him, he saw the conflicting expressions on her face and he knew that they wouldn’t be going any further…at least not in the café.
“Hales, it’s okay…” He told her as he shifted his position so that his face was hovering over hers and he was resting his weight on his forearms.
“No, it’s not Nathan. I can’t…we can’t do this…not here.”
“I know and it’s okay. I’m surprised we got this far,” he teased and then laughed when she poked her tongue out at him. Not being able to resist, he swooped down and kissed her, sucking her tongue into his mouth. He took the moment to savour the feel of her almost naked chest touching his and he knew that if he didn’t move away now that they weren’t going to be going anywhere anytime soon.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered after he’d moved so he was straddling her waist and began buttoning up her shirt for her.
“Hey, you don’t have to be sorry. When we’re together I want you to be comfortable, okay? And I know doing this here, especially when you’re doing a favour for Karen tonight, wouldn’t have felt right for you.” He smiled down at her before also adding, “It doesn’t feel right to me come to think of it.”
Reaching over to the side, Haley picked his T-shirt up off the floor and moving into a kneeling position in front of him, she slipped it on over his head and watched as he put his arms through each sleeve before her hands came back to smooth it out over his chest.
Giving her another kiss, Nathan then stood up and offering her his hands, he helped pull her to her feet. Releasing her hands, he was just about to walk over and grab her jacket for her when she pulled him back. He gave her an inquisitive look as she moved closer, cupping his face in her hands and kissed him again.
“I promise I’ll make this up to you when we get home,” she told him with a smile.
Nodding his head and smirking at her words, he kissed her back harder than she had kissed him and he was glad to see he’d left her panting for air when he had pulled away. Quickly going over to where she had left her jacket, he grabbed it for her and after they had made sure that everything was switched off in the café, he took her hand in his and led her towards the door. When they were standing on the other side of it and she had finished locking the door, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and they began walking to where he had parked the car.
He was just about to open the passenger door for her when he suddenly pressed her up against the car and they shared another sizzling kiss. Watching her get into the vehicle, he then closed the door after her before practically running around to the driver’s side and getting in himself.
“What’s the hurry, Nathan?” She teased knowing full well what the reason was.
“We’re wasting valuable time here, Hales, so let’s save the talking until we’re back home.” Leaning over, he kissed her cheek before starting the engine and leaving the parking lot in a cloud of dust.
Fin