Abby Wilder...you are going to hell.
The cab was dismissed, as we darted through the cold and into the restaurant.
While Ella started craning her head around the second we walked inside, looking eagerly for the paparazzi, I walked straight up to the receptionist.
“Colton Breakhard?” I asked softly.
It was Nick’s alias whenever he went out. Restaurants. Hotels. Falsified travel documents. He’d thought it up late one night, and found himself quite clever.
The woman flipped through a list, then nodded at me with a secret smile—pleased to be in on the con. In the two years I’d been doing this, every receptionist was the same.
“He’s at a table in the back. Not a private room—like you asked.”
Another little con. But one that was easily excusable. The point of this whole thing was to be as public as possible, right?
“Thank you.”
I turned back to Ella and gestured her forward. I swear—the girl was checking herself out in the mirror.
“This should be really easy,” I reassured her. “Just a simple meet and greet—make sure the two of you are compatible. Now, from what I’ve been told, you don’t drink, correct?”
It made her perfect for Nick’s image. Terrible for Nick himself.
She shook her head, taking on the sudden ridiculous expression of a martyr.
“I have a condition. My body can’t process it. So sad.”
I nodded quickly. “So sad.”
We wound our way quickly through the restaurant—not speaking—until I saw Nick’s golden-brown waves reflected off a mirror in the back. I tugged Ella’s wrist to get her attention.
“Now remember what I told you,” I whispered in her ear as we came closer, “the man likes bold. And no offence, but girls rotate in and out of his life all the time. Do something to shock him. Do something to make him remember you.”
Of course, I couldn’t have any idea what the lunatic would actually do...
As we approached the table, Nick got politely to his feet. His eyes lingered on me for a second longer than they were probably supposed to, so that by the time he turned to meet his new girlfriend, she was already making her tragic move.
“Nicky,” she crooned, a nickname I might have subtly encouraged, “thanks for agreeing to meet me here. This place is really the best.”
Before he could say a single word, she reached down and grabbed his crouch.
“And I can’t wait to get better acquainted.”
Ooooooh shit. Abby, what have you done?
Chapter 15
Somebody gasped. I’m not sure who it was.
It could have been me. It could have been the two Japanese families sitting close enough to see it happen. It could have even been Nick, from the utter shock of having a woman he’d never seen before reach out and grab his pants.
Whoever it was, it clearly wasn’t enough to change things. The three of us stayed perfectly frozen. The hand remained.
I looked down at it. Nick looked down at it. Ella looked down at it herself—proudly.
“Um...Ella?” I cleared my throat softly, dying a million deaths. “Do you think you could...” Goodness—how did I even say it? “I mean, maybe it’s time you let go—”
“Nicholas Hunter.”