His face softened thoughtfully as he followed my gaze.
“You surround yourself with good people. You learn the exits. You get through it.”
You get through it.
“Right.”
I gritted my teeth with determination and reached for the door. Things might have gotten away from me a little bit back at Barneys, but I wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice. I was going to march out there, damnit—head held high.
Even if it was the last thing in the world I wanted to do. Even though it felt like I was having a heart attack every time I got caught in one of those flashing lights—
There was a sudden movement in the car, and a cool hand shot out to stop me. I glanced up curiously to see that Nick was leaning all the way over—his fingers clamped protectively over mine upon the handle.
“What’s wrong?” I asked automatically. “I thought—”
“It’s an adjustment, Abby.” He smiled gently and swept my hair back away from my face. “You shouldn’t have to get thrown right in.”
I shook my head with a frown.
“What does that mean—”
“Stay here,” he instructed. “I’ll get out, they’ll see that I’m alone and disperse. Bobby will take you around the block once or twice in the meantime.”
He started to get out, but I put a hesitant hand on his sleeve.
“Are you sure?” I asked quietly, feeling a little embarrassed. “I mean, the whole point of this thing is so that we’re seen together as many times as possible, right?”
Without a second’s pause, he reached back and caught my hand in his own. He bent his head with a soft smile, and kissed it. “The whole point of this is to survive my father, while simultaneously making things as tolerable as possible.” He glanced out at the waiting horde. “No need to throw you to the sharks every time.”
He was out of the car the next instant, waving with a fixed smile at the crowd. He did, however, leave me with one final thought.
“Besides,” he glanced back with a wink, “I need you to keep up your strength.”
The door slammed shut behind him, and he strode forth confidently into the crowd. Just a second later, Bobby and I eased away into traffic.
I felt the man’s eyes on me the entire time we circled the block. Judging. Teasing. Trying to catch my attention. When it finally got to be too much, I punched the button for the partition.
“He meant for the party tomorrow,” I called, as the wall came up between us. “That I needed to keep up my strength for the party.”
The last thing I saw before the thing snapped shut was Bobby’s twinkling smile.
“Uh-huh.”
NICK’S PLAN WORKED like a charm. By the time we’d circled the block a few times, the crowd had dissipated enough that I was able to slip inside without anyone giving me even a second glance. It was a precious moment of anonymity, but even as it happened, I knew that it couldn’t possibly last. Come tomorrow, anyone who didn’t already know my face from the papers, was going to see it plastered up in every newsstand from here to Queens.
I wonder how long that will take to fade, I thought as I rode the elevator all the way up to the top floor. I wonder how long after the two of us ‘go our separate ways’ before I can walk down the street to get a cup of coffee, without being assaulted by a cameraman.
The thought didn’t sit well with me. Possibly because the media had a hell of a long memory, so I didn’t really want to know the answer. Possibly because I was growing increasingly distressed with the idea of ‘going our separate ways.’
Just try to get a grip, Abby. Yes, Nick really cares about you and you really care about him—but you’ve seen him do ‘relationships’ before. Short answer? He doesn’t. This isn’t going to be any different. When this is all over, the most we can hope for is to part as friends.
The doors dinged open and I breezed out into the penthouse. Nick had already brewed a fresh pot of coffee and was lounging on a couch in the living room. The very same couch where the two of us had utterly mind-blowing sex just a day before.
It was a thought I could tell was running through his mind.
“Well fancy meeting you here.” He pushed a steaming mug of coffee my direction, and patted the cushion beside him on the couch. “You survived the little detour?”
For whatever reason, the words made me blush. He was being nice about it, so nice about it, but I couldn’t just let it go.