A Night To Remember

“So if you saw this Stu guy now...”

“I’d probably slug him,” Nicky answered promptly.

When he shot her a questioning, sideways glance, she giggled. “I said I’d gotten over him. I didn’t say I’d forgiven him,” she noted. “He was a real jerk.”

He smiled. “Oh. Then I’ll slug him for you, if you like,” he offered generously, confident that it would never be necessary for him to follow through on the foolish promise.

“Thanks, but I’d rather handle it myself. I can be a little bloodthirsty at times.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Traffic was thinner now that they’d gotten past midtown, which was still in party mode. He’d headed automatically for the Germantown area, figuring they could find a restaurant.

Nicky looked out the window. “This area is really growing fast,” she murmured. “A lot of these buildings weren’t here when I moved away last year.”

“When did you get back in town?”

“A few days ago.”

“Do you have an apartment, or are you staying with family?” He rather hoped it was the former; he’d have a better chance of being invited inside when he took her home if she lived alone. Damn it, he was thinking like an eager teenager again.

“Neither. I’m still looking for a place. I’ve got a room in a motel until I find something.”

A motel. He digested that a moment, wondering if she’d had no other place to go. “Don’t you have family in the area?”

“My younger sister’s a student at M.S.U. She lives in a mobile home with three other students. I didn’t want to intrude on Joyce and Norvell, they’re only distant relatives. I have a male cousin who has an apartment in the Pinch, but it’s hardly large enough for him.”

Andrew nodded, thinking that some of the old apartment buildings in that historic but generally impoverished district were hardly habitable. The neighborhood was still waiting for the great reincarnation and revitalization the city had been optimistically predicting for the past decade.

“Are your parents still living?” he asked.

“My father died several years ago. I always miss him at this time of year. He loved the holidays. He dressed as Santa to deliver our presents until he died. I was nearly thirteen then. Had he lived, he’d probably still be carrying on the tradition. Did your dad ever dress as Santa for you, Andrew?” she asked, sounding as though she were trying to imagine the man she’d met at the club in a red suit and fake beard.

He shook his head. “My parents never deluded me about Santa Claus. I knew from infancy that it was only a legend. Dad believes in facing reality.”

She was quiet for a while. Sensing that she was dismayed by his remark, he quickly moved on. “What about your mother?”

“My mother’s still going strong. She divorced her second husband last year and is now angling for a new one. The latest prospect lives in Shreveport, Louisiana, so she’s been spending a lot of time there.”

It seemed that almost everything Nicole revealed about herself made it more clear that she and Andrew came from very different backgrounds, led very different lives. She seemed to be the footloose type, in contrast to his own predictable routines.

Since he’d met her, she’d mentioned that she tended to be curious, impulsive—and bloodthirsty, he added, remembering their conversation about her ex. He, on the other hand, was sensible, practical and deliberate.

He recalled the moment he’d first seen her, when he’d had the odd, unsettling feeling that he’d just found the woman of his fantasies. He thought of his nearly overwhelming reactions to their midnight kiss. She had felt so right, so blissfully perfect for him. Now...well, the more time he spent with her, the less likely a long-term relationship seemed.

He wasn’t at all sure he was the type of man who would appeal to her on a permanent basis. Though he couldn’t imagine ever becoming bored by Nicole—how could he when he never knew what she was going to do or say next? But he couldn’t imagine that he would be as interesting to her.

Yet his initial attraction to her hadn’t waned. In fact, the more time he spent with her, the more he wanted her.

Andrew wasn’t one to indulge in one-night stands, meaningless affairs or purely physical liaisons. Not only did they seem a waste of time, since marriage and family were his ultimate goals, but he was far too cautious to risk his health, besmirch his reputation and set himself up for potential ugly lawsuits. The women he’d dated in the past few years had all had one thing in common—they all had some possibility of becoming Mrs. Andrew Colton Tyler III.

Since he’d already accepted that Nicole was unlikely to be interested in that position, the sensible, practical, Andrew-type thing to do would be to pull back. Take her to her motel, tell her how nice it was to have met her, vaguely assure her that they would probably see each other again, and go on his way, writing this off as an enchanting but unproductive New Year’s Eve.

Somehow he knew he wouldn’t be following his own advice. And his absolute certainty worried him. Just what was happening between him and this woman he hardly knew?

“You’re being very quiet all of a sudden,” Nicole commented, making him aware that she’d been watching him as he drove. “Is anything wrong?”

He shook off his probably unfounded uneasiness and managed a faint smile. “No. We’re not far from a couple of all-night restaurants. Is there anyt