Dang. Maybe we’re done with a thousand runs of Frozen.
“Sure,” Nick says.
I catch his eyes. “It’s a white couch. That’s...not a good idea. She’s a walking case of butterfingers.”
He looks at Millie with a gentle smile. “How about we do movie time after dinner?”
Millie agrees, I think, because Nick suggested it.
Twenty minutes later, we’re at the table, and I’m dying right in front of him. Everything’s so freaking good. Even Millie downs her food without complaint, smiling at me through dinner.
“Are you enjoying this?” I ask her.
“Yeah! Love Quick Nick psketti.”
“I like my psketti, too,” Nick says, twirling a pile of noodles around his fork. “The effort always makes it taste better.”
“You make a mean psketti,” I agree.
“Better than jarred stuff?” He quirks an eyebrow at me.
“Definitely.” I hold my hands up in surrender.
All things considered, we’ve found a way to salvage the evening after that rotten run-in with Abby’s ex. Millie’s having fun, and I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt so relaxed.
After dinner, we get half an hour into the movie before Millie’s nodding off. I get the kidlet cleaned up and put her to bed.
Once she’s down for the night, sleeping heavily, I head back to the living room, hoping to find Nick.
He grins at me from the couch and holds up a fresh beer for me.
“Oh, you didn’t have to do that.”
“It’s a trade. You need to relax and I need the company,” he says matter-of-factly.
“Thanks, mind reader.” I sit down beside him and take it. “So, I’ve been thinking about the way things went down with Will. That whole conversation was just strange, don’t you think?”
“Yeah? I was too busy wanting to punch him in the face from the first second I saw him to notice. Of course, I don’t know the situation like you do. What struck you as off?”
“When he called, he asked if I’d meet him there to discuss how to get Abby out and so he could see Millie. I’ve visited Abby a couple of times since she got arrested, and every time she’s asked me to make sure Will doesn’t take Millie. But it’s like...he was concerned with helping her get out of jail. In all the years she’s known him, this would be the first time he ever acted like he cared about her.”
Nick nods, his mile-wide shoulders rolling as he clasps his hands.
“Also, he asked me there to see Millie, but he didn’t talk to her that much once we got there. He didn’t ask if she liked staying with me or if she needed anything. Then he started asking about Abby’s place...”
“She didn’t even want to hug him,” he agrees.
“I know, and she’s fine with you. She didn’t even know you before all this. That says it all.” I slurp my beer again.
“He won’t take Millie. You saw him take off with his tail between his legs. I told him I’d play hardball. The jackass is hiding something, and he doesn’t want the law involved. Was he always so creepy?”
I frown. “He and Abby were an on again, off again thing for years. I just hope he doesn’t have a key to her place.”
“Do you want to have the locks changed?” he asks.
“It’s a rental and I’d rather not deal with Mrs. Gamlin. I just want to know what he’s after. I can’t imagine he’d find anything after investigators tore through the place, but if there is something to find, I need to be the one to find it. Not him.”
“I told you, I’ll help you go through it, whenever you’re ready. I don’t want you there alone.”
“I know. Thank you,” I say quietly.
“Quit thanking me.”
I turn to face him slowly, trying not to lose myself in eyes like liquid turquoise. “I have to. You don’t have to do any of this and—”
“I don’t, but I want to.” His gaze sharpens. “Reese, can I ask you something?”
I nod, my pulse quickening.
“Do you remember our fake date?”
My gut clenches.
“You mean the night Carmen slapped you silly and slung champagne on us right after we...you know. We trended on social media the next week because none of the influencers could understand why you’d drop Seraphina for a total nobody. How could I forget?”
“Fuck. When you put it like that, it sounds devastating.”
“Is there another way to put it?” I shrug, checking my inner bitch, knowing he’s done more than enough to make up for that strange humiliation. “It’s fine. It was a long time ago.”
“It’s not, and I’m still sorry.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry I took you there that night. I never told you, whether I intended it or not, I used you to shield me from past drama, and it was wrong. Dead wrong.” He stands, staring out the massive glass door of the balcony, into the Chicago night. “Dating Carmen was my biggest mistake. She was a childhood friend who never should’ve become more. After she went to Hollywood, she transformed from the sweet girl next door into a hungry, manipulative bitch. She’d make me go places and do things to prove that she could. Our relationship—if you can call it that—was about partying and sex—”