Page 117 of Until Now
“Where is she?”Elizabeth checks her watch again. Staring down the street, there’s no way to tell which car belongs to Nina. One million black SUVs on the street and not a single one has made any indication of stopping. “If this was us, she’d have our heads.”
“If this was one of us,” I motion between myself and Wren, “she’d have my head. If it was you, she wouldn’t care.”
Elizabeth rolls her eyes pulling up the “Find My” app on her phone. Nina’s little blue dot radiates from a block away. It approaches quickly as the SUV finally pulls up. The driver opens the door and Elizabeth takes a step back when it isn’t Nina stepping out of the car. “Nick?”
Nick helps Nina out of the SUV smiling down at her when she kisses him in thanks.
I’m the first to greet them, feigning shock, “Nick? What a surprise! I didn’t know you were here.” Nina doesn’t buy it. From the look on her face, I know she is well aware I helped set this up.
“You can stop the act, Michaela. He told me everything,” Nina smirks. “Where’s Lydia?”
“Upstairs, we wanted to make sure we wouldn’t lose the table since someone was late.”
“Don’t blame me, it wasn’t my fault this time.”
I glare at Nick. “So, you’re the reason we’ve been left to starve?”
“We had other things to do first.” Nick presses his lips to Nina’s temple.
“Not that I’m not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?” Elizabeth asks.
“We’ll explain everything,” Nina says. “But, can we go upstairs first? I’m famished.”
“I want to know everything.”
“Yes, I promise, just go.” Nina urges us towards the door, but Nick holds her back a step.
“I love you,” he whispers.
“I know.”
Just before their lips meet, I interrupt, “Let’s go Han and Leia, we’re withering away to nothing here!”
Nina rolls her eyes, mostly at myStar Warsreference. She gives him a chaste kiss and they follow us inside. In the elevator, Nick presses a kiss to the crown of her head when she leans back into his chest. He always has some type of hold on her, their fingers intertwined as Nina leads him into the restaurant. She only lets go to embrace a very pregnant Lydia.
“Who is this?” Lydia asks, looking straight at Nick.
“Lydia, this is Nick,” Nina steps into his side. His arm wraps around her shoulders, and her hand rests on his chest. Only then do I notice a slight gleam on her hand. The setting sun streaming in through the windows reflects off the blue-green emerald with a diamond cushion as it demands attention against the fabric covering Nick’s chest. Nina shares a smirk with Nick before she meets our stares. “My husband.”