“Nick,” I say, sighing, “I’m sorry you saw that, but I’m even more sorry that you thought you couldn’t talk to me about it.”
“I didn’t want you to think I was snooping. I’m not like that.”
“Well, I snooped in your room a few times, so no one’s innocent.” His face hardens, and I can’t help but laugh. “I’d be a hypocrite if I got mad about this.” His face softens. He knows I make a good point. “So you thought I was up and leaving for South Korea all week?” He nods his head and looks at me vulnerably. I laugh. “That explains your behavior…” I trail off.
“I thought you were leaving, and I would not have blamed you. I mean, you’re only twenty-five. You should go out and see the world.”
I lean into him, and I resist the urge to pull him into a hug.
“I am happy here. Seriously. I don’t want to go anywhere. Okay?”
“Good,” he says, smiling.
Suddenly, the air changes, and I feel the emotion rolling off of him. He inches closer to me, and I try to keep my head looking up at the stars to keep myself distracted. I see his line of vision follow my gaze.
“Lie down with me?” he asks, and he gestures to the sand. I look over at him, surprised, but he’s already lowering himself.
I lie down, and my body impresses upon the warm, soft sand. Nick scoots close to me so that our arms are touching. I can’t believe the stars… I’ve never seen anything like it.
I’ve also never felt anything like this.
“Evi?” he asks, and I turn to face him. He has one hand behind his head, and I feel my heart speeding up. The look on his face…
“Yeah?”
“Can I tell you something without it sounding highly inappropriate?”
Oh, god. Here it goes. My heart hammers against my chest. Ba-da-bum. Ba-da-bum. Ba-ba-da-da-dum-dum…
“I didn’t think I’d ever find this again,” he says softly. “And then you came into my life.” My whole body tenses in the most delightful way. He looks up at the stars, and I realize just how vulnerable he is right now. “If this gets too weird, just say. I know it’s not normal for me to say these things.”
“Nick,” I say, smiling, “It’s never been normal with us.”
He smiles and takes my hand. He scoots closer to me, and I feel my whole body reacting to him. How does he do that?
“Will you go on a date with me?”
“What?” I whisper. I’m not sure if I heard him correctly. I mean, I want to have heard him correctly, but I don’t know for sure. My face breaks out into a smile.
“I want to take you out to dinner.”
Wow. “Of course I’ll go on a date with you, Nick.”
“Good,” he says, pulling his hand away. He shakes his hand out, and I realize he was nervous. “Tomorrow. I have a friend staying at the next resort over. She can watch Bria. Be ready at six.”
“I thought the whole point of my coming was to watch Bria,” I joke, smirking at him.
“Yeah, well, I ended up liking you a lot more than I’d originally planned.” Before I can reply, he gets up and walks to the ocean.
I breathe out a heavy sigh, and I have to keep myself from screaming in delight.
A date! Nick Wilder is taking me on a date!
I’m suddenly very nervous. This is the first time we’ll be together in a non-work-related way, and Bria will no longer be a buffer. It’s kind of scary to think about. Not only because I’m excited in a good way, but because I’m nervous about what this could mean.
How would this change our arrangement? Nick can’t date the nanny, so I assume I would be replaced, but I do need the money. And I don’t want anyone else to watch Bria. I actually like being her nanny. And what if it turns into something serious? Am I ready to be a mother to Bria? Would Bria even want that?
And what if it doesn’t work out? Then I can definitely not be the nanny anymore.
I sit up and watch him as he dives into the ocean. The moonlight is reflecting off of the water, and it’s so beautiful… I see him get out and walk over to his shirt, which was tossed onto the sand before his midnight dip.