Baby, It's Cold Outside (Romance From a Male POV) (Fire & Ice) Read online

  “Shark Week,” I told her with a grin. We both settled in to the program and I started on my mousse.

  “Carter, have I done a show on mousse yet?”

  “No, but for the next series of recipes that would be a good addition.” I took another bite and thought about it. She was doing a series on cooking with eggs, so mousse would fit right in with the soufflé and quiche she had already planned. Yeah, I knew my stuff.

  “What do you mean series? Don’t I just do a show and post it?” She sounded as naïve as we were when we decided to try to do the shows.

  “Uh uh. It’s more complicated than that. We don’t just film you and post it. We have to do repeat shots sometimes and then there’s the lighting and sound to set up, not to mention the editing involved before we can post it.”

  “Who does all of that?”

  “Paulo. He brings his stuff over and we try to do at least three segments at a time. It really saves a lot of time that way. He edits them for us, too.”

  She didn’t say anything else so I went back to eating and thinking. I needed to plan my next move if she didn’t wake up tomorrow with her memory intact. I was pretty cheered about how much she had remembered today, though. It was really much more than I had believed possible this morning before she remembered the omelets.

  We didn’t do a lot of extravagant things, I hadn’t been lying to Justine when I said we stayed home most of the time, but I had a couple of ideas that might jog her memory. She absolutely loved when we went out on the lake…

  Searing pain shot across my head from one side to the other. I knew immediately what was going on. Monique had affixed herself to my scalp and I realized it would only be seconds before she used her teeth. I jumped up screaming while trying to remove her claws from my temples. It wasn’t working.

  “Help me!” I yelled as I caught Justine sitting there. She jumped up and came to my side.

  “Hold still!” I moved my hands from the cat and tried to protect my eyes while I stood there. Monique had embedded herself deep into my flesh and Justine’s tugging was only making the pain more excruciating. I tried to be quiet but I wanted to yelp.

  Suddenly, I was free of the cat and I bolted the three feet to the crate. I shoved the crate at Monique and Justine pushed her inside. Once the door was secured I rammed the crate onto the floor. I wanted to kick it with Monique inside but even injured I would never purposefully hurt an animal, even one as deserving as Monique.

  Justine’s face had a look of horror so I thought I must look pretty bad. I let her tug my head down to her level.

  “She got me on this side too.” I turned my head so that she could see all of my injuries. Justine lifted up my hair to check for damage. It made me feel better to have her attending my wounds.

  “I’m so sorry, Carter. I didn’t think she would go after you like this.” I had to stop the snort that wanted to escape me. Hadn’t I told her something like this would happen? Justine had wet a paper towel and was dabbing it on my head. I could see the spots of blood when she lifted it off of one side to move to the other.

  “I tried to tell you, she’s the devil.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.” She stopped wiping my face and threw the paper in the trash. “Well, you don’t need stitches, anyway, and there’s too much hair for using a Band-Aid. We can just keep it clean.” She looked over at the cat who was looking at us through her bars. “We can set her up in the laundry room.”

  Well, duh. That’s what I said from the beginning. I went over to Justine’s prized buffet table and picked up the food and water bowls, trailing Justine into the laundry room. I set them on the floor.

  “Wait. Let me get out of here first.” I shot out the door before she could release Monique and walked back out to the living room, cringing at the remains of my mousse spread across the floor where I had flung it. Just great. I turned on my heel and went back to the kitchen for a dishrag. I was just wringing it out when Justine came out of the laundry room.

  “I spilled my mousse,” I told her as I walked back to the living room to clean my perfect first date dessert. I went down on my knees and started wiping. I could tell immediately that it was going to take several trips to the sink.

  “At least it didn’t get on the rug.” Justine’s voice broke into my sour thoughts. She held out her hand. “Here, let me. You should probably go clean your head up.” I took her hand and let her hoist me back to a standing position. She looked at me and I could hear her breathing speed up. She so wanted me. My next plan was formulating as I handed her the rag with a smile and took myself to the bathroom for some first aid.

  Chapter Eighteen

  I made my way to the bathroom with my head stinging. Stupid cat. I looked at myself in the mirror, surprised that I didn’t look worse, but I was bleeding from both sides of my scalp. I grabbed a wash cloth and ran it under some warm water before dabbing at my wounds. All I could think about was getting cat scratch fever. Was that even a real thing? I pulled out the hydrogen peroxide and some cotton balls and tried to disinfect all the punctures. It foamed up a lot less than I was expecting, so maybe I wouldn’t get some gnarly cat disease after all.

  My idea about recreating our first date was a success. I could see she was feeling a lot warmer towards me as the day went on, and every memory today had reinforced to her the history we had, but I needed something more. I could try seduction, but honestly, we had just had some pretty hot sex only a few hours ago, it might be overkill. Then again, who would turn down some hot sex if the chance arose? No one in their right mind, but Justine wasn’t technically in her right mind.

  I was just starting to sop up the blood again when there was a tap at the door.

  “Carter, are you all right?” I opened the door to let her see for herself.

  “I’m sorry. I honestly didn’t realize she would go lion on wildebeest with you.”

  “This isn’t the first time she’s savaged me, Justine. This is what she gave me last time she was here.” I pointed to the scar from about four months ago. It was still white and semi fresh.

  “Why didn’t you say something when Mom called?”

  If only it would have been that easy. “It was too late after you got off the phone, and to be honest, I thought some of the trauma from her last visit might have come back to you.” She obviously didn’t have the same kind of connection with Monique as she had with me. “Does diarrhea ring a bell?”

  The look on her face was priceless. It was something between horror and embarrassment.

  “The cat had diarrhea and she didn’t limit it to the cat box. She really did a number on the couch and the rug in the bedroom.” I still wanted to gag when I thought about it. Luckily, we had been able to have the couch cleaned, but we didn’t even bother with the rug, we went to IKEA and got one which was much cooler than the one Monique ruined.

  “Sorry.” She barely whispered it this time, and I wanted to tell her not to sweat it when she suddenly spoke up again. “She must have known all that, right?” I nodded. “Why would she bring her back here?”

  Hmm. How to answer her? I could tell her the truth as I saw it, that her mother was a selfish bitch who didn’t appreciate what a wonderful daughter she had, or I could give her a slightly abridged version which was also true. Why hurt Justine needlessly?

  “I guess she was hard up for a cat sitter.”

  “She really doesn’t care, does she?” She sounded like a hurt little girl. I pulled her against me and squeezed her tight.

  “I do.” I cared so much that I was going to give Gloria a piece of my mind when she got back from Phoenix. I had finally had enough. Justine was my priority, and keeping up good relations with her mother fell far down the list when Juss was treated so carelessly.

  “Sorry. I came in here to see if I could do anything for you and you end up making me feel better.” She pulled back and I let her, but I missed having her against me immediately.

  “Stop apologizing. It’s done, but
I’m calling a kennel first thing tomorrow.” I wasn’t going to argue with her about it. Who knew what Monique might do next? I wasn’t taking a chance that she would inflict more damage ons any of us.

  She surprised me by agreeing instantly. “Absolutely. Now let me see your injuries.” She pulled my head down and looked over both sides. I was surprised she was taking care of my wounds. Blood on a living being usually made her feel sick, but I didn’t say anything about it. Maybe she forgot that about herself, too.

  “I should put some antibiotic on it.” She turned and got the first aid box out of the cabinet while I stood there waiting for her tender ministrations. Those never came; instead she pulled out a can of Bactine and started spraying it across my hair and face. It obviously hadn’t been used in a while because it was shooting out in weird strings and leaving white globs in my hair. I was about to hold up a hand to protect my eyes when she suddenly stopped. I took the opportunity to take it from her and set it out of her reach.

  “I’ll just use the cream.” I wiped the mess off and grabbed for the tube while Justine stood there watching. So she wasn’t Nurse Nancy, I didn’t really care, at least she tried. She turned away so I knew she was about to go. “Don’t leave. I like you in here tending my wounds. I don’t think I’ve ever had a prettier nurse.” She started smiling and blushing so I guess my words had the right effect.

  “I’m going to go take care of the dishes. You can finish up in here without me.” She took off so I finished up and put all of the mess away. After that was done I realized it was time to move on to the next phase of my first date plan. We had actually ended up watching TV after our dinner, and even though we had started doing that already, I thought a change of venue was in order after the debacle in the living room.

  I went into the bedroom and straightened up the bed. I figured we could watch a movie in here. It would be more comfortable and, if I was already lying here, she would be less likely to want to make me sleep on the couch again. I didn’t really think she would banish me to the couch tonight after everything that had transpired today, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

  I walked over the hutch that housed the TV and opened the cabinet that held the movies. I was going to go all out and pick a chick flick. Hmm, I looked over the selection with distaste. All of the good movies were out in the living room, obviously. I did see 50 First Dates, but I thought might be a little too weird in the circumstances. On second thought, that might be just the thing. She did think the movie was cute and seeing all the trouble Adam Sandler goes through to get her to fall in love with him every day might give her some indication of what lengths I was willing to go to.

  I pulled it out and set it beside the DVD player waiting for the chance to put my plan into action. I went over to the bedside table but it wasn’t there. I opened the drawer which we referred to as the “sex drawer” since it had all of our “accessories” like lube and Justine’s favorite toys. I didn’t see the remote, but I immediately saw Vlad (the Impaler) sitting on top of the pile like the king of all sex aids. I smiled as I picked it up and thought about the last time we had incorporated it into our evening. Maybe if I reintroduced her to Vlad it would bring back some memories. I made a note to do that tomorrow if the opportunity arose and was just about to set it back down when Justine’s voice startled me.

  “All better?” I spun around still gripping Vlad. By the look on her face I’m pretty sure she wasn’t expecting to see me fondling a larger than life dick. I guess introductions were in order.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Justine’s face went from surprised to aghast in a split second. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” She started backing out of the room before I could say a word.

  “Wait. Juss don’t go; it’s not what you think.” Oh my god, I didn’t even know what she was thinking, but finding me holding Vlad and the look on her face didn’t bode well for her mind being filled with good thoughts.

  “Hey, I’m no one to judge you. Honestly. I’m open-minded.” She was open-minded? What the hell did that mean? Did she think this was mine? Oh hell no. She was already down the hall when I realized what she thought she saw, so I wasted no time in barreling after her so that I could explain things.

  “This isn’t mine. This is Vlad, don’t you remember?” I held it up to her so that she could see it more clearly.

  “Really Carter, it’s okay.” She was trying to make me feel better but she was doing just the opposite by trying to be understanding.

  “Vlad the Impaler? We have a lot of fun with him. Well, you do, but me too because we incorporate it into our sex, but it’s for you.” It didn’t sound right when I said it, but it was all I had.

  “Stop. I need a second here.” She held up her hand as if to ward me off. “Why were you playing around with it?” She made me sound like a pervert.

  “It’s not like I was stroking it. I just picked it up when I was in the sex drawer looking for the remote for the DVD player.”

  “The sex drawer? Uh uh. I keep my things in a box under the bed.”

  “Love, we have a sex drawer. Come with me.” I grabbed her hand and dragged her behind me into the bedroom. I pointed down into the drawer that was still open and she took a moment to peruse the contents, picking up a bottle of flavored lube. Strawberry, my favorite. She hastily set it back down so I threw Vlad back inside and shoved the drawer closed.

  “Okay, I believe it’s mine. You just caught me off guard, that’s all.”

  “Well, obviously you caught me off guard,” I chuckled in relief. Whew, that was way more awkward than it needed to be.

  “So, um, did you want to watch some TV?” She asked me hesitantly, she probably still had doubts about me. Fabulous.

  “That would be great. I was just thinking that we could watch a movie back here where it’s more comfortable and farther away from the cat.”

  “Good idea.” She set Lucy, who’d been in her arms the entire time, down on the bed and walked over to the TV cabinet. “This is kind of weird.” I looked at her wondering what particular thing she was thinking was weird. There were so many things to choose from that I couldn’t make a guess as to what she meant.

  “Just everything. You, me, my amnesia, the cat, the vibrator. Everything.”

  I felt guilty. She was going through so much, and in my haste to make her remember I was probably making things worse. “You’re right. I’ve been so set on getting you to remember that I didn’t stop to think that I might be pushing you too hard. We can just sit and watch a movie and relax for the rest of the day, okay?” She reached for my hand and I took it and gave it a squeeze. “Come on, you relax and I’ll take care of everything else.”

  “That sounds wonderful. Do you mind if I take a bath first? I really need to relax.”

  “Yeah, you go ahead take as long as you need. I’ve got some things I need to do, anyway.” I remembered that her blog post was due tomorrow. “So I guess I should probably post that you’re sick and won’t be updating for a bit?”

  “Sure, do what needs to be done. I’m obviously worthless with that right now.” She started looking for underwear so I went out and to the office. I wanted to get her blog taken care of so that I could get to what was really important, calling Elisa and telling her not to say a word about my proposal plans to Justine.

  I had updated the site with the simple message that Justine would be temporarily off of her updating schedule due to illness when I heard Justine’s phone ringing from the kitchen. I jumped up and jogged into the room in time to catch the phone before it went to voicemail. Elisa. What a persistent cow.

  “Elisa,” I answered. Her call would save me some time.

  “Carter? What are you doing answering Justine’s phone?”

  “She’s not able to talk right now. Why have you been calling her so much?” I figured I had better cut to the chase, I didn’t know how long Justine would be in the bath.

  “That’s not really your business, is it? It’s
just girl talk.” I was going to make it my goal to keep Juss away from Elisa. She just bothered me. I was sorry I had ever introduced them.

  “Well actually, it is my business. Justine’s just out of the hospital and I need to know what might have happened on Friday. I already know that you called her, what did you talk about?” I was hoping against hope that she had talked to Justine about shopping or going out, but I was feeling more and more that she was responsible for what happened in some way. She was the definition of a frenemy.

  “Why was Justine in the hospital? Is she okay?” I noticed she didn’t answer my question. Even though I didn’t want to tell her anything, I felt I needed to give her something so that she would tell me what she knew.

  “She fell and hit her head Friday night. She came home yesterday, but she’s still unwell.” I didn’t want to mention the amnesia; she didn’t need to know everything. I needed to pour on the charm to get my answers and I didn’t feel a bit guilty. I used my friendliest voice. “She remembers talking to you on Friday, but she’s still a little confused about what you talked about. She has a head injury.” I spoke the last bit as if I was sharing the secret with only her. Maybe she would warm up to me a little.

  “Well, I asked her what she was doing, and then I mentioned that you had a big surprise for her on Saturday night. She already knew something was up.” She was such a liar.

  “But did you say anything about what the surprise was?” Please no.

  “I don’t remember. I don’t think so. I’m not sure.” I could see that she was backtracking and my heart started to pound with dread. I knew it.

  “Look Elisa, I’m not mad. She’s just confused right now and she needs help remembering what you talked about. Can you remember anything else that would help her?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Well, why have you been calling so much?”

  “She’s my friend. So did she say yes?”