Cold Hands, Warm Heart

"Em uh egs ur ettn der puce pahtd."

Nathan Bridger frowned at the teenager across the dinner table from him.  "You know," he said slightly exasperated, "if you had a little less food in your mouth I might understand you. I have no idea what you just said."

Lucas grinned a little embarrassed smile and swallowed the food he was chewing.  "Sorry.  I said Tim and Migs are getting their place painted."

"That's nice," Bridger said slipping a piece of broccoli in his mouth.

"Yeah, and they have to move out for four days."

"Why?"

"They were going to do it themselves," Lucas said spearing another piece of the chicken parmesan, "but they figured that with their work schedules they'd never get it finished.  So they're hiring a contractor to do it and he says that the smell of the paint is going to make the place unlivable for four days."

"So they're getting the entire place painted?"

"Up," Lucas said around a bite of the chicken.  Then he stopped and swallowed the meat and tried again. "Yup, both bedrooms, the living and dining rooms, the kitchen… everything.  Oh, and they're having the countertop replaced in the kitchen at the same time."

"They could use that," Nathan nodded.  "I imagine it's been a little difficult to use since Ortiz did that dance on it and cracked it."

"Yeah," grinned Lucas, "but it was a great dance."

"I'll take your word for it," Nathan said with a chuckle.  Then he stopped and looked contemplatively over at the boy.  "Where are they going to stay?"

This time Lucas swallowed his food before he started to talk.  "At a hotel."

"Uh huh.  When are they getting this work done?"

"Um.  I think the guys said they start next Thursday."

"I see."  Bridger looked over at the boy again and pointed with his fork.  "Finish your vegetables."

The next morning Bridger stopped by the acoustics lab where Lieutenant Tim O'Neil and Chief Miguel Ortiz where working.  He leaned his hand on the prototype of the newest version of the WSKRs.

"How's it going, Chief?"

Ortiz stuck his head up from under the open sphere.  "It's gonna work, Cap," he said with a smile.

"Yeah?" Bridger smiled back.

"Yup," Tim O'Neil said coming up behind him.  "It wasn't as difficult as we anticipated to correct the refraction.  When you take the seaQuest out the next time you're going to have WSKRs that work just as well above the surface as they do below."

"So I can treat them just like periscopes?"

"Yes, sir," Ortiz said wiping his hands on a rag.  "When they're in the water they'll set themselves to compensate for the proper lighting and scatter in the water but when they're on the surface they'll adjust everything automatically to see in the air.  For that matter, when you've got one on the surface we've got it set to detect which part of the sphere is above so it can act like an air-breather while the rest of the sphere will act like an underwater sensor."

"Outstanding.  Good job, gentlemen.  That extra set of eyes is going to make life a lot easier."  He looked over the two smiling men.  "I have a question for you two."

O'Neil and Ortiz looked at each other before O'Neil answered cautiously.  "Yes, sir?"

"I hear you need to move out for a few days while your town home is painted."

"Yes, sir," Ortiz responded with a quizzical look.

"Need a place to stay?"

"We wouldn't want to put you out, sir," Tim piped up.

"Actually, I'm looking to cut a deal here," Nathan grinned.

"Like what?"

"I'd like to take off for a few days but I'd rather not leave Lucas alone.  If you two stayed at my house while yours was being painted I'd have someone to watch out after him."

Again the two younger men looked at each other and then they both shrugged their shoulders.  "Sounds great to us, Cap," Ortiz smiled.

"Terrific," Bridger nodded.  "I appreciate that."

George Bridger stared at his younger brother's image on the vid-screen in surprise.  "You want me to find out what????"

Nathan smiled and shook his head a little.  "I want you to find out if that friend of yours who owns the ski chalet in Vermont has a room free for next week from Wednesday night to Saturday night."

"Next weekend is Valentine's Day, Nathan," George said in a chastising voice.

"I know but I got the chance to take a few days off and I'd like to take Kristin skiing."

"Nathan, you hate the cold."

"Yeah," he shrugged, "but she likes skiing."

George frowned a little and shook his head.  "You're serious, aren't you?"

"Yes, George.  I'm serious."

"Nathan, you *really* hate snow."

"I know."

"Wow," George said leaning back in his chair.  "This sounds like love."

Nathan smiled softly.  "It is, George.  It is."

George nodded and smiled a little.  "I'll take care of it."

"Thanks, George."

"Take care, Squirt," the older man said leaning towards the screen and closing the connection.

Bridger was rushing down the hallway on his way to a meeting when he saw Kristin coming from the other direction concentrating on a sheaf of papers she held in her hand.  She started, almost running into him when he stepped in front of her.

"Nathan," she scolded him.

Bridger only grinned back.  "Dinner tonight?"

"Sure, where did you want to go?"

Nathan slid around her and started walking backwards away from her.  "I'm late.  We can talk about it when I pick you up.  Six-thirty."

"What about Lucas?" Kristin called after him.

"Let him find his own girl," Nathan grinned back over his shoulder.

"This is lovely," Kristin said with a smile as she sipped an extraordinary cabernet that Nathan had ordered.

Nathan smiled back.  "Yup, best of all worlds."  He looked around at the clear Florida night sky.  "Beautiful night, great restaurant, good food and a gorgeous companion."

"Oh, sir," Kristin chided him, "you flatter me."

"I'm only expressing what I observe," Nathan said gallantly and then smiled at her.  "I have a question for you."

"Hmmmm?"

"Any chance you could get a few days off at the end of next week?"

"What did you have in mind?" she asked sipping her wine.

"I thought I'd take you somewhere for Valentine's Day."

"Oh," Kristin smiled.  "A little trip to the island?"

"No," Nathan said putting his hand over hers.  "I thought that perhaps you'd like to go skiing."

Kristin regarded him silently for a moment.  "Do you know how to ski?"

"Kris, I'm from Massachusetts.  Of course I know how to ski," he grinned.

"Just because you're from New England doesn't mean that you know how to ski," she chided him.

"Well, I do."

Kristin frowned a little.  "I thought you didn't like the cold."

He rubbed his fingers over the back of her hand.  "Somehow, I think that with you around it's going to seem a lot warmer."

A soft smile covered Kristin's face.  "I'd love to go skiing with you."  Then she stopped.  "Do you have skis?"

"I will by mid-week," Nathan affirmed.

Kristin brought her hand up to stroke the side of his face.  "You've got a date."

"And you listen to the Lieutenant and the Chief," Nathan cautioned the boy.

Lucas just smiled and shook his head.  "I'll behave, Cap," he assured the older man.  "You just go and have a good time."

Kristin came up behind Nathan and slipped her arms around his waist.  "We shall," she said around his body and then leaned her head against his back.  "If you insist on staying here and chastising this boy even before he has a chance to do anything wrong we're going to miss our plane."

Nathan sighed and shook his head, smiling.  "Alright."  He looked over at Ortiz and O'Neil.  "You guys have a good time," he said turning and taking Kristin's arm.

"We will, sir," Ortiz said enthusiastically.

"But not too good," O'Neil assured him.

Kristin and Nathan waved as they headed out the door.

Nathan leaned their skis against the wall next to the door as Kristin walked into the main room of the Crystal Suite of the resort he had brought her to.  She'd already been surprised, first by the distance they had to drive to get here and then by the opulent, no, make that almost extravagant surroundings.  Now she looked around in wonder at the large living room with the exposed timber ceiling, warm rustic furniture and enormous stone fire place.  She leaned back against Nathan as he came up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist, gently pulling her against his body.

"Nathan, it's magnificent."

"Yeah, it is nice."

"It's not just nice," she said folding her arms over his.  "It's magnificent."

"George does good work."

Kristin looked back over her shoulder at him with a quizzical look on her face.  "What does your brother have to do with this?"

"George went to school with the owner of the resort and was able to get us their last room for the weekend."

"Ah," Kristin looked around the room again.  "Are all the rooms like this?"

"No, this is kind of their top-of-the-line suite."

Kristin shook her head in amazement.  "If the living room is like this, what's the bedroom like?"  She gasped softly as Nathan kissed the side of her neck.

"I suppose we could go find out," he whispered into her ear.

She turned her head again and smiled at him.  "Let's," she said as he took her hand and led her into the next room.

Kristin rubbed her head against Nathan's chest.  "That was wonderful," she sighed.

"Oh, and sorely needed," he said trailing his hand over her back.  "Are you hungry?"

"After that workout?" Kristin kissed him on the chest.  "Starving."

"They've got a great restaurant… but we've got to get dressed."

"Well, we'll have to sometime during the weekend."

"I suppose."

"Otherwise we'll freeze when we ski."

She felt the rumble of Nathan's chuckle.  "To say nothing of being the hit of the slopes."

Kristin patted him on the stomach.  "Up," she said imperiously.  "I'm hungry."

After a scrumptious dinner at a warm, well appointed restaurant, the couple adjourned to the bar where a live band was playing a variety of music.  They sat snuggled together in a small booth with Nathan's arm draped over Kristin's shoulders while she rested back against him.  He slowly sipped his beer while she nursed a glass of white wine.

"This is nice," Kristin sighed.

"Yes."

"And very calming."

"Ummm hmmm."  Nathan listened to the band start into a slow set.  "Feel like dancing?"

Kristin smiled and patted his leg.  "Yes."

An hour later they were still on the dance floor.  Their arms were wrapped around each other and Kristin rested her head against his shoulder as they moved slowly to the music.  Nathan peeked down and saw that her eyes were closed.

"Are you just very relaxed or are you falling asleep?"

"Yes," Kristin purred.

"Bedtime?"

"What time is it?"

Nathan glanced at his watch.  "A little after one."

She looked up at him with a little grin.  "If we don't go to bed we'll let the best part of the day pass us by tomorrow."

"The best part of the day?" he asked kissing her forehead.

"The first run of the morning down the slope is always the best part of the day."

"I think warming you up after we make the first run of the morning will be more fun," he grinned.

Kristin smiled back.  "Tell you what.  We can't really practice skiing at this time of night but you can practice warming me up."

"Good idea," Nathan nodded.  "I could use the rehearsal."

The next morning they stood in the crisp air with the mountains rising like monuments around them.  They wore sunglasses against the bright sun that glinted off the pristine snow and warm clothes to ward off the bracing cold.  Kristin wore a red ski jacket with a green cap with matching trim.  She critically regarded Nathan's clothing.

"Are you sure that you don't need a cap?"

Nathan smiled tolerantly.  "As long as my ears aren't cold I'm alright," he said adjusting the headband he wore.

"And you can hear alright with that?"

"Huh?" he asked with a grin.

"Very funny," Kristin groused.  "Shall we head for the slopes?"

"Lead the way, my dear."  He followed her as she headed for a ski lift, his face reflecting more and more confusion as they got closer.  "Kris, where are you going?"

Kristin stopped and nodded her head towards the lift.  "We're going over there."

"No," Nathan said shaking his head.  "Not to the Bunny slope."

"Well," Kristin said tentatively, "I thought you might need some tuning up."

He chuckled and redirected her towards one of the more difficult runs.  "I'm not quite ready for Deadman's Hill but I think we can avoid the Bunny Slope."

Fifteen minutes later they stepped out of the lift car and snapped their skis onto their boots.  Kristin looked over at Nathan nervously.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"Do I know how to ski?" he asked with a grin.  She nodded at him and he grinned even wider.  "Tell you what.  We won't race to the bottom, but I promise that I'll keep up with you."

"Are you sure?" she asked again.

Nathan pointed his skis down the hill and looked over at her.  "Alright, if you're going to be that way, you can keep up with me."  He leaned on his poles and started down the hill.  Kristin had no choice but to follow him.

After a smooth, swooshing run down the hill Kristin slid next to Nathan and lifted her goggles.  "You know how to ski," she said surprised.

"I told you that," Nathan objected.

"Yes, but I didn't believe you."

Nathan slid forward until his skis were on either side of hers and kissed her on the nose.  "Wanna try again?" he grinned.

"Yeah," Kristin smiled mischievously, "but this time we race."

"You're on."

By early afternoon the exertion of the skiing and the cold had combined to tire both of them out and the couple grabbed a late lunch at the chalet.  After a refreshing meal topped off by warm cocoa they sat with Nathan absently stroking Kristin's leg under the table.

"Any thoughts about what we do this afternoon?" Kristin asked putting her hand over the one he rested on the table.

"No more skiing?" he asked.

"No… unfortunately, it uses a few muscles I haven't exercised in a little while.  If we ski more this afternoon I'll be too sore to move."

"Oh, we can't have that," Nathan grinned.  "Perhaps we should try a different type of exercise."

"Like what?"

"I think it would be better if I showed you."  He softly stroked the side of her face.  "If you join me in our rooms I'd be happy to demonstrate."

"What a lovely idea," Kristin said with a smile standing and slipping her arm around his waist as they walked to the suite.

Nathan closed the door behind them and looked over at Kristin.  "Would you like a fire?"

"Yes, please," she said moving to sit on the sofa in front of the wide fireplace.  In no time Nathan had a roaring fire going and he sat down next to her.  "What now?" she asked.

"I would think that would be obvious," he said leaning over and kissing her on the cheek.  He sat back and looked at her while she smiled softly at him.

"Is that it?"

"No," he said gently.  "Have I remembered to tell you recently how much I love you?"

Kristin raised her hand and stroked the side of his face with her thumb.  "Yes, but I like hearing it."  Her fingers trailed along his lips.  "I'd like feel it even more," she said huskily.

Nathan leaned over again.  This time his lips met hers in a kiss that was at once passionate and tender.  While their lips caressed, their hands explored.  Touching and stroking, feeling and massaging.  Soon they slid down onto the carpet in front of the fireplace as their clothes came off piece by piece until they held each other close, the touch of their skin against the others setting a spark to their desire.  Afterwards, their need satisfied, they still lay on the floor in the warmth of the flames holding onto one another and reveling in the afterglow of their ardor.  They almost fell asleep there before Kristin stirred against Nathan's side.

"We have a reservation for dinner in 30 minutes," she said softly.

"I suppose that means we should get up," Nathan said languorously. Kristin sighed against him.  "Of course, if we get up that means that later on we can go to bed and do this again."

Kristin was grinning when she raised her head to look at him.  "Alright, you've convinced me."

After enjoying another delicious meal and the Valentine's Day specialties and decorations which surrounded them Nathan and Kristin returned to their rooms.  This time they went straight for the bedroom where Nathan again built up a fire but this time in the fireplace that graced their bedroom.  Kristin sat on the bottom of the bed watching him and admiring how the light from the fire danced across the features of his face and body.  He smiled a little at her when he turned and saw her eyes on him.  Before he sat down next to her he took a box from his suitcase.

"I got you something for Valentine's Day."

He watched as Kristin stood and went over to her own case, returning with a small box of her own.  "I got you something too," she said handing him the package.

"Who's first?"

"You are."

Nathan nodded and removed the finely embossed white wrapping paper that covered his present.  He lifted the lid to find a pair of intricately engraved gold cuff links with dolphins gracing each side of a fouled anchor.

"You always complain about not having good cuff links for your shirts," Kristin explained as he looked up at her.

"They're perfect, Kris," he said leaning over and giving her a long kiss.  By the time they separated they were both gasping for air.  "Your turn."

Kristin looked down at the small box in her lap before slipping off the ribbon that encircled it.  She gasped when she opened it and saw the diamond pendant necklace nestled on royal blue fabric within.

"Nathan, this is far too expensive," she objected.

"That depends," he said in a calm voice.  "Expensive is a relative term."

"What do you mean?" she asked looking up at him with a frown.

Nathan shrugged.  "What's expensive to Lucas might be peanuts to me. It's all how you perceive `expensive'."

"And you don't consider this expensive?"

A soft smile crossed his face.  "I consider it to be appropriate." His eyes met hers and she saw the love held within them.  "And I think you would look lovely wearing it."

Kristin placed her hand flat against his chest and felt his heart beat within.  "But not now," she said, desire filling her voice.

"No," Nathan said reaching over to put both of their present boxes on the dresser and then sitting back on the bed where used his lips to seek out the soft skin on the side of her neck while she sighed. With a gentle pressure he pushed her down onto the bed and partially covered her body with his own.  He raised his head and looked at her again.  "No, not right now."  His lips descended again and found hers and two fires flared in the room.

Later, much later that night they lie in the bed, entangled in each others arms while they talked softly.

"I could see doing this all the time," Kristin said softly.

"Making love?"

"Sharing a bed."

"Oh."

Kristin was surprised by the tone of his voice.  It almost seemed discouraged.  "You don't like waking up together?" she asked raising her head a little so she could look at him.

"I love waking up together and I could definitely see doing that for the rest of our lives but I have some responsibilities that interfere with that."

"Explain," Kristin curiously.

"You know I love you, darling," Nathan started carefully.  Kristin pulled herself up until she was leaning on his chest and watching him.  "And I would like nothing more than to wake up each morning with you sleeping next to me…."

"But??"

"But that comes with a commitment."

"What kind of commitment?" she asked guardedly.

"If we're going to live together we need to be married."

Kristin flopped down on her back next to him.  "Why in God's name would you want to waste a perfectly good relationship with marriage?" she grumbled.  He was silent and after a while Kristin leaned up on her elbow and glanced at him.  A worried look covered his face as he stared at the ceiling.  It seemed to ease a little when she cuddled against his chest again.  "It's Lucas, isn't it?"

"Yeah," he said softly.  "Sorry."

"No, that's alright.  I understand.  You have a commitment to him too and right now the two of us as a pair don't quite fit into that." She rubbed her hand across his chest but still felt that his muscles were tight.  She leaned up again and looked at him.  "It's alright, Nathan.  I understand," she said earnestly.  "If it had been for just about any other reason, I think I would have been upset but you have a responsibility to Lucas.  A responsibility that you take very seriously."

Nathan let out a long breath before his hand slid across the soft skin of her back.  "I do love you, Kris.  I love you more than I've ever loved anyone before."

"Oh, I doubt that," she smiled back weakly.

"No," he said pulling her down so that she was lying on top of him.  "Different and more than ever before," he almost whispered.  "And you don't know how hard it is not to have you with me each day… but I just can't."

Her hands framed his face as she smiled slightly at him.  "I know, Nathan.  I understand.  I suppose we'll just have to make the best of the time that we can have together then."  Her lips descended to kiss at the soft skin at the hollow of his throat and Nathan leaned back to give her better access.  His soft sighs became impassioned groans as her lips moved across to find that spot on his neck.  That one spot that she knew would set a spark to his desire and she moaned herself as his fingers ran down her spine to caress and touch all her
tender parts.

Sunday night Lucas, Tim and Miguel walked up the stairs to the enclosed porch that stretched over two sides of Bridger's beach house.  They talked leisurely about the restaurant they'd just left until they had almost reached the double French doors that led into the house.  Lucas stopped short when he realized the doors were open.

"It's alright, Lucas.  It's only us," Bridger said from the wicker seat on the porch where he and Kristin sat in the dark.  She in his lap and her arms around his neck.

"Jesus, Cap, you've got to stop sneaking up on me like that," Lucas said as he sank into the other chair.  Tim and Miguel sat on the sofa across from the chairs.

"How was the vacation, sir?" Tim asked.

"It was great," Nathan said in a content voice.

"Very much so," Kristin echoed.

"How was the skiing?" Miguel inquired.

"It was alright."

"Yes," Kristin countered, "if you didn't have some idiot knocking you down at the end of the run."

"I only did that once."

"Intentionally."

"Of course it was intentional.  How the heck are you supposed to do snow angels if you're not lying down in the snow?"

Kristin could see his grin in the darkness.  "Idiot," she mumbled and then turned her attention to Tim and Miguel.  "How did the painting go?"

"It looks great, Doc.  We're going to have to have a re-open house so everyone can see," Miguel said.

Tim stood from the sofa.  "If you don't mind, sir, Doc, we're going to head home.  We've got a load of stuff that needs to be put back in place."

"Not at all.  Thanks for keeping an eye on the place."

"And the kid who lives in it," Lucas said saucily.

"No problem, sir.  Anytime," Miguel said as they headed off the porch.

"I think I'll go inside and hit the interNex," Lucas said standing from where he sat.

Nathan and Kristin watched him go into the house and then she snuggled her head down onto his chest again.  "We seem to cause this mass exodus whenever we sit out here," Nathan muttered.

"Yes, but that's alright."  She kissed Nathan on the chin.  "You won't reconsider, will you?"

"I can't, Kris," Nathan said softly.

"I know… but you can't blame a girl for trying."  He felt her smile.  "Drive me home?"

"Sure."  Kristin unwrapped herself from his lap and he stood after her.  She reached up and ran a hand across the side of his face.  "Tell Lucas that you'll be just a little while."

"I will?" he asked with just the hint of a smile.

"Yes, I'm in serious need of another sporting demonstration."
 
 

<<The End>>