Chapter Nine
Haley shifted from foot to foot as they waited in line to buy their tickets. She could feel her palms sweating and she was glad that Nathan was no longer holding her hand. Instead, his arm was wrapped around her shoulders as she stood beside him. Glancing up at him, she still couldn’t believe what he had said only a few minutes before about being faithful to her for the duration of their marriage. That had been the last thing she had been expecting to hear.
Brooke, Deb and Karen had all at one time or another commented on Nathan’s reputation with the opposite sex and so hearing him tell her that he would basically be celibate for the next three years was more than surprising…it was downright shocking. But then again, maybe the three women weren’t the best judges of character when it came to him, she thought to herself. She liked and got on well with all three of them but the Nathan she had met and gotten to know was pretty different from the one they had described to her over the past few months. Still, they had known him his entire life so surely they knew him best, right?
“Are you okay?” Nathan’s voice broke into her thoughts and looking up at him again, she gave him a warm smile.
“Yeah…just thinking.”
He returned her smile and said, “And I’ll bet I know what you were thinking about?” The rosy blush that tinted her cheeks gave him his answer and he bit his lip to stop himself smirking.
“We’re next up after these two,” he said lowering his voice as the line shuffled forward slightly.
She nodded before taking a long, slow breath to prepare herself for what was about to happen.
“Well, if it isn’t our very own Nathan Scott!” A loud voice boomed loudly through the ticket office window.
Haley bit her lip as a giggle bubbled up in her throat and wrapping her own arm around him, she gave him a reassuring squeeze.
“Hi Dolores, long time no see,” Nathan said hoping his voice was coming over as cheerful. If this wasn’t essential to his plan, he and Haley would be enjoying the first part of their date somewhere far away from the middle-aged gossip in front of him.
“And what do we have here?” Dolores asked as she took in the sight of Nathan Scott with his arm wrapped around a familiar looking petite girl. A much younger girl if she wasn’t mistaken.
Blushing under the older woman’s scrutiny, Haley forced herself to smile.
“I think you’ve met Haley already and…”
“That’s it, you’re the waitress over at Karen’s Café. I knew I recognised you from somewhere. So what brings you two here together?” Her pencilled in eyebrow rose in time to her question as she impatiently waited for the news so she could start spreading it around. She always loved an exclusive.
Smiling down at the woman in his arms, he looked back at the other woman who he could see was practically bouncing on her seat. “We’re on a date. So, can I have two tickets for…”
“A date!? Well, aren’t you the lucky one, Haley? Nathan here is one of our most sought after bachelors and you’ve just gone and snapped him right up…”
“Excuse me? I don--”
Nathan could sense Haley’s anger and he too felt annoyed at the woman’s thinly veiled insult but rather than saying something he’d probably only regret, he instead lowered his head to Haley’s and softly kissed her lips. Drawing back from her slightly, he looked into her eyes for a long moment before turning back to look at Dolores.
“If anything, I’m the lucky one,” he said. “Now, can I get two tickets to Shrek 2…please?” Pulling out his wallet, he handed over some money.
Dolores stared at the couple in front of her in complete shock before coming to her senses and printing off the tickets and handing them over.
Raising herself up on her tiptoes, Haley kissed Nathan’s cheek before grabbing the tickets off the counter and saying, “C’mon, the movie’s gonna start soon and we still need to get popcorn and candy. Bye Dolores, it was so nice seeing you again.”
He didn’t stop himself laughing at the falseness of Haley’s last statement and after saying his own goodbye to the woman who was still staring at them, he followed her over to where they sold the refreshments.
“Think she got the message?” Haley asked as she picked up a couple of items off the counter.
“Oh yeah,” he answered before they both started laughing.
* * * * *
Exiting the screening room where their movie had been shown and walking back through the foyer leading to the main entrance, Nathan gently nudged Haley with his elbow when he saw Dolores chattering away on the telephone. Looking back at each other’s faces, they had to quickly look away otherwise they would have cracked up.
“She’s so subtle,” he said as they walked back towards the car. Hearing her sneezing a couple of times, he saw her holding a tissue to her nose which he noticed had started going a little red. She had been sneezing on and off during the entire movie and he was sure that she’d be feeling pretty stuffy the next day.
“That was such a great movie and…” She trailed off when she felt another sneeze about to hit.
“That’s it,” Nathan suddenly said as he watched her body trembling. “I’m taking you home. There’s no way you can sit in a draughty restaurant when you’re obviously getting a cold.”
“Nathan, I-I’m fine,” she told him before sneezing again.
“Well you don’t look or sound fine and chances are you’re going to be a lot worse tomorrow.”
“Thanks,” she replied, a touch of sarcasm evident in her voice. “And besides, the restaurant will probably be a lot less draughty than my apartment.”
“I’m not taking you back to your place, I’m taking you to mine.”
“What?”
Reaching the car, Nathan turned and leaned against it as he looked into Haley’s face. “I think you should come back with me and stay there. Hot showers are guaranteed,” he said trying to keep the mood light.
Haley shook her head. “Look, I appreciate what you’re doing but it’s not necessary. And besides, I’ll be moving in with you in a couple of weeks time so…”
“So why not now?”
“Because we’re not married yet.” Taking a deep breath, she continued, “I know it sounds old fashioned and maybe that has something to do with my family and the way I was brought up, but I always planned on being married before I lived with a guy. This is a small town and now that Dolores has broken the news about us to everyone, we’re going to be under pretty intense scrutiny. Things are going to be bad enough when they find out we’ve gotten married in secret but I can just imagine the looks and stares I’ll get if they find out I’ve moved in after us only having just met.”
As she talked, he couldn’t help smiling at her innocence. It made such a change from the women he usually associated with.
“What are you smiling at?”
“Huh? Oh…nothing. I understand what you’re saying but you can’t carry on having freezing cold showers.”
“It won’t be for much longer and it’s not like it happens every day,” she replied.
“That’s not the point. Anyway, I’ve got a suggestion. How about you just use my place to have a shower or a bath? I mean, I’ve got more than one bathroom and you’re welcome to make use of it. You can just come over before or after work…whatever suits you best. What do you think?”
Haley couldn’t believe his generosity. “Are you serious?” When he nodded his head, she stepped in closer to him and wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him. “Thank you.”
“So I’ll take that as a yes then.”
Looking up into his face, she giggled. “It’s a definite yes. I really appreciate this Nathan, you have no idea.”
“I think I do,” he said quietly. “I’ve, uh, got another suggestion to make. How about we skip the restaurant and we go back to my place where I can make us dinner and you can have a nice hot bath which will hopefully help with that stuffy nose you’ve got?”
“That sounds really nice,” she said smiling before adding, “but all my things are at my apartment.”
“No problem, we can swing by there first and you can grab whatever you need.”
“But that’ll just take you out of your way.”
“Haley, it’s not a problem. Compared to the favour you’re doing me, this is nothing.”
Sensing he’d have an answer to any other ‘problems’ she came up with, she finally nodded. “Well, since you put it like that.”
“Good.” Lowering his head without thinking, he kissed her cheek before unlocking the car and opening her door for her. Once she’d gotten in, he closed her door and walked around to his side and did the same.
“So, what are we having for dinner?” she enquired as he drove them to her apartment.
“I was going to suggest pasta but we can have something else if you’d prefer.”
“Well seeing as pasta is one of my favourite things to eat, I’m not going to turn that down. And if you’re talking macaroni and cheese, then I’ll be in heaven.”
“You like mac and cheese?”
“Uh huh, food of the gods.”
“Well it just so happens that I’ve pretty much learned Karen’s recipe for it off by heart so you’re in luck.”
“Good to know I’ll be getting something out of this marriage,” she teased.
“Damn, if I’d known you were that easy I’d have offered you a lifetime supply of the stuff instead of money.”
“Very funny,” she teased.
A short while later they arrived at Haley’s apartment and this time he insisted on coming up with her. While she grabbed a bag and filled it with the things she would need, Nathan couldn’t help looking around. It wasn’t a particularly bad place and he could see the little touches that she had made to make it look and feel a bit more homely, but he could see it wasn’t what she was used to.
From the conversations they had had about her family, he knew they weren’t particularly well off but that she and her siblings hadn’t wanted for anything. Her parents had worked hard to provide a good home for their family and had instilled that work ethic in their children. He was glad that by her helping him with his current situation, that he could give her something back and make her life a bit more comfortable.
“You got everything?” he asked a moment later when she came out of her bedroom and stood in front of him with her bag.
“Uh huh. Are you sure about this, Nathan? I don’t want to be a bother.”
“It’s fine, really. Here, give me your bag and I’ll carry it for you,” he said, reaching out his hand to take it from her.
“Are you sure you’re the real Nathan Scott?” she couldn’t help teasing.
He frowned at her question. “What do you mean?”
Haley could see from his expression that she had messed up in asking that, teasing or no teasing. “Uh…nothing, it’s just…um…your mom and Brooke…uh…”
“Let me guess, they made you believe I was some kind of pig with no manners when it comes to the opposite sex. Is that it?”
Her face flushed and she deeply regretted saying anything. “I-I’m sor--”
“Don’t Haley, you’ve got nothing to apologise for. And they wonder why I don’t ever mention to them anything about my life in Chicago.” Running a hand through his hair, he continued. “I know I’ve done some things in the past that haven’t given me the best reputation in this town but I’ve grown up and I’m not that guy anymore. They obviously can’t see that and see nothing wrong in filling people’s heads with my past indiscretions…people I don’t know and who don’t know me for that matter.”
Dropping the bag she still held onto the floor, she closed the distance between them and stood in front of him. Her hand came up to cup his cheek in her palm and she smiled at him. “I may not know you well Nathan, but in the short time I have known you you’ve been nothing but lovely to me and you’re a completely different person from the one your mother and Brooke have told me about. I know I’m doing you a favour with this whole thing but you’re doing so much for me too and I really appreciate it.”
Looking into her rich chocolate brown eyes, Nathan could see the absolute sincerity in them as she spoke and he smiled at her words. His hand came up to cover hers which still touched his face and he gently squeezed it. “I’ve never met someone like you before,” he said quietly and he watched her skin flush with colour at the compliment as her eyes flickered away from his for a moment before meeting them again.
“Well of course you haven’t, I’m one of a kind,” she teased.
He laughed and couldn’t believe how quickly and easily she had managed to make him feel better. “That you are. So, you ready to go and have that bath?”
“Hell yeah. I can’t tell you how long it’s been since I’ve been able to soak in a bubble bath.”
A sudden vision of her laying submerged in water surrounded by masses of bubbles with her skin glistening popped into his head and he felt his body heat up. He quickly coughed to clear his too dry throat. Stepping forward, he bent down and picked up her bag, grateful to have something to keep him occupied. No doubt while she had her hot bath he’d be having a cold shower.
“Okay, let’s get going then. While you’re having your bath I can get started on dinner.”
As he made his way towards the front door, Haley simply stared after him. She couldn’t believe how wrong his mother and those that had grown up around him could be about him. Okay, maybe she was being naïve considering they had seen him at his worst and she was only seeing him at his best, but she somehow doubted that. Were they so blinded by his past mistakes to realise that he had grown up and wasn’t the same person he was back then? For some reason, she felt determined to at least try and get them to see past that.
“Hey, you coming?” Nathan asked a moment later when he realised she hadn’t moved from her spot.
“Huh? Oh…yeah, I’m coming.”
Extending his arm to her, he smiled when she placed her much smaller hand into his and allowed him to lead her out. She quickly made sure the place was locked before once again holding his hand and leaving the building together.
* * * * *
Haley breathed a long sigh of relief as she relaxed in the hot, herbal scented water. Nathan had told her he rarely took baths, preferring showers instead, but after a tough basketball game, he found the herbs in the bath salts helped relax his tired, aching muscles and so he gave them to her to use since she didn’t have her own bubble bath. Trailing her fingers back and forth in the water, she made a mental note to pick up some of her favourite bubble bath during her lunch break tomorrow.
When Nathan had shown her around upstairs she had stared in awe at the bedrooms, all of them could easily have fit her apartment inside them. As soon as she had seen the main bathroom, she had fallen in love with it. The large bathtub could easily fit two people comfortably, something which had made her blush when the thought had entered her head. She had then forced herself to simply believe the reason to be that he needed something larger because of his tall frame.
The guest bedroom he had given her was gorgeous. It was decorated in cream, white and yellow and was large and airy. In a way the colour scheme had surprised her. Having caught a glimpse of his bedroom as they had passed it, she could see it was decorated in darker colours and she had assumed the rest of the bedrooms would have been the same. He had laughed and told her that his was the only room he had changed when he had moved in; the rest of the house was exactly the same as the day he had bought it. Since he didn’t visit Tree Hill that often, he didn’t see the point of going to the trouble and expense of redecorating it.
As she continued to soak and let the water soothe her tired body, she thought about how sweet his offer of her moving in had been. She couldn’t help wishing she was a different person and that she could have just said yes but she wasn’t lying when she had told him her reasons for declining. The fact that everyone in the town would know she was living with him after them only having met a few days ago would make her feel too self-conscious. She could easily imagine all the looks and whispers she’d be receiving as a result.
A knock on the door followed by Nathan’s voice brought her out of her thoughts.
“Haley, just letting you know that dinner will be ready in about ten minutes.”
“Oh okay, thanks. I’ll be out soon.”
“See you in a bit.”
She heard his retreating footsteps and couldn’t help smiling at how sweet he was with her. It didn’t seem like the next three years would be too hard to deal with.
Carefully standing up in the tub, she grabbed the shower head attachment and switched it on, quickly rinsing her body of the bubbles that clung to her skin. A few moments later, she had climbed out and wrapped a large fluffy towel around herself, securing it tightly under her arms. Emptying out the bath water, she rinsed it out and made sure she left it as it had been when she first arrived.
The bathroom was just down the hallway from the guest bedroom she was using and she quickly padded along the thick carpeted floor. Her room actually had an en suite but that only had a shower hence her using the main bathroom. As soon as she was inside, she closed the door and made quick work of getting dried and dressed into the jeans and purple sweater she had brought with her from the apartment. Releasing her hair from the scrunchie holding it up, she ran a brush through it and applied a little lip gloss to her lips before leaving and going downstairs.
The smells from the kitchen were making her mouth water and her tummy rumble and just as she entered the room, she saw him setting two plates of steaming macaroni and cheese onto the counter.
“Right on time,” Nathan said when he saw her walk in. “What would you like to drink?”
“Water’s fine,” she replied.
“Are you sure? I’ve got wine if you’d prefer a glass of that.”
Shaking her head, she smiled. “I’m not that big a drinker and wine seems to go straight to my head. I’ll stick with water but if you want to have some wine, then that’s fine.”
“Nah, I’ll have water too, especially since I’m giving you a ride home.”
“You don’t have to Nathan, I can get a cab back. You’ve already done enough for me tonight.”
“No way. It’s our first date, I can’t very well make you get a cab home. Nope, I’m taking you.”
Knowing that he wouldn’t change his mind, she merely nodded before taking a seat at the counter and waiting for him to join her.
“You can start eating while I grab our drinks,” he told her and was happy when she didn’t argue with him. She picked up her fork and dug in to the pasta dish.
“Oh my god, this is amazing,” she said after she had swallowed the first forkful. “If everything you make tastes this good I think you’ll have me gaining weight during our three years together.”
He smirked and without thinking replied, “Well, we’ll just have to come up with a way of burning off those calories then.” As soon as the words had left his lips, he realised what he had said and noticing the wide eyed look on Haley’s face, he saw that she’d understood it too.
Not knowing what to say, he busied himself with going over to the fridge and getting a bottle of water out of it and then pouring some into their glasses. “Uh…here you go.”
“Thanks,” she muttered and then proceeded to take a long drink of the cool liquid hoping it would cool down the sudden heat she felt at hearing his words.
They ate in silence as both mentally tried to think of something to say to break the quiet.
“So…um…what do you have planned for tomorrow?” Haley finally asked.
“Oh, uh, I’m not sure yet. I need to call the office in Chicago and see how things are going there and then I thought I’d go and see Luke and Brooke.”
“Say hi to them from me when you see them.”
“I will. Hey, why don’t you come with me?”
She shook her head as she finished chewing a mouthful of food. “No, that’s okay. You should spend some time with them.”
“And I will be but there’s no reason why you can’t be there too. Besides, we need to find out whether it was Dolores or one of her cohorts who broke the news to her about us dating and, to be honest, I’d rather you were with me when I face her.”
“Hmm, you’ve got a point,” she said smiling. “I can just imagine her face when she hears the news.”
“Yeah, you don’t want to miss out on hearing all about it.”
“I’m working a later shift tomorrow and don’t finish until six.”
“That’s fine. I can get some work done during the day and then we can head over there later. I’ll give Luke a call and make sure it’s okay with them first though.” After taking a drink of his water, he asked, “So, um, what do you want to do after dinner? We could watch a movie or…”
“Yeah, a movie sounds good unless you want to do something else.”
“No, that’s fine. I was just going to say we could talk about organising the wedding. I mean, I know it’s not real but that doesn’t mean it can’t be nice, you know. It’ll probably be the only time I get married.”
“Um, I guess we could do that. I know we need it to happen pretty soon, right?”
“Yeah. I need to see what the earliest date available is at City Hall. Chances are we’ll have to wait a bit but maybe we’ll be lucky and get a cancellation.”
“Not so lucky for the couple who cancel,” she said trying not to laugh but failing.
“I hadn’t thought of that,” he said chuckling. “Anyway, I figure we just go with the standard vows unless you’d prefer to write your own.”
Haley quickly shook her head. “No, that’s not…I mean…”
“It’s okay, that’s probably something you should save for when you get married for real.”
She nodded her head slightly. “What should I wear? I mean, are we dressing up or…”
“I figure dressing up might be good. Nothing over the top or anything, just smart casual if that makes sense.”
“Yeah, it does. I think I have something that might work,” she said thinking of a yellow sundress she had brought from home which she had matching sandals for.
They finished eating, chatting and making plans for their forthcoming nuptials as they did so. When they were sitting in the lounge with their cups of coffee, she mentioned something that had popped into her head when he had been talking about Lucas and Brooke.
“I was thinking, we’re going to need witnesses at the wedding ceremony and I was thinking, maybe we should ask Lucas and Brooke.”
Nathan thought about it for a moment and agreed that it could work in their favour. The only problem was if they asked Brooke too soon she would no doubt reveal their wedding plans, most likely to his mother or Karen.
“Nathan?”
“Sorry, I was just thinking. It’d be nice for them to be there but I’m just worried the whole town will find out about it before we want them to.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought to. But how about we don’t tell them. Well Brooke anyway. Once we know the date and time, we could just invite them out to lunch and tell them we’re going somewhere a little dressy and then spring it on them once we’re at City Hall. What do you think?”
He grinned at her. “I think you’re a genius, Haley. I can give Lucas a heads up although it might be cool to surprise him too. I mean, I know he’s aware that we’ll be getting married soon and he’ll most likely guess, but it could still be fun playing with him.”
“It’ll be nice having people we know as our witnesses plus if we bring a camera, we can have some photos taken. We need this to be as authentic as possible for people to believe us.”
“Yeah, we do. Okay, so I’ll get started on things tomorrow. Hopefully we can get a date before Brooke pops the kid out.”
“Nice description,” she said teasingly. “What’s the betting that the little one will make her appearance on our big day?”
“It’d better not,” he teased back. “So Miss James, what movie would you like to watch?”
“I don’t mind, whatever you want to watch is fine with me.”
“How about Die Hard?” he suggested.
“Sure,” she replied making herself more comfortable on the couch, resting her head on the arm of it.
Getting up from his seat, he walked over to his plasma TV and switched it on and then opened up his DVD/video cabinet, removing the movie in question and popping it into the machine. By the time he made his way back to his seat, he saw that Haley was fast asleep. For a long moment, he simply watched her and he couldn’t help noticing how tiny she looked all curled up on his couch.
Leaving the room, he went to the cupboard under the stairs and removed a throw blanket and a cushion from it before making his way back to where she was. Shaking out the blanket, he spread it over her and as gently as he could, he carefully lifted her head up and slipped the soft cushion underneath it. The fact that she didn’t move a muscle as he did it made him more determined to leave her where she was and let her sleep. He knew she’d probably be annoyed at him in the morning for not waking her and driving her home but he didn’t care.
Walking over to the TV, he switched everything off and left one of the corner lamps on for her so that if she woke up in the night she wouldn’t get scared at her unfamiliar surroundings. He watched her for a few seconds more before he bent forward and dropped a kiss onto the top of her head.
“Sweet dreams,” he whispered before leaving the room and making his way upstairs.
* * * * *
Nathan was up bright and early the next morning and as he came downstairs, he wondered whether Haley would still be there. Quietly walking into the lounge, he saw she was still lying on his couch fast asleep, the blanket he had covered her with trailing half on the floor. He couldn’t help smirking as he saw her lying there with her auburn hair in disarray from where she had obviously turned over during the night.
After switching off the lamp he had left on, he had almost made it into the kitchen when a loud banging on his front door had him cursing under his breath and he quickly headed towards it before it woke her up. Opening the door, he saw his mother standing on his doorstep with a frown etched upon her face and he had a good feeling he knew why she was there. Great, just what he needed at this time of the day and especially with Haley still being there.
“Hey Mom.”
“I think you know why I’m here,” she told him as she crossed the threshold and turned to face him. “I received an interesting phone call last night from one of the ladies I lunch with informing me that you were on a date last night with none other than Haley James.”
Folding his arms, he looked his mother in the eyes and said, “That’s right, I was on a date with her. So what?”
“So what? How can you say that?”
“What are you saying, Mom? Have you got something against her because…”
“Of course I haven’t. She’s a nice enough young girl, Nathan, but I…I don’t think she’s right for you, that’s all.”
“Oh really? And why’s that? The other day at the café you seemed to think I wasn’t right for her so which is it?”
Sensing her son’s agitated tone, she sighed. “Look, let’s go and sit down and we can talk about this.”
“Let’s not. Haley’s still asleep and I don’t want to wake her up.”
“She stayed over? Well, it looks like I may have misjudged her after all. I thought she was different.”
“What the hell’s that supposed to mean? If you must know, we went out to see a movie which I’m guessing the whole town knows about thanks to that big mouth Dolores and then we came back here for something to eat. We were going to watch a movie but she fell asleep on the couch and I just covered her up with a blanket and let her sleep.”
“You really expect me to believe that? You’re forgetting I do know your reputation when it comes to women.”
“Yeah, and you’ll never let me or anyone else forget it. Fine, if you don’t believe me come with me but be quiet.” Walking into the lounge, he stopped just inside the door and let his mother see Haley still curled up on the couch…fully clothed. They stood there for a moment before he gestured for her to follow him and he led her to the front door again.
“If you must know she wasn’t feeling all that well last night which is why we came back here instead of going out to the restaurant we were planning on having dinner at.”
“Nathan, look--”
“No Mom, you look. I really like Haley and she likes me and we’re going to keep seeing each other. I’m sorry if that upsets you because you think she’s not good enough for me or I’m not good enough for her. She’s a great girl and…”
“That’s one of my concerns, honey. She’s quite a bit younger than you and I just don’t think you should get too involved with her.”
“I know she is but she’s pretty mature for her age. I’m not out to hurt her or use her or anything like that and it’d be nice if you could have some faith in me for once.”
“I do, you know I do.”
“No, actually I don’t. I know you, Karen and Brooke often talk about me and from what I’ve heard, they’re not exactly glowing reports. I know I’ve screwed up in the past but I’ve changed and if you can’t see that, then I’m sorry. Haley sees me as the person I am now and that’s important to me.”
“I can understand that but are you sure you should be dating her…I mean, you’re not going to be here for long what with your business in Chicago.”
“Well I plan on being here for a few more weeks at least and we’ll figure something out for when I go back.”
Deb stood there open-mouthed as she listened to what her son was saying. Never in a million years would she have expected her son to have fallen for a simple small town girl. Granted, Haley was very pretty and sociable and it was easy to see what had him so attracted to her but still, she was very different to the types of girls—women he normally dated.
“Look, I’m sorry you had to hear about this on the gossip vine but believe it or not, we did want to tell you ourselves,” he fibbed. He had to bite his lip to stop from smiling at the way his plan had worked exactly as he had intended it to. “I hope this isn’t going to cause any problems with Haley working at the café.”
She quickly shook her head. “Of course not. Just be careful, Nate, and take things slowly.”
Childishly crossing his fingers behind his back, he nodded. “I will.”
“Okay. How about one day next week you bring Haley over to the house and we all have dinner together?”
He inwardly groaned at the mere thought of it but he found himself nodding again. “Sure, that sounds good. I’ll talk it over with Haley when she wakes up.”
“Good. Well, I’d better be going and listen, if she’s still not feeling well when she does wake up, tell her she can take the day off. There’s no point her coming in if she’s not up to it.”
“I’ll, uh, mention it to her but she might still come in. I’m pretty sure she won’t want any special treatment just because she’s dating one of the bosses’ sons.”
“It’s not special treatment, I’m just looking out for my employee and the café’s customers,” she said smiling.
“Okay, thanks. I’ll speak to you soon, Mom.” Knowing it would help his cause, he leaned in and hugged the petite blonde and then kissed her cheek leaving the woman stunned. It was rare for him to make the first move like that with her and she took the opportunity to hug her little boy back.
She still wasn’t convinced that him dating Haley was a good thing but if it made him open up with her more, then she’d give them a chance at the very least.
“Bye Nathan and say hi to Haley for me.”
“Will do.” He stood at the door and waited until she’d driven off before closing it. Rubbing a hand over his face, he breathed a sigh of relief at having that over and done with.
“So, I take it things went well?”
Turning around, he saw Haley standing in front of him and he smiled at her rumpled appearance. “It went okay. She’s not happy about us dating but I think she might just give us a chance. Of course, that’ll be shot to shit when she finds out we’ve gotten married behind her back.”
The young woman sighed. “It’s like two steps forward and then one back. She’s going to hate me even more than she does now.”
Going over to her, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and brought her into his body. “Hey, she doesn’t hate you.”
“No, she just thinks I’m not good enough for you.”
“How long have you been awake?” he queried when he heard her say that.
“Uh, I heard the banging on the door and when I realised it was your Mom I decided to pretend to still be asleep. I’m sorry for leaving you to deal with her on your own,” she said shyly.
Nathan laughed. “I’m used to it don’t worry. And I don’t blame you in the slightest. I’d have probably done the same thing if it was the other way around,” he confessed. “So, you heard about the dinner invitation?”
She nodded. “Yeah, and about me having the day off.”
“Speaking of, how do you feel this morning?”
“Better, thanks. I think the steam from my bath helped my sinuses.”
“So you’re going in to work?”
“Uh huh. It was nice of her to say that but I’d prefer to go in, especially since it seems the whole town knows about us. It’ll look like I’ve got something to hide if I don’t show up.”
“Yeah, I guess. I’ll pick you up after work and we can head over to Luke and Brooke’s.”
“It’s probably better that I meet you there. I want to go back to the apartment and get showered and changed.”
“You can do that here, you know.”
“I don’t have any clean clothes here. I only brought what I’m wearing with me since I thought I’d be going home.”
“Yeah, about that, I’m sorry I didn’t wake you up but you looked so peaceful and I knew you weren’t feeling well and…”
“It’s okay,” she interrupted. “Your couch is pretty comfy and, to be honest, I can’t believe I slept for as long as I did.”
Nathan breathed a quiet sigh of relief. “Okay, how about I drive you home now and you can grab a bag with some clean clothes and then come back here to get ready for work and then afterwards, I can bring you back and you--”
“Woah! Slow down there, Mister. I’ll say yes to the ride to my place now so I can get ready for work but I’ll take the bus back home afterwards and then if you want to, you can pick me up and take me to Brooke’s.”
Sensing that she was unlikely to change her mind, he relented. “Okay, but you can call me if you change your mind. What time should I pick you up then?”
“How about seven-fifteen?”
“Sure. I’ll call Luke later and make sure it’s cool for us to go over. I’m pretty sure it will be since Brooke is bound to have heard the news about our date by now. I’m surprised she didn’t try calling last night.”
“Ah, she probably did. I’m sure there’s a message or two on my answering machine and no doubt she’ll be asking why I didn’t return her call.”
“Well as long as she doesn’t corner me we’ll be fine,” he said chuckling.
“We’d better make a move if I don’t want to end up being late for work,” she said a few moments later. “I’ll just go and grab my bag from upstairs.” She was halfway up them when he followed her.
“Listen, why don’t you pack a bag with some of your things and leave them here in the guest room so that that way you’ll have a change of clothes if you ever fall asleep on me again or just want to take a bath?”
Holding on to the banister, she turned and looked down at him. “Um…I-I don’t…”
“It’s not a problem, Haley. You’re going to be hanging out here quite a bit and then moving in with me once we’re married so it’s no problem. You don’t have to say yes now, but just think about it,” he finally said.
“Okay, I’ll think about it,” she said nodding. “Thank you for the offer.”
“You’re welcome. Now hurry up if you don’t want to upset your boss even more by being late.”
“You’re so funny,” she deadpanned and she grinned when he smirked at her.
“Well that’s because I’m a funny guy.”
Poking her tongue out at him, she ran up the stairs to grab her stuff. For some reason, the enormity of what she was doing…was about to do suddenly hit her and she sat down on the edge of the bed and took a few deep breaths. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that the whole town most likely now knew about them and she was sure she’d be getting some looks and whispers today at work. She was relieved that Deb seemed willing to give them a chance but she couldn’t help wondering whether she was being genuine or was just saying that for Nathan’s benefit. Oh well, she’d find out soon enough, she thought to herself as she got up from the bed and made her way to meet Nathan downstairs.