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“What are you thinking, Grace? I can’t read your face.”
“I kinda heard all that.”
“You’d have to be deaf not to. My brother’s a loud mouth.”
“Was it about me?”
“Yep.”
“Is Bizzy upset?”
“I wouldn’t say she’s upset, just curious.”
“About me?” I repeat.
“Sort of, but since she doesn’t know about you, she’s more curious about me.”
I stiffen in his arms, not liking where this is going.
“Hey.” He slides a hand up to massage my neck, gently turning my head to face him. “Whatever you’re thinking is most likely wrong. She doesn’t know about you because when I asked Shaw to find you, I also asked him to keep quiet until I could talk to you again, find out more about you. I had no idea what your life was like, and I wanted to learn on my own. I wasn’t hiding you.”
Some of the tension eases from my shoulders as I understand what he’s saying. A flashback of last Thursday runs through my mind, when he asked me if I was seeing anyone. It’s hard to believe it was only a week ago he walked back into my life. “And now?” I ask, holding my breath for his answer.
“And now, you better get ready because Bizzy is a force of nature. As soon as she finds out you’re back, and we’ve reconnected, she’s going to be unstoppable.”
I start to get nervous. What if she doesn’t approve? Surely, she knows how I disappeared and never returned his calls. If anything, it was extremely rude, regardless of the circumstances. She’s his best friend. She could hold a grudge.
“Your face is scrunching again, which means you’re probably thinking the wrong way.”
“Does she know about me disappearing and never returning your calls?”
“She knows a little. I played it off, pretending it didn’t matter even though it did.”
My gut rolls with another round of regret. “Ugh, she’s going to hate me.”
“She’d never hate you, especially when she hears you’re back.”
“What are you going to tell her?”
“I’ll tell her the truth, but it won’t be necessary. She’ll see it written all over my face. We kinda share a weird sense of understanding.”
“The voodoo ESP?” I repeat Shaw’s words.
“Yes, I guess you could call it that. Have I ever told you about how Bizzy and I met?”
“No, but I’d love to hear it.” And I would. I’d love to hear anything about Nick’s life. In all my following him through the years, Bizzy has been pictured but nothing said except a few mentions of his volunteering and commitment to childhood cancer. But she’s an Oncology Nurse so that seems logical.
He surprises me by standing, balancing me in his arms. “Let’s clean the kitchen then we’ll have story time.”
“Aren’t you hungry?”
His eyes take on the same shine from earlier today in the gallery, and I gulp, a small tremor running through me. “Forget I asked. It’ll make a great midnight snack.” I lean in and run my lips across his.
He shifts so I’m forced to straddle him, linking my legs around his waist as he walks us to my kitchen.
“I’ve always been a fan of midnight snacks,” he says against my mouth.
The small tremor from earlier returns, and this time, I shudder in in his arms. He notices and gives me an approving wink.
