Chapter Six
The next evening, Nathan was picking Haley up after she had ended her shift at the café. When she had told him she wouldn’t be working at the bar, he had suggested they meet up and start making plans for their forthcoming marriage. After discovering she liked Chinese food, he stopped off at a local take-out joint before making his way to the café.
Sitting in his car, he tapped his fingers on the steering wheel in time to the music that was playing on the radio. As he still hadn’t told his mother of his presence, he decided to wait for Haley outside because the last thing they needed was to be bombarded with twenty questions when they hadn’t had a chance to discuss anything.
A few minutes later, he saw her walking towards the car and he felt himself begin to smile. His eyes wandered up and down her body and he couldn’t believe that anyone could look that good in a pair of jeans and a simple T-shirt. Damn, he was so done for. The next three years were going to be torturous for him.
“Hey,” Haley greeted him as she opened the door and climbed into the passenger seat.
“Hey,” he replied. “How was work?”
“Good thanks. How about you?”
“It was fine. I made some calls and I’ve managed to free myself up for the next three weeks so we can start putting things into motion.” After giving her a reassuring smile, he started the engine before safely pulling onto the street and making the short journey to his house.
They drove in silence, the only sound was the music quietly playing in the background. Hearing her cough a couple of times, he looked at her and asked, “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “Uh huh. Can I, um, ask you something?” She finally said a few moments later.
“Sure you can. What is it?”
Keeping her eyes on the road ahead, she said, “You know before when you said we need to, uh, convince people that this is a real marriage, well I was just wondering…” she trailed off as she tried to word what she wanted to say.
“Wondering what?” Coming to a stop light, he turned his head to look at her. “Haley?”
Taking a long, slow breath, she turned her own head to meet his eyes. “What exactly did you…um…mean when you said that?”
Her question took him by surprise and he wasn’t sure how to respond to it. “I…er…I…”
“The thing is, if we want people to believe that this marriage is real, then we need to, um, look comfortable together, right?”
“Right.”
“Well I don’t know about you but I’m feeling as nervous as hell.”
He laughed before saying, “Thank god for that. That’s exactly how I’m feeling. You’re right though, we need this to look real and for that to happen, then we need to look like…”
“We’re in love?”
His mouth went dry as he heard her say the words but he found himself moving his head up and down in agreement. “Yeah.” Damn, he thought, cursing himself when he heard how husky his voice sounded.
“So, I guess we should…”
Nathan raised an eyebrow as he anticipated what she was about to suggest. “Should what?”
Before she could answer, a car honked from behind and looking at the road ahead, he saw that the light had changed from red to green and placing his foot on the accelerator, he started moving forward. “What should we do?” He asked again a couple of minutes later.
“We should get comfortable with each other.”
He felt a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “And how do you propose we do that?”
Haley could feel herself blushing but she forced herself to say the words. “We, uh, need to kiss.”
Sucking in a mouthful of air, he quickly turned and glanced at her and saw her flushed cheeks. Her words made him press his foot harder on the peddle in an anxious bid to get to their destination even quicker. “K-kiss?” God, he sounded like an adolescent schoolboy.
“I, um, just figured that we should…er…do that privately together so that if we need to do it in public…”
“Then we’ll look more comfortable?”
“Exactly. I mean, your family and friends are gonna think it’s weird that we’re, you know, together and yet they never see us kiss or hold hands. We need to be…”
“Convincing.”
“Yes.”
Arriving at their destination, he put the car into park and turned off the engine. “Well it’s just as well that we’ve got the rest of the evening to do that. Oh, and I picked up some dinner for us so we can start getting to know each other and then, uh…”
Haley quickly nodded, silently telling him that she knew what he meant. Opening their doors, they got out of the car and after grabbing the bag of food from the backseat, he led the way to his front door.
Surveying her surroundings, she looked back at him open-mouthed. “Wow! This place is beautiful,” she told him before her eyes returned to the view of the sea that lay in front of them. “Is this the house you grew up in?”
“No. This is the house I bought a couple of years ago and it’s where I stay when I’m back in town. I never felt comfortable staying at the family home, especially not with my Dad there. I’ve always loved the beach and I remember this particular house from when I was a kid so as soon as I saw it come on the market I snapped it up.”
She smiled. “I can see why. The view is breathtaking.”
After he had unlocked and opened the door, he turned to let her inside first but he saw her standing there totally transfixed by what she was seeing and in that split-second, he knew the feeling except he wasn’t looking at the familiar sight of the sea view.
Coughing to clear his throat, he said, “Come on, the food’s getting cold.” Taking her small hand in his, he led her inside before shutting the door behind them.
* * * * *
Sitting on the floor of the living room, they ate their food in a semi-comfortable silence.
“You don’t mind eating out of the cartons do you?”
“Are you kidding? That’s the only way that take-out should be eaten,” she told him with a grin.
“I agree. There is an actual dining room here but I prefer things a bit more relaxed.”
“Me too. Now, hand over that carton of egg fried rice.”
He laughed. “Here you go.” Handing over the carton, he watched her eat a generous portion of it and he couldn’t help liking the fact that she obviously enjoyed her food unlike some of the stick insects he’d associated with in the past who would pick at a salad.
“I’m curious to know, what were you studying at college?”
Swallowing the mouthful of soda she had just taken, she replied, “Music and English. I was hoping to maybe go into teaching young kids after I’d graduated. Either that or look into the whole music therapy thing.”
“Music therapy?”
“Yeah. Music has been known to help kids with disabilities or learning difficulties and it’s just something that really interested me when I read an article about it a few years ago.”
“That sounds great. I could see you doing something like that,” he told her.
“But you don’t even know me.”
“Maybe not but I already know you’re a good person and I’ll just bet you’re really good with kids.”
Once again she found herself blushing. “Uh thanks. I’ve got a few nieces and nephews from my older siblings and I’d often get roped into babysitting duty. Not that I ever minded, they’re pretty good kids…well, most of the time.”
Looking at her, he had a sudden vision of her cradling a baby in her arms and he felt his whole body grow warm. What was wrong with him? A couple of days ago he hadn’t even contemplated marriage for himself and yet here he was picturing his soon-to-be pretend wife having his baby. Picking up his can of soda from the coffee table beside him, he took a long drink hoping that the cold liquid would help cool him down.
“Are you okay?” Haley asked when she saw his face all flushed.
“Huh? Uh yeah, it’s just a bit warm in here. Would you mind if I opened up the French doors?”
“No. I love the smell of the sea air,” she told him as she watched him get up from the floor and walk over to open the doors. We don’t have any local beaches back home.”
Returning to his seat on the floor, he asked, “And where is that exactly?”
“Northwood Hills,” she informed him. Seeing his face scrunch up slightly, a soft laugh escaped her mouth. “It’s okay that you’ve never heard of it. It’s not the most exciting place to have grown up but it’s home.”
“It sounds nice.”
“It is.”
They shared another smile before continuing to eat their food.
“So, I was thinking…about how we should start doing this.”
“Okay. What have you come up with so far?”
“Well, I figured that we need people to start seeing us together so I thought that tomorrow when you’re working at the café, I should...”
“Just one problem with that? Isn’t your mom going to think it’s weird that we all of a sudden know each other? She still doesn’t know you’re back in town yet.”
“Crap! I’d forgotten about that.”
Suddenly a light-bulb went off in Haley’s head and she grinned. “Actually, maybe that works in our favour.”
“How do you mean?”
“Think about it; you walk in on the basis of visiting her and your aunt and we pretend that we’re only seeing each other for the first time. We just need to make sure she sees us checking each other out and that way we can use that whole ‘love at first sight’ thing you mentioned yesterday. What do you think?”
Nathan’s face lit up as he smiled at her suggestion. “I think that’s brilliant. I’ll casually ask her about you and hopefully she’ll make the formal introduction,” he said chuckling. “I’ll have to call Lucas and let him kno…”
“Lucas knows about this?”
“Uh…yeah. He was the first person I called after I’d read the Will and because he couldn’t come to me what with Brooke being so close to having the baby, I flew down here.”
“Right.” She was quiet for a few moments before saying, “He put me forward for this, didn’t he?”
Knowing there was no point in lying to her, he slowly nodded. “Yes. He knew that I didn’t want to marry the type of woman I normally associate with and I was just joking around when I asked him if there was anyone he knew. The next thing I know he’s driving me to the café and telling me there’s somebody he wanted me to meet. I figured he’d arranged for whoever it was to meet us there but then after I’d got our drinks, I asked him when we’d be meeting this person and he told me that I just had.”
Looking into his face for a moment, she could see he was being honest with her and she finally let her lips curl into a half-smile. “Yeah, that sounds like something Lucas would do. Do you think he’s told Brooke?”
“No, I’ve asked him not to say anything to her or anyone else. I know he hates keeping secrets from her but there would be no point going ahead with this if she knew because the whole town would be aware of what’s going on.”
“That’s a bit harsh, Nathan.”
“You don’t know her like I do. I’ve known her since we were kids and she’s always loved to gossip. She wouldn’t be able to resist telling at least one person and it only takes that happening before everyone else would find out about it. This whole thing needs to stay just between the two of us and Lucas.”
“Okay. I’m not sure anyone would believe me anyway if I told them about this,” she teased.
“Yeah, thank god,” he teased back.
“So, tomorrow is us just meeting each other for the first time in front of your mom and Karen…”
“Yeah. I’ll make sure she sees I’m definitely interested in you and no doubt I’ll get a warning about leaving you alone because you’re a good girl.”
“Knows all about your, um, habits does she?”
“Unfortunately yes. I’m sure she gets her information from Brooke.”
“What happens after that?”
“I figured we should maybe date for a week or two and then we can elope.”
Haley’s mouth dropped open at hearing him say that in such a matter of fact way. “Elope?”
“Yeah. We’re pretty short of time and us getting engaged and then arranging a quickie wedding is just going to raise too many questions. This way we can just say we got caught up in the moment and couldn’t wait to get married.”
She bit her lip to keep herself from smiling at his explanation which actually made a lot of sense. Doing it this way would certainly avoid her having to get her family involved although she did dread telling them she had gotten married behind their backs.”
Shifting forward on the floor, he moved closer to her and placed a hand on top of hers which was resting in her lap. “You can still back out if you want to. I’ll completely understand. I know I’m asking a helluva lot and…”
Placing her free hand on top of his, she gave it a squeeze. “No, I said I’d do it and I will. It’s just that ever since I was a little girl I’d always pictured getting married in a church with all my family and friends around me.”
“I-I’m sorry. Look, let’s just forget it and…”
“No. Nathan, it’s okay. Besides, I can have all that if I ever get married again,” she said giving him a crooked smile.
For some reason, the thought of her being married to anyone else left a sour taste in his mouth but he found himself quietly responding with, “Yeah.”
“I’ll be working at the café all day tomorrow so…”
“I’ve got some things to do in the morning but I’ll try and get there around lunchtime.”
“Okay.”
As they sat there opposite each other, neither of them realised that their hands were still touching.
“Listen, would you do me a favour?”
“Another one? I’m already marrying you,” she teased.
“Funny.”
“What’s the favour?”
“Quit working at the bar. I hate the thought of you working there and if we’re gonna be getting married…”
“It won’t be appropriate for people to discover that the wife of the Nathan Scott works at a strip bar, right?”
“I hadn’t considered that but yeah, you’re right. What I was actually going to say though was that you won’t be needing the money you earn from there.”
“I need the money to pay my apartment and…”
“No, you won’t. You’ll be moving in here with me. It’s going to look a bit weird if my wife continues living in her own apartment while I’m either here or in Chicago.”
Haley laughed. “Do you know, I hadn’t even thought about how things were going to change after we’d be married. I’m such a ditz.”
“No, you’re not. Believe me, I’ve met tons of ditzes and you’re definitely not one of them. I knew that from the second I saw you the other day.”
She felt herself blush at his compliment. “Uh, thank you.” Coughing to clear her throat, she said, “I’ll go there tomorrow after my shift at the café and hand in my resignation.”
“I’ll take you.”
“You don’t have to, Nathan.”
“I want to.”
“Okay. My shift finishes at four.”
He nodded. Having her sitting so close to him, his eyes wandered down to her lips and he had a sudden urge to kiss her. Remembering her words from earlier on, he smiled at what he was going to say next.
“Do you want to, uh, try the kissing thing now? I mean, the sooner we get started the more comfortable we’re likely to feel doing it for the benefit of others.”
Feeling his eyes on her mouth, she unconsciously licked her lips. She couldn’t dispute the fact that she really wanted to kiss him and see what it felt like but there was something nagging at her, telling her that it wasn’t quite right. If she wasn’t careful, it would be all too easy to fall for the handsome man sitting in front of her and she couldn’t let that happen. This was nothing more than a business deal, she told herself firmly.
“Haley? Are you alright?”
His words broke her out of her thoughts and she nodded. “I-I’m fine.”
“So, should we…”
“No, I don’t think so.” As she said the words, she looked down at her lap but she couldn’t resist letting her eyes flicker to his and she was almost sure she had seen a flash of disappointment flicker in them before it disappeared. No, she had to be mistaken.
“Oh…right.”
“It’s not th--”
“It’s okay, I understand.”
“No, you don’t.” She kept a firm hold of his hand which she had just realised she was still touching and stopped him from moving away from her. “Tomorrow’s supposed to be the first time we meet, right? Well, we need to look sort of awkward and uncomfortable around each other to make any instant…um…attraction between us seem realistic. If we practice kissing each other, then we’re going to lose that edge we’ll have to make this believable.”
Nathan let her words sink and when they had, he realised she had a valid point. He nodded as he spoke. “I guess you’re right but what you don’t yet know is that I don’t really get nervous and awkward when meeting new people. Especially women.”
“I’ve already seen evidence of that,” she told him with a smirk playing at the corners of her mouth. “I do though and both Deb and Karen have seen that. The couple of times I’ve been hit on at work they’ve teased me about it.”
“You get hit on at the café?”
She gave him a stare. “Yes. Is that so hard to believe?”
“No! No, that’s not what I meant when I said that. I just…”
“Maybe you should quit while you’re ahead,” she suggested.
“Definitely. But for the record I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to offend you.”
“You didn’t.” Glancing at her watch, she saw that it was starting to get late. “I’d better get going. I’ve got to be at the café for eight and I should really prepare for my performance with you tomorrow,” she joked and he laughed in response.
“C’mon, I’ll drive you home.”
“You don’t have to. I can call a cab and…”
“I insist.”
“Nathan, I really…”
“Nope, not listening. I’m taking you home and that’s final,” he said cutting her off before she could finish. Getting up from the floor, he gathered up the empty take-out cartons and took them into the kitchen ready to dispose of them when he got back. Going back into the living room, he saw her pick up his phone and quickly making his way over to her, he took the phone out of her hands and pressed the cancel button before placing it back down on the table.
“Nathan!”
“You were calling a cab, weren’t you?” He took her silence as confirmation that he was right and he asked, “Why don’t you want me to drive you home?”
Taking a deep breath, she finally replied, “Because where I’m living isn’t all that nice.”
He sighed. “Haley, that doesn’t matter to me. I don’t think less of people because they don’t have much money or they live in an area that isn’t considered as good as other parts of the town. I’m not like that.”
“I know you’re not and I’m usually not either but…I just suddenly felt embarrassed about you seeing where I live.”
“You don’t have to feel embarrassed around me. My Dad was the only snob in the family and now he’s gone, you’re pretty much safe.”
“Thanks…you know, for making me feel better.”
“You’re welcome. And besides, you’ll only be living there for another week or two. As soon as we’re married, we’ll move you in here and this will be your home.”
Taking a step forward, she placed her hands on his shoulders and leaning up, she kissed him on the cheek. “You know, people are going to think I’m marrying you for your money,” she teased as she drew back from him.
With his hand placed around her waist to keep her near and a smirk plastered on his face, he replied, “Well they’d be wrong. I’m marrying you for my money.”