That's Amore! (14 page)

Oh, God.

She took a deep breath and tried to calm her fear as she reached again. This time she slipped completely from the window and cried out as she frantically grabbed for the tree, catching a branch right before her feet would hit the ground. She swung there for a moment or two, looking around and hoping no one heard her, then let go.

And found
herself
standing in the familiar cradle of Nick's arms.

"It took you long enough," he said, grinning down at her.

CHAPTER NINE

Very early day seven—W-Day…

The numbness Efi had felt
permeating her every cell now melted into a dull, throbbing ache. She sat in the car next to Nick, finding it strange that it wasn't all that long ago they were anxious for some alone time so they might fool around. But now that they had it, they couldn't be farther away from each other physically or emotionally.

She didn't know where he was going. Didn't care. All that mattered was that no one was following them, neither of them had their cell phones with them, and time stretched ahead of them like a gaping hole.

"How did you know I was going to climb out the window?"

Again she caught a hint of Nick's grin. But only a hint, because he seemed to be struggling with more than a few demons of his own, given the shadow of concern in his dark eyes.

"I know you," he said quietly. "Or have you forgotten that?"

Yes, she guessed she had forgotten that. She should have expected that he'd be waiting outside for her to drop from her bedroom window. Instead she'd been preoccupied with the fact that he hadn't called her, hadn't tried to bust her door in. And all the while he had been waiting outside for her.

Unfortunately, knowing that now didn't help with what had gone between. The hours of soul-searching, of moving through frustration and anger to a sense of numbness and ultimately an eerie kind of clarity that made her forget she was wearing her wedding dress on the day before her wedding and Nick had seen her in it.

"You're having second thoughts," he said simply.

She looked at him.

"Refer to my earlier reference as to how I know that."

"Because you know me," she said quietly.

She felt his gaze on her while he slowly navigated the empty, winding residential streets of Grosse Point.

"Or do I?" he asked.

Her heart gave a hiccup. If even Nick was questioning his belief in her, then they were in more trouble than she feared.

He ran his right hand through his hair in a way she'd never seen him do before. It was an anxious move, one that spoke of uncertainty and doubt. And made her feel all the more confused.

"Where are we going?" she asked, noticing the way he sped up, leaving the neighborhood and heading for
I-94.

"Somewhere we can talk."

That somewhere ended up
being a downtown hotel.

Efi's throat tightened and she felt terribly near tears when Nick got out, registered them,
then
came back out to help her from the car.

"I don't think I'm in the mood for sex right now, Nick."

He eyed her. "Funny, neither am I."

She searched his sober features, wondering just how everything had gone so wrong in such a short period of time. Had it really been earlier that day outside the police station that she couldn't get enough of kissing him, of touching him, of wanting him, restless for him to be her husband?

"Come on. I think it's a good idea if we have a talk."

She didn't move.

He sighed. "Look, I'm not about to go home just yet, and
I
don't think you are, either. So this is as good an idea as any others I've had." He hiked a brow. "Unless you have one?"

She didn't.

She put her hand in his, feeling the instant jolt she always felt whenever they touched. The realization was both comforting and bewildering. If she doubted everything with her mind, shouldn't her body and its messages follow suit?

Within minutes they were in the nicely appointed hotel room. It boggled the mind to think that she was in the same room with Nick with a bed in it and she wasn't trying to tackle him to it.

She looked down to realize she was still wearing her wedding dress.

"Where are you going?" Nick asked.

"To change out of this thing."

He, too, seemed to realize what she was wearing and it looked as if he'd just swallowed a goose egg whole.

Efi carefully climbed out of the dress in the bathroom and pulled on one of the white Turkish terry-cloth robes from the back of the door. She thought about draping the dress over the bed, but thought the term "big white elephant in the room" all too appropriate and instead managed to hang it on two hangers in the closet.

All too soon she stood facing Nick again. He stared at her as if he didn't know her. And, she suspected, for all intents and
purposes that was
probably the same way she was staring back at him.

"Well…"

"So…"

They both spoke at the same time,
then
awkwardly looked away.

Neither said anything for a long stretch. How long, Efi couldn't be sure, but as they stood across the room from each other she felt the gap between them grow larger and larger.

She forced herself to sit on the end of the bed and cleared her throat. "Are you thinking about not going through with this tomorrow?" she asked.

Nick looked shocked by her question. "No, no." His brows drew together. "Are you?"

"No, no," she said equally quickly.

Although given the swiftness of their answers, she doubted the honesty of them.

Both of them were clearly having second thoughts about tomorrow. They just hadn't reached the point where they were willing to admit it.

The mattress dipped low when Nick sat down next to her. Close enough to touch, but far enough apart that they wouldn't.

"This isn't as easy as we thought it was going to be, is it?" he asked, staring at their reflection in the dark television screen.

Efi shook her head. "No, it isn't."

He rubbed his face with his hands. "Do you think this is a matter of cold feet?"

Efi stared down at her stocking feet much as she had earlier when she'd wondered the same thing. "I don't know."

"Me either."

She smiled softly. "Well, that clears things up, doesn't it?"

She felt his gaze on her profile and turned her head to find him studying her.

"You know you always were a smart ass."

"And you always were a mule," she said back.

They'd said the words to each other countless times over the years, but it was usually while they were rolling around on the closest available object, whether it
be
the back seat of his car or the couch at his parents'—the sentiments were exchanged while in the throes of passion and with affection.

While that affection still existed, it was more serious now somehow. As if they were both realizing the weightiness of the words.

Nick cleared his throat. "About Aphrodite…"

Efi threw her head back and groaned. "No, I don't want to hear it. What's happening now … what's going on…
"
She held his gaze. "This isn't about Aphrodite, Nick. Sure, I may have been jealous. But deep down I'd like to think I'd known you would never do anything with her."

"I kissed her."

Efi's heart pitched down to rest next to her bare feet.

Nick sighed. "No, actually that's wrong. I didn't kiss her. She kissed me."

"Did you kiss her back?"

"No. But I didn't push her away immediately either."

"Because you thought you might like to kiss her?" He didn't say anything for a long time. "Nick?"

"What?" he blinked at her. "Oh. No. When she cornered me at my parents' house inside the bathroom and kissed me I was thinking that I should probably want to kiss her. But I was surprised that I didn't."

Efi swallowed hard, trying to portray a measure of dignity. "Oh?"

"All week long, the guys have been talking about how hot she is. About how I could have her at the drop of a hat. And how you would never have to know anything about it."

Efi really didn't want to hear this. She'd known her cousin had had designs on Nick, but she hadn't known about the rest. And she didn't want to know either.

"Look, Nick, you don't have to explain anything…"

"Yes, yes, I do. Because it was in that bathroom, facing a very attractive woman who apparently wanted me badly, and having her kiss
me, that
I realized that you're the only one I want."

Efi's throat tightened with emotion. "And that's why you're having second thoughts about the wedding? Because you want me?"

"Yes."

He wasn't making much sense to her. Then again, her own feelings weren't making much sense to her either, so she figured they were pretty much equal.

Except for the Aphrodite kiss. He was way in the hole when it came to that one.

"So I've explained some of what's been going through my mind. How about you?" he asked.

"Your parents."

He stiffened.

Efi's shoulders slumped.

She knew how she would react if he said anything negative about her parents. They were her family, her rock. They were the two most important people in her life up until now. If he so much as said one negative word about either of them she'd probably freak.

But she needed to say this about his parents.

"What happened tonight … what they said … asked for… Well, it came way out of left field for me."

Nick remained silent.

"Did you know they were going to ask for what they did from my father?"

"No."

"But you were okay with it?"

"Yes." He blew out a long breath. "No."

"Then why did you tell me to butt out?"

"I told you to butt out? I didn't tell you to butt out."

"Yes, you did. You told me that perhaps it would be better if we let the four of them work things out."

"Yes. That I did say."

"That's telling me to butt out."

He looked at her for a long moment. "Yes, maybe you're right." He rested his forearms on his knees and clasped his hands together between his legs. "Look, the truth is I didn't know what to say. I don't know. Maybe it's different with your family, but I grew up an only kid. I didn't have any siblings to throw in with. To distract them away from me. It was only just … me. And somewhere down the line I learned that it was easier to go their way than to face a disagreement with them."

Efi smiled softly, longing to push a stray lock of his thick dark hair back from where it rested against his brow. "Until it came to me, that is."

He quickly looked at her. "How do you mean?"

"They didn't want you to marry me."

His spine snapped straight. "I never told you that."

"You didn't have to. I figured it out all by my lonesome."

Nick looked hurt.

"Listen, what your parents thought about me way back then is neither here nor there now," she said quietly. "What's important is that when I needed you to back
me
up, or at least give me the room to speak my piece, you told me to stick a sock in it."

"I did not."

"Essentially, yes, you did."

He deflated again. "Okay, maybe I did."

Efi pulled the robe more tightly around her, feeling suddenly cold. "All this
is
more complicated than we thought it would be, isn't it?"

He nodded but didn't answer.

"Can I ask you a question, Nick?"

He indicated with his gaze that he was waiting.

"Do you want me to stop working after tomorrow?"

One of those wary expressions kids wore when they'd been asked if they'd washed their hands before dinner crossed his handsome face. "I don't know. Do you want to stop working?"

Efi fought the urge to roll her eyes. "I'm not one of your parents, Nick. There's no wrong way to answer the question."