Forever with You

Even though pretty words were nice to hear from time to time.

“Yeah.” I smiled up at him, feeling a bit shaken. “We’ll make the best of this.”

Making it work between us was immediately tested not even five minutes after we finished the yummy di

Nick answered right away. “What’s happening, Kira?” Whatever she said on the phone wasn’t good, because his eyes closed and he pinched the bridge of his nose. “No—it’s okay. I’ll be right over. Yeah—no, it’s fine.”

When he hung up the phone, I spoke first. “You have to go. I understand.”

“I’m sorry. My grandfather is having another . . . thing.” He started to rise.

“Like I said, I totally understand.” I’d popped up. “Do you want me to go with you?”

The look on Nick’s face wasn’t something I’d forget in a long time. He looked horrified by the idea of me joining him. “No. That’s not necessary. Not at all.”

I didn’t take it personally, but I’d wanted to tell him that I could handle whatever was happening with his grandfather. However, I didn’t want to delay him further. Nick had started for the door, shrugging his jacket on. But before he left, he returned to where I stood and kissed me. Much like the first one, the sensations it evoked were shattering and devastating, with all the feelings it stirred to the surface.

I felt that kiss the whole time I was cleaning up.

The week leading up to Halloween ticked by with a weird feeling of things moving too slow and yet too fast at the same time. Being pregnant made me hyperaware of the passing of time, something I hadn’t really paid attention to before. Now everything in my head was catalogued by weeks.

Dan, one of the Lima brothers whom I’d met on my first day, had taken Rick and another salesperson on a business trip to the West Coast. I wanted to throw a little party at my desk. Maybe I’d get lucky and Rick would end up staying on the opposite coast. My heightened sensitivity to smell and to jackasses approved of such a move.

I was busy at work the entire week, helping Marcus prepare for his own business trip in November. He would be going to my hometown to help get all the approvals necessary for expanding the academy. I still wondered if Andrew’s daughter had an idea that her father was setting up shop there. I hadn’t seen her since the day Brock was hurt, and I hadn’t see him either.

On Thursday, Nick had surprised me with a text saying he was going to be in the city in an hour and asking if I wanted to get together for lunch. What shouldn’t have been a big deal had my stomach tumbled in knots. How crazy was it that it was the first time I’d ever done something like this with a guy I was interested in?

I had all this experience, but a lot was still unknown to me.

Grabbing my purse off the desk, I headed down to the gym level and immediately saw Nick crossing the street, heading toward the academy. I stepped outside and waited on the sidewalk.

His dark hair was growing, and I liked it that he was wearing it down. It was artfully messy and suited his striking face by softening the harder lines. Wearing his worn leather jacket, he hopped up on the sidewalk and stalked toward me. I couldn’t stop the smile from forming. I was such a goober.

“Hey,” he said, stopping in front of me. Pulling his hands out of the pockets of his jeans, he attacked the buttons on my coat. “Were you so excited to see me you couldn’t put your jacket on correctly?”

I rolled my eyes. “Yep. You got me.”

He chuckled as he finished with the last button near my neck. “I don’t want you getting sick.”

Since that was kind of cute, I didn’t undo the last button even though I felt like it was one inch away from choking me. “I thought we could hit up this diner two blocks down. They’re fast and I’ve always been able to find a seat.

“Fine with me.”

Nick fell in step next to me as we headed toward the crosswalk, navigating the steady stream of people. Our arms brushed every couple of steps, making me aware of how close our hands were. Would he hold my hand? Should I initiate the contact?

Why was I even thinking about any of that?

Mentally kicking myself, I glanced over at him as we waited for the little person in the box to turn green. “So what brought you into the city?”

“I was shopping for a Halloween costume.”

“What?” I laughed.

He gri

“Are you dressing up?” Excitement bubbled up. I loved Halloween, and every year, I always got into it, dressing up and finding a party to go to. This year was going to be different, though. Even if I did know someone who was throwing a party, going to one felt weird knowing that I’d be six weeks pregnant. Or maybe that wasn’t weird and pregnant chicks still went to parties and bars and stuff. I had no idea. I needed to Google that later.

“I’m going as a bartender,” Nick answered.

I gri

“I know, right? I think Roxy will be shocked,” he replied, gri

“Really?” I reached up, snagging a piece of hair that was trying to get in my mouth. “You’re seriously considering enrolling?”

He nodded, and I thought that either the cold wind was pinking his cheeks or he was flushing. “Yeah, I’d been toying with the idea for a while and right now seems like a good time to make that move. Financially I’m doing okay, but with the baby coming, I need to . . .” His brows pinched, and my breath caught in my chest. “I need to really start thinking about the future. There’s no excuse for me not to do online classes, and with the way things are going with my grandfather, the flexibility of bartending isn’t going to be necessary for that much longer.”

The chill that skated over my skin had little to do with the cold. “What are you saying?”

Nick glanced over at me, his expression blank until I saw his eyes. Pain surfaced there, clearly visible. “I don’t think he has very much longer.”

“What?” My step faltered on the middle of the sidewalk outside the diner. “Nick—God, I’m sorry. Are you . . . are you sure?”

He stood, shoving his hands back in his pockets. “Yeah, on Tuesday I had to take him into his doctor, and with the episodes becoming more and more frequent, it’s kind of like the writing on the wall, you know? He was kind of hovering between the last two stages of the diseases, six and seven, the last year, but he’s definitely in the final stage now and he’s started having problems swallowing and . . . yeah, it’s happening.”

I pressed my hand against my chest, above my heart. “I don’t know what to say.”

“I know. It’s not easy to even think about him passing, because no matter what fucked up things happened growing up, he was always there for me.” He cut those words off abruptly and looked away. “I don’t want to take him out of his home, so I’m meeting with . . . with Hospice next week.” Nick cleared his throat. “Then they’ll come out and see him. I think I’ve got time with him, but . . . it’s nearing the end. I just know it is.”

There really weren’t words for things like this, so I stepped forward and placed my hand on his arm. His gaze shot to mine, and I stretched up, pressing my lips against his cheek. When I settled back on my heels, I still held on to his arm. “I’d like to meet your grandfather, Nick.”

He didn’t respond for a moment. “It’s not easy being with him sometimes.”

“I know.” A cab raced by, blowing its horn.

Nick looked like he wanted to say more, but he stepped to the side and opened the door to the diner. “Come on. Let’s stuff our faces.”