Page 120 of Timelessly Ours

Then he dips her downward to me and she kisses my cheek. “Night, Nicky.”

“Night, sweetie.”

He winks again. “Be right back.”

I push off the table and start cleaning while he tucks her into bed. When I’m done, I sit in the living room, wrapping a fleece throw blanket around my shoulders. It’s a cold night and I’m looking forward to slipping into his arms later.

Come to think of it, I don’t know how I survived winters without his arms around me.

He returns and quickly moves to the fireplace, starting it up.

“A fire. Are we hanging out for a while?”

He tosses me a smirk. “Did you have other plans?”

I sigh. “I guess not.

He joins me and pulls me into the crook of his arm.

“You going to tell me what had you distracted during our game?” I ask.

“Nope.”

“Hmm. Is it a secret?”

“It’s none of your business. Ow.” He winces away, gripping his side.

“Sorry, what was that?” I ask naively, shifting my head back.

He groans. “Okay, there is definitely a disadvantage to having a girlfriend made of steel.”

I grin and cozy up beside him again.

He releases a breath and relents. “You might have had a point. About Garret.”

“I knew it. What did you find out?”

“I didn’t. That’s why I didn’t want to tell you, it’s still speculation." He sighs. "After you told me that Garret was suspiciously interested in my conversation with Robbie Hastings at the gala, it triggered a memory of him mentioning something in passing when he first came to town. About having more than one ex-wife. So…I took a page out of your book and…poked around. Had a few beers with him and…asked a few questions to connect the dots.”

I shift to face him. “And?”

“And nothing. All I know is that he has two ex-wives here in Buffalo. One he’s rekindling with. They have a kid going to college up north. So, I talked a little bit about Angel and casually asked if all his children went to school here and he said no. But then—he paused. Like he caught himself. Like he almost slipped.”

I beam. “That’s amazing.”

“That’s nothing. Maybe he’s just private about his past.”

“Couldn’t we find out if he and Garret are related?”

“My buddy Dave is good. But not that good.”

“So, what do we do now?”

“You do nothing. I will figure something out.” He pulls me back and rubs my arms. We’re quiet for a few minutes, watching the fire. Then he kisses the top of my head. “Nicole.”

I lift my chin.

“I want to tell Rory about us.”