Late the following afternoon, Wilkes came back from his search of the jewellery stores in New York City, tremendously pleased with himself for finding a gift for Nanny. As he passed her suite, he noticed the doors partially open and overheard Eloise saying how absolutely thrilled she was that they were going to decorate their tree after their evening meal. Wilkes, continuing on to his own suite, decided he would go over about 7:30 and ask if he could borrow Eloise for a moment, just to get her opinion on his purchase. That should surely give the two enough time to finish decorating. In the meantime, he would leave his own door open a crack and listen to make sure they didn't go out anywhere.
Only an hour later, he began to smile as he heard the record player starting up in the other suite, Nanny's voice raised in song as she sang along raucously with the Christmas carols while Eloise's shrill treble joined in. The two were obviously having a lot of fun. Somewhat dissatisfied, he looked around his own suite and wished he had someone to decorate the place with... or for....
He heard Eloise's excited cry that it was snowing, then realized that the next sound he was hearing was the child's running footsteps. He heard Nanny cry out, "Don't slam the..." and heard the loud bang as their door slammed shut. Quickly Wilkes jumped to his feet and got to his door in time to call to Eloise as she ran for the elevator.
She ran back to see him, obviously in a hurry, so he said quickly as he opened the small box, "I think I've found it! Tahitian. Quite rare." He beamed at Eloise, waiting for her approval. He personally thought the earrings were exquisite, and would suit Nanny perfectly.
"Nanny detests pearls," Eloise said simply, and turned and ran off again.
Wilkes snapped the little jewellery box shut. Were he a man prone to swearing, this would have been a good time to do so! He stuffed the box into his trouser pocket and started after Eloise, hoping to catch her before she got on the elevator. As he passed her suite, however, he heard the elevator bell, then Eloise's cheerful, "Second floor, please, Max!"
Stopping, he turned to go back when he heard Nanny grumbling in her suite and some banging and a loud, "AOWWW! Oh, KNICKERS!"
Tapping on the door, Wilkes waited. There was silence for a moment, then a red-faced, breathless Nanny, a gold tinsel garland trailing over her shoulders, the ends of a green garland in one hand and a candle in the other, opened the door to the dark suite.
"Sir Wilkes!" she gasped, then began to babble. "I'm so, so, so sorry. When Eloise slammed the door, the fuses were blown, and the garlands all fell and it was dark, dark, dark! I was going to change the fuses, but..."
"Perhaps I might be of some assistance?" he offered, and Nanny smiled gratefully.
"That would be absolutely divine, as Eloise would say!"
"Er, where IS your fuse box... and do you have extra fuses?"
Nanny dropped the greenery on the floor, rummaged in a drawer for the fuses and led the way with the candle into the utility room where the fuse box could be found. She held the candle as Wilkes squinted at the fuses, trying to see which ones were burnt out. As he unscrewed the first one, Nanny eyed the back of his head and chewed on her lip reflectively, trying to decide whether or not to offer him some eggnog.
Once the lights were back on, Nanny blew out the candle and smiled timidly at Sir Wilkes. "Would you care for some eggnog, Sir Wilkes?"
"I'd be delighted to have some," he replied readily. "Then we can re-hang your garland."
Nanny dipped him a cup of eggnog from the punchbowl on the table, then re-filled her own cup. Wilkes took a gulp and coughed a little at the unexpected strength of the rum in the eggnog.
"Drink up," Nanny urged. "There is rawther a lot here for one person!"
"So I see ..." Wilkes managed to say, and he cautiously took a small sip. "It's delicious," he added truthfully.
"Oh yes, quite. Quite," agreed Nanny.
"Perhaps we should put up the garlands?" Wilkes suggested, thinking that if he had much more eggnog, he wouldn't be steady enough on his feet to climb up the ladder.
"Aoww, yes, we should." Nanny hurried to get the ladder, but Wilkes beat her to it, and carried it over to the doorway where one garland had hung.
Nanny stopped at the record player and started the music again, saying to Wilkes, "I find that the music helps with the decorating!"
"I heard you singing with it before ..." he offered with a faint smile.
Nanny flushed, but a shy smile crossed her face, too. "I DO like singing," she admitted. "Especially Christmas songs."
"Be my guest ..." he waved. "Please, sing..."
"Only if you do ..." she almost dared him.
Somewhat surprising himself, Wilkes began to sing with her... songs he had almost forgotten but which came back to him quickly. "Deck the halls with boughs of holly, Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la! 'Tis the season to be jolly, Fa...." As they both sang loudly, they got the front door garland hung back up and firmly fastened so that it wouldn't fall again. Nanny poured them both another eggnog, and danced over to the window as she sang, waving the ends of the gold tinsel garland which still hung over her shoulders. "Don we now our gay apparel, Fa..." She shimmied her hips and dusted her bottom with the tinsel garland.
After his second cup of eggnog, Wilkes was seriously and with great relish considering what Nanny's dancing with the tinsel garland would look like if she were not wearing clothes. Catching her inquiring glance back at him, he blushed vividly and dropped his eyes, then hurriedly moved the ladder over to the window and fastened the garland over the window valance more securely. After the third cup of eggnog, he was plotting ways to catch Nanny under the mistletoe while they were re-hanging the garland over Eloise's bedroom door, but couldn't quite work up his courage.
Once the greenery had been re-fastened, together they put the final ornaments on the tree. Nanny tossed a handful of the silvery icicles onto the tree, gesturing to Wilkes to do the same and somewhat awkwardly, he did, blinking to try to clear his vision which seemed to blur often. Then, after the fourth cup of eggnog, Wilkes stepped up to Nanny, intent on kissing her with or without the mistletoe, but he found the floor was tilting alarmingly.
"Oh my stars, stars, stars, Sir Wilkes!" Nanny surveyed him incredulously. "You really ought to loosen up a bit! Roll up your shirtsleeves, for Lord's sake! And the tie..." she frowned. Dropping the ends of the tinsel garland she was still wearing like a shawl, she reached for his tie and tugged at it, working at the knot to loosen it.
He caught her hands and held them still, smiling faintly at her concentration on the offending apparel. She froze at his touch, and her eyes flew to his. They stared at each other silently for what seemed an eternity while Wilkes tried to get his mind and body to function together in spite of the alcohol-induced fog he was in. Finally he swayed a little unsteadily and pulled her closer to him, their bodies meeting and heating instantly. With a gasp, Nanny tugged her hands away.
"Thank you, Sir Wilkes, for helping me with the fuses and the garlands..." She caught his arm and tugged him to the door, "but I really have too, too, TOO much to do tonight to entertain anyone, for Lord's sake!" With that, she pushed him out the door and closed it firmly behind him.
Wilkes stood by the door for a moment, a little stunned at the rapidity of his ejection from the room. Then he sighed. Obviously he had done something wrong... as usual. It was all that eggnog he had downed! Weaving dangerously, he managed to find his way back to his own suite where he lay down and immediately fell asleep. The next morning he was nursing a hangover and was quite grumpy because he STILL had no idea what to get Nanny for Christmas, although he was half-seriously debating purchasing a microphone and an amplifier! Doubtless she could be a performer on Broadway with a little coaching!
O o O o O o
Christmas Eve afternoon, Wilkes was dispiritedly stepping into the lobby of the Plaza Hotel. He had had no luck whatsoever in finding a gift for Nanny. He supposed he could still give her the earrings, even though they WERE pearls... and tell her he would have the pearls replaced with sapphires to match her eyes. At any rate, he was MOST dejected.
Suddenly he heard a commotion from the elevator, and stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of Nanny pushing her way through people and packages, sending boxes and people and glasses flying as she yelled "Out of my way, for Lord's sake!"
Had something happened to Eloise? Wilkes hurried after the fast-disappearing woman, only to stand undecided and feeling a little lost in the stairwell. Had she gone up or down? Hearing some more banging and excited voices from below, he hurried down the stairs, arriving breathless at the bottom. He could hear Eloise urging Nanny to hurry but by the time he had tracked them down, Nanny was just at the top of a stair-like ladder in full pursuit of the child, and Wilkes had no breath to call after them.
Labouriously he climbed the ladder, then hurried back through the lobby and up the other stairs, after hearing someone talk about the crazy woman chasing a child up to the wedding. There Wilkes found himself face to face with Miss Stickler who said the Peabody/Oliver wedding had just started, and no, she had NOT seen that annoying child OR her obviously incompetent, pathetic excuse for a nanny.
Opening his mouth to berate the woman for daring to impugn his lady's honour, Wilkes stopped, briefly aghast at his own thoughts. HIS lady? How had Nanny snuck so securely into that secret place in his heart where no one had ever ventured nor been invited before? However it had come about, it seemed so right. He desperately wanted Nanny to be HIS lady. HIS... to have and to hold, from this day forth; for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health... HIS... to love and to cherish, forever more... HIS lady! He grimaced inwardly. The thought of the wedding happening right at the moment behind the closed doors was obviously affecting him!
At that moment, Bill ran past Wilkes and Miss Stickler, completely ignoring her belated low cries to stop. He crashed through the doors and Wilkes, unable to resist, stepped to the doorway as Miss Stickler hurried after the young man. From his vantage point, Wilkes saw that Miss Peabody had stepped away from Mr. Oliver and he also saw how her face lit up when she saw Bill. When Miss Peabody left Mr. Oliver at the front, hurried down to Bill and kissed him, Wilkes heard Eloise's giggle coming from somewhere above. Miss Stickler heard as well, and she turned abruptly and looked up. Then Wilkes recognized Nanny's faint "Oh!" and realized that Nanny and Eloise must be up somewhere in the ceiling vents.
Knowing that what was happening around the aborted wedding was none of his business, Wilkes slipped out and around the corner where he found the door of a utility room partially open. Inside, a ladder up to the vents told him he had most likely found the path Nanny and Eloise had taken. A second look at the ladder made him shake his head and decide that he could very well wait at the bottom until they appeared, which they did a short time later.
Nanny crawled down first, helping Eloise, and neither one noticed the man standing silently at the bottom until he reached out to assist Nanny down the last step. She yelped and almost fell, her surprise was so great when she felt his hand on her elbow.
"Oh, my LORD, Sir Wilkes!" she gasped, holding her hand over her racing heart.
"I DO apologize, Nanny," he said hurriedly. "I just wanted to make sure that you were all right!"
"Aoww ..." Embarrassed, Nanny ducked her head and busied herself helping Eloise down the last few rungs.
"Sir Wilkes, did you SEE? Rachel didn't marry that horrible Brooks after all!" Eloise cried delightedly. "Isn't that just absolutely divine?"
"Not for Mr. Oliver, I should think," was Wilkes' dry comment.
"Oh, but Rachel loves BILL, and he loves HER!" Eloise protested. "They've loved each other for YEARS! It's just so ROMANTIC!"
"Well, that's enough of that, Eloise," Nanny interrupted what could have been a long discourse on love. "I DO think we should move, move, MOVE!"
"Yes, if that pill, Prunella, catches us here, we'll be in BIG trouble!" Eloise grinned.
"I'm sure we're safe here, actually," Wilkes offered hesitantly. "I should think there might be a crowd in the lobby and just outside the Versailles Room."
"I didn't think of that. I suspect you're absolutely right, Sir Wilkes! Besides, we might see Bill and Rachel after all those other people have left!" Eloise grinned. Then she sobered. "Did you know, Sir Wilkes, that Mrs. Thornton has to leave the Plaza? Isn't that the most tragical thing you have ever heard? I mean, just because she has no money... Nanny says she'll maybe find a better place, but I can't see how, because isn't the Plaza absolutely the most wonderful place in the whole WORLD?"
"Oh yes, yes, quite so," Wilkes agreed, not daring to look at Nanny. He HAD heard that Mrs. Thornton was leaving, of course, since they all had suites on the top floor, but he hadn't heard the circumstances surrounding her move.
"Do you know, Sir Wilkes? Mrs. Thornton's dog, Mona, doesn't like Skipperdee!"
"Skipperdee?"
"Oh my Lord, don't you remember? Skipperdee is my turtle!" Eloise cried. "Oh, Sir Wilkes, you MUST meet him! I have to braid his ears every morning first thing, you know!"
"His ears?" Wilkes was trying to follow the conversation, but as usual was having a rather difficult time.
"What are you doing for Christmas, Sir Wilkes?" Eloise asked suddenly.
Nanny jerked involuntarily, and when he looked at her quickly, she glanced away, her face flushing slightly.
"Why?" he asked Eloise cautiously. Then he stammered, "I... I don't have many... plans, you know... my family is in England..."
"NO one should be alone on Christmas, Sir Wilkes, so you can come to our place for Christmas dinner!" Eloise beamed.
"That's ... very nice of you, Eloise. Nanny?" Thus appealed to directly, Nanny smiled shyly at him, and he felt as if a weight were lifted off his chest. "Thank you, Eloise," he said, looking at the little girl again. "I'd be delighted to join you."
"We can open our presents after we eat!" Eloise beamed. "I always want to open them early, but Nanny and Maman make me wait!"
At the mention of presents, both Wilkes' and Nanny's faces changed. Wilkes almost winced. He had pushed the quandary of what to give Nanny to the back of his mind during the last hectic hour, but now his anxiety rushed over him again. What on EARTH was he going to do... at this late date? Nanny, too, was cringing inwardly. Oh, KNICKERS! Because Eloise had vetoed every single suggestion she had made for a gift for Sir Wilkes, she still had NOTHING to give the man! How could she not have remembered that before allowing Eloise to invite him? Not that she had had any warning or even had been asked, for Lord's sake!
Meanwhile, Eloise had been peeking out of the utility room, and she announced that the coast was clear. "We had better skitter, Nanny! Ta ta, Sir Wilkes!"
"Ta ta," he replied absently, still pondering the gift dilemma.
After they had gone and he was no further ahead in ideas for Nanny's gift, he stepped out of the utility room and decided that even if he could do nothing about a gift for Nanny, he COULD do something about Mrs. Thornton. Taking the elevator up to Mr. Peabody's private suite, he knocked on the door and entered when bidden.
Mr. Peabody, still reeling from the fiasco of the aborted wedding downstairs, was very glad to see him, since his daughter and Bill were currently snuggling on the couch and talking in low voices. "Come in, come in, Sir Wilkes!" he cried. "I'm delighted to have another man here to talk with! Have a drink?"
"Thank you," Wilkes replied, and accepted the glass Mr. Peabody handed him. "I'd like to speak to you with regards to, er, Mrs. Thornton. Eloise said that..."
"Eloise! She's a dear child, but what am I to do? I tried to explain to her that running a hotel is a matter of BUSINESS, not charity!"
"Yes, yes, quite. Quite. What I wanted to do was offer to pay for Mrs. Thornton's suite... but I'd rather do it so that no one finds out about it. Would that be possible?"
Bill, who had obviously been listening from the couch, piped up, "If someone from the Bavarian government were to come through with money from her son, she'd never question THAT!"
Wilkes considered that suggestion, and he and Mr. Peabody smiled delightedly. "Just the ticket!" Mr. Peabody exclaimed.
"Daddy, why don't you have Bill dress up as a prince from Bavarian? He can tell her that the government has agreed to release enough money to keep her here. Oh, Sir Wilkes, that is so wonderful of you!" Rachel's eyes were shining.
"Come for dinner tomorrow, Sir Wilkes, and we'll make plans!" Mr. Peabody suggested.
"Thank you, but I have another invitation for tomorrow," Wilkes replied.
"Why can't we plan it for tonight? Now?" Bill asked.
"Yes!" Rachel jumped up. "Oh, Daddy, we should tell Mrs. Thornton tonight. Her Christmas must be so sad right now, thinking she's going to have to leave in two days..."
"Can you stay for supper, Sir Wilkes, and we'll get the plan rolling?" asked Mr. Peabody.
"I'd be delighted!" Wilkes beamed.
O o O o O
After they finished eating, Mr. Peabody called Mr. Salomone, Miss Thompson and Prunella Stickler to meet with them in the lobby in half an hour. Then the four went to work. With the help of his stage makeup and costumes and Rachel's suggestions, Bill turned himself into a wonderful Prince of Bavaria, rehearsing both an accent and a story. They all made their way down to the lobby, where Bill took a seat in an alcove close to the doors. Mr. Peabody then arranged for the grand piano to be brought in from the other room and set near the giant Christmas tree. Rachel stepped back out of the way until Eloise arrived, as they had decided to have the child summoned first, since it was her passionate plea for justice for Mrs. Thornton which had started Mr. Peabody's thoughts along the lines of seeing what could be done to allow the older woman to remain at the Plaza. It was agreed that, in order to satisfy Prunella Stickler who had been furious that afternoon at Eloise's destruction of her wedding plans, Mr. Peabody would first question the little girl about her part in the afternoon's outcome.
Mr. Salomone and Miss Thompson arrived together, and Wilkes' eyes sharpened when he saw how they looked at each other and behaved around each other. Why, it reminded him somewhat of how he and Nanny were when they were together! He wondered briefly if the two hotel workers were a couple, then his musings were cut short when Miss Stickler arrived. That woman looked rather askance at the piano in the lobby, but a satisfied smile spread across her face when she heard that Mr. Peabody was going to summon Eloise to the lobby for questioning. Mr. Peabody made the telephone call, then, as arranged, Wilkes waited until he saw that Max's elevator was picking them up on the sixteenth floor before he stepped into the other elevator and rode up himself in order to escort Mrs. Thornton down, as Mr. Peabody telephoned her directly after speaking with Eloise.
As he was whisked up to the top floor, Wilkes found himself hoping that Nanny would indeed come down to the lobby with Eloise, and then wishing that he could be there for support, afraid that the young child would be intimidated by Mr. Peabody's questioning. Just to be sure, he tapped on Nanny's door as he passed ... then smiled when there was no sound from within. Good. She was already downstairs. Wilkes went on to Mrs. Thornton's, and she grudgingly accepted his offer to escort her downstairs. He waited patiently while she picked up her small dog and sailed down the hallway.
When the elevator arrived back in the lobby and Max opened the doors, Mrs. Thornton pushed past Wilkes and marched up to Mr. Peabody. "What is the meaning of this? I demand to know why I have been summoned down here at this ghastly hour!"
Wilkes stepped up close behind Nanny, resting his hand lightly on the small of her back. She looked around at him and smiled before turning her attention back to Mr. Peabody and Mrs. Thornton. When she realized that it was Bill playing the part of the emissary from Bavaria, Nanny's hand flew to her mouth. It was at that moment that she felt Sir Wilkes' hand slide down to rest familiarly on her 'avoirdupois'. Her eyes widened, and somehow she just KNEW the man behind her was smiling faintly at her shock. Had anyone thought to take their attention away from the drama being played out in the hotel lobby, they ALL would have noticed Sir Wilkes' palm spread in a comfortable way over Nanny's ample yet shapely behind.
"Sir WILKES!" she hissed in a undertone, stealing a glance at him.
He winked at her and his hand moved very slightly, but rawther than removing it, he slid it over her botto in a caressing motion. Nanny gulped. Then she was distracted by the drama going on as Mrs. Thornton realized that she was going to be allowed to remain at the Plaza. Wilkes leaned forward and murmured in her ear, "It appears as though Eloise has pulled it off, and given Mrs. Thornton the gift of her life. Had Eloise not be so concerned for justice for the woman, none of this would have happened!"
As they moved over to the piano with the rest of the group, Nanny nodded thoughtfully. Then she bent down to speak to Eloise, and to pass on Wilkes' comment about the gift the child had given Mrs. Thornton. "It's not the presents that come wrapped in ribbons and bows that count ... as much as the ones that come from here," she concluded, patting her chest over her heart. As she stood, looking at Wilkes intently, she added, "Isn't that right... Willy?" Taking a deep breath and realizing she did not have the nerve to kiss his lips, she pressed a kiss on his cheek.
Wilkes' eyes opened wide and for a moment he was immobile. Then Nanny was turning away and resolutely joining in singing the Christmas carol that Bill was playing. His thoughts jumbled, Wilkes tried to think of what he could say to Nanny, but nothing came to mind. Absently, he began singing with the others, then, along with Nanny, looked over towards the doors when Eloise suddenly cried out, "Mother!" and ran towards the woman just entering the Plaza.
Wilkes had been in residence at the Plaza for almost a year, yet this was the first time he had set eyes on Kay. Although struck by her elegance and beauty, it was the look in her blue eyes as they rested lovingly on the small daughter hugging her that gave Wilkes pause for a moment before being caught up in the reunion as Nanny introducing him to Kay. They all joined in singing heartily until then both Nanny and Wilkes became aware of the fact that Eloise was telling her mother how much Nanny liked Sir Wilkes, and that she, Eloise, knew it because of the way Nanny always watched him and got all flustery and breathed funny ... and that if Nanny would kiss him PROPERLY sometime, he probably would know that she loved him.
Nanny felt as though the breath was knocked out of her, as did Wilkes. Then Nanny was urgently trying to explain to the little girl that grownups didn't, well, LOVE the same way as children...
Eloise interrupted, saying, "But it's OBVIOUS you like him, Nanny! And if you kissed him PROPERLY, he would..."
Nanny flushed, but insisted that it was not the same thing at ALL! She crossed her fingers surreptitiously and insisted, "Why, I have no more interest in kissing Sir Wilkes properly than I have in kissing..." she cast around in her mind for someone totally inappropriate, and finally came up with one, "young WILLIAM there!"
"But NANNY ..." Eloise almost wailed, "I thought..."
"You've been doing entirely too much thinking, young lady!" Nanny said severely. "Sir Wilkes, I cannot apologize enough for her..."
"Tosh, tosh, tosh," He waved her words off as inconsequential. "It's Christmas. She thought she was doing you a favour... or perhaps it was me?"
Nanny grinned companionably at him, feeling truly comfortable for the first time ever in his presence. Kay and Eloise had moved over to speak with Rachel Peabody, so Nanny felt it safe to say, "It's 'ard to say with Eloise. She's unique."
"She's very remarkable."
"Hmmm ..."
After a moment, during which Eloise dragged her mother off to speak to Mr. Peabody, Wilkes spoke hesitantly to Nanny, saying, "I do find myself wondering... you DON'T want to kiss me properly? No more interest in kissing me than in kissing Bill? Miss Peabody seems VERY interested in kissing HIM. What if I initiated the embrace? Would you kiss me properly then?"
Nanny laughed heartily, thinking he was joking. "And you say that after I just shocked you by kissing YOU? I saw your face! You were upset!" She would have tried to explain her thinking, but she was afraid she would appear even more foolish than she did now.
Now more shocked than before, and very surprised at how much he cared about her feelings, Wilkes said earnestly, "I wasn't REALLY upset... the kiss just startled me!" Then he took her hands and leaned closer, daringly asking, "Would you care to go for a walk with me now... outside? In the park?"
"Now? In the SNOW?" Nanny hesitated, but he looked so eager that she finally agreed, saying, "Well, I suppose I could... but we would have to fetch our coats..."
"Yes, yes! Of course! Shall we?" Sir Wilkes indicated the elevator.
"Perhaps we should ..." Nanny smiled shyly and agreed. "I suppose Kay and Eloise will be fine, fine, fine..."
"They will indeed. After you, Nanny."
Silently they got on to the elevator and rode up to the sixteenth floor, listening to the song playing softly.
"Has anybody seen Christmas? Anybody seen Christmas?
Underneath the glitter and the sequins and the bows?
Anybody seen Christmas? Christmas? Christmas?
Look closer, look deep; look closer, look deep,
Glitter's just the wrapping if love's the gift inside;
So underneath the glitter may be Christmas!
Has anybody seen Christmas? Anybody seen Christmas?
Lost among the parties and the chatter and the noise?
Anybody seen Christmas? Christmas? Christmas?
Look closer, look deep; look closer, look deep,
Often at a party, a stranger finds a friend;
So even in the parties maybe be Christmas!
Has anybody seen Christmas? Anybody seen Christmas?
In the hurry and the rush, in the crowds and being tired?
Anybody seen Christmas? Christmas? Christmas?
Look closer, look deep; look closer, look deep,
Nothing's too much trouble when gifts are given in love;
In the hurry and the rush, in the crowds and being tired,
In all the time and trouble may be Christmas...
May be a manger...
May be a baby...
May be Love."
They tacitly waited silently in the elevator until the song was finished, Max not moving either, even when they arrived at the sixteenth floor. When Max had closed the doors and left them alone in their hallway, Wilkes finally broke the silence. "The truth is, Nanny, I simply care about the person you are. Very much, in fact."
"You don't 'ave to say that. Yes, I kissed you... but it's Christmas..."
"You made your point. Now I'm going to make mine." He moved closer to her, his eyes on her lips.
Nanny swallowed. "Perhaps we shouldn't... it will change things..."
"Exactly." He smiled at her, his lips almost touching hers. "You know, I would have liked to, well, to kiss you... at the Debutante Ball last spring.... and... the other day…"
"All you 'ad to do was ask," Nanny smiled crookedly, her face beet red at her forwardness in admitting that truth to him.
He pointed above her head. "I'm asking now," he said, his voice suddenly thick.
She looked up to catch a brief glimpse of a hanging sprig of mistletoe, just before his lips came down on hers. Wilkes had meant the gesture to be friendly and light-hearted, but even before he had reached her mouth, he knew that it was going to be much more than that... much, much, much, as Nanny would say. He remembered what it was like to want a woman, the way need slowed the blood to a steady throb. The last thing he saw before closing his eyes was the quick rise and fall of her chest. His body swelled instantly as his arms slid around her waist and tightened.
He pressed his lips to hers, gently at first, savouring the softness of her mouth, the slight tremble that might have suggested resistance, but he didn't think so. He kissed her once, dry and hot, and then, when she breathed out a half-startled moan, he moistened his own lips and hers with his tongue and kissed her again, in earnest. It was a deep and satisfying kiss, with the entire length of her body drawn up against his as waves of sensation swept downward and settled around his groin with spectacular urgency.
Stunned by his body's reaction, Wilkes released her almost at once, stepping back as if he had been burned and expecting a slap or, at the very least, the harsh lash of her tongue. Instead, Nanny stood watching him for a long moment, her breathing altered and sounding loud in the stillness of the corridor, in counterpoint to his. Then, to his astonishment, she said softly, "Thank you," before her eyes skittered down to the floor.
Wilkes took a long, calming breath, wondering whether the sudden surge of lust he had experienced had affected his hearing. "Thank you?" he questioned feebly.
Nanny raised her gaze to his again, looking a little defensive now. "It... the kiss... completes my fantasy. I've always wanted to feel beautiful and desirable for at least one night... and... now... I do." She sounded wistful, as if the moment was already a memory to tuck away and cherish.
Wilkes experienced the sudden, insane desire to tear off her clothes and his and love her all night long, not only to fulfill her fantasy properly, but also to show her just how desirable she WAS to him. He was saved from behaving in such a scandalous, improper manner by the elevator bell.
Kay and Eloise came out of the elevator talking, Eloise telling her mother about the afternoon run through the hotel and how Nanny had said she wanted a raise. They looked at Wilkes and Nanny standing in the hallway, and Kay's eyes raised briefly to the mistletoe hanging from the ceiling before returning to meet Wilkes'.
He blushed a little and stammered that he and Nanny had been talking about going for a walk.
"NOW? It's dark! It's snowing!" Eloise eyed him suspiciously.
Nanny, however, merely said, "Yes, now," and went into the suite to fetch her boots, hat and coat.
Wilkes hurried down the hall to his room for his overcoat and hat. When he came back, Eloise was still in the hallway arguing against the outing, but Nanny and Kay both said she could now have time alone with her mother.
"Just a SHORT time, pet!" Nanny assured her as Wilkes drew closer to the group.
"And I believe I already fought you for her hand, you pirate!" Wilkes said daringly to Eloise, who smiled reluctantly at that.
"Well ... all right ..." Eloise's eyes continued to follow them closely as they waited side by side for the elevator, not touching and not daring to look at one another.
They walked outside circumspectly, and, standing at the edge of the street waiting to cross to the park, Wilkes held out his arm for Nanny to take. When she slipped her hand under his elbow, he patted it with his other hand, then left his hand over hers as they walked across the street and into the park.
Knowing first hand how Eloise was more than likely looking out the window watching them, Nanny steered them towards a pathway which would take them to the other side of some of the evergreen trees where they would no longer be in sight. As they walked, Nanny finally broke the silence, somewhat apologetically. "I'm so sorry, Sir Wilkes, but I... I didn't get you anything for Christmas. I tried to find something, after Eloise told me you..."
"Tosh, tosh, tosh," He waved off her words as inconsequential, and tightened his grasp on her hand. "Remember what you said I gave YOU? Upstairs? Before Eloise and Kay arrived?"
Nanny swallowed. Was he referring to her silly comment about feeling desirable for once in her life? "You mean, about... feeling...?"
"Desirable. Wanted. Loved. Cherished. Nanny, don't you know that you have given that feeling to me ever since we first met? It took Eloise to make me begin to see it... and your kiss under the tree to make me realize that it was true, this attraction between us..." Stopping in his tracks, he released her arm and took her face between his hands.
Nanny felt her body jump to life and she desperately hoped he would kiss her again. He bent closer, his gaze shifting to her mouth, and her mind screamed for him to hurry as the heat inside her steamed out of control. Her gaze ran over his face then locked on his eyes. He LOOKED as though he was adoring her, wanting her, and suddenly Nanny felt powerless. "Willy..." she breathed, disbelieving the evidence of her eyes.
Finally his mouth touched hers, gently and tenderly at first, but the fire in her wouldn't be patient. She slid her hands up his chest and around his neck as she pressed closer to him. His kiss turned hungry, savage and crazed with want. Nanny clung to him. Never in her life nor even in her dreams had she felt such passion from a man. He was sensual, reserved, gentle... and powerfully passionate. He whispered her name over and over, his lips seeking hers again and again until her insides melted and puddled, leaving her with nothing but her love for him.
At last he murmured against her lips, "I have wanted to do that for months now..."
Before Nanny could answer, they swayed a little into the branches under which they were sheltering, and suddenly a load of newly fallen snow dropped on their heads, sending them sputtering and laughing apart. "Perhaps we should return..." she said, trying to scrape the snow out of her collar before much more slid down her neck.
"Yes, perhaps we should," Wilkes sighed. "I DO find myself wondering if the snow down the back of the neck was a sign that I needed to be cooled off..."
"I certainly did, for sure, sure, sure..." admitted Nanny, her cheeks tinged with pink.
"Come, Nanny ..." Again he held out his arm, and together they made their way back to the Plaza.
Once they reached the front doors, Nanny automatically began to pull away from him, assuming he wouldn't want to be seen arm-and-arm with her in such a public place, but his grip on her hand tightened as he looked at her in surprise.
"What is the matter, Nanny?" he asked, puzzled by her actions.
"Aoww, nothing ... I just ..." Her face suffused with colour, she wasn't sure where to look.
Charlie, who had just come on duty, grinned at them both and tipped his hat. "Merry Christmas, Nanny! Sir Wilkes! Looks like you're having a good one!"
"Well, we are making the attempt. Merry Christmas to you," Wilkes replied. He steered Nanny through the doors and into the lobby. "Why are you trying to get away from me all of a sudden?" he asked her in a whisper. "Am I holding you too tightly? Walking too fast?"
"Aoww, no, Sir Wilkes ... I just ..."
"Sir Wilkes?" Miss Thompson hurried up to them at that moment. "I'm terribly sorry to disturb you on Christmas Eve... Eloise told me you were out but should be back soon and I was hoping you would be. You have an urgent message from your sister in England. I'm afraid she is asking you to return home immediately."
"On Christmas Day?" Wilkes asked incredulously, wondering what on earth Priscilla was worried about NOW!
"She was hoping you would fly out tonight. She said she has booked you on the 11:30 flight, which gives you an hour and a half to get to the airport."
Nanny had managed to extricate herself while Wilkes was pre-occupied and now was standing a step back. Miss Thompson looked over at her sympathetically. "I'm so sorry, Nanny... Sir Wilkes, you are to call Lady Bentley immediately. You may use the telephone in Mr. Salamone's office."
"Yes, I suppose I should ..." Wilkes looked a little dazed. "Er... Nanny?"
"Go ahead, Sir Wilkes. Eloise will be waiting for me anyway... I'll just run upstairs myself."
Before he could stop her, she was gone. Taking a deep breath as he tried to distance himself from thoughts of Nanny and bring to mind his loved ones in England, Wilkes followed Miss Thompson to Mr. Salomone's empty office.
O o O o O o