“I don’t know. She loves you.”
“I mean… do you think…” I gesture between us. “Do you think she’ll be okay with us…?” I drop my hands.
“I honestly don’t know.”
“We should tell her.”
“Yeah.” He takes another step back and looks down at his feet. “I should talk to her.”
“We should both talk to her,” I suggest, and he nods. “And if she’s not okay with it…”
I trail off, because I don’t want to think about it. He just nods again, and I know he understands.
“Let’s talk to her when we get back to Seattle tomorrow.”
“Okay,” I say, sad that the moment is effectively ruined.
But we have to know that Bria is okay with the idea of a new nanny, of me being a bigger part of her life, of the idea of Nick and me…
And if she’s not, we have to be prepared to walk away from each other.
Thirtyseven.
Evianna
Nick walks me to my room and kisses me chastely on my cheek. I know he probably won’t make any moves until we know how Bria feels about it all, but I secretly hope he’ll kiss me on the lips.
I stand there and look down, and I can tell he’s thinking the same thing.
But he puts his hands in his pockets and walks to his door, opening it slowly.
“Good night, Evianna.”
“Good night, Nick,” I reply, trying not to sound too disappointed.
He closes the door behind him, and I fall onto my bed. I hear him speak to Flavia briefly, and then his door closes.
I wonder what he’s doing right now.
I go to my suitcase for my computer. I’m too wired to sleep—tonight was so intense, and I know I won’t be able to fall asleep for hours. As I log into the hotel’s Wi-Fi, I see a note slip under my door.
My heart stops.
I set my computer down and walk quietly to retrieve it.
Are you awake?
I smile, and I walk over to the desk to get a pen. I reply.
Yes.
As I slip it back under the door, I can feel my heart beating rapidly against my chest. I feel like I’m going to explode, or implode, or self-combust. I’m not sure why—Nick and I talked about everything, and we’re on the same page. What am I waiting for?
And then I realize, I want Nick—all of him—right now.
I am a woman with needs.
And he’s so close to me I can barely stand it.
The note slips back under my door.
Are you okay?
That’s a weird question. But I respond honestly.
Mentally and emotionally, yes.
Physically… no.
I debate for a minute about whether or not I should even say this. It might confuse him, us, more. And it’s not like all I need is something physical, but there’s so much tension between us, it has to go somewhere. I slide it under the door and hold my breath.
He doesn’t respond immediately. I pace back and forth for a few minutes, wondering if I said the wrong thing. I decide to leave another note. I feel embarrassed. I should not have sent that note.
Highly inappropriate, Evianna Marie Hall.
I go to the desk and scrawl another note.
Sorry. That wasn’t right of me to say.
Forget it. I’m fine.
I slide it under quickly, and I see Nick snatch it up almost immediately. He must’ve been sitting on the other side of the door, analyzing my first note…
Another note slides under the door from Nick.
Don’t be sorry. It’s only natural.
And if it weren’t for Bria…
I would be making love to you all night long.
I gasp when I read his words.
Oh my.
I scribble another note and slide it back quickly.
You are SO not helping.
I want for him to respond, which he does within seconds.
I’m sorry :)
Using my critical-thinking skills, I deduce that it’s probably okay for me to give you a proper kiss good night because we’ve already kissed. It’s not like we’re crossing a line, because it’s already been crossed.
Would you agree?
I smile when I read his note.
Yes.
Yes, that would be more than okay.
I would agree.